The Changing Face of Evil ( episode ) The Breen ally with the Dominion and attack Earth , the Federation Alliance loses its foothold in Cardassian space , Legate Damar organizes a rebellion , and Kai Winn begins to read forbidden texts about the Pah - wraiths . ( Part 4 of 9 ) Summary . Teaser . Worf and Ezri Dax return to Deep Space 9 after their imprisonment by the Breen and Dominion . They are greeted by Miles O ' Brien and Julian Bashir , who express their happiness that Worf and Dax are safe . Captain Sisko arrives , and is willing to overlook Dax disobeying orders and losing the runabout as he ' d like to know as much as possible about the Dominion ' s new alliance with the Breen , just as Kira notifies Sisko of a priority one message from Starfleet : the Breen have attacked Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco , California , Earth . Act One . In Sisko ' s office , Martok comments on the bold attack , something even the Klingons never attempted . He continues to say that every species has a weakness . Sisko states that they better find the Breen ' s soon . The relationship between Damar and Weyoun is deteriorating , with Damar feeling that the Dominion is squeezing too much out of the Cardassian s . He stays cordial in his presence , but when Weyoun leaves he warns the Breen that they may one day meet the same fate , once the Dominion has no further need of them . Benjamin returns to his quarters to find his wife Kasidy trying ( but failing miserably ) to cook dinner ; she has ruined his prized bell pepper s , which took Sisko three months to grow . With the war turning for the worse because of the Breen , Sisko asks Kasidy to cut back on her freighter - captaining duties ; she declines . Damar has now realized that Cardassia is a conquered planet ; he begins covertly plotting the rebellion against the Dominion with Gul Rusot . They focus on Rondac III . On Bajor , Kai Winn Adami withdraws from her regular schedule , cancelling an appearance before the Vedek Assembly and asking her aide Solbor to send condolences to the Vedek s . Dukat , still masquerading as Anjohl Tennan , continues to exert pressure on the Kai , who is frustrated she has to still pretend she follows the Prophet s when she hasn ' t heard from the Pah - wraith s , yet . Dukat tells her it will happen when they release them from the Fire Caves . She objects , citing the prophesies she has known all her life , but Dukat responds with a slightly different interpretation , one that brings about a new Bajor with her as its leader . She perks up at this . In order to do this , they need to consult the forbidden book , the " Book of the Kosst Amojan " , as well as other religious volumes . She hesitates , as it is known to contain evil , but also states she isn ' t afraid . Act Two . While O ' Brien and Bashir work on strategies for their Alamo holosuite program in Quark ' s , after a long day of work , Worf and Dax look on from high above in the Promenade . Worf questions his newly - found friend Dax about her feelings , especially regarding Bashir . Worf is much more cordial , and even agrees when she supposes she should tell Bashir about her feelings . Weyoun notices a change in Damar , namely that he has stopped his heavy drinking of " kanar " . Weyoun mistakenly believes Damar ' s sobriety is because of a resurgent optimism about the war ; Damar plays along . When Solbor delivers the " Kosst Amojan " to the Kai , he warns her about reading its forbidden passages , " " He who studies evil is studied by evil . " " He also begins to openly question Dukat , mentioning his mysterious origins on Deep Space 9 . The Kai rebukes Solbor , however , and he retreats – for the moment – to allow the Kai access to the book . After the Kai questions the virtue of what she is doing , Dukat manages to convince her that the Pah - Wraiths are not evil , and she opens the book . The book , to the shock of Dukat and the Kai , appears totally empty , without writing of any kind on its pages . It seems that they need something else to access the words written within the book . Act Three . Sisko comes to Odo ' s office where he receives the new security protocols . Neither are sure whether they are enough . Then Kasidy comes barging in . She is angry because Sisko used his influence to change Kasidy ' s schedule , a month of paid vacation . Meanwhile , Kai Winn studies several texts to understand how to access the " Kosst Amojan " ' s words . She has Solbor deliver more " dark texts , " and again questions her motives . Others are asking as well . She responds coldly and simply that , as Kai , she is doing this for the good of Bajor . Winn is on edge , and also demands that Dukat leave , under protest , since he ' s not doing anything . Sisko brings flowers to his wife and tells her she ' s back on the active list . They reconcile , only to hear more bad news , this time from Admiral Ross , who says that the Breen have broken through the Federation lines at Chin ' toka , which is the only Federation foothold in Dominion space . Act Four . Sisko , Kira , Worf , Dax , O ' Brien , Bashir , and Nog all prepare the for battle , and head off to join a huge Starfleet strike - force . The attitude of the bridge crew is noticeably more somber than in