posted
I just have a couple questions about his backstory that I don't think were ever answered. I just want to make sure I didn't miss something.
First, what did he do to get himself exiled? What was this betrail of Enabran Tain?
Second, what's the story with Dukat?
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posted
Canonically, we know virtually zip. But there is the rather enjoyable book "A Stich in Time", written by Garak himself (well, at least by Andrew Robinson who plays Garak). Perhaps what Garak tells there could be taken at face value for a change?
Canon answer #1:
In "The Wire", Garak is suffering from major withdrawal pains and probably has his guards down, so we can place more value on his words there than in other episodes. During his moments of greatest despair, he says he was tasked with interrogating a bunch of Bajoran kids on Bajor during the eve of the Cardassian departure from the planet. He allowed the kids to go free, and didn't manage to shift the blame of that offense to others in time. In another version, he ordered a shuttle with fleeing Bajorans to be destroyed, but this killed the kid of a powerful Cardassian as well.
Either of these acts, if true, could have led to his banishment to DS9 - but it is unlikely that either of them would lead to Tain abandoning him. That "betrayal" was probably a wholly separate incident, if we go by canon evidence and believe it.
Robinson's answer #1:
The actor-author himself believes that the betrayal and the banishment were one and the same, although he weaves a complex tale that ties the event to other betrayals as well. Garak betrays Tain by failing to place his career and a promised position as Tain's successor ahead of his lust for a woman he once knew. Tain arranges for Garak to kill the woman's husband and an enemy of Tain's (and a former friend of Garak's, who has betrayed Garak in other things as well as stealing the girl), which is of course what Garak wants to do - but Tain also arranges for Garak to be caught, which leads to Garak being banished to Bajor by the cohorts supporting the late husband. He's immediately made the tailor of Dukat's station.
The shuttle/kids story goes differently here: apparently, a bunch of Bajorans capture a shuttle in desperation, and Garak is in a position to convince an old enemy of his (Gul Toran, whom he later kills in "Profit and Loss") to let the Bajorans live. He instead lets the Bajorans to be killed. This seems to be completely unrelated to Garak's banishment or betrayal of Tain, and it's not clear if this takes place before or after Garak's banishment. It *feels* as if it was before, though. So going by this, all Garak told in "The Wire" was unrelated fables or outright lies.
Canon answer #2:
Garak arranged for Dukat's father to be executed for treason. This is said clearly in "Civil Defence".
Robinson's answer #2:
Garak interrogated Dukat's father covertly, and found secrets that could be used to arrange for his execution. Dukat found out Garak's role despite the precautions, and made Garak's life on Terok Nor as difficult as possible. So no difference in the answers here.
posted
Don't forget that Tain was, in all probability, Garak's father.
(Not that that has anything to do with the question asked. D'oh.)
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[This message has been edited by Sol System (edited May 17, 2000).]
posted
I really suggest that you read Robinson's book on Garak. "A Stitch in Time" is a truly enjoyable read, perhaps a bit less coherent than Shimerman's Quark book "The 34th Rule", but not a bit less true to its subject. For once, we get a book where the Cardassians are the heroes (like the Ferengi were, sort of, in "The 34th Rule").
Robinson introduces a couple of extra twists to the question of who Garak's father really was. In general, though, he agrees with the "traditional" interpretations. The only thing where he explicitly states that what we learned from an episode was an outright lie is the issue of how he betrayed Tain and was exiled. "The Wire" was just further subterfuge from Garak's part.
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