Past Prologue 

Tahna Los, a former Bajoran terrorist during the Occupation, asks Sisko for asylum on DS9. Meanwhile, the station's last Cardassian inhabitant, Garak, possibly a former spy for the Cardassian government, proves an interesting mystery to Dr. Bashir.

Director:

Winrich Kolbe

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (based upon "Star Trek" created by), Rick Berman (created by)

Stars:

Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois, Alexander Siddig

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Avery Brooks	...	Cmdr. Benjamin Sisko
Rene Auberjonois	...	Odo
Alexander Siddig	...	Doctor Bashir (as Siddig El Fadil)
Terry Farrell	...	Lt. Jadzia Dax
Cirroc Lofton	...	Jake Sisko (credit only)
Colm Meaney	...	Chief Miles O'Brien
Armin Shimerman	...	Quark (credit only)
Nana Visitor	...	Major Kira
Jeffrey Nordling	...	Tahna
Andrew Robinson	...	Garak
Gwynyth Walsh	...	B'Etor
Barbara March	...	Lursa
Susan Bay Nimoy	...	Admiral (as Susan Bay)
Vaughn Armstrong	...	Gul Danar
Richard Ryder	...	Bajoran Deputy

Storyline

While the last Cardassian on the station, tailor Garak tries to become friends with Dr. Bashir, a Bajoran vessel approaches the station at high speed, followed by a Cardassian ship. The Bajoran, Tahna Los, gets beamed onto DS9 just in time before his ship is blown up and asks for asylum. Benjamin Sisko seems reluctant, but major Kira Nerys knows him. He's a member of the Kon Ma, a terrorist organization fighting Cardassia, but also accused of crimes against Bajorans. Upon his promise that he no longer wants to be a Kon Ma, Sisko decides not to hand him over to the Cardassians, while Kira works on getting amnesty from the government for Kon Ma Members. Then two female Klingon outcasts, Lursa and B'Etor arrive at the station.

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Plot Keywords:

bajoran | suspected terrorist | tailor | terrorist plot | bomb | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 January 1993 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title of this episode is taken from Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' and Antonios' line "What's past is prologue", Star Trek Discovery (2017) Season 1 features an episode with the title 'What's past is prologue'.

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Goofs

Commander Sisko refers to the Cardassian ship's commander as Gul Danar. However, the Gul never introduces himself by name any time during the episode.

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Quotes

Odo: You know, there's one thing about you humanoids I can't imitate very well.
Major Kira: What's that?
Odo: Pretense. There's a special talent to it. It's as hard for me as creating one of your noses.

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Connections

References Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979)

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Soundtracks

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Main Title
(uncredited)
Written by Dennis McCarthy
Performed by Dennis McCarthy

User Reviews

Is this episode 2 or 3? I dunno...

This episode is listed as episode 2 on IMDb. However, when shown on Netflix, it's listed as episode 3. I really am not sure which is which--perhaps you know for sure.

When the episode begins, the tailor, Garak, is introduced as he works hard to build a relationship with Dr. Bashir. He's obviously a Cardassian spy--but why would he foster this relationship with the Doctor? At the same time, an old associate of Major Kiera in the Bajoran underground is headed towards Deep Space 9--with the Cardassians in hot pursuit. When he asks for asylum on base, what is Sisko to do? And, why did he arrive here? Well, it gets even more interesting when two Klingons arrive. How will these three players' stories intersect? See the show.

The main reasons for this episode are to further explore Major Kiera's dilemma of divided loyalties as well as to introduce a semi-regular character, Garak. All in all, rather exciting and worth seeing--and a lot better than the dull and artsy premier episode.