Joshua Tyler | Posted
Science fiction is often at its best when it uses unusual science fiction situations to highlight real-world problems. One of the best examples of this is the way science fiction deals with PTSD and the horrific reality of torture practices.
Star Trek, in particular, has never shied away from dealing with torture. one of the following Star Trek: The Next Generation The best episode, “Chain of Command,” revolves around this and sparked a lot of discussion about the intensity of light. But no one in the franchise, and perhaps in all of human history, has suffered as much as characters like Picard and Kirk have suffered.
He was not an officer. He wasn’t a scientist. He is a rankless private. He is a man who rolls up his sleeves and works in the dirt.
His name is Miles O’Brien. And he is a trade unionist.
Miles Edward O’Brien (Colm Meany) is introduced. Star Trek: The Next Generation After the first episode, he returned in a recurring supporting role. He appeared regularly throughout. next generation He operates as the Enterprise’s Director of Transportation.
His work attitude endeared him to fans and show creators alike. So when it came time for the first Star Trek spin-off, Star Trek: Deep Space NineO’Brien was chosen for the character to serve as the show’s executive director. I think he would never have accepted the transfer if he had known the hell that would soon follow.
After appearing in the first episode, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine We quickly set out on a weekly mission to destroy Miles O’Brien’s body, mind, and spirit. There have been cases where the show has been successful, but more often than not it has bounced back. mostly.
At first, his pains were minor annoyances like the station always breaking down, his wife’s constant nagging, and having to go hunting through the crawl space for Voles. However, Miles O’Brien’s torture soon took on a much darker tone. After seeing his complete character arc, there’s no doubt that Miles O’Brien is the most tortured man in Federation history. And maybe it’s in every novel.
What follows is an account of the most terrible manner in which this lovely working stiff was cruelly persecuted.
And no, we’re not talking about his marriage to Keiko. But that would be pretty bad.
Miles O’Brien’s Pain
fantasy hell
at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine In the season 3 episode “Visionary”, Miles meets a future version of himself before he actually dies. Again, actually dying.
This wasn’t some fake sci-fi show. He’ll be okay with dying in the end. deep space nine Kills Miles outright. Then, to add insult to injury, he is replaced by his future self. From then on, everyone pretends that the real Miles, the murdered Miles, never existed.
His replacement, Miles, will likely have to endure constant, existential fear. He’s doomed to spend his life wondering if he really is who everyone thinks he is, or if he’s just a strange future clone of himself.
A tribunal of humiliation and pain
at deep space nine episodes “Tribunal” begins just as Miles has finally caught his break. He went on a wonderful vacation with his wife. At least until he was tortured and unjustly imprisoned by the Cardassians.
The Cardassians are particularly skilled at torture and do their best to make Chief O’Brien suffer. It ends with a hapless Starfleet officer having one of his teeth ripped out with pliers before being told he has already been found guilty and will soon be executed.
Eventually, his friends prove that he was framed and they free him, but the fact that he spent an entire week in Kardashian’s brutal prison system, being physically abused and expecting to die, partly forced him to leave because he wanted to go on vacation. It’s a kind of lasting mental damage.
Orphan of Time forces the Chief to watch his daughter be destroyed
Sometimes the torture Miles endures is because of what happens to other people. Miles O’Brien prides himself on being a devoted family man and a great father. So in the Season 6 episode ‘Orphan of Time’, his daughter Molly falls into a time portal.
When Miles got Molly back, she was ten years old and had spent that time living alone as a wild animal. His little daughter was gone, and in her place was some kind of crazy savage. He was forced to send her back to the time portal and accept her as dead. Because she is so damaged that she can no longer live in a normal world.
Eventually, a younger version of Molly emerges from the portal and Miles gets her back, but he still has to spend weeks dealing with the psychotic older version and going through the pain that every parent goes through when they find out their child is gone. .
crazy whisper
at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine In the Season 2 episode “Whispers”, Chief Miles O’Brien returns to the space station after completing engineering work on another planet, but notices that his crew and family are acting strangely toward him. Everyone is strangely distant and suspicious.
