Thor Damar's Heroes of the Cardassian Union.

Discussion in 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' started by Thor Damar, Oct 27, 2009.

  1. Deranged Nasat

    Deranged Nasat Vice Admiral Admiral

    I agree entirely. :) Dukat the rebel wouldn't make my list of heroes.

    Again, I agree. :) To me, Garak was a hero, or became one in "A Stitch in Time" for his willingness to acknowledge past mistakes and work tirelessly to help his people, both to accept responsibility for their actions and to build something better for themselves. In fact, odd as it might sound to some, I would rate Garak as one of the two greatest heroes I've ever encountered in fiction (the other being G'Kar in "Babylon Five", whose life story is in some ways very similar, or so it strikes me). As for Garak getting short shrift because he's a "quiet" hero, I'm reminded of the immortal words of Londo Mollari: "it's the quiet ones who change the universe. The loud ones only take the credit".

    Of course, part of what makes Garak a true hero in my eyes is that he never seeks leadership- he seeks to advise and support. The OO thought it was doing just that for Cardassia, but instead it was suffocating the life out of it. Garak, however, has learnt (in the novels) to apply his talents to an end truly in service to Cardassia.
     
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2009
  2. PSGarak

    PSGarak Commodore Commodore

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    Well said. I feel the same way about G'Kar. Even though the two characters are very different, they are both similar in that they moved from selfish, suspicious people haunted and driven by their pasts to very selfless people who learned to place the concerns and needs of their people above their own without losing sight of the need to take good care of themselves as well. It's much easier to be a martyr than to be whole, get your hands dirty day after day with hard, honest work, and wake up the next day to do it all over again, not expecting recognition or accolades.
     
  3. Thor Damar

    Thor Damar Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    That's a very good point regarding Mr Garak (shockingly the G'kar comparison had not occurred to me, and me a B5 fan:cardie:) in many ways he is not the typical fictional hero because he doesn't die in a blaze of Glory and he has committed terrible acts in the cause of his peoples eventual freedom. (attempted genocide of the Dominion's Founders, the murder of a Romulan Senator and a con artist to name two key insistence's).

    However it is a basic truth that Garak did these things not for his own aggrandisement but for the people of Cardassia and the AQ. It seems to me that Garak is indeed a realistic hero and a great character.

    I would argue that Damar had to die at the end of the DW because it that is how it had to be. Corat Damar was still a product of the old 'poisonous ideology' who had murdered an innocent young woman and been a part of a war that had claimed the lives of billions. Damar's rebels helped to save the AQ and perhaps Cardassia's soul but the man himself was still too much of a Central Command figure to really play a part in the new Cardassia.

    Instead Damar became a martyr to the cause of Cardassian freedom.

    (still, it would have been fulfilling to see Damar have to wrestle with his guilt regarding Ziyal and his role as the 'leader' of Cardassia...)
     
  4. Deranged Nasat

    Deranged Nasat Vice Admiral Admiral

    I was always conflicted about Damar's death. On the one hand I would have liked to see him continue to grow and struggle with the aftermath of the war- as Garak has in the novels. I believe he could have become a truly great leader, if he had allowed himself to continue down the path he placed himself on towards the end. He became, potentially, a great hero- certainly a great leader (although as I said, what makes Garak a true hero in my eyes is that he would never take a leadership position)- , but because of his death we never got to see how he would have balanced his new nobility with his past actions (such as Ziyal's murder and his general thuggary). His character development was cut tragically short (of course that is also realistic- leading revolutions does tend to get you shot!). As I believe Garak became a genuine hero after the war- in "A Stitch in Time" and the other novels- it would have been nice to see the new, noble Damar take a similar shot (if Garak was able to become a hero in my eyes despite, as you say, Thor, committing such acts as attempted genocide and murder of foreign dignitaries, Damar certainly deserved the chance too). He had earned it.

    On the other hand, I certainly also see the point that it isn't easy to throw away a life-time of collected prejudices and narrow modes of thinking- Damar might well have been too inflexible to truly help build a new Cardassia, too attached to the old ways. In death, sadly, he might well serve better than he could in life. Leaders in war, as we all know, don't necessarily make good leaders in peace. Damar may be one of those great people who serve better as symbols than they do in actually running things. I guess we'll never know...
     
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2009
  5. PSGarak

    PSGarak Commodore Commodore

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    I truly fear that had Damar survived, he would've been very similar to Ulysses S. Grant, who was a brilliant general, but a terrible president. I don't think Damar was cut from the political cloth at all. His main goal in leading the uprising was in throwing the Dominion yoke off of Cardassia, not in freeing Cardassia from its military dictatorship. Would he have been able to bend and flex, bow to the will of the people at large, or would the pressures of such have driven him back into the bottle, or worse yet to committing more acts of violence against people he perceived as traitors? It's very hard to say. I think his death served the story best, and it allowed him to go out on a high, noble note.
     
  6. Sci

    Sci Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Isn't that the point of this thread? To celebrate Cardassians who worked for the principles of liberal democracy rather than tyranny and repression?
     
  7. Bones2

    Bones2 Commodore Commodore

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    Although Skrain Dukat is in no way a hero, here's an example of him being heroic.

    Priceless.