Warning: contains spoilers for Star Trek #19!
Star Trek’s Captain Sisko has had a testy relationship with the Bajoran Prophets, and now this relationship changes forever as Ben turns his greatest strength against them. In Star Trek #19, the Prophets forbid Sisko from traveling to the Pleroma, the recently discovered “realm of the gods.” With the fate of existence hanging in the balance, Sisko takes his greatest strength, and uses it against the Prophets.
Star Trek #19 is written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly and drawn by Megan Levens. After hearing T’Lir’s plea for help, Sisko communes with the Prophets. T’Lir wishes the crew of the Theseus to travel to the Pleroma, but the Prophets tell Sisko he is not allowed. However, Sisko decides to go anyway.
As he takes the Theseus to be refitted at Utopia Planitia, he reflects on a conversation he once had with General Martok on Deep Space Nine, in which the Klingon praised Sisko’s greatest strength, which is not being good at doing what he is told.
Sisko Is Going Back To Where It All Started For Him: Utopia Planitia
The God War Has Forced Him to Reevaluate His Relationship with the Prophets
The issue ends with Sisko arriving at his pre-Deep Space Nine posting: Utopia Planitia, bringing his arc full circle. After his career nearly died at Planitia, Sisko was sent to Deep Space Nine. At the time, it was just another posting, but with the discovery of the Bajoran Wormhole, and the non-linear beings called the Prophets that resided in it, Sisko’s life changed drastically. The Prophets declare Sisko “the Emissary,” an important role in the spiritual life of Bajor. This position often put Captain Sisko at odds with his duties as a Starfleet officer.
In the Deep Space Nine series finale, “What We Leave Behind,” Sisko was taken by the Prophets to the wormhole, where he would learn more about a non-linear, non-corporeal existence. Sisko was gone for three years, and it put a massive strain on his personal relationships, particularly with his son Jake. The Prophets pulled Sisko to their realm with no regard for these relationships. When the threat of Kahless and the god-killer reared its head, the Prophets sent Sisko back to stop him, with the understanding that he would return when the task was finished.
Related
Star Trek: Q Explains Why Benjamin Sisko Is Humanity’s Ideal Messiah
Q explains how Star Trek’s Captain Sisko is very different from other Starfleet captains and why that also makes him a different sort of messiah.
Captain Sisko’s Greatest Strength Might Save the Galaxy
Sisko Does Not Like Being Told What to Do…By Anyone
Yet in Star Trek #19, Sisko uses his greatest strength, his stubbornness and dislike of authority, against them. The Prophets did not give him a reason why to avoid the Pleroma, only speaking in cryptic phrases. Sisko’s patience for the Prophets is wearing thin. If Sisko and the Theseus do not go there to fix the damage Kahless has wrought, then the entire multiverse may be at stake. Sisko has no use for the Prophets or their riddles. With a racing clock hanging over his head, Sisko has (for now) forsaken the Prophets.
Star Trek #19 is on sale now from IDW Publishing!
Star Trek #19 (2024) | |
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