O’Brien is no fool and is quick to notice subtle changes in the station’s operations. As he tries to determine the reason for this sudden change, his paranoia grows, leading him to investigate further.
Tensions rise as O’Brien decides to leave the station as he goes on the run, convinced everyone is part of a plot to replace or harm him. Pursued by his friends, he heads to a meeting of Federation ambassadors, believing he must warn them of a potential intrusion into DS9.
However, in a dramatic twist, it is revealed that O’Brien is actually a replicant created by an unknown entity, and that the real Chief O’Brien is safely undergoing surgery on the station. The episode ends tragically with O’Brien, the clone, mortally wounded just as he begins to understand his own identity.
That episode may sound like a rare victory for the real O’Brien, but it’s not. O’Brien is very disturbed by the whole ordeal. He is particularly influenced by the replicants’ desperate attempts to connect with their families and crew, emphasizing their struggle for identity and belonging. The real Miles struggles to reconcile the fact that although his clone is not himself, he shares many memories and emotions with him as he interacts with people he cares about.
20 years of hardship
What Miles O’Brien Endured in Season 4 deep space nine The episode “Hard Time” is probably the worst torture I’ve ever experienced.
The story begins when Chief O’Brien develops an interest in alien technology and is eventually wrongly accused of espionage. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
In case you haven’t noticed, Miles spends a lot of time in prison. It won’t come out this time.
Over the course of the episode, we watch decades pass by as the now former operations chief spends the rest of his life in a horrible prison. He is often on the verge of starvation. He allows no visitors or contact with the outside world. His only socialization is with other prisoners who eventually become his best friends.
Things get so bad that O’Brien and his friend begin to lose their minds. The guards abandon them and do not feed them. Faced with complete starvation and already losing half his wits, Miles and his friend begin fighting over the few remaining pieces of food. In the ensuing struggle, Miles deliberately and brutally kills his best friend.
It sounds bad enough, but this is no ordinary prison. It’s a prison simulation that only takes place in his mind. What seemed like decades to Miles was actually just seconds.
For Chief Miles O’Brien, it is, and always will be, completely real. But the 20 years he spent there weren’t real, and when it was over, he went right back to his normal life as if nothing had happened. But that’s what happened to him.
What he believed and endured causes him intense PTSD, leading him to attempt suicide rather than continue. Dr. Bashir talks to him and begins treatment, but Miles O’Brien is never right again.
Chief O’Brien’s Endless Suffering
We could make this into a whole book. There are so many terrible things in the Chieftain’s story.
There was a time when Starfleet Intelligence forced Miles to go undercover and intentionally pressured him into killing his friend.
There’s already something about his distant past that haunts and torments him before we even meet him. Before we knew Miles from TNG, he was a soldier fighting brutal battles against the Cardassians and barely survived to tell the tale. So he ends up having to serve on the old Cardassian space station and befriend the enemies who killed his comrades.
There’s more. Like the time I almost died from an ancient biological weapon.
Or a bizarre incident where an alien takes over his wife’s body and threatens to kill her unless he sabotages the station. Miles must protect his daughter from her own mother, a terrifying prospect every father must endure.
Chief O’Brien is the most important character in Star Trek.
If we can take any consolation from this, it seems that Miles was finally recognized for his courage and perseverance. Beyond that, in the distant future Star Trek: Deep Space NineMiles O’Brien is recognized as one of the most important figures in Starfleet history.
He became immortal for the third time Star Trek: Lower Decks The episode “Provisional Edict”, a scene set in the “distant future” where a classroom learns about notable figures in Federation history. The scene ends with the unveiling of a massive golden statue that immortalizes one of Starfleet’s greatest figures, Chief O’Brien.
Why was O’Brien chosen for this honor? It’s never stated, but surviving all this suffering will eventually make him the perfect Starfleet officer.
Or maybe he’s the best because, like his ancestor Sean, Miles O’Brien is more than a hero. He is a trade unionist.
