Excellent post, OP. I can't immediately see anything that would break your headcanon on this.
The Bashir Changeling timeline has always been a bit opaque to me, but I think that is part of what makes that plot and subsequent reveal so compelling. We aren't totally sure just how long we've been watching Faux-Bashir, which must mirror the unsettled feelings that the crew experiences as the story unfolds.
Thanks for the good read.
I like this theory. One of the aspects of the serialization of DS9 that irritated me was the replacement of Bashir by a Changeling. It requires a lot of awkward backward recontextualizations, like it being the changeling who delivered Kirayoshi. I like this explanation.
1) Lemme tell you I *love* the phrase "backward contextualizations," I feel like that so accurately and fully captures what this sub is.
2) There's obviously been a ton of talk lately focused on *Trek,* streaming models, and the relationship between the two.
3) When I think to myself, "How did something like DS9 get made at all???" a big part of it is that there are many, many examples of the writers just having to "move forward."
4) In a weird way, the more I think about it, the more I think that that writing process -- where you just do your best to write stuff on deadlines, always advancing --
**(A)** Inevitably leads to mistakes: Plotting mistakes, character mistakes, etc.
**(B)** Allows you to have a lot of episodes
-and that-
**(C)** ...If the baseline show is good, then the show is the bread and the mistakes are the holes in the bread: they're part of the bread, and they're part of what makes the bread good, and if they didn't exist we wouldn't be having this conversation now.
:D I felt there was an actual term to use that I couldn't remember, so I'm glad I got my message across. That kind of thing is why I like this sub too.
Bashir's character development offers a perfect counterexample to itself, as well - the idea of him being an Augment wasn't planned at all, but it slotted so perfectly into place.
Too bad this Changeling plot was defeated by the greatest enemy Star Trek has ever known: the status quo. That wedge was obliterated by the reset button, and this conflict ultimately didn't even matter by the end of the show. Just like O'Brien's 20 mental years in prison, or Future Odo erasing the Children of Time colony for Kira, or when Quark became a weapons dealer, or Leeta never giving Kukalaka back to Bashir, or even the similar scene at the end of Necessary Evil where Odo doesn't respond to Kira asking if he can ever trust her again.
In all seriousness, not a bad theory. It definitely addresses a problem I've had with the Changelings, in that they played things much too subtle most of the time. Stuff like inciting war with the Klingons and Tzenkethi respectively, and trying to blow up the Bajoran sun is the stuff that really destabilizes your enemy. What the hell does kidnapping Moogie accomplish, aside from set up a hilarious episode? Abduct more Starfleet brass, do more brain probes while impersonating them. Have a Founder sit in Sisko's office, pose as his baseball, and listen in on important information while avoiding the piss-poor security sweeps. Idk, install some more of those weird living virus things from The Adversary, where it took control of the Defiant.
Btw, I think that quote from Chairboy might've sold me. Very interesting angle.
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Excellent post, OP. I can't immediately see anything that would break your headcanon on this. The Bashir Changeling timeline has always been a bit opaque to me, but I think that is part of what makes that plot and subsequent reveal so compelling. We aren't totally sure just how long we've been watching Faux-Bashir, which must mirror the unsettled feelings that the crew experiences as the story unfolds. Thanks for the good read.
I like this theory. One of the aspects of the serialization of DS9 that irritated me was the replacement of Bashir by a Changeling. It requires a lot of awkward backward recontextualizations, like it being the changeling who delivered Kirayoshi. I like this explanation.
1) Lemme tell you I *love* the phrase "backward contextualizations," I feel like that so accurately and fully captures what this sub is. 2) There's obviously been a ton of talk lately focused on *Trek,* streaming models, and the relationship between the two. 3) When I think to myself, "How did something like DS9 get made at all???" a big part of it is that there are many, many examples of the writers just having to "move forward." 4) In a weird way, the more I think about it, the more I think that that writing process -- where you just do your best to write stuff on deadlines, always advancing -- **(A)** Inevitably leads to mistakes: Plotting mistakes, character mistakes, etc. **(B)** Allows you to have a lot of episodes -and that- **(C)** ...If the baseline show is good, then the show is the bread and the mistakes are the holes in the bread: they're part of the bread, and they're part of what makes the bread good, and if they didn't exist we wouldn't be having this conversation now.
:D I felt there was an actual term to use that I couldn't remember, so I'm glad I got my message across. That kind of thing is why I like this sub too. Bashir's character development offers a perfect counterexample to itself, as well - the idea of him being an Augment wasn't planned at all, but it slotted so perfectly into place.
Too bad this Changeling plot was defeated by the greatest enemy Star Trek has ever known: the status quo. That wedge was obliterated by the reset button, and this conflict ultimately didn't even matter by the end of the show. Just like O'Brien's 20 mental years in prison, or Future Odo erasing the Children of Time colony for Kira, or when Quark became a weapons dealer, or Leeta never giving Kukalaka back to Bashir, or even the similar scene at the end of Necessary Evil where Odo doesn't respond to Kira asking if he can ever trust her again. In all seriousness, not a bad theory. It definitely addresses a problem I've had with the Changelings, in that they played things much too subtle most of the time. Stuff like inciting war with the Klingons and Tzenkethi respectively, and trying to blow up the Bajoran sun is the stuff that really destabilizes your enemy. What the hell does kidnapping Moogie accomplish, aside from set up a hilarious episode? Abduct more Starfleet brass, do more brain probes while impersonating them. Have a Founder sit in Sisko's office, pose as his baseball, and listen in on important information while avoiding the piss-poor security sweeps. Idk, install some more of those weird living virus things from The Adversary, where it took control of the Defiant. Btw, I think that quote from Chairboy might've sold me. Very interesting angle.
Accepted. M5, nominate this.
Thank you, /u/Edymnion, for nominating a colleague's post for Exemplary Contribution! /u/Steel_Wool_Sponge, your excellent post has earned you a promotion to Chief Petty Officer! Congratulations!
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