As a result of this incident, the Federation pulled the USS Defiant out of storage (which was originally designed to combat the Borg), complete with a Romulan cloaking device, and began preparations for a drastic increase in Deep Space Nine's defensive capabilities.
In 2371, the combined intelligence organizations of the Cardassian Union and Romulan Star Empire attempted a strike into the Gamma Quadrant with a cloaked fleet, seeking to destroy the Founders' homeworld and cripple the Dominion.
The Cardassian and Romulan intelligence agencies, the Obsidian Order and the Tal Shiar, attempt to eradicate the Founders to protect the Alpha Quadrant, but their plans are compromised by Changeling infiltration, and their fleet is ambushed and destroyed.
In 2002, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine producer Ira Steven Behr stated that unlike some plots, which originated from a single small idea, the creation of the Dominion villain and story arc was "very much thought out.
Behr, Wolfe, writer Peter Allan Fields and Jim Crocker attended meetings to develop the concepts of these species and found general inspiration in Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy novels.
[4] Toward the end of Season Two production executive producer Michael Piller suggested the idea that the Founders of the Dominion be the race to which Odo belongs, and discovered that Behr and Wolfe had also discussed this possibility.
[9][10] Moore has stated that the filming of Star Trek: Voyager occupied more of Berman and Piller's time from Deep Space Nine's third season, which allowed Behr to defend his creative decisions more successfully.
[8] The plot of the Dominion War is presented in a succession of shorter story arcs which span Seasons Two through Seven of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and are linked editorially by the decisions of the producers and writers.
These reports are justified in "Sanctuary", when a large fleet of Skrreea ships appears in the Alpha Quadrant, in search of a new homeworld in light of the conquest of their original planet by Dominion forces.
Avery Brooks, directing this episode, has emphasized the story as a metaphor for African-American adolescents in the 20th century and their struggles with addiction and violence, their integration into American society, and how their upbringing might contribute to these problems.
The production staff decided to begin a plotline based around suspicions between the Federation and the Klingons, finally leading to conflict between the former allies, which was inspired by a line from the Season Three episode "The Die is Cast".
"[35] Behr's favorite line from the episode is "Paradise never seemed so well-armed", highlighting one of many occasions when Deep Space Nine would point out the practical issues revolving around maintaining the peaceful culture of the Federation and the moral or immoral choices made to achieve this ideal.
[37][38][39][40] In the Season Five opener, "Apocalypse Rising", Odo discovers that his race is capable of deceiving their own kind, as well as "solids", when he is led to believe that Klingon Chancellor Gowron is a Changeling instead of the General, Martok.
This plot was planned to shift the focus of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes back toward the struggle with the Dominion, which had been postponed in earlier production discussions with Paramount in favor of bringing Worf and a Klingon-based plotline into the series.
[38] In "Blaze of Glory", the characters confront the issue of ethnic cleansing when the Maquis – a resistance group of former Federation citizens now living in Cardassian space – are hunted down and ask for the assistance of Sisko, who used to criticize their methods.
[43] Planning the arc, Ira Steven Behr, Ronald D. Moore, and the writers conceived a longer chain of first five, then six connected episodes, stretching from "A Time to Stand" to "Sacrifice of Angels", as themes increased demands for greater narrative development.
[44][45] No writer had previously contributed to a series involving arcs of such length, and Moore, Behr, and novice scripting partner & supervising producer Hans Beimler have all stated that the writing process changed as a result, with more production collaboration and interaction than for earlier seasons of Deep Space Nine.
Former resistance fighter Major Kira is portrayed re-considering her ethical code as she sets out on the path to collaboration in "Rocks and Shoals", but the suicide of a Bajoran monk reminds her of the reality of her situation.
[49] In "A Time to Stand" and "Behind the Lines", the character of Odo is torn between the trust placed in him by Kira and the Bajorans, and his status as a Founder, when he joins Deep Space Nine's Dominion council and then neglects to help his comrades at a critical moment.
"[51] Ira Steven Behr compares Sisko to the Biblical figure Moses, who fails to reach the Promised Land, and to the character of Ethan Edwards from the Western film The Searchers (1956), who neglects to return to his family once his task is complete.
"[65][66] The resurgence in the conflict provided opportunities to introduce problems such as post-conflict psychological trauma in "The Siege of AR-558"[67] and injury when the character of Nog undergoes leg amputation in "It's Only a Paper Moon".
[68] Moore has said that the plot of this episode was agreed on after an "extended argument" between Behr and Deep Space Nine creator Rick Berman and that such discussions were a common occurrence when war casualties were considered.
[76] In return for the Dominion's peaceful surrender, and the arrest of the Female Changeling on charges of war crimes, the Alpha Quadrant alliance permits Odo to heal the rest of his people.
However, through Odo's sharing of intelligence with him, Worf reveals in the Star Trek: Picard episode "Seventeen Seconds" that the Founders were split on the question of whether to cooperate with the Federation in upholding the treaty, or take up revenge.
With the Cold War over, perhaps the Roddenberry optimism seems merely naive as headlines bring news of murderous divisions between Serbs and Muslims, Kurds and Turks, Israelis and Palestinians, Irish Catholics and Protestants, and so on across an increasingly depressing globe.
"[83] Cynthia Littleton, writing for Variety in 1998, summarized the ratings the series was receiving at the end of its sixth season: "Deep Space Nine may not go out on as high a Nielsen note as Next Generation, which wrapped a hugely successful run in 1994, but DS9 is hardly floundering.
"[85] In 2008, Nader Elhefnawy, contributor to The Internet Review of Science Fiction, asserted that, while less appreciated than other science-fiction series of the 1990s, Deep Space Nine had developed an interesting cast of characters, "thanks to the Dominion War, much of the richest and most exciting drama in the Star Trek franchise's history.
Cinescape columnist Andrew Hershberger remarked in 2003 on the lack of critical success for science-fiction television: "Nobody cool would dare vote for a sci-fi show [for Outstanding Drama Series] that didn't have [Stanley] Kubrick or Chris Carter's name attached to it ...
[93] In contrast, Robert Jewett and John Shelton Lawrence, authors of The Myth of the American Superhero, argue that the Dominion War plotlines in Deep Space Nine continue Star Trek's portrayal of "humanistic militarism", in that conflict is justified for the sake of humanity.
The 2018 expansion Victory is Life introduces Jem'hadar as a playable race, and shows the Dominion (represented by the changeling character Odo) fighting a losing war with the hur'q, an alien species with connections to Klingon history.