By Joshua Tyler
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Science fiction is commonly at its greatest, when uncommon sci-fi circumstances are used to spotlight actual world points. Top-of-the-line examples of that is the best way Science fiction handles PTSD and the horrific realities of the observe of torture.
Star Trek specifically, has by no means shied away from coping with torture. Certainly one of Star Trek: The Subsequent Technology’s best possible episodes, “Chain of Command”, revolves round it, and has spawned quite a few discussions concerning the counting of lights. But, as a lot as characters like Picard or Kirk have suffered, nobody within the franchise, and possibly not within the historical past of the whole human race,vhas suffered multiple pivotal sci-fi character.
He wasn’t an officer. He wasn’t a scientist. He’s an enlisted man with none rank. He’s a person who rolls up his sleeves and will get to work within the dust.
His identify, is Miles O’Brien. And he’s a union man.
Miles Edward O’Brien (Colm Meaney) was launched in Star Trek: The Subsequent Technology’s very first episode and returned as a recurring, supporting forged member. He was usually featured all through The Subsequent Technology’s run because the Enterprise’s transporter Chief.
His workmanlike place endeared him to each followers and the creators of the present. So, when the time got here for Star Trek’s first spinoff, Star Trek: Deep House 9, O’Brien was chosen because the character that may act as that present’s Chief of Operations. I think he by no means would have accepted the switch, had he recognized the hell that was about to observe.
After his arrival within the first episode, Star Trek: Deep House 9 shortly launched into a week-after-week mission to interrupt Miles O’Brien’s physique, his spirit, and his thoughts. There have been even instances when the present succeeded, although he normally bounced again. Largely.
At first his torments have been extra minor annoyances just like the station at all times breaking, fixed nagging from his spouse, or being compelled to go searching via crawlspaces for Voles. Nevertheless, the torture of Miles O’Brien, quickly took on a a lot darker tone. After seeing his full character arc, now there’s no query that Miles O’Brien is probably the most tormented particular person within the historical past of the Federation. And possibly in all of fiction.
What follows is an account of probably the most horrific methods wherein this lovable working stiff was viciously persecuted.
And no, we’re not speaking about being married to Keiko. Although, that may be fairly dangerous.
THE TORMENT OF MILES O’BRIEN
A Visionary Hell
Within the Star Trek: Deep House 9 season 3 episode “Visionary,” Miles finally ends up operating right into a future model of himself, earlier than truly dying. Once more, truly, dying.
This wasn’t a type of faux sci-fi present, he’ll be okay in the long run deaths. Deep House 9 totally kills Miles off. Then so as to add insult to harm, he’s changed by his future self. From then on, everybody pretends the true Miles, the Miles who was killed, by no means existed.
The Miles that changed him probably endures fixed, existential dread. He’s doomed to spend the remainder of his life questioning whether or not he’s actually the particular person everybody thinks he’s, or if he’s only a freaky future clone of himself.
A Tribunal Of Humiliation And Ache
Within the Deep House 9 Episode “Tribunal,” it begins out seeming like Miles has lastly caught a break. He’s off on a pleasant trip together with his spouse, a minimum of till he’s tortured and falsely imprisoned by the Cardassians.
The Cardassians are particularly good at torture, and so they do all they will to make Chief O’Brien endure. It culminates within the hapless Starfleet officer, having one among his enamel ripped out with pliers, earlier than being informed he’s already been declared responsible and can quickly be executed.
Finally, his mates show that he’s been framed and free him, however the truth that he spends a whole week being bodily abused in Cardassia’s brutal jail system, whereas anticipating to die, all as a result of he wished to go on a trip, needed to depart some type of lasting, psychic harm.
Time’s Orphan Makes The Chief Watch His Daughter Destroyed
Typically the torture Miles endures, is because of what occurs to others. Miles O’Brien, prides himself on being a faithful household man and a very good father. So, after all, within the season 6 episode “Time’s Orphan,” his daughter Molly falls right into a time portal.
By the point Miles will get Molly again, she’s aged ten years and spent that point dwelling alone as a feral animal. His little woman is gone and in her place is a few type of crazed barbarian. He’s compelled to ship her again into the time portal and settle for her as useless, becaus she’s so broken she will be able to not stay within the regular world.
In the long run, a youthful model of Molly comes out of the portal, and Miles will get her again, however he nonetheless needed to spend weeks coping with the psychotic older model and going via the anguish any mum or dad would endure after they understand their youngster is gone.
Demented Whispers
Within the Star Trek: Deep House 9 season 2 episode “Whispers,” Chief Miles O’Brien returns to the house station after finishing an engineering job on one other planet, solely to find that his crewmates and household are behaving unusually in direction of him. Everyone seems to be oddly distant and suspicious.
