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The untold truth of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

In 1987 Patrick Stewart led a cast into the stars with Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) – the first live-action Trek television series since Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) was canceled in 1969. TNG breathed new life into the franchise and the producers decided it was time to expand. In 1993 — a year before TNG's series finale – Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) premiered with the two-part "Emissary."

DS9's lead doesn't have lofty dreams of space exploration. Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) is a single father and a widower when he's assigned as Commander to the Bajoran space station. Initially resistant to the posting, Sisko eventually accepts it in spite of finding himself in the uncomfortable and unwanted position of becoming a religious icon to the Bajorans.

Ironically while DS9's story focus has little to do with space exploration, in many ways it goes where none of the Trek series of its time dared to even consider traveling. Along with being the first Trek series to cast a person of color in the lead role, DS9 focuses more on the people "boldly going" than where they're going. As a result, the characters of DS9 come alive in ways you don't see elsewhere in the franchise, and in particular DS9 allows a level of moral ambiguity almost unheard of in the world Gene Roddenberry built.

To learn more about how this landmark series came to be, keep reading for the untold truth of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.