odo star trek ds9

Star Trek: DS9s Odo: Full Name And Meaning Explained

• Odo's full name is Odo'ital, meaning "nothing," given by Bajoran scientists and a Cardassian overseer.
• Odo dropped the surname "Ital" after finding meaning and identity through friendships on Deep Space Nine.
• The story of Odo's name is revealed to the Female Changeling, not Kira, in "Heart of Stone."

It's not mentioned often, but Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois) actually had a full name that he chose not to use. Discovered in his liquid state in orbit above Bajor, Odo spent a large part of his life before DS9 enduring a battery of painful laboratory tests. The experiments were conducted by Bajoran scientist Dr. Mora Pol, played by James Sloyan , who was unaware that Odo was a sentient being. When Odo eventually signaled his sentience to Pol, the two worked together so that the Changeling could maintain a solid form.

After Odo and Mora Pol parted, the Changeling became a security officer on the Cardassian space station Terok Nor . There, he befriended Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) and met his arch-nemesis Quark (Armin Shimerman). All three stayed aboard the station after the Cardassian Occupation ended, becoming integral parts of Deep Space Nine's crew, under the command of Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks). However, while the Constable was introduced to his new Federation colleagues as Odo, he later revealed that this was a shortening of his longer name, which had previously been a tragic reminder of his abandonment.

Constable Odo's 10 Best Star Trek: DS9 Episodes

Constable Odo's best Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes showcase the search for his origins, his clashes with the Founders, and his love for Kira.

Odos Full Name In Star Trek: DS9 Explained

"odo ital, which eventually got shortened.

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 3, episode 14, "Heart of Stone", Odo tries desperately to save Kira's life when she becomes trapped in an expanding rock formation. To keep the Major's spirits up, he decides to tell Kira the story of how he got the name Odo. Discovered as an unknown sample, Odo was labelled as such by Dr. Mora, and this label was translated by Bajor's Cardassian occupiers , the Cardassians into the name, Odo'ital , as he explains below:

Odo'ital literally means the word 'nothing'. Even after it became clear that I was sentient, the Bajoran scientists kept calling me that. As a joke, they split it into two words like a Bajoran name, Odo Ital, which eventually got shortened

The Odo'ital name, and even its Bajoran translation, is a pretty bleak example of how little agency Odo had during his time with Dr. Mora Pol. Even when they knew that he was sentient, they continued to effectively refer to Odo as " nothing ", which while being very Cardassian, doesn't reflect all that well on the Bajorans either. For context, Odo being named Odo Ital by the Bajorans and Cardassians is essentially like calling a human male John Doe, a name that is intrinsically linked with a lack of identity.

The ending of "Heart of Stone" reveals that Odo has been talking to the Female Changeling, and not Kira, meaning she never hears this story.

Why Odo Dropped His Surname In Deep Space Nine

"i no longer think of myself as nothing.".

Touchingly, Odo reveals that through his friendships with his fellow Star Trek: Deep Space Nine characters , he was able to reclaim his name for himself. The friendships that Odo makes aboard DS9 finally meant that he no longer saw himself as " nothing ", which is why he ultimately dropped the " Ital " in " Odo Ital " . Odo explains this beautifully in "Heart of Stone", in one of many great DS9 performances by Rene Auberjonois:

And then I met you. And the others. Sisko, Dax, even Quark. And now, when I hear one of you call me Odo, I no longer think of myself as nothing. I think of myself as me.

Given that Odo is actually talking to the Female Changeling (Salome Jens) this is an extremely pertinent admission. The Female Changelings plan in "Heart of Stone" is to discover what it would take to get Odo to return to the Great Link. Over the course of her conversations with Odo, the Female Changeling discovers that nothing she can do will break the bond that Odo has with the crew of DS9. The characters in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine gave Odo a sense of belonging that his own people denied him, and finally allowed him to become his own person; an individual who defied the Dominion's tyranny.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Cast Terry Farrell, Cirroc Lofton, Rene Auberjonois, Nicole de Boer, Michael Dorn, Andrew Robinson, Nana Visitor, Avery Brooks, Colm Meaney, Armin Shimerman, Alexander Siddig

Release Date January 3, 1993

Genres Drama, Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure

Network CBS

Streaming Service(s) Paramount+

Franchise(s) Star Trek

Writers Ira Steven Behr, Michael Piller, Ronald D. Moore

Showrunner Ira Steven Behr, Michael Piller

Rating TV-PG

Where To Watch Paramount+

All About Odo

“in the beginning…”.

Below is an excerpt from the DS9 Writer/Director Bible, as read before the show’s premiere by Majel Barrett at a convention…

[Note: The following ran in issue #24 of CCSTSG Enterprises , the monthly newsletter of the Central Connecticut Star Trek Support Group. At Shore Leave 14, in Hunt Valley, MD, on the weekend of July 11-12, 1992, Majel Barrett Roddenberry addressed the large audience on the subject of Deep Space Nine by reading extensive excerpts out of the writers bible and answering questions. She also made some interesting comments on other issues surrounding Trek in the post-Gene era.]

Odo, “Necessary Evil”

[…excerpt…] Odo, an alien male, middle-aged curmudgeon, and a shape-shifter. In his natural state he is a gelatinous liquid. He was a Bajoran law enforcement officer on the space station under the Cardassians. Starfleet decides to have him continue in that role, since he’s extremely savvy about the Promenade and all who frequent it. His back story is: 50 years ago, with no memory of his past, he was found alone in a mysterious space craft that appeared in the Denorios asteroid belt. He was found by the Bajorans and lived amongst them. At first he was sort of an Elephant Man, a source of curiosity and humor as he turned himself into a chair or pencil. Finally he realized he would have to take the form of a humanoid to assimilate and function in their environment. He does it, but resents it. As a result, Odo performs a uniquely important role in the ensemble: he is a character who explores and comments on human values. Because he is forced to pass as one of us, his point of view usually comes with a cynical and critical edge. But he can’t quite get it right, this humanoid shape, though he continues to try. So he looks a little unfinished in a way. He’s been working on it a long time. Someone might ask him: Why don’t you take the form of a younger man? His answer: I would if I could. He has the adopted child syndrome, searching for his own personal identity. Although he doesn’t know anything about his species, he is certain that justice is an integral part of their being, because the necessity for it runs through every fiber of his body — a racial memory. That’s why he became a lawman. He has a couple of Bajoran deputies; he doesn’t allow weapons on the Promenade, and once every day he must return to his gelatinous form….

Significant Events in the Life of Security Chief Odo

[The following detailed listing of various facts about Odo (as established in the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ) comes to us courtesy of Tracy Hemenover and her wonderful DS9 Encyclopedia & Lexicon , a must bookmark for any fan. If you have any questions about any of the different people, places, or episodes listed below, go check out Tracy’s work. You’re sure to find the answers.]

Chief of security on DS9, a Changeling who for the first two seasons did not know what he was or where he had come from. He had been sent away from the Great Link as one of 100 infant explorers, and at some point, he passed through the wormhole to the Alpha Quadrant, where he was discovered (in the Denorios Belt by Dr. Mora Pol). The name he ultimately went by, Odo, was derived from the label on the beaker he rested in: “odo’ital”, Cardassian for “unknown sample”, or, literally, “nothing”. Odo was studied by Mora, who saw to his education, and he tried to fit in by using his shapeshifting abilities to entertain others. Eventually Odo learned to take humanoid form.

After being the main attraction at a reception for the Cardassian High Command, Odo had an argument with Dr. Mora, and left the research center. He apparently spent some time in the mines, where he was often asked to settle disputes among the Bajorans, as he was considered a neutral observer. Then Odo was forced by Gul Dukat to investigate the murder of Vaatrik; his first criminal case. Kira was the prime suspect, but he let her go when she convinced him she was elsewhere committing sabotage at the time. Odo became chief of security on Terok Nor, and once arrested three Bajorans — Timor, Ishan, and Jillur — for an assassination attempt on Gul Dukat. After they were executed, Odo discovered evidence that they had been innocent. He deeply regretted the incident, which probably motivated his dedication to justice above the rule of law.

Odo remained as security chief when Starfleet took the station over (“Emissary”). In “A Man Alone”, when Ibudan, a black marketeer Odo once arrested, was found murdered in a locked holosuite, Odo was accused of the crime, and ostracized by station residents, until it was found to have been a frameup. Odo was later tantalized by the claims of a prisoner, Croden, that he knew where other “Changelings” lived. He never totally believed this, but ended up letting Croden go (“Vortex”). Odo was the unwilling recipient of Lwaxana Troi’s affection in “The Forsaken”; and in “Dramatis Personae” was the only officer not affected by the Saltah’nah matrix, which he managed to find a way to neutralize.

In “Necessary Evil”, Odo recalled his first murder case, and realized that Kira had killed Vaatrik after all, a fact which strained their friendship. Soon after that, he was reunited with Mora, who had news of the discovery of DNA similar to Odo’s in the Gamma Quadrant. During an expedition there, Odo was affected by a volcanic gas which caused him to unknowingly go on shapeshifting rampages; but he was eventually cured, and reconciled with Mora (“The Alternate”). In “Shadowplay”, Odo went to the Gamma Quadrant with Dax, and investigated mysterious disappearances in a village that turned out to be made up of holograms; one of them was a little girl named Taya whom he befriended.

On the mission to locate the Founders in “The Search, Parts I and II”, Odo finally found his homeworld and people. However, when he learned that his people were the Founders of the Dominion, he rejected them and returned to DS9. Odo hoped to correct some of the wrongs committed by his people when he tried to teach a young Jem’Hadar boy to curb his violent tendencies, but he failed and finally returned him to the Jem’Hadar (“The Abandoned”).

At around this time, Odo came to realize that he had fallen in love with Kira, who was unaware of his feelings. He acknowledged it to himself in “Heart of Stone”, when Kira was trapped in a crystal; thinking that she was about to die, he confessed his feelings, but then learned to his chagrin that she was actually the Female Changeling, impersonating Kira to try to sever his allegiance to the solids. Odo continued to keep his secret until “Children of Time” in the fifth season.

In “Improbable Cause”/”The Die is Cast”, Odo’s investigation of an explosion in Garak’s shop led to the discovery of a massing joint fleet of the Obsidian Order and the Tal’Shiar. Although he was tortured by Garak while a prisoner on a Romulan ship, Odo saved Garak’s life during the battle and escaped with him. Some time after this, while Odo was “hosting” Curzon Dax in Jadzia Dax’s zhian’tara, Curzon decided to stay (apparently with Odo’s consent), but was eventually persuaded to return to the symbiont. Then, in “The Adversary”, Odo killed another Changeling to save his crewmates on the Defiant , thus breaking the Changelings’ law against harming others of their species.

Odo at play in “The Muse”

While guarding Shakaar during the First Minister’s visit to the station, Odo watched in secret agony as Kira and Shakaar entered into a closer relationship. Surprisingly, it was his enemy Quark who realized what Odo was going through and gave him counsel (“Crossfire”). Odo withdrew from Kira, and later, in “The Muse”, aided a pregnant Lwaxana by marrying her as a legal technicality to help her keep custody of her unborn half-Tavnian son. (The marriage was assumed to have been annulled in a few months.) Then, in “Broken Link”, the Founders gave Odo a deadly illness to force him back to the Great Link to be judged for having killed another Changeling. They punished him by taking away his shapeshifting abilities, locking him into solid form as a human, though still with his “unfinished” face.

