"The Magnificent Ferengi" is the tenth episode of the sixth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 134th episode overall. The title is a spoof of the film The Magnificent Seven.
Plot
Quark's celebration of obtaining Syrup of Squill is cut short when he learns that his mother, Ishka, has been captured by the Dominion. Quark informs Rom and also tells him of their mother's secret love affair with Grand Nagus Zek, who is offering a reward (50 bars of latinum) to Quark. He decides to lead a commando team composed of Ferengi and claim the reward is 20 bars so he can keep a larger share. They first recruit Nog, making him "Strategic Operations Officer" for the mission. Next, they hire Leck, a Ferengi "eliminator" who does not care for latinum but loves a challenge. Quark bails out his cousin Gaila, who was arrested for vagrancy and signs him up as a chance for redemption. At a briefing, the team learns they do not have a ship and are interrupted when Brunt arrives, asking to join. Having lost his job as a Liquidator, he hopes helping rescue Ishka will make Zek give him his job back. When the team refuses, Brunt mentions he will simply return to his ship and leave. The team grudgingly accepts him.
Running simulations on the holosuite go poorly. The team is unable to kill any Jem'Hadar soldiers and on the eighth attempt, Leck shoots Ishka (seeing that they were not going to rescue her). When Quark reminisces about the negotiations he went through to obtain Syrup of Squill, Rom encourages his brother by saying that Ferengi may not be good commandos, but they are excellent negotiators. They just need to find someone the Dominion wants and the Dominion will give them the person the Ferengi want; that way, everyone goes home alive. As thanks for helping Major Kira retake the station, Quark is given the captured Vorta Keevan and the group arranges a meeting with the Dominion at Empok Nor (as its layout is identical to DS9). The team makes base camp in the station's infirmary, where Keevan reveals he will probably be executed once he is returned. He attempts to escape in Brunt's ship, but fortunately Rom disabled the ship after they arrived (Quark chased him because sometimes Rom gets it wrong). A Dominion ship arrives and the Ferengi find themselves surrounded by Jem'Hadar. The Dominion commander Yelgrun (Iggy Pop) presents Ishka to Quark, Rom, and Nog, but, seeing the obvious strategic advantage that the Dominion troops have, they force Yelgrun to order his troops (save for his two bodyguards) to leave the station and immediate region of space. While celebrating their soon-to-be successful exchange, Rom accidentally lets slip the fact that the reward is actually 50 bars, not 20. In a rage, Gaila tries to shoot Quark but ends up killing Keevan, whose last words are "I hate Ferengi."
As Yelgrun grows impatient, Nog determines that Keevan is dead. The team agrees to not give up . . . for an equal share of 50 bars. Placing a neural stimulator on Keevan's head causes him to swing his arm and Quark gets an idea. He changes the exchange point to the airlock where the ship is while Nog modifies the stimulators. At the exchange, they are able to get Keevan's dead body to walk and once Ishka is safely with Quark, the team ambushes Yelgrun's Jem'Hadar guards. Brunt asks what they will do with him, and Quark says that Yelgrun will be their gift to Starfleet. ("They gave us a Vorta, we'll give them one.") The Ferengi team leaves Empok Nor while Keevan's body continues walking into a support beam.
Arc significance
- Brunt is no longer a liquidator due to his actions in "Ferengi Love Songs". He helps rescue Ishka from the Dominion to curry favour with the Nagus.
- Under his breath, Yelgrun is heard complaining about negotiations with the Breen. This is a glimpse of the future alliance between the Dominion and the Breen that has a significant impact later on in the Dominion War.
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