The Ladies of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Salome Jens as the Founder

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          Founder, a female shapeshifter or changeling, is the leader of the Founders, who in turn rule the Dominion in the Gamma Quadrant.  Commander Sisko takes the USS Defiant into the Gamma Quadrant on a dangerous mission to find the mysterious leaders of the Dominion (The Search), to demonstrate to them that the Federation's intent in the Gamma Quadrant is solely exploration.  The Defiant is equipped with a cloaking device on loan from the Romulans for use only in the Gamma Quadrant, in exchange for any intelligence concerning the Dominion.  Odo is on board at the request of the Bajoran government.  They learn that a species known as the Vorta requires all communications for the Dominion be directed to a relay station on Callinon Seven.  Odo's curiosity draws him to starcharts of the sector, specifically those of the Omarion Nebula.  The Defiant heads for the Callinon system, where Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax and Chief Miles O'Brien transport to the surface to find an unmanned facility.  They report that most of the outgoing transmissions are being sent to specific coordinates, but communications with the Defiant are cut off.  Odo tells Major Kira that he is feeling an urgent need to travel to the Omarion Nebula.  She tries to get more information, but the discussion is interrupted when the Defiant is attacked by three Jem'Hadar ships.  The Defiant takes a beating and is boarded by Jem'Hadar soldiers, and they overwhelm the bridge crew.  Major Kira is wounded and awakens later aboard a shuttlecraft with Odo, who has left the Defiant dead in space.  They arrive at and land on a rogue planet in the Omarion Nebula, which they soon discover is Odo's homeworld.  A female shapeshifter encourages him to begin the slow process of learning who he is, and discovering the bond they share, and to rejoin the "great link".  Odo is pleased to be reunited with his people, but they don't like or trust Major Kira because she is a Solid.  Major Kira tries and fails to contact Deep Space Nine; a hidden power source causes interference.  Odo takes shapeshifting lessons and learns that the shapeshifters came to this secret planet long ago to escape persecution at the hands of the Solids.  The female shapeshifter also tells Odo that he was sent as an infant to explore the galaxy, then return home.  Major Kira, looking for Odo, discovers a locked door and becomes suspicious; shapeshifters would have no use for a door.  She finds Odo and he tells her he is staying with his people.  Major Kira understands and asks him to help her get to the hidden power source behind a locked door before she leaves.  Odo unlocks the mysterious door, and he and Major Kira find Jem'Hadar soldiers waiting.  The Jem'Hadar take them to an interrogation room where they discover that the Defiant crew has been subjected to experimentation to determine how much they will sacrifice to avoid war with the Dominion.   The female shapeshifter then arrives and tells them that her people are the mysterious Founders.  Odo is disappointed and saddened that his own species is responsible for so much death and misery.  He demands that his friends be released, then chooses to leave with them.  Major Kira and Odo, on patrol in a runabout, learn that a Maquis ship has ambushed a Lissepian vessel (Heart of Stone).  They pursue the ship to a deserted moon, where it crashes.  She and Odo land on the moon, which is almost uninhabitable and is plagued by continuous seismic activity.  They split up in a group of caverns where the fugitive may be hiding, and Major Kira soon summons Odo with a distress call.  He arrives to find a crystal formation around her foot, and growing.  Atmospheric interference on the moon makes it impossible for him to either free her with the runabout's transporter or to send a distress signal back to Deep Space Nine.  Tremors shake the cavern and the crystal continues to grow.  Odo brings in equipment to build an ultrasonic generator to shatter the crystal.  The crystal remains intact and continues to grow, despite all attempts to find a frequency to shatter it.  Major Kira finally orders Odo to leave, since the crystal is up to her neck and there is nothing more he can do.  Odo refuses to go, in spite of her reminder that if he stays, he will die along with her.  He says he cannot leave because he loves her.  She shocks Odo by replying that she also loves him.  He continues to be suspicious of the situation and remains virtually silent for an hour.  He finally points a phaser at her and demands to know what happened to the real Major Kira.  Then "Major Kira" and the crystal together morphs into the Founder Odo met when he discovered his homeworld.  She had discovered Odo's feelings for Major Kira and planned the entire scenario to make him believe she died so he would return home.  Odo suddenly collapses and is rushed to the Infirmary (Broken Link).  