Children of Time (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (S5 E22)
"Children of Time" is the 120th episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 22nd episode of the fifth season. In this episode, the crew of Deep Space Nine encounter their own descendants due to a time loop, and are faced with a difficult ethical decision.
Plot
The starship Defiant investigates a planet surrounded by an unusual energy barrier. They find the planet is inhabited by 8,000 descendants of the Defiant's crew. The crew are told that tomorrow, when the Defiant tries to leave the planet, it will be thrown back in time. After the Defiant crashed on the planet 200 years ago, with no hope of contacting the Federation or repairing the ship, the stranded 48-person crew (including Dax, Sisko, O'Brien, Worf, and Dr. Bashir) remained and established a society. Unfortunately, the stranded Major Kira died a few weeks after the crash due to neural damage she incurred when the ship was passing through the energy barrier; Bashir did not have the medical equipment on the Defiant required to treat her.
In addition to their descendants, two members of the original crew of the Defiant still exist on the colony. The Changeling physiology of Odo has given him greater longevity than the rest (along with a more human appearance), while the Trill symbiont Dax continues to live on in a new host, Yedrin.
“Children of Time (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)” enters the record as episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (S5 E22). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Children, Time and Star can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Children of Time (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Children, Time and Star provides the most credible route into that argument.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5098503. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Children of Time (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Children of Time (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) primary sources, Children of Time (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) archive and Children research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Children of Time (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Children of Time (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.