Things Past ( episode ) Sisko , Odo , Dax , and Garak are trapped seven years in the past on Terok Nor , but everyone thinks that they ' re condemned Bajorans , and only Odo ' s memory can save them . Summary . Teaser . Dax , Garak , Odo , and Sisko are en route to Deep Space 9 on a runabout , having attended a conference geared towards a " dispassionate historical view " of the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor . Garak indignantly claims the Bajoran s present ignored every argument he made , but everyone agrees Odo was the highlight of the conference due to his reputation for fairness despite working for the Cardassians during the Occupation . However , Odo appears uncomfortable with the discussion . In ops on Deep Space 9 , Okala reports to Worf that the runabout has arrived , but there ' s a problem . He beams aboard with Bashir and they discover the four occupants in a coma tose state , their life sign s weak . Upon beaming aboard , Doctor Bashir tries to awaken them , to no avail . He finds there ' s an excess of neural energy in their cerebral cortex . Meanwhile , the unconscious crew members slowly awake elsewhere in what seems to be the Promenade in a time when the Cardassians still controlled the station , then known as Terok Nor . Act One . A Bajoran man hurriedly brings the group to their feet , for fear of another " cleansing " – people around them seem to think the Human , Trill , Cardassian , and former Changeling are all Bajoran . The group remembers a plasma storm in the runabout , but not much else . Meanwhile , on the station , the four have been brought to the infirmary . Worf explains that the runabout encountered a class 2 plasma storm , a relatively common phenomenon . Unfortunately , Bashir cannot explain what has happened , as there ' s no computer records of this kind of physical effect resulting from that kind of storm , so he goes about researching the issue . Gul Dukat and Odo ' s predecessor , security chief Thrax , survey the area from the second level . Odo begins to hallucinate as the others talk , seeing a dead Bajoran man , shot in the chest with a phaser , walk by . He ' s also wearing the same clothes he is . He disappears as Odo looks away . Soon a Cardassian officer arrives to take Dax , who has been " selected " . When Garak tries to stop the man , he gets a bloody nose for his trouble . Interestingly , back in the infirmary in the present , the comatose Garak ' s nose begins to bleed . Act Two . An alarmed Bashir explains to Worf that the brain can have a powerful effect on bodily functions . There is some odd psychosomatic activity in Garak ' s brain , but Bashir cannot risk interrupting whatever is happening for fear that one of the patients will be injured or even killed . As usual , there is a purpose to everything Garak does ; once he , Odo and Sisko are alone , he explains that he " borrowed " a scanning device from one of the guards when they took Dax and punched him in the nose . He uses it to find their Bajoran identities . Sisko is Ishan Chaye and Garak is Jillur Gueta , but Odo seems to know this already and immediately identifies himself as Timor Landi , all from Rakantha Province on Bajor . Before Sisko can begin to question him about the issue , Quark arrives with a pair of guards and starts to speak to the three of them , treating them with very little respect . Quark offers the three of them work at his bar . Odo ponders how much damage to the timeline would there be if Quark had an " accident " , which Sisko would like to test . The other soldiers take Dax to Dukat ' s quarters , where there is awkward silence as he looks her over and has her pour him a bottle of kanar . She gives Dukat her name as Leeta . He claims he is misunderstood and wants a " friend " with whom to share his innermost thoughts . Although Dax ' s position is not an enviable one , it is clear her predicament could be far worse . As Dax learns about Dukat ' s apparent penchant for Bajoran women , Garak learns what it is like to be a Bajoran laborer cleaning Quark ' s Bar alongside Sisko and Odo . The experience seems to humble him somewhat , although he retains his Cardassian mindset about the Bajorans being better suited for such servile tasks . Sisko notes that he will discuss this with Major Kira when they get back to their reality . Garak quickly adds that there are exceptions to every rule . Odo has another hallucination of the Bajoran man he saw previously and two other men , and though he claims his visible discomfort is from the smell of the chemicals he is using , Sisko uses the chance to bring up Odo ' s apparent familiarity with their Bajoran aliases . It is revealed that Ishan , Jilur and Timor were innocent Bajorans