O’Brien’s no idiot and he shortly notices delicate adjustments within the station’s operations. As he tries to uncover the rationale for this sudden shift, his paranoia grows, driving him to research additional.
The strain escalates, when O’Brien decides to flee the station in a runabout, satisfied that everybody is a part of a plot to interchange or hurt him. Pursued by his personal mates, he heads to a gathering of Federation ambassadors, believing he should warn them of a possible infiltration on DS9.
Nevertheless, in a dramatic twist, it’s revealed that O’Brien is definitely a replicant, created by an unknown entity, and the true Chief O’Brien is safely present process surgical procedure again on the station. The episode ends tragically for the replicant O’Brien, who’s fatally shot simply as he begins to know his personal identification.
That episode may sound like a uncommon win for the true O’Brien, but it surely’s not. O’Brien is left deeply unsettled by the entire ordeal. He’s significantly affected by the replicant’s determined makes an attempt to attach together with his household and the crew, highlighting a wrestle for identification and belonging. The actual Miles, tries to reconcile the truth that his duplicate, though not actually him, shared a lot of his recollections and feelings whereas interacting with the folks he cares about.
20 Years Of Torment In Arduous Time
What Miles O’Brien endures within the season 4 Deep House 9 episode “Arduous Time,” would be the worst torture anybody has ever skilled.
It kicks off when Chief O’Brien exhibits curiosity in some alien expertise and finally ends up wrongly accused of espionage. He’s sentenced to twenty years and thrown in jail.
In case you haven’t seen, Miles spends lots of time in jail. This time he doesn’t get out.
Over the course of that episode, we watch the a long time go by because the now former Operations Chief lives out the remainder of his life in a horrific jail cell. He’s typically on the verge of hunger. He’s not allowed guests or contact with the surface world. His solely socialization is with one other prisoner, who ultimately turns into his greatest good friend.
Situations change into so dangerous, each O’Brien and his good friend begin to lose their minds. The guards abandon them and cease feeding them On the sting of whole hunger, with their wits already half gone, Miles and his good friend begin preventing over the few scraps of meals they’ve left. Within the ensuing wrestle Miles intentoinally and brutally kills his greatest good friend.
That sounds dangerous sufficient, however this isn’t a traditional jail. It’s a jail simulation, that solely occurs in his thoughts. What appeared like a long time to Miles was the truth is only some seconds in actuality.
To Chief Miles O’Brien it’s totally actual, and at all times can be. But, the twenty years he spent there weren’t actual, and when its over he’s thrust proper again into his regular life prefer it by no means occurred. Solely, to him it did occur.
The issues he believes he did and endured, feed intense PTSD, inflicting him to try suicide reasonably than proceed on. Physician Bashir, talks him down and will get him in remedy, however Miles O’Brien is rarely fairly proper once more.
Chief O’Brien’s Countless Torment
We might flip this into a whole e-book, there are such a lot of horrible issues within the Chief’s story.
There was that point Starfleet intelligence compelled Miles into going undercover and pressured him into deliberately getting his good friend killed.
There’s his distant previous which is already haunting and tormenting him earlier than we even meet him. Earlier than we knew Miles on TNG, he was a soldier preventing in brutal conflicts in opposition to the Cardassians, barely surviving to inform the story. So after all he finally ends up being compelled to serve on an outdated Cardassian house station and make mates with the enemies who killed off his comrades.
There’s extra. Just like the time he nearly died from an historic biogenic weapon
Or that weird incident when an alien takes management of his spouse’s physique and threatens to kill her, except he sabotages the station. Miles is left defending his daughter from her personal mom, a horrifying prospect for any father to endure.
Chief O’Brien Is The Most Necessary Particular person In Star Trek
If there’s any solace available right here, it’s that it appears Miles was ultimately acknowledged for his bravery and perseveerence. Within the far off future past Star Trek: Deep House 9, Miles O’Brien is acknowledged as one of the vital vital folks in Starfleet historical past.
He’s immortalized within the third Star Trek: Decrease Decks episode, “Temporal Edict”, throughout a scene in “the far future” the place a classroom learns about noteworthy folks in Federation historical past. The scene ends with the reveal of an enormous golden statue, immortalizing Chief O’Brien as one among Starfleet’s best figures.
Why was O’Brien chosen for this honor? It’s by no means said, however it might very properly be, that surviving all these many torments finally ends up making him into the proper Starfleet officer.
Or it might simply be that he’s one of the best, as a result of Miles O’Brien, like his ancestor Sean, is greater than a hero. He’s a union man.
