I was browsing /r/startrek and came across a topic that peeked my interest. Someone had finally watched all of Deep Space 9 and enjoyed it. I've always held the notion that DS9 was one of Star Trek's best series. It dealt with the conflict between the utopian Federation and the rest of the universe. It developed characters and races further and better than any Trek prior or since. The dark overtones of the series clashed perfectly with the utopian ideals of the Federation.
In the thread, many people talked about how boring and unnecessary the Prophet episodes were to DS9, and how they seemed jammed in there with no real reason to exist. I made this reply to one person in particular.
The original post I replied to here.
The jist of his post was, "In the end, doesn't it seem like everything was predetermined by the Prophets to happen and that all the decisions by the characters meant nothing?". I disagreed.
Ever watch FlashForward? There was a scene in season 2 I think that talks about [Linchpin Theory](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_analysis#Linchpin_analysis). Thats what I believe the Prophets did, set the ball in motion with limited information (first contact with Sisko) in order to try to make sure the event happened to expand their knowledge.
This is not collaborated with anything but this is my theory:
The Prophets never interacted with the outside prior to meeting the Sisko. They had no concept of linear time, other races or anything else but themselves. They existed only within their spacial anomaly. We know this because in the first encounter the Sisko described linear time, and the Prophets closed the wormhole because 'it damages' them. We know from later episodes people travelled through it, so why not close it then? Their only desire was to learn more about this, and thus Sisko was let go with the promise of returning.
The Prophets then decided to make sure it happened. They desperately wanted to learn about the outside universe, so using their non-linear existence set the linchpins in motion to make sure both Sisko's existence happened and that he returned due to their own lack of understanding of Linear time.
This is where I believe the Pah Wraiths come into play. They have a deep, deep hatred for all things we, the audience sees. They hate linear existence and those in it, and hate the Prophets because they want to explore this universe. In the first meeting with the Prophets, there are many more entities. Many of them are aggressive to Sisko, saying he needs to be destroyed. In subsequent visits, these angry, aggressive thoughts are no longer there. Those were the Pah Wraiths. Perhaps a 'war' of sorts happened and they were cast out, confined to Bajor's fire caves away from the Sisko's time line, or so they thought.
We know from what they've said, and how they act the Prophets are akin to the Q. Omnipresent, incredibly knowledgeable and extremely powerful beings. However since they had no concept of Linear time, they made mistakes, in the episode "The Reckoning" shows it.
There is a battle, between the Prophets and the Pah-wraiths coming. We don't when, where or how but its coming. The Bajorian equivalent of armageddon. The Pah-wraiths take their revenge on the Prophets for casting them out and not listening to them about the Sisko being dangerous.
It all comes down to that first contact. Sisko interferes with a people's way of life, and thus changes the course of history, and himself along with it. Sisko violated the Prime directive inadvertently by entering the wormhole. He interfered with the Prophets development (a secluded, and non-warp capable species) and in return, nearly brought down the entire Alpha quadrant because of it.
"*The Prime Directive is not just a set of rules. It is a philosophy, and a very correct one. History has proven again and again that whenever mankind interferes with a less developed civilization, no matter how well intentioned that interference may be, the results are invariably disastrous.*"
—Jean-Luc Picard, Symbiosis
Before DS9, the prime directive only concerned itself with less developed societies, but never before or since has it touched on what happens when mankind interferes with a more advanced one. DS9's entire story arc revolves around this.
So while boring to watch, the whole Prophet-guidance thing in DS9 was essential to DS9 and Star Trek in general. Nothing was planned by the Prophets, they just set it in motion to make sure they could learn more about the outside universe and linear time, while not understanding it.
TL;DR: The Prophets fucked with time because they had no concept of it.
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