These Are The Episodes... Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 7

So here we are the final season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

The wormhole is sealed. Captain Sisko is on Earth, lost without his connection to The Prophets. Worf is devastated over the end of the season six finale. The war with The Dominion rages across the Alpha Quadrant and goes poorly for the federation. Things are grim, and in this final season, things are only going to get worse before they get better.

Season 7 starts with a two-episode story, but it really shines in the end: the last nine episodes form one story, which wraps up all of the storylines begun in the series.

These are the episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, season seven.

Reminder:

Must See episodes feature the main plot or primary character development. These are required viewing to understand everything at the end.
Should See episodes feature secondary plot elements or character development, and while they aren’t required, they will give you a more complete experience with the show. If you have watched the should-see episodes so far, you should continue watching them now.
Take It or Leave It episodes are all one-offs and filler.

I’ve mentioned before that while I’m writing this to lower the cost of entry to the series, the idea would be to watch all the episodes. With season seven, I’d like to make this my actual recommendation as there are so few episodes which are not plot relevant and so few with a lighter tone that every once in a while, it’s nice to have a respite from the war.

Season 7 has 25 episodes. 16 of them are Must See. There are a further five that you should see and just four that you can take or leave.

7×01 “Image in the Sand“

Must See
Relevant to Benjamin Sisko, Kira, Worf
Relevant to War, The Prophets, Romulans, Klingons, Bajor
First Appearance of Ezri Dax
Part 1 of 2

7×02 “Shadows and Symbols“

Must See
Relevant to Benjamin Sisko, Kira, Worf, Ezri Dax
Relevant to War, The Prophets, Romulans, The Federation, Bajor, Dax is Really Old
Part 2 of 2

7×03 “After Image“

Must See
Relevant to Ezri Dax, Worf
Relevant to Dax is Really Old

7×04 “Take Me Out To The Holosuite“

Should See
Relevant to Benjamin Sisko
Relevant to Vulcans, Baseball

7×05 “Chrysalis“

Should See
Relevant to Bashir

7×06 “Treachery, Faith, And The Great River“

Must See
Relevant to Benjamin Sisko, Nog, O’Brien, Odo, Weyoun
Relevant to War, Changelings, Ferengi, Vorta

7×07 “Once More Unto The Breach“

Should Watch
Relevant to Worf, Martok, Kor
Relevant to Klingons
Guest Star John Colicos

7×08 “The Siege of AR-558“

Must See
Relevant to Benjamin Sisko, Ezri Dax, Nog, Quark
Relevant to War is Hell

7×09 “Covenant“

Must See
Relevant to Dukat
Relevant to The Pah-Wraiths

7×10 “It’s Only a Paper Moon“

Should See
Relevant to Nog
Relevant to War is Hell

7×11 “Prodigal Daughter“

Take It or Leave It
Relevant to Ezri Dax
Relevant to Trills

7×12 “The Emperor’s New Cloak“

Take It or Leave It
Relevant to Mirror Universe

7×13 “Field of Fire“

Take It or Leave It
Relevant to Ezri Dax
Relevant to War is Hell, Dax Is Really Old

7×14 “Chimera“

Should See
Relevant to Odo
Relevant to Changelings

7×15 “Badda Bing Badda Bang“

Take It or Leave It
Relevant to Vic Fontaine

7×16 “Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges“

Must See
Relevant to Bashir
Relevant to Section 31
Guest Star William Sadler

7×17 “Penumbra“

Must See
Relevant to Benjamin Sisko, Ezri Dax, Worf, Dukat, Damar
Relevant to War, Benjamin and Kasidy, Dax and Worf, Breen
Part 1 of 9

7×18 “‘Til Death Do Us Part“

Must See
Relevant to Benjamin Sisko, Ezri Dax, Worf, Dukat, Damar, Winn Adami
Relevant to War, Benjamin and Kasidy, the Prophets, The Dominion, Breen
Part 2 of 9

7×19 “Strange Bedfellows“

Must See
Relevant to Damar, Winn Adami, Dukat, Kasidy Yates, Weyoun
Relevant to War, The Dominion, Breen, Cardassians, The Prophets, the Pah-Wraiths
Part 3 of 9

7×20 “The Changing Face of Evil“

Must See
Relevant to Winn Adami, Damar, Weyoun
Relevant to War, The Dominion, Breen, Cardassians, The Defiant
Part 4 of 9

7×21 “When It Rains…“

Must See
Relevant to Kira, Garak, Odo, Damar, Martok, Dukat
Relevant to War, Cardassians, The Dominion, Changelings, Klingons, The Pah-Wraiths
Part 5 of 9

7×22 “Tacking Into The Wind“

Must See
Relevant to Kira, Odo, Damar, O’Brien, Bashir, Worf, Martok
Relevant to War, Cardassians, The Dominion, Breen, Section 31, Klingons
Part 6 of 9

7×23 “Extreme Measures“

Must See
Relevant to Bashir, O’Brien
Relevant to War, Changelings, Bashir and O’Brien are Bros, Section 31
Guest Star William Sadler
Part 7 of 9

7×24 “The Dogs of War“

Must See
Relevant to Damar, Garak, Quark, Benjamin Sisko, Martok
Relevant to War, Cardassians, The Dominion, Ferengi
Part 8 of 9

7×25 “What You Leave Behind“

Must See
Relevant to Everyone
Relevant to War, The Dominion, Cardassians, Changelings, The Prophets, the Pah-Wraiths
These Fleets Battle:
Part 9 of 9

Conclusion

So that’s it. After this, there is no more. Deep Space Nine’s ending is bittersweet. All the storylines are tied up, and all the characters get closure, but not every story ends well, nor does every character get a happy ending.

That’s sort of the beautiful thing about the show, though. Before Deep Space Nine, Star Trek didn’t have many shades of grey. It mostly had explicit moral messages and happy endings. Deep Space Nine spent an entire series exploring the grey areas, and while an “everyone lives happily ever after” ending might have been nice, it wouldn’t really fit with the tone of the series.

I hope you’ve enjoyed watching this, my favourite Star Trek series. With this guide, you will have seen all you need to in order to have a complete picture at the end of the story. I hope that one day you’ll come back to it and watch it all, though, as there’s a great deal of nuance you’re missing out on by skipping any episodes at all.

Be sure to check back next Sunday too. We’re done laying out the viewing guide but I’m going to come back for one more entry in this series and talk a little more about why I love the show and then give you a rundown on what I think the best episodes of the series are. I’ll see you then!

Awesome Friday!