Doctor Bashir determines after a thorough examination that Odo is losing his ability to maintain his solid form, but does not know why.  Odo finally realizes there is only one place he can find help; with his people, the Founders.   Captain Sisko agrees to take him to the Gamma Quadrant, where the Defiant is intercepted by a squadron of Jem'Hadar warships.  The Founder is aboard one of them; she has been expecting him.  She tells Odo he was infected to force him to return home to be judged for killing another changeling (The Die is Cast) during the abortive Romulan-Cardassian attempt to annihilate the Founders.  She links with him to stabilize his condition, but only the Great Link can cure him; he will die if he refuses to join the link and be judged.  A Jem'Hadar soldier takes over navigation to prevent the Defiant crew from learning the location of the Founder's new home.   The Defiant arrives at the secret location and Odo, Captain Sisko, and Doctor Bashir beam down with the Founder.  She and Odo enter the Great Link while the other two wait.  Sometime later, Odo and the Founder emerge, and Odo is naked.  The Founder tells Captain Sisko that Odo has been judged; he has been made a Solid, and is free to leave.  Admiral Ross, in command at Starbase 375, uncovers a major reason for the Dominion's dominance in the war; a sensor array that monitors all activity across five sectors (Behind the Lines).  Captain Sisko formulates a risky plan to disable it, and plans to depart in the Defiant.  Admiral Ross relieves him; he is needed as a strategic planner at Starbase 375; and places Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax in command of the Defiant and the mission.  Odo is surprised to encounter on the station the Founder who once took away his changeling abilities.  She tells Odo he has been forgiven for killing one of his people, and takes advantage of the pain of his unrequited love for Major Kira by persuading him to link with her.  Odo promises Major Kira he will not link with the Founder again, but he ignores his promise and links with her again the next morning.  The real reason for the Founder's "forgiveness" of course is to link with Odo to obtain any information he has about Federation plans for the war with the Dominion.  Major Kira goes to the Security Office, finds it empty, and is unable to contact Odo.  She barges into his quarters and is shocked when he calmly admits that he did indeed rejoin the link.  Major Kira and Odo are suddenly on opposite sides, and she regards her longtime friend as an enemy.  The Defiant returns to Starbase 375 intact, having successfully completed its mission.  The Federation is continuing to lose the war against the Dominion-Cardassian Alliance, and morale is sinking fast (Favor the Bold).  Captain Sisko realizes that the Federation needs a major victory, so he develops a plan to retake Deep Space Nine.  Odo continues to struggle with reconciling his feelings for the Founder and remaining loyal to his friends, especially Major Kira.   Despite his mixed feelings, he cannot resist linking with the Founder.   Odo has a disturbing conversation with the Founder, but when he later tries to talk to Major Kira, she refuses to accept his apology.  Odo is lured to a secret meeting site, where he finds himself face to face with Weyoun, the Vorta leader of the enemy Dominion (Treachery, Faith, and the Great River).  Weyoun announces that he's decided to defect and, in exchange for asylum, he promises to provide valuable information that could help the Federation win the war.  After the two board Odo's runabout, the ship is hailed by the Cardassians.  Odo is shocked when the monitor displays Weyoun standing beside Damar and the Founder.  The Weyoun Odo has taken aboard the runabout is actually a clone known as Weyoun-Six, while the "real" Weyoun, the seventh clone, is still loyal to the Dominion cause.  Weyoun-Six reveals a stunning fact: the Founders are dying from an illness spreading rapidly through their ranks.  He explains that because Odo left his people long ago, he is the only Changeling not infected by the virulent disease.  He expresses his hope that Odo will use the opportunity to build a new, more peaceful Dominion.  Odo worries about the future; his people are dying, but they are still the enemy.  He is destined to lose, regardless of the outcome of the war.  Word reaches the station that Lieutenant Commander Worf is missing in action after a fierce battle with the Dominion (Penumbra), but Captain Sisko calls off the search party before Worf is found.  Lieutenant Ezri Dax, the new host after Jadzia was killed, steals a runabout and goes in search of Commander Worf.  She later locates Worf's life pod and beams him aboard.  The rapidly deteriorating Founder makes it clear to Weyoun that she expects him to find a cure for the disease plaguing her people.  The Jem'Hadar attack the runabout with Lieutenant Dax and Commander Worf aboard, and they are forced to abandon ship.  They beam down to a planet in the Goralis system, but neglect to pack the equipment necessary for contacting Deep Space Nine.  