# ST:DS9: Did the Prophets even give a rat's ass about Bajor? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 19, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-ds9-did-the-prophets-even-give-a-rats-ass-about-bajor/578965 "2011-04-19T15:32:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-ds9-did-the-prophets-even-give-a-rats-ass-about-bajor/578965/21 "2011-04-21T01:46:54Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I don’t think even _time loop_ is an adequate description. The Prophets are outside of time, in the way the Xtian God is sometimes said to be. They had the same relation to TrekVerse mortals as 3D folks have to people in Flatland; the sequence of events is simply not comprehensible to a mortal mind. > > I also don’t think it’s the case that the Prophets did not understand what Sisko was saying. Rather, it’s that _Sisko_ didn’t understand what _they_ were saying, and his misunderstanding was so profound that he misinterpeted it as a failure on their part. Bear in mind that a major point of the sequence is for Sisko to stop living in the moment’s of his wife’s death. I always liked the interpretation that though the Prophets are outside of our time, it’s not that they exist outside of all time, just linear time - specifically, they have a continuum with more than one temporal dimension, allowing them some ability to control how they move through them. As far as misunderstandings, I’d say that there were some on both sides, but I do think that for most of the Prophet sequences in “The Emissary”, they truly were trying to fathom Sisko’s nature, including what time was like for us. I don’t think he misinterpreted that. And I always loved that breakthrough moment of Sisko’s: “So you choose to exist here. It is not linear.” “No, it’s not linear.” ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-ds9-did-the-prophets-even-give-a-rats-ass-about-bajor/578965/22 "2011-04-21T01:52:08Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > There power outside the wormhole seems pretty limited though. So short of telling the future, there isn’t much they can do. Their power within the wormhole could be pretty kick-ass. I think it was many episodes after ‘Sacrifice of Angels’ that I realized that the deus ex machina that the Prophets pulled that time was an ongoing effect, not a one-shot: that they were still barring Dominion reinforcements from passing through the wormhole, and (IIRC) allowing the good guys to pass freely. Best of both worlds, all the effectiveness of mining the wormhole without the inconvenience. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-ds9-did-the-prophets-even-give-a-rats-ass-about-bajor/578965/23 "2011-04-21T03:02:07Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > None. But the episode “The Q and the Grey” allow us all to ignore the entirety of Voyager in good conscience. Now I liked that. Q was helping Paris and company to use Q weapons while treating them like percussion lock rifles and shooting at people. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-ds9-did-the-prophets-even-give-a-rats-ass-about-bajor/578965/24 "2011-04-21T03:50:18Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Surely you don’t think I haven’t prepared for your inevitable betrayal. You may wish to check the dilithium crystals on those rifles You might want to look again, and make sure those aren’t phazers. Dilithium crystals have no place in a phaser. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-ds9-did-the-prophets-even-give-a-rats-ass-about-bajor/578965/25 "2011-04-21T12:00:20Z")
> [@Hades](#): > > You might want to look again, and make sure those aren’t phazers. Dilithium crystals have no place in a phaser. And how I can lure him into a False Sense of Security when folks are helping him out? Hmmm? :dubious: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-ds9-did-the-prophets-even-give-a-rats-ass-about-bajor/578965.md?page=1)