Summary
Star Trekhosts several complex and well-loved characters with interesting moral positions. However, one fan believes that Odo fromStar Trek: Deep Space Ninemight have gotten off too easy in public discourse.
Star Trek:Deep Space Nineis the fourthStar Trekseries and the first to take place on a station instead of a Starship. The series enjoyed remarkable critical acclaim, and fans took to many of the main characters, including the shapeshifting head of security for the Deep Space Nine station, Odo, a sentient creature known as a Changeling who starts his life adapting to human ways and acted as something of a moral guidepost for other characters.
Despite the character generally being viewed in a positive light as a fan-favorite, oneStar Trekenjoyer on Reddit doesn’t believe the character deserves this stellar reputation at all. UserOpCrossroads1946took to the site’s r/startrek board to put forth a post boldly titled, “Odo doesn’t get enough hate,” in which he took issue with one particular part of the character’s history that he views as far more irredeemable than other fans seem to remember it. After giving honorable mention to the fact that Odo served as an enforcer for a brutal occupying invader, ajob that he kept afterDeep Space Ninewas liberated,the user instead chose to focus on an even more blatant flirtation with authoritarian forces and subjugation: Odo’s literal flirtation and relationship with a Female Changeling in charge of a potential genocide in service of expanding the Changeling’s Dominion Empire.
OpCrossroads1946 goes on to establish the severity of the threat posed by the Dominion–who at one point were considering killing all inhabitants of Earth–and highlights the fact that Odo would go on to have an intimate relationship with the female Changeling despite her position as the head of the war effort, effectively fraternizing with the enemy while millions of lives were at stake. The user compared Odo’s position to that of Hitler’s consort, Eva Braun, arguing that Odo’s actions were similar to hers and should be judged as harshly. Rather than appropriately resenting the character for his betrayal, OpCrossroads1946 points out that Odo got a free pass for eventually siding withthe right factions in the Dominion War. They also attributed some of this leeway to the stellar performance behind Odo from the late great René Auberjonois, which may have bought the character more goodwill than earned.
While a lothappened to Odo throughoutStar Trek: Deep Space Nine,even after these events, little is done to address the magnitude of this wrongdoing or atone for it. On the contrary, Odo would instead make peace with the female Changeling and save the species in a pivotal moment for the series. However, many fans in the replies were quick to point out that Odo’s species were shown to be subject to a pseudo-hive-mind and that Odo himself noted with some discomfort that he’s lost track of multiple days while linked to the female changeling, who was explicitly shown to be manipulating him. Because of this, the dissenters say, Odo is treated the same way any other character who sinned when under mind control or similar forms of coercion would be, a condition that isn’t unheard of inStar Trek.
No matter how fans look at it, Odo’s experiences and actions in this arc played a major part in one of the most important facets ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s famously fulfilling ending. This intricately connected story arc carries far more weight than the character’s actions under duress, and for better or worse, is far more memorable when fans think of Odo.
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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
In the vicinity of the liberated planet of Bajor, the Federation space station Deep Space Nine guards the opening of a stable wormhole to the far side of the galaxy.
