The Changing Face of Evil

"The Changing Face of Evil" is the 170th episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It was first aired on syndicated television on April 26, 1999.^[1]

Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Starfleet-managed space station Deep Space Nine near the planet Bajor, as the Bajorans recover from a decades-long occupation by the imperialistic Cardassians. The station is adjacent to a wormhole connecting Bajor to the distant Gamma Quadrant; the wormhole is home to powerful alien beings worshipped by the Bajorans as the godlike "Prophets". The later seasons of the series follow a war between the United Federation of Planets and the Dominion, an expansionist empire from the Gamma Quadrant, which has already absorbed Cardassia; the Dominion is ruled by the shapeshifting Changelings and administered by the genetically-engineered, cloned Vorta.

This is the fourth episode of the nine-episode concluding story arc of the series, which brings the Dominion War and other story elements to a close. In episodes preceding this one, the Dominion has forged a new alliance with the enigmatic aliens known as the Breen, while Gul Dukat, the Cardassian who governed Bajor under the occupation, has disguised himself as a Bajoran under the name "Anjohl" and won the favor of the ambitious Bajoran spiritual leader Kai Winn. In this episode, the Breen alliance turns the tide of the war in the Dominion's favor, leading to costly losses for the Federation; but the Cardassian leader Damar, having grown more and more discontent with Dominion rule, launches a rebellion to regain Cardassian independence. Meanwhile, Kai Winn, having abandoned the Prophets in favor of their evil counterparts, the Pah-wraiths, under Dukat's influence, commits herself further to the Pah-wraiths' path.