Warning: contains spoilers forStar Trek: Defiant#21!
After 26 years,Star Trekhas finally settled aDeep Space Ninedebate. Worf joinedDeep Space Nine’scast in the show’s fourth season, and was reunited with hisformerEnterprisecolleague Miles O’Brien. Later in Worf’s tenure, during the height of the Dominion War, he and O’Brien made a puzzling bet, especially considering O’Brien’s heritage. Now,years later, the matter has been settled, as seen inStar Trek: Defiant#21.
Star Trek: Defiant#21, written by Christopher Cantwell and drawn by Angel Unzueta, is the final part of the “Stars of Home” storyline, which saw Worf and his crew turn back an entire Romulan invasion. They had a little help from O’Brien and anotherDeep Space Ninestalwart: Julian Bashir. After the dust settles, Worf presents O’Brien with a bottle of scotch, referencing a bet they made years prior.When Bashir notes that O’Brien is Irish, not Scottish, he brushes the concerns off, saying “we live on a unified Earth.”
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As O’Brien is Irish, this may seem like an odd request, given the rivalry between Scotland and Ireland over who has the best whiskey.
The bet Worf and O’Brien allude to happened duringStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’ssixth season. In the episode “Change of Heart,” Worf bets a bottle of Klingon bloodwine against a bottle of whiskey. O’Brien wins, and tells Worf he wants his whiskey from the Scotch Highlands. As O’Brien is Irish, this may seem like an odd request, given the rivalry between Scotland and Ireland over who has the best whiskey.Fans have been debating O’Brien’s decision since the episode aired in 1998, with some viewing it as a serious affront to his Irish heritage.
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InStar Trek: Defiant#21, Doctor Bashir becomes a stand-in for these fans. Bashir is incredulous O’Brien took whiskey from Scotland, but he will not hear it. Chief O’Brien is correct: Earth is now united. There is no more strife between nations and ethnicities, with war being a thing of the past. Any rivalries that still exist are purely good-natured, such as the debate over who makes the better whiskey. Even though he hails from Ireland, O’Brien is not nationalistic in his thinking, and can embrace whiskey from Scotland or all over the galaxy.
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Fans have flocked toStar Trekfor years over its positive vision of humanity, and it is on display inStar Trek: Defiant#21. O’Brien and Worf’sDeep Space Ninebet is a humorous and wholesome way of driving home one ofStar Trek’scentral tenets: that humanity will move beyond petty differences and come together as a species. The franchise shows this in a number of ways, such as fully-integrated crews aboard starships or an Earth free from war, crime, poverty and pollution. Now, it is using whiskey, a common alcoholic drink, to show the unity of humanity.
