Character Overview
As the series develops, Garak's early life is revealed little by little to the audience and the other characters in the series.
Garak has a long-standing antagonistic relationship with the prefect of Bajor, Gul Dukat. In the episode "Civil Defense", Dukat states that it was a mistake for his father to have once trusted Garak, and later in "For the Cause" it is revealed that Garak had Dukat's father tortured and killed. Later, Garak fell from grace and was exiled from Cardassia. He fled to the Cardassian space station Terok Nor when the Cardassians withdrew from the station, leaving it for the Federation and Bajorans. The reason for Garak's exile were never stated explicitly. In "The Wire", a delirious Garak gave three different and contradictory stories for his exile; first that he had killed some escaping Bajoran prisoners in the last days of the occupation but in the process also killed the daughter of a powerful Cardassian military official, then that he actually took pity on some Bajoran children and allowed them to escape, and finally that he had been framed for letting Bajoran prisoners escape. In "Improbable Cause", Garak's former mentor Enabran Tain plainly accuses him of betraying Cardassia but no details are given, while in "The Way of the Warrior" Dukat cynically reminds Garak to remember to aim his phaser at Klingons and not Cardassians.
Garak's character is elaborated on when his childhood abuse is revealed. Garak, whose father, Enabran Tain, was the head of the Obsidian Order, is seen to have an acute form of claustrophobia as an adult. His claustrophobia is strongly suggested to have resulted from his father locking him in a closet as punishment for him not doing his chores, often for hours at a time. Garak only overcomes this with the help of Ezri Dax who was newly posted to DS9 as the station's psychologist.
In an effort to gain his father's acceptance and approval, Garak followed his father's footsteps and joined the Obsidian Order; at one point he was stationed on Romulus (and was likely involved in the deaths of several Romulan officials), until the Cardassians stationed him on occupied Bajor. In his role as an agent of the Obsidian Order, it is suggested that Garak was one of the most skilled operatives within the organization with a particular talent for interrogation. Indeed, Garak has shown ability in hand to hand combat, computer programming and repair, piloting and code breaking. These talents came to the forefront on many occasions and Captain Sisko made use of them himself by recruiting Garak to work with Federation personnel; most especially during the Dominion War. Of note, Garak worked with a Starfleet detachment commanded by Captain Sisko while a mission to destroy a vital Jem'Hadar supply port.
In the third season of Deep Space Nine, during the joint Romulan/Cardassian attempt to destroy the Founders' home world, Garak is given the opportunity to return home by proving himself to Tain as a trustworthy operative of the Obsidian Order. As a result, Garak is assigned to interrogate and torture Deep Space Nine's chief of security, Odo, whose people had founded the Dominion. Garak returns to Deep Space Nine with Odo after apologizing to him and the two form a unique bond after realizing that they were more alike than they had originally thought. Later, when Garak goes with Worf to the Gamma Quadrant to try to find surviving members of the failed attack on the Founders, a dying Tain finally reveals to Garak that he is proud of him as his son.
In the last two seasons Garak had shifted his loyalties completely towards the Federation, primarily because his old political rival, Gul Dukat seized control of Cardassia and aligned it with the Dominion. In these later seasons, Garak uses his knowledge to assist the Federation in its war against the Dominion and Cardassia. Garak developed serious psychological trauma knowing that he had contributed to the deaths of his fellow Cardassians Towards the end of the war Garak served as a Federation liaison to Legate Damar and his Cardassian rebellion against the Dominion, along with the Bajoran Kira Nerys. In retaliation for the rebellion, the Dominion killed 800 million Cardassians. As a result of the war, Garak's exile ends and he returns home to Cardassia.
Read more about this topic: Elim Garak
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