This is the first episode in which the term "Changeling" is used to describe Odo.
The exterior visuals of the Chamra Vortex are re-used shots of the Mutara Nebula from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, recolored slightly and flipped upside-down.
According to Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Odo's line "I'm a security chief, not a combat pilot" is a tribute to Leonard McCoy's running line in Star Trek: The Original Series, "I'm a doctor, not a...."
Randy Oglesby portrays both of the Miradorn twins. He played several other characters in various Star Trek series, including Silaran Prin in the DS9 Season 5 episode "The Darkness and the Light" and the recurring role of Degra in the third season of Star Trek: Enterprise.
The Miradorn makeup was one of makeup supervisor Michael Westmore's favorite designs from the first season of Deep Space Nine.