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A Mirror for Humanity: Why the Cardassians are Trek’s Best Alien Race

From their first introduction on The Next Generation to later their central role on Deep Space Nine, the Cardassians were never just “plain and simple”.

In the Season 4 episode of Enterprise titled “The Forge”, there is a wonderfully insightful conversation between the Vulcan Ambassador to Earth, Soval and Admiral Maxwell Forrest of Earth’s Starfleet.

Soval: “We don’t know what to do about Humans. Of all the species we’ve made contact with, yours is the only one we can’t define. You have the arrogance of Andorians, the stubborn pride of Tellarites. One moment you’re as driven by your emotions as Klingons, and the next you confound us by suddenly embracing logic!” Forrest: “I’m sure those qualities are found in every species.” Soval: “Not in such confusing abundance.”

As much as those qualities define humanity, they also define the Cardassians as well, who are arguably the most compelling alien race in Star Trek because they serve such a striking parallel to much of human history, both past and present. And in doing so, they act as a cautionary tale about the dangers of our own species’ internal demons.

When you consider the other main alien races within the Trek universe, they don’t compare to the type of consistent characterization and development that the Cardassians received. The Andorians and the Tellarites, first seen in The Original Series episode “Journey to Babel”, are not seen again until Enterprise (if we’re not counting The Animated Series ), and even then, we as the audience don’t know that much about them outside of a handful of admittedly wonderful episodes. The Vulcans, surprisingly enough, also fall into this paradigm. Although a Vulcan is the most iconic alien being in all of Trek (in the form of Spock), outside of select scenes from the movies and a handful of episodes from The Original Series and Voyager , the audience doesn’t learn that much about Vulcan culture or society until Enterprise . And although we do learn a lot about Vulcans from that series, particularly how they used to be very much like humans in the past, the fact that they’re in a more evolved and advanced state from humanity takes away from their ability to act as a parallel to our lives now. The Romulans, like their Vulcan cousins, are often referenced in Trek canon, but from what we see of them in terms of characterization and development is often more one-dimensional in nature. The Klingons, probably the most well-known of the Trek races, certainly don’t suffer from a lack of screen time, on television or in the movies. But with a few exceptions, they are also one-note and archetypical in characterization, especially in The Next Generation era. The Bajorans, on the other hand, do not fall into this paradigm.  First introduced in TNG and later in Deep Space Nine , they are admittedly well-drawn both as a culture and as a society, particularly regarding their faith and spirituality. But speaking for myself, the Cardassians are more compelling due to their unique and tragic narrative denouement, something that the Bajorans lack. Cardassia ultimately endures a fate that is akin to the greatest of Greek tragedies and in doing so, truly acts as a cautionary tale for all of humanity.

A Cardassian delegation aboard the Enterprise-D

One of the first things that jump out to long-time fans of the franchise is the fact that the Cardassians didn’t have an origin based upon The Original Series . They were the relative newcomers to the galactic neighborhood, having been introduced in the third season TNG episode “The Wounded”. From their first portrayal here to their eventual role as the primary antagonists in Deep Space Nine , the Cardassians were conceived with the idea that they were going to be more three-dimensional than previous alien races.  The episode’s director, Chip Chalmers  noted  “We introduced a new enemy that’s finally able to speak on the level of Picard. They’re not grunting, they’re not giggling, they’re not mutes or all-knowing entities. Here are the Cardassians who also graduated first in their class and they’re able to carry on highly intelligent conversations with Picard, but they’re sinister as hell. It was fun to introduce a whole new alien race.” In this episode, we see the critical seeds of the more well-known aspects of the Cardassian mindset being planted: their militarism, their inherent suspicion of outsiders, and their penchant for duplicitousness and strategic maneuvering. Indeed, for Cardassia, the only instrument that can ensure order and security is a strong Nation State bound by common purpose, force of arms, and an unwavering sense of right and wrong that can ward off its enemies, both internal and external. In order to ensure the State’s survival, two institutions were key in Cardassian society: the military in the form of the Central Command and the intelligence and internal security apparatus in the form of the Obsidian Order.

  Gul Dukat of the Central Command and Garak, formerly of the Obsidian Order

However, it is important to remember that although a strong militaristic ethos has always infused Cardassian culture, the entire race is not uniformly depicted as such. A number of portrayals do indeed add much needed texture and nuance in this regard.  For example, in the season three DS9 episode titled “Destiny”, there is a marvelous portrayal of Cardassians that have other career paths than ones that aspire to be a glinn, gul, or even legate in the Central Command. As civilian scientists, Ulani Bejor and Gilora Rejal demonstrated that not every Cardassian necessarily desired to join the military or intelligence ranks. Furthermore, as female members of their race, they were able to provide texture and nuance about larger Cardassian gender dynamics, most notably around the idea that since females were perceived to be smarter than their male counterparts, they would naturally gravitate towards the sciences, whereas the males would often be inclined towards “less” intellectually rigorous pursuits such as the military and politics. It’s a shame that the DS9 writers didn’t carry this fascinating idea forward because it serves as a reverse mirror of our own society and how women are still underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields today. It was even shown that consummate career military officers, such as Gul Dukat and Gul Madred, also had interests and passions for art, archaeology, philosophy, history, and other intellectual pursuits. There existed a Cardassian Institute for Art and an entire art movement on the homeworld called “The Valonnan School” that ostensibly emphasized impressionistic art. There were entire genres of diverse Cardassian literature that ranged from serialistic poetry to repetitive epics and enigma tales. And perhaps most telling, there even existed a Cardassian underground dissident movement, comprised of academics, scholars, young people, and other idealists, who opposed the stranglehold that the Central Command and the Obsidian Order had on Cardassian society and sought to restore the power of the civilian-led Detapa Council.

Two female Cardassian scientists, Ulani Bejor and Gilora Rejal

Through nearly all of these unique manifestations of Cardassian culture and thought, there is a singular theme that runs through them: the idea that individual needs are subordinate to the collective good of Cardassia. At the heart of this idea to promote the collective good lies the family. Indeed, in the second season DS9 episode “Cardassians”, Kotan Pa’Dar noted that “We care for our parents and our children with equal devotion. In some households, four generations eat at the same table. Family is everything.” Thus, it should come as no surprise that someone such as Elim Garak would consider “The Never Ending Sacrifice”, a literary epic focusing on seven generations of citizens devoted in service to the State, to be the “finest Cardassian novel ever written”. This creed is in essence a variation on the theme that Spock espoused in “The Wrath of Khan” and would later become an informal ethos for the Federation, and by extension humanity: “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”. But as evidenced by humanity’s own history, such an ethos can be manipulated and perverted to justify unspeakable crimes and atrocities and Cardassian history is no exception.

A striking example of how this desire for the collective good can be used for terrible ends is witnessing how the Cardassian judicial system operates. In the second season DS9 two-part episode “The Maquis”, Dukat lays out to Commander Sisko its underpinnings:

SISKO: They’ll be tried for their crimes under the Federation Code of Justice. DUKAT: And if they’re found innocent? SISKO: I doubt that they will, but if they are, they’ll be set free. DUKAT: How barbaric. On Cardassia, the verdict is always known before the trial begins. And it’s always the same. SISKO: In that case, why bother with a trial at all? DUKAT: Because the people demand it. They enjoy watching justice triumph over evil every time. They find it comforting. SISKO: Isn’t there ever a chance you might try an innocent man by mistake? DUKAT: Cardassians don’t make mistakes.

A Cardassian trial is publicly broadcast 

Thus, in the view of Cardassian jurisprudence, the individual rights of the accused to face their accuser and the presumption of innocence is completely irrelevant. Their entire concept of justice is precisely inverted from our own in order to vindicate the State, its prosecution, and its methodology in reaching a guilty verdict because it is simply inconceivable that the State, in its effort to promote the collective good, could ever be wrong. In the penultimate episode of that season entitled “The Tribunal”, we see in vivid detail how Cardassian justice is implemented. The following exchange between Miles O’Brien and his state appointed counsel in that episode is particularly revealing.

O’BRIEN: I’ve been told that I’ve already been charged, indicted, convicted, and sentenced. What would I need with a lawyer? KOVAT: Well, Mr. O’Brien, if it sounds immodest of me I apologize, but the role of public conservator is key to the productive functioning of our courts. I’m here to help you concede the wisdom of the state.

Kovat “defending” O’Brien before the Cardassian court

The very title of the state appointed counsel, “public conservator” illustrates the extent to which Cardassian justice is conservative in nature and only seeks to uphold a presumed incorruptible status quo. Such proceedings are then broadcast to the citizenry and to young children in particular in order to strengthen their belief and faith in Cardassian institutions and to provide a cautionary example that criminals in Cardassia are always guilty and should only seek the mercy of the court. This dual imperative of breaking the will of the presumed guilty and showing a younger generation the wisdom of such a process is demonstrated masterfully in TNG’s sixth season two-part episode “Chain of Command” when Madred not only invites his young daughter to the room where he is torturing Captain Picard, but also when it is shown that breaking Picard’s will into recognizing “five lights” is what ultimately mattered to him, instead of any Federation military secrets. Such a portrayal is a vivid and poignant reminder of the show trials, witch hunts, and inquisitions that have marred our own history when governments and regimes have used such dubious tactics in the pursuit of their own definition of “justice”.

Gul Madred bonding with his daughter, with a tortured Picard nearby

The greatest manifestation of how the pursuit of the collective good can be perverted into something terrible is how the Cardassians acted in their dealings with the Bajorans and the Maquis. First introduced in the TNG Season 6 episode titled “Ensign Ro”, the Bajorans were a race that had been subjugated by the Cardassians forty years prior in a grand colonization effort, beginning in 2328 and ending in 2369. During this decades-long period known as “The Occupation”, Cardassians engineered a systematic and coordinated campaign of strip-mining, forced labor, and genocide to control, dominate, and exploit the people and physical resources of Bajor. Those that could escape the devastation being wrought on the surface of Bajor would relocate as refugees throughout the galaxy. And many others would also take part in the Resistance, an organized effort by the Bajorans using whatever tactics (guerrilla, terrorist, or otherwise) to force the Cardassians to withdraw from their homeworld. The Bajorans would eventually succeed in this goal, as seen in “Emissary”, the pilot episode of Deep Space Nine . However, the moral compromises the Bajorans had to make in order to achieve this, when taken into context with the harsh conditions imposed by Cardassia, is a striking and sobering commentary on our own current socio-political issues of displacement, resistance, terrorism, and occupation. And this was achieved because it was always intended to serve such a purpose. Producers Michael Piller and Rick Berman at the time noted that “The Bajorans are the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization), but they’re also the Kurds, the Jews, and the American Indians. They are any racially bound group of people who have been deprived of their home by a powerful force”, who in this case was the Cardassian Empire.

  A Cardassian guard closes a gate on Bajoran slave workers

They added, “When you talk about a civilization like the Bajorans who were great architects and builders with enormous artistic skills centuries before humans were even standing erect, you might be thinking a lot more about Indians than Palestinians.” The parallel to the historic plight of Native Americans is especially poignant because it deals directly with another fractious relationship the Cardassians had, this time with the Maquis: Federation colonists who were displaced by the new borders established by the Federation’s peace treaty with Cardassia and refused to leave their homes. They eventually adopted the name “Maquis”, a term dating back to the French underground resistance to the Nazis during the Second World War. The original concept behind the Maquis was conceived of in TNG’s Season 7 episode entitled “Journey’s End”, which featured descendants of Native Americans resettling on a Federation colony near the Cardassian border only to face the threat of forced relocation. The Maquis would eventually come to encompass many other Federation settlers caught behind these new borders, as well as disaffected and disillusioned Starfleet officers who felt that the Federation had sold out its own citizens to appease a duplicitous and aggressive adversary. Consequently, the Maquis would actively engage in insurgent and terrorist actions against both the Federation and the Cardassians in defense of their “independent nation”.

