"The Homecoming" is the 21^st episode

Episode

An episode is a part of a dramatic work such as a serial television or radio program. An episode is a part of a sequence of a body of work, akin to a chapter of a book. The term sometimes applies to works based on other forms of mass media as well, as in Star Wars...

 of the science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...

. It is the first episode in a three-part story arc

Story arc

A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...

.

Overview

Kira rescues a Bajoran prisoner of war; meanwhile, an extremist group begins to take control of Bajor.

Plot

Quark

Quark (Star Trek)

Quark is a fictional character in the American television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The character, which was played by Armin Shimerman, was depicted as a member of an extraterrestrial race known as the Ferengi, who are stereotypically ultra-capitalist and only motivated by...

 gives Kira

Kira Nerys

Kira Nerys , played by Nana Visitor, is a main character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Backstory:Per Bajoran custom, her family name, Kira, precedes her given name, Nerys. She has two brothers , and her parents' names are Kira Taban and Kira Meru...

 a Bajoran

Bajoran

In the Star Trek science-fiction franchise, the Bajorans are a humanoid extraterrestrial species native to the planet Bajor. They were first introduced in the 1991 episode "Ensign Ro" of Star Trek: The Next Generation and subsequently also featured in episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and...

 earring, which she immediately recognizes as belonging to Li Nalas, a Bajoran war hero long thought dead. Li is being held on the desert planet

Desert planet

A desert planet is a single-biome planet on which the climate is mostly desert, with little or no natural precipitation. Desert planets are known to exist; Mars is often considered a prime example. Indeed, many terrestrial planets would be considered desert planets by this definition...

 Cardassia IV, so Kira requests a runabout for a rescue mission. Sisko

Benjamin Sisko

Benjamin Lafayette Sisko, played by Avery Brooks, is the main character of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Early life and career:...

 tells her he will consider it, but while he considers the matter, O'Brien

Miles O'Brien (Star Trek)

Miles Edward O'Brien, played by Colm Meaney, is Chief of Operations in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Before DS9, he appeared as a recurring transporter chief in Star Trek: The Next Generation...

 discovers graffiti

Graffiti

Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....

 from an extremist faction called "The Circle" who want to expel all non-Bajorans from Bajor. Seeing this convinces Sisko that Bajor needs a leader like Li Nalas and he grants Kira the runabout.

Kira and O'Brien, disguising their runabout as a Lesseppian transport, travel to Cardassia IV and discover a labor camp

Labor camp

A labor camp is a simplified detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons...

 with more than a dozen Bajorans. O'Brien pretends to solicit Kira to one of the soldiers, tricking him into lowering the force field that surrounds the camp. They rescue Li and several other prisoners. Before Kira and O'Brien return to DS9

Deep Space Nine (space station)

Deep Space Nine is a fictitious space station, and is the eponymous primary setting of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It serves as a base for the exploration of the Gamma Quadrant via the Bajoran wormhole, and is a hub of trade and travel for the sector's denizens...

, Gul Dukat

Dukat (Star Trek)

Gul Dukat is the main antagonist of the fictional television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is a member of the fictional Cardassian species, and leader in the Cardassian Union. At times he is an enemy, whilst at others an ally of the series' protagonist Benjamin Sisko. He was played by actor...

 contacts Sisko to inform him that the Cardassian government has issued a formal apology and the remaining prisoners are en route to Bajor. Bajor's provisional government

Provisional government

A provisional government is an emergency or interim government set up when a political void has been created by the collapse of a very large government. The early provisional governments were created to prepare for the return of royal rule...

, on the other hand, chastises Kira's actions because they might have resulted in war with Cardassia.

DS9's Bajoran population greets Li Nalas as a returning hero. Sisko and Kira urge him to help bring stability to Bajor, but shortly thereafter Li is caught trying to stow away on a departing freighter. He relates to a puzzled Sisko that he never wanted to be a hero; he killed a Cardassian out of necessity and his fellow Bajorans eventually turned him into a legend. Sisko convinces Li to stay because Bajor needs a legend like him.

After a trip to Bajor, Li Nalas returns with Minister

Minister (government)

A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....

Jaro Essa of the provisional government. The Chamber of Ministers has invented a new title for Li: "Navark." However, the title means little; seeing Li as a threat to their power, the politicians have made him liaison officer to DS9 and "promoted" Kira to Bajor where they believe she can do them no more danger.

Arc significance

• Kira rescues Li Nalas, a Bajoran prisoner of war and heroic figure, from a Cardassian prison camp. Soon after, as an alleged gesture of good faith, the Cardassians release all remaining Bajoran prisoners.

• On Bajor, an extremist faction known as "the Circle" is gaining momentum.

• Minister Jaro visits the station and privately thanks Kira for rescuing Li.

• Li Nalas becomes Sisko's liaison officer and Kira Nerys is recalled to Bajor without Sisko's consent.

External links