Captain Sisko was never comfortable with being considered the Emissary of the Prophets by the Bajorans so when the wormhole opens and Akorem, a Bajoran poet who disappeared two hundred years before, emerges and claims to be the Emissary he is happy to relinquish the role. The Bajorans happily accept their new emissary but when he says they have lost their way by abandoning their caste system they are less pleased although they agree to return to their old ways believing it must be the will of the prophets. This means Major Kira must resign from the military and become an artist as her family were from the artists' clan... even though she has no aptitude for it. Sisko is not pleased with the way Bajor is going and points out that having a caste system would make it impossible for them to join the Federation. After he is visited by the prophets he wonders if he was wrong to give up his role as their emissary and confronts Akorem, suggesting that the two of them go into the worm hole to determine who the prophets have really chosen. In the secondary plot Keiko returns to the station and tells Chief O'Brien that she is expecting another child. With his wife back the chief thinks he must totally give up his previous bachelor lifestyle although this leads to him getting under Keiko's feet so she arranges for him to go off to the holosuit with Dr, Bashir; telling each of them that the other is depressed and needs company.
While not packed with action this was a decent episode which explored the strength of the Bajorans' faith and Captain Sisko's opinion of his role as Emissary which changes over the course of the episode. Richard Libertini did well in the guest role of Akorem, until the end I was unsure if his character would turn out to be misguided, a fraud or truly the Emissary, I was pleased with how he ultimately turned out. The secondary plot wasn't too exciting but provided a few good laughs and I enjoyed seeing Keiko get her husband and Julian to do what she wanted to give her some time to herself.
While not packed with action this was a decent episode which explored the strength of the Bajorans' faith and Captain Sisko's opinion of his role as Emissary which changes over the course of the episode. Richard Libertini did well in the guest role of Akorem, until the end I was unsure if his character would turn out to be misguided, a fraud or truly the Emissary, I was pleased with how he ultimately turned out. The secondary plot wasn't too exciting but provided a few good laughs and I enjoyed seeing Keiko get her husband and Julian to do what she wanted to give her some time to herself.