The Maquis and the Cardassians, locked in battle

Cardassian actions to stamp out both the Bajoran and Maquis resistance were cruel, brutal and unrelenting. The Empire’s desire to secure its own collective good at the expense of others would lead to the use of harsh and brutal tactics that often precipitated the use of such tactics in return and perpetuated a bitter cycle of violence. The irony is that these tactics were ultimately counter-productive for Cardassia. Bajor won its independence regardless and the Maquis stubbornly refused to be suppressed. As we have witnessed, there is nothing more dangerous than a national ego that has been bruised. It has spawned two world wars in our own recent history, and countless other conflicts in the past. Cardassia, stinging from its own self-perceived weakness in dealing with the Bajorans and the Maquis and only exacerbated by its recent military losses to the Klingons, would eventually make the ultimate deal with the devil. Under the sway of a charismatic leader in the form of Gul Dukat, Cardassia joined the Dominion with grand notions of renewed patriotism and restored glory.  However, none of this would come to pass. Instead, Dukat’s actions would help plunge the entire Alpha Quadrant into a war that would ultimately leave Cardassia completely broken and its people devastated, with over 800 million of its own citizens dead at war’s end.

  Gul Dukat leading Cardassian and Jem’Hadar forces under the banner of the Dominion

Throughout the broad strokes of Cardassian society and culture, it’s evident we can see so many parallels to our own history. As we ourselves have witnessed, the appeal of patriotism, self-pride, the rule of law, the security of order, and the desire for the collective good are all powerful and beneficial motivators. But they can also be corrupted, manipulated, and exploited to justify unspeakable acts in the name of ensuring and preserving those very same things. But the most important aspect of a mirror is how it reflects everything, both the good and the bad. Thus, the most vital component of the Cardassian mirror for humanity is one that actually represents redemption. And in the grand story of Cardassia, there is no other person that better represents redemption than Damar.

A younger Damar as the model Cardassian soldier

Initially only introduced as a tertiary character and one that was little more than a background henchman for Dukat, the character of Damar eventually became the embodiment of the entire Cardassian people. As the ultimate archetype of a true patriot, he believed that everything done in the name of Cardassia was worth doing and he personally relished in the brutal excesses and military conquests of the State. But only near the end, when he realized what a terrible cost such an attitude inflicted, both on his people and to him personally, Damar became the catalyst for the Cardassians to openly rebel against the Dominion. In doing so, he helped his people break free from the centuries-long cycle of aggression that had finally brought their society to ruin. And much like the symbols of our own history who became martyrs in defense of a greater ideal, Damar’s death in defense of the idea that Cardassia could choose its own fate, one that was no longer driven solely by aggression, was not only his attempt at personal redemption, but also redemption for his entire civilization.

Damar leading the rallying cry of rebellion against the Dominion

  The ruins of Cardassia Prime following the war

When everything said is done, I can’t think of a greater example of a more powerful allegory in Star Trek than the ones told about the Cardassian people. It contains every element of humanity’s own ugly past and present, touching everything from torture, terrorism, slavery, genocide, colonialism, and xenophobia, all terrible acts that unfortunately still haunt us today. But it also balances out this portrayal by showing a race that is not solely defined by these actions. The Cardassians weren’t just fierce prideful warriors, they were passionate poets and writers, talented artists, brilliant scientists, and insightful philosophers as well. And they were also fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters.  In providing such a rich milieu of depth and complexity, the Cardassians are in my opinion the best and most compelling alien race in Star Trek. And in the process, they act as the perfect mirror for humanity, reminding us to always be vigilant against our own internal demons, lest they destroy all of us as well.

Addendum : For those that wish to continue the epic tale of the Cardassians, I highly recommend the excellent Star Trek books of Una McCormack, which can be found here . Known around Trek literary circles as “The Queen of Cardassia”, Ms. McCormack uses her background as a sociologist to further build the world of the Cardassians, particularly in chronicling their struggle and triumphs following the devastating Dominion War.

Acknowledgements : I also like to thank Mark Mitchell, Norman Lao, and my wonderful wife Nicole, for their invaluable help in proofreading and editing this article!

Will Nguyen lives in the Boston area. You can tweet him at @Will_Nguyen . He’s also a regular contributor to Warp 5, a weekly Enterprise show on Trek.fm , a dedicated podcast network that talks about every aspect of the Trek universe from television, the movies, literature, and everything in between.

Will Nguyen is an avowed Star Trek cosplayer and fan. You can follow Will on Twitter @boomerniner .

11 Comments

Felipe Franco

April 19, 2015 at 3:25 am

i Love this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CHFtjXc5qo

I think all the fans we like the Cardassians, they were complex and with a great history.

I like books in the Cardassian Union at the end was rebuilt into a prosperous democratic state which has good relations with its vecionos and eventually joins the kithomer accords

Jeff O'Connor

April 25, 2015 at 6:27 am

What a beautiful article. Thank you so much for summing up just why I fell in love with the Cardassians. When I was a kid I’m sure most of this stuff flew over my head, but now as an adult whenever I rewatch DS9 I pick up on another layer of depth. It’s great to see it all compiled in a single place!

Ms. McCormack’s novels are indeed terrific continuations, too.

Will Nguyen

April 29, 2015 at 4:19 pm

Thank you so much for the kind words! Thanks for reading.

Adam Hirsch

April 29, 2015 at 1:13 am

“…define humanity, they also define the Cardassians ….a striking parallel to much of human history,” fun fact kardas(cardas) is the word for sibling in turkic languages

Harry Hollins

April 13, 2016 at 1:28 pm

My favorite species. Well written, you understand them well.

Christopher Dalton

November 22, 2016 at 11:00 am

Never liked the Cardassians and I never will. They got what they deserved in the end. The downfall of their entire race and their society ruined.

A clear message of where the state of humanity is going if it does not straighten its act out and for the better.

November 25, 2016 at 11:29 pm

They also goes along with the deterioration of the temperament of Star Trek which Mr. Roddenberry himself created and enforced while he was alive. After his passing, the canon of Star Trek deteriorated away from his nearly-ideal utopia and a goal to strive for and turned into the cliché and proverbial lion’s den where peace and utopia and righteousness are mere plot pawns. Star Trek is dead.

Winnie the GRIZZ

May 31, 2017 at 11:00 pm

While the Federation was presented as a Utopian society, there were others that were still a dystopia allegory. The first episode I can think of is the white blacks vs. the black whites eventually killing each other TOS. That is also part of what made Star Trek good science fiction. Aren’t the Romulans also a xenophobic echo of the Roman empire, and the Ferengi unrestrained capitalism, etc.etc.?The Cardassian story arc was much longer than one episode, and the Enterprise/Voyager couldn’t waltz away from the problem (which was never resolved or even returned to except for Kahn in Star Trek 2). Watching through DS9 again, I see myself watching Bajor, the Federation, the Klingons, the Cardassians, and even the Romulans striving to achieve their nearly-ideal utopia. Maybe this is a better Star Trek than Captain Kirk taking a heavy battleship into the heart of the Dominion and using his libido on a Changeling woman in a bikini to solve the problem. End of episode; now onto romancing the Borg queen.

May 31, 2017 at 11:15 pm

Mrs. Grizz here (AKA Free the Birds) Recently, it occurred to me that all of the worst Star Trek enemies have something in common: they are all, to some degree, Statists. The Borg and the Founders were the ultimate Collectivists. The Klingons, Cardassians, and Romulans were all large empires ruled by a very small ruling class. Average citizens are not given much, if any, say in the governance of their respective empires. This goes against the American ideal of individualism and self-government. Gene Roddenberry’s vision of the future was very much like this, and even the Prime Directive allowed cultures not in the Federation to be self-governing, rather than imposing our culture, ideals, religion, economic and political system on them.

August 22, 2019 at 8:31 pm

So they made a more “three-dimensional” race of aliens by basically just making them NAZIS? Great writing guys.

Simon Foston

Excellent article. It makes me want a lot more Cardassian stories in Star Trek.

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• The Inventory

David Warner's Most Incredible Star Trek Turn Is a Tale of 2 Cardassians

Warner's masterful turn as gul madred in "chain of command" works so well thanks to one crucial contrast..

David Warner, who sadly passed away earlier this week , is beloved for his villainous turns. From Time After Time to Time Bandits , from Tron to Batman: The Animated Series ’ Ra’s Al Ghul, the actor’s legendary career is paved with them. B ut perhaps his finest hour on television comes from his third and final Star Trek role in The Next Generation .

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“Chain of Command” sits as a two- parter in the middle of The Next Generation ’s sixth season. It’s one of the show’s best , and beloved for a haunting turn by Patrick Stewart, playing a Picard who is captured and brutally tortured by the Cardassians—an interrogation lead by Warner’s sinister Gul Madred. He’s left as vulnerable as we perhaps ever see the great hero Jean-Luc Picard, who ends the story by admitting how close he came to giving up.

Picard is nearly broken by Warner’s Madred, who turns in a truly fascinating performance that catapults him into the top tier of TNG ’s best guest stars. Madred is actually not in “Chain of Command” that much—he doesn’t appear until the climactic scene of the first episode, and the second intersperses his torture of Picard with the action back aboard the Enterprise , where replacement Captain Jellico (Ronny Cox) is attempting to strong- arm his way through negotiations with another Cardassian, Gul Lemec (John Durbin). But from the second Warner enters the scene, Madred is immediately captivating.

He glides around the dimly little office/torture room that becomes the primary stage of the back half of “Chain of Command, ” barely entering the sharp pockets of light as he verbally and, sometimes technologically with an implanted device in Picard’s chest, needles the good c aptain until he is a writhing wreck. Madred’s presence is graceful and terrifying—Warner’s voice for the character almost barely a whisper, precise and controlled as he completely pulls Picard’s strings over and over. That’s really what makes Madred so compelling and creepy, beyond the fact he’s brutally torturing our hero: he’s a shade, meticulous and detailed but never brash and booming, dominance held by his complete and utter control, not just of Picard but of himself. There’s a single scene in which Madred breaks this facade—when Picard mocks his childhood upbringing as a starving orphan on Cardassia—but it’s only for a moment. Even then, as Picard celebrates discovering a gap in Madred’s armor, Warner’s subdued, imposing presence keeps him a threat until the episode’s very climax.

It’s a fantastic performance in isolation, but what makes Gul Madred truly shine as a character is that he’s not the only Cardassian villain of the piece. Although they barely share screen time save for a scene near the two-parter’s end, Gul Lemec is a vital foil to Madred that creates a greater whole, abstracted as what would be the hallmark of the Cardassian s’ portrayal when they truly entered Trek ’s spotlight in Deep Space Nine . Durbin’s Lemec is everything that Warner’s Madred is not—grand and pompous, sneering and theatrical. There’s almost an element of camp to Durbin’s turn, practically vogu ing about the Enterprise conference room as he spits demands and insults at Jellico, Troi, and Riker, hands dramatically splayed as they dance stroking from chair to chair. If Madred skulked in the shadows, Lemec leaps into the light, the embodiment of Cardassian haughtiness and arrogance.

