Dukat's Character Arc

The Dukat-Winn pairing always worked for me, because they were the two O.G villains of DS9 right back to the first season. It made sense to bring them together for the run-in.

It's an interesting dynamic and they're two fantastic actors. Winn's hatred of the Cardassians is genuine, as is her revulsion when she discovers who "Anjol" really is.

But then she decides she hates Sisko and the Federation even more, which goes back to the Circle arc, where she and Jaro were also unwittingly being exploited by the Cardassians.

The only slight sadness is that they had just as great a history with Kira, and it's a shame she couldn't have been worked into that thread. Nana Visitor always said she was sad that Kira wasn't the one who got to kill Dukat.
 
The Dukat-Winn pairing always worked for me, because they were the two O.G villains of DS9 right back to the first season. It made sense to bring them together for the run-in.

It's an interesting dynamic and they're two fantastic actors. Winn's hatred of the Cardassians is genuine, as is her revulsion when she discovers who "Anjol" really is.

But then she decides she hates Sisko and the Federation even more, which goes back to the Circle arc, where she and Jaro were also unwittingly being exploited by the Cardassians.

The only slight sadness is that they had just as great a history with Kira, and it's a shame she couldn't have been worked into that thread. Nana Visitor always said she was sad that Kira wasn't the one who got to kill Dukat.
I agree with Visitor. Kira vowed to kill Dukat, and she's someone who carries out her vows.
 
I agree with Visitor. Kira vowed to kill Dukat, and she's someone who carries out her vows.
True, she typically does.

But the very next time she does see him face to face in "COVENANT", she doesn't. (I know she wanted to make sure everyone saw him as a fraud first so she doesn't accidentally create a martyr, but while everyone was yelling Dukat, she should have found weapon and gone after him. Hell, ALL of those people should have run up and killed him.)
 
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She was greatly outnumbered on the station in Covenant and wouldn't have been able to get a shot in, even if she brought a phaser with her. By the time most of the Bajorans were convinced of how bad Dukat was, he skedaddled out by transporter right quickly.
 
True, but those other Bajorans were idiots... Dukat was vastly outnumbered, and all they could was stand far away and yell at him? Not only did he dupe all of them, he was in charge of the Occupation for a decade! SOMEBODY should have tried to kill him.

Truly, the Bajorans looked weak and stupid here.
 
I never had a problem with Dukat's transformation. He does see himself as the greatest leader of the Bajoran people, and even says so to Weyoun. He has a twisted view of both reality and himself and Waltz just showcases all the different beliefs cycling in his head.

Him going nuts, especially after Waltz and Ziyal's death, seems inevitable. I have no issue with it. I think it hems closer to realistic for people in Star Trek to eventually go crazy rather than just soldiering on as if nothing traumatic has ever happened to them.
Which is the main reason why I can accept Dukat's transformation in season 7.

Ziyal's death broke him.
 
I think that Dukat got the ending he deserved, and his journey there, as dramatic as it was, worked for me because I think Marc Alaimo's one of the best actors to appear in any incarnation of Star Trek, and paired with Louise Fletcher... Both of them owned any scene they appeared in.
 
I wonder if Dukat is dead dead or if he's jamming with the Pah Wraiths. An eternity in whatever that entails might not be something he'd enjoy, which is nice. :)
 
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True, but those other Bajorans were idiots... Dukat was vastly outnumbered, and all they could was stand far away and yell at him? Not only did he dupe all of them, he was in charge of the Occupation for a decade! SOMEBODY should have tried to kill him.

Truly, the Bajorans looked weak and stupid here.
They were a brainwashed cult. Even when there’s evidence he’s lying and abusing women, they still excuse him. Faith and groupthink are powerful forces - look at Jonestown.
 
I think the problem might have been that in many series, in each season you seek to 'outdo' the previous season, making the stakes even higher, the situations even more dramatic, and so on.

But for Dukat, there really was no more more way 'up'. He already was the greatest war villain during the Bajoran occupation, probably responsible for the deaths of untold millions, already responsible for Cardassia joining the Dominion in season 5-6, etc.. What other way 'up the stairs' was there for him but to join 'the ultimate evil?' (i.e. the pah'wraiths) - making him a cartoonish character.

The only other viable option perhaps would have been to make him turn around - for real this time, but in that case, the series would have lost its primary antagonist.
 
They were a brainwashed cult. Even when there’s evidence he’s lying and abusing women, they still excuse him. Faith and groupthink are powerful forces - look at Jonestown.
Agreed about the cults. It's one of the main reasons why I have such an issue with religions in general.
 
I wonder if Dukat is dead dead or if he's jamming with the Pah Wraiths. An eternity in whatever that entails might not be something he'd enjoy, which is nice. :)
I would love to see Dukat turn up in some future Star trek series.
 
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True, but those other Bajorans were idiots... Dukat was vastly outnumbered, and all they could was stand far away and yell at him? Not only did he dupe all of them, he was in charge of the Occupation for a decade! SOMEBODY should have tried to kill him.

Truly, the Bajorans looked weak and stupid here.
Look up diffusion of responsibility.
 
Look up diffusion of responsibility.