Accession ( episode ) A three - hundred - year - old Bajoran ship comes through the wormhole , and its passenger claims that he is the Emissary of the Prophets . Summary . Teaser . As Chief O ' Brien and Doctor Bashir enter the cluttered O ' Briens ' quarters , having just won the Battle of Britain in the holosuite , they lament that O ' Brien must return the quarters to normal in preparation for Keiko ' s return ( after her six - month absence on Bajor ) . O ' Brien greets Keiko and Molly warmly at the airlock and receives a surprise : during Keiko ' s last visit to Deep Space 9 , they " got lucky " and Keiko is pregnant again . In Ops , Major Kira welcomes Vedek Porta , escorting a young Bajoran couple who are hopeful that Captain Sisko , as the Emissary of the Prophets , will bless their recent marriage . Sisko invites them into his office , and recites a brief prayer in the Bajoran language . Kira , watching , is very moved , and the couple positively glow , thanking Sisko profusely before they leave . Before following them out , Porta compliments Sisko on his improved pronunciation . After they are gone , Sisko sighs and confides to Dax how exhausting it is to be a religious icon to an entire planet , on top of all his Starfleet duties . Then Kira alerts them that something is coming through the wormhole : a Bajoran lightship , which appears to be three hundred years old . The passenger , a lone man , is beamed to the infirmary . When Sisko and Kira get there , the man introduces himself as " the Emissary . " Act One . The mysterious man is Akorem Laan , a famous Bajoran poet from the 22nd century whose unfinished poem , " The Call of the Prophets " , has become legendary . He explains that , while traveling in his lightship , he was injured and thought he would die . Then he discovered the wormhole by mistake and was healed by the Prophet s , who have delivered him to DS9 . He knows nothing of the Cardassian occupation or other hardships his people have been through , but he believes the Prophets have chosen him as their Emissary . Sisko tells Dax that he is all too happy to step aside in favor of Akorem ; aside from having the burden of the position removed , he adds that Starfleet Command has always been uncomfortable with one of their officers occupying a central role in the Bajoran religion . Porta has already endorsed Akorem , and Sisko accepts that the Bajorans will be much better off recognizing one of their own as the Emissary . As Chief O ' Brien walks home from work , Bashir arrives to offer his congratulations on the baby and convinces him to have a celebratory drink in Quark ' s . There , the two raise a pint of beer to the upcoming arrival , as Bashir notes that the second baby is usually easier than the first for parents as they know what to expect . When they tell Quark the news , the Ferengi muses back to when Nog was a baby and read " ' See Brak Acquire " ' . Worf then arrives for a drink , and stiffens up when he hears Keiko is having a baby . O ' Brien explains to Bashir that Worf delivered Molly since the " Enterprise " had been damaged and he was the only person available when Keiko went into labour . As Bashir jokes that he ' ll call on Worf if he needs any help , Worf decides to schedule some leave for when the baby is due . Kira and Odo watch from the upper gallery as Akorem gives a speech on the Promenade . Odo gently asks whether she sees the inherent contradiction in Akorem ' s accession : before he appeared , Kira was entirely convinced that Sisko was the Emissary , but now it ' s as if he never was . Kira says that her faith allows her to reconcile the contradiction . But then Akorem drops a bombshell by announcing his belief that the Bajorans have " lost their way " by abolishing the " d ' jarra s " , a stratified caste system based on family names . Reviving the " d ' jarras " , he believes , is the best way to heal Bajor ' s wounds after the Occupation . There is some scattered applause from the crowd , but several , including Kira , look deeply troubled , as does Sisko , who is watching the speech in his office on his desktop monitor . Act Two . In conference with Akorem and Vedek Porta , Sisko says that adopting a caste - based discrimination system will make Bajor ineligible for Federation membership . Akorem sees it as an acceptable sacrifice , as does – not surprisingly – Kai Winn . Akorem assures Sisko that he does not expect Bajor to make the change overnight ; for instance , First Minister Shakaar , whose " d ' jarra " marks him as a farmer , will not be expected to resign immediately ; instead , Akorem is confident that , by the time of the next election cycle , few will vote for him . In the Replimat , Kira is looking for a place to sit with her mug of raktajino , but the place is full . Just as she is about to move on , a Bajoran woman interrupts her meal and surrenders her seat , saying that Kira ' s " d ' jarra " outranks hers . Sisko , sitting nearby , says similar things have been happening all over