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star trek - Why addict the Jem'Hadar to Ketracel White?



One of the few things that bothers me about the Dominion arc in Deep Space Nine is the Jem'Hadar. I enjoy the concept but I don't understand why they would be genetically addicted to Ketracel White (or anything else for that matter).


There are some obvious problems




  • When they run out, the Jem'Hadar go ballistic and kill everything in sight uncontrollably.




  • With the Gamma Quadrant and the supply of White cut off, Starfleet's first move was to go after 'White' production in the Alpha Quadrant. The Dominion may as well have put signs up saying "this is our weak spot."





  • In Hippocratic Oath, Bashir and O'Brien meet a Jem'Hadar who was decanted without the addiction. As soon as a Jem'Hadar realizes that he doesn't need the White, he realizes he doesn't have to do what his Vorta tells him and it goes downhill from there.




Since The Dominion has already proven that it is capable of breeding loyal and obedient servants (The Vorta) then why would they use an addiction that would open them up to such obvious liabilities instead of simply breeding the qualities they wanted into their soldiers?



Answer



The Ketracel White is used to keep the Jem Hadar loyal to the founders as well as functioning as their sole source of food and drink. In the event that they become disloyal to the Founders (something that's apparently a rather more common occurrence than the Founders would like the Federation to believe) they can simply withdraw access to the substance and they'll all die.



BASHIR: I know that the Jem'Hadar have been genetically engineered by the Dominion to be addicted to what you call ketracel-white. And that by controlling the supply of the drug, the Founders maintain control over you.


GORAN'AGAR: The Vorta. They are the ones who control the drug. They are the ones we came here to escape.


BASHIR: Escape? You're trying to leave the Dominion?



DS9 : Hippocratic Oath



and



SISKO: Couldn't the Founders just order them to surrender? From what I know, the Jem'Hadar have been genetically conditioned to obey them.


WEYOUN: The Founders' ability to control the Jem'Hadar has been somewhat overstated. Otherwise we never would have had to addict them to the white.


SISKO: Sounds like the Dominion isn't quite as stable as you'd like us to believe.


DS9: To the Death



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