DS9 only introduced us to a part of the GQ. The Dominion only controlled part of it. What would a show look like where a Star Ship or fleet of Federation ships did a full mission in the GQ.
What's really in the Gamma Quadrant?
- Thread starter ThatsMrCaptaintoyou
- Start date
So they go somewhere they haven't explored before, so like every other Star Trek series? It'd depend on the writers. Like compare DS9's Gamma Quadrant and Voyager's Delta Quadrant. Peter David had the remains of the Thallonian Empire in "New Frontier." Enterprise had the local area and then the Delphic Expanse. TOS had the wild west and TNG had the suburbs.
It’d be no different from other shows. Just change the names of aliens and planets.
Exploring a full quadrant in a mission of a few years is beyond Starfleet's capacity. Even the alpha quadrant hasn't been fully explored after 2-3 centuries of warp powered spaceflight. Each quadrant has about 50,000,000,000 systems to explore.
Probably not much different from Voyager in the Delta Quadrant. There'd be the Random Forehead Aliens of the Week, occasional run-ins with the Dominion and for some reason, Ferengi and Klingons would be found hanging around.
The Malon too
I'd fully expect a lot more really technologically and genetically advanced races. The few we saw outside the Dominion were quite advanced... hunters of Tosk, Wadi, Paradans, Argrathi. That's actually one big difference between the Gamma and Delta Quadrants... Gamma had technologically superioe races while quite a few of the Delta Quadrant were inferior, at least to Voyager. The Borg probably play a factor in that.
That's actually the only thing I would change about DS9... show a bit more of the Gamna Quadrant.
That's actually the only thing I would change about DS9... show a bit more of the Gamna Quadrant.
Not sure those GQ race technologies were really that advanced, they may simply have been different. The speed with which the Federation was able to 'level up' after what initially seemed a significant technological disparity between the Dominion and the Federation may point in that direction - that the dominion advantage was mostly in unexpected technology, not necessarily superior technology. Though of course there were areas in which they really were ahead.
(I know you were explicitly talking about GQ races outside the Dominion, but the Dominion is the only entity we meet over a longer period of time, so I have to fall back to them for longer-term observations. And the Dominion probably could not have been seen as a threat within the GQ if they had been technologically substantially inferior to the races around them).
(I know you were explicitly talking about GQ races outside the Dominion, but the Dominion is the only entity we meet over a longer period of time, so I have to fall back to them for longer-term observations. And the Dominion probably could not have been seen as a threat within the GQ if they had been technologically substantially inferior to the races around them).
Last edited:
Genetic knowledge is definitely superior in the Gamma Quadrant vs. the Alpha Quadrant. Take the O'Brien replicant the Paradan government had in "WHISPERS". Even Bashir was completely fooled when he examined him. Or just the existence of the Vorta and Jem'Hadar.
And the Argrathi mental prisons... I'd call that superior technology. If Starfleet had anything similar, they could use it to train their officers in a fraction of the time it normally takes. (Similar to how experience and knowledge was passed telepathically in VGR's "REMEMBER".)
Starfleet was able to catch up to the Dominion for the war because it ultimately needed to. Otherwise, the entire Federation would have fallen within weeks.
Necessity really is the mother of invention.
(Regarding your point about the Dominion not being seen as a threat if they weren't technologically superior, that's not necessarily true. Because of how quickly Jem'Hadar can be bred, and legions of them at once, numbers play a big factor in terror. Plus, the Jem'Hadar are completely fearless, merciless, and efficient. Even a Klingon is on par with them. Superior numbers, even if you are technologically not on par with your opponent, is still a big advantage. Look at the Wraith in STARGATE ATLANTIS... the Lantians were massively superior in technology, but they fell primarily because they were overwhelmingly outnumbered... though their overconfidence did play a big part of their downfall, too.)
And the Argrathi mental prisons... I'd call that superior technology. If Starfleet had anything similar, they could use it to train their officers in a fraction of the time it normally takes. (Similar to how experience and knowledge was passed telepathically in VGR's "REMEMBER".)
Starfleet was able to catch up to the Dominion for the war because it ultimately needed to. Otherwise, the entire Federation would have fallen within weeks.
Necessity really is the mother of invention.
(Regarding your point about the Dominion not being seen as a threat if they weren't technologically superior, that's not necessarily true. Because of how quickly Jem'Hadar can be bred, and legions of them at once, numbers play a big factor in terror. Plus, the Jem'Hadar are completely fearless, merciless, and efficient. Even a Klingon is on par with them. Superior numbers, even if you are technologically not on par with your opponent, is still a big advantage. Look at the Wraith in STARGATE ATLANTIS... the Lantians were massively superior in technology, but they fell primarily because they were overwhelmingly outnumbered... though their overconfidence did play a big part of their downfall, too.)
Last edited:
As for genetic engineering, we don't know what the actual Federation knowledge base is. They are particularly reluctant to apply technology from this area (genetic engineering bans). They may never have done any research into it after the 21st/22nd century, they may be advanced beyond even the Dominion. After all, they weren't able to cure the virus created by section 31. Something similar may be true about that Agrathi mental technology, they may actually have the knowledge but have ethical objections to using that (they are wary around stuff like direct neural interfaces and such, and I think rightly so).
That said, those technologies may be superior to anything the Federation has. I'd also add the Dominion long-range transporter to that list.
And yes, necessity is the mother of invention, but that's only true for comparatively small gaps. I see the Dominion advantage as the Breen energy weapon advantage - unexpected, but not too hard to counter once you are aware of the technology. There would be no hope leveling up with the Borg in short order and defeating them that way.
Unless of course when your name is Janeway.
That said, those technologies may be superior to anything the Federation has. I'd also add the Dominion long-range transporter to that list.
And yes, necessity is the mother of invention, but that's only true for comparatively small gaps. I see the Dominion advantage as the Breen energy weapon advantage - unexpected, but not too hard to counter once you are aware of the technology. There would be no hope leveling up with the Borg in short order and defeating them that way.
Unless of course when your name is Janeway.
Last edited:
Of course it's unrealistic to quickly bridge the gap between the Federation and the Borg. One of the reasons they are able to adapt so quickly is due to the Collective hive mind. My point was in comparison to the Dominion.
As far as genetic knowledge goes, creating a biological plague is very different than cloning with no repercussions. The Dominion clearly has no issue with replicative fading, otherwise there would be genetic drift or 'insert other technobabble here'. I would call that superior genetic knowledge.
And anyone can create devastating plagues and diseases that are difficult to treat or cure. Even humans of the 20th/21st century.
As far as genetic knowledge goes, creating a biological plague is very different than cloning with no repercussions. The Dominion clearly has no issue with replicative fading, otherwise there would be genetic drift or 'insert other technobabble here'. I would call that superior genetic knowledge.
And anyone can create devastating plagues and diseases that are difficult to treat or cure. Even humans of the 20th/21st century.
Yet the cure was in section 31's hands. The Dominion was unable to find it on their own.
As for that replicative fading, that may indeed be an issue solved by the Dominion. Even though their process isn't 100% error free either (see Weyoun 6).
We don't know how many times the Vorta and Jem'Hadar have been cloned. Are they clones of clones of clones (as was the issue on Mariposa)? Or did the Dominion at one time create a gargantuan stock of DNA that will last them for centuries, all clones being of the same 'generation' ?
As for that replicative fading, that may indeed be an issue solved by the Dominion. Even though their process isn't 100% error free either (see Weyoun 6).
We don't know how many times the Vorta and Jem'Hadar have been cloned. Are they clones of clones of clones (as was the issue on Mariposa)? Or did the Dominion at one time create a gargantuan stock of DNA that will last them for centuries, all clones being of the same 'generation' ?
Last edited:
Of course Section 31 had the cure. They created the disease to begin with.
I don't think the Jem'Hadar are cloned. Vorta, certainly. But the Jem'Hadar are a different matter. They seem to be created from scratch, a fact we can see with the creation of Alpha versions in "ONE LITTLE SHIP". (I do wish we saw more about the differing strategiesof the Alphas and Gammas. That was an interesting idea.)
I don't think the Jem'Hadar are cloned. Vorta, certainly. But the Jem'Hadar are a different matter. They seem to be created from scratch, a fact we can see with the creation of Alpha versions in "ONE LITTLE SHIP". (I do wish we saw more about the differing strategiesof the Alphas and Gammas. That was an interesting idea.)
Creating a disease doesn't necessarily make finding a cure to it easier. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that in the real world, several dangerous pathogens have been created in illicit bio research without there being a cure for those, should anyone get infected.
I don't know they were actually entirely created from scratch. But the least we can say is that modification of the template is within the Dominion's grasp.
I do agree that it would have been interesting to hear more about those different strategies, or more on the exact differences between AQ and GQ Jem'Hadar.
Regarding Section 31, it wouldn't surprise me to find that they had the cure for reasons similar to why Edgars in BABYLON 5 created the telepath virus. And like you, I'm certain some created diseasesin the real world were made specifically so a cure was difficult to find.
It was mentioned the cloning facilities of the Dominion are tied to the Jem'Hadar and Vorta (aka, in a way that if the facilities were destroyed, the Dominion would be set back in regards to their war efforts).
The Vorta are more directly cloned (or at least some of them appear to be)... the Jem'Hadar do seem to be genetically diverse enough and bred. Its also possible with all the genetic manipulation Dominion does is that they created the baseline genome for the Jem'Hadar (possibly from other indigenous GQ solids) and then just mixed/mashed everything together, then just grow them from that stock in randomized selection (which at this point is probably automated).
As for the Federation cloning capabilities.... it seems UFP genetic modification/engineering capabilities and knowledge base are rather extensive ... they just don't use it extensively in practice due to the ban.
Its also possible that the UFP started relaxing some of the measures regarding genetic modification in the 24th century so that no enhancements can be done on a person, but certain corrective procedures could be implemented in utero (such as curvature of the spine).
It was mentioned on VOY that both Be'Lanna Torres and her mother had corrective surgeries for their curvatures of the spine... but Miral didn't have to (and her curvature of the spine was corrected by The Doctor in utero using genetic modification).
So, it seems to me that UFP updated some of the regulations regarding use of genetic modification that excludes enhancements, but includes corrections for potential medical conditions (its also possible that this is why La Forge was born blind, because back then, the ban wasn't relaxed enough to allow for him to be treated with genetic modification and provide him with regular eyesight).
Don't forget their holographic tech... it's a big deal for Starfleet to create one sentient hologram, but a random old guy in the GQ was able to produce dozens, and tender them able to self replicate.
Their cyber tech seems pretty basic, though, given that the Jem'Hadar are purely biological. It would make sense to augment them.
Given that there was a limited number of Weyouns (a plot device to arrange perma-death for a nasty character, but still), it looks like they're bred from one source. Weyoun 9 could probably be created from 8's corpse if the Dominion needed or wanted one, but if his corpse was completely destroyed, he'd be gone for good.
They have to produce a higher volume of Jem'Hadar, and they're intended to be more disposable. So, procedures will vary.
That goes without saying. I expect the Dominion has been tweaking the formula for a long time: accelerating physical development, coding the ability to walk and talk and fight into their genome, and ensuring their continued allegiance to the Founders and contempt for everyone else.
Similar threads