the station . Both of them are troubled , but Kira says it is not her place to question the Emissary . Sisko is still disbelieving about how readily Bajor is making such drastic changes on Akorem ' s word , and Kira tells him that Sisko never fully grasped just how devoted the Bajorans are to the Emissary - Sisko could have said the word , and they would have done anything . Unable to sleep , Sisko wanders about the Promenade at night , where he has visions of Kai Opaka who proceeds to ask who he is several times . Confused , he says she should know him , but she responds cryptically that she can ' t know someone who does not know himself . She disappears and the lights turn back to normal before he can respond . Act Three . When Sisko asks Bashir about the vision , he describes it as an orb shadow , which the Bajorans believe occur when a person is not following the will of the Prophets as shown in the orbs . Religious explanations aside , it was caused by an over - abundance of neuropeptide s , and Sisko readily accepts treatment to make the visions stop . Kira attempts to follow her " d ' jarra " , which dictates that she resign her commission in the Bajoran Militia and become an artist . Unfortunately , despite her best attempts , she ends sculpting a " flock of flightless birds " in her quarters . Kira seems to have little confidence in her own artistic ability . Even so , Vedek Porta is nonetheless stern in his belief that " d ' jarras " are correct and that the Prophets have chosen for Kira to be an artist . The O ' Briens are enjoying time together at home . Miles plays with Molly , teaching her darts . Keiko has found the fur coat that Miles wears to the holosuite , and comments on the amount of time he spends there with Julian . Miles responds jokingly that it keeps him out of trouble , and kisses her . Keiko needs to get back to some work , so O ' Brien goes back to play with Molly , but her mood has changed , not willing to play darts and content to draw by herself . With nothing to do but watch , O ' Brien eyes the fur coat . Meanwhile things are going from bad to worse for Sisko . His failure in his mission to ensure Bajor ' s entry into the Federation , a goal Sisko has been working toward for several years now , does not please Starfleet Command . Although there is no direct statement of it , he can tell they are unhappy , which he finds ironic considering they never wanted him to be the Emissary in the first place . As he and Kira go over the duty roster , he cannot shake the feeling that he has failed in his duties . And it gets worse : Kira has to resign in order to follow her " d ' jarra " . As soon as Sisko can find someone to take her post , she ' ll leave . Sisko tells her that her position may be filled by someone else , but he considers her irreplaceable . There is an extremely sad moment between them as reality sets in . Act Four . O ' Brien and Bashir meet by chance in Quark ' s and realize they no longer have time for one another now that Keiko and Molly are back on the station . O ' Brien mentions playing darts with Molly in their quarters , and Bashir is trying to teach Morn how to play in the bar , but it is not the same for either of them . When Quark archly informs them that they are late for their weekly holosuite reservation , they realize that is something else they have had to give up . Sisko gets a call from Odo to come to the Promenade immediately , where a vedek has just been killed . The man , Vedek Imutta , fell from the second level , and as Odo prepares to start an investigation , Vedek Porta calmly announces that he pushed the man simply because he had an " unclean " " d ' jarra " and was unwilling to resign as vedek to follow his " d ' jarra " . Sisko , frustrated , orders him taken into custody . Sisko decides that enough is enough and he must take back his role as emissary from Akorem . However , as Akorem is unwilling to give up the post and both men know there will be chaos if they force the Bajoran people to choose between them , Sisko asks Akorem to enter the wormhole with him to ask the Prophets to choose . Act Five . Inside the wormhole , Akorem remains convinced that he is the emissary , but as usual , the Prophets appear largely unconcerned . They claim Sisko and Akorem ' s linear nature limits their comprehension . They agree that the " d ' jarras " are a part of the past , which " the Sisko " has taught them means , it is no more and it can never be again . Akorem is confused , and asked why , then , did they send him into the future ? They reply , " for the Sisko " - to remind him of the responsibilities he bears . Akorem , realizing that he is not the Emissary , says there is no point in his remaining in the 24th century . The Prophets consider returning him to where they found him ( injured and about to die ) , but at Sisko ' s request , the Prophets return Akorem to Bajor in his own time with no memory of his trip to the future , and allow him to reunite with his wife and family . Before