The Dogs of War (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

"The Dogs of War" is the 174th and penultimate episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 24th of the seventh season. It is the eighth of the nine-episode story arc concluding the series. This episode was written by René Echevarria and Ronald D. Moore, based on a story by Peter Allan Fields, and was directed by Avery Brooks, who also played the role of Captain Benjamin Sisko.

Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Starfleet-managed space station Deep Space Nine near the planet Bajor, as the Bajorans recover from a decades-long occupation by the imperialistic Cardassians. The station is adjacent to a wormhole connecting Bajor to the distant Gamma Quadrant; the wormhole is home to powerful alien beings worshipped by the Bajorans as the godlike "Prophets", who have made Sisko, DS9's human captain, their "Emissary". The later seasons of the series follow a war between the United Federation of Planets and the Dominion, an expansionist empire from the Gamma Quadrant ruled by the shapeshifting Changelings, which was instigated by the Dominion's annexation of Cardassia.

In this episode, when the organized Cardassian resistance against Dominion rule is wiped out, resistance leader Damar (Casey Biggs), with the aid of Starfleet Commander Kira (Nana Visitor) and ex-spy Garak (Andrew J. Robinson), tries to restart the resistance as a grassroots uprising. The episode also concludes the series's long-running plot arc exploring the politics of the greedy Ferengi, as the Ferengi leader Grand Nagus Zek (Wallace Shawn) announces his retirement and names Rom (Max Grodénchik), an engineering technician on DS9, as his successor.