They’re both fantastic performances in isolation, but in symbiosis they paint an incredible picture of w hat the Cardassians were capable of, as both beings and as characters for Star Trek to work with—the deadly, calculating sneaks, the pompous warriors. Even barely sharing the screen, Durbin and Warner’s dual roles feel like a performative dance, a duet of opposites, each contrast making the other performance shine just as strongly even as they juke away from each other. Durbin’s the proud, furious performance Lemec makes Warner’s choices as Madred feel all the more cold, calculated, and chilling, and in turn that subdued sinister performance makes Lemec’s rage and arrogance all the more potent.

I came back to “Chain of Command” last night in the wake of Warner’s passing expecting to remember his performance, and his alone—one of the all- time greats of Star Trek guest stars. But I was surprised in realising that it only hits hits its  biggest heights thanks to as just as laudable performance in Durbin: two incredible actors setting the stage for what Cardassians could be, ready for them to ascend into Trek ’s annals as one if its most fascinating societies just a few years later.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power .

• Cast & crew
• User reviews
• Episode aired Apr 24, 1993

The crew of the Enterprise must race against various rival powers to uncover an archaeological secret that explains the predominance of humanoid life forms in the galaxy. The crew of the Enterprise must race against various rival powers to uncover an archaeological secret that explains the predominance of humanoid life forms in the galaxy. The crew of the Enterprise must race against various rival powers to uncover an archaeological secret that explains the predominance of humanoid life forms in the galaxy.

• Jonathan Frakes
• Gene Roddenberry
• Joe Menosky
• Ronald D. Moore
• Patrick Stewart
• LeVar Burton
• 22 User reviews
• 8 Critic reviews

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard

• Commander William Thomas 'Will' Riker

• Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge

• Lieutenant Worf

• Doctor Beverly Crusher

• Counselor Deanna Troi

• Lieutenant Commander Data

• Humanoid Progenitor

• Capt. Nu'Daq
• (as John Cothran Jr.)

• Romulan Captain

• Professor Galen

• Enterprise Computer

• Romulan Officer
• (uncredited)
• Ten Forward Waiter

• Operations Division Officer
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia Norman Lloyd , who plays Professor Galen, was 78 years old at the time of production, making this performance the oldest age by any actor in the series. He has the greatest longevity of any performer on the series. In November 2020, he turned 106 years old. He is famous for being married to the same woman for 75 years, the longest continuous marriage in Hollywood history.
• Goofs When the Enterprise is supposed to be at warp, we can see on the viewscreen on the Bridge that it clearly isn't.

[last lines]

Romulan Captain : It would seem that we are not completely dissimilar after all - in our hopes, or in our fears.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Yes.

Romulan Captain : Well, then. Perhaps... one day.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard : One day.

• Connections Edited from Star Trek: The Next Generation: True Q (1992)
• Soundtracks Star Trek: The Next Generation Main Title Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage

User reviews 22

• NClement777
• May 27, 2008
• April 24, 1993 (United States)
• United States
• Official site
• Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (Studio)
• Paramount Television
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 45 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Why picard won his famous star trek: tng torture episode explained by showrunner.

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Picard's Cardassian Torture Made Star Trek: DS9's Setup Personal

Josh brolin’s sci-fi western show becomes streaming success after season 2’s 92% rt score, what happened to kelly ellard in real life after under the bridge.

• "Chain of Command" was a powerful TNG episode known for its depiction of torture and forced interrogation.
• Captain Picard's victory in the episode was simply surviving the brutal torture, reflecting the realities of human rights struggles.
• This episode, featuring exceptional performances by Patrick Stewart and David Warner, is considered one of the best in Star Trek history.

Michael Piller laid out why Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) was the winner of his famous torture episode from Star Trek: The Next Generation . "Chain of Command, Parts 1&2" was a TNG season 6 two-parter and is still considered one of the series' best episodes . After being relieved of his command on the USS Enterprise-D and assigned to a covert Federation intelligence-gathering mission, Captain Picard is captured by Cardassian forces and subsequently tortured for information by the brutal Gul Madred (David Warner). Although Madred subjects Picard to some unimaginably cruel interrogation methods, Picard ultimately succeeds in not giving up any information about Starfleet.

"Chain of Command" is often noted for the incredible performances of both Patrick Stewart as Picard and David Warner in one of his Star Trek roles as Madred , and its unflinching depiction of torture and forced interrogation . In The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams: The Complete, Uncensored, and Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, TNG showrunner Michael Piller discussed the episode and the creative team's decisions about how to portray the horrors of torture in a way that both honored real victims and made it clear that Picard was the episode's victor. Read Piller's full quote below:

" Ultimately, the victory for Picard is just surviving. We made the decision early on that we couldn’t say that Captain Picard was such a great man that he would not break under torture because that would be doing a great disservice to everybody in the human rights struggle who has broken. Nobody can resist torture. Anybody who wants to get you to speak, will get you to talk if they’re willing to do the hideous things necessary. There had to be a different kind of victory. I can’t imagine a better show than “Chain of Command, Part Two” and it had no tricks or whizbang stuff. And it was one of the least expensive shows of the season. David Warner was sensational and Patrick Stewart was even better. I don’t think there’s been a better show in the history of the series. "

Picard's torture in TNG would have been fresh in the minds of viewers as DS9's Commander Sisko prepared to face off against Star Trek's Cardassians.

"Chain Of Command" Wasn't The First Time Picard Won By Surviving

Although "Chain of Command" is perhaps the most obvious example of Captain Picard's ability to survive some of the worst experiences imaginable, it wasn't the first time he had done so in TNG . Picard is a survivor in general , and before season 6, had pulled through remarkably well after being assimilated by the Borg in "The Best of Both Worlds," another famous TNG two-parter . Although Picard's trauma from his time with the Borg was explored in subsequent episodes and movies, he demonstrated the same ability to keep going after that ordeal as he did during and after his torture in "Chain of Command."

Besides the Borg, Picard showed he could overcome a different kind of difficult situation during his experiences in TNG 's season 5 episode "The Inner Light," recently revealed to be Patrick Stewart's favorite TNG episode . Although didn't show Picard being physically harmed, the experience of living a 40-year lifetime in only 25 minutes thanks to an alien probe was emotionally and psychologically devastating . Although Star Trek: The Next Generation implied the toll the experience took on Picard in subsequent episodes, he bore up remarkably well under the weight of carrying the final memories of a forgotten civilization. These episodes demonstrated what kind of survivor Picard was even before "Chain of Command."

Star Trek: The Next Generation is available to stream on Paramount+.

Source: The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams: The Complete, Uncensored, and Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross

Update 67 Patch Notes

By rebekah 4 June 2024

Into the Mirror Universe, Part 1

The balance of power in the Mirror Universe has been shattered.

Driven into hiding by the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance for her failures, Kira Nerys has emerged from the shadows, turning the tides of conflict in the process. Armed with classified Alliance intel and an irresistible allure, the once reviled Intendant of Terok Nor has now claimed the mantle of Terran Empress – a figurehead who is feared and beloved in equal measure by her new Terran subjects.

However, a select few have proven to be resilient to the charms of the new Terran Empress. In defiance of a Bajoran ruler, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the ISS Enterprise-D have chosen the path of resistance. This lone spark of rebellion will ignite the fires of war – a war that will decide the future of the Terran Empire.

This conflict will cause ripples across galaxies and through dimensions. All that remains is to cast the first stone. Terra Firma!

Update 67 Includes:

• New Galaxy Expansion: The Mirror Universe
• New Apex Barrier Modifier
• New Mirror Tree Research
• New Terran Empire Hostiles
• New Mirror Universe Refinery

New Officers

• New Missions
• New Primes, Buffs, and Refits
• New Cosmetics
• New Battle Pass

Quality of Life Improvements

Coming this update: improved Officer Filters! The officer filter screen has been extended with more options to narrow down the officers you need quicker.

Players can now filter officers by: Isolytic Damage, Warp Range, Warp Speed, Impulse Speed, Cargo Capacity, Protected Cargo, Mining speed, Crit Damage, Crit Chance, Hostile Loot, XP Reward, or Effects(Burning, Morale, Assimilated, and Hull Breach). In addition, players can filter not docked, not deployed or not away on an assignment.

Into the Mirror Universe

The Mirror Universe is available to players Operations 40 and above and includes 49 new themed systems, each containing a number of systems designated for Mirror Universe hostiles and mines. 

Players can only travel to, through, and out of the Mirror Universe systems by using Interphasic Rifts , and active ship abilities such as the Disco Jump, Gorn Eviscerator Spatial Rip or the Borg Cube Transwarp will not work. Players will also note that there is NO protected cargo, whether earned from mining or defeating hostiles.

Here’s how to access and navigate the Mirror Universe: 

• For all level-eligible players, the Mirror Universe begins in the first system with an Entry Rift (Systems are Mirror Alpha Centauri, Mirror Wolf, Mirror Sirius)
• Spend 300 Mirror Universe Entry Vouchers to use the Entry Rift and warp into Mirror Universe space
• In order to traverse deeper into the Mirror Universe, warp to and park in a Rift of your choosing and pay with the right rarity-specific Mirror Rift Keys to move to another system in that path
• There are three rarities of Mirror Rift Keys reflecting the rarity of the system it leads to; Common, Uncommon and Premium . Premium keys let you skip deeper into the MU, bypassing other systems.
• Fight new Terran hostiles for loot and mine Trellium Mines for raw trellium-a and d
• Get out of the Mirror Universe by using an Extract Rifts , found in some Mirror Universe systems. An extract or recall is only available when a ship is parked in an Extract Rift, and this is the only way to leave the Mirror Universe other than your ship being destroyed or letting the vouchers expire.
• There is no protected cargo. If your ship is destroyed in the Mirror Universe by ANY foe, cargo is lost. This includes PvE as well as PvP.

Eligible players will receive 900 free entry vouchers every 3 days with more available in the store, as well as a Day 1 gift in game to help them get started in the Mirror Universe.

Apex Barrier Modifier

An extraordinarily powerful new survivability modifier, Apex Barrier  provides  true damage mitigation  from all damage sources after all other bonuses. Every  10,000  Apex Barrier increases the damage you can take by  100% . It is the most direct, impactful way to increase your survivability in STFC . This modifier can be increased and improved through the Mirror Research Tree and Mirror Universe officers.

While Apex Barrier is both PvP and PvE, players will notice the following that will drastically change the world of PvP as we know of is thus far in Star Trek Fleet Command:

• 11 PvP only Apex Barrier nodes in the Mirror Tree
• PvP Apex Barrier officers that significantly increase survivability
• 1 Mirror Universe hostiles Apex Barrier node in the Mirror tree
• 3 new hostiles-focused Apex Barrier refits
• 1 hostiles + PvP Apex Barrier Prime

Note: Apex Barrier will not work with armadas. Read more in-depth about Apex Barrier in this blog here .

Mirror Research 

Update 67 introduces a new Research tree with unparalleled power and survivability bonuses.

