# Deep Space 9 and Commander Eddington (spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 23, 2005, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-space-9-and-commander-eddington-spoilers/286245 "2005-01-23T13:39:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-space-9-and-commander-eddington-spoilers/286245/1 "2005-01-23T13:39:00Z")
Ivylad doesn’t like Star Trek, but I think he gets into Deep Space 9, although he will _never_ admit it. Anyway, the episode was on recently where Martok intercepts a transmission from the Maquis, saying that they were launching missiles against Cardassia. Sisko springs Commander Eddington from prison to help him find the launch site and deactivate the missiles. It’s a ploy, there never were any missiles. Instead it was a plot to reunite with his wife and the survivors of the Maquis. Eddington dies, holding back the Jem H’Dar so the rest can escape. When Ivylad heard Eddington’s name and that he was a commander, he snorted. He said that it must be an homage to the real Commander Eddington, who in World War II was accused of rape and volunteered for a suicide mission. The only Google reference I can find for a Commander Eddington during WWII is a John Wayne movie, _In Harm’s Way_. Has Ivylad confused his John Waynephilia with an actual event? Did DS9 choose Eddington as a reference to another commander, fallen from grace, who redeems himself to save others? Or is it just a fluke? The WW II commander is named Paul, not Michael, so maybe that clouds the issue. And yes, I know about the X-Files reference during _Trials and Tribble-ations_, which made me think they’re not above coy asides. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-space-9-and-commander-eddington-spoilers/286245/2 "2005-01-23T18:34:43Z")
I don’t mean to hijack here but…I missed the X-Files reference in “Trials” Can someone fill me in on that? ---
**Author:** ![Khan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@Khan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khan)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-space-9-and-commander-eddington-spoilers/286245/3 "2005-01-23T18:44:18Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I don’t mean to hijack here but…I missed the X-Files reference in “Trials” Can someone fill me in on that? When they get back to the future (heh heh), two Starfleet officers from the office of temporal investigations or some such interview Sisko to make sure he didn’t do anything to alter the timeline in such a way that they could tell. Their names were Remuld and Lucsly, or some other anagram of Mulder and Scully. In fact, I think the episode might have been Sisko telling them his story. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-space-9-and-commander-eddington-spoilers/286245/4 "2005-01-23T19:34:25Z")
[“Eff - Bee - EYE”](http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/library/character/bio/1115929.html) Okuda states it was indeed an homage. Considering Trek’s history, it’s more likely any Eddington reference rapplies to [this guy,](http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9031962) the astrophysicist. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-space-9-and-commander-eddington-spoilers/286245/5 "2005-01-23T21:28:33Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Considering Trek’s history, it’s more likely any Eddington reference rapplies to [this guy,](http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9031962) the astrophysicist. “Considering Trek’s history?” Does that mean character names usually reference RL scientists and explorers? I ask because Ivylad seemed to think that Commander Michael Eddington’s life paralleled Commander Paul Eddington, a disgraced officer who goes on a suicide mission. So perhaps it wasn’t just a same-name scenario? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-space-9-and-commander-eddington-spoilers/286245/6 "2005-01-23T21:42:20Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > “Considering Trek’s history?” Does that mean character names usually reference RL scientists and explorers? Also place names and ship names. They also reference miltary leaders and politicians of some peculiar note, along with other sci-fi writers and their ideas (Yoyodyne, for example). Sometimes it’s not easily seen if at al, but merely in the script or in graphics too small to be imaged on screen. Still, it _could_ be a WWII officer reference. My Trek Ency doesn’t say. One thing it does mention, tho, is the character developement with _Les Misérables_ in mind, which is mentioned in the eps, iirc. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-space-9-and-commander-eddington-spoilers/286245/7 "2005-01-23T22:20:27Z")
> [@Khan](#): > > Their names were Remuld and Lucsly, or some other anagram of Mulder and Scully. Dulmur and Lucsly. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-space-9-and-commander-eddington-spoilers/286245/8 "2005-01-23T22:24:05Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Still, it _could_ be a WWII officer reference. My Trek Ency doesn’t say. One thing it does mention, tho, is the character developement with _Les Misérables_ in mind, which is mentioned in the eps, iirc. Weren’t the Maquis real French Freedom fighters during WWII? I’ve seen reference to them in other novels, which made me wonder. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-space-9-and-commander-eddington-spoilers/286245/9 "2005-01-23T22:33:27Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Weren’t the Maquis real French Freedom fighters during WWII? I’ve seen reference to them in other novels, which made me wonder. yes, there was group that called themselves that, tho I don’t think it was a universally used name. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-space-9-and-commander-eddington-spoilers/286245/10 "2005-01-24T01:24:10Z")
I’ve recently read the Deep Space Nine Companion (a behind the scenes book with breakdowns of each episode and lots of interview snippets) and Eddington as an homage doesn’t ring a bell at all. Doesn’t mean it isn’t true, of course, but I don’t think it’s very likely either… Ira Steven Behr is a huge geek and very proud of his in-jokes and references. If he had intended Eddington as a homage – the character was always intended to be a traitor from day one – I think he would have mentioned it to the book’s writer. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-space-9-and-commander-eddington-spoilers/286245/11 "2005-01-24T02:22:29Z")
It’s hazy but I’m pretty certain that there was a ‘maquis’ group in France during the occupation. The name apparently comes from a type of scrub plant that is dense and impenetrable. Given that the fighters had the reputation of coming from the forest I’d say that makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-space-9-and-commander-eddington-spoilers/286245/12 "2005-01-24T02:29:17Z")
Not hazy so far as I’m aware. I’ve read about them before but can’t remember when, where, or in what books. A google search for “maquis+french+resistance” brings up over 10,000 hits. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-space-9-and-commander-eddington-spoilers/286245/13 "2005-01-24T02:44:31Z")
And Okuda flat out states they took it from a group of the WWII French underground. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-space-9-and-commander-eddington-spoilers/286245/14 "2005-01-24T16:30:46Z")
Indeed, the Trek Maquis say on-camera that the French group is where they took their name. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-space-9-and-commander-eddington-spoilers/286245/15 "2005-01-24T16:55:23Z")
So, sounds like it was a coincidence. Oh, and Ivylad thinks we’re a bunch of geeks for even discussing it. 😃