Icon from a picrew by grgikau. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
With regards to the Jem'Hadar, I think it’s important to keep in mind the context of DS9 as responding to TNG. The episode where Odo finds a baby Jem'Hadar and they are just naturally violent and cannot be changed strikes me as a direct response to Hugh and the Borg. It takes a TNG episode and asks, “what if it didn’t work out the way our protagonists wanted?” which is a very DS9 thing to do.
Doesn’t in any way change the unfortunate implications of “addicts are inherently violent” etc., or the fact that it’s not the most interesting possible storyline looking at the property as a whole, but I do think the context of DS9’s relationship to TNG fundamentally shaped how the Jem'Hadar turned out.
The writers have said that they were responding to how “most” sci-fi wouldn’t make the Jem'hadar inherently violent, but to me that fails as a reaction because it doesn’t understand why most sci-fi would do that. Most sci-fi would do that (in many cases) because it would consider the Jem'hadar as people, and would question the pervasive view that some people are inherently bad, not simply for the ease of protagonists. It would question the idea that drug addicts are bad, that sime people are meant to be slaves or that its good for them to be controlled (both topics DS9 handles on some level for other characters in basically the exact opposite way they handled the Jem'hadar). The approach they took ends up being… definitionally reactionary, and inconsistent with the rest of the show.
While it’s very true that DS9 reacts to other Trek, I feel a more interesting way of reacting to it would’ve been to lean into the serialized element of DS9; have it be a long running issue with setbacks and breakthroughs. That way it wouldn’t go into “drug addicts are violent and slaves literally are not people”, and would support one of the basic ideas around DS9: that they don’t get to fly off into the horizon at the end of the episode. However they meddle in people’s lives has ramifications and they stay with them. That way it’s also not easy on the protagonists, maybe even lean into the criticizing the Federation that DS9 tried to do with what the freed Jem'hadar want from their lives not meshing with Federation expectations, and gives us more time to dig into the ideas raised by the Jem'hadar- long term reprocussions of addiction and multi generational violence, relapse, what it means to rebuild a life after violence, what it means to gain a will to live instead of living to die, etc.
There's a meme going around on twitter that goes "if you could add/subtract one storyline to this show, what would it be?" which made me curious: if you could add or subtract one storyline from DS9, what would it be?
that’s easy, i’d add a storyline about some of the jem hadar successfully defecting and joining the fight on the federation’s side with some vorta allies, and then incorporate them into the trek franchise as a new species working to establish themselves and settle somewhere (which would naturally bring up all kinds of meaty complications to explore in a story)
I love the jem’hadar so much and they deserved so much better and it’s wild that a concept so steeped in unchallenged bigotry could contain so much pathos that was barely given the opportunity to shine through and yet feels so obvious and they deserve to be given proper focus that takes all these complexities into account and honours their potential
There were so many Jem'hadar characters that were given half a moment of light, only to be shoved back into darkness! Hell, the Borg had more opportunities to challenge and break free of their chains than the Jem'hadar did, and it’s so unfair.
Like, firstly, the child Jem'hadar. I think it’s fine he found the pull of the genetic programming too much, and went back to the Dominion - but you’re telling me he didn’t take any of his experiences with him? He didn’t quietly notice other Jem'hadar feeling brief moments of mercy? He didn’t think, at night, of the humanoids who showed him kindness and tried to show him a different way of life, free from the Vorta and the Dominion?
And what of Goran'Agar, and all the troops he had with him who were willing to torture themselves to break free from the Vorta and the white? Like, we never see him die on screen. If he felt the urge to break away and managed to do so, if he found that many allies, there must be many more Jem'hadar who felt exactly the same, but who were unable to do anything about it.
And then! There’s the Jem'hadar who fought with Sisko and crew to close the gateway! First of all, those Jem'hadar were on a mission to find “renegade” Jem'hadar - so yet another piece of evidence that shows the “blind loyalty” to the Dominion that was bred into the Jem'hadar is not perfect. They can and do rebel!
Sure, the main Jem'hadar in that episode felt they were helping the Dominion because they were fighting against the rebels, but still. One of them connects with Dax! The leader connects with Sisko!
And then! There’s one of the head guards at the Jem'hadar prison camp! He ends up letting Worf live, and finds he can’t kill Worf purely out of respect. He ends up killed on orders of his Vorta, but still.
It was so clear there was major unrest among the Jem'hadar and that the Vorta’s control over them, and the Founders’ genetic programming was not as perfect as it was alleged to be.
I love the jem’hadar so much and they deserved so much better and it’s wild that a concept so steeped in unchallenged bigotry could contain so much pathos that was barely given the opportunity to shine through and yet feels so obvious and they deserve to be given proper focus that takes all these complexities into account and honours their potential
Yeah; kind of a shame that they went for “Section 31 Changeling Plague” as a plot device for ending the Dominion War when “Jem'Hadar Slave Revolt” was lying right there.
I love the jem’hadar so much and they deserved so much better and it’s wild that a concept so steeped in unchallenged bigotry could contain so much pathos that was barely given the opportunity to shine through and yet feels so obvious and they deserve to be given proper focus that takes all these complexities into account and honours their potential
the Jem’Hadar make me mad because we could’ve gotten “a system that holds the necessities of survival over your head to guarantee obedience is not a just or fair system” but instead we got “drug addicts are evil”
[ID/ Digital drawings of a tall, broad-shouldered Jem’Hadar in a lab coat. He has a stocky build and grey skin with black nails and white horns along his jawline and forehead. He’s wearing intricate, angular black and silver armor with a tube connecting it to his scaled neck. He’s holding a book in one hand, looking up and smiling softly as if pleasantly surprised. The first image has a transparent background, where the second has a white rectangle on a grey background. both are signed “Jekyll”. /end ID]
i drew @vortahoney ’s OC Tian'Sha❣️ he is so so delightful, it was an honor <3 and thank you again for writing the ID!