In “Apocalypse Rising”, Odo was disguised as a Klingon for the mission to Ty’GoKor, along with Sisko, O’Brien, and Worf; and he was the one who realized that Martok, not Gowron, was the Changeling. A bit later that year, after passing through a space anomaly, Odo telepathically “linked” with Sisko, Dax, and Garak, causing all four of them to relive a shameful incident in Odo’s past — the incident where he had unjustly arrested the three Bajorans (“Things Past”). Then, Odo was stranded with Quark on a hostile planet, and the two of them had to climb a mountain, carrying a subspace transmitter, and fighting all the way (“The Ascent”). When Odo came into possession of an injured baby Changeling, he tried to teach it to shapeshift, with unwanted help from Dr. Mora. They met with some success before it eventually died, but in its last moments it integrated itself into Odo’s body, and he was able to shapeshift once more (“The Begotten”).

“Gaia Odo” from “Children of Time”

In “A Simple Investigation”, Odo fell in love with a woman named Arissa who came under his protection as she was trying to leave the Orion Syndicate, and who became the first humanoid woman he was ever intimate with. He eventually learned that she was a deep-cover Idanian agent. When Arissa regained her true memories, she realized she was married, and left Odo to return to her life. It was not long after this that Odo was on a mission of the Defiant in the Gamma Quadrant where the crew encountered their own descendants. Odo was unable to take humanoid form through most of the adventure, but learned through a link with an older version of himself that Kira now knew of his feelings for her. Their new understanding, however, was shadowed by the fact that the older Odo had wiped out the existence of 8,000 colonists to save Kira’s life (“Children of Time”).

Odo remained on the station when the Dominion and Cardassia took over in “Call to Arms”; and in “A Time to Stand”, he joined Dukat and Weyoun on the station’s ruling council, in exchange for re-establishing Bajoran security. In “Behind the Lines”, when the Female Changeling visited, Odo linked with her, and under her influence ceased to care about the solids or the war. Thus, he failed to aid in the plan to prevent the minefield from being destroyed, leading to Rom’s capture. Kira was furious with him for this, which only vaguely disturbed Odo, until finally, in “Favor the Bold”/”Sacrifice of Angels”, he learned that Kira had been arrested and would be executed. He then broke free of the Female Changeling’s influence and led a Bajoran security force which prevented Kira’s and Rom’s recapture after their escape.

Vic counseling Odo in “His Way”

Odo’s reconciliation with Kira was (frustratingly) handled offscreen in “You Are Cordially Invited”. Finally, in “His Way”, Odo began consulting Vic Fontaine for advice on how to win Kira’s heart. At a “practice” date with what he thought was a hologram of Kira, Odo learned that she was the real thing. He left the holosuite in mortification; but the next day, she confronted him, and their argument led to an impulsive and very public kiss, which was the beginning of their romantic relationship.

After paying back his debt to Quark for his role in aiding his love life, by deliberately ignoring a smuggling deal (in “The Sound of Her Voice”), Odo had his first argument with Kira as a couple in “Tears of the Prophets”.

In “Treachery, Faith and the Great River”, Odo went to meet a Cardassian informant, but instead encountered Weyoun 6, who said he wanted to defect to the Federation. Odo then found himself fleeing the Jem’Hadar. Among other things, he learned from Weyoun 6 that the Founders were dying of a disease which had spread through the entire Great Link; Weyoun believed that Odo, as the last of his kind, could reform the Dominion. When escape seemed impossible, Weyoun 6 finally suicided to save Odo, who blessed him as he died.

Odo and Laas in “Chimera”

Later that year, in “Chimera”, Odo encountered Laas, one of the other 99 Changeling explorers, and was torn between his love for Kira and his desire to join Laas in a quest for their siblings, and live as Changelings “were meant to”. When Kira freed Laas from a holding cell and directed Odo to a rendezvous point, Odo finally realized that she loved him enough to let him go, and he chose to stay with her.

Just before leaving with Kira on a mission to aid Damar, Odo provided Bashir with a sample of “goo”. On the way to their destination, Odo learned from Bashir via subspace that he had contracted the Founders’ disease. Later, he noticed the first symptoms (“When It Rains…”). Due to frequent shapeshifting over the next weeks, in “Tacking Into the Wind”, Odo’s condition deteriorated rapidly, though he tried to hide this fact from Kira. He was unaware that she knew the truth. After they captured a Jem’Hadar ship, Odo finally collapsed. (Note: in this episode, Odo imitated the Female Changeling; the only time we ever saw him impersonate a specific sentient being.) Kira brought him back to DS9, and left again at his insistence; eventually, Odo was finally cured by Bashir (“Extreme Measures”). He learned in “The Dogs of War” that he had been deliberately given the disease by Section 31, who used him to introduce it into the Great Link.

In “What You Leave Behind”, Odo was on the Defiant during the final assault against the Dominion. After Kira and Garak had captured Dominion headquarters on Cardassia Prime, Odo beamed down and linked with the Female Changeling, curing her and in return gaining her agreement to cease hostilities and stand trial. This brought the final end of the war. Odo chose to rejoin the Great Link in her place, so that he could heal his people, and also in the hopes that he could teach them not to fear “solids” any longer. Kira took him to his homeworld, and they parted on the shores of the Great Link.

Miscellaneous Odo Facts

“Family” members: Technically, the entire Great Link counted as Odo’s biological “family”. However, Dr. Mora Pol was essentially a father figure to him in his early years. By another technicality, due to Odo’s marriage to Lwaxana, the baby she was pregnant with at the time would be legally Odo’s son according to Tavnian law; this was most likely nullified along with the marriage.

Friends off-station: An unnamed Bajoran peace officer (seen in “The Circle”), and a couple of friends in Starfleet Intelligence.

Other: Odo was known to go kayaking with O’Brien, and to read detective novels. Quark also once caught him reading a romance. A speech of Odo’s in “A Man Alone” might be interpreted to mean that he liked Karo-Net and Earth jazz. Odo never learned to gamble, and apparently did not care for Klingon opera. He was an adept reader of body language, and never carried a weapon even as part of his job. For the first two seasons, he had no quarters, resting instead in a bucket in the back of his office. Spiritually, he was an agnostic. His blood type, while he was human, was O-negative.

The Begotten (episode)

• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 1.6 Act Five
• 2 Memorable quotes
• 3.1 Story and script
• 3.2 Production
• 3.3 Reception
• 3.5 Video and DVD releases
• 4.1 Starring
• 4.2 Also starring
• 4.3 Guest stars
• 4.4 Uncredited co-stars
• 4.5 References
• 4.6 External links

Summary [ ]

With his back in severe pain, Odo hobbles into the infirmary convinced that he has become infected with Alvanian spine mites . However, Doctor Bashir diagnoses a pinched nerve resulting from bad posture and advises that Odo try some of Worf 's morning exercise classes. Quark , intruding, suggests he try a holosuite program featuring three Orion slave girls instead, much to Odo's annoyance. Unperturbed by the Constable 's hostility, Quark explains that he has obtained something from a Yridian dealer that Odo just might be interested in – a dead Changeling , contained in an ornate container. After settling a price of eight slips of gold-pressed latinum upon realizing that the Changeling is actually alive, but sick, Quark sells it to Odo. Bashir advises placing the Changeling into a containment field but Odo assures him there's no need – it is just an infant.

Act One [ ]

In the infirmary, Captain Sisko and Odo regard the sick and discolored infant Changeling . Odo explains that when he was found, he was as small as the infant in front of them; its mass will increase as its shapeshifting abilities develop. Bashir concludes that the infant was exposed to a massive amount of tetryon radiation , and that he will have to purge the isotopes with an electrophoretic diffuser .

Sisko asks Odo if he's sure the infant poses no threat. Odo explains that when he was found he had no idea of what he was or where he was from – what better way for the Hundred , and therefore the Founders , to gauge other species than by the way they treated the weak and vulnerable. When Sisko suggests that valuable intelligence could be gained by studying the infant, Odo asks that he be allowed to work with it, to teach it to shapeshift. Sisko proposes that Odo contact his old mentor, Doctor Mora Pol , for help, but Odo states that he would rather do it alone. Sisko tells Odo that the decision is up to him but that he probably could use some help " changing the diapers . "

Odo introduces the infant Changeling to different shapes

Some time later, Bashir reports that the purge was almost 100% successful. He says he must leave to check on Major Kira , who has gone into labor with the O'Briens' baby , but Odo is preoccupied by thoughts of the infant. Before he leaves, Bashir advises that there is still a small degree of instability in the infant's morphogenic matrix and that he has set the computer to monitor for fluctuations. Once Bashir has gone, Odo begins to talk softly to the infant, explaining how he spent months in a lab being studied and how he felt lost and alone. He promises that it won't be that way this time.

In a birthing room , a Bajoran midwife , Miles and Keiko O'Brien use percussion instruments to sound out a soothing rhythm as Doctor Bashir examines Major Kira. O'Brien struggles to keep the rhythm and complains that the birth is taking longer than expected. Bashir explains that for Bajoran women, giving birth is all about being relaxed; O'Brien counters that Kira will not relax until First Minister Shakaar arrives – just then he does, a few hours late.

" It's not a beverage; it's a Changeling. "

Seated at a table in the Replimat , Odo talks to the infant Changeling, which is now contained within a drinking glass . He is interrupted by Worf , who asks why Odo is talking to his beverage. Odo explains that it is a Changeling and excuses himself, causing Worf to look uncertainly at his own drink.

Back in the science lab , Odo explains with wonder to the infant that it is a Changeling, a shapeshifter , and that it could be anything – a Tarkalean hawk soaring through the sky, or a Filian python burrowing deep beneath the ground. He admits that he was never a very good shapeshifter, but believes he can be a good teacher. He promises once again that he will never treat the infant the way he was treated. Just then, Doctor Mora arrives and explains that he has heard about the infant and wants to help, much to Odo's dismay.

Act Two [ ]

Mora admires the infant Changeling's size, and is surprised that Odo hasn't measured it. Barely hiding his annoyance at Mora's presence, Odo remarks that he thought Mora was on Earth helping Starfleet to develop new ways to detect Changeling infiltrators. Mora informs him that he had recently arrived on Bajor in order to visit his parents. With genuine concern, he asks how Odo is and reveals that he has been worried since the Founders removed Odo's shapeshifting abilities. As Mora picks up an instrument to start measuring the infant Odo reacts angrily, determined not to let Mora perform any experiments on it. Nevertheless determined to offer his advice, Mora suggests reducing the temperature to 17 °C , at which the infant's morphogenic matrix will be most malleable. He adds that Odo could benefit from much of his extensive knowledge, and begrudgingly Odo agrees to look at his reports. But Odo is still angry and resentful about the tests Mora subjected him to, a fact not lost on his old mentor. Mora states that he would be fascinated to observe Odo's less invasive approach to working with the infant, and determines to stay and observe.

In the birthing room, the midwife announces that Kira has been in labor for too long and won't give birth today. It is obvious that O'Brien blames Shakaar because of his late arrival, but Kira asks Shakaar to stay around for a while.

Odo begins to introduce shapes to the infant, starting with a sphere . The infant remains motionless and in a gelatinous state but Odo persists, showing different shapes to it and talking about what they represent.

