Gul Dukat releasing the Pah-Wraiths
The Pah-wraiths are non-corporeal beings once native to the Bajoran wormhole.
History[]
According to Bajoran texts, at some point millennia ago, the Pah-wraiths became enemies of the Prophets, and were banished from the wormhole to the Fire Caves on Bajor. Bajoran texts also record the Pah-wraiths as being "false Prophets". (DS9 episodes: "The Assignment", "The Reckoning", "Tears of the Prophets", "Shadows and Symbols", "'Til Death Do Us Part", "Strange Bedfellows", "What You Leave Behind")
There were at least two groups of Pah-wraith; the first were led by Kosst Amojan who led the war against the Prophets and were banished within the Fire Caves for their actions. The second group were a minority who did not aid their brethren during the battle and, instead, fled into Jalbador, the second wormhole. (DS9 - Millennium novel: Inferno)
In 2375, Dukat and Kai Winn attempted to free the Pah-wraiths from the Fire Caves, but were stopped by Benjamin Sisko. Winn was killed and Dukat was imprisoned with the Pah-wraiths. (DS9 episodes: "'Til Death Do Us Part", "Strange Bedfellows", "The Changing Face of Evil", "What You Leave Behind")
In 2380, the Pah-wraith cult freed Dukat. (DS9 short story: "The Dreamer and the Dream")
Kelvin timeline[]
In an alternate future of the Kelvin timeline, the Pah-wraiths had declared open war on the Prophets, wiping them all out, save one who was locked in the Reckoning Tablet alongside a wraith. With their historic foes dead, the Pah-wraiths turned their focus to the other evolved races, managing to bring the Q Continuum to the brink of defeat, prompting Q to seek out James T. Kirk for advice on what to do.
To properly gauge Kirk's response, Q brought him and his crew to the 24th century, a future where the Pah-wraiths had allied with the Dominion to serve as their proxies in three-dimensional space. After he claimed the Reckoning Tablet, Skrain Dukat merged with the Pah-wraith within, using his willpower to tether himself to it. Travelling to the nexus of the Bajoran wormhole, Dukat offered to release the Pah-wraith if he could join them as one, pointing out the nearby last Prophet as a bonus. Before the Pah-wraiths could decide, Spock hit on the idea of merging the Prophet and Q into one being, Q using his enhanced power to wipe out the Pah-wraiths. (TOS - The Q Gambit comics: "Part 4", "Part 5", "Part 6")
Mirror universe[]
In the mirror universe, Leeta bonded with a Pah-wraith. In the year 2411, she used its power to become a "new goddess in town" trying to fight the megalomaniac Emperor of the Terran Empire, Wesley Crusher. Leeta was defeated by Captain Sylvia Tilly and the Inquisitor. Her Pah-wraith subsequently abandoned her. Killy quipped that the princess had lost her mojo. (STO - Terran Gambit mission: "Eye of the Storm")
Appendices[]
Appearances and references[]
- DS9 episode: "The Assignment"
- DS9 episode: "The Reckoning"
- DS9 episode: "Tears of the Prophets"
- DS9 episode: "Image in the Sand"
- DS9 episode: "Shadows and Symbols"
- DS9 episode: "Covenant"
- DS9 episode: "'Til Death Do Us Part"
- DS9 episode: "Strange Bedfellows"
- DS9 episode: "The Changing Face of Evil"
- DS9 episode: "When It Rains..."
- DS9 episode & novelization: What You Leave Behind
- DS9 novel: The Fall of Terok Nor
- DS9 novel: The War of the Prophets
- DS9 novel: Inferno
- DS9 video game: The Fallen
- DS9 novel: Warpath
- DS9 short story: "Living on the Edge of Existence"
- DS9 short story: "The Dreamer and the Dream"
- DS9 novel: Original Sin
- ST novel: Revelation and Dust
- TNG novel: Q-Strike
- ST novel: Captain's Peril
- ST short story: "Reborn"
External link[]
- Pah-wraith article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.