The Homecoming (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

Quark gives Kira a Bajoran earring, which she immediately recognizes as belonging to Li Nalas, a Bajoran war hero long thought dead. Li is being held on the desert planet Cardassia IV, so Kira requests a runabout for a rescue mission. Sisko tells her he will consider it, but while he considers the matter, O'Brien discovers graffiti from an extremist faction called "The Circle", who want to expel all non-Bajorans from Bajor. Seeing this convinces Sisko that Bajor needs a leader like Li Nalas and he grants Kira the runabout.

Kira and O'Brien, disguising their runabout as a Lesseppian transport, travel to Cardassia IV and discover a labor camp with more than a dozen Bajorans. O'Brien pretends to solicit Kira to one of the soldiers, tricking him into lowering the force field that surrounds the camp. They rescue Li and several other prisoners. Before Kira and O'Brien return to DS9, Gul Dukat contacts Sisko to inform him that the Cardassian government has issued a formal apology and that the remaining prisoners are en route to Bajor. Bajor's provisional government, on the other hand, chastises Kira, because her actions might have resulted in war with Cardassia.

DS9's Bajoran population greets Li Nalas as a returning hero. Sisko and Kira urge him to help bring stability to Bajor, but shortly thereafter Li is caught trying to stow-away on a departing freighter. He relates to a puzzled Sisko that he never wanted to be a hero; he killed an unarmed Cardassian out of necessity in a purely chance encounter, and his fellow Bajorans eventually turned him into a legend. Sisko convinces Li to stay, because Bajor needs a legend like him.

After a trip to Bajor, Li Nalas returns with Minister Jaro Essa of the provisional government. The Chamber of Ministers has invented a new title for Li: "Navarch." It is unclear what this new title means; but Jaro announces that Li is now the Bajoran Liaison Officer to DS9 and Kira is to be sent back to Bajor.

In 2013, Keith DeCandido gave the episode a rating of nine out of ten for Tor.com, calling it "an excellent start to a new season."{{cite web |first=Keith |last=DeCandido |author-link=Keith DeCandido |url=https://www.tor.com/2013/07/09/star-trek-deep-space-nine-rewatch-the-homecoming |title=Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Rewatch: "The Homecoming" |date=2013-07-09 |access-date=2020-02-20 }}{{cite web |date=2012-04-05 |first=Zack |last=Handlen |title=Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: "The Homecoming"/"The Circle" |url=https://www.avclub.com/star-trek-deep-space-nine-the-homecoming-the-circl-1798172280 |website=The A.V. Club |access-date=2022-08-23}}

In 2015, Geek.com recommended this episode as "essential watching" for their abbreviated Star Trek: Deep Space Nine binge-watching guide, they noted that this episode is part of a trilogy that includes the first three episodes of the second season,{{Cite web|url=https://www.geek.com/geek-cetera/star-trek-deep-space-nine-condensed-how-to-watch-the-most-story-driven-trek-1613741/|title=Star Trek: Deep Space Nine condensed: How to watch the most story-driven Trek|date=2015-01-19|website=Geek.com|last=Whitwam|first=Ryan|access-date=2019-07-13|archive-date=2016-11-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161120130855/https://www.geek.com/geek-cetera/star-trek-deep-space-nine-condensed-how-to-watch-the-most-story-driven-trek-1613741/|url-status=dead}} ("The Homecoming", "The Circle", and "The Siege").

In 2018, SyFy recommend this episode for its abbreviated watch guide for the Bajoran character Kira Nerys, as a trilogy with the following two episodes.{{Cite web|url=https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/a-binge-watching-guide-to-star-trek-deep-space-nines-kira-nerys|title=A binge-watching guide to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Kira Nerys|last=Krishna|first=Swapna|date=2018-01-16|website=SYFY WIRE|access-date=2020-01-09|archive-date=2019-07-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723174602/https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/a-binge-watching-guide-to-star-trek-deep-space-nines-kira-nerys|url-status=dead}} They note that in this episode a Bajoran extremist group is conducting attacks to challenge the new provisional Post-Occupation government of planet Bajor, forcing Kira to go all out to prevent a civil war.

• This is the first part of a three-part story arc (the first in Star Trek franchise history) continued in "The Circle" and concluded with "The Siege".
• Frank Langella, who plays Minister Jaro, was uncredited in this and the following two episodes that he appears in.

It was released on LaserDisc in Japan on June 6, 1997, as part of the half season collection 2nd Season Vol. 1, which had seven doubled sided 12" discs. {{Cite web|title=LaserDisc Database - Star Trek Deep Space 9: 2nd Season vol.1 [PILF-2323]|url=https://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/00126/PILF-2323/Star-Trek-Deep-Space-9:-2nd-Season-vol.1|access-date=2021-02-22|website=www.lddb.com}} The discs had English and Japanese audio tracks.

"The Homecoming" and "The Circle" were released on one double sided LaserDisc on July 15, 1997, in the United States.{{Cite web|title=LaserDisc Database - Star Trek DS9 #021/22: the Homecoming/The Circle [LV 40510-421]|url=https://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/21416/LV-40510-421/Star-Trek-DS9-021/22:-the-Homecoming/The-Circle|access-date=2021-02-22|website=www.lddb.com}}

This episode was released in 2017 on DVD with the complete series box set, which had 176 episodes on 48 discs.{{Cite web |date=2017-02-10 |title=[REVIEW] Deep Space Nine Complete Series DVD Box Set |url=https://treknews.net/2017/02/10/review-star-trek-ds9-complete-series-dvd-box-set/ |access-date=2021-02-19 |website=TREKNEWS.NET}}

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{{Wikiquote|Star Trek: Deep Space Nine#The Homecoming .5B2.1.5D|The Homecoming}}

• {{IMDb episode}}
• {{Memory Alpha|The Homecoming}}
• {{StarTrek.com|homecoming-the}}

{{Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes|2}}

{{Star Trek Cardassian stories}}

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Category:Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2 episodes

Category:1993 American television episodes

Category:Television episodes written by Ira Steven Behr

Category:Television episodes written by Jeri Taylor

Category:Television episodes directed by Winrich Kolbe