Reluctantly, Odo adopts some of Mora's techniques

One week later, Mora expresses concern that the infant has barely increased in size and Odo seems to have made no progress in teaching it to assume other shapes. Their barely contained annoyance with each other finally boils over and they start to bicker. At the height of their argument they are interrupted by Captain Sisko, who reports that Starfleet Command is eager to establish communication with the infant as soon as possible. With little progress to date, Sisko warns that Starfleet may want to take over the project and asks that Odo file daily reports from now on. Drawing a comparison to the type of pressure he was placed under by the Cardassians when he was working on Odo during the Occupation , Mora suggests that they try some of his more invasive techniques on the infant.

Act Three [ ]

With obvious reluctance, Odo places the infant into one of Mora's electrostatic devices – a circular shallow tank that carries a charge around the outside but no charge in the center. Mora insists that Odo initiate the charge, which he timidly does, and then that he increase it to a level at which the infant will feel discomfort. As Odo does so the infant begins to move for the first time, quickly sliding to the center to avoid the charge. Odo can't help but smile, and Mora reveals that he also smiled the first time Odo did that.

In Kira's bedroom, O'Brien massages her legs while Shakaar invites her to a zero-gravity tumbling performance on the Promenade . As the men squabble over the best way to relax her, Kira suddenly realizes that she's going back into labor. O'Brien and Shakaar argue about which of them will take Kira to the birthing room and she breaks up the argument by going herself.

Continuing to use Mora's electrostatic device, Odo is able to coax the infant into forming and holding shapes. He reveals to Mora that he used to not hold his shape on purpose in order to deny Mora the satisfaction of seeing it. Wistfully, Mora suggests that one day, if Odo is lucky, the infant may thank him for his efforts; on the other hand it may just leave, like Odo did. As they turn to leave the lab, the infant begins to form a shape, snaking up towards Odo and bending towards him. As Odo leans in to look closer, the infant forms a rough mirror of Odo's face. Odo and Mora are overcome with joy.

Act Four [ ]

Returning to Odo's office , Odo and Mora are effervescent. Excitedly they chatter about the infant's shapeshifting. Mora suggests that in the coming days they begin to expose it to simple life forms, while Odo enthuses that he can't wait to communicate with it – there's so much he wants it to see, so much he wants to share. Mora compliments Odo on his approach of communicating with the infant, and admits that he was wrong. He can see that the infant is reaching out to Odo, is curious about him; the first time Odo did anything like that was when he formed a tentacle to slap Mora's hand away from the control panel of one of his devices. Mora admits that he was never able to form a connection with Odo, but Odo tells him that's not true. Odo suggests that he would still be nothing more than a lump of organic residue if it were not for Mora, and Mora is overcome. The two men have finally reached an understanding. As Mora turns to leave, Odo orders two glasses of champagne from the replicator so that they can celebrate.

Back in the birthing room, Kira is finally relaxed enough to give birth. Shakaar tries to keep Miles out of the way, but after missing Molly 's birth, O'Brien is determined not to miss this one. As they squabble, Kira tells both of them to leave.

In his darkened bar , Quark counts his profits on a PADD and mutters to himself that he'll have to start watering the drinks again. Startled by a noise, he notices Odo behind the bar setting out bottles and glasses. Doctor Mora, Odo says, has gone to sleep and he feels like celebrating, so he's buying Quark a drink. Initially skeptical at seeing Odo happy, Quark eventually comes round when Odo explains that finding the infant has changed his life; he has found a part of himself that he lost when he was forced to become a solid. Just then they are interrupted by the computer, which announces that it has detected biomimetic fluctuations in the infant.

As Odo rushes into the science lab, Mora explains that the infant's morphogenic matrix is destabilizing: it is dying. Odo is grief-stricken.

Act Five [ ]

In the infirmary, Bashir speculates that the radiation must have damaged the infant's cytoplasm in a way they weren't able to detect. Mora suggests using an enzymatic induction to stabilize the biomimetic fluctuations. Mora asks Odo to wait outside while he and Bashir work.

Kirayoshi O'Brien is born

Kira, utterly relaxed, finally nears delivery. Keiko invites O'Brien and Shakaar back into the room just in time to witness the birth of a baby boy, Kirayoshi .

Bashir emerges from the infirmary and solemnly informs Odo that there was nothing they could do. Odo enters and takes the dying infant into his hands, begging it not to die. As he does so, it absorbs itself into his body and he stumbles backwards. Shocked, he walks towards the infirmary doors and then shapeshifts into a Tarkalean hawk, soaring up into the rafters of the Promenade and swooping over the upper level before coming to rest on one of the walkways. As he changes back into his normal self, his face is a mixture of joy (of regaining his powers) and sorrow (for the loss of the infant Changling).

As a Tarkalean Hawk, Odo soars high above the Promenade

At one of the docking ports, Kira sees Shakaar onto a shuttle bound for Bajor . He invites her to take some leave and stay with him for a while, but she feels like staying aboard the station for a while.

Doctor Mora, also boarding the shuttle, tells Odo to think of the return of his shapeshifting abilities as a gift, something the infant would want him to have. Odo admits that he finally understands what he must have meant to Mora, and vows to involve his mentor more in his life. They hug, and Mora departs.

Mora and Odo finally make amends

Kira expresses her sorrow to Odo, and confides that she never wanted a baby but now just wants to hold him in her arms and never let go. Odo replies that he knows how she feels. Kira wraps her arm around her friend's shoulders and they slowly walk off together.

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Besides, it's nice having someone around to help change the diapers. "

" Constable, why are you talking to your beverage? " " It's not a beverage. It's a Changeling. Excuse me, commander. "

" I missed Molly's birth ; I'm not gonna miss this one! "

" Oh, do me a favor. Next time you have a baby, leave my girlfriend out of it, huh? "

" If it wasn't for me, you'd still be sitting on a shelf somewhere in a beaker labeled 'unknown sample'. " " If it wasn't for me , you'd be a nobody. Starfleet wouldn't hire you to judge a science fair! "

"If you're happy, there's something very wrong in the world. The center cannot hold."

Background information [ ]

Story and script [ ].

• Kira Nerys gives birth to Kirayoshi O'Brien in this episode; he was placed in her womb after Keiko O'Brien was injured in " Body Parts ". In the original draft of the teleplay, Kira was perfectly happy about giving the baby up to the O'Briens, but Nana Visitor felt that this wasn't realistic, that Kira would feel a degree of attachment to the child, so she asked Ira Steven Behr to change the script, resulting in the final scene of the episode, between Kira and Odo . ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , p. ? ) Of this issue, Visitor commented in 1999 , " That's something I wish we'd have been able to delve into more; the complications, and what that actually feels like. I had just given birth, I mean, the whole storyline was designed to help me, to allow me to be pregnant while we were shooting, and not have to hide behind tables every second, and having just given birth myself, it's got to be very complicated emotionally for women who do this, who give up children. But, you know, that's another series !" ( Crew Dossier: Kira Nerys , DS9 Season 1 DVD , Special Features)
• The fact that Odo's status as a solid was not permanent was hinted at in " Things Past " when Bashir reveals that Odo still has "morphogenic enzymes" in his system.

Production [ ]

John Eaves ' sketch of how the morph might work

• To get the right substance to 'play' the baby Changeling , the production crew did several weeks of research, and effectively held casting sessions. According to producer Steve Oster , " Gary Monak and his crew had to come up with goo of the right color and consistency that would hold its form for a moment and then fall down and ooze around. We spent many a night sitting here with different textures and viscosities of goo, trying to decide what would work for what ." Ultimately, a variety of substances were used. As Gary Monak explains, " For the beginning stages, we used gelatin mixed with some other stuff. We also used a plastic that's referred to as 'hot melt vinyl', which you can heat up and mold. And we made up some goo that's basically like the stuff they pour on people on Nickelodeon television ."( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , p. ? )
• The shot from behind the Changeling looking towards Odo and Mora as the Changeling attempts to mimic Odo's face was not budgeted, and was a shot which director Jesús Salvador Treviño came up with on-set. Because there was no money left, there was no way the shot could be handled as a postproduction special effect, so it was going to be abandoned until assistant director Louis Race came up with an innovative idea. He put a stocking over his hand, covered it with goo and held it up in front of the camera. To everyone's amazement, the shot looked fine, and as René Echevarria says, " that shot would have cost thousands of dollars in postproduction, but those guys did it for nothing. It was just a great moment in guerrilla filmmaking ." ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , p. ? )

Reception [ ]

• Rene Auberjonois (Odo) has stated in interviews that this is one of the most memorable episodes he filmed, and one of the few that he would immediately recognize if a fan referred to it by name or production number, as is often the case at conventions. ( DS9 Season 5 DVD Special Features: Hidden File 01)
• This episode takes place five months after " Body Parts ".
• Miles O'Brien mentions not being able to witness Keiko give birth to Molly, an event which occurred in TNG : " Disaster ".
• Odo regains his shapeshifting abilities at the end of the episode, having previously had them removed by the Founders in " Broken Link ". When Odo morphs from a solid to a bird his uniform is seen left behind on the floor, acknowledging the fact that as a solid he was forced to wear real clothes. The script indicates that the bird Odo changes into is a Tarkalean hawk , one of the things he had told the infant Changeling it could one day become.
• If one accepts that the change of uniform in the episode " Rapture " and the appearance of Bashir wearing an old-style jumpsuit in the Dominion internment camp in " In Purgatory's Shadow " as evidence that the Changeling replaced Bashir sometime between " The Ascent " and " Rapture ", then it is the Changeling who monitors the birth of Kirayoshi O'Brien and the death of the Changeling infant.
• Quark quotes William Butler Yeats to Odo when he tells him that if Odo is happy, something must be very wrong in the world, " the center cannot hold ." This is a line is from Yeats' 1919 poem " The Second Coming ": " Things fall apart / the centre cannot hold / mere anarchy is loosed upon the world ." The poem alludes to the end of time, and the coming of Antichrist. The poem is also referenced in the titles of the Mere Anarchy eBook series, namely in the series title and the titles of the books.
• After this episode, Keiko O'Brien would only be seen twice more, in the sixth season episode " Time's Orphan " and very briefly in the series finale " What You Leave Behind ". Keiko's actress Rosalind Chao , as stated in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , foresaw this since her appearances would involve two children, subject to child labor laws and (in-story) who should be close to DS9 during a war.
• Mora Pol ( James Sloyan ) makes his second (and last) on-screen appearance on Deep Space Nine ; he was previously seen in " The Alternate ". The episode also features the final appearance on the series of First Minister Shakaar Edon . As such, this episode marks the final Star Trek appearances to date of actors James Sloyan and Duncan Regehr .
• Terry Farrell ( Jadzia Dax ) does not appear in this episode. This is the first episode of the series in which she does not appear. Cirroc Lofton ( Jake Sisko ) also does not appear.

