Why Weyoun Might Actually Be Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Best Villain

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▶Chapters
0:00 - Intro/The Many Villains of Star Trek
01:58 - What Sets Weyoun Apart
04:43 - From One-Shot to Recurring Character
09:37 - The Ultimate Middle Manager
13:18 - Jeffrey Combs's Insight/The Exceptional Weyoun
22:51 - Comparing and Contrasting Weyouns
24:27 - Weyoun's Fate/A Self-Indulgent Tangent About the Mandela Effect
27:03 - Conclusion
28:56 - Shoutouts, Plugs, and Announcements

[admanios]

One of the underrated moments of Weyoun's character is when he interacts with Jake Sisko in "A Time to Stand". Weyoun is courteous, but firm, almost pitying Jake for his naïveté about "Freedom of the Press". He isn't spiteful or cold. He pretty much gaslights Jake into apologizing to him. It's a masterful bit of Vorta diplomacy that I think only Jeffrey Combs could pull off.

[sarahscott]

Did anyone else notice a parallel between Weyoun-7 rationalising that it's OK to send a ship to blow up Odo because "he doesn't think of himself as a Founder" etc. and Winn Adami, seeking power, rationalising "the Prophets didn't help Bajor during the Occupation, so it's OK for me to betray them?"
Or am I reading too much into that?

[samrizzardi]

She may not be the best villain, but the female changeling is definitely one of the scariest just because of how utterly callous she is.

[demonicusa.k.a.theblindguy]

Damar's belly laugh after Worf kills Weyoun 7 is a gem That never fails to give me as big a laugh.

[FTZPLTC]

I'm a huge fan of Weyoun. I just love how gosh-darned disappointed he is that you don't want to be subjugated by his gods' empire.

[Clone]

Weyoun literally asks for Odos blessing while dying in his arms.

Even after basically being cast off by the Dominion, he is still loyal to the founders.

[tedpair]

One scene I kind of liked was that one time Weyoun thought Jake and Nog were up to some kind of plot against him. He brings them in to question them, Jake tells the truth but Weyoun doesn't believe it. So then Jake tells him an over the top lie of the sort that wouldn't be too far out of place in an actual episode.

"I believe you, " Weyoun said. "That is, your first story." And he returns the card, sends the boys off.

It shows he's a villain, but a smart one.

[nolagale]

Weyoun: "All this talk of gods strikes me as superstitious nonsense."

Damar: "You believe the Founders are gods, don't you?"

Weyoun: "That's different."

Damar: "Ha! In what way?"

Weyoun: "The Founders *are* gods."

Damar:

[barricadecustoms]

When Weyoun drinks the poisoned Kanar in the episode Ties of blood and water and says “oh that really is quite toxic isn’t it”, the look on Gul Dukat’s face just cracked me up and is priceless. Weyoun then says “Vorta are immune to most poison’s”.

[stevenjlovelace]

One of the more interesting scenes of DS9 is when we find out that Weyoun (and other Vorta) can't appreciate art. I think that's a good metaphor about how slavish devotion to authority destroys your individuality and creativity.

[ghostpenguins]

Jeffrey Combs really makes the difference here. Weyoun wouldn't have worked nearly as well without his amazing work. He's always a pleasure to watch.

[InfernalRamblings]

One of the moments that really captures Weyoun's two-faced villainy is when he confronts Sisko about deploying a minefield at the entrance to the wormhole. He starts with threats and indignance, trying to intimidate Sisko. But when he realizes that Sisko isn't going to back down, he immediately changes tack, spinning a yarn about how the Dominion is "peaceful" and just trying to help Cardassia rebuild. Sisko plays along in the moment and of course, doesn't buy anything Weyoun says, but it's a great little moment that shows exactly how Weyoun operates.

[edinscot]

He was the quietest voice, yet he commanded the biggest stick. I mean the fact that the Female Founder trusted him implicitly meant he had the whole Dominion military at his beck-and-call.

[thefollowingisatest]

Another reason Weyoun is such a stand out villain is we see little reflections of the Dominion and the tyranny of the founders through him, even the tyranny over their own subjects. The scene where he regards Ze'al's art and tries to, through sheer force of will, gain an understanding of aesthetics is actually a little tragic. It is a window into how unless something servers the founders, they considered it not only unimportant but a distraction, and will use a combination of indoctrination and genetic tampering to prevent their followers from accessing it. The Jem'hadar and Vorta are terrible tools of the fascist Changelings, but they are tools nonetheless, with little agency in what they ever could have done. They are victims of the founders as well, who have been forged into oppressors. Like when Sisko asked Remata'klan "Do you really want to give up your life for the 'order of things'?"

"It is not my life to give up, Captain – and it never was."

[sergestorms]

"Have they agreed to cooperate"
"No…Maybe you should talk to Worf again" shows how Damar really can't stand Weyoun

[hank_says_things]

Weyoun is the GOAT. The smarm. The absolute devotion to the Goo Nazis. The barely-concealed contempt for everyone *but* Goo Nazis. Every Weyoun episode - every line - is to be treasured.

[TheAnalyticalEngine]

As the length of any Star Trek series increases, the likelihood of Jeffrey Combs appearing approaches one

I'm okay with this

[kvoltti]

Weyoun is a great villain because he knows exactly what his power is and because he doesn’t want more he can wield it like a knife. He never makes threats he can’t follow up. There’s no bluster of bluffing. And there never feels like there is any malice in his actions.

[albizu]

Jeffrey Combs is a real treasure. I hope he will be in future Star Trek projects. Great video!

[MB-sqyn]

If it helps any I think your version of the Female Changelings line is much better, as while "That was the last clone of Weyoun" gives the original some status of importance, "That was my last Weyoun" would have really nailed in how the thrall races of the Founders were seen as mere tools rather than actual people that ever really mattered.