Some of the new research nodes include:

• Apex Barrier in both PvE and PvP
• Ship Efficiencies for G4-G6
• Sigma G6 Cost Efficiencies
• Isolytic Defense and Damage
• +Iso damage (+50%, “Premium Isolytic Damage”)
• Syndicate XP Daily Free Claim
• PvE Hostiles Combat HHP Repair

Resources can be sourced in the following ways:

• Common is sourced via Mirror Universe
• Uncommon is sourced over time via Mirror Universe
• Rare is sourced from special targets in Mirror Universe
• Epic is sourced over time from special targets in Mirror Universe
• Premium is currently exclusive to events in-game and the store

Mirror Research is exclusive to players who participate in Mirror Universe activities, includes 75 new research nodes, and is the primary source for the new Apex Barrier modifier. 

Terran Empire Hostiles

Terran Empire Hostiles are single-target hostiles per grade and investing in the new Apex Barrier Modifier will vastly improve the chances of defeating them. These hostiles can drop two types of loot: common + uncommon. The Terran Empire Hostiles that drop uncommon not only provide greater rewards, but they WILL require Apex Barrier to defeat.

Note: Once you travel to the system “Mirror Hoeven,” players will be able to obtain both loot types.

Here’s a brief look at how these new hostiles perform during combat:

• Dismantlement: At the start of the round, if the enemy player is hull breached, this ship increases its standard damage by X% for 1 round
• Deadlock: At combat start, Hull breach enemy player for duration of combat
• Photophobia : At the start of the round, if the enemy player is hull breached, this ship increases its Isolytic damage by X% for 1 round

Mirror Universe Refinery and Liquid Trellium

After you’ve traversed through the Mirror Universe, defeated Terran Empire hostiles, and collected loot, you’ll want to use an Extract Rift to leave and make use of your haul. Players will be able to exchange raw loot for Liquid Trellium-D. Liquid Trellium-D can be used in the refinery to exchange for the following:

• Mirror Universe Vouchers: for entry to the Mirror Universe
• Mirror Dust: for the new Mirror Research Tree
• Rift Keys: for traveling deeper through Rifts into the Mirror Universe
• NX-01 Officers
• Holodeck Building materials
• Forbidden Tech
• Tokened Resources

All of the officers coming out during the Mirror Universe arc will be in the same synergy group, and when used together, can maximize survivability with a huge boost to Apex Barrier in PvP.

Epic Mirror Picard

Epic Mirror Picard is a force to be reckoned with in PvP. As the counter to Freeman, Mirror Picard shows that he is not only a useful addition to the Mirror Universe officers, but can stand alone.

• Base: 50 Big Synergy: 50 Small Synergy: 25
• 10000 / 13000 / 17000 / 22000 / 30000

Bonus – Free Epic Mirror Picard Shards

Earn 5 free Epic Mirror Picard officer shards by using the code: themirror in the webstore. This code is only available starting 30min after event reset, and will run for 10 days. All players Operations 10+ are eligible to use this code.

Rare mirror data.

Mirror Data builds on the Assimilated state in PvP, and is part of the Apex Barrier PvP crew which increases Apex Barrier depending on the ship type the player is in.

• Base: 7500 Big Synergy: 7500 Small Synergy: 3500
• 45% / 55% / 65% / 80% / 100%

Players will have the ability to start sourcing these officers in events starting Weekend One.

21 new missions are coming with this update to frame the story around Mirror Universe:

• 10x Core Missions 
• 10x Side Missions
• 1x Mirror Universe Intro Mission

Core: Terra Rising (10 Missions | Level 34)

• Kira Nerys, the once-reviled Intendant of Terok Nor has now claimed the mantle of Terran Empress. In defiance of a Bajoran ruler, the crew of the ISS Enterprise-D have chosen the path of resistance.

Side: Holoinsight (5 Missions | Level 25) 

• A Mirror counterpart of Reginald Barclay has dedicated his life to finding alternate universes through the holodeck. When an unidentified program is uploaded, his theory suddenly becomes a reality.

Side: Slaves of Terra (5 Missions | Level 40)

• When Quark purchases cargo full of Mirror Universe loot, instead of treasure he gets a group of former Terran slaves eager to get home.

M.U. Warp Unlock Mission: Into the Mirror (1 Mission | Level 40)

• In order to travel further into the Mirror Universe, players must find and complete a “hidden” planetary mission.

Primes, Buffs, and Refits

Three new primes will be available in the Mirror Research tree:

Prime Mirror Research Efficiency

Prime Apex Barrier

Prime Isolytic Damage

Mirror Universe Refits

3 Epic themed refits are coming this update, and will provide 500 Apex Barrier in PvE.

Apex USS Newton

Apex Korinar

Oblique Eviscerator

Following its debut last month, the new Gorn Eviscerator has a refit being launched in month one of this Mirror Universe Arc: Oblique Eviscerator. Oblique Eviscerator increases the base max cargo size for the Gorn ship as well as increases Apex Ship Parts by 50% and Gorn Eviscerator Parts by 30% in the Eviscerator Refinery.

Battle Pass and Cosmetics

Update 67 brings with it 5 new avatars, 3 new frames, and 1 new hailing frequency.

Into the Mirror Universe Downloadable Wallpaper

• Ex-Borg Emblems can now be used in the Ex Borg Faction to redeem a new avatar, “Xindi Hunter”
• Kir’shara artifact: Fixed an issue where one of the queued hostile was dropped from the queue
• Officer placeholders are no longer displayed when unlocking Fleet Commanders through a chest
• Fixed an issue with a missing arrow on the T1>T2 Tritanium bundle inside the refinery
• Fixed an issue with the “INCOMING” toast in Wave Defense failing to appear
• Mission hostiles no longer display “missing content” in the tooltip when going in full scan mode
• Fixed an issue with SNW Sam Kirk’s Captain Maneuver description using a redundant + in “reduces by +X%”
• Fixed scoring metrics for “Romulan Champion” daily goal for OPS 69 to match their FED and KLG counterparts
• FIxed an issue wherein the game sometimes picks the longer warp path to Endron Delta to determine the required warp range
• Fixed a graphic glitch with Xindi Armada destroyed animations not appearing properly inside the battle report
• Fixed an issue with Multiple levels of Military Power for Pure Research Reinforcement having the same power level values
• Fixed an issue with the redirect link to the store when attempting to repair a 2nd ship
• Fixed an issue with the missing Claim button for the last 5 objectives after completing “Main progression (builder) – G2” Field Training
• Fixed an issue with some of the Field Training’s achievements’ tooltips not triggering when tapping on them
• Fixed a consistency issue between Pelia’s and SNW Kirk’s icon colors and their respective abilities
• Fixed an issue that prevented players from activating the Spatial Rip ability on systems with uncovered paths
• Fixed a graphic glitch with the object viewer layers
• Fixed an issue with the officer ability and below deck ability descriptions showing blank spaces for Officer SNW Pelia in the scan screen

-The Star Trek Team

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Captain Picard was going to answer for his actions in Star Trek: Insurrection

Captain Jean-Luc Picard wasn't much of a rule breaker on Star Trek; The Next Generation. In the episode "The Drumhead," we learned that he'd violated the Prime Directive nine timeis since he became captain of the Enterprise. But we only saw a few, with even bigger ones taking place in Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection.

In First Contact, Captain Picard is specifically told to stay away from the fleet so he wouldn't come into contact with the Borg. But since Enterprise was better equipped to fight the Borg, Picard ignored that order. And he blatantly disregarded the orders of Admiral Doughtery In Insurrection after being told the Enterprise wasn't needed to assist in the recovery of Data.

One of the first story treatments for Insurrection, according to Startrek.com , was going to have Picard having to face the Federation Council to answer for his actions, much like Captain Kirk had to do at the end of Star Trek: The Voyage Home. While Kirk was demoted from admiral to captain for his insubordination, it wasn't really much of a punishment considering he returned to the bridge of the Enterprise. Picard, however, wasn't reprimanded, but had he been so, the scene would have had the return of Boothby, the beloved groundskeeper at Starfleet Academy.

The idea included Captain Picard giving a speech about the choices he'd made even though he was clearly fighting a losing battle. The tide turns, though, when Boothby, as supportive as ever, starts to applaud Picard which, in turn, causes a ripple effect of support.

There was no specific reason why this part of the story was jettisoned, and, although Ray Walston did return to the character of Boothby on Star Trek: Voyager, it's regretful that Boothby didn't get the opportunity to show his support once more for Captain Picard.

This article was originally published on redshirtsalwaysdie.com as Captain Picard was going to answer for his actions in Star Trek: Insurrection .

Who is Ro Laren in ‘Star Trek?’

In the 'Star Trek' universe, few Starfleet officers have caused as much trouble for their superiors as the rebellious Ro Laren.

Warning: This article contains spoilers about season three of Star Trek: Picard .

Star Trek has produced its fair share of popular, enduring characters . A stand-out must be Ro Laren ( Michelle Forbes ), the tough yet tragic Bajoran Starfleet officer who didn’t feel at home anywhere.

For 50 years between 2319 and 2369, the peaceful planet of Bajor reeled under a repressive and increasingly brutal Cardassian Occupation . Ro Laren was a Bajoran born during these dark times. She later described her childhood as “a long and depressing saga” and was grateful when it was finally over. At the tender age of seven, she was forced to watch her father being tortured and eventually executed. Unsurprisingly, this left her with a burning hatred of all things Cardassian.

To escape the Occupation, Ro signed on with Starfleet when she was 18, graduating a few years later and being assigned to the USS Wellington. Ro proved to be an energetic young officer, and she was rapidly promoted to Lieutenant. During a botched away mission on Garon II, Ro disobeyed direct orders, leading to the deaths of eight crewmen — her entire team. Starfleet was quick to court martial Ro, and she found herself demoted to Ensign and imprisoned in a military stockade.

Service aboard the Enterprise

But Starfleet could ill-afford to keep such a skillful officer on ice for long. In 2368, Ro was granted temporary release from jail to serve on board the USS Enterprise-D under the legendary Jean-Luc Picard . Picard needed someone who knew about Bajoran culture and the Bajoran resistance which had emerged during the occupation. Ro acquitted herself well, and Picard asked her to remain on board after the initial mission concluded. Even so, many Enterprise personnel refused to have anything to do with her, still blaming her for the disaster on Garon II. This left Ro still feeling like an outsider.

One of the few real friendships Laren struck up during this period was with the ship’s bartender Guinan, who was naturally drawn to Ro because everyone else shunned her.

Ro went on to serve in an exemplary manner through several key Enterprise missions. She was present when an encounter with a quantum filament nearly destroyed the ship, discovered a secret Romulan phasing device, and managed to rescue her shipmates from Ferengi pirates. She even engaged in a very short-lived sexual relationship with Enterprise First Officer William T. Riker (the pair was suffering from amnesia at the time, but they clearly desired one another). However, Ro’s tough, uncompromising style was unpopular with much of the crew in spite of her bravery and skill at the helm.

Maquis and later years

The feeling of being distinctly un-Starfleet did not go away. Her Bajoran roots and hatred for the Cardassians eventually led her to make a momentous decision. During the Next Generation episode “Preemptive Strike,” Ro was tasked by Starfleet with infiltrating a group of Maquis (a loose and very anti-Cardassian military confederation of border planets). The Maquis was threatening the fragile peace between Cardassia and the Federation. Things went well at first as Ro managed to successfully embed herself with the group.

