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Season guide

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season 5

26 episodes Premiered Sep 30, 1996 Updated Sep 25, 2026

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 5 continues the overarching saga across 26 episodes. The series is set at the edge of the Final Frontier on an old alien space station, which serves as the backdrop for the ongoing narrative. As the fifth season of the fourth series in the Star Trek family, it follows the television and streaming availability of the show originally broadcast from 1993 to 1999. The overarching saga co

Previously on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 5 Lore Primer

Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.

  • ⚡ The series is the fourth show in the Star Trek family, originally broadcast from 1993 to 1999.
  • ⚡ Unlike other Star Trek series, the show takes place on an old alien space station located at the edge of the Final Frontier.
  • ⚡ The overarching saga spans multiple episodes across seasons, incorporating science fiction, fantasy, action, adventure, and drama elements.
  • ⚡ The ongoing narrative is situated on the space station as the universe's greatest mystery is explored.
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Season overview

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 5 continues the overarching saga across 26 episodes. The series is set at the edge of the Final Frontier on an old alien space station, which serves as the backdrop for the ongoing narrative. As the fifth season of the fourth series in the Star Trek family, it follows the television and streaming availability of the show originally broadcast from 1993 to 1999. The overarching saga continues through twenty-six episodes, maintaining the science fiction, fantasy, action, adventure, and drama elements established in the series. The narrative unfolds against the unique setting of the old alien space station, continuing the epic storytelling that defines the programme.

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Season 5 Episodes

Episode Guide

🛡️ SPOILER SHIELD

Season 5 Progress Shield

Future titles & synopses blurred. Tap "Reveal" on any card to peek.
Binge Efficiency Engine

Season 5: Filler vs. Essential Canon

Filter episodes by narrative weight. Focus on essential mytharc and skip standalone side quests.

23%
77%
Mytharc (6): Crucial lore & season climaxes
Core (20): Character development & subplots
Side Quest (0): Standalone / filler
S5·E1 Mytharc

Apocalypse Rising

Sep 30, 1996 · 45 min

Stardate: Unknown. With the war between Klingons and Federation intensifying, Sisko must make a plan to expose Gowron as a changeling. Odo is still having trouble with becoming a s

S5·E2 Core

The Ship

Oct 7, 1996 · 45 min

Stardate: 50049.3. The crew find a crashed Jem’Hadar ship and work to repair it and capture it for the Federation, but are confronted by a Dominion force determined to recover the

S5·E4 Core

Nor the Battle to the Strong

Oct 21, 1996 · 45 min

Stardate: Unknown. Jake, reporting from the front lines, sees what war truly is.

S5·E5 Core

The Assignment

Oct 28, 1996 · 45 min

Stardate: Unknown. An alien entity has possessed Keiko's body and is holding it hostage until O'Brien completes an assignment for it.

S5·E6 Mytharc

Trials and Tribble-ations

Nov 4, 1996 · 45 min

Stardate: 4523.7. In this celebration of the 30th anniversary of The Original Series, the disgraced Klingon spy Darvin travels back in time to undo his century-old defeat by James

S5·E7 Core

Let He Who Is Without Sin...

Nov 11, 1996 · 45 min

Stardate: Unknown. While vacationing on Risa, Worf and Dax meet a group of fundamentalist protesters who claim that the Federation has gone soft.

S5·E8 Core

Things Past

Nov 18, 1996 · 45 min

Stardate: Unknown. Sisko, Dax, Odo and Garak find themselves in the past when the Cardassians controlled the station, and a crime that Odo investigated may be the key.

S5·E9 Core

The Ascent

Nov 25, 1996 · 45 min

Stardate: Unknown. When Odo and Quark crash land, they must put aside their differences to climb a mountain to signal for help. Jake and Nog try to be roommates, but their differen

S5·E10 Core

Rapture

Dec 30, 1996 · 45 min

Stardate: Unknown. After a brain injury, Sisko begins experiencing powerful visions through time. He dives fully into the role of the Emissary, while becoming obsessed with finding

S5·E11 Core

The Darkness and the Light

Jan 6, 1997 · 45 min

Stardate: 50416.2. A mysterious assassin begins wiping out all the members of Kira's old resistance cell.

S5·E12 Core

The Begotten

Jan 27, 1997 · 45 min

Stardate: Unknown. The discovery of an infant Changeling gives Odo a chance to put right the trauma of his own upbringing, while his “father” Dr. Mora insists on a more clinical ap

S5·E13 Core

For the Uniform

Feb 3, 1997 · 45 min

Stardate: 50485.2. When the traitorous Eddington returns, Sisko will go to any lengths to capture him.

S5·E14 Mytharc

In Purgatory's Shadow (1)

Feb 10, 1997 · 45 min

Stardate: Unknown. A coded message from the Gamma Quadrant leads Garak to believe his mentor, Enabran Tain, is still alive. He and Worf seek him out, only to discover something muc

S5·E15 Mytharc

By Inferno's Light (2)

Feb 17, 1997 · 45 min

Stardate: 50564.2. The station readies for a Dominion attack. Worf and Garak meet some unexpected friends in a Dominion Prison camp.

S5·E16 Core

Doctor Bashir, I Presume?

Feb 24, 1997 · 45 min

Stardate: Unknown. Dr. Bashir is selected to be the model for the next-generation of Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH). But he balks when his parents are invited to the station to b

S5·E17 Core

A Simple Investigation

Mar 31, 1997 · 45 min

Odo helps a woman hiding on the station from organized criminals, but quickly develops a personal interest in the case.

S5·E18 Core

Business As Usual

Apr 7, 1997 · 45 min

Stardate: Unknown. Quark must wrestle with his conscience when he becomes involved with arms merchants.

S5·E19 Core

Ties of Blood and Water

Apr 14, 1997 · 45 min

Stardate: 50712.2. When a Cardassian official that thinks of Kira as his daughter is dying, he agrees to reveal all he knows to her. But the experience dredges up Kira's memories o

S5·E20 Core

Ferengi Love Songs

Apr 21, 1997 · 45 min

Stardate: Unknown. Quark doesn't know whether to be panicked or overjoyed when he learns that his mother is the new lover of the Grand Nagus.

S5·E21 Core

Soldiers of the Empire

Apr 28, 1997 · 45 min

Stardate: Unknown. Dax and Worf accompany Martok on his first command since being held by the Dominion. But the ship they are given hasn't seen victory in months and the crew is ne

S5·E22 Core

Children of Time

May 5, 1997 · 45 min

Stardate: 50814.2. The DS9 crew discovers a colony that, due to a time travel accident, turns out to be inhabited by the crew's own descendants.

S5·E23 Core

Blaze of Glory

May 12, 1997 · 45 min

Stardate: Unknown. Sisko learns that the Maquis are planning a devastating attack on Cardassia, and must rely on the traitor Eddington to help him prevent it.

S5·E24 Core

Empok Nor

May 19, 1997 · 45 min

Stardate: Unknown. While salvaging components from DS9's sister station, the crew run afoul of a "surprise" left behind by the Cardassians.

S5·E25 Mytharc

In the Cards

Jun 9, 1997 · 45 min

Stardate: 50929.4. Jake has his heart set on a vintage Willie Mays baseball card as a present to cheer up his father, whose spirits are flagging from the ongoing conflict.

S5·E26 Mytharc

Call to Arms

Jun 16, 1997 · 45 min

Stardate: 50975.2. Sisko decides to mine the wormhole to prevent further Dominion ships crossing into the Alpha Quadrant. This provokes an attack by the Dominion and the Cardassian

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