"Heart of Stone" (season three, episode fourteen; 6 February 1995): Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: I noted with bemusement that "Life Support," in which Major Kira's boyfriend Vedek Bariel dies, immediately proceded "Heart of Stone," in which the Female Changeling tricks Odo into admitting he turned his back on the Founders & remained with the "Solids" because of his unrequited love for Kira. Odo is conflicted from the moment he finds out about the Changelings, wanting to be with his people but also wanting to be with Kira, but part of his refusal to join the Great Link is pure stubbornness, scorn for the Changeling's heavyhanded means.
The best part of "Heart of Stone" is the B-plot about Nog announcing his desire to join Starfleet. This is a bolt out of the clear blue sky. In the previous episode, the same "Life Support," Nog & Jake Sisko quarrelled over the cultural differences between humans & Ferengi, Ferengi attitudes toward females striking humans as misogyny. In "Heart of Stone" alone, Nog undergoes more character growth than Ensign Harry Kim did in seven whole seasons of Voyager*. The scene in Commander Sisko's office, during which Nog explains why he wants to join Starfleet, lamenting the fate of "Ferengi without profit," is one of the best scenes in the whole series, one of the best scenes in the whole of Star Trek. All the feels!
*Harry Kim is an ensign in "Caretaker," the VOY pilot, & is still an ensign in "Endgame," the series finale. Nog is a civilian in "Emissary," the D.S.9 pilot, a looter used as a pawn by Sisko to strongarm Quark into staying & rebuilding; by the series sinale, "What You Leave Behind," Nog has attended Starfleet Academy & been given a field promotion to lieutenant (junior grade). Lt.(j.g.) Nog outranks Ens. Harry Kim.
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