"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. It premiered the week of February 1, 1999 to Nielsen ratings of 4.6. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the space station

Deep Space Nine ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (''DS9'') is an American science fiction on television, science-fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller. The fourth series in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise, it originally aired Broad ...

. This episode takes place mostly in the

Mirror Universe The Mirror Universe is the setting of several narratives in the ''Star Trek'' science fiction franchise, a parallel universe existing alongside, but separate from, the fictional universe that is the main setting of ''Star Trek''. It resembles th ...

, a parallel universe that is home to more aggressive, mistrustful, and opportunistic doppelgangers of the regular characters of the ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'' universe, governed by a brutal alliance of the

Cardassian The Cardassians () are a fictional Extraterrestrial life in popular culture, extraterrestrial species in the American science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. They were devised in 1991 for the series ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' before b ...

and

Klingon The Klingons ( ; Klingon language, Klingon: ''tlhIngan'' ) are a humanoid species of aliens in the science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. Developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon in 1967 for the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star T ...

races. In this episode, the

Ferengi The Ferengi () are a fictional extraterrestrial species in the American science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. They were devised in 1987 for the series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', played a prominent role in the following series '' Star ...

characters

Quark A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nucleus, atomic nuclei ...

and

Rom Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...

travel to the Mirror Universe to rescue the kidnapped Grand Nagus Zek, leader of the Ferengi Alliance. The episode was directed by

LeVar Burton Levardis Robert Martyn Burton Jr. (born February 16, 1957) is an American actor, director, and television host. He played Geordi La Forge in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994), Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries ''Roots'' (1977 ...

and 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 th ...

and Hans Beimler. The episode includes one of the first homosexual relationships depicted in the series, between the alternate universe equivalents of

Kira Nerys Kira Nerys ( ) is a fictional character in the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (1993–1999). She was played by actress Nana Visitor. The character is from the fictional planet Bajor, a world which has ...

and

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 ...

. The episode was the second in the franchise to feature a lesbian kiss, with the first being Rejoined.

Plot

The Mirror Universe counterpart of Ezri Dax shows up at Quark's quarters on Deep Space Nine with a message: Zek went to the Mirror Universe in search of business opportunities and was kidnapped by the Alliance, who demand that Quark exchange a

cloaking device A cloaking device is a hypothetical or fictional stealth technology that can cause objects, such as spaceships or individuals, to be partially or wholly invisible to parts of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum. Fictional cloaking devices have been ...

—a device that can render a starship invisible—for Zek's freedom. Quark and Rom steal a cloaking device from the Klingon General

Martok Martok, son of Urthog is a recurring character in ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', played by actor J. G. Hertzler. Martok is a high-ranking Klingon leader at the Federation-Bajoran Deep Space Nine (fictional space station), space station in the l ...

's ship, which they hide by cloaking the device. They get the device to Ezri, and are forced to transport to the Mirror Universe with her when Martok discovers the theft. Upon arriving at Terok Nor (the Mirror counterpart of Deep Space Nine), now under the control of the human rebellion against the Alliance, the three are arrested, since the Rebellion cannot allow the Alliance to gain such cloaking technology. They are rescued by Ezri's friend, the Mirror counterpart of Quark's rival Brunt. Brunt brings them to the Regent of the Alliance, the Mirror counterpart of

Worf Worf, son of Mogh is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, portrayed by actor Michael Dorn. He appears in the television series ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (''TNG''), seasons four through seven of ''Star Trek: Deep Space ...

. They learn that the mirror Kira Nerys—formerly the Alliance's brutal overseer of Terok Nor, now out of favor with the Alliance, and Ezri's lover—planned the entire affair; the Alliance never intended to release Zek. Brunt persuades Worf not to execute the Ferengi immediately, and Rom and Quark are imprisoned with Zek. Kira kills Brunt when he tries to convince her to release them. Ezri, disgusted by Kira's callous murder of her friend, turns against her. 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 Elim Garak ( ) is a fictional character from the television series ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', in which he is portrayed by Andrew Robinson (actor), Andrew J. Robinson. In the series, Garak is an exiled spy from the Cardassia Prime, Cardass ...

. They distract Garak by comparing him to the Garak of their own universe, which delays him long enough for Ezri to arrive and inject him with the poison meant for the Ferengi. Worf has the cloaking device activated, only to find that Rom has sabotaged the device to drain the ship's power. The powerless Alliance ship is easily overpowered by the Rebels' ''Defiant'', forcing Worf to surrender to the Rebels. The Rebels bring the Ferengi back to Terok Nor, from which they can return to their own universe.

Reception

Keith DeCandido, reviewing the episode for

Tor.com ''Reactor'', formerly ''Tor.com'', is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on specul ...

in 2015, gave the episode a rating of 1 out of 10, describing the plot as predictable and the Mirror Universe concept as having worn out its welcome and become impossible to take seriously. Zack Handlen, reviewing the episode in 2014 for

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

, also gave it a negative review, calling the Mirror characters poorly developed and the writing "jokey and disengaged". In 2017, SyFy ranked this the second-worst of the seven Mirror Universe episodes of the ''

'' franchise that had aired up to that date.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Emperors New Cloak, The 1999 American television episodes American LGBTQ-related television episodes Mirror Universe (Star Trek) episodes Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 7 episodes Television episodes directed by LeVar Burton Television episodes written by Ira Steven Behr 1999 LGBTQ-related television episodes