Putting the introduction to section 31 right before In The Pale Moonlight
https://youtu.be/ebZO7d1m_tc?si=wyl3J-d0qg_qJa54
Having an ends don’t justify the means conversation right before Sisko finds out about them and tells Behr to join next time so they can infiltrate while All(Odo aside) showing some degree of disgust that the Federation would behave that way…
And then having in the pale moonlight, come on 10 seconds later?
I almost feel like the show runners were just fucking with us. I’m sure they recognized the irony, but I feel like for the sake of pacing they could’ve spread them out a bit. I’m sure they couldn’t foresee streaming when it’s literally seconds apart, but even the syndication days you were seeing the shows only a matter of days apart.
The captain wanting to infiltrate section 31 right before he launched a plan that probably had Sloan sitting back thinking “Even I wouldn’t have the balls to try that….” it’s just funny to think about. Even trying to wipe out the great link is something that wouldn’t result in the same amount of judgment within your own culture.
Hell, what did they give Garak for trying to destroy the founders home world? Six months in a holding cell or something?
They don’t seem to take the dimmest view of attempted genocide. But that level of duplicity would’ve stained the Federation.