You studied to serve in the Obsidian Order, you worked hard, but it wasn't enough. You knew better than to call them, but they didn't call you, so you went to trade school - working as a tailor, sure, but you'd take any job you could find, a gardener if necessary. In your spare time, of course, you read the spy novels you loved, learned a few practical tricks you'd vaguely heard about, half in hopes that the Obsidian Order could use your services after all and half out of pure wish fulfillment.
It was exciting to move to Terok Nor. You got to meet real spies (not necessarily knowingly, of course) and even if the Guls weren't all they were cracked up to be you still could use that attitude of affected cynicism all your heroes had. And when the Cardassians left, you stayed, partly because there was nowhere else to go but partly because - well, it was like Spy Disneyland, wasn't it? A few choice hints and demonstrations here and there, and you got that wariness, that respect, that feeling of power. People looked at you like you were more than some tailor.
Then you met a very credulous Federation doctor desperate to believe that his life, too, was like those novels he loved so much.
(And later on, when the Captain came to you, all those years of joking bit you in the ass. You can't exactly say no when Ben Sisko asks you to forge a datarod. The eventual result was the product of furious improvisation, of conversations with shady lowlives in Quark's and isolated sections of the docks, of library books and YouTube videos and eventually just Googling court records until you could find someone to do it for you, and it was absolute garbage as a fake because why wouldn't it be? Luckily, bombs are much simpler on a technical level, and the guilt of being responsible for murdering a man... well, it was life or death for you too, wasn't it?)
(Also, Enabran Tain genuinely did not know who the hell this guy was claiming to be his son, but, well, it would have crushed him to say anything else, wouldn't it? Might as well play along. What else was he going to do? Besides, he didn't know for a fact that it wasn't true.)
While rewatching the DS9 S02E22 Bashir talks to Tain, and Tain says something to the effect of wanting Garak to live a long and miserable life. It had me thinking about how Cardassians rarely ever say what they actually mean. Do you suppose that in his own way Tain loved his son?
Hi guys, i am looking for a mug that has the name tag " Elim Garak, former cardassian oppressor" as in season 5 episode 8, can anyone make it, I would pay for it also if you know anywhere I can buy that, I would appreciate the help.
Lets be real, Dukat is the villain Star Trek needed and Garak is the hero we didn't deserve, but needed.
Was Garak good or bad? What is the general consensus? I thought he got away with way too much
Title says it all
Round 1: No one has any idea who Garak is, and he doesn't have any idea who anyone else is.
Round 2: Everyone knows who everyone is.
Bonus Round: Garak has a phaser.
Pandemic boredom and binge-watching may lead to some βproductiveβ places. Iβm theory-crafting a few DS9 builds β and started my first real one with Garak.
Went with a Snoop UnRogue, just out to Level 10. Decided Cardassians were a lot like Hobgoblins.
Found an amazing number of flavorful feats and talents and traits β on the way to doing justice to a top spymasterβs secret son who became a remarkable interrogator and plant for his govtβs intelligence/spy agency and now lives in exile as a tailor where everyone vaguely knows heβs got a past. And also that some his unsettling skills still come to bear once in a while.
Happy for suggestions and arguments for reasons of Star Trek canon and Pathfinder mechanics.
Thanks!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qFUfz0DKQTW6ETgTUcuGMu-qCgj_J7lI0bdvPIocEiI/edit
He could have come up with any credentials he wanted.
On DS9, Garak was a tailor, spy, drug addict, liar, friend, outcast, assassin, enemy, friend (sort of), information officer, political animal, and a survivor. To be honest, he is my favorite Cardassian.
He never told the truth when he could lie. In each of his lies, there was a thread of truth. Plus, he was a fine tailor. I should have hated him but there is something so likable about Garak. He is a man who cares nothing for being liked. Even his friendship with Bashir was never really an honest one. I think he often used Bashir as a safety in case he needed support with the Federation. The actor who played intended for him to be asexual. Sex is just another tool to him but the actor ended up letting that fade as he didn't feel the show was ready for it to be spoken aloud.
He wasn't a good man but he was an interesting one. He would have been so fun to play--all the dirty little nuances.
What do you think? Yes on Garak?
Tirzah
Starting to answer questions live as of 7pm PST.
My newly released book Stepping into the Light: Sources of an Actor's Craft
*Many thanks for hanging out in cyberspace with me. Going back to work teaching at USC this week and need my rest. I'll come back at some point after I get The Threepenny Opera up and performing in early February. Have a great new year all! Andy
** I'll also be back to this thread as allowed to answer some of the questions I couldn't get to. Sorry and I'll do my best to reply.
I think Bashir is going about it all wrong trying to force Shakespeare on a Cardassian. If anything I think Garak might tolerate Coriolanus, and like Paradise Lost. (He'd argue that Satan is the only mildly intriguing character, and a slick politician at that.)