executed for an assassination attempt on Dukat ' s life . Act Three . The trio try to come up with a plan of escape , and while they do , Thrax enters to discuss various things with Quark . Garak recognizes a name , Livara , as a Romulan spy ; however , according to his stolen data pad , Livara would have been visiting Terok Nor seven years ago , at which time " Odo " was serving as security chief , not Thrax . This only leads to more unanswered questions . Later on the Promenade , Sisko uses a trick he once learned from Major Kira to subtly request a meeting with the Bajoran Resistance , turning over a vase at one of the shops . They then get some soup and sit at a nearby table to wait . Things become even stranger for Odo as his hands are suddenly covered in blood ; however , no one else can see it , and it disappears shortly . A Bajoran man from the Resistance joins them and Sisko tries to arrange transport off the station . Before he can finish , there is an explosion nearby where Gul Dukat is walking with Dax and his entourage . As the Bajoran man leaves , Sisko instinctively runs over to see if Dax is okay . However , he , Garak and Odo are arrested and taken to a holding cell . Act Four . Thrax visits the brig that evening to inform various prisoners of their fate . Under Cardassian law , the verdict is reached before the trial begins , and Sisko and the others are to be sentenced the following day . Odo desperately pleads with Thrax , knowing they are innocent , but the Cardassian officer refuses to refute the circumstantial evidence , claiming the Bajorans need to accept their fate . Back in Dukat ' s quarters , he drones on about how lenient he is with the Bajorans and how he sees them as his children . Dax is obviously uninterested but pretends to listen . Waiting for an opportunity , she knocks the Cardassian on the head , rendering him unconscious . Each of the accused deals with the predicament in his own way . Garak plans an elaborate web of stories as usual in order to try to convince the Cardassians of his true identity . Odo continues to act strangely , but Sisko once again tries to connect the dots , as everything so far has pointed to the constable . Sisko theorizes that Odo knows more than he thinks he does , but once again the conversation is interrupted – this time by Dax , who burns a hole in the door of the brig . The four of them head for an airlock and Dukat ' s personal shuttle . Dax reveals that she has used her knowledge of the station to ensure the Cardassians will be unable to stop them from leaving . Several soldiers follow suit and a fight ensues , with Thrax facing Odo . Once the other soldiers have been subdued and Thrax appears trapped , he suddenly reveals that he is a Changeling and escapes through an air duct . Pressed for time , they continue moving towards the shuttle but suddenly find themselves back in the holding cell , just two hours prior to their execution . Act Five . The four discuss the situation , and its inconsistencies ; none of them know how they ended up back in the cell , and the fact that Thrax is a Changeling doesn ' t make any sense since the Founders didn ' t know about the wormhole at this point in time . Thrax enters and honors Odo ' s previous request for an audience , taking him to the security office in the next room . There Odo attempts to reason with him , citing evidence that will prove their innocence . Thrax is more interested in order , telling Odo that the Bajoran Occupation has lasted for five decades and will likely last for another five decades more , so the Bajorans need to accept their place in history as a conquered people . When Odo reveals that the four of them do not belong there , Thrax tells Odo that he knows and then asks him ( by name ) what he is going to do . Suddenly , Odo and the others find themselves on the upper level of the Promenade . Sisko , Dax , and Garak are lined up and about to be executed . Odo begs Thrax to stop this , but Thrax simply tells him that " " It ' s out of his hands now . " " Desperate , Odo attacks the Cardassian executioner , claiming he will not " let this happen again " . He then cries out loud that he – not Thrax – should be here . Suddenly the scene changes again ; Sisko , Dax , Odo , and Garak are now dressed normally . A distance away , the three Bajorans Odo saw earlier are lined up for execution – with Dukat and another Odo ( dressed in Thrax ' s uniform ) standing nearby . The four of them watch as the three Bajorans are executed . Dukat and the other Cardassians vanish , as does the Past Odo . Only the bodies of the three Bajorans remain . Sisko realizes that Thrax was actually Odo all along . An ashamed Odo reveals that he was the one who let the accused