The Emperor's New Cloak
| "The Emperor's New Cloak" | |
|---|---|
| Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode | |
| Episode no. |
Season 7 Episode 12 |
| Directed by | LeVar Burton |
| Written by |
Ira Steven Behr Hans Beimler |
| Featured music | Dennis McCarthy |
| Production code | 562 |
| Original air date | February 3, 1999 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
| |
"The Emperor's New Cloak" is the 162nd episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The 12th episode of the seventh season. The episode's title is a reference to the Hans Christian Andersen story, The Emperor's New Clothes.
This is one of the show's Mirror Universe episodes and also features a lot of Ferengi and introduces some mirror-universe characters
This had Nielsen ratings of 4.6 when it was broadcast on television in 1999.[1]
Plot
The mirror-universe Ezri shows up demanding that Quark bring a cloaking device to the Regent Worf in exchange for Grand Nagus Zek, who went to the other side in search of business opportunities. Quark enlists Rom's help in stealing one of those devices from a docked Klingon Bird-of-Prey, which they hide by cloaking the cloaking device. When they reach the habitat ring, they avoid questions from a confused Benjamin Sisko and an impatient General Martok when they are noticed idly staring at a bulkhead. They manage to get the device to mirror Ezri, and are forced to transport to the mirror universe when Martok discovers the theft. Upon arrival at the alternate Deep Space 9 (now called Terok Nor), they meet Vic Fontaine, who is not a hologram in the mirror universe.
The three are held captive, as the Rebellion cannot allow the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance to gain such cloaking technology. They are rescued by an alternate version of Brunt, who brings them to the Regent, where it is revealed that the alternate Kira Nerys had planned this all along. Quark and Rom discover that Kira and Ezri are lovers and are then imprisoned.
Zek tells the other two Ferengi that he stole the plans to the multidimensional transporter so he could arrange business agreements with this universe, but the plan backfired when he was caught.
Rom is forced to install the cloaking device on the Regent's ship, but despite his cooperation, he and Quark are still sentenced to die at the hands of mirror Elim Garak. Ezri, however, injects Garak with the poison meant for Quark and Rom; she reveals her motivations to be both a grudge against Garak and regret over the death of Brunt.
The empire attempts to use the cloaking device on the Regent's ship, but it turns out that Rom had sabotaged the device to drain the power grid, and the ship is easily overtaken by the Defiant, forcing Worf to surrender to the Rebels. The Rebels bring the three Ferengi (and Zek's servant, Maihar'du) back to Terok Nor, where a Leeta who never married Rom comes to "debrief" Ezri.
Notes
- This episode was dedicated to the memory of the recently deceased Jerome Bixby, who wrote the original Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror" that introduced the "Mirror Universe" featured in this and several other episodes of the many Star Trek series.
- The title is an allusion to Hans Christian Andersen's story, The Emperor's New Clothes.
- The episode is notable for including one of the few homosexual relationships depicted in the series, between the alternate universe equivalents of Kira Nerys and Ezri Tegan.
- In his rewatch of the episode, Keith DeCandido noted a "major continuity error" in that cloaking technology was indeed seen being used by the Alliance in a previous Mirror Universe episode, "Through the Looking Glass".[2]
References
- ↑
- ↑ DeCandido, Keith (January 7, 2015). "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Rewatch: "The Emperor's New Cloak"". Tor.com. Retrieved October 21, 2016.