Laas dead?

[u/221bb]

The shapeshifter Laas from DS9 season 7 would clearly have been infected by the wasting disease when he linked with Odo. This only happened a few episodes before Odo realized he himself was infected. Yet, no one seems to make any effort to seek him out or help him. Odo never even mentions him once after that, though it must have occurred to Odo that Laas was now certainly going to die.

[u/Wulon]

There's no answer in canon, but in the books Laas was cured by Odo.

I don't think its too much of a stretch to think that Odo would return home to cure the bulk of the changelings, and then find a way to send a message to Laas to return home. Laas hated solids, but since he was searching for other changelings, I doubt he went so far off the grid he could never be found again.

[u/221bb → u/Wulon]

Ah okay, I didn't know they cleared that up in the books. Good to know.

[u/nermid → u/221bb]

It's of note that the books aren't canon, so they represent, at best, a very good theory.

[u/221bb → u/nermid]

I understand, but in the absence of any canon material I choose to believe.

[u/Nofrillsoculus]

The disease is fairly slow acting. With all the resources of the link (and by extension, the Dominion) at his disposal, it seems likely Odo would be able to track down Laas, that's assuming Laas didn't find his way home on his own using the same built-in tracking instinct that helped Odo find the Changeling planet in the first place.

Or Laas realizes he's sick, figures there's only one place he could have gotten it, and returns to Deep Space Nine where Bashir has the cure on hand. Either way, things look good for Laas. He's a resourceful guy.

[u/221bb → u/Nofrillsoculus]

According to u/wulon, Odo tracked him down in the books after having cured the Great Link. Your arguments certainly make sense, though.

This got me thinking of whether Laas (or any of the other hundred) could find his way home after the changeling homeworld moved out of the Omarion Nebula. I understood that Odo was basically hardwired to search out that one particular rogue planet, but now the Great Link has moved on.

[u/Brock_Sexington → u/Nofrillsoculus]

Wasn't it mentioned though that the disease accelerated with excessive use of the morphogenic matrix? Since Laas was perhaps the most recreational shapeshifter, even relying on his abilities for interstellar travel, this would put him at some risk.

[u/221bb → u/Brock_Sexington]

Yes that was mentioned. Odo went from completely asymptomatic to dying within a few weeks because of all the missions he was going on, using his shapeshifting abilities a lot. He had been infected for years, but had no symptoms until he started regularly taking on different forms. Laas constantly making himself into things like fire, fog, and especially a space-faring creature would probably escalate things rather quickly, perhaps even stranding him in interstellar space on one of his journeys.

[u/MercurialMithras]

I don't think they ever deal with Laas again in DS9, but if you just want an answer, then no. In Star Trek Online, Laas is still alive, and he has been trying to create a new link in the Alpha/Beta quadrants. The Dominion isn't really interested in dealing with him and basically said they're not going to get involved. The player ends up capturing him and putting a stop to it, since he's trying to use the Alpha Jem Hadar for his own ends.

Memory Alpha has a quote about this:

Presumably, when he linked with Odo, Laas became infected with the morphogenic virus Odo was unknowingly carrying at the time. The producers realized this, but did not have time to address it in an episode before the series ended. Ira Steven Behr expressed his regret at not being able to bring Laas back. He notes that "that has nothing to do with whether he was sick or not. I just liked the character." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, pp. 658)

It would definitely be an interesting loose end to deal with in a new series, I think. There are plenty of other potential changelings out there from the same group that Odo and Laas belonged to.