“You Are Cordially Invited…” is episode seven of season six of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
In the previous episode, “Sacrifice of Angels”, despite everything, the Federation had failed. The Klingon fleet arrived in time to help against the Dominion and Cardassians, allowing the Defiant to break through and head to DS9, but she was the only ship to manage it, and a rather battered one at that. On DS9, Ziyal and Quark had broken Rom and the others out of jail but, despite Odo helping Kira and Rom get to the main computer, Rom failed to deactivate the station’s weapons before the minefield was destroyed. The Defiant headed into the wormhole by itself to confront thousands of Dominion ships that were coming free. In what is probably a literally deus ex machina moment, the wormhole aliens removed the Dominion ships (and sent them somewhere unknown; perhaps even destroyed them) to stop the death of The Sisko (although at some sort of personal consequence to him).
The Federation and the Klingons broke through the Dominion forces and headed to DS9, so the female Changeling ordered a retreat, given that the station’s weapons no longer worked. Gul Dukat tried convincing Ziyal to flee with him, but Damar heard that she had helped free Rom and killed her. Which seems to have broken Dukat. For now, anyway.
So, with the Federation back in control of the station and the war is, if not over, a little less desperate now, things are to a degree back to normal. DS9 is now the headquarters for the Ninth Fleet, and is still a major target given its position near the wormhole. General Martok confronts Sisko about something that has just happened to the former, something Sisko knew about and even suggested. Martok is now the supreme commander of the Ninth Fleet. Martok discusses Worf’s son, Alexander. Martok feels that Alexander has his father’s heart, but he is not exactly the best soldier around (he’s basically a disaster-prone klutz). Alexander himself, and most of Rotarran‘s crew, is being reassigned to a new ship.
Quark asks Worf if he’s reconsidered. Worf says that the wedding will be held on the Klingon homeworld after the war, not Quark’s bar. Dax says they should have it here, on the station, before Alexander leaves, so that he can attend his father’s wedding. Especially as it could be a while before the war is over. Worf has planned out a traditional Klingon wedding, and Dax is going along with it. She says he’s very sentimental about Klingon weddings, and besides, she’s already been through quite a few Trill weddings.
Worf’s closest male friends – Martok, Sisko, O’Brien, Bashir and Alexander – accompany him on the Klingon equivalent of a four night bachelor party (this is not quite what they expect). Martok’s wife, Sirella, as mistress of the house will spend the next four days evaluating Dax. When Sirella arrives on the station, her greetings to Martok suggest that this may not go smoothly. It does not. Sirella does not want an alien in the House of Martok and the initial meeting between her and Dax does not go well. Sirella doesn’t like Worf either. Things have the potential to get a little tense.
Odo and Major Kira have been avoiding each other. Neither is really ready to talk about what happened during the Dominion occupation.