“The House of Quark” is episode three of season three of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
In the previous episode, “The Search: Part 2”, the Federation had encountered the Dominion’s mysterious Founders – they are Changelings, Odo’s people. They appear to have designs on the Alpha Quadrant, but not much reference is made to this.
Because of the threat from the Dominion, the station is now very quiet, a fact that Quark is bemoaning, as no one is patronising his bar, except for a very drunk Klingon. A disagreement breaks out, the Klingon draws a knife, and accidentally manages to kill himself.
Quark decides to build things up, claiming he fought the Klingon and killed him in self-defence. The dead man was the head of a Great House, and his widow, Grilka (Mary Kay Adams, who played Na’Toth in Babylon 5) visits the station and abducts Quark, taking him to Kronos, the Klingon homeworld. Because of Quark lying about the fight, she is going to lose her house. In order to prevent this, she marries Quark and he has to survive in a culture that doesn’t really respect money, even if they want it.
Back on the station, Keiko O’Brien has had to close her school, as only Jake and Nog are left, all the Bajorans having returned home, so the chief tries to think up something for her to do.