Prophet Motive

Season 3, Episode 16, Aired
EDIT

Episode Summary

Stardate: 48555.5 ''''In a shocking revelation to Quark and Rom, the Grand Nagus Zek reveals he has re-written the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition; a move which threatens to cripple the Ferengi Empire.
7.6
out of 10
EPISODE RATING: Good
127 votes
  • Your Rating: 10
    "Perfect"
  • Your Rating: 9.5
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 9
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 8.5
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 8
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 7.5
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 7
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 6.5
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 6
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 5.5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 4.5
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 4
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 3.5
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 3
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 2.5
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 2
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 1.5
    "Abysmal"
  • Your Rating: 1
    "Abysmal"
Rate It

Watch Online

Netflix
Subscription
Amazon
Buy
iTunes
Buy
Amazon Prime
Free Trial/Subsc...

Cast & Crew

See All EDIT

Fan Episode Reviews (3)

See All

  • Two lightweight stories, but maybe worth watching for the little things.

    6.5
    "Fair"
    By pharoahsdance, Sep 25, 2010 Report Abuse
    This episode has quite a few funny moments running through it - Odo and Bashir's acceptance speech, Julian and Miles playing darts for the first time, Rom embezzling the philanthropy, and pretty much every second Wallace Shawn is on-screen.

    The stories themselves are just not very good. The Ferengi half is amusing at parts but suffers from the lightweight feel of that genre. The Bashir half has even less to recommend it; this character just did not work in these kinds of "development" episodes, though he developed elsewhere just fine.

    Not nearly as bad as "Meridian" but easily one of the weaker episodes of season 3.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    2 0

  • The Grand Nagus!

    6.0
    "Fair"
    By thacrowbar, Jul 30, 2010 Report Abuse
    This episode was clearly just a filler episode. While Wallace Shawn was hilarious as Zek (and Quark's reactions to his newfound lack of greed were just as good), the plot of this episode seemed more like it would have been better-fitting as a subplot to another episode.

    Likewise, the Bashir subplot wasn't particularly interesting. You knew he wasn't going to win that medical award (frankly, it would have been corny if he had).moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    3 0

  • Zek has an attitude adjustment courtesy of the prophets.

    8.5
    "Great"
    By dseabroo, Nov 26, 2008 Report Abuse
    Although this clearly wasn't the best Star Trek episode of all-time, it was a fine example of the thematic differences between Deep Space Nine and other Star Trek series. In particular DS9's bold ability to explore religious issues something still taboo in mainstream '90 Sci Fi and fantasy.

    It is interesting to note that this is only the second time that the mysterious prophets had appeared to crew members aboard a vessel inside the wormhole. Usually they ignore such vessels with the inexplicable example of Sisko in Emissary Part 2.

    Presumably Zek tried to consult the orb of Wisdom after obtaining but was unsuccessful in extracting the futures advice he was looking for. How Zek got the idea to try taking the orb with him into the wormhole is not known. In fact this is the first and I believe the only time that a Tear of the Prophet is taken inside it. (A vision of one appears to Dax inside the wormhole in Emissary) In any event it worked! The Nagus was indeed contacted by the prophets in a way reminiscent of Sisko's earlier encounter with the key difference being the demonstration of the Prophet's ability to alter Zek's personality.

    When Quark takes the orb into the wormhole with him the second time we see that the Nagus' pod is shaken violently. This is somewhat unusual even for wormhole travel. Presumably the prophets are not thrilled about the orb being brought back to its point of origin. Whether or not they would had allowed it to be taken all the way through to the Gamma quadrant is not known. It is interesting note however after Quark convinces the prophets to restore Zek the shaking stops.

    It is also interesting to note that the orb (which outside of the one seen by Dax are always inside of the characteristic box) does not appear to be constrained by a force field like other orbs seen on the show in the past. Another piece of trivia is that the orb itself is never seen on screen during this adventure. Instead we only see shot of items such as the revised book of Rules of Acquistion and the Nagus' disembodied head when Quark look in the box in his vision.

    Credit should be given to the producers for doing such a good job at replicating the look of Sisko's prophet encounter during Quark's. This episode also helps to establish what future Prophet encounters will be like.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    1 0
 

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

See All

  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • This episode shows Dr. Bashir and Chief O'Brien playing darts in Quark's Bar for the first time. It becomes a regular pastime for them. Edit
    • Rules Of Acquisition - revised for the modern Ferengi: Number 1: "If they want their money back, give it to them." Number 10: "Greed is dead." Number 21: "Never place profit above friendship." Number 22: "Latinum tarnishes, but family is forever." Number 23: "Money can never replace dignity." Number 285: "A good deed is its own reward." Edit
    • Rule Of Acquisition #10: Greed is eternal. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • Juliana Donald (Emi) played Tayna on The Next Generation episode A Matter Of Perspective. Edit
    • Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode. Edit
    • This is the only episode in which Tiny Ron's character Maihar'Du talks (and even then, it's not really him, it's a wormhole alien). Edit

  • Quotes

    • Help by adding quotes to this episode. Add quotes

  • Allusions

Show Forums

See All
Last Activity
Replies

Watch Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Full Episodes

See All

Related Shows

Season 3 Episodes

See All
Ep 26
The Adversary
Ep 25
Facets
Ep 24
Shakaar
Ep 23
Family Business
Ep 22
Explorers
Ep 21
The Die Is Cast (2)
Ep 20
Through the Looking Glass
Ep 19
Through the Looking Glass
Ep 18
Distant Voices
Ep 17
Visionary
Ep 16
Prophet Motive
Ep 15
Destiny
Ep 14
Heart of Stone
Ep 13
Life Support
Ep 12
Past Tense (2)
Ep 11
Past Tense (1)
Ep 10
Fascination
Ep 9
Defiant
Ep 8
Meridian
Ep 7
Civil Defense
Ep 6
The Abandoned
Ep 5
Second Skin
Ep 4
Equilibrium
Ep 3
The House of Quark
Ep 2
The Search (2)
Ep 1
The Search (1)

Contributors

Become a contributor
More
Less

TV Listings

Full Listings
BROWSE | Shows | Videos | News | Listings | Forums | People | Photos | TV.com Blog

CBS Entertainment | About TV.com | About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Ad Choice | Terms of Use