men be put to death , not Thrax . A bombing identical to the one that nearly killed Dukat occurred three days later , and if he had performed any kind of investigation instead of relying on circumstantial evidence , then he would have seen that the three men were clearly innocent . However he didn ' t know the difference between " order " and " justice " and he allowed three innocent men to be executed as an example . Moments later , the four awake in the infirmary in the " present " . Bashir informs Odo that whatever he has been through has taken its toll . Baffled and intrigued , Bashir later explains that some of Odo ' s morphogenic enzymes were apparently left over from when the Founder s forced him to remain a Solid . The events were triggered when the runabout flew through the plasma field which triggered the enzymes causing Odo to ( subconsciously ) reach out for others with whom to form a link , the end result being a telepathic experience brought on by Odo who was thinking about the three Bajorans at the time . " " It would make a fascinating paper , " " he observes , but seeing Odo ' s reaction , adds , " " although I don ' t intend to write one . " " Just then Kira walks in , and it ' s clear to Bashir that he should leave the two alone . After he leaves , Kira tells Odo that even though it ' s been two days she still can ' t believe what she read in his report . She tells him that as far as the Bajorans were concerned , he was different . He stood apart from the brutal Cardassians and that made him special . However she also admits that she did things during the Occupation she ' d rather forget as everyone who lived through it got their hands dirty , but she needs to know from Odo that no other innocent people died on his watch . Odo honestly replies that he doesn ' t know . . . but he sincerely hopes not . Memorable quotes . " " Giving me a name tag that read , ' Elim Garak – Former Cardassian Oppressor ' was hardly polite . " " " " How much damage would it do to the timeline if Quark were to suffer a mysterious ' accident ' ? " " " " I ' m not sure . But maybe we should conduct a little experiment and find out . " " " " You ' d think they ' d put us in our own cell block instead of with the common criminals - after all , we are accused of attempting to assassinate the station commander . That deserves SOME respect ! " " " " Maybe they ' ll salute when they execute us . " " " " This is the fourth assassination attempt I ' ve survived . " " " " Maybe you should find another job . " " " " Bad manners are the fault of the parent , not the child . My weakness is that I ' m too generous , too forgiving . My heart is too big – " " ( knocking Dukat out ) " " And so is your ego . " " " " We are talking about the attempt on Gul Dukat ' s life , not the sociopolitical ramifications of the Resistance ! " " " " It ' s all part of the same problem ! When your people resort to terrorism and violence . . . they are fighting against order , against stability , against the rule of law , and this must be stopped . " " " " There is more to life than the rule of law . " " " " It has been my observation that only the guilty make that kind of statement . " " " " You were special . You were the one man who stood apart from everyone else , the one man who stood for justice . Now what ? " " " " Now I ' m just another imperfect solid . " " " " Okay . The Prophets know I ' m not perfect . I guess the truth is that anyone who lived through the Occupation . . . had to get a little dirty . But I need to know that no other innocent people died on your watch , Odo . That this was the only time . " " " " I ' m not sure . I hope so . " " Links and references . References . assassination ; autograph ; Bajor ; Bajoran s ; Bajoran Resistance ; Bajoran sector ; Bajoran wormhole ; blood vessel ; bone ; brain ; Cardassian s ; Cardassian comp - link ; Cardassian Military ; Changeling ; class 2 plasma storm ; comfort woman ; Constable ; cross - dimensional transfer ; dabo girl ; disturbing the peace ; epidermal scan ; fan club ; Federation ; Ferengi ; Great Link ; heart ; holosuite ; " Honshu " shuttlecraft ; " kanar " ; latinum ; Livara ; malaba ; maraji crystal ; medical tricorder ; morphogenic enzyme ; Musilla Province ; name tag ; Obsidian Order ; Occupation of Bajor ; " Old Man " ; pickpocket ; plasma grenade ; plasma storm ; Promenade ; Prophet s ; psychosomatic response ; Quark ' s ; Rakantha Province ; resumé ; Romulan s ; rule of law ; runabout ; soup ; space plasma phenomena ; " spoon head " ; spy ; Starfleet ; strangulation ; Talavian freighter ; temporal displacement ; Terok Nor ; time travel ; Timor ' s sons ; Timor ' s wife ; toast ; tri - nitrogen chloride ( TNC ) ; tumor ; warp engineer