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So I spent a long time on this one. I've written and re-written it a few time and I'm still not happy with it, but I'm going to put this up because, of all my attempts, it's the one I think comes closest to what I want to say. In the future, I might supplement or contradict this piece, because I'm still not sure that it's really what I want.
Sometimes the Bad-Guys Are Better Written and More Compelling than the Good-Guys.
And that's fine. Seriously, you're not going to turn into a fascist just because you enjoy Cardassian-centric stories or you enjoy scenes with Dukat. It's a sign of a brilliantly written antagonist that sometimes you can't help but see their point. It doesn't make them any less wrong or you any worse a person. I feel like I've fielded that question a lot over the years, in defense of myself and others.
Because the Cardassians are certainly the bad guys. Or rather that's what they start off as. We have a body of evidence and the intentions of the TNG writers who invented them to back up that claim. The Cardassians were intended as a new recurring antagonist for the Enterprise. Someone other than the Romulans who could meet Picard on an intellectually even playing field and sometimes even out-smart the oh so smart Federation. This is why they share a number of basic traits with the Romulans and why "The Wounded", the episode where the Cardassians were introduced, is like a reverse of "Balance of Terror", the episode where the Romulans were introduced.
The Cardassians are reasoned, calculating and vicious. utterly certain of their own superiority and their eventual victory over all others. On paper they're completely unlikeable. And sometimes they're that in person, as well. However the Cardassians we know best are so much more than the brief given for them in TNG. They're charming disassemblers, iron-nerved intriguers and self interested in a way that would make the Ferengi blush. The worst of them are beyond monstrous. The best of them are, even so, dubious characters.
I've struggled with how best to write this piece and I'm still not all together convinced that I'm doing it justice. At any rate, Here's my attempt to explain why the Cardassians work so well.
Because the Cardassians are certainly the bad guys. Or rather that's what they start off as. We have a body of evidence and the intentions of the TNG writers who invented them to back up that claim. The Cardassians were intended as a new recurring antagonist for the Enterprise. Someone other than the Romulans who could meet Picard on an intellectually even playing field and sometimes even out-smart the oh so smart Federation. This is why they share a number of basic traits with the Romulans and why "The Wounded", the episode where the Cardassians were introduced, is like a reverse of "Balance of Terror", the episode where the Romulans were introduced.
The Cardassians are reasoned, calculating and vicious. utterly certain of their own superiority and their eventual victory over all others. On paper they're completely unlikeable. And sometimes they're that in person, as well. However the Cardassians we know best are so much more than the brief given for them in TNG. They're charming disassemblers, iron-nerved intriguers and self interested in a way that would make the Ferengi blush. The worst of them are beyond monstrous. The best of them are, even so, dubious characters.
I've struggled with how best to write this piece and I'm still not all together convinced that I'm doing it justice. At any rate, Here's my attempt to explain why the Cardassians work so well.
A fully Rounded Society.
As I've mentioned before, when discussing the Klingons, Star Trek is full of 1-note societies. Often times a minor detail of a species, mentioned basically as flavour text, becomes a defining factor of that species. "Tellarites love to argue" is a good example of this. Since then, Tellarite society has been written as this ultra confrontational society that debates everything with such rhetorical bile. You could just as easily say "Humans love to argue" and it would be true, but we wouldn't anticipate it to be the single, defining factor of our species.
Cardassians suffer from this, to an extent. At least they do initially. TNG doesn't do much with them beyond making a bunch of Romulans that are less advanced but a lot better at scheming. Even in Early DS9 their culture remains largely enigmatic. Evil manipulators that screw with the Federation and Bajor to advance one agenda or another. We get our first glimpse of a deeper society in the aptly named "Cardassians".
We learn some scant details of Cardassian family hierarchy. We see that internal politics within the Cardassian Union are fraught and fractious. We also get another look at 2 important Cardassian characters. Dukat, who will be key to representing everything wrong with Cardassia, and Garak, who will play an important role in giving us insight into the merits of Cardassian society.
From then on, we start to see cracks in the edifice of Unity that the Cardassian Union portrays. Political dissidents. Infighting between governmental bodies. Conflicting goals on joint projects. By the time of the Dominion War arc we have a pretty good picture of how the Cardassian people view their own government and how abstracted that is from the behavior of that government. Importantly, we also get differing views on all of these developments. Incidentally, this is something that DS9 went on to apply to the Klingons later in the series.
