This article contains spoilers for Star Trek: Section 31 and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Dr. Julian Bashir is furious.
But in the final moments of the episode, Sloan reveals his true purpose.
He is part of the black ops organizationSection 31and has been testing Bashir in the hopes of recruiting him.
Bashir not only rejects Sloans offer, but expresses disgust at the very idea of the organization.
You make it sound so ominous, mocks Sloan (played by character actor legend William Sadler).
Ad content continues below
Isnt it?
Yet, after many years and reimaginings,Deep Space Nineremains the only series to do Section 31 right.
The movieStar Trek: Section 31goes even further to make the division into heroes, borrowingan ill-fittingSuicide Squadpremise.
Which miss the point of Section 31.
I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men.
I am an accessory to murder, he says.
But the most damning thing of all…
I think I can live with it.
And if I had to do it all over again I would.
He doesnt take pleasure in the things he did.
That same ethos drives all of the depictions of Section 31 inDS9.
After Inquisition, Sloan and Section 31 pop up time and again across the final seasons of the series.
They need the Romulans to stand a chance.
And if the Dominion wins, theyll obliterate all the good that the Federation has done.
Which is exactly the point that Sloan makes during his attempt to recruit Bashir in Inquisition.
Im sorry, but the ends dont always justify the means, says Bashir.
Im not afraid of bending the rules every once in a while if the situation warrants it.
And I dont think you are either.
Times are desperate, and desperate measures seem reasonable.
We recognize that but, in the end, we reject them and hold to our values.
Its not a means unto itself, its not a group that deserves its own stories and characters.
It exists to question, and finally to underscore, the importance of the Federation and Starfleet.
Nearly every Section 31 story afterDeep Space Ninehas forgotten this principle (the multiversal version fromLower Decksremains blameless).
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Section 31 are streaming now on Paramount+.