Video and DVD releases [ ]

• UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 5.6, 5 May 1997
• As part of the DS9 Season 5 DVD collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• Avery Brooks as Captain Sisko

Also starring [ ]

• Rene Auberjonois as Odo
• Michael Dorn as Lt. Commander Worf
• Terry Farrell as Lt. Commander Dax
• Cirroc Lofton as Jake Sisko
• Colm Meaney as Chief O'Brien
• Armin Shimerman as Quark
• Alexander Siddig as Doctor Bashir
• Nana Visitor as Major Kira

Guest stars [ ]

• Rosalind Chao as Keiko O'Brien
• Duncan Regehr as Shakaar Edon
• Peggy Roeder as Y'Pora
• James Sloyan as Mora Pol

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

• Patti Begley as Bajoran officer
• Bill Blair as Pelian visitor
• Brian Demonbreun as sciences officer
• Kathleen Demor as operations officer
• Judi Durand
• Dorothy Hack as Bajoran woman
• Mary Mascari as Bajoran woman
• Robin Morselli as Pelian visitor
• James Lee Stanley as Bajoran security deputy
• Scott Strozier as Bajoran security deputy
• Unknown performer as Taal visitor

References [ ]

algae ; Alvanian spine mite ; Bajor ; Bajoran ; Bajoran cabasa ; biomimetic fluctuation ; bio-probe ; Cardassian ; Celsius ; Chamber of Horrors ; champagne ; Changeling ; child ; Constable ; cube ; cylinder ; cytoplasm ; cytoplasmic separator ; data reversion trace ; diapers ; Earth ; electrophoretic diffuser ; electrostatic gadget ; endorphin ; enzymatic induction ; Filian python ; First Minister ; fungus ; gelatinous state ; girlfriend ; holosuite ; humanoid ; humidity ; infant Changeling ; infiltrator ; invertebrate ; lap ; latinum ; marble ; mass ; medical tricorder ; Milky Way Galaxy ; millivolt ; morphogenic matrix ; O'Brien, Kirayoshi ; O'Brien, Molly ; Orion slave girl ; pinched nerve ; posture ; Promenade ; Prophets ; protein decompiler ; prune juice ; pyramid ; Quark's ; science fair ; security report ; sentient ; shape-shift ( shape-shifting ability ); Shuttle 4709 ; simple lifeform ; sphere ; spinal column ; stretch ; symmetry ; Taal ; Tarkalean hawk ; temperature ; tentacle ; tetryon ; toast ; tricorder ; vacuum chamber ; volume ; Yridian ( Yridian dealer ); zero-grav tumbling

External links [ ]

• " The Begotten " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " The Begotten " at Wikipedia
• " The Begotten " at MissionLogPodcast.com
• "The Begotten" script  at Star Trek Minutiae
• " The Begotten " at the Internet Movie Database
• 1 USS Voyager (NCC-74656-A)
• 2 Daniels (Crewman)
• 3 Star Trek: Prodigy

Star Trek: 10 Best Odo Episodes

Odo's greatest Deep Space Nine moments, fittingly, took many forms.

Played brilliantly by the late, great Rene Auberjonois, Constable Odo was responsible for Security onboard the Federation station Deep Space Nine. Although Auberjonois had previously had a small part in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and would later appear in Star Trek: Enterprise episode Oasis, it is as the curmudgeonly constable that we would come to know him best, covered in smoothed-out make-up.

Odo was one of the Hundred, infant changelings who were sent out across the far reaches of the galaxy by the Founders. Being a secretive race of shapeshifters, the Founders had found that they were hundred and hated throughout out their own space and the most logical thing for them to do was manipulate, dominate and control all space around them, forming the Dominion. They spread the Hundred across the stars in order to see how others would act towards the strange orphan creatures.

One of those Hundred was found drifting in the Denorios Asteroid Belt and brought to the nearest world, Bajor. He was studied by doctor Mora Pol, who eventually acknowledged that Odo must be sentient when he learned how to mimic the shape of a specimen beaker. The unkind Cardassian word Odo'ital would be his label, meaning 'unknown sample'.

Eventually, the small, gelatinous life-form would grow into the fully-formed police officer that the audience grew to love, the salvation of his species and the lone voice in their Great Link that opposed slavery and domination. Here are the ten best episodes centred on the beloved Odo.

10. Heart Of Stone

In the middle of the third season, Odo and Kira are pursuing a Maquis vessel near the Badlands. They have to land on a small planet and then split up to track the individual onboard. The constable later finds Kira stuck in a cave, with a crystal growth over her foot. Back on the station, the other story is that Nog seeks to join Starfleet, leading to a touching story about fatherhood and expectations.

The two of them try everything to get the crystal off her foot, but it starts to grow and consume more of her body. When it seems like the crystal is about to swallow her up completely, Odo desperately confesses how he feels about Kira, telling her that he loves her. Kira says that she loves him as well, which gives him pause. He points his phaser at her directly and demands to know who she is, because she isn't Kira Nerys.

She reveals that she is the Female Changeling (played by Salome Jens), trying to convince Odo that he should rejoin his people. With his firm refusal the Changeling lets Odo leave with the real major.

While this is a touching episode for Odo, it's bittersweet. Kira asks him what happened and the changeling relays the bare bones of the situation to her, but doesn't tell her about his confession. He chooses to swallow those feelings for now. He's not ready to be with the woman he loves.

Still bitter that Star Trek Enterprise got canned and almost old enough to angrily tell the kids to 'Get Off My Lawn!'

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René Auberjonois, Odo From ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,’ Has Died At 79

| December 8, 2019 | By: TrekMovie Editors 77 comments so far

TrekMovie is deeply sad to report that actor René Auberjonois, who played Odo on  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for all seven seasons, has died of metastatic lung cancer at age 79.  His son Rèmy-Luc confirmed the sad news, and said that René died at his home in Los Angeles.

Auburjonois had a long and amazing career even before taking on the unforgettable role of Odo on DS9.  He began in in theater, landing his first Broadway role in 1968 and soon appearing in three plays simultaneously, alongside future DS9 co-star Frank Langella.  He eventually became a director as well.

In the movies, he was Father Mulcahy in the original film version of  MASH ,  as well as dozens of other films, including his first appearance in the Star Trek franchise as Colonel West in  Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , although the role was initially cut for the theatrical release. Kids of all ages will remember him as Louis the Chef in Disney’s The Little Mermaid.

He appeared on dozens upon dozens of TV shows, and was a regular on three: In addition to playing Odo, he was Clayton Runnymede Endicott III in  Benson and Paul Lewiston on Boston Legal.  He provided voices for numerous animated characters in cartoons and video games, and guest-starred on Enterprise as Ezral in the episode “Oasis,” He was also a director.

Fans who were fortunate enough to meet him at Trek conventions helped him raise money for his favorite charity, Doctors Without Borders. He signed his autographs with a drawing of Odo’s bucket, and often posted the drawings along with happy fans holding them on social media.

We mourn the loss of this great actor and human being, who played Odo with such grace, depth, humor, and complexity as he fought for justice, struggled with his identity, discovered his origins, fell in love, and sacrificed for those he loved, trading verbal quips and insults with Quark at every step along the way. Our sincerest condolences to his friends and family. We are heartbroken.

It is with great heartache and loss I share with you the passing of dear,dear Rene Auberjonois.His last message to me was entitled "Don't forget…" I know that I,Kitty,and all that knew him will never forget.The world seems noticeably emptier now. I loved him. — Armin Shimerman (@ShimermanArmin) December 8, 2019

I love and respect Rene more than I can say right now. This beautiful soul. My heart. Oh pic.twitter.com/ohNOq0c0Si — Nana Visitor (@NanaVisitor) December 8, 2019

I cannot express how much you meant to me. I will truly miss you my dear colleague, mentor, father figure, friend. pic.twitter.com/zE9TeyOzf5 — Terry Farrell (@4TerryFarrell) December 9, 2019

pic.twitter.com/6ouQQNhx7z — Ira Steven Behr (@IraStevenBehr) December 8, 2019

When Rene was cast as Odo, he joked "I hope #DS9 will replace Benson on my tombstone." He will be remembered for both, for Boston Legal, for The Little Mermaid, & so much more. His portrayal of Odo, under all that latex, was subtle, emotional, & astounding. One of the greats. pic.twitter.com/Z6YzC5xgMh — Robert Hewitt Wolfe (@writergeekrhw) December 8, 2019

I feel truly fortunate to have worked with Rene and truly blessed for the time spent over the years with this lovely man & beautiful soul. My deepest condolences to his family Big hugs today to my #startrekfamily &to all who loved him R.I.P. @reneauberjonois We will miss you so pic.twitter.com/lbBc7f2AbV — Nicole deBoer (@Nikki_deboer) December 9, 2019

I have just heard about the death of my friend and fellow actor @reneauberjonois . To sum up his life in a tweet is nearly impossible. To Judith, Tessa & Remy I send you my love & strength. I will keep you in my thoughts and remember a wonderful friendship with René. — William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) December 8, 2019

This is a terrible loss. Star Trek fans knew him as Odo from Deep Space Nine. We knew him as René. He was a wonderful, caring, and intelligent man. He shall be missed. When I look out to the stars, I shall think of you, friend. https://t.co/IE2gtivRcg — George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) December 8, 2019

@reneauberjonois You were a spectacular artist from Altman film IMAGES to Star Trek:DS9 and the million performances in between. A devoted family man, a visual artist, and loving and loves le human being. Thanks for showing the world how to do it. #love #admiration — Gates McFadden (@gates_mcfadden) December 8, 2019

Goodbye, René. We love you. pic.twitter.com/kNuhk2nYW1 — Michael Okuda (@MikeOkuda) December 8, 2019

View this post on Instagram May ⁦Rene Auberjonois⁩ RIP he was one our finest actors and an even better man. I always looked up to him and I will continue to. A post shared by Jonathan Frakes (@jonathansfrakes) on Dec 9, 2019 at 11:08am PST

View this post on Instagram I am shocked and deeply saddened by the death of Rene Auberjonois, whom I first met on the set of MRS COLUMBO. I was 23 years old and vividly recall his great kindness, his terrific sense of fun, and thinking oh, how wonderful it would be to have this man as a friend! This miracle came to pass and it was much, much better than wonderful. How missed he will be! The singular and splendid Rene Auberjonois. Photo credit: @roddenberryofficial A post shared by Kate Mulgrew (@thekatemulgrew) on Dec 9, 2019 at 3:05pm PST

Rene Auberjonois 1940~2019. A beloved member of our Star Trek family, among so many other decorated achievements on stage and screen. But above all, one of the sweetest humans I have ever met. May he rest in God’s peace. #ReneAuberjonois #RIP pic.twitter.com/mK0aua9beV — Doug Jones (@actordougjones) December 8, 2019

So so sad to hear of the passing of René Auberjonois. Deep Space 9 was the show that started my love for Star Trek, and that's in no small part due to his wonderful performance as Odo. May he rest in peace. #DS9 #ReneAuberjonois — Erika Lippoldt (@gryphonmetal) December 8, 2019

René’s final tweet:

I think https://t.co/zQMbJn3RuH pic.twitter.com/A01pGMqhwN — Rene Auberjonois (@reneauberjonois) December 6, 2019

René Auberjonois  – June 1, 1940 – December 8, 2019

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Very sad. Didn’t even know he was sick. Him and Aron in 3 months, the DS9 family must be in a lot of pain right now.

We also lost Robert Walker Jr. aka Charlie Evans in TOS’s Charlie X.

Marina Sirtis lost her husband yesterday as well. Such sad news…

RIP, Rene. Thank you for the great memories on DS9, Benson and Boston Legal. :(

He was also the only tolerable thing about Police Academy 5… and to call anything about that movie “tolerable” means a lot!

Rene has appeared in both Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and Deep Space Nine as Odo. He will be missed by Star Trek fans. RIP

Oh for cryin out loud. What’s going on these days? Aron Eisenberg, Dorothy Fontana and now René – what a terrible three months for Trek fandom and the TV world in general!

