Memory Alpha:AOL chats/Ronald D. Moore/ron111.txt

Subject: Answers Date: Wed, Jul 1, 1998 17:26 EDT From: RonDMoore Message-id: <1998070121260900.RAA19976@ladder03.news.aol.com>

Just hopped in for a minute, but had to clear up something:

<<Originally, it was supposed to be Dax on the Defiant (she does slightly outrank Worf by time in grade, and besides, he was busy), with Kira back on DS9 having a near-fatal encounter with Dukat in the shrine (she was only going to be left in a coma). When the evil Uberlords decreed that Terry Farrell wasn't worth keeping around, it was decided that Dax must die, and in that great Trek tradition begun with Generations, the plot was twisted to serve the needs of the agenda at hand, to punish Terry for daring to defy the front office.>>

Although this was posted with an air of authority, it is flatly untrue. There was never a version of "Tears of the Prophets" in which Dax went on the Defiant and Kira had some sort of encounter with Dukat in the shrine. Not even at the conceptual level. The confrontation with Dukat was scripted expressly for Dax. Also, it was Terry's decision to leave the show, not the "evil Uberlords". While you are welcome to criticize the story/script of "Tears..." and the creative decisions made by the writing staff, you should not invent tales of "twisted" story development and evil "agendas" in order to support your position.