Sisko is returned to the runabout , the Prophets remind him that " he " is " of Bajor , " as are the Prophets . Back on the station , on the pretext of getting her husband treatment for his depression , Keiko arranges for Miles and Bashir to spend time together again . In Quark ' s , Kira ironically presents Sisko with the gift of one of her " sculptures " and tells him that his earlier speech , in which he explained what happened to Akorem and that the Prophets do not wish the Bajorans to return to the " d ' jarras " , went over very well . Sisko is reading " The Call of the Prophets " , which Kira is surprised to learn has now been finished . Kira fails to understand how she can still remember Akorem ' s work as unfinished , when the Prophets have changed the past and in the new timeline , his work had been finished all along . They are interrupted when a Bajoran man and his daughter approach the officers to ask Sisko if he can bestow a blessing on the girl at her upcoming birthday / coming - of - age celebration . Sisko happily agrees to the request , having now fully accepted his role as the Emissary . Memorable quotes . " " I thought you said you ' d started straightening this place up ! " " " " You should ' ve seen it before . " " " " Look , Keiko ' s shuttle ' ll be here before we know it . We should ' ve left the holosuite hours ago . " " " What ? And let the Jerries cross the Channel ? Never ! " " " " No more ceremonies to attend , no more blessings to give . No more prophecies to fulfill . I ' m just a Starfleet officer again ; all I have to worry about are the Klingons , the Dominion and the Maquis . I feel like I ' m on vacation . " " " " Surprise . " " " " Quark ! Did you hear ? Chief O ' Brien is having a baby . " " " " I thought your females carried your young . " " " " My wife . My " wife " is having a baby . " " " " It ' s just hard getting used to being a religious icon . " " " " Congratulations ! I remember when my nephew Nog was a baby . Cutest thing you ever saw . Heh . You know babies . Every little thing they pick up goes straight into their ears . Ohhh , I used to love reading to him . You know , ' See Brak acquire . Acquire , Brak , acquire ! " " " " Did you hear ? Keiko ' s gonna have another baby . " " " " Now ? ! " " " " Well , I ' ll be sure and call you when she ' s ready to deliver ; you can lend a hand . " " " " Seven months ? Unfortunately , I will be away from the station at that time . Far away . Visiting my parents . On Earth . Excuse me . " " " " Forgive me , Major , I don ' t mean to be difficult , but your faith seems to have led you to something of a contradiction . " " " " I don ' t see it as a contradiction . " " " " I don ' t understand . " " " " That ' s the thing about faith . If you don ' t have it , you can ' t understand it . And if you do , no explanation is necessary . " " " " What about you Doctor ? The Battle of Britain awaits and you know my policy on cancellations , NO refunds . " " " " Go ahead ! Maybe Morn ' s better in the cockpit of a Spitfire than he is at darts . " " " " Ah , it wouldn ' t be the same " " " " Hm , you ' re right , Morn probably doesn ' t even know where England is ! " " " " If you don ' t hit it off with Major Jatarn , I can think of a few other people , shouldn ' t be that hard to find someone to replace me . " " " " I don ' t doubt that I can find someone to fill your post . But to replace you . . . " " " " You " killed " him because of his " d ' jarra " ? " " " " I had to . If a vedek can ' t do what the Emissary has asked of us , how can we expect anyone else to ? " " " " If the " d ' jarras " belong in the past , why did you send me into the future ? " " " " For the Sisko . " " " " I ' d like you to have this . It ' s an original Kira Nerys . It might be worth a lot someday . " " " " I hear she didn ' t make many . " " Links and references . References . accent ; Akorem ' s brother ; Akorem ' s lightship ; Akorem ' s wife ; apprentice ; artist ; bachelor ; Bajor ; Bajoran s ; Bajoran language ; Bajoran lightship ; Bajoran wormhole ; Battle of Britain ; biology ; bird ; Brak ; " Call of the Prophets , The " ; caste ; canvas ; coloring ; ; darts ; Dahkur Province ; Denorios belt ; deportation ; depression ; diaper ; " d ' jarra " ; Earth ; election ; Emissary of the Prophets ; England ; English Channel ; ; family name ; farmer ; Federation Charter ; First Minister ; " Gaudaal ' s Lament " ; holosuite ; icon painting ; " ih ' valla " ; " ih ' tanu " ; Imutta ; ion storm ; Jatarn ; Jerry ; keep ; King of Leinster ; " Kitara ' s Song " ; Latara ' s husband ; Lupi ; magnet ; Maquis ; medical tricorder ; merchant ; monk ; ; neuropeptide ; Nog ; ; Occupation of Bajor ; Opaka ; orb ; orb shadow ; " pagh " ; pint ; politician ; pony ; priest ; Promenade ; Quark ' s ; raktajino ; ; ; ; runabout ; ; Shakaar Edon ; shift rotation ; soldier ; Spitfire ; stanza ; " te ' nari " ; Thursday ; time travel ; toast ; Winn Adami ; winter ; Yridian yak Deleted scenes references . magistrate