They are later confronted by two Breen soldiers, who open fire and render them unconscious.  They wake up in a cell aboard a Breen ship.   Lieutenant Ezri Dax and Lieutenant Commander Worf are still being held aboard the Breen ship ('Til Death Due Us Part).  Weyoun and the Founder, still suffering from the disease killing her people, travel on a Jem'Hadar battleship to an unspecified rendezvous.  The Jem'Hadar ship reaches its destination, and several Breen soldiers transport with Lieutenant Dax and Commander Worf to the Jem'Hadar bridge.  Weyoun and the Founder meet them, and announce the birth of an alliance between the Dominion and the Breen.  The Founder and Thot Gor, the leaders of the new Dominion-Breen alliance, prepare to sign a treaty designed to destroy the Federation and end the war (Strange Bedfellows).  Leggett Damar objects to its signing because of concessions that could harm Cardassia.  Dax and Worf learn that Weyoun and Damar plan to have them executed.  Enraged, Worf kills Weyoun.  Damar is skeptical of the new alliance with the Breen, and is uncomfortable when the new Weyoun clone allows Thot Gor access to classified information.  Worf and Dax break out of their cell, but are quickly apprehended.  A devastating battle on Cardassia leaves Damar feeling betrayed by the alliance.  Worf and Dax are led to the execution chamber, but Damar shocks them by arranging an escape route and asking them to tell the Federation that they have an ally on Cardassia.  The crew's relief at Worf and Dax's safe return is spoiled by reports that the Breen have attacked Starfleet Headquarters on Earth (The Changing Face of Evil).  The Founder and the Breen commander exult in their sneak attack, but their supposed ally, Leggett Damar, secretly plots to free Cardassia from Dominion occupation.  Captain Sisko receives word that the Breen have launched a counteroffensive against the Chin'toka System, the Federation's lone foothold in Dominion territory.  He takes the Defiant to rendezvous with other Federation ships in the system to repel the attack.  Damar, in his quarters, makes final preparations for the Cardassian offensive.  The Founder and Weyoun head to the Chin'toka System to observe the battle between the Breen and the Federation.  The crew is unharmed in the battle, but the Federation loses both the battle and the Defiant.  The crew, now back at Deep Space Nine, monitors a transmission by Leggett Damar, announcing that Cardassian rebels have attacked Dominion outposts.  Captain Sisko knows that the Federation must help Damar, who could be the key to saving the Alpha Quadrant.  Captain Sisko arranges a Federation commission as a Commander for Colonel Kira to make her, a Bajoran and former resistance fighter, more acceptable to the Cardassian resistance as an advisor (When It Rains ...).   She reviews tactical plans with the Cardassian resistance leaders, and Odo returns from a mission weakened by the disease that is ravaging his people (Tacking Into the Wind).  Commander Kira, eager to discover why the Klingon ships aren't damaged by Breen-Dominion technology, proposes stealing the enemy's weaponry so the Federation can engineer a countermeasure.  Leggett Damar receives word that his family has been killed by the Dominion.   Damar escorts Commander Kira, posing as a prisoner, onto a Jem'Hadar ship equipped with the Breen technology.  Odo morphs into the Founder and helps them take over the ship, but they soon discover that the energy-dampening weapon is still being installed.  Commander Kira refuses to leave without the weapon, and they finally leave after it is installed.  Doctor Bashir and Chief O'Brien discover that Section 31 is responsible for the changeling virus, in an attempt to kill all the Founders (Extreme Measures).  They lure Lieutenant Commander Sloan, the head of Section 31, to Deep Space Nine, to obtain the cure, and barely manage to obtain it before he kills himself to prevent its discovery.   Captain Sisko takes command of a new ship which he names in honor of the Defiant (The Dogs of War).  Commander Kira, now back on Cardassia, along with Garak and Leggett Damar barely escapes a Dominion ambush and they are forced into hiding.  Doctor Bashir cures Odo of the deadly virus, and he is outraged to learn that he was infected by Section Thirty-one, during a previous visit to Earth (Homefront and Paradise Lost), but he promises Captain Sisko he won't take matters into his own hands.  Weyoun publicly announces that Damar and his collaborators were killed shortly after arriving on Cardassia.  Leggett Damar is still very much alive, but he, Commander Kira, and Garak are stunned by the news that Dominion forces have eliminated all eighteen rebel bases.  Commander Kira realizes that Damar's "death" has made him a legend, and urges him to openly rally the Cardassian people against the Dominion.  The Founder orders a strategic retreat of Dominion forces to Cardassian space.  Garak slips into the Jem'Hadar barracks, but he's captured and detained on his way out.  