So many members of the Trek family are passing away. Time IS the fire in which we burn.

No, time is a companion that goes with us on our journey and tells us to cherish every moment… because they will never come again. So let us cherish the moments we had with René Auberjonois whenever he graced our movie or television screen.

So damn true

All the more reason to be grateful that the DS9 documentary was made and released.

Indeed. I am glad that he and Aron both got to see the documentary before they passed.

Devastating news. We’ve lost such a talented actor who played a character whom so many can relate to. He was great on DS9 and so many other series. Farewell Odo.

Very sad. RIP Odo.

My heart goes out to the DS9 family. Loosing two of their own in so short a time is tragic. RIP Rene you were awesome.

Terrific actor, with such a wide and impressive range. My goodness – to have conveyed even the most subtle of emotions under all of that makeup. Very upset to hear of his passing.

This sucks. Star Trek is my biggest love in this world. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is my favourite show. And Constable Odo my favourite character. He was distant, stern, sarcastic, dedicated to his job and an outsider. To those who didnt know him he was a cold character; but to those lucky few he allowed into his bubble he was warm, kind, caring and above all loyal.

The character of Odo made a massive impression on me as a young man who felt completely on the fringes of all society. I never fit it. I never felt like “one of the lads”. I was not smart enough to be a science nerd. I was too uncoordinated for sport. I was too shy for Drama etc But through Odo I saw that none of that mattered. The only thing I had to be in life was the best version of me that I could be. As he struggled to find “his place” in the universe, I too was struggling to find my place as well.

And I know it may seem stupid to give all this meaning to a character in a TV show but I honestly believe most of us have “that one show”, “that one movie”, “that one singer” or “that one character” who we see ourselves reflected in and connect too. And as a 14/15 yr old Star Trek fan that character just happened to be a misanthropic, sarcastic, cards close to his chest shapeshifter lol And it was Rene Auberjonois’ performance in every moment that captured that connection for me, and allowed me to see so much of myself in a character who couldn’t have been more different than I was and yet also very similar to who I was becoming.

So tonight I raise a glass to you fine sir and steal the following line from a fellow Odo admirer; “What’re you talking about? That man loves me! Couldn’t you see? It was written all over his back”.

You’re very eloquent in your praise and sorrow. I’m sure Mr. Auberjonois would appreciate that he was able to provide the hope and inspiration you needed in life through his work, even more than the praise. Pass that on in whatever way you can, as your way of repaying that debt which can never be repaid. Peace.

ShaunieB Same here… I went through the same thing and related to Odo immensly. I also had my Major Kira growing up, your In-the-Friend-Zone unreachable woman… and again, for Odo and for myself it turned out ok at the end. We both got them… :-) and I always get tears in my eyes when I watch “His Way”

With the Picard show coming up, I somehow had hopes they revisit the character I so looked up to.

RIP Rene, thank you for giving that wonderful character life, you’ll be missed.

What a great actor, and an even better person. He played Odo with unmatched skill and grace, creating one of the most compelling characters in all of Star Trek. This is a painful loss.

I applaud you, Mr. Auberjonois. Thank you for the wonder.

RIP. He was such a great actor.

RIP. Great, wonderful actor who was perfect for the role he played.

This marks a a truly historic moment for the Star Trek franchise. It’s the very first time a main actor from one of the “modern” Star Trek products dies (apart from Yelchin’s lethal accident and Eisenberg, who did NOT play a main character).

I guess, this shows how important it is we finally get PICARD as a revival for that era. It’s the final chance for this generation of Trek actors to reprise their beloved roles…

Sad for his family. I enjoyed watching DS9 quite a lot and no small part of that was his portrayal of Odo. RIP

So sad to hear another member of the Star Trek family has passed on. Rene did amazing work as Odo on DS9 and he obviously cherished being a member of the Trek alumni. I forgot all about his “Battling Bickersons” scene in M*A*S*H that made me laugh as a teenager and he definitely will be remembered by fans and myself as Odo, an outsider who battled to be accepted by his friends, co-workers and his home world and one who struggled with his feelings for Kira. R.I.P. Rene and don’t worry, Odo is who you will be remembered for by me and so many others, not for your role on Benson.

Wow this is devastating! To lose such a great actor and guy in general. And our second DS9 actor in the same freaking year along with Aaron Eisenberg. :(

I still remember seeing him at Star Trek convention back in 1996 (my very first Star Trek convention in fact) with other DS9 actors Nana Visitor, Armin Shimerman and Terry Farrel. He sung the song from The Little Mermaid he played in as his character on stage. The crowd went wild! And he was so funny and easy going, the complete opposite of Odo lol.

It’s been a rough few months for the Trek community. He will be missed greatly.

I am thankful that I got to meet him more than once at conventions. I loved that he had Odo’s bucket at his table when he came. I’m sad to learn of this and that he had lung cancer. My heart goes to his family and friends. Rene, rest in peace. You will always be remembered…

Even when he was in pap like the 76 KONG or a disco ep of CHARLIE’S ANGELS, he still never phoned it in. Definitely a class act. BOSTON LEGAL and DS9 were my faves of his, though he was very good in the Altmans as well.

Poor Marina’s husband just passed away in his sleep last night. Sad day for Trekdom. 🖖

Thanks for letting us know that Marina Sirtis is also bereaved.

Heavy hearts in Trekdom indeed.

I didn’t know about this. A sad day indeed. My condolences to Marina and family.

Citation, please?

Marina has tweeted about this being true. https://mobile.twitter.com/Marina_Sirtis

It’s on Marina’s Twitter page.

I saw that, yet that information is nowhere else. Hopefully this either gets confirmed or cleared up.

Phil, there’s no reason to believe that Marina’s verified official Twitter account has been hacked.

She said in the message that she was signing off for a bit, including Cameo. There’s been no further messages on her Twitter or other accounts which would be unlikely if it were hacked.

Newspaper death announcements in the US might be the only official place you might find a confirmation.

Sites like Startrek.com are usually pretty good about putting up life events of those close to the franchise. So far, nothing. Absent any other information, it’s just as likely that her account was compromised. I’d hope the mods here could comment on this, one way or the other. I’d not want to be spreading this kind of rumor, knowing the pain it could cause, if there were any reason at all to believe it was fake. If it’s not, then clearly condolences to the family are in order.

Marina tweeted it. It’s legit.

Phil, I don’t have a lot of confidence in the official Star Trek social media team this week.

While StarTrek.com has posted about Rene Auberjonois under news, they haven’t management to tweet their own news story on their Twitter account and it’s 3 days since his death.

CBSAA Twitter is carrying on tone-deafedly with promotional tweets and no mention of Rene.

There seems to be a 3 working day lag on tweeting. It all has the air of a gridlock in corporate approval processes. My guess is that it has do do with short run PR restrictions arising from the ViacomCBS merger.

In the meantime, it reflects poorly on ViacomCBS for Variety and new wire services to have a obituaries up for two days and no recognition from TPTB.

We can’t count on them to verify and get the word out.

Rene was also so very good & memorable as a camp friend of Faye Dunaway in the classic late 1970’s TV movie The Eyes of Laura Mars!

Just saw that movie for the first time this year. He’s so great in it.

So sad. The highlight of my day one afternoon in Los Angeles in 1994 was when the gas guy came to fix a leak and told me that the customer he just saw before me was Rene. He told me how nice and funny he was. The gas guy was a fellow Trek fan so we both geeked out about it. It’s an odd, tangential connection, I know, but it was my first brush with what would be many moments like that and later on the sets of the shows themselves. You always remember your first. Au revoir, René.

That is a lovely anecdote, Luke… thanks for sharing. :)

My love for you was the most a stranger could ever feel toward a stranger; strong, hardy, but faraway. Your love for us all made my love for you barely a drop in the river; passionate, proactive, and near and dear to our every heart.

Godspeed, Rene.

Founder, you honored us with your presence. Rejoin the great link and be at peace.

My first thought as well.

Damn. A looot of people are going to be feeling this one. Sad.

Sad to learn of this, but, all good things. . .

And, at least we still have his work. His contributions to DS9 were major, and, as noted above, he had a long career prior to DS9.

So sad to hear this.

One of my favourite moments was when he appeared on Family Guy as Odo ripping on Stewie’s cousin Quark Griffin…! There are too many DS9 and Boston Legal memories to mention.

This hurts like hell. Especially when you see how much he meant to those who knew him best.

This has been a hard three months for the Star Trek family. René was a funny guy, a terrific actor, and a wonderful human being. I already adored him for his beautifully iconic portrayal of Odo (not to mention his vast body of non-genre work), but when I found out several years ago that he was a longtime supporter of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) my admiration increased an order of magnitude.

The world has lost one of the good guys. My deepest sympathies and condolences to René’s family, friends, and his countless millions of fans.

This is so tragic and sudden, it feels like we just saw him in good health and full of life! This is another reminder to cherish the time we have with those we love, this year has been tough. This also marks the first time we’ve lost a member of the TNG/DS9/VOY/ENT era main cast, I’m grateful the DS9 doc was finished this year so we could look back one last time at the entire cast together. RIP Rene and Aron!

Most people (present company excluded) do not understand the challenge of taking on an untested character such as Odo, but René Auberjonois exceeded anyone’s expectations for the character. He follows a long line of Shakespearean Actors who have made their characters legendary in the world of ‘Trek. Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, etc. Star Trek is deeply layered with culture, and it’s because of truly stellar performers like René Auberjonois. His contributions to the world will forever be remembered. My heart goes out to his close friends and family. I am sorry for your loss.

So sad to hear this :(

RIP Constable.

So sad so many deaths this week just this morning Marina Sirtis announced her husband Michael passed in his sleep last night

I caught an old IRONSIDE episode last night, and was kind of amazed at how nearly every guest star — Andy Robinson, George Murdock, Bill Zuckert, Ken Lynch, Tige Andrews and Michael Strong– was a Trek alum … and then I realized all of them except Robinson were now dead.

I met Rene at a GalaxyCon show in Richmond, Va. earlier this year: we talked about his various roles, especially Odo – and also his role in the 1970 movie “M*A*S*H” which inspired the TV series. He had one of the best / most memorable lines in that or any other movie – one that pretty much summed up the entire storyline and answered why some people end up in wars…. Maj. Margaret ‘Hot Lips’ O’Houlihan (Sally Kellerman, who portrayed Dr. Dehner in TOS’s second pilot) had just been humiliated by the guys, particularly Hawkeye Pierce (Donald Sutherland), and demanded, in outrage, to know how anyone with his mentality could ever achieve a position in ANY army as a surgeon. Rene, as Father John Mulcahy, responded, simply, “He was drafted.” (LOL) Rene said he actually made up that line himself and the director liked it enough to include it in the picture. And – may I say Rene LOVED TO LAUGH, and was extremely gracious to everyone at the Convention; I won’t forget him, ever. May he rest in peace, and may he Live Long and Prosper in the next life.

Strange, just Friday night the series finale of DS9 was playing on H&I, and I watched the scene where Odo morphs into a tuxedo to part with Kira and wade into the ‘water,’ waving goodbye to her. Very poignant scene, and now this happens. What a rough few weeks in the Trek world with regard to losses. RIP, all.

And Marina Sirtis husband died in his sleep last night. Condolences to all.

Always thought we would see his character again. But in hindsight…what we leave behind is the perfect sendoff for his character.

