"Defiant"

[MyCylon]

^
There were certainly a lot of good episodes surrounding the Maquis. Eddington's speech was really powerful IMHO as well.

It's always interesting, I think, when you get a sort of outside view of the Federation and Starfleet. I mean, we're usually seeing things from the perspective of people who very much ARE Federation, ARE Starfleet. They'd rather die than betray that.
I think it's great, for example, that you've got somebody like Eddington who was so set on following orders before this that he even sabotaged the Defiant in The Die is Cast. It's fascinating to see a guy like that become a part of the Maquis.
Also, I'm currently rewatching DS9 as whole and have just reached Way of the Warrior. There's a marvellous speech between Garak and Quark there where they come to conclusion that the Federation is "insidious". When you expose yourself to it long enough, you start liking it (they compare it to root beer). They're starting to like it because there's really not much choice.
In any case, the remark about the Federation being insidious is on a similar level as Eddington's remarks who states the same thing and adds that the Federation doesn't NEED to assimilate people like the Borg do.

 

[Angel4576]

Yes, I remember the root beer conversation,

I think, for me, it's the Maquis situation that really starts to make the Federation more realistic. The way that they were presented previously, especially in TNG was completely one dimensional. No organisation of that size, with their mandate was ever going to be completely flawless. Later in the series, Section31 compounded this and took it even further. Were we seriously expected to believe that Starfleet would leave themselves at such a tactical disadvantage by being the only Alpha Quadrant superpower that didn't have an organisation like the Tal Shiar or the Obsidian Order? No chance.

The statement that the Federation are worse than the Borg is made more powerful by the fact that there's an element of truth in it.

 

[nx1701g]

^ Exactly. Eddington's speech raised a lot of important points that you couldn't help but consider.

 

[Braxton]

Angel4576 said:
Re: the whole Maquis situation, weren't they founded in response to Cardassian aggression against the newly ceded colonies? Aggression that was militarily-backed?

The Cardassians didn't seem to be too concerned with aggression against civilian colonists, so IMO, you pays your money, you take your chances.

The Maquis were founded because of the treaty that was established between the Federation and the Cardassian Union. They took this treaty as betrayal. They chose to stay on their worlds and the Cardassians obviously began military action against them and in turn they forced the creation of the Maquis. The Maquis did what they thought was right, to defend their homes. They felt betrayed so they stayed and put up a fight, a fight that did have merit to it as the Cardassian Central Command was supplying weapons. The Federation took a blind eye to this because they didn't want a war. In the end, the Federation did get a war.

 

[Angel4576]

Wasn't the agreement reached at the end of Journey's End such that the colonists were allowed to stay on their respective worlds, be they Cardassian or Federation? The problems then came when the Cardassians decided that they wanted the colonists gone afterall, hence started supplying arms to their colonies. In turn the Maquis started arming as well and things began to escalate in the DMZ.

Probably didn't help that both attaches to the DMZ, Evek and Hudson were both protective of their respective sides to the point of buying into their respective polar positions.