The Changing Face of Evil

"The Changing Face of Evil"
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode
Episode no.	Season 7 Episode 20
Directed by	Mike Vejar
Written by	Ira Steven Behr Hans Beimler
Featured music	Jay Chattaway
Production code	570
Original air date	April 26, 1999 (1999-04-26)
Guest appearances
Louise Fletcher as Kai Winn Jeffrey Combs as Weyoun Penny Johnson Jerald as Kasidy Yates Marc Alaimo as Gul Dukat Casey Biggs as Damar J. G. Hertzler as General Martok Aron Eisenberg as Nog Barry Jenner as Admiral Ross James Otis as Solbor John Vickery as Rusot Salome Jens as Female Changeling
Episode chronology
← Previous "Strange Bedfellows" Next → "When It Rains…"
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 7
List of episodes

"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

.

This is the fourth episode of the nine-episode concluding

, 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.

Plot

The Breen make their alliance with the Dominion known by attacking Starfleet Headquarters in

, a freighter captain. Sisko pulls political strings to get Yates time off from her job; she protests, reminding him that her job is just as important to her as his is to him, and he apologizes and cancels his request. Meanwhile, Damar plots to free Cardassia from Dominion rule.

Dukat persuades Winn to read the Book of the Kosst Amojan, a forbidden text that contains secret information about how to release the Pah-wraiths. Winn's aide Solbor reluctantly brings her the book, but to her surprise, its pages are blank. Suspicious of Winn's interest in evil texts and of her new companion's influence on her, Solbor investigates "Anjohl" and discovers that he is actually Gul Dukat. Winn is horrified to learn the truth about "Anjohl". But when Solbor discovers that they have been trying to release the Pah-wraiths, Winn kills him. His blood drips on the Book of the Kosst Amojan and makes the text visible.

Emboldened by the alliance with the Breen, the Dominion launches an offensive to retake Chin'toka, a star system captured by the Federation some months earlier. In the ensuing battle, the Federation alliance suffers one of its worst defeats of the war. Sisko's ship, the

allows the survivors to escape, reasoning that their reports will have a demoralizing effect on their comrades.

As the Federation tries to regroup from this devastating loss, Damar releases a public message announcing that Cardassia will revolt against the Dominion; he begins the rebellion by destroying a Vorta cloning facility. Sisko realizes that Damar's rebellion may be the key to defeating the Dominion.

Reception

In 2018, Comic Book Resources ranked the sequence of episodes beginning with "The Changing Face of Evil" and leading up to the end of Deep Space Nine as the best multi-episode saga of the Star Trek franchise.^[3]

In 2020, The Digital Fix ranked this episode as the tenth best episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. They thought the episode's tensions and surprises "raised the stakes", supporting the continuing story arc in the concluding ten episodes of the series.^[4]

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Changing Face of Evil.

• "The Changing Face of Evil" at
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• The Changing Face of Evil at Memory Alpha
• "The Changing Face of Evil" at Wayback Machine (archived from the original at StarTrek.com)