25 years later, Star Trek: Lower Decks finally shows the horrific reality of one of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's biggest tragedies. When Star Trek: Deep Space Nine begins, Bajor has finally won its independence after the 50-year-long Cardassian Occupation of Bajor forced the formerly peaceful Bajorans to take up arms as resistance fighters. Starfleet sends Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) to oversee Bajor's bid to join the United Federation of Planets. Sisko's First Officer is Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor), a notable member of the Shakaar Resistance cell turned DS9's liaison to the Bajoran provisional government.
Star Trek: Lower Decks is connected to this dark chapter of the Star Trek timeline via the USS Cerritos' Bajoran Chief of Security, Lieutenant Shaxs (Fred Tatasciore), who was a Resistance fighter before joining Starfleet. The Cerritos' visit to DS9 in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3, episode 6, "Hear All, Trust Nothing", revealed that Shaxs is friends with Colonel Kira, and the two saved each other's lives on multiple occasions when they fought together in the Resistance. The Occupation left Shaxs scarred both literally and figuratively, since he sometimes experiences flashbacks to his former full-time job fighting fascism.
Lt. Shaxs’ Nightmare On Star Trek: Lower Decks Shows The Tragedy Of DS9’s Occupation Of Bajor
Lower Decks Shows The Carnage Of A Bajoran-Cardassian Ground Battle
In Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, episode 8, "Upper Decks", Lieutenant Shaxs is plagued by nightmares about fighting Cardassians during DS9's tragic Bajoran Occupation. Shaxs' visions take place on a cratered battlefield, surrounded by the bodies of Bajoran fighters and Cardassian warriors—er, "occupiers"—alike. After beating back a manifestation of his own guilt, Shaxs faces hordes of Cardassians as they rise from the dead in a veritable onslaught of PTSD. Lower Decks' brilliant animation doesn't pull any punches, and effectively shows the weight that Shaxs bears as a veteran of the Bajoran Resistance.
Shaxs' visions are the first time Star Trek has actually shown what the Occupation's ground battles between the Bajoran Resistance and the Cardassians were like. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine illustrates Cardassian brutality towards Bajorans through dialogue, like Kira's stories about fighting with the Resistance, or Gul Dukat's (Marc Alaimo) nostalgia for ruling DS9 when it was called Terok Nor. Occasional flashbacks to the Cardassian Occupation focus on the station's history, like Constable Odo's (Rene Auberjonois) perspective in DS9 season 2, episode 8, "Necessary Evil"; or Kira's Resistance memories in DS9 season 5, episode 19, "Ties of Blood and Water".
How Bajor Has Moved On From The Occupation
As Of Star Trek's 2380s, Bajor Still Hasn’t Joined The Federation
Bajorans are resilient, but they've had a difficult time moving on from the Cardassian Occupation. Cardassian rule threatened to break Bajorans' spirits by stripping the land of natural resources and forcing them to become slaves. Important Bajoran artifacts, like the Orbs of the Prophets, were lost or destroyed. After Bajor's victory, the provisional government was subject to infighting and interference from the leader of the Bajoran religion, Kai Winn Adami (Louise Fletcher). Bajor's proximity to the Gamma Quadrant wormhole made the planet a primary front during the Dominion War, which interrupted Starfleet's efforts to help with reconstruction after the Occupation.
Bajorans are still survivors, determined to stand on their own despite their horrific past during the Cardassian Occupation.
As of Star Trek: Lower Decks, Bajor still hasn't joined the United Federation of Planets. The Prophets intervened through Sisko as their Emissary to delay Bajor's admittance to the Federation in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 5, episode 10, "Rapture"; since then, Bajor's Federation membership still hasn't been revisited. After Sisko ascended to fulfill his role as the Bajoran Emissary, command of the station fell to Colonel Kira Nerys. Kira and Star Trek: Lower Decks' Lt. Shaxs both represent how Bajorans are still survivors, determined to stand on their own despite their horrific past during the Cardassian Occupation.