Commander Kira and Leggett Damar watch from a distance in alarm because a bomb Garak planted inside is set to detonate any minute.  They overpower the guards seconds before the bomb explodes, and Damar rallies a crowd gathered near the scene.  Captain Sisko, Admiral Ross, and Chancellor Martok discuss the Dominion withdrawal and agree to attack the enemy at its new defense perimeter in Cardassian territory.  Captain Sisko, in command of the Defiant, joins the Federation-Klingon-Romulan fleet as it launches the invasion of Cardassia (What You Leave Behind).  Commander Kira, Leggett Damar, and Garak discuss resistance plans to sabotage the Dominion's power and communication centers.   The first power outage occurs on Cardassia, and the Founder realizes the Cardassian people are rising up against the Dominion.  She promises severe retaliation, and Commander Kira, Leggett Damar and Garak are horrified when Weyoun announces that one Cardassian city will be destroyed as punishment for every act of sabotage committed by rebel forces.   Commander Kira then decides they must attack Dominion headquarters.  The invasion force enters Cardassian space and attacks the Dominion-Cardassian-Breen fleet.   Jem'Hadar soldiers burst into Leggett Damar's hideout and capture him, Commander Kira, and Garak.  Captain Sisko, Admiral Ross and Chancellor Martok suffer heavy losses in space and strategically realign their attack.  The Founder received word of Leggett Damar's capture, along with Commander Kira and Garak.  She orders their immediate execution, but Cardassian soldiers revolt and rescue them.  Cardassian ships suddenly switch sides and attack the Dominion fleet.  The Founder orders retaliation in the form of the complete annihilation of the Cardassian people.  She also orders a Dominion retreat to Cardassia Prime.  Captain Sisko, Admiral Ross, and Chancellor Martok then decide to take the initiative in an attempt to end the war once and for all.   The resistance group enters the Dominion headquarters and Leggett Damar is killed by Jem'Hadar guards, but Commander Kira, Garak, and a Cardassian soldier capture the Dominion Briefing Room.  Commander Kira orders the Founder to surrender, but she refuses.  Garak kills Weyoun, and Commander Kira alerts Captain Sisko to the situation on Cardassia.  Odo asks to meet with the Founder.  He links with and heals her of the disease that has ravaged their people.  She is transformed by the experience, and orders a cease-fire.  She and the Breen officially surrender all Dominion and Breen forces to the Federation-Klingon-Romulan-Cardassian alliance and she accepts responsibility for her people's actions.  She is led away as Odo informs Colonel Kira that he is returning to his homeworld to cure his people and teach them new ways.

See Some Photos of the Founder

Salome Jens is the leader of the Founders, the shapeshifters who rule the Dominion in the Gamma Quadrant.  Her film credits include Diana Krohn in I'm Losing You (1998); Salome Jens in The Films of John Frankenheimer (1995); Helga in Just Between Friends (1986); Jean Randolph in Cloud Dancer (1980); Vera in Diary of the Dead (1980); Emily Penning in Savages (1972); Shirley Norton in Me, Natalie (1969); Norma Marcus in Seconds (1966); Mrs. Dodd in The Fool Killer (1965); Angel Baby in Angel Baby (1961); and The Visitor/Nurse in Terror from the Year 5000 (1958).  She also appeared in numerous television movies, including Sister Angela in Cast the First Stone: The Diane Martin Story (1989); Doctor Becker in Playing with Fire (1985); Alice Johansen in A Killer in the Family (1983); Mady Christians in The Grace Kelly Story (1983); Nurse Botts in Uncommon Valor (1983); Laura Pressburg in Tomorrow's Child (1982); Doctor Miller in The Two Lives of Carol Letner (1981); Murphy in A Matter of Life and Death (1981); Ilyena in The Golden Moment: An Olympic Love Story (1980); Judge Kendis Winslow in In the Glitter Palace (1977); and Alice Staverson in The Jolly Corner (1975); as well as appearing as a regular character in two series; Martha Kent in the series, Superboy (1988); and Gert Kipfer in the series, From Here to Eternity (1980);   Salome Jens has also appeared extensively in episode television, including Board Member in the Chicago Hope episode, Death Be Proud (1994); Joan Campbell in the Melrose Place episodes, My Way and Leap of Faith (1992); Sister Margaret in the MacGyver episode, The Road Not Taken (1986); Mrs. Cheznell in the Quincy episode, Dead Stop (1981); Madge Tucker in the Bonanza episode, The Wagon (1970); Patricia Bauer in the The Rat Patrol episode, The Blindman's Bluff Raid (1966); Marcie Remp in the The Untouchables episode, The Man in the Cooler (1963); Auntie Maude in the Naked City episode, Goodbye Mama, Hello Auntie Maude (1962); and Emily Hunter in the Great Ghost Tales episode, Who is the Fairest One of All (1961).  She is of course best known as the recurring character the Female Shapeshifter in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

See Some Photos of Salome Jens

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