previous battles . When Solbor tries to remove the books back to the Archive , he is confronted and punched by Dukat , who takes the books back to the Kai . She ' s fallen asleep , so he wakes her to keep going . He gets her some food , and she responds she ' s glad he ' s there . On Cardassia , Damar and Rusot are contemplating on the reports that the Dominion is likely to take back Chin ' toka . Then they state that the Dominion ' s victories are no longer their victories and they continue on to discuss their upcoming treachery . Damar states that at least they will be dying for Cardassia , not the Dominion . Aboard a Jem ' Hadar attack ship , the Female Changeling and Weyoun streak toward the same battle . Act Five . Arriving at Chin ' toka , the crew prepare to battle the Dominion and Breen ships . The " Defiant " is able to destroy a couple of Breen ships , but one fires an unusual weapon , which upon hitting the " Defiant " causes the entire ship to start crackling with blue energy . The crew are concerned as the energy courses through the bridge , and the concern is well - founded as it disables every system it touches . Suddenly the " Defiant " starts losing all of its power very quickly . The " Defiant " then starts to be continually struck by enemy weapons , and cannot return fire , raise shields or move , causing serious damage . Chief O ' Brien is unable to diagnose the trouble , and explosions pepper the bridge , injuring Kira and several other crew members . The air begins to become toxic , the ablative armor starts to fail and hull breaches ( which cannot be sealed by force fields due to the loss of power ) begin to litter the ship . Realizing that both the battle and the " Defiant " are lost , the captain orders the crew to abandon ship . Bashir carries an unconscious Kira to the escape pod s , along with the rest of the crew . Captain Sisko stops at the door to look back at the burning bridge for one last time . Chief O ' Brien returns , and Sisko comments " " She was a fine ship . " " ; the chief won ' t argue with that , but reminds the captain they have to leave . The escape pods flee the ship just before the " Defiant " is destroyed by enemy fire . Aboard their attack ship , Weyoun announces that the Chin ' toka system is once again in Dominion hands and states that the Breen will be pleased to hear the Founder ' s compliments . However , she states she cares little for what the Breen think as long as they fight and win . The Female Changeling orders that the escape pods " not " be destroyed , so the survivors will return to Federation space with a frightening , demoralizing outlook , spreading fear about the invincibility of the Dominion ( with the Breen at their side ) . Suspicious of " Tennan " , Solbor checks his background , only to learn that the real Tennan has been dead for nine years . Solbor comes back and confronts Winn and Dukat , telling them when he sampled Dukat ' s DNA , he discovers Dukat ' s true identity . Winn begins to back away from Dukat , but she still refuses to believe that the Pah - wraiths are false prophets . Solbor tells the Kai she is betraying the Prophets to the Pah - wraiths , and he threatens to expose the Kai , who lunges toward him with a knife ; Solbor is stabbed to death in the back . She tells Dukat to get away from her , and that the Pah - wraiths sent him to destroy her , which Dukat dismisses as a lie . Winn goes to the book of the " Kosst Amojan " to destroy it . Some of Solbor ' s blood ( on the knife used by the Kai to kill him ) drips onto the sacred pages of the book of the " Kosst Amojan " ; a flame briefly appears on the book , after which its text is now plainly visible . Dukat tells her to use this gift from the Pah - wraiths . With the murder , the Kai is now fully committed to continue down the path of serving the Pah - wraiths , regardless of the previous dictates of her conscience ; Dukat arranges to remove Solbor ' s dead body . Aboard Deep Space 9 , Sisko and Admiral Ross commiserate the loss of the " Defiant " . Ross promises to provide Sisko with another ship eventually , but first they need to buy some time in order to work out a countermeasure to the Breen weapon . Ross grimly says that time is the one thing they do not have : if the Dominion launches another offensive soon , they will be unable to halt it . Kira interrupts , calling them to hear a message being broadcast by Damar across the galaxy : he recites that Cardassia has loyally fought for the Dominion for two years , losing seven " million " soldiers in the process , and in return , the Dominion has ceded their territories to the Breen and usurped control of their homeworld . " " Our ' allies ' have conquered us without firing a single shot ! " " Damar declares rebellion , stating that his men have just attacked and destroyed a Dominion cloning facility on Rondac III , and calling on all Cardassian s to rise up against the Dominion . At Dominion Headquarters , Weyoun confirms that their cloning facility was destroyed and worries he may be the last Weyoun clone . On Deep Space 9 , the attack on Rondac is confirmed and Ross states that Damar has bought the Federation Alliance some precious time , however it is imperative that the Dominion don ' t track him down too quickly . Sisko responds that they need to find a way to help Damar , as he may be the key to saving the Alpha Quadrant from the Dominion . Memorable quotes . " " . . . And so two years ago , our government signed a treaty with the Dominion . In it the Dominion promised to extend Cardassia ' s influence throughout the Alpha Quadrant . In exchange , we pledged ourselves to join the war against the Federation and its allies . Cardassians have never been afraid of war , a fact we ' ve proven time and again over these past two years . Seven million of our brave soldiers have given their lives to fulfill our part of the agreement , and what has the Dominion done in return ? " Nothing " . We ' ve gained no new territories . In fact , our influence throughout the quadrant has diminished . And to make matters worse we are no longer masters in our own home . Travel anywhere on Cardassia and what do you find ? Jem ' Hadar , Vorta , and now Breen . Instead of the invaders we have become the invaded . Our ' allies ' have conquered us without firing a single shot . Well , no longer . This morning detachments of the Cardassian First , Third and Ninth Order s attacked the Dominion outpost on Rondac III . This assault marks the first step towards the liberation of our homeland , from the true oppressors of the Alpha Quadrant . I call upon Cardassians everywhere . Resist . Resist today . Resist tomorrow . Resist till the last Dominion soldier has been driven from our soil ! " " " " We must give the enemy credit . To launch an attack against Starfleet Headquarters . Even " my " people never attempted that . " " " " It doesn ' t seem right , all this plotting and secrecy . What are we ? Romulan s ? " " < br > " " No , we ' re Cardassians . But right now , Cardassia is an occupied territory . And to defeat an occupying army takes careful planning and secrecy . " " " " I remember the day I heard the news that Cardassia had joined the Dominion . Like everyone else , I rejoiced . We were going to be rulers of the entire Alpha Quadrant . Instead , we ' re a conquered people , servants in our own land . " " " " All that will soon end . " " " " They expected the war to be over long ago . It ' s not . For that , they blame us . Now , if the war isn ' t ended soon , they ' ll shift the blame to you . " " " " Win or lose , I wouldn ' t turn my back on Weyoun if I were you . " " " " There . You see ? The Pah - wraiths have judged you and found you worthy . Their secrets are now your secrets to do with as you please . Take their gift and use it . Seize the power they ' re offering you ! " " " " He doesn ' t understand , Adami ! He couldn ' t possibly understand the love of the Pah - wraiths ! " " " " The love of the Pah - wraiths ? ! You ' re trying to release them ! That ' s why you wanted the text of the Kosst Amojan . " " " " You ' re a good friend , Worf . " " " " I know . " " " " I could be the last Weyoun . " " " " There ' s something different about you today Damar , I can ' t quite put my finger on it . . . it ' s almost as if you ' re half dressed . . . " " " " What are you talking about ? " " " " You don ' t have a bottle in your hand . " " " " Kira to Sisko . " " " " Go ahead . " " " " We just received a priority one transmission from Starfleet Command . The Breen have attacked Earth . " " " " She was a fine ship . " " " " Poor Captain Sisko . I believe he was quite fond of that ship . " " " " I have no idea what would please the Breen , nor do I care ! All that matters is that they fight and win ! " " " " Eminence , that man is not Anjohl Tennan ! " " " " What are you talking about ? " " " " Anjohl Tennan died nine years ago in the labor camp at Batal . I warned you not to trust him . I had a sample of his DNA sequenced . He ' s not even a Bajoran . He ' s a Cardassian ! " " " " Don ' t listen to him ! Look at him ! Don ' t you recognize the face of your enemy ? It ' s Gul Dukat . " " " " Legate Damar may be the key to saving the entire Alpha Quadrant . " " Links and references . References . ablative armor ; advisor ; ; Alamo ; Alpha Quadrant ; antimatter injector ; archivist ; assault fleet ; attack wing ; Battle of the Alamo ; Bajor ; Bajoran s ; Bajoran Archives ; Bajoran Freight and Shipping Authority ; Bajoran prophecy ; battle report ; bell pepper s ; Breen ; Breen homeworld ; Breen attack on Earth ; Breen warship ; Cardassia ; Cardassian s ; Cardassian space ; Chin ' toka system ; climate ; ; constable ; Dahkur citizens ; dilithium matrix ; Dominion ; Dominion War ; Earth ; Eminence ; Emissary of the Prophets ; ; Federation ; Federation fighter ; field stabilizer ; Fire Caves ; fire - suppression system ; First Order ; Founder s ; ; Golden Gate Bridge ; impulse manifold ; Jem ' Hadar attack ship ; Jem ' Hadar battle cruiser ; ; Kai ; " kanar " ; Klingon Bird - of - Prey ; " Kosst Amojan " ; manual extinguisher ; microfusion generator ; ; moat ; model ; nadion emitter ; ; Ninth Order ; " Old Man " ; bell pepper s ; Pah - wraith s ; plasma coolant ; Prophet s ; Quark ' s ; refrigeration suit ; Restoration of Bajor ; Romulan ; Rondac III ; runabout ; ; Second Battle of Chin ' toka ; squadron ; Starfleet Command ; Starfleet Headquarters ; ; task force ; tongs ; toy ; Third Order ; ; Type 6 shuttlecraft ; Vedek Assembly ; ; Vorta