“The Search: Part 2” is episode two of season three of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
In the previous episode, “The Search: Part 1”, things were not looking good. The Defiant had headed to the Gamma Quadrant to try and contact the Founders and negotiate a treaty with the Dominion. O’Brien and Dax had been left behind, then Jem’Hadar ships attacked the Defiant. Odo took Major Kira with him, and the ship was abandoned by the rest.
Odo and Kira had found a rogue planet and, when they landed on it, were welcomed by a group of shapeshifters like Odo. He had finally found his home.
Now, Sisko and Bashir are in a shutlecraft when another ship grabs them. When the craft’s door opens, they find Dax and O’Brien. It seems the Founders are willing to negotiate after all. They return to DS9 to find negotiations underway, but Sisko is disturbed by what he sees going on in them. The Romulan Empire has been left out of the negotiations, when every other power in the Alpha Quadrant is present. The Federation seems willing to bow to any demands that the Dominion makes, and eventually Sisko decides to do something about it.
Back on the Changelings’ homeworld, Odo is becoming acquainted with his people. The Changelings also have a distrust, possibly hatred, for those they term ‘Solids’ due to persecution in their past.