DS9’s Maquis Two Parter Changed Star Trek Forever

30 years ago, the Maquis made their debut in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and by subverting perceptions of Starfleet, they changed the course of the Star Trek universe forever. The Maquis were created for use in Star Trek: Voyager, a rogue element that would be stranded in the Delta Quadrant with the USS Voyager’s Starfleet crew. To prepare for Voyager‘s 1995 premiere, both DS9 and Star Trek: The Next Generation began seeding the Maquis from April 1994. The TNG episode “Journey’s End” established the political situation that spawned the Maquis, while DS9‘s eponymous two-parter formally introduced the terrorist organization.

The Maquis were named after the rural French and Belgian Resistance fighters who opposed Nazi occupation during World War 2. Star Trek‘s Maquis opposed the Cardassian occupation of former Federation colonies, made possible by the creation of a demilitarized zone at the end of the Federation-Cardassian war. There was a suggestion that the Maquis betrayed Gene Roddenberry’s vision of a futuristic utopia, but in actual fact, they forced a degree of introspection when it came to the human costs of the Federation and Starfleet’s ongoing mission to preserve peace.

The Maquis Changes How We See Starfleet In Star Trek

“You look out the window at Starfleet Headquarters and you see paradise.”

The Maquis were set up in opposition to Starfleet and the Federation, allowing an opportunity to see the organization in a new light. In “Journey’s End”, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) is deeply uncomfortable about resettling the colonists from Dorvan V, because he’s asking a group of people to leave their homes. Generally, Starfleet resettle colonists in the event of an impending disaster like a supernova or an attack by a Crystalline Entity. What they don’t do is relocate people from their homes so that they can hand over the planet to an enemy.

However, this is exactly what begins happening from “Journey’s End” onward, to preserve the fragile peace with the Cardassians. Admiral Nechayev (Natalia Nogulich) tells both Captain Picard and Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) that planets like Dorvan V should be handed over to the Cardassians for the “greater good“. The Federation’s treaty with the Cardassians raises some serious questions about the human cost of the “greater good“. The Cardassian Occupation of Bajor should have been a warning to the Federation, but instead they brushed aside any concerns to preserve peace.

The demilitarized zone between Federation and Cardassian space caused a great deal of introspection for Starfleet officers in both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Picard had legitimate concerns about Federation diplomats removing the agency of the colonists on Dorvan V. An already disillusioned Cadet Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) was outraged by the situation on Dorvan V and inspired the colonists to fight back. In “The Maquis, Part II”, Sisko delivers a powerful speech about the disconnect between the needs of the colonists and the plans drawn up by the Federation diplomats:

“On Earth there is no poverty, no crime, no war. You look out the window at Starfleet Headquarters and you see paradise. Well, it’s easy to be a saint in paradise. But the Maquis do not live in paradise. Out there, in the Demilitarized Zone, all problems have not been solved yet. There are no saints, just people; angry, scared, determined people who are going to do whatever it takes to survive, whether it meets with Federation approval or not!”

The Maquis Turned Star Trek Heroes Against Each Other

The introspection caused by the Federation’s decisions on the DMZ led to many Starfleet officers resigning their commissions in solidarity with the colonists. Many of these former Starfleet officers joined the Maquis to fight Cardassian oppression, starting with Sisko’s close friend Lt. Commander Calvin Hudson (Bernie Casey). Hudson was assigned to the colonies along the DMZ as an attaché, but soon became sympathetic to the colonists’ struggle. Cal became an early prominent figure in the Maquis Resistance, pitting him against his old friend, Sisko.

The most notable Maquis defector was Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes), who betrayed her mentor, Captain Picard, to join the Resistance in Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s penultimate episode, “Preemptive Strike”. Picard and Ro wouldn’t resolve their differences for another 29 years in Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 5, “Imposters”. The other notable TNG Maquis defector was Lt. Thomas Riker (Jonathan Frakes) who had returned to active service after eight years of isolation, to discover that Starfleet had abandoned their principles.

As well as losing his friend Cal Hudson to the cause, Sisko lost his Starfleet security officer, Lt. Commander Michael Eddington (Kenneth Marshall) to the Maquis. After some initial objections to Eddington’s posting on Deep Space Nine, Sisko spent a lot of time with the security officer, failing to detect his Maquis sympathies. In fact, Sisko’s girlfriend Kasidy Yates (Penny Johnson Jerald) even sympathized with the Maquis cause. When Eddington revealed his true colors, it created a fierce rivalry between him and Sisko, that led the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine captain to go too far in his determination to bring the defector to justice.

Without The Maquis There Would Be No Star Trek: Voyager

The Maquis were specifically created for Star Trek: Voyager, to provide characters who would have a non-Starfleet viewpoint. Opening up the Star Trek universe to include characters from outside Starfleet was the core remit of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, so it made sense for Voyager to continue in this vein. In-universe, the USS Voyager is lost in the Delta Quadrant purely because it’s searching for a Maquis raider that went missing in the Badlands after being captured by the Caretaker. If there had been no Maquis conflict, then the USS Voyager would have been assigned elsewhere.

The concept of Starfleet and Maquis officers thrown together to navigate an uncharted region of space was a great concept for Star Trek: Voyager. Sadly, the Maquis became Starfleet officers straight away, reducing the potential for character conflict. In the reference book Star Trek: The Next Generation 365, Ronald D. Moore implied that there was some behind the scenes conflict over how the Maquis would feature in Voyager. Moore hints that the original intention was for Starfleet and the Maquis to be more separate:

“The initial idea for Voyager was that the Maquis who joined the crew would not put on the Starfleet uniforms. Michael lost that fight.”

DS9’s Maquis Two Parter Changed The Shape Of Star Trek

While Star Trek: Voyager may not have lived up to the promise of the Maquis as a concept, the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine two-parter has had a lasting impact on the franchise. In DS9, the issue of the colonies on the DMZ was a moral issue that many Starfleet officers found it hard to square with their ongoing mission. Over 25 years later, Star Trek: Picard season 1 focused on a retired Admiral Picard leading a ragtag group of non-Starfleet officers on a mission to unmask an immoral Federation conspiracy that impacted countless synthetic and organic lives.

23 years after Cal Hudson went rogue in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Maquis two-parter, Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) did the same in the Star Trek: Discovery pilot, triggering a war and landing herself in prison. Burnham’s complex journey of redemption against the morally ambiguous background of the Federation-Klingon War made Star Trek: Discovery a spiritual successor to DS9. By introducing the Maquis in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the franchise forced Starfleet to confront the cost of “the greater good“, creating a more morally complex and richly textured version of Star Trek that continues to this day.

All episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Star Trek: Voyager are available to stream on Paramount+.