But old loyalties died hard in Ro Laren, and she found herself identifying more with this rag-tag band of resistance fighters than she ever did Starfleet. When Riker was sent to bring her in, she turned traitor to the Federation and deserted her post to join the rebels.

Little is known of Ro during these years, but most fans assume she was a valuable and deadly member of the Maquis. When the Maquis was eventually destroyed during the events of Deep Space Nine , Ro managed to use her skills to wrangle her way back into Starfleet once again.

In Star Trek: Picard , Ro was working for Starfleet Intelligence where her previous experience in terrorist cells made her a valuable asset. She emerges as the Handler to Worf and Raffi during their spying activities. An uncomfortable meeting with her old Captain led to a reconciliation. Unfortunately, Ro was killed by Changeling imposters on her own security team, but not before she handed Picard the old Bajoran earring she always wore. Inside it was all the information she possessed on the conspiracy within Starfleet.

Unless a mirror-universe or alternate reality Ro pops up in the future, fans are unlikely to see this beloved character again.

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Published Oct 10, 2022

How Star Trek: The Next Generation Took On Indigenous American Representation

A member of the Choctaw Nation parses through TNG's 'Journey's End.'

StarTrek.com

Star Trek: The Next Generation ’s “ Journey’s End ” explores the fallout after the Federation reaches a diplomatic agreement with the militaristic Cardassian Empire. After a great deal of strife and diplomatic maneuverings, the Federation has agreed to cede the planet Dorvan V to Cardassia . A simple enough agreement, if the planet were uninhabited, but there is a catch; a Native American tribe that became spacefaring in search of a new home after facing displacement on Earth had already colonized the planet.

Although Jean-Luc Picard is often seen as a benevolent figure — one of the best captains in a history of great captains — it is here that we witness an instance when he was willingly an instrument of wrong-doing. Picard is tasked by the Federation with moving the people to make room for Dorvan’s new Cardassian overlords. Importantly, the Captain of the Enterprise does see how this act is unfair. He tries to help his commanding officer understand the difficulty of asking the tribe to move. However, he is informed that this is a non-negotiable situation. In a way, that lets us know that the Federation is but another bureaucracy uninterested in the trivialities of human life. There are things at work that supersede the concerns of Picard. If he cannot do it, someone else can. No matter what, the tribe must go.

Historically, Indigenous Americans have faced violent displacement, repeated treaty violations, and genocide. In the real world, Indigenous nations, like my own, have experienced violent colonization tied to an ideology of white supremacy. Part of what makes Star Trek wonderful is that it looks forward to a time when humans are at peace with one another, and one hopes, justice has been restored. But this episode lays bare how even the Federation has the potential to reproduce the same colonial dynamics that Native Americans continue to face now in the 21st Century. This thread even carries through into the film Star Trek: Insurrection , which shows a corrupt officer of the Federation working to displace another group of settlers (non-Native, in this case), the Ba’ku, in order to mine resources from their planet.

The first time I saw “Journey’s End” as a young man, the historical parallels were lost on me. I did not see how the Federation making a decision that impacted the day to day lives of Native people echoed the history of the United States taking advantage of Native people in the past. Nor did I see the way Picard was concerned about how this decision displaced hundreds of people; yet, he was willing to execute the plan because, well, that was what he was ordered to do.

However, now, as a scholar of race and as a Black man who is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, I see the racial and colonial undertones clearly. I see how the actions of the Federation are, in essence, evil and their lack of care towards the Native people. Part of episode writer Ronald D. Moore’s message in this story was that, if Dorvan’s inhabitants were white people, the Federation might have made the same decision, but the fact that they were Native made the choice all the more clear.

It’s also clear that Picard is placed in an impossible position. If he does the will of his superiors, the Native people will be displaced and, essentially, homeless. Yet, after talking to the leaders of the Tribe, it is clear that they have no intention of leaving. They do not even entertain the possibility of going elsewhere. Their elders feel a connection to the land, and the idea of finding another home is a nonstarter. Tensions rise when a Cardassian emissary shows up to survey the land. No one has been relocated, and violence seems imminent. What’s more, we learn that one of Picard’s ancestors was directly responsible for killing a great number of Native people in the past. This has left what the Tribe calls a “bloodstain” for which Picard has to atone for. It’s a real crisis — one that requires nuance to fully process.

In the end, the Cardassians allow the Native people to stay on the land and, allegedly, peace reigns. Like all government bureaucracies, the Federation still has ample room for improvement in certain policy areas. Even Picard seems to have learned from his experiences in “Journey’s End” by the time he instinctively knows to defy direct orders and aid in the rescue of the Ba’ku in Insurrection .

I wish the Federation had asked — Can we trust the Cardassians to keep their word? If we watch this episode with historical precedence in mind, it makes little sense that the Cardassians would allow the Native people to remain on the land. The most likely result, after Picard and the Enterprise have moved on to another adventure, is that the Native people will incur the wrath of the Cardassians, thereby continuing the history of violence and displacement that Native people have always endured. And that bloodstain that the Native people say has been cleansed from Picard at the end? It remains; some might even say that it deepens.

A Timeline Through the Star Trek Universe

This article was originally published on November 6, 2019.

Lawrence Ware (he/him) is a professor of philosophy at Oklahoma State University and co-director of the Center for Africana Studies. Tweet him at @law_writes.

Stay tuned to StarTrek.com for more details! And be sure to follow @StarTrek on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram .

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A Quarter-Century Later, Deep Space Nine’s Finale is a Bridge Between Old and New Star Trek

We’ve left this era behind.

In the final season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , our heroes take desperate measures to achieve victory in a bitter war that’s engulfed billions of lives across the galaxy. They also play a rousing game of baseball.

Wedged between The Next Generation , a beloved revival, and Voyager , a mediocre Borg adventure factory , Deep Space Nine’s creators were largely free to take their black sheep where they saw fit. The result was a series that moved Star Trek towards nuanced serialized storytelling , while still finding time to dabble in episodes about Vulcan serial killers and ill-advised crossdressing. When it wrapped up both its serious and silly stories in one big finale, DS9 built a bridge between the one-off episodes of Star Trek past and the relentless season-long sagas of modern shows like Discovery and Picard.

“What You Leave Behind” had to conclude the Federation’s brutal conflict with the Dominion, while also providing closure to Captain Sisko’s uneasy role as a Bajoran religious figure. Both storylines had percolated in the background for years before exploding in DS9’s final seasons, and both highlighted the strengths of the show’s unique fixed setting. Set in a space station above a Bajor struggling to survive its newfound independence and adjacent to a wormhole leading to a far-flung region of space defined by the Dominion’s cruelty, the set-up allowed the consequences of our heroes’ adventures to fester for years.

In an eventful final season, Major Kira (Nana Visitor) is given command of Deep Space Nine and learns the infield fly rule.

The war against the Dominion — essentially an anti-Federation that subjugated new members to make itself more powerful and conniving — is the finale’s strongest element. The multi-season struggle had touched on weighty themes like war crimes and the morality of violent resistance, and it’s satisfying to see Sisko and his stalwart crew battle their way to a melancholy victory. The whole saga is one of the few times Star Trek embraced an epic scope rather than focus on a single ship’s isolated adventures, and seeing characters we knew for years become key cogs in a grand war machine was a somber escalation of the stakes.

Captain Sisko’s personal denouement was less successful. His unique connection to the mysterious aliens living in the wormhole, which the Bajorans worship as prophetic gods, worked well as a symbol of his series-long transition from jaded cynic to fierce protector of Bajor. But “What You Leave Behind” attempted to give this spiritual tale an action-y finale featuring Gul Dukat, a long-running Cardassian villain and occasional uneasy frenemy. Dukat’s saga as an opportunistic Dominion lackey reached a natural conclusion in Season 6, yet he was brought back as a sort of Bajoran Antichrist stuffed full of ham. It felt like an attempt to cram the finale of Raiders of the Lost Ark into the end of Saving Private Ryan.

In one of the finale’s weaker moments, Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo) shows up like he wandered in from a ‘90s FMV game.

But a quarter-century later, what stands out are the side stories “What You Leave Behind” wraps up. While Deep Space Nine’s seventh season built towards this two-part finale, it also dabbled in asides no sci-fi drama could spare time for today. Featuring a whopping 26 episodes, Season 7 focused on the horrors and heroism of war, but also took a minute to check in on the mirror universe, stage a holosuite heist, and play ball with an arrogant Vulcan. The pacing is glacial compared to a modern show like Picard, and not every episode was a winner, but these asides enhanced the main storyline rather than distract from it. Life, even during galactic megawar, goes on.

This blend of the critical and mundane is why our heroes celebrate their grand victory in a holosuite simulation of a ‘60s Vegas lounge. The Season 6 introduction of Vic Fontaine, a holographic Rat Pack knockoff, was derided as silly and self-indulgent, and 24th-century humans and aliens turning to a pretend crooner for romantic advice and emotional solace should have been ridiculous. But Fontaine was allowed to develop across B-stories and dedicated episodes, a decision that culminated in the superb Season 7 episode “It's Only a Paper Moon.” Nog, once a comic-relief side character, turns Fontaine’s lounge into his personal fantasy realm to cope with losing a limb in battle, and the frank look at PTSD was so effective that giving Fontaine a proper sendoff in “What You Leave Behind” felt natural.

Star Trek and lounge singing, together at last.

A hokey hologram getting screentime speaks to the sheer scope of the finale, but despite its busy-ness, it managed to leave most of its characters in satisfying places. Today, the episode title offers an unintended second meaning, as Star Trek — and television in general — has largely abandoned Deep Space Nine’s supersized seasons and leisurely storytelling pace. Amid its many side stories, DS9 helped move Trek towards the modern serial format, which can make the lean 10-episode seasons of Picard feel like nothing but one exhausting crisis after another. Such momentum can be thrilling, but we’ve lost something in not getting to better know our heroes as they enjoy a little downtime.

With Discovery over , Lower Decks on the way out, and several new shows and movies in the works, Star Trek is once again entering a season of change . It’s difficult to imagine big-budget sci-fi ever returning to 26-episode seasons, but revisiting “What You Leave Behind” still offers a valuable lesson. Viewers wanted to see Deep Space Nine’s heroes triumph over the Dominion not because their battles had been so dramatic, but because we’d spent enough time with them to know they deserved peace.

• Science Fiction

This Star Trek Theory Suggests Patrick Stewart's Picard Had A Secret Addiction

Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is famously known for one beverage order: Tea, Earl Grey, hot. But according to one fan theory, the reserved Enterprise captain may have secretly been sipping on something else through the years. Posited by Reddit user u/_Abe_Froman_SKOC on r/FanTheories, the theory suggests that Picard has secretly been dealing with high-functioning alcohol use disorder throughout his Starfleet career. And their evidence goes far beyond loose accusations based on the captain's ties to the Picard family vineyard.

According to the Redditor, Picard's substance issues may have started early in his timeline , while sipping on wine in his childhood home: "Picard was raised on a vineyard in France, and so no doubt had a long history of drinking before joining starfleet," they wrote. Further,  Picard's backstory from his Starfleet Academy days was hardly smooth, a fact revealed in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "The First Duty" when he tells academy groundskeeper Boothby he couldn't have graduated without Boothby's intervention for an undisclosed "mistake." 

As u/_Abe_Froman_SKOC continues, Picard loses his heart in a barroom fight with a Nausicaan as an ensign in "Tapestry," suggesting that he got into a lot of trouble as a young man. And if there was a barroom fight, it stands to reason that the officer had been tying one on when it happened.

