"The Siege of AR-558" is the 158th episode of the television series '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', the eighth episode of the seventh season, first aired the week of November 16, 1998. It was written by

Ira Steven Behr Ira Steven Behr (born October 23, 1953) is an American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his work on '' Star Trek'', especially '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', on which he served as showrunner and executive producer. He was ...

and Hans Beimler, and directed by

Winrich Kolbe Winrich Ernst Rudolf Kolbe (9 August 1940 – September 2012),space station '' Deep Space Nine''; the later seasons of the series follow a war between the

United Federation of Planets In the fictional universe of ''Star Trek'' the United Federation of Planets (UFP) is the interstellar government with which, as part of its space force Starfleet, most of the characters and starships of the franchise are affiliated. Commonly refe ...

and an empire known as the

Dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 192 ...

. This episode focuses on one battle in the

Dominion War The Dominion War is an extended plot concept developed in several story arcs of ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', an American science-fiction television series produced by Paramount Pictures. In the fictional ''Star Trek'' universe, the Dominion War ...

, in which

Starfleet Starfleet is a fictional organization in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Within this fictional universe, Starfleet is a uniformed space force maintained by the United Federation of Planets ("the Federation") as the principal means for conduc ...

soldiers attempt to hold a communications installation captured from the Dominion. This episode received a

Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...

of 4.5 when it was broadcast on television in 1998.

Plot

The USS ''Defiant'', commanded by Captain

Benjamin Sisko Benjamin Lafayette Sisko is a fictional character in the '' Star Trek'' franchise portrayed by Avery Brooks. He first appeared in the television series '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (''DS9'') and became prominent on the TV show in the United ...

, is dispatched to bring supplies to

soldiers on planet AR-558, the site of a captured Dominion communications relay. The Ferengi civilian bartender Quark accompanies them, having been sent on a "fact-finding mission" to the front lines. Sisko, Quark, Dr.

Julian Bashir Julian Subatoi Bashir, MD is a fictional character from the television series ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', portrayed by Alexander Siddig. Bashir is the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of space station Deep Space Nine and the USS ''Defiant''. ...

, counselor

Ezri Dax Ezri Dax () is a fictional character who appears in the seventh and final season of the American science fiction TV series ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''. Portrayed by Nicole de Boer, she is a counselor aboard the Bajoran space station '' De ...

, and Quark's nephew Ensign Nog find the Starfleet garrison in bad shape: of 150 soldiers sent to the planet, only 43 still live; the captain and first officer have been killed, leaving Lt. Nadia Larkin in command. The remaining soldiers are badly in need of relief: they have not been rotated off-duty for over five months, although regulations insist that infantry be rested every 90 days. They are plagued by "Houdini" anti-personnel mines that pass in and out of subspace at random and kill soldiers unexpectedly. Although Nog looks up to the battle-hardened veterans as heroes, Quark warns him that humans deprived of their creature comforts can be brutal. When the Dominion's soldiers, the

Jem'Hadar ''Star Trek'' is a science fiction media franchise that began with Gene Roddenberry's launch of the original ''Star Trek'' television series in 1966. Its success led to decades of films, novels, comics, and spinoff series. A major motif of the ...

, arrive to attempt to retake the installation, Sisko takes command of the garrison, ordering the ''Defiant'' away to safety. Over Quark's objections, Sisko sends Nog as part of a scouting party to assess the Jem'Hadar's strength. The party gains the needed intelligence but is ambushed; Larkin is killed, and Nog loses a leg. Quark accuses Sisko of not valuing Nog's life; Sisko retorts that he cares about all the soldiers under his command. Dax assists the garrison's engineer, Kellin, in working out a way to make the "Houdinis" visible, so that they can be moved out of the camp and used to halt attacking Jem'Hadar. As the Jem'Hadar begin advancing, the Houdinis begin to explode in the distance. The Starfleet personnel prepare for the upcoming fight, while Quark waits with Nog in the infirmary. In the ensuing battle, the Jem'Hadar break through the Starfleet defensive lines; Quark shoots a Jem'Hadar soldier in the infirmary, protecting Nog. Although many Starfleet personnel are killed in the battle, they succeed in holding the installation. In the aftermath of the battle, the ''Defiant'' returns, accompanied by the USS ''Veracruz'', which evacuates the wounded and replaces them with fresh troops. Sisko reflects on the cost of the victory and the importance of remembering the dead as people, not just names on a list.

Production

The number 558 is also the production code of the episode. The script changed several times during pre-production, with minor edits being made. "The Siege of AR-558" featured

Bill Mumy Charles William Mumy Jr. (; born February 1, 1954) is an American actor, writer, and musician and a figure in the science-fiction community/comic book fandom. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a child actor, which included television appeara ...

in a guest role as Kellin; the actor had previously appeared in the science fiction genre television series ''

Lost in Space ''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel ''The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series fo ...

'' and ''

Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tele ...

''. He had previously passed on offers to appear in ''Deep Space Nine'' due to his appearances on the latter show. He was offered another role once the series was finished, but turned it down as it would have involved wearing prosthetics in order to appear as an alien – something he didn't want to do, as his appearances as his ''Babylon 5'' character,

Lennier The list of ''Babylon 5'' characters contains characters from the entire ''Babylon 5'' universe. The Babylon station was conceived as a political and cultural meeting place. As such, one of the show's many themes is the cultural and social intera ...

, required him to wear them. But ''Deep Space Nine'' producer

offered him a human role in this episode, which Mumy accepted after reading the script for an hour. Once on set, he found that the script could not be changed at all, unwittingly delaying a morning's production because he added the word "well" to a line. He was happy with the death scene of his character, also adding that Behr "got a kick" out of killing Will Robinson from ''Lost in Space''.

Reception

In 2015,

Geek.com Geek.com is a technology news weblog about hardware, mobile computing, technology, movies, TV, video games, comic books, and all manner of geek culture subjects. It was founded in 1996 and was run independently until 2007 when it was sold to N ...

recommended this episode as "essential watching" for their abbreviated ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''

binge-watching Binge-watching (also called binge-viewing) is the practice of watching entertainment or informational content for a prolonged time span, usually a single television show. Statistics Binge-watching overlaps with marathon viewing which places mo ...

guide. In 2016, ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' ranked this episode the 15th best of ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''. In 2017, ''ScreenRant'' ranked this episode the 5th thematically darkest episode of the ''Star Trek'' franchise. In 2018,

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

rated "The Siege of AR-558" the 12th best episode of ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.'' In 2016, ''

'' ranked "The Siege of AR-558" as the 15th best of ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.'' In 2014, Gizmodo ranked "The Siege of AR-558" as the 17th best episode of Star Trek, out of the over 700 made by that time. In 2020, ''

Den of Geek ''Den of Geek'' is a US and UK-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a bi-annual magazine. History ''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ...

'' listed this episode as one of the best stories of ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Siege Of Ar-558, The 1998 American television episodes Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (season 7) episodes Fictional battles