At the end of The Way of the Warrior, Bashir offers to make Odo’s face look like any species he wants. He defines. It seems like a wasted opportunity for Odo not to have explored his identity within the confines of being a solid. I would have loved for him to realize he could change his appearance and explore being different people without having to be a changing, instead of keeping the same face and uniform. Similarly, it would have been great for his experience of being a solid to have improved his ability to shape shift in some way. They always talk about how he has these glimmers of what it’s like to really be a rock or a hawk when he holds a shape for a long time. Was him being a solid for a long period ever addressed in that way?
Would love to hear your thoughts on this idea.