But perhaps the best evidence for Picard's high-functioning substance abuse is his obviously high tolerance for the hooch anytime it appears, as seen in "Relics," the episode in which a recently re-materialized Montgomery Scott (James Doohan) complains about synthehol until Data (Brent Spiner) finds him some real booze, which he later shares with the captain. "Picard downs an entire glass without so much as flinching, and then reveals that he was the one that sourced the bottle in the first place," the Redditor wrote.

Early life [ ]

Elim Garak was the son of Enabran Tain : a nefarious Cardassian who never grew tired of repeating to his son " I should have killed your mother before you were born. You have always been a weakness I can't afford. " ( DS9 : " In Purgatory's Shadow ")

Garak had a strong, almost crippling, case of claustrophobia . ( DS9 : " By Inferno's Light ") He told Ezri Dax that, in his youth, his father would discipline him by locking him in a closet . ( DS9 : " Afterimage ")

At age four, Garak and his father spent a day in the country together, their "only day" as Garak would later recall. Garak impressed his father by mounting a riding hound despite falling off numerous times. As he limped home, his father held Garak's hand and would later recall that he was very proud of him that day. ( DS9 : " In Purgatory's Shadow ")

At one point, Garak also spent time on Tzenketh , where he was trapped in a small room with moving walls. ( DS9 : " By Inferno's Light ")

Life in the Obsidian Order [ ]

At one time, Garak was a high-ranking member of the Cardassian intelligence agency, the Obsidian Order . He was the protégé of his father, who had become the head of the Order in 2348 , though their familial relationship was kept secret throughout Garak's life (and only openly addressed by Tain on his deathbed). During his time as an operative, Garak was instrumental in the arrest, torture and execution of Gul Dukat 's father . ( DS9 : " The Wire ", " For the Cause ", " In Purgatory's Shadow ") That fact contributed to Dukat later regretting not having had Garak executed (though not for lack of trying, according to Garak). ( DS9 : " Civil Defense ") Garak had a vindictive streak and once tried to invent charges of treason against a gul just for being long-winded, but Tain stopped him. ( DS9 : " The Die is Cast ") He also spent time on Romulus , posing as a gardener at the Cardassian embassy . During his time there he may have been involved in the deaths of several important Romulan officials, including Proconsul Merrok and Sub-Commander Ustard and the Romulan ambassador (though this was based on stories Garak told of his own past, which were not reliable). ( DS9 : " Broken Link ", " In Purgatory's Shadow ")

As an Obsidian Order operative, Garak had a cranial implant installed in his skull which would help him resist torture . The implant caused his brain to release endorphins when in pain, thus making the experience of torture pleasurable. When Garak was exiled to DS9 he hacked the device so that it remained on continuously, in order to make his exile tolerable. Finally the implant failed and he was brought to sickbay in excruciating pain. While there he confessed to Bashir that life on DS9 was itself torturous. Despite Garak's best efforts, he was unable to acquire a replacement implant and was thus forced to endure life without the pleasure creating endorphins to which he had become addicted. Enabran Tain told Bashir that he wanted Garak to live a long, miserable life, rather than simply executing him. ( DS9 : " The Wire ")

Garak's masterful skills for subterfuge were such that even in the most dire of scenarios he would lie and misdirect any attempt to ascertain the truth or his intentions. Enabran Tain commented that Garak would " Never tell the truth when a lie will do. " ( DS9 : " The Wire ") Later, Garak claimed that he considered lying a skill that required constant practice. ( DS9 : " Broken Link ", " In Purgatory's Shadow ")

Garak was an expert interrogator and torturer. In one interrogation, Garak eschewed physical torture and extracted a confession simply by staring at his prisoner, a Doctor Parmak , for hours. Garak took a great deal of pride in his ability to force information from people and did not need to be ordered to do so. ( DS9 : " The Die is Cast ")

Garak learned Klingonese at some point during his time at the Obsidian Order, a fact he revealed when he spoke to a group of Klingons confronting Constable Odo . ( DS9 : " The Way of the Warrior ")

In 2368 , Garak somehow betrayed Tain, and Tain ordered him killed. Garak escaped, but was exiled from his homeworld of Cardassia Prime .

While suffering from the degradation of his cranial implant, he gave three versions of the reason for his exile to Doctor Julian Bashir :

• He first claimed he was a gul in the Cardassian Mechanized Infantry and was exiled for killing several Cardassians, including his first officer, a man named Elim, as well as the daughter of a prominent military official, who were on board a transport going from Bajor to space station Terok Nor , when he destroyed it. Garak thought he was in fact killing members of the Bajoran Resistance who were planning to sabotage Terok Nor.
• He then changed his story to say that as he and his assistant Elim were interrogating a group of Bajoran children he felt pity for them and let them go instead of turning them over to be executed. He was exiled when Elim turned him in to the authorities.
• Garak also said that he was exiled after being framed by his best friend Elim with evidence that a member of the Obsidian Order was allowing Bajoran prisoners to escape.

Dr. Bashir later discovered from Enabran Tain that "Elim" was actually Garak's first name, indicating that none of these explanations were entirely true. ( DS9 : " The Wire ") Another time, he claimed he was exiled for tax evasion. ( DS9 : " Improbable Cause ") Even this account (and any others), however, are almost certainly fabricated or distorted, as Garak was fond of saying, "The truth is usually just an excuse for lack of imagination." To Garak truth is the lines in between lies; he once claimed that all he says is true – " especially the lies". ( DS9 : " The Wire ")

When Sisko asked Garak if the attempted assassination plot against him in 2371 was somehow related to his exile, he stated that he seriously doubted that the finance ministry would try to kill him for not paying his taxes. ( DS9 : " Improbable Cause ")

After his exile, Garak took up residence aboard Terok Nor, under the command of Gul Dukat. Bitter over Garak's involvement in his father's death, Dukat attempted to have Garak executed. ( DS9 : " Civil Defense ") Garak again escaped death's grip, surviving to see the Cardassian government withdraw from the station in 2369 . He set up a tailor's shop, and went into business soon after his fellow Cardassians left the station. ( DS9 : " Past Prologue ")

Garak loved Cardassia and the Cardassian state, which he saw as one and the same, and he loved working for the state. Exile to him was torturous. He longed to return to Cardassia, even at one point agreeing to murder fleeing members of the Cardassian dissident movement in return for a pardon (an agreement that was broken by the gul who made it with him). ( DS9 : " The Wire ", " Profit and Loss ")

Those who had exiled Garak from Cardassia said he didn't deserve a quick death. His old Obsidian Order boss Enabran Tain said, " I want him to live a long, miserable life. I want him to grow old on that station, surrounded by people who hate him, knowing that he'll never come home again. ". ( DS9 : " The Wire ")

Life on Deep Space 9 [ ]

Garak hated living on Deep Space 9, mostly because it meant he was exiled from his home, Cardassia, which he loved and which he now felt like he could not serve. ( DS9 : " The Wire ")

Garak kept contacts in the Cardassian Union after his exile, and when Starfleet took control of Terok Nor, renaming it Deep Space 9 , he attempted on occasion to use his position as the only Cardassian still aboard to regain his usefulness. Many on the station believed Garak was still a spy. He befriended Dr. Julian Bashir, and began to reveal small bits of information to the doctor about his past and current events. When once asked by Bashir whether he was an outcast or a spy, Garak suggested that maybe he was "an outcast spy." The Doctor asked how he could be both, and Garak simply replied " I never said I was either. " ( DS9 : " Profit and Loss ") Bashir and Garak began to have weekly lunches , where they grew to be friends. ( DS9 : " Cardassians ") His assigned quarters were Chamber 901, Habitat Level H-3. ( DS9 : " The Wire ")

Garak helped uncover Tahna Los ' real intentions after he was granted asylum by Sisko. He invited Bashir to hide in his shop and overhear the Duras sisters selling a substance that was used for explosives . ( DS9 : " Past Prologue ")

Garak after having his hand bitten by Rugal

Along with Bashir, he foiled a plot by Dukat to embarrass a Cardassian diplomat who opposed Dukat's dictatorial ways. Dukat had accused Kotan Pa'Dar of abandoning his child after the occupation of Bajor ended. ( DS9 : " Cardassians ")

In 2370 , Garak was offered a chance to regain his position on Cardassia by killing members of the Cardassian Underground . When the deal was revealed to be a lie, he instead killed the gul who had made the offer and helped the rebels escape. ( DS9 : " Profit and Loss ")

Garak grimacing in pain caused by his malfunctioning cranial implant

Later that year, Garak began having life-threatening headaches. He had been using his cranial implant continuously for two years to alleviate the pain of being exiled to a Bajoran space station (he had had the implant inserted into him years previously by the Obsidian Order in order to help him resist torture: the implant released endorphins into his body). The implant began to malfunction, and Doctor Bashir was forced to deactivate the device. Garak had to learn to live without it, overcoming severe withdrawal symptoms. ( DS9 : " The Wire ")

Garak was not part of the crew that entered the Gamma Quadrant in search of the Dominion, however, he was included in a simulation conducted by the Founders after capturing that crew. In the simulation, the Garak character was killed trying to stop the Dominion from taking over Deep Space 9. ( DS9 : " The Search, Part II ")

He helped rescue Kira from the Cardassians who had surgically altered her and tried to convince her that she was actually a Cardassian agent who had been reprogrammed into thinking she was Kira Nerys, which was in reality an attempt to reveal the ties a former legate had to the Cardassian Underground. When the station was set to self-destruct because of an automated Cardassian anti-terrorist program, he tried to use his Cardassian security codes to disable it. He became part of Bashir's nightmare caused by an alien who was using mind control on Bashir. ( DS9 : " Second Skin ", " Civil Defense ", " Distant Voices ")

Reunited with Enabran Tain in 2371

In 2371 , an explosion destroyed Garak's shop. Garak was later revealed to have caused the explosion himself, to preempt an upcoming assassination attempt by the Flaxian Retaya by drawing Odo into the investigation. The two later learned that the assassination was ordered by his former mentor, Enabran Tain . Tain offered Garak his old position in the Order back, and despite their past history, Garak accepted. ( DS9 : " Improbable Cause ") Garak joined Tain on a joint Obsidian Order/ Tal Shiar mission to destroy the Founders' homeworld in the Gamma Quadrant . During this time, he was briefly assigned to interrogate Odo using an experimental device that prevented him from shape-shifting when approaching the point when Odo would have to return to his natural form, but Garak eventually ended it after Odo revealed nothing more interesting than that he still wanted to return to his people, Garak realizing that he didn't have it in him to torture those he was close to any more. The mission failed and the Dominion destroyed Tain's fleet at the Battle of the Omarion Nebula , though Garak escaped aboard the USS Defiant . He returned to Deep Space 9 and rebuilt his shop. ( DS9 : " The Die is Cast ")

Garak hemming trousers for Morn

When, in 2372 , Starfleet learned of the Invasion of Cardassia, rather than betray the Klingons Captain Benjamin Sisko asked Garak to measure him for a suit while Worf made an intelligence report to the captain. When it was clear that the captain wasn't in need of a suit, and the entire meeting was a method of back-channel communication to the Detapa Council , Garak thanked the captain and said that he had " Everything I need. " Garak contacted Gul Dukat to warn him of the impending Klingon invasion of Cardassia. The two enemies fought side-by-side to defend the Detapa Council members during the First Battle of Deep Space 9 . ( DS9 : " The Way of the Warrior ") Garak later admitted, however, that he was tempted to shoot Dukat in the back during the conflict but decided against it, if for no other reason than that he couldn't possibly defeat all of the Klingons alone. ( DS9 : " Call to Arms ")

