Cardassians (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode)

"**Cardassians**"
"Cardassians"
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode
Episode no.	Season 2; Episode 5
Directed by	Cliff Bole
Story by	Gene Wolande; John Wright
Teleplay by	James Crocker
Featured music	Jay Chattaway
Production code	425
Original air date	October 24, 1993
Guest appearances
	Andrew Robinson - Elim Garak; Rosalind Chao - Keiko O'Brien; Marc Alaimo - Gul Dukat; Robert Mandan - Kotan Pa'Dar; Terrence Evans - Proka; Vidal Peterson - Rugal; Dion Anderson as Zolan;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "Invasive Procedures"	Next →; "Melora"
	List of episodes

"Cardassians" is the 25th episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It is the fifth episode of the second season.

Garak investigates the identity of a Cardassian boy abandoned on Bajor.

Plot

When Garak sees a Cardassian boy on board Deep Space Nine, he decides to introduce himself, but the boy, Rugal, bites him on the hand. The boy has been raised by Bajoran parents and taught to hate and fear Cardassians. His adoptive parents claim that they do not consider him a Cardassian any more, but allegations of abuse lead to an investigation into the family. Gul Dukat tells Sisko that he is trying to bring orphaned Cardassians back from Bajor and that the discovery of Rugal will strengthen his case. Miles and Keiko O'Brien agree to care for Rugal during the investigation, and Rugal helps Miles overcome his prejudice against Cardassians.

Meanwhile, Garak suggests to Bashir that more is happening than meets the eye. Bashir requests a runabout so the two can travel to Bajor, although he is unsure of what Garak wants to do. Sisko refuses until Dukat contacts him again to inform him that genetic tests have revealed that Rugal is the son of a prominent Cardassian politician named Kotan Pa'Dar. Sisko allows Bashir and Garak to travel to Bajor and Garak takes them to an orphanage that took in many Cardassian orphans when the occupation of Bajor ended. They retrieve several databases full of information, but during the trip back to DS9 Bashir grows impatient and demands to know what is happening. The ever-mysterious Garak hints that the situation has to do with the conflict between military and civilian interests on Cardassia.

Garak tells Bashir that Pa'Dar is a political rival of Dukat and Bashir begins to understand but is still confused. Back on the station, Pa'Dar arrives to greet Rugal, but O'Brien warns him about Rugal's feelings. Pa'Dar explains that on Cardassia family is everything, and he blames himself for letting Rugal be left behind on Bajor. When he meets Rugal, he tries to tell the boy that he had no choice and did not know Rugal was on Bajor. However, the boy does not remember him and calls Pa'Dar a "Cardassian butcher." Pa'Dar is deeply wounded by Rugal's bitterness toward him.

Regardless of what has happened, Pa'Dar wants his son back, but Rugal's adoptive father refuses to give Rugal to him. The two of them approach Sisko to be a neutral arbiter and he accepts. Shortly thereafter Gul Dukat arrives on the station, claiming that he is there as a part of his quest to return the Cardassian orphans. During the hearing, Garak and Bashir's search for information on Rugal comes up empty, but they find the woman who took Rugal in at the orphanage, who remembers that a Cardassian woman attached to Terok Nor (the Cardassian name for DS9) brought him to her.

Bashir interrupts the hearing, where he reveals that Rugal's discovery was planned by Dukat all along: Dukat ordered one of his subordinates to leave Rugal behind, with the full knowledge that the boy would one day be found and that Pa'Dar would be humiliated as a result. This was done since Dukat and Pa'Dar are longtime political enemies: Pa'Dar was one of the civilian politicians who ordered the Cardassian withdrawal from Bajor, costing Dukat his position as prefect. Also, Pa'Dar is now ordering an inquiry into illegal Cardassian smuggling of weapons, an inquiry in which Dukat is a prime suspect. Dukat storms out, and Sisko awards custody of the boy to Pa'Dar, who reassures Sisko that Dukat will never reveal what happened now that he too has been humiliated. Bashir and Garak sit down for another one of their lunches, where Bashir asks Garak for the truth about his history with Dukat. Garak smiles and tells him to notice the details, which he compares to crumbs scattered across the table.

References

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine DVD set, volume 2, disc 2, selection 1.
P. Farrand, Nitpicker's Guide for Deep Space Nine Trekkers New York: Dell (1996): 106 - 109

External links

Template:StarTrek.com link

v t e Star Trek: Cardassian stories
The Next Generation	"The Wounded" "Ensign Ro" "Chain of Command" "The Chase" " Lower Decks" "Journey's End" "Preemptive Strike"
Deep Space Nine	"Emissary" "Duet" "The Homecoming" "The Circle" "Cardassians" "Necessary Evil" "Profit and Loss" "The Maquis" "The Wire" "Tribunal" "Second Skin" "Civil Defense" "Defiant" "Destiny" "Improbable Cause" "The Die is Cast" "The Way of the Warrior" "Indiscretion" "Return to Grace" "Things Past" "The Darkness and the Light" "In Purgatory's Shadow" "By Inferno's Light" "Ties of Blood and Water" "Empok Nor" "Call to Arms" "A Time to Stand" "Sons and Daughters" "Behind the Lines" "Favor the Bold" "Sacrifice of Angels" "Waltz" "Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night" "Tears of the Prophets" "Penumbra" "'Til Death Do Us Part" "Strange Bedfellows" "The Changing Face of Evil" "When It Rains…" "Tacking into the Wind" "The Dogs of War" "What You Leave Behind"
Voyager	"Caretaker" "State of Flux" "Dreadnought" "Nothing Human" "Worst Case Scenario" "Shattered"
Category:Star Trek

v t e Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes
Seasons 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Season 1	"Emissary" "Past Prologue" "A Man Alone" "Babel" "Captive Pursuit" "Q-Less" "Dax" "The Passenger" "Move Along Home" "The Nagus" "Vortex" "Battle Lines" "The Storyteller" "Progress" "If Wishes Were Horses" "The Forsaken" "Dramatis Personae" "Duet" "In the Hands of the Prophets"
Season 2	"The Homecoming" "The Circle" "The Siege" "Invasive Procedures" "Cardassians" "Melora" "Rules of Acquisition" "Necessary Evil" "Second Sight" "Sanctuary" "Rivals" "The Alternate" "Armageddon Game" "Whispers" "Paradise" "Shadowplay" "Playing God" "Profit and Loss" "Blood Oath" "The Maquis, Part I" "The Maquis, Part II" "The Wire" "Crossover" "The Collaborator" "Tribunal" "The Jem'Hadar"
Season 3	"The Search" "The House of Quark" "Equilibrium" "Second Skin" "The Abandoned" "Civil Defense" "Meridian" "Defiant" "Fascination" "Past Tense, Part I" "Past Tense, Part II" "Life Support" "Heart of Stone" "Destiny" "Prophet Motive" "Visionary" "Distant Voices" "Through the Looking Glass" "Improbable Cause" "The Die Is Cast" "Explorers" "Family Business" "Shakaar" "Facets" "The Adversary"
Season 4	"The Way of the Warrior" "The Visitor" "Hippocratic Oath" "Indiscretion" "Rejoined" "Starship Down" "Little Green Men" "The Sword of Kahless" "Our Man Bashir" "Homefront" "Paradise Lost" "Crossfire" "Return to Grace" "Sons of Mogh" "Bar Association" "Accession" "Rules of Engagement" "Hard Time" "Shattered Mirror" "The Muse" "For the Cause" "To the Death" "The Quickening" "Body Parts" "Broken Link"
Season 5	"Apocalypse Rising" "The Ship" "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" "...Nor the Battle to the Strong" "The Assignment" "Trials and Tribble-ations" "Let He Who Is Without Sin..." "Things Past" "The Ascent" "Rapture" "The Darkness and the Light" "The Begotten" "For the Uniform" "In Purgatory's Shadow" "By Inferno's Light" "Doctor Bashir, I Presume?" "A Simple Investigation" "Business as Usual" "Ties of Blood and Water" "Ferengi Love Songs" "Soldiers of the Empire" "Children of Time" "Blaze of Glory" "Empok Nor" "In the Cards" "Call to Arms"
Season 6	"A Time to Stand" "Rocks and Shoals" "Sons and Daughters" "Behind the Lines" "Favor the Bold" "Sacrifice of Angels" "You Are Cordially Invited" "Resurrection" "Statistical Probabilities" "The Magnificent Ferengi" "Waltz" "Who Mourns for Morn?" "Far Beyond the Stars" "One Little Ship" "Honor Among Thieves" "Change of Heart" "Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night" "Inquisition" "In the Pale Moonlight" "His Way" "The Reckoning" "Valiant" "Profit and Lace" "Time's Orphan" "The Sound of Her Voice" "Tears of the Prophets"
Season 7	"Image in the Sand" "Shadows and Symbols" "Afterimage" "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" "Chrysalis" "Treachery, Faith, and the Great River" "Once More unto the Breach" "The Siege of AR-558" "Covenant" "It's Only a Paper Moon" "Prodigal Daughter" "The Emperor's New Cloak" "Field of Fire" "Chimera" "Badda-Bing Badda-Bang" "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" "Penumbra" "'Til Death Do Us Part" "Strange Bedfellows" "The Changing Face of Evil" "When It Rains…" "Tacking into the Wind" "Extreme Measures" "The Dogs of War" "What You Leave Behind"

v t e Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Characters	Julian Bashir Dax Ezri Jadzia Gul Dukat Elim Garak Vic Fontaine Ishka Kira Nerys Martok Nog Miles O'Brien Keiko O'Brien Odo Quark Rom Benjamin Sisko Jake Sisko Worf
Episodes	Season 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Settings	Runabout (spacecraft) Deep Space Nine (space station) USS Defiant (spaceship) Bajor (planet) Holosuites Bird of Prey (spaceship) Mirror Universe
Video games	Crossroads of Time Harbinger The Fallen Dominion Wars
Other topics	Awards Cast Home video releases Characters Novels Companion Dominion War the Maquis Breen Bajoran Cardassian Starfleet Section 31 The Federation Wormhole Warp drive What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine