“Favor the Bold” is episode five of season six of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
In the previous episode, “Behind the Lines”, Quark (who is tired of the Dominion and wants the Federation back) discovered that Damar had discovered a way of disabling the minefield blocking the wormhole, one which Rom confirmed would work. So they planned to stop it from working. The female Changeling had linked with Odo when he was supposed to be deactivating the security sensors, resulting in the mission failing and Rom being captured. Odo had not forgotten – he simply didn’t care. Linking with another Changeling seems to be affecting him like a drug would. He didn’t care that Kira was upset either.
This episode opens with the Defiant having problems, venting plasma, unable to move and requesting help when two Dominion ships show up. They have damaged shields and no weapons and the Dominion ships attack. Then a Klingon Bird of Prey decloaks and destroys one Dominion ship. The Klingon ship is Martok’s Rotarran and this is a trap – the Defiant comes up to full power and destroys the other Dominion ship. Following this, all the ships in the sector are ordered to go to Starbase 375. The crew is tired of retreating. Dax is not happy and, once the Defiant is back at the starbase, tells Sisko that they can’t win by constantly retreating and that they need a victory. Sisko agrees – he’s presenting a plan to Starfleet Command to retake DS9 from the Dominion. Garak is convinced that Starfleet Intelligence has implanted a chip in his brain to read his thoughts. The others tell him he is simply being debriefed, not interrogated. Garak would rather be on the Defiant.
Starfleet Command is initially uncertain about Sisko’s plan. If the Dominion doesn’t try to defend DS9, they could attack Earth, which will be vulnerable due to the forces committed to the attack on the station. However, as Sisko points out, it’s the wormhole that is the key to the quadrant. After all, there are a lot of Dominion ships stuck on the other side in the Gamma Quadrant. The Federation and Klingon Empire haven’t been doing so well against the forces they already have through; more will surely spell defeat. Chancellor Gowron also has concerns and is reluctant to commit the Klingon fleet, so General Martok and Worf head to Kronos to convince him.
On DS9 Quark is convinced that Odo didn’t mean to arrest Rom. Kira is not convinced. Odo has left orders that he not be disturbed until his guest, the female Changeling, has left. Odo has lost track of time, and he’s concerned about this. Kira asks to see Weyoun – who is trying to get a grip on Ziyal’s art; his race does not have a sense of aesthetics, as the Founders never included in their genetic makeup – about Rom, asking for his release. Weyoun says that is pointless, as you can’t release a man then execute him for terrorism. Plus, Rom came up with the minefield in the first place. Kira is not happy. Neither Kira nor Quark want to let that happen. Rom wants Quark to finish what he started and stop the Dominion from taking down the minefield, instead of rescuing him.
The minefield is coming down before Starfleet has all the resources that Sisko had planned for the attack, so the mission goes ahead anyway, without all the ships they need, because if the Dominion deactivates the minefield, the forces of the Alpha Quadrant will have problems.
A cliff-hanger ending with the story continuing in the next episode, “Sacrifice of Angels”.