Garak with Bashir in the Julian Bashir, Secret Agent holoprogram

When Quark wanted to hire Garak as an assassin in order to kill himself as part of a contract he should not have done when he thought he was dying, Garak, realizing he did not want to die, seemingly played along with his wishes in order to help him deal with the horrible dilemma he was in and, in time, solve it. ( DS9 : " Body Parts ")

When Dukat's half - Bajoran daughter, Tora Ziyal , came to the station in 2373 , Ziyal became attracted to Garak. The two formed a bond as the only Cardassians on the station, and Ziyal fell in love with him. ( DS9 : " For the Cause ")

In hopes of finding any survivors of the Cardassian fleet, Garak returned to the Gamma Quadrant on the Defiant in 2372 . During the trip he was informed by the Female Changeling that there were no survivors, and that in fact, one day all Cardassians would die by the Dominion's hand. While in orbit of the Founders' new homeworld, Garak attempted to obliterate the Great Link using the ship's quantum torpedoes . His attempt failed when he was discovered by Worf, and he was imprisoned on Deep Space 9 for six months. ( DS9 : " Broken Link ")

Garak embracing Tora Ziyal

Garak received a message from the Gamma Quadrant the following year from Enabran Tain. Traveling to Dominion space, Garak and Lieutenant Commander Worf were captured and imprisoned on Internment Camp 371 . There he found Tain, dying. On his deathbed, Tain finally admitted that Garak was his son, and told Garak that he was proud of him. While Garak was at the camp, Gul Dukat, as the new leader of Cardassia, arranged for the imprisoned Cardassians to be freed – with the single exception of Garak. Despite his claustrophobia temporarily immobilizing him when he was forced to work in a confined space, Garak eventually modified Tain's subspace transmitter to allow the prisoners to escape from the camp, with Worf and the recovered General Martok both complimenting his courage, Garak in return complimenting Worf's strength at providing him time by fighting with various Jem'Hadar. He returned to his shop on the station, and Ziyal. ( DS9 : " In Purgatory's Shadow ", " By Inferno's Light ")

Garak, after boarding Empok Nor

For some reason, the inhabitants of the station eventually began to trust Garak, something he found disconcerting. He joined a mission to station Empok Nor to find parts to repair Deep Space 9. While there, he was exposed to a psychotropic drug. Garak became deranged and killed a Starfleet officer, Amaro , before being subdued by Chief Miles O'Brien. After recovering from the effects of the drug, Garak asked O'Brien to express his regrets to Amaro's wife. The event also made Garak and O'Brien come closer to each other because of their similar traumatic experiences in their life. ( DS9 : " Empok Nor ")

The Dominion War [ ]

When Starfleet withdrew from the Bajoran sector at the start of the Dominion War , Garak joined the crew of the USS Defiant . He explained that he would rather stay with his Federation associates than live on the station, which would soon be under the command of Gul Dukat once more. ( DS9 : " Call to Arms ")

Garak with Sisko on a Jem'Hadar vessel

He was part of Sisko's crew that destroyed a Ketracel-white facility. Though the attack was successful, the ship was disabled, and crash landed on an uncharted planet. Garak helped fight Jem'Hadar soldiers also stranded on the planet. ( DS9 : " A Time to Stand ", " Rocks and Shoals ")

Following this, Garak remained at Starbase 375 where he underwent several debriefings, as his knowledge of the Cardassians proved a valuable asset to Starfleet Intelligence , though he cooperated rather reluctantly. He rejoined the Defiant 's crew for Operation Return . ( DS9 : " Favor the Bold ") When Starfleet retook Deep Space 9 during Operation Return , Garak found that Ziyal had been killed by Damar , noting to Major Kira that he had never understood Ziyal's feelings for him and would now never have the chance to learn more about them. ( DS9 : " Sacrifice of Angels ")

Helping Captain Sisko in 2374

Later in 2374, Captain Benjamin Sisko asked for Garak's help in finding evidence that the Dominion was planning an invasion of Romulus. Garak contacted his remaining contacts on Cardassia Prime and found them willing to assist, but then they were all killed within one day of speaking with him. Garak then proposed that they fabricate the evidence in order to give the Romulan Star Empire reason to join the war. However, he doubted that the faked recordings would fool the Romulans, so without Sisko's knowledge, he had Romulan Senator Vreenak assassinated and implicated the Dominion so that the Romulans would enter the war. ( DS9 : " In the Pale Moonlight ")

Garak with Ezri Dax

Garak spent the rest of the war decoding Cardassian transmissions for Starfleet Intelligence. Although he excelled at this duty, the thought that he was betraying and enabling the deaths of numerous Cardassians was so deeply troubling that it subconsciously aggravated his claustrophobia to such a debilitating severity, that even by Garak's own admission, spaces he found tolerable, such as his tailor shop and other areas, were now inducing panic attacks. However, Ezri Dax , in her first major case as the station's counselor , was able to treat his psychological difficulty to a manageable degree, helping Garak accept that defeating the Dominion had to take priority. ( DS9 : " Afterimage ")

During the final months of the war, Garak used his contacts in the Cardassian Union to find the leader of the Cardassian Liberation Front , Damar. Finally returning to his people with Commander Kira – given a battlefield promotion to Starfleet commander so that the Cardassians would find it easier to take orders from her on Garak's suggestion – and Constable Odo, Garak aided Damar's resistance against the Dominion. ( DS9 : " When It Rains... ") When the fledgling resistance was crushed by the Jem'Hadar , Garak, Kira, and Damar retreated to Tain's house, his boyhood home, where he was reunited with Tain's housekeeper and confidante, Mila . From there they led a civilian uprising on Cardassia. ( DS9 : " The Dogs of War ")

After Mila was killed in the final days of the Dominion War , Garak led the uprising with Damar and Colonel Kira and participated in the storming of Dominion Headquarters , killing Weyoun 8 , who was the last of Weyoun 's clones. With the war over, Garak's exile had ended. He returned to his planet as a possible leader, being supported by the Federation and Klingon and Romulan Empires. However, the Cardassia he knew was gone forever, destroyed by the Dominion. The reconstruction would be dire, as his final, preoccupied and sorrowful look showed. ( DS9 : " What You Leave Behind ")

Friendships [ ]

Garak introduced himself to Bashir during the Tahna Los incident on the station, in which Bashir suspected him of being a spy, which made him curious about him. ( DS9 : " Past Prologue ") This developed into many mutual meetings, in which they both liked each other's intellect, which led to a long-term friendship, which was then enforced when they worked together to expose a plot by Dukat to embarrass a Cardassian official who wished to reconcile Cardassia with Bajor. ( DS9 : " Cardassians ")

When his past as a spy was exposed and Julian had a need to learn about being a spy, in which Garak knew a lot, their friendship was solidified. ( DS9 : " Our Man Bashir ")

Garak and Odo both hide their feelings very well, which led to the beginning of a friendship when Garak learned about Odo's wish to return home, a sentiment he was quite familiar with. Odo reciprocates his friendship offer, when he takes notice of their similarities and realises how ashamed Garak was about having tortured him on Tain's orders. ( DS9 : " Improbable Cause ")

In time, it also led to them having many meetings during dinner and to many other close conversations. ( DS9 : " The Way of the Warrior ", " Broken Link ", " Call to Arms ")

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Truth is in the eye of the beholder, doctor. I never tell the truth because I don't believe there is such a thing. That is why I prefer the straight line simplicity of cutting cloth. "

" I believe in coincidences. Coincidences happen every day. But I don't trust coincidences. "

" Of all the stories you told me, which ones were true and which ones weren't? " " My dear Doctor, they're all true. " " Even the lies? " "Especially the lies. "

" Treason, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. "

" Are you sure that's the point, doctor? " " Of course. What else could it be? " " That you should never tell the same lie twice. "

" Do you know what the sad part is, Odo ? I'm a very good tailor. "

" The truth is usually just an excuse for lack of imagination. "

" Paranoid is what they call people who imagine threats against their life. I have threats against my life. "

" Lying is a skill like any other. And if you want to maintain a level of excellence, you have to practice constantly. "

" A pity. I rather liked him. "

" You'd shoot a man in the back? " " Well, it's the safest way, isn't it? "

" That's why you came to me, isn't it, captain? Because you knew I could do those things that you weren't capable of doing. Well, it worked. And you'll get what you wanted: a war between the Romulans and the Dominion. And if your conscience is bothering you, you should soothe it with the knowledge that you may have just saved the entire Alpha Quadrant, and all it cost was the life of one Romulan senator, one criminal… and the self-respect of one Starfleet officer. I don't know about you, but I'd call that a bargain. "

" I don't understand. " " That's the thing about love. No one really understands it, do they? "

" I'm going to miss our lunches together. " " I'm sure we'll see each other again. " " I'd like to think so… but one can never say. We live in uncertain times. "

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " Past Prologue "
• " Cardassians "
• " Profit and Loss "
• " The Wire "
• " The Search, Part II " (simulation only)
• " Second Skin "
• " Civil Defense "
• " Distant Voices "
• " Improbable Cause "
• " The Die is Cast "
• " The Way of the Warrior "
• " Our Man Bashir "
• " For the Cause "
• " Body Parts "
• " Broken Link "
• " Things Past "
• " In Purgatory's Shadow "
• " By Inferno's Light "
• " Empok Nor "
• " Call to Arms "
• " A Time to Stand "
• " Rocks and Shoals "
• " Favor the Bold "
• " Sacrifice of Angels "
• " In the Pale Moonlight "
• " Tears of the Prophets "
• " Afterimage "
• " Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges "
• " When It Rains... "
• " Tacking Into the Wind "
• " Extreme Measures "
• " The Dogs of War "
• " What You Leave Behind "
• VST : " Holograms All the Way Down " (background hologram)

Background information [ ]

Garak was played by actor Andrew Robinson .

