Warning: contains spoilers forStar Trek#28!
Hear me out: the Bajoran wormhole, so central to theStar Trekuniverse, was, in fact, created by Captain Sisko. InStar Trek#28, Sisko is hurled back in time by the Prophets to ancient Bajor. The Bajorans are still in their Stone Age at this point, andSisko becomes an important catalyst in the founding of their society, but he may also have a hand in creating the wormhole too.
Star Trek#28 is written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly and drawn by Tess Fowler. Sisko has spent two hundred years among the Bajorans, taking them from a group of warring, violent tribes to a peaceful society that will one day worship the Prophets. At the end of the issue, Sisko addresses the assembled Bajoran people.He challenges them to “pierce the sky” to create a “pure expression of Bajoran faith.” Sisko tells them he is a builder, and that his temple will be “celestial.”
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’sWormhole Helped Set it Apart From Other Shows
The Bajoran Wormhole Saved an Entire Planet
WhenStar Trek: Deep Space Ninepremiered in 1993, it was vastly different from its predecessors. While set in the same time frame asStar Trek: The Next Generation,Deep Space Ninepresented a darker vision of the franchise. The firstStar Trekshow to be created without the input of franchise creator Gene Roddenberry,Star Trek: Deep Space Ninealso eschewed starships in favor of a space station.Star Trek: The Next Generationestablished aconflict between the Cardassiansand the Bajorans, who have occupied their world for decades, andDeep Space Nine’screators used it as a backdrop.
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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’screative team also made the decision to position the station near a wormhole that led to the then-mysterious Gamma Quadrant. This opened up an entirely new frontier forStar Trek, as that Quadrant had never been explored. The discovery of the Bajoran wormhole marked a sea change for the beleaguered people. The Cardassians had just withdrawn from Bajor, and the planet desperately needed a lifeline.The wormhole provided a rallying point for the Bajorans, who referred to it as the “Celestial Temple” where their “Prophets” resided.
The Bajoran Wormhole’s Origin is Tied to the Rise of Their Society
Ironically, the Wormhole is Rising Out of a Crisis of Faith
And whileStar Trek#28 shows the origin of Bajoran society, it also explores the origin of the wormhole.Star Trek: Deep Space Ninenever delved into the origin of the wormhole: it just was. Fans knew the wormhole was built by the Prophets, but for what purpose was never revealed. The Bajoran wormhole was the first stable one of its kind discovered by the Federation. How the Prophets were able to accomplish this has never been revealed, nor why its other point was in the Gamma Quadrant. Later issues ofStar Trekmay resolve these mysteries.
When he first arrives on ancient Bajor, Sisko is in a great deal of spiritual and emotional pain, yet over time, he comes to embrace his role as the founder of Bajoran society.
For the first years of his exile on ancient Bajor, Captain Sisko was hostile to his situation, and understandably so. Sisko had just watched the death of the multiverse and his friends and family. When he first arrives on ancient Bajor, Sisko is in a great deal of spiritual and emotional pain, yet over time, he comes to embrace his role as the founder of Bajoran society. At the end of the issue, he comes to an epiphany: it is here that he can forge a world capable of stopping Lore and restoring creation.
The Prophets have a dark opposite, called the “Pah-Wraiths.”
Bajoran society was deeply religious, structured around the worship of the Prophets, andStar Trek#28 implies Captain Sisko steered them in this direction. Sisko is currently on the outs with the Prophets, making this a highly ironic move on his part. Sisko has grown fed up with the Prophets’ vague pronouncements and prophecies, and is preparing to come to them. He just witnessed the destruction of the multiverse at Lore’s hands, and the Prophets did nothing to stop it. Sisko has been manipulated his entire life by the Prophets, and he has had enough.
And it is from this crisis of faith that the Bajoran people will find themselves. First,SIsko’s unification of the Bajoran tribeslaid the foundation for everything that came later, including worship of the Prophets. This would set the Bajorans on route to becoming a technologically advanced civilization that would eventually become space-faring. And this crisis of faith also leads to the creation of the wormhole, later giving the Bajorans hope in their darkest hour.Just how Sisko plans to guide a Bronze Age society into creating an actual wormhole will also play out in future issues.
Will the Wormhole Help Sisko Defeat Lore and Restore theStar TrekUniverse?
The Wormhole’s Creation is Serving Many Purposes
There is also another dimension to Captain Sisko creating the wormhole: it might play a pivotal role in defeating Loreand restoring theStar Trekuniverse. In the 24th century, the Prophets seemed to have more knowledge of Lore’s actions than Sisko, but as usual, couched what they knew in doublespeak and riddles.Sisko’s frustrations with the Prophetsgrew from this, but in the end they may have been guiding him towards creating the wormhole. The wormhole saved Bajor, and will prove crucial to saving the universe as well, and it will all be thanks to Captain Sisko.