Before and after DS9, we're largely fed a single school of thought about about most species that aren't human. In TNG, for instance, we mostly accept what Worf tells us about the Klingons as wrote. In Voyager, 7 is the designated Borg expositor. T'Pol fills the same role in Enterprise. While this isn't a hard rule, we largely accept what we're told about these cultures and races, based off the claims of a member of that race.
In DS9, a good portion of what we're told about the Cardassians, by Cardassians is demonstrably untrue. Take a moment to consider that our most reliable narrator for Cardassia is Elim Garak, a man who has spent entire episodes spinning intricate webs of lies. We're not just getting Cardassia, we're getting Garak's Cardassia, or Dukat's, or Damar's.
And on that topic...
Cardassians suffer from this, to an extent. At least they do initially. TNG doesn't do much with them beyond making a bunch of Romulans that are less advanced but a lot better at scheming. Even in Early DS9 their culture remains largely enigmatic. Evil manipulators that screw with the Federation and Bajor to advance one agenda or another. We get our first glimpse of a deeper society in the aptly named "Cardassians".
We learn some scant details of Cardassian family hierarchy. We see that internal politics within the Cardassian Union are fraught and fractious. We also get another look at 2 important Cardassian characters. Dukat, who will be key to representing everything wrong with Cardassia, and Garak, who will play an important role in giving us insight into the merits of Cardassian society.
From then on, we start to see cracks in the edifice of Unity that the Cardassian Union portrays. Political dissidents. Infighting between governmental bodies. Conflicting goals on joint projects. By the time of the Dominion War arc we have a pretty good picture of how the Cardassian people view their own government and how abstracted that is from the behavior of that government. Importantly, we also get differing views on all of these developments. Incidentally, this is something that DS9 went on to apply to the Klingons later in the series.
Before and after DS9, we're largely fed a single school of thought about about most species that aren't human. In TNG, for instance, we mostly accept what Worf tells us about the Klingons as wrote. In Voyager, 7 is the designated Borg expositor. T'Pol fills the same role in Enterprise. While this isn't a hard rule, we largely accept what we're told about these cultures and races, based off the claims of a member of that race.
In DS9, a good portion of what we're told about the Cardassians, by Cardassians is demonstrably untrue. Take a moment to consider that our most reliable narrator for Cardassia is Elim Garak, a man who has spent entire episodes spinning intricate webs of lies. We're not just getting Cardassia, we're getting Garak's Cardassia, or Dukat's, or Damar's.
And on that topic...
Personal and Cultural Growth
Damar is an incidental mirror to Kira Nerys. His behavior and actions mimic the zeitgeist of the Cardassian people. His disillusionment and eventual revelation are a short hand for the New Cardassia, which was set in motion just a few episodes before his introduction as a character.
Let's examine that, piece by piece, starting from the Cardassia he begins with. At Damar's introduction, Cardassia is belligerent and dissatisfied with a government that has failed to oust Klingon invaders. A democratic coup has failed to enact meaningful change and the military-industrial complex that has underpinned Cardassian society in the past has once again become appealing. This is itself a product of seasons of development. Dukat, the totem for the military industrial Cardassia has gradually lost control of situations on Bajor, in the DMZ and within Cardassian space. Even the scant development of civilian authorities and the Obsidian Order is enough to point to where Cardassia is headed.
Damar is one of the losers of the coup. Pushed out of relevance by the new democratic government. His blind devotion to Dukat and continued arrogance in the face of untenable odds are a precursor of what the Cardassian people will embrace when Dukat signs Cardassia up to the Dominion. He is certainly not loyal to the Dominion but he plays the part. The same part that all of Cardassia plays as they cede power to the Dominion and gradually become servitors.
Even here, Damar remains fervently loyal to Dukat and to his pipe dream of a strong and independant Cardassia, in the aftermath of the Dominion War. This is a representation fo how Cardassia remains blind to it's own downfall, even as it happens. Damar remain an Ideologue as the tide of battle turns and even as Dukat, his mentor, turns on him. Eventually, Damar kills Ziyal. Not out of spite, nor pleasure. Damar kills her because that is the Cardassian thing to do in the situation. A scant year earlier, Dukat almost made the same decision. Note how, even as he begins to doubt, Damar's speeches echo the lofty oration of Dukat. "This I vow by my life's blood. For my sons. For all our sons."
