5 of 5
edited tags
Praxis
  • 111k
  • 50
  • 512
  • 690

Why addict the Jem'Hadar to Ketracel White?

One of the few things that bothers me about the Dominion arc in Deep Space Nine is the Jem'Hadar. I enjoy the concept but I don't understand why they would be genetically addicted to Ketracel White (or anything else for that matter).

There are some obvious problems

  • When they run out, the Jem'Hadar go ballistic and kill everything in sight uncontrollably.

  • With the Gamma Quadrant and the supply of White cut off, Starfleet's first move was to go after 'White' production in the Alpha Quadrant. The Dominion may as well have put signs up saying "this is our weak spot."

  • In Hippocratic Oath, Bashir and O'Brien meet a Jem'Hadar who was decanted without the addiction. As soon as a Jem'Hadar realizes that he doesn't need the White, he realizes he doesn't have to do what his Vorta tells him and it goes downhill from there.

Since The Dominion has already proven that it is capable of breeding loyal and obedient servants (The Vorta) then why would they use an addiction that would open them up to such obvious liabilities instead of simply breeding the qualities they wanted into their soldiers?

geewhiz
  • 5.2k
  • 1
  • 23
  • 42