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Since its creation, the Star Trek franchise has gone through some fairly drastic changes. Some are more noticeable than others, like an entire reality shift like the Kelvin timeline films. Meanwhile, others are much more subtle, and take place in a much subtler way. These are often changes found in the writing, or in the overall theme which each series or film is tapping into. There is one particular episode, however, found within the critically acclaimed Deep Space 9 series, that set a precedent for what Star Trek had become. This episode changed the franchise forever.

Right from the start, DS9 was always intended to be a different show from what fans had come to expect from Star Trek. It was a darker, grittier telling of the various affairs of the Federation, highlighting how it is far easier to be a saint, like Picard or Kirk, when in the paradise of the Federation's inner bubble. The space station where the events of DS9 unfolded was right on the fringes of their space. It constantly took the brunt of political turbulence, toeing the fine line between peace and full-fledged war. As a consequence, the show made it its mission to tell stories that constantly walked the knife's edge of morality. The characters' decisions often bordered on criminal, all for the sake of doing what was right, or what was needed to survive. This all comes to a dramatic climax in the famous episode “In The Pale Moonlight.” To this day, it regarded as one of the best episodes of Star Trek ever made.

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While the episode is largely celebrated, it is not without issues. Many regard it as highly controversial. While the franchise had been distancing itself from the shows' creator Gene Roddenberry for quite some time, this episode in particular took everything he envisioned and wanted for the show, and threw it out. Creators had done this quite a few times in the past, often breaking with some of his ideals such as his apparently sacred starship design rules. However, it had never been done blatantly and directly.

Star Trek roddenberry and ship

Roddenberry had a fair few ideas as to what the humans of the future should be like, but at its core he believed that the Federation were an intrinsic force for good. The universe relied on them to keep the peace and be beckons of hope and saintliness. “In The Pale Moonlight,” though, changes all this. The episode shows the harsh reality of the Federation as a morally gray corporation with as many nefarious intentions as the next. It set up narratives for all the shows that came after, from Discovery to Picard, which now toy with the idea of an imperfect and flawed Federation.

The episode shows a broken-up Sisko recording a log. He explains that he played a key part in conspiring with a Cardassian to create false evidence, in the form of a forged holo-recording, to trick the Romulan empire to join the Federation against the invading Dominion in the midst of the Dominion war. The holo-recording detailed plans for the Dominion to invade Romulan space. At this time, the Federation were losing badly. They were are on the brink of destruction, so these actions were deemed a necessary evil by the Federation captain. He lied to trick the Romulans, who had up until this point been avoiding the warfare entirely, into joining their fight.

While this was morally bad enough, things took a turn for the worse. The Romulan senator who received the recordings deduced it was faked, and set off to inform the Romulan empire of the Federation's deception. This means that the Romulans will likely join forced with the Dominion, spelling the demise of the Federation. Garak, however, under the vague orders of a heavy-hearted Sisko, intervenes. The shuttle with the senator and holo-recording are destroyed by what is apparently a dominion bomb. This, combined with the recovered yet damaged holo-recording (any imperfections from it being faked simply written off as damage from the explosion) lead to the Romulans join the Federations war effort.

Pcard and Sisko

Everything Sisko does throughout this episode goes directly against everything Roddenberry envisioned for the show. The captain is a self-proclaimed “just man” over "great Starfleet pawn," who is forced to make a decision that goes against every bone in his body. He does something evil, not because he enjoys it, but because his hands are tied. While his actions are never justifiable (even by himself) he knows that he must make them. He is disgusted with himself, at first blaming Garak, but as the latter points out:

‘That’s why you came to me, isn't it captain? Because you knew I could do those things […] you got what you wanted […] and if your conscience is bothering you, you should soothe it with the knowledge that you may have just saved the entire Alpha Quadrant’.

Up until this point, Garak's true nature has always been approached through vague comments and innuendo between himself and Dr. Bashir. But here, everything is finally laid clear, and the meticulous, controlling, calculating man without conscience is revealed. It is a sobering realization for Sisko, and a wonderful scene to watch unfold.

Roddenberry had always had an incredibly optimistic view of the future. He envisioned a united Earth where war, disease, and racism were just a few of the terrible societal pitfalls to have been eradicated. He created a Federation without internal strife, the only issues and conflicts stemming from outside their comfortable walls. His heroes were pinnacles of morality who could always find an amicable, peaceful, solution, always maintaining the high ground. DS9, however, and this episode in particular, highlighted the pragmatic realism that the show had, until this point, been missing. It opened the floodgates for Star Trek to finally show the Federation and Starfleet in a new, more fallible light. Roddenberry had good intentions, but his vision stopped the show from achieving what it was capable of for a long time. "In The Pale Moonlight" changed that.

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