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From the final 10-episode arc of Deep Space Nine we learned several things about the Morphogenic virus afflicting all of the Changelings.

(major spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the end of DS9)

  • Odo was the carrier of the virus
  • Section 31 initially gave the disease to Odo back in 2372 (Season 4 of DS9)
  • The virus was passed on by linking
  • Frequent shape shifting caused the disease to progress more rapidly
  • Odo cured all of the Changelings when he rejoined the Great Link.

But in the Season 7 episode Chimera, Odo linked with the Changeling Laas several times. Presumably, the virus was passed to Laas at this time, although this was never stated definitively in the series (which is confirmed by the earlier link about the virus)

Odo was unaware he was carrying the virus when he linked with Laas in DS9: "Chimera". Whether or not Laas developed the disease, and whether or not he was able to receive the cure, are unknown.

Since Laas did not want to join the Great Link, it seems likely he was still out searching the galaxy of the remainder of the 100 (only 98 to go). As such, he would not have been cured when Odo cured everyone else.

Did he ever get cured? Or was he left to die? Because seemed to enjoy taking different forms, it seems likely that if he was afflicted, he would have begun to deteriorate very quickly after leaving DS9.

Was the fate of Laas ever covered in any other material (canon or not)?

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  • Within the TV canon, no.
    – Valorum
    Jul 11, 2015 at 10:29
  • @Richard of course, I said that in the middle of the post Jul 11, 2015 at 10:30

2 Answers 2

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Laas was indeed infected with the Chimera virus. According to the DS9 novella "Olympus Descending", after returning briefly to the Great Link (curing him of the virus), Laas went back out to search for more of 'the hundred'. He was successful in locating two living changelings.

He seems to despise the Founders for their actions (sending innocent changelings out without support) but ultimately forgave their actions and acted as their spokesblob:

“I have no quarrel with you, Odo,” Laas said, turning toward him. “You are one of the Hundred. You are one of us.” He gestured past Odo, at the other two changelings. Laas, who’d had no knowledge of the Founders prior to meeting Odo in the Alpha Quadrant almost a year and a half ago, had joined the Great Link after the end of the war. The Founders had cured him of the slow-acting disease engineered by Section 31, but he’d stayed only a few months before leaving on a personal quest to locate more of the Hundred.

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  • 13
    "Spokesblob" :D
    – Joe
    Jul 11, 2015 at 13:35
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Concerning the fate of Laas beyond his curing from the Chimera virus:

He actually seems to be in control of the Dominion, if not necessarily solely:

[Talking to a Breen:] You have nothing, that is of value for me. Your only use is for my distraction. The management of the Dominion is a daunting task, but also a duty. I am tired of the monoforms that I am supposed to protect.

Source: Typhon Pact: Plagues of Night (not literally quoted; re-translated from German translation)

As the

Great Link fell apart a few years ago and the changelings spread out across the galaxy

there aren't many changelings left to manage the Dominion. Laas appears to be one of those, despite his hate towards humanoids, who he basically is governing when managing the Dominion. In the aforementioned scene he is together with Jem'Hadar and Vorta, trying to defend a Dominion-controlled planet from an intruding vessel. This further indicates he carries out some governing tasks in the Dominion.

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  • Fascinating - I never knew any of this occurred. Then again, I'm not caught up with the novels or ST:Online of late.
    – Omegacron
    Aug 18, 2015 at 13:44
  • @Omegacron Star Trek: Online is a bad source IMHO, they just do whatever they want. IIRC for them the Borg are still a thing and it is set in the early 25th century. However in the novel series Destiny (in the 24th century) something happens that has to do with Borg, rendering events in STO impossible. I really can recommend the novels, though. Although some of them aren't the best stories to read they add a lot of Star Trek knowledge and tie loose ends from the TV shows together.
    – RimaNari
    Aug 18, 2015 at 14:34
  • Laas crops up in STO leading a group of Changelings that form a "new link" in the Alpha Quadrant to continue messing s**t up there, the Great Link washes their hands of him and you get to shoot him.
    – IG_42
    Mar 14, 2018 at 22:28

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