A joke about the disappearance of Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) in Star Trek: Lower Decks creates a great story for a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine revival. In Lower Decks season 3, episode 5, “Reflections”, Ensigns Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) are assigned to the Starfleet recruitment booth. While attempting to inspire the next generation of Starfleet recruits, Mariner and Boimler were quizzed on the whereabouts of Benjamin Sisko, who Mariner says is currently “working really hard in the Celestial Temple“.
Sisko’s return has long been the top of the wish list for many Star Trek fans, and the gag about Sisko “truthers” in Lower Decks could be spun out into a larger story. May 22nd 2023 marks the first ever The Sisko Day, an annual celebration of Avery Brooks’ iconic Star Trek captain established by Jake Sisko actor Cirroc Lofton. With The Sisko Day following on the heels of Star Trek: Picard season 3’s Dominion War plot, there has never been a better time to explore the wider galactic implications of Sisko’s disappearance.
Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Sisko Conspiracy Theory Explained
Six years after the Dominion War ended, the conspiracy theorists that approach Mariner and Boimler are skeptical about the story of Sisko’s disappearance. It’s a throwaway gag, but the idea of a Sisko conspiracy is fascinating. When confronting Boimler and Mariner, the truther asks “when are we gonna hear the truth about what happened to Sisko?” which suggests not everyone believes the official record of events. The concept of the wormhole aliens and Sisko’s destiny may be too much for non-Starfleet personnel to handle, but it’s interesting to speculate why they believe Sisko’s fate is being withheld.
Perhaps the conspiracy theorists feel that Sisko has been disappeared to suppress information about his substantial role in the Dominion War. Throughout Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Captain Sisko made the hard decisions throughout the war, most notably in his complicity in the assassination of Senator Vreenak (Stephen McHattie). Sisko’s DS9 warning to Worf (Michael Dorn) about Chancellor Gowron (Robert O’Reilly) ultimately led to the death of the Klingon head of state. Those two events alone would be enough to convince conspiracy theorists that Sisko is being protected by Starfleet from any Dominion War backlash from the Romulans or Klingons.
How Star Trek: Legacy Could Revisit Lower Decks’ Sisko Truthers
With no announcements forthcoming about Alex Kurtzman’s plans for revisiting Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Terry Matalas may have the best chance of revisiting the Sisko truthers. If greenlit, Matalas’ proposed Star Trek: Legacy series will continue the story of Starfleet in the 25th century, with appearances by various legacy characters. As the show is yet to be commissioned, it’s unclear if it will be a long-form series like Star Trek: Picard or a more episodic adventure series like Strange New Worlds. Either format could allow for a story about the apparent Sisko conspiracy, even if Avery Brooks never returns.
Star Trek: Picard season 3 revealed that the Dominion War continues to cast a shadow over Starfleet’s continuing mission. In the wake of the Changelings’ infiltration of Starfleet, the wider galactic community could be asking questions about how the Dominion War was handled. As one of the key figures in the conflict, Benjamin Sisko’s absence could exacerbate the situation, requiring Captain Worf and his former Star Trek: Deep Space Nine colleagues to band together to protect the Sisko legacy in Star Trek‘s 25th century.