According to the script for "Afterimage", the character's first name was pronounced as "EE-lim". [1]

Characterization [ ]

Getting the characterization of Garak right was important to both the crew and the actor himself. Of the origins of the character, Peter Allan Fields said that " we needed a Cardassian who didn't act like one, so I finally put him in a tailor shop, and nobody hit me, so we kept him there. " Director Winrich Kolbe said of the performance that " we agreed that Andy could push the envelope, but he couldn't leave the Cardassian platform. We had long talks about wardrobe and makeup, but we also talked about attitude, so that he would retain that stiffness that you see in all Cardassians. " ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , p. 22)

Ronald D. Moore commented: " I know that Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was definitely one of the influences on Garak's character. Ira in particularly is a big fan of that British series ". ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 49 ,  ? )

Andrew Robinson was involved in the development of Elim Garak as a character, particularly in the later stages of the series where he became a key part of DS9. The actor commented, " Garak is one of those guys, we all know someone a bit like him, who you can't trust as far as you can spit. The moment you see him you put your hand on your wallet, and the moment he opens his mouth you know he's going to lie to you, but yet, somehow, you'd rather be in his company than with almost anybody else. He's a charming rogue, you can't deny it. Even I get sucked in by him. Although it's me playing him, when I see Garak on TV, I swear to god this is true, I'm fascinated. " [2] Robinson also said of the character, " He's all subtext. If a smart guy like Garak says that he's 'plain and simple', you realize that he's not plain and not simple. And that there is a lot going on. Regardless of how innocuous or simple each line is, there's always something going on underneath that belies the line. And his eyes and the tone of his voice say something different than the words he's speaking. It's not an easy thing to work with subtext, but when you do it well, you really get people's attention. " ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , p. 22)

Andrew Robinson provided insight into his role when interviewed by Amazon.com, stating, " I started out playing Garak as someone who doesn't have a defined sexuality. He's not gay, he's not straight, it's a non-issue for him. Basically his sexuality is inclusive. But – it's Star Trek and there were a couple of things working against that. One is that Americans really are very nervous about sexual ambiguity. Also, this is a family show, they have to keep it on the 'straight and narrow', so then I backed off from it. Originally, in that very first episode, I loved the man's absolute fearlessness about presenting himself to an attractive Human being. The fact that the attractive Human being is a man (Bashir) doesn't make any difference to him, but that was a little too sophisticated I think. For the most part, the writers supported the character beautifully, but in that area they just made a choice they didn't want to go there, and if they don't want to go there I can't, because the writing doesn't support it. " [3] See also: Non-heterosexual characters in Star Trek

Contributing to this speculation is his occupational status as an operative in the Obsidian Order, where romance and sexuality would have been an intolerable distraction and liability to one involved in such treacherous business (as they proved to be in Enabran Tain 's case, who was obligated to conceal his amorous relationship and subsequent fatherhood of Garak, these familial connections perpetually posing "a weakness [he couldn't] afford.") ( DS9 : " In Purgatory's Shadow ")

Ira Steven Behr commented: " I wish we could have done a little bit more with the Garak character. I talk about it in the doc. I mean, he was clearly gay or queer or however you want to say it. I think I would have loved to have taken that and see where that went and how that affected his relationship with Bashir ". [4]

Robinson commented: " I’m not saying anybody was jealous about the amount of material I was getting, but some of the regulars would laugh and say, “Jesus, you’re getting a good bite out of this.” And it’s true. If I fell in love with Garak, I think it’s because the writers fell in love with Garak. As a matter of fact, I know they did ". [5]

Garak originally had a larger role in " Tears of the Prophets ", the final episode of the sixth season . Ronald D. Moore commented, " In the original outline, we had included a Garak-Kira storyline which had them going off to the Badlands in an attempt to find and intercept Dukat. Garak had been obsessively looking him for months and then got a lead on his movements which suggested he was in Dominion territory and might be crossing back over the border soon. Garak and Kira go out to the Badlands to lie in wait for him, but in the end they are tricked into capturing the wrong ship, allowing Dukat to slip past them and arrive on DS9. We dropped this story because ultimately it went nowhere and served only to make our heroes look bad. " ( AOL chat , 1998 )

Garak's profession as a tailor was an homage by producer Peter Allan Fields to the 1960s television show The Man from U.N.C.L.E. , in which Del Floria's tailor shop served as the secret entrance to U.N.C.L.E. headquarters. Fields was a writer on that show. ( Star Trek Encyclopedia , 2nd ed., p. 492)

Reception [ ]

Ira Steven Behr commented, " Garak is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. So who he is, what he really is, who the hell knows? And I think it took a more sophisticated audience to really get behind that kind of a character, because back in the day, it seemed anyway, that mystery and … I don't want to say subtlety, but something along those lines … That's not what people want, that they wanted their TNG good, bad, everything very clear, everything very clean, everything very understandable. And at the end of the day, everything was safe. Everything was basically safe. And Garak is not a safe character. And the fact now that he's so popular says something about how the audience has matured. And that's a good thing ". [6]

Behr also commented, " Getting back to telling character-oriented stories, getting back to having conflict between Human beings; plot at the service of character… I think we created a much more complete universe in which you can have all these characters with all these back stories, all these races, all these supporting characters. You knew more about 'Garak' or 'Gul Dukat', ultimately, than you knew about ' Riker '. " [7]

Hans Beimler commented, " To me, the guy that embodied the show was Garak. He was a fuckin' spy, man! He was a bad guy, in a way. But you got to know and understand him. And he got to know us and understand us. Even appreciate us. He wasn't such a bad guy at the end of the show. " ( Science Fiction Television Series, 1990-2004 , p. 270)

Andrew Robinson commented, " He’s an every man. All of us have our secrets and sometimes have challenges to our ethical and moral lives. In that way, he’s very Human. He’s not a brave, heroic figure like Captain Kirk. Nor was he one of the bad monsters on a planet that the original cast or The Next Generation cast would visit weekly. Garak was something else. " [8]

Apocrypha [ ]

Literature [ ].

The Deep Space Nine relaunch novel A Stitch in Time , written by Andrew Robinson himself, portrayed Garak's life on Cardassia, following the Dominion War, and the role he played in the rebuilding of Cardassian society, detailing his role in Cardassia's reconstruction. The novel revealed that Mila was, in fact, Garak's mother; this would explain why she was so dear to Garak, and why Garak lived with her and Tain when Tain never acknowledged him as his son. It's also revealed that after Garak was exiled from Cardassia, he came to Terok Nor and was placed under Dukat's command. Though Dukat wanted to kill Garak, Tain arranged it so he couldn't, and instead assigned Garak the meager task as station tailor in the hopes of demeaning him. Garak, however, decided to infuriate Dukat by proudly taking up his new post and performing his duties well. After the Cardassians withdrew from Bajor, Garak decided to stay, hoping to act as the eyes and ears to a world where he was no longer welcome in the chance of redeeming himself. Andrew Robinson based the novel on the notes about Garak which the actor had written and kept during the run of the series, so the novel provided a large amount of background information on Garak developed by Robinson.

In the novel The Never-Ending Sacrifice by Una McCormack , Garak became the Cardassian ambassador to the Federation and resides in Paris . Following political turmoil on Cardassia Prime in the later novel The Crimson Shadow , Garak stood for election as Castellan, the post-Dominion head of state, and won handily due to his ties to Damar and to the first post-war leader of Cardassia, Alon Ghemor, both venerated figures to the Cardassian people. He recognized that he was the only qualified candidate who truly understood the wisdom of Cardassia maintaining its alliance with the Federation, musing that he will attempt to make sure that he made the right decisions in his new role by thinking of Tora Ziyal when he has to make an important decision and asking himself what she would approve of. Enigma Tales also continues this storyline.

In the anniversary trilogy Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Millennium , Garak traveled twenty-five years into the future with the crew of the Defiant , and was briefly trapped in a Pah-wraith Hell – where he was condemned to work as a Bajoran slave, given orders by Tain that he was incapable of carrying out – until he was "rescued" by Dukat (although Garak was able to use techniques he learned in the Obsidian Order to escape by himself and leave Dukat trapped in his Hell once Dukat's presence confirmed the unreality of his current situation). While attempting to undo the events that created the future timeline they experienced, Garak traveled back to before the Day of Withdrawal and met with his own younger self, providing his past self with the necessary codes to deactivate Terok Nor's self-destruct sequence after the Cardassians leave, the younger Garak later erasing his memory of his future self's visit.

Elim Garak of the alternate reality

The alternate reality version of Elim Garak appears in the fourth issue of the Star Trek: Ongoing story arc The Q Gambit where he leads a group of Cardassian soldiers in a set-up created by Quark to capture Kira, Spock and Dr. Leonard McCoy . Though Kira attempts to fight, Spock restrains her seeing as the fight is already lost, with Garak agreeing. He then seizes the Reckoning Tablet and explains how he heard rumors of it being buried on Bajor but didn't believe them until now. Kira then threatens to break out and take back the tablet and wouldn't stop until she was dead, to which Garak replies that he has no permission to kill them just yet, so he takes the three prisoners and the tablet back to Terok Nor to discover its secrets together.

In the Star Trek: Picard novel Second Self , Garak became the Cardassian Ambassador to the United Federation of Planets following the end of the Dominion War and diligently performed his duties for years until he retired in the early 2390s . By 2399 , Garak had fallen out of favor with both the Cardassion Union and the Federation when Cardassia considered him an embarrassment as he was the last surviving member of the Obsidian Order, and the Federation considered him a liability as protecting him could mean a straining in the Federation-Bajoran relations so when Bajoran Intelligence discovered that in 2340 that he had been responsible for the destruction of a Bajoran settlement on the planet Ordeve, he was branded a criminal and forced to hide. When he was sighted on Ordeve, Admiral Jean-Luc Picard tasked Lieutenant Commander Raffaela Musiker to track him down and arrest him. She recruited Elnor and the two were transported onto the planet by Captain Cristóbal Rios with the USS Stargazer . By then, Garak had surgically altered himself to look Bajoran and adopted the cover identity of a vedek named "Saba Taan", a man he had first met on the planet almost 50 years before. He was found and identified by Raffi and Koma Tath agent Toze Falus and taken prisoner, but they were unable to take him to custody as a force field protected by Obsidian Order codes had activated behind them, forcing them to go further in the Caanta valley. There they found a Bajoran settlement where people reacted to Garak's presence by welcoming him with happiness and love and revealed to him that they were the children who had survived Garak's attack in 2340 and that he really was Saba Taan, and due to a temporal causality loop , was destined to go back in time to save them from his actions and protect the Orb to redeem himself for his crimes, while Toze initially opposed the news, he eventually allowed Garak to use the Orb of Restitution to travel back in time, official reports listed him dead while trying to protect the Orb from a Tal Shiar attack. Garak arrived in 2340 five months before the arrival of his younger self and used the time he had to create a safe haven for the children and help the Bajoran Resistance smuggle weapons through the local temple, he also briefly met his younger self and told him that he forgave him for what he was about to do. When the younger Garak attacked the settlement, he snuck away with the children and the Orb in the Caanta valley where he raised and protected them until he died in 2357 after performing Shri-tal with his Bajoran charges. After his death, he was buried in a tomb adorned with a Bajoran holy symbol and the coat of arms of the Obsidian Order and was remembered by his new family with much love.

Computer games [ ]

Robinson reprised his role as Garak for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Fallen .

The story for Star Trek Online had Garak becoming a leader of the new Detapa Council on Cardassia. Garak appears in the game's fourth expansion, Victory is Life , voiced once more by Andrew Robinson. Garak attends a conference on DS9 called by Odo to deal with the threat of the Hur'q ; following the conference, he can be regularly found in his old tailor's shop. In the course of the campaign, Garak discovers a transponder of apparent Dominion manufacture on the Dominion world of Karemma , attuned to lure in the Hur'q; he informs Odo and Captain Kira Nerys that he found one of similar design in the Kendra Province on Bajor just after the recent Hur'q attack against DS9. In the mission "Tenebris Torquent", during the confrontation with the Female Changeling on the ruined Hur'q homeworld, Garak reveals that he set one of the transponders on the Founder homeworld of Empersa as insurance. Following the success of the campaign, Garak conducts successful negotiations to bring the Cardassian Union into the Khitomer Alliance, remarking to the player that they could expect to see more Cardassians around (a reference to Cardassians being made a playable species in Victory is Life ).

External links [ ]

• Elim Garak at Wikipedia
• Elim Garak at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Elim Garak at the Star Trek Online Wiki
• 1 Daniels (Crewman)
• 3 Calypso (episode)