Sisko's firm refusal to allow the Klingon death ritual aboard a Federation space station resembles a legend commonly told about British India. The story goes that a group of locals petitioned a British official to respect their custom of throwing a widow onto her husband's burning funeral pyre, to which the British official replied that they would have in turn to respect the British custom of holding any man who commits such action to be guilty of capital murder and bound for the gallows.
Sisko's anger over Worf's attempt to kill Kurn mirrors Picard's reaction when Worf killed Duras in the Next Generation epsiode "Reunion". Both captains remind Worf that they cannot accommodate the cultural needs of the many different races that serve under their command.
Kurn's request for Worf to kill him, in a sense, turns the tables on Worf. In the Next Generation episode "Ethics", it was Worf who asked Commander Riker to take his life in accordance with Klingon tradition, after he suffered a crippling injury. Riker refused after discovering that a close family member should normally be the one to perform the ritual. This is consistent with Kurn choosing his brother to do it in this episode.
Tony Todd also portrayed the adult Jake Sisko earlier in the fourth season in "The Visitor".
This episode contains the first hint of a possible attraction between Worf and Jadzia Dax.