Tough few months for the Trek family. I echo the sentiments mentioned above. I’ve heard nothing positive things about the guy over the last few decades. Condolences to all who knew him.

Yes, a tough few months for the fan community, and the community of 90s Trek actors.

Nana Visitor’s eulogy of Rene published by Variety really shows her respect for his craft and his humanity as well as a true friendship. The DS9 company sounds to have been one of the strongest of all the Trek shows, and while the other actors were aware Rene’s time was drawing short, it must leave be a tremendous gap.

The outpouring here and on other fan sites and many media outlets shows that the connections to the characters and the actors who brought them to life are enduring.

I appreciate how quickly TrekMovie was able to get this story and thread up so that we could express and share our remembrances.

This is all the more important since the official Star Trek site is not a board where we can respond, and the CBSAA Twitter site seems to have switched to only promoting current shows and managed to get through the end of Monday without acknowledging Rene’s passing even with a tweet of the official site’s story.

Sending love to Marina Sirtis ( counceler Deanna Troi ) who’d husband died in his sleep at 61 years of age last night.

Godspeed, and thank you, Mr. Auberjonois.

A Life Well Lived is its own reward.

RIP René Auberjonois…

That’s truly heartbreaking. I had slim hope that some future series would explore the current state of the Dominion. But with Odo it might not work.

This is very sad news.

There are many brilliant DS9 scenes that come to mind when you think of René Auberjonois. Sisko and Odo quietly talking while Odo is experiencing alcohol for the first time. Odo’s story arc with Kira. His arc with the female Founder during the Dominion War. His banter and one-upmanship with Quark. His final scene, wearing a tux. Many more. We all have our favourites.

This wasn’t unique to René on DS9, but I’ve been trying to identify the “extra something” he brought to his performance. The answer is “gravitas”. René treated the role and the setting with absolute seriousness and imbued the performance with a level of sincerity that gave the character dignity and realism. Not easy at all when it involves a fictional shapeshifting alien, in a rubber mask, in the most notoriously nerdy sci-fi franchise of all. And yet, René pulled it off, so that Odo not only commanded respect from viewers but believably commanded respect in the Trek universe too.

René’s performance on the peerless Boston Legal was also superb, of course.

There was one major difference between Odo and René in real life. It’s something you notice when you see photos of René, especially at conventions etc: The genuinely kind gaze and the smiling and the laughter, always, from a man who clearly triggered the same heartwarming reaction in everyone around him. Admit it, when you think of René’s expression in those photos, you’re finding yourself smiling right now.

I take no credit for the following eloquent statement, as someone else on Twitter quoted it when news broke of René passing away. However, it is a particularly appropriate description now: “The drop has become the ocean”.

My condolences to René Auberjonois’s family and friends. May he rest in peace.

Great actor, great role. RIP in the Great Link, friend.

It’s just been announced that William Shatner is divorcing his wife! The guy is 88. Holy crap!

Is…is this a reply to an RIP thread? :o

I already expressed my condolences above. I was simply sharing news on the latest thread.

Just a touch off topic there….

I was sad to learn of his death. He brought such depth to Odo. The sarcastic smile he saved for Quark, the sweet smile for those he cared for, the impatience with process, the love of justice, the many complexities of being a Changeling in a Solids universe, the loneliness, the defensive prickliness from being a lonely person. Considering his makeup was painful to wear [per something he said in What We Left Behind] I have that much more respect for him. His body language and voice were fine instruments that helped him express so much in Odo.

What an actor! I will miss him.

I Just realized DS9 isn’t one of the nee Shows anymore. Although it still feels Like the Most modern ST Show with its development in Story Arc and Characters.

And I Just realized WE never will See anything from DS9 anymore, certainly Not from Odo.

A great actor is eine :(

You will be greatly missed Rene.

Star Trek: How Did Odo Keep His Job After The Occupation Of DS9?

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Harry potter: the 7 best tom riddle translations (i am lord voldemort), scream 7: how could the horror sequel move on without the core four.

Over the years, Star Trek has brought to audiences one of the best examples of science fiction television, setting precedent for space faring sci-fi. They also had a great ensemble of cast, both main and supporting, from various different backgrounds. There were common races such as the Vulcans and Klingons, but there were also a lot of unique ones too, such as Data and the tantalizingly neutral Odo.

A character in Deep Space 9 , Odo was a changeling, capable of complex shape-shifting. He acted as the station security chief about the Deep Space 9 space station, alongside the familiar faces of Worf and the fan-favorite Miles O'Brien . Odo is a seemingly simple character; however, the further his narrative expands, the more complicated he becomes. His presence about the station also raises a lot of questions about how he was allowed to keep his job, after previously being the Cardassian chief of security, working for a race of people who did terrible things to the new federation friends, the Bajorans.

RELATED: Star Trek: Debunking The Red Shirt Myth

Star Trek has received praise over the years not only for their deeply philosophical narratives, but also their various political plots and subplots. While this was always present, even during The Original Series , things ramped up with the introduction of Deep Space 9 . The galaxy is riddled with various treaties, politics, and agreements, and is often teetering on the edge of war. Odo is a prime example of the complex political minefield DS9 was trying to navigate.

The titular space station in DS9 space station was once a Cardassian mining and refining station that orbited the Bajoran home world, Bajor. At this time, the Cardassians were occupying the planet, and they used Bajoran slaves to build that station. They occupied the station for just over 20 years, and during this time, Odo was employed as head of security. This lasted until the Cardassian occupation of Bajor ended, and the station was abandoned. With the Bajorans now in control of the station, with the much-needed aid of the Federation , it seemed strange then that Odo would still be employed. He remained head of security, which on paper makes him something of a fascist collaborator. While this may seem the case, his situation was a little more complicated, and is a great example of the complexity of war Star Trek so masterfully portrays.

Odo's role as head of security was very different from that of a warrior, or hired gun. His job was to keep the peace, not just to follow orders blindly. He was honest and refused to engage in any of the brutality that surrounded him, his main priority being justice. Odo was more like an impartial mediator, refusing to help the Cardassians root out the resistance from those in his ‘care.’ Instead, he was there to settle disputes that would have otherwise resulted in a big pile of Bajoran bodies.

Odo treated the Bajorans fairly, despite their enslavement, and managed to stop the mindless execution of innocents. The Bajorans saw this and respected this, understanding and thankful in a sense that someone like him was protecting them from the full force of their captors. At the start of the occupation. Odo was fairly neutral, his main motivation being the pursuit of justice. However, the longer his employment lasted and the more atrocities he saw the Cardassians commit, the more disillusioned he became. He didn’t care about their war, or who was right or wrong, but he did care about their complete disregard for justice and truth.

Odo's reception from Bajorans after the occupation ended was then understandably mixed. He managed to keep his position mainly due to the Federation understanding the situation he was in, and knowing that no matter, what his judgments would be fair and right. He was un-bribeable, straight forward, and law-abiding, the perfect candidate for head of security ( except for fan favorite Worf, of course ). There were some instances where his presence and position caused some outcry, such as one notable moment where he is chased through the promenade by a mob of Bajorans, angry at his involvement. Other Bajorans, however, understood; for example, the Bajoran Major Kira Nerys, who knew the of good he did for her people during those trying times, and saw that he only wanted to maintain order. Most Bajorans respected this, and despite some opposition to his previous involvement, the Bajorans played a large part in keeping him around.

It’s difficult to navigate the complex political narrative of DS9 at the best of times , but Odo’s involvement and innocence during the Cardassian occupation is one of the best examples of the program asking the hard questions, and portraying the impossible situations the characters are faced with. Judging Odo's innocence is not for the audiences to work out. On one hand, he did a lot to protect the Bajorans from the full wrath of the Cardassians, but his unwillingness to actively support and help them can equally be seen as a compliance — or more importantly, as guilt through association. His inaction caused the suffering and deaths of many under the fascist dictatorship, but this is something he has to live with every day, admitting the guilt he feels. Either way, the Bajorans have found a way to mostly forgive him, and his presence aboard the space station continues to keep the peace, and always protect the little man.

MORE: Star Trek: Why Is Seven of Nine Still Considered Predominantly Borg?

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Saturday Feb 24, 2018

Star Trek: Deep Space 9 | Quark and Odo Breakdown Discussion

Ds9 is one of the best series ever and it is time for a look back on what makes it great. Odo and Quark and their dynamic is one of the most interesting aspects and we take a quick look at what makes these two different characters interactions so special.

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Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki

A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

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• Bajoran Militia personnel
• Bajoran security personnel
• Deep Space 9 personnel
• Security chiefs
• Changelings
• Time travellers
• Law enforcement officers
• Deep Space 9 (II) personnel
• 1.1 Early life
• 1.2.1 Terok Nor
• 1.2.2 Deep Space 9
• 1.3 Great Link
• 1.4 Progenitor
• 1.5 Path to the 25th century
• 1.6 Alternate realities
• 2.1 Connections
• 2.2 Background
• 2.3.1 Appearances
• 2.3.2 References
• 2.4 External links

Biography [ ]

Early life [ ].

Odo was one of one hundred unformed, or 'infant', Changelings sent out to explore the Milky Way Galaxy by the shape-shifting Founders of the Dominion , with a compulsion to return home later in life.

The Founders would originally claim that this was to gather knowledge of the rest of the galaxy by absorbing the experiences of The Hundred upon their return. It was later discovered the Hundred were, in fact, bait to lure the being known as the Progenitor , the entity that created the Great Link en masse and then left for parts unknown, to return. The Founders considered the Progenitor to be the one true God of the galaxy.

Odo was found in 2345 in his gelatinous state in the Denorios Belt by Cardassian scoutship Kevalu under the command of Dalin Malyn Ocett . He was brought to the Cardassian occupied planet of Bajor , where by 2353 , he was being studied and later tutored by Dr. Mora Pol at the Bajoran Science Institute . ( TLE - Terok Nor novel : Night of the Wolves )

Odo was originally simply called odo'ital , before it was discovered that Odo was actually a sentient being. The Bajoran scientists labelled the gelatinous mass (in Bajoran) as "unknown sample." The Cardassians subsequently translated this somewhat inaccurately as odo'ital , which translates from Cardassian directly as "nothing." ( DS9 episode : " Heart of Stone ") Later on, Bajoran scientists studying Odo would change his name to a more formal Bajoran name, Odo Ital, eventually shortened it to simply "Odo". (Thus, Odo is his surname and Ital would be his first name.) Odo once dryly remarked that his name sounded like someone with a bad cold saying the words "Oh, no!" ( DS9 novel : The Siege ; TLE - Terok Nor novel : Night of the Wolves )

Chief of security [ ]

Terok nor [ ].

Odo was recruited by Gul Skrain Dukat , the Cardassian Prefect of Bajor, to serve as the stations Chief of security in the year 2365 . He would serve in the position past the Cardassian withdrawal and well into the tenure of Starfleet , until the end of the Dominion War in 2375 .

Soon after becoming station Chief of security, he was given the nickname of ' Constable ' by Bajoran freedom fighter Kira Nerys .

One of the first Bajoran deputies taken on by Odo was a Bajoran man named Shul Torem . Shul would serve on the station's security force for over ten years. ( DS9 - Section 31 novel : Abyss )

Odo was security chief when the station was quarantined after being infected by a variation of the deadly Double Helix virus. ( TNG - Double Helix novel : Vectors )

Deep Space 9 [ ]

After the Cardassian withdrawal in 2369 , the Bajoran Provisional Government requested relief efforts from the United Federation of Planets, and gave occupancy of the station to Starfleet, who rechristened it Deep Space 9 .

At first, Odo didn't think he was going to like the station's new commanding officer, Commander Benjamin Sisko , but after seeing how Sisko handled Odo's nemesis, the Ferengi bartender Quark , Odo warmed up to him. ( DS9 episode & novelization : Emissary )

Odo first met a being like himself several weeks after the arrival of Starfleet when the gelatinous shape-shifting serial killer Meta stalked DS9.

Odo and Meta fought outside the station and drifted through space towards the Bajoran wormhole , which was undergoing violent subspace compression , destroying anything that entered. The Ops crew managed to beam Odo back to the station, but Meta was drawn into the wormhole and destroyed. ( DS9 novel : The Siege )

In 2370, Quark hosted The First Annual Deep Space Nine Poker Tournament at the station. Odo played in the tournament, and managed to win the tournament after defeating Grand Nagus Zek . To Quark's subsequent horror, Odo donated his winnings from the game to charity. Odo took particular pleasure in informing Quark personally of the money's fate and witnessing his reaction. ( DS9 novel : The Big Game )

Odo attacks the command crew in Ops . ( Lapse )

Following an outbreak of Bajoran flu aboard the station later that year, Odo was vaccinated along with the rest of the station personnel. However, unlike the other personnel, Odo reacted badly to the vaccination and began to experience memory loss and bouts of extreme paranoia. After being chased around the station for several hours, in which time he attacked several personnel, Odo was forced to head to the infirmary where he reverted to his gelatinous state. As he rested, Odo's memories returned and the effects of the vaccine wore off. ( DS9 comic : " Lapse ")

Later that year a clutch of Horta eggs hatched on the station and proceed to eat it, causing chaos. In an attempt to gather the Horta Odo morphed into the form of an adult Horta (which he found extremely comfortable) and led the Horta to a set of quarters. The trick was momentarily successful until one of the Horta decided to tunnel out of the station into space and Odo was forced to form a seal over the hole to prevent the rest of the young Horta being blown out. He was transported to ops once emergency forcefields were in place. He later tried again to lure the Horta in the form of an adult but they didn't fall for his trick twice. ( DS9 novel : Devil in the Sky )

In 2371 , Odo learned that his people were the dictatorial Founders of the Dominion when he accompanied the crew of the USS Defiant on a mission to the Gamma Quadrant. ( DS9 episode & novelization : The Search )

When the crew found themselves facing the Unclean - the race who had defeated the ancient inhabitants of the Alpha Quadrant known as the Furies - Odo played a vital role in their defeat, travelling through the then-unstable wormhole in a spacesuit while holding a temporally-displaced version of the Dax symbiont within him. Odo's presence allowed the crew to talk with a Jem'Hadar warrior and convince him to help them destroy a Jem'Hadar space station that had been hijacked by the Unclean. ( DS9 novel : Time's Enemy )

Odo briefly left Deep Space Nine for Betazed to witness the birth of Lwaxana Troi's son Barin; he also prevented the Tavnian ambassador Deycen from taking the newborn from Lwaxana and returning it to Tavnia. He met Deanna for the first time while on Betazed. ( TNG - Slings and Arrows novel : The Insolence of Office )

Later that year, Odo assisted Starfleet in preventing an assassination of Klingon Chancellor Gowron by former Starfleet officer and Maquis Thomas Riker , who was actually a pawn of the Romulan Sela . ( TNG novel : Triangle: Imzadi II )

On the Klingon Day of Honor, Odo was part of the crew trying to convince a Klingon ship to help defend the planet Cha'Xirrac from a Cardassian invasion. To earn the assistance of Commander Kor , Worf suggested that they challenge Kor's people under the suv'batleth , a tradition where non-Klingons could challenge Klingons and earn their assistance if they won. Odo was chosen as one of the combatents along with Worf and Sisko, the three agreeing that Odo would be considered as having lost the duel if he suffered a wound that would have decapitated or dismembered a solid. Odo was able to defeat his foe by feigning fatigue and then pinning the Klingon's arm to immobilise him, Kor acknowledging that Odo's strategy was valid given that his abilities prevented him getting tired in the usual manner ( DS9 - Day of Honor novel : Armageddon Sky ).

In 2375 , Odo returned to the Great Link with the cure to a virus that was decimating the Changeling population in exchange for the Dominion's surrender in their war against the powers of the Alpha Quadrant . He left behind the woman he loved, Colonel Kira Nerys . ( DS9 episode & novelization : What You Leave Behind )

Great Link [ ]

In one timeline, [ citation needed ] soon after arriving at the link, Odo confirmed that there was indeed genetic material on file for the cloned Vorta Weyoun , despite previous claims. Odo had a new Weyoun cloned to act as his personal Vorta assistant.

Three months after rejoining the Great Link, Odo assigned Taran'atar , a Jem'Hadar soldier that was not addicted to the drug Ketracel White , to travel to Deep Space 9 and act as an observer of the species of the Alpha Quadrant. Odo's hope was that the Jem'Hadar could eventually learn to be more than blood-thirsty soldiers.

Other than sending Taran'atar the Link was generally unreceptive to Odo's ideas of bring more peace to the Dominion. Odo remained an outsider and spent much of his time in solid form, receiving verbal communications from Laas when the Link made decisions. ( DS9 novel : Avatar, Book Two )

Soon after dispatching Taran'atar to DS9, rumors reached the Great Link of a holy woman speaking of the Prophets and of healing. The rumors also said that this woman had had contact with a mysterious race known only as the Ascendants , a dangerous race that the Link knew very little about.

Believing this woman to be the lost Bajoran Kai Opaka Sulan , Odo disguised himself as a Trelian woman named Wex and set out in search of her. Odo eventually found both Opaka, and Jake Sisko , who was on his own adventure in the Gamma Quadrant.

Opaka's knowledge of the continued existence of the Ascendants was important information for the Dominion, but Odo couldn't return to the Link without first seeing Opaka and Jake back home to Bajor.

Upon arriving back at the station, Odo quickly found himself in the middle of the Parasite crisis. Reuniting with his love Kira, Odo assisted in the liberation of the monastery at Ashalla , which was the stronghold of the alien parasites.

Odo stayed with Kira at DS9 for approximately a month, long enough to attend Bajor's admittance into the United Federation of Planets. ( DS9 novels : Rising Son , Unity )

Progenitor [ ]

Worlds of Deep Space Nine: volume three

Odo and fellow member of the Hundred, Laas , learned the truth as to why they were sent out into the galaxy as infants at the end of the year 2376 , from a Changeling that Odo named Indurane , Bajoran for 'ancient'.

Indurane explained that the Great Link and all Changelings were created en mass by a god-like being known as the Progenitor. There were no 'infant' Changelings, only Changelings that had not separated from the Link and begun to learn. This was why the Changelings had such restrictions on harming one another-- with each Changeling death, the species was brought that much closer to extinction.

The Hundred had been sent out to attract the attention of the Progenitor and lure it back to the Link so it could replenish the species.

For a brief time, it appeared as if the Changelings had succeeded and lured the Progenitor back when a nova appeared in the sky in the place where the Founders believed the Progenitor would return. But when a party of Changelings, including Odo, inspected the site, they found only the corpse of a gigantic Changeling, perhaps even the Progenitor itself, killed by the radiation of the nova.

Several days later, the Great Link dissolved as all of the Changelings that had been hoping for the Progenitor's return gave into their sorrow and floated off into space.

This left only Odo, Laas, and perhaps a few other members of the Hundred running the entirety of the Dominion. ( DS9 - Worlds of Deep Space Nine novel : The Dominion: Olympus Descending )

Over the next several years Odo concentrated on running the Dominion while Laas went off in search of other Changelings to convince them to return. Due to the structure of the Dominion in which most members never even seen a Founder the day to day operations of the Dominion were largely unaffected. During this time Odo kept the Dominion borders closed to keep the political situation stable. Odo focused his work on transforming the Dominion into a more peaceful and democratic socity. He also worked to change Vorta and Jem'Hadar culture for the better, but later focused on individual members of both species, such as Weyoun and Rotan'talag - hoping that both would in turn influence others around them.

Learning of a planned attack on Deep Space 9 by the Typhon Pact , Odo boarded a Jem'Hadar ship and ordered them to take him to the wormhole. He was trapped in the Alpha Quadrant when a Romulan ship self destructed in the wormhole, causing the wormhole to close. ( DS9 - Typhon Pact novel : Raise the Dawn )

By 2385 , Odo had since accepted being trapped in the Alpha Quadrant and lived in the Vanadwan Monastery on Bajor. Though claimed as a living space, Odo had usually been out looking for Changelings who never returned to the Gamma Quadrant. Along with that, he had been keeping an eye out for any Ascendents, as requested by his acquaintance Raiq who also resided at the monastery. Each time Odo returned to Bajor, he'd find himself seeking out the quarters of Kira Nerys in the unlikely case she had returned from the wormhole. A couple days after he had returned from his latest search, Raiq informed him he had received a message from Benjamin Sisko, who Odo later contacted. Sisko informed Odo Federation President Nanietta Bacco had requested to see him. Not long after, he met with the President a day or so before the dedication ceremony who once again offered Odo passage back to the Gamma Quadrant via a slipstream vessel and informed of the possible discovery of another Changeling in the quadrant by the science vessel Nova . Odo turned down the offer to be brought back to his quadrant, but agreed to come examine the possible Changeling. ( ST - The Fall novel : Revelation and Dust )

In November 2385, Odo met with Corazame , drawing similarities to his original arrival on DS9, where he was introduced to a strange new world he knew nothing about. This was rather the same in Corazame's case, who had been extremely sheltered, being such a lowly Tzenkethi class rank. It took a couple minutes, but Corazame eventually warmed up to Odo, who had given her advice on getting used to a new environment. Odo showed her his shapeshifting abilities, while Corazame demonstrated the Tzenkethi ability to change skin color at will.

Sometime later, when Corazame had been accused of breaking into the chief medical officer's files and office, Odo implored her to tell the truth. Although Corazame had been innocent, she had refused to say anything, believing nobody would ever dispute the fact it was her fault, as she was Tzenkethi and the citizens of the Federation hadn't trusted her kind. Eventually she had been cleared, and taken her leave of the station with the visiting People of the Open Sky . Odo and Corazame said their goodbyes, with Corazame thanking Odo for being so welcoming and for helping her make a decision on what to do with her life.

After Corazame had left, Odo decided to settle on the station, feeling once again welcome, thus ending his tenure on Bajor. ( DS9 novel : The Missing )

In 2386 , while on a mission for Section 31 in the mirror universe , Doctor Bashir and the Female Changeling theorized that Odo may have originated in the mirror universe and switched sides with the Odo of the primary universe at some point due to their personalities and temperament. ( ST - Section 31 novel : Disavowed )

Path to the 25th century [ ]

By the 2380s , Odo had become the Changelings' ambassador to solids. At this time, he met with Laas on Koralis III and invited the fellow Founder to come back to the Gamma Quadrant. Laas chose to continue searching for the other infant changelings on the Alpha Quadrant side of the Bajoran wormhole.

In 2385 , Odo had a meeting with Lamat'Ukan and invited the Alpha Quadrant Jem'Hadar to return to the Gamma Quadrant. Lamat'Ukan refused to do so, claiming that Odo was a "false god." ( ST website : The Path to 2409 )

In 2410, Odo arrived a Bajor leading a Dominion Fleet, interceding on Behalf of the Federation and its allies against the Hur'q forces that had suddenly appeared and assaulted the planet and Deep Space 9. [ citation needed ]

Alternate realities [ ]

Appendices [ ], connections [ ], background [ ].

• Odo was played by Rene Auberjonois .

Appearances and references [ ]

Appearances [ ], references [ ].

• PRD episode : " Kobayashi "
• PIC episode : " Seventeen Seconds "

External links [ ]

• Odo article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• Odo (Star Trek) article at Wikipedia , the free encyclopedia.
• 1 Lamarr class
• 2 Wesley Crusher
• 3 USS Voyager (NCC-74656-A)

Screen Rant

Ds9's odo had a sidekick star trek forgot about.

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Star Trek Continues DS9’s Longest Running Joke

Why aegon can’t speak high valyrian in house of the dragon, deadliest catch: the cornelia marie's sudden departure explained.

• Constable Odo had a rough start with Starfleet officers, but ultimately earned their respect and formed partnerships.
• Lt. George Primmin clashed with Odo over security arrangements, but grew to respect his approach to maintaining security.
• Lt. Commander Michael Eddington became a more memorable sidekick for Odo, especially after betraying Starfleet for the Maquis.

Although he was often a man apart, Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois) briefly had a forgotten Starfleet sidekick in the early days of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . DS9's lawman was envisioned as a gruff and solitary frontier lawman in the mold of John Wayne or Clint Eastwood. In DS9 's early days, Odo often kept his distance from his Starfleet colleagues, as the hierarchy aboard the Bajoran space station was worked out between Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor). As a result, Odo often had to deal with the interference of Starfleet security forces, especially during the Dominion War.

However, Odo had a softer side that made him a loyal friend and a trusted colleague. When he first arrived aboard Deep Space Nine, former security officer Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn) clashed with Odo, but he would later call him a " man of honor ", which is a high compliment from a Klingon. Odo and Worf had a fractious partnership as the Klingon struggled to adjust to life outside the security division, but he wasn't the only Starfleet officer to clash with Odo in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . The first Starfleet officer to question Odo's approach to station security was a character who appeared in two episodes of DS9 season 1, but is now largely forgotten.

Odo's Forgotten Star Trek: DS9's Sidekick Explained

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 1, episode 9, "The Passenger", Starfleet send Lt. George Primmin (James Lashly) to oversee security arrangements for a deuridium shipment. Primmin and Odo immediately clashed over the Constable's decision to inform Quark (Armin Shimerman) about the shipment. Sisko warned Primmin against overruling Odo's authority aboard the station as he reminded the officer that Starfleet were on DS9 as guests of the Bajoran Provisional Government. Primmin later grew to respect Odo's approach to maintaining security on the space station, and the mismatched buddy comedy between the two cops on Deep Space Nine is one of the most enjoyable aspects of an uneven episode.

Odo and Primmin's partnership was short-lived, however, as the Starfleet security officer disappeared after the next episode, "Move Along Home". As Primmin was originally devised as a temporary replacement for Chief O'Brien while actor Colm Meaney made a movie, there were no further plans for the character. Writer and DS9 story editor Robert Hewitt Wolfe told the Official Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Magazine that he'd have liked to bring the character back, but there were no wider plans to do so.

Odo Got A More Memorable Starfleet Sidekick In DS9 Season 3

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 3, Starfleet sent another security officer to the station to respond to the threat posed by the Dominion. Hilariously, Odo's response to Lt. Commander Michael Eddington (Kenneth Marshall) mirrored his response to Primmin. Believing his authority to be at threat, Odo immediately tendered his resignation to Commander Sisko, before being reassured that he was still in charge of station security. Eddington and Odo would occasionally work together, most notably when the Constable and his sidekick stored the DS9 crew in a James Bond holosuite program following a transporter malfunction.

Quark was Odo's best friend , but both Eddington and Primmin were very capable sidekicks for the Constable during Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . Michael Eddington became far more memorable than George Primmin when he betrayed Starfleet for the Maquis in DS9 season 5. Eddington's betrayal had a bigger impact on Captain Sisko than Odo, as he relentlessly pursued the Maquis traitor, determined to bring him to justice. It was this gripping storyline that meant that Eddington was able to transcend his original sidekick status and become a fascinating Star Trek character in his own right.

• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993)

Ahsoka Star Recalls Giving Up on Another Huge Sci-Fi Franchise for Star Wars

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• Rosario Dawson turned down a Star Trek role for Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars .
• She was offered a Changeling role and pushed for playing Q in Star Trek .
• Dawson is a huge Star Trek fan, favoring Captain Picard and The Next Generation.

Rosario Dawson recently revealed that she turned down a role in the Star Trek universe in favor of playing Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars . Dawson first took on the role of Ahsoka in season 2 of The Mandalorian in 2020, and would go on to appear in 2022’s The Book of Boba Fett before starring in the Disney+ series named after her character in 2023. While she’s now synonymous with the franchise, Dawson is also a fan of Star Trek , and says it's okay for fans to “cross streams” and enjoy both.

Appearing at Fan Expo Boston (per ScreenRant ), Rosario Dawson explained that she turned down the role of a Changeling in a Star Trek on Paramount+ series in favor of playing Ahsoka in The Mandalorian . While she didn’t specifically state which character she was offered to play in Star Trek , she did say that it “would have been really cool.” She then jokingly explained how both she and her father were rooting for her to portray the mischievous Star Trek villain, Q.

“I could have been one of Odo’s species, the changeling. I could have been an immortal puddle, guys. Do you understand my pain? (she said clenching her eyes tight). That would have been really cool. I also really pushed to be a ‘Q.’ My dad. That was my dad (donning a masculine voice and pointing to her dad in the audience), ‘Be Q.’ I’m like, I’m trying. Right? Then I can be, you know, annoying… cause chaos, which I love.’”

Though Dawson didn’t go into details as to which character she was offered to play in Star Trek other than it was a Changeling similar to Odo in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , one can deduce that it was probably a part in Star Trek: Discovery , which was shooting around the same time her role as Ahsoka in The Mandalorian came to fruition. While the Changeling seen in the episode 'All In' in season 4 of Discovery was a non-speaking part, it’s possible the role could have been expanded had Dawson accepted the offer.

Rosario Dawson Is a Huge Fan of Star Trek

Though she wasn’t able to appear in the Star Trek universe because of her commitment to play Ahsoka Tano, Dawson says she’s been a huge fan of the franchise her whole life. While Trekkies like to debate which Star Trek series is the best between the likes of the original show, The Next Generation , Deep Space Nine , or Voyager , Dawson says she’s partial to Captain Picard, explaining a humorous photo she has yet to reveal to the public.

“I’m definitely a ‘Next Gen’ girl. Captain Picard all the way,” she said. “I have a video of me being dressed as Ahsoka holding up the Picard Earl Gray tea bottle. One of these days I will post it.”

How Rosario Dawson Went From Indie Obscurity to Star Wars Queen

Discovered on a brownstone stoop as a Manhattanite teen, Dawson has secured the Star Wars crown and superstardom of late.

Dawson is set to appear next in the sci-fi-mystery Speed of Light , and will also lend her voice to the character of Prism in the animated series Ghosts of Ruin . While there’s no word yet on when a second season of Ahsoka might debut, Dawson is already teasing the project , which is currently in development by Dave Filoni .

Season 1 of Ahsoka is available to stream on Disney+ .

• Rosario Dawson

1 hr 33 min

'Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang' DS9 S7E15 It's Got Star Trek

• Science Fiction

Captain Sisko helps his crew save their favorite video game. Join your groovy hosts as they discuss the value of low-stakes adventures, delight in the sheer amount of talent and expense leveraged to bring this silly story to the small screen, and skirt around the sexual implications of Odo's biology. Spoiler warning! We dive right into a detail-rich discussion of this episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, so if you haven’t had a chance to see it yet – beware! Next week: Dan and Jesse discuss Star Trek: Enterprise's "The Communicator" while Patrick tools around Anchorage, Alaska. Note that this and all episodes of the It’s Got Star Trek podcast contain explicit language and, frankly, an unnecessary amount of offensive content, so the show is intended only for adults and really really cool kids. Would you like to give us money in return for extra silliness? Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/itsgotstartrek! Please utilize one of the following options if you have an interest in contacting your hosts: Record a message to us at itsgotstartrek.com/record Email us at [email protected] Twitter us @ItsGotStarTrek Blueskyify us @ItsGotStarTrek Threaden us @ItsGotStarTrek Mastodon us @[email protected] Instagramaphone us @ItsGotStarTrek Facebookify us @ItsGotStarTrek Watch a static image while listening to the podcast on YouTube Telephone us at 202-456-1414 You can also visit www.itsgotstartrek.com and leave a comment or head on over to the It’s Got Everything subreddit to join the discussion.

• Episode Website
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• © 2023 The It's Got Star Trek Podcast

• Cast & crew
• User reviews
• Episode aired Nov 25, 1996

On their way to answer a warrant, Odo and Quark crash, and must put aside their differences to survive and signal for help. On their way to answer a warrant, Odo and Quark crash, and must put aside their differences to survive and signal for help. On their way to answer a warrant, Odo and Quark crash, and must put aside their differences to survive and signal for help.

• Allan Kroeker
• Gene Roddenberry
• Rick Berman
• Michael Piller
• Avery Brooks
• Rene Auberjonois
• Michael Dorn
• 14 User reviews
• 4 Critic reviews

• Captain Benjamin 'Ben' Sisko

• Constable Odo

• Lt. Cmdr. Worf

• Lt. Cmdr. Jadzia Dax

• Chief Miles O'Brien

• Doctor Julian Bashir

• Major Kira Nerys

• Bajoran Officer
• (uncredited)
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia Quark offers to play a game of fizzbin, a game made up by Captain Kirk in the episode " A Piece of the Action (1968) ".
• Goofs In the opening scene, despite taking two long drinks of the root beer, it is obvious that Rom is not drinking at all. The liquid level never changes and the bottle is still very full in the last shot before the credits.

Odo : You know, if I were still a Changeling, I could've shapeshifted into a Vorian pterodactyl and flown that damn transmitter to the top of the mountain hours ago.

Quark : You're the one who wanted to be a Solid.

Odo : I never wanted to be a Solid.

Quark : Oh, please. I used to see you coming into the bar, watching Morn eat, eyeing my customers, as they gambled and flirted with the dabo girls, wishing you were one of them - not to mention your platonic friendship with a certain Bajoran Major.

Odo : [laughs disparagingly] If that's the kind of psychological insight you dispense with your drinks, it's a wonder you have any customers.

Quark : Deny it all you want, but the fact is, your people gave you what you wanted. You're one of us now, and I can finally sit on a chair and know with absolute certainty that it isn't you.

• Connections Featured in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: What You Leave Behind (1999)
• Soundtracks Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Main Title (uncredited) Written by Dennis McCarthy Performed by Dennis McCarthy

User reviews 14

• haroonnazim
• Jun 7, 2021
• November 25, 1996 (United States)
• United States
• Official Site
• Whitney Portal, Inyo National Forest, California, USA (Class L planet)
• Paramount Television
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 46 minutes

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