Plot summary
The Breen officer Thot Gor, having captured Worf and Dax some days earlier, delivers them into Dominion custody. The new alliance between the Dominion and Breen allows the Dominion to further marginalize the Cardassians: Cardassian leader Damar objects to terms of the treaty establishing the Breen alliance, and to Thot Gor being given access to Cardassian classified information, but the Vorta official Weyoun disregards his concerns. When the planet Septimus III is attacked by the Federation's Klingon allies, the Dominion abandons the planet's 500,000 strong Cardassian garrison to be massacred purely to slow down the Federation's advance.
Weyoun and Damar tell Worf and Dax that they will be executed if they refuse to cooperate with the Dominion; Worf responds by killing Weyoun with his bare hands. Amused, Damar reminds him that he will merely be replaced by another Weyoun clone. Expecting to be executed, Worf and Dax apologize to each other for letting their memories of Jadzia define their relationship, and agree to be "friends, and more". As they are taken to be executed, Damar finally acts on his growing disgust with the Dominion's control of Cardassia; he frees Worf and Dax and informs them he will help the Federation.
Meanwhile, Gul Dukat, the former leader of Cardassia, now a worshipper of the Pah-wraiths, has disguised himself as a Bajoran and become close to Kai Winn. When Winn experiences a vision from the Pah-wraiths, telling her to reject the Prophets, she is horrified; she meditates and prays but is unable to feel a connection with the Prophets. Dukat tells her that he himself was sent to her by the Pah-wraiths; he plays to her longing for power, reminding her that the Prophets have never given her anything and have favored Sisko over her.
Distraught, she calls on Colonel Kira, DS9's pious Bajoran first officer, for advice; Kira suggests that to regain the Prophets' favor, she must abandon the ambition and jealousy that led her astray, and resign as Kai. Unwilling to give up power, she rejects the advice, returns to Dukat, and tells him she will accept the path of the Pah-wraiths.
Credits
Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Strange Bedfellows (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). Paragraphs and formatting adjusted; illustrations, reference markers, block quotations and non-story material omitted.