It is here that things begin to turn. Damar, and the Cardassian people, begin to chafe under Dominion rule. They are no longer favoured and no longer satisfied with their role. Once Damar makes the choice to actively resit the Dominion, the old Cardassia is dead. He metaphorically and literally burns the old Cardassia in his revolution. One of the rawest lines in all of Star Trek is the brutal confrontation with reality he experiences when his family are killed. Damar is confronted by the nasty shit that Cardassia did to Bajor as someone who has just experienced exactly what his people dished out for generations. His reaction to this moment isn't what we've seen in the past. Rather than rehashing some line of state propaganda, Damar seethes but bears the truth of the accusation. Here, Damar is ahead of the curve for the general Cardassian populace. He is the forerunner for a society which, in order to move forward, will have to accept that they were wrong.
Damar's death follows the trend he has set. His character dies amongst droves of his own people, an unlikely hero. With him, the old Cardassia is truly dead. There's a finality to that that only hits one of the people assembled at his death. A one Elim Garak...
Let's examine that, piece by piece, starting from the Cardassia he begins with. At Damar's introduction, Cardassia is belligerent and dissatisfied with a government that has failed to oust Klingon invaders. A democratic coup has failed to enact meaningful change and the military-industrial complex that has underpinned Cardassian society in the past has once again become appealing. This is itself a product of seasons of development. Dukat, the totem for the military industrial Cardassia has gradually lost control of situations on Bajor, in the DMZ and within Cardassian space. Even the scant development of civilian authorities and the Obsidian Order is enough to point to where Cardassia is headed.
Damar is one of the losers of the coup. Pushed out of relevance by the new democratic government. His blind devotion to Dukat and continued arrogance in the face of untenable odds are a precursor of what the Cardassian people will embrace when Dukat signs Cardassia up to the Dominion. He is certainly not loyal to the Dominion but he plays the part. The same part that all of Cardassia plays as they cede power to the Dominion and gradually become servitors.
Even here, Damar remains fervently loyal to Dukat and to his pipe dream of a strong and independant Cardassia, in the aftermath of the Dominion War. This is a representation fo how Cardassia remains blind to it's own downfall, even as it happens. Damar remain an Ideologue as the tide of battle turns and even as Dukat, his mentor, turns on him. Eventually, Damar kills Ziyal. Not out of spite, nor pleasure. Damar kills her because that is the Cardassian thing to do in the situation. A scant year earlier, Dukat almost made the same decision. Note how, even as he begins to doubt, Damar's speeches echo the lofty oration of Dukat. "This I vow by my life's blood. For my sons. For all our sons."
It is here that things begin to turn. Damar, and the Cardassian people, begin to chafe under Dominion rule. They are no longer favoured and no longer satisfied with their role. Once Damar makes the choice to actively resit the Dominion, the old Cardassia is dead. He metaphorically and literally burns the old Cardassia in his revolution. One of the rawest lines in all of Star Trek is the brutal confrontation with reality he experiences when his family are killed. Damar is confronted by the nasty shit that Cardassia did to Bajor as someone who has just experienced exactly what his people dished out for generations. His reaction to this moment isn't what we've seen in the past. Rather than rehashing some line of state propaganda, Damar seethes but bears the truth of the accusation. Here, Damar is ahead of the curve for the general Cardassian populace. He is the forerunner for a society which, in order to move forward, will have to accept that they were wrong.
Damar's death follows the trend he has set. His character dies amongst droves of his own people, an unlikely hero. With him, the old Cardassia is truly dead. There's a finality to that that only hits one of the people assembled at his death. A one Elim Garak...
So Why Do We Like the Cardassians
All I've really described here is an interesting and well fleshed-out arc for a group in a sci-fi setting. Plenty of groups receive similar attention. So why should the Cardassians stand out from that group? Why do I consider them better written than the Klingons or the Bajorans?
In previous iterations of this piece, I attempted to extol some lofty notion of kindred spirit, some shared experience. I think the argument might hold water, but it's really skirting around what I think the real reason is. Individual Cardassian characters are consistently outstanding. Dukat, Garak, Damar. All deep, multifaceted characters that grow, prove to be good and bad. Even individual episode characters like Gul Madred, Eamin Marritza, Tkheny Ghemor and Natima Lang have much more to say in their 40-or-so minutes than many mainstay antagonists do in the rest of Trek. I've named here 7 Cardassians and each has a distinct, diverse idea of what Cardassia should be. They are all of them patriots, but they disagree on what Cardassia's future should be. Where else do we come close to this variety? Or even this compulsion?
But Let's focus in on the 3 leading Cardassians we're given. Each of them grows. Each of them is broken. Each of them reacts differently. And I think their reactions make them relatable. Dukat isn't broken by defeat. Time and time again he has proven he can come back from practically any backstep. No, instead the thing that undoes him is the sight of his dead daughter. It quite literally drives him mad. This doesn't somehow absolve him of his crimes, but we can't help by empathise with him.
Damar, the man that starts off as a sycophant becomes a rallying cry for a new way. Again, he doesn't find redemption but he does become a sympathetic character as he sheds his role as a yesman for the system that benefited him and becomes the martyr for what he comes to believe in.
And then there's Garak. I could probably write a whole piece on Garak. (In fact I've been trying and failing for months now). He is, for the most part, our lens to Cardassia. More aware of his homeland's failings but very good at hiding it. There were perhaps 3 scenes in all of DS9 where Garak was entirely honest. The death of his father, his guilt for aiding the Federation and his horror for what happens to Cardassia in the end. That last scene with Bashir stays with me. Garak has spent the series deflecting and disassembling. But in his last appearence he has no witty remarks, no lies to tell. In that last scene, Garak laments the losses his people have suffered and regrets that "his Cardassia" is gone. That right there is the crux of the Cardassian character.
Every Cardassian has their idea of what Cardassia should be. They all have their own dreams and ideals that they stand by. In the end, isn't that the most relatable thing? Is that not a fine encapsulation of humanity? In the end, any fictional character or people is only ever meant to remind us of us. And the Cardassians do that, wonderfully.
In previous iterations of this piece, I attempted to extol some lofty notion of kindred spirit, some shared experience. I think the argument might hold water, but it's really skirting around what I think the real reason is. Individual Cardassian characters are consistently outstanding. Dukat, Garak, Damar. All deep, multifaceted characters that grow, prove to be good and bad. Even individual episode characters like Gul Madred, Eamin Marritza, Tkheny Ghemor and Natima Lang have much more to say in their 40-or-so minutes than many mainstay antagonists do in the rest of Trek. I've named here 7 Cardassians and each has a distinct, diverse idea of what Cardassia should be. They are all of them patriots, but they disagree on what Cardassia's future should be. Where else do we come close to this variety? Or even this compulsion?
But Let's focus in on the 3 leading Cardassians we're given. Each of them grows. Each of them is broken. Each of them reacts differently. And I think their reactions make them relatable. Dukat isn't broken by defeat. Time and time again he has proven he can come back from practically any backstep. No, instead the thing that undoes him is the sight of his dead daughter. It quite literally drives him mad. This doesn't somehow absolve him of his crimes, but we can't help by empathise with him.
Damar, the man that starts off as a sycophant becomes a rallying cry for a new way. Again, he doesn't find redemption but he does become a sympathetic character as he sheds his role as a yesman for the system that benefited him and becomes the martyr for what he comes to believe in.
And then there's Garak. I could probably write a whole piece on Garak. (In fact I've been trying and failing for months now). He is, for the most part, our lens to Cardassia. More aware of his homeland's failings but very good at hiding it. There were perhaps 3 scenes in all of DS9 where Garak was entirely honest. The death of his father, his guilt for aiding the Federation and his horror for what happens to Cardassia in the end. That last scene with Bashir stays with me. Garak has spent the series deflecting and disassembling. But in his last appearence he has no witty remarks, no lies to tell. In that last scene, Garak laments the losses his people have suffered and regrets that "his Cardassia" is gone. That right there is the crux of the Cardassian character.
Every Cardassian has their idea of what Cardassia should be. They all have their own dreams and ideals that they stand by. In the end, isn't that the most relatable thing? Is that not a fine encapsulation of humanity? In the end, any fictional character or people is only ever meant to remind us of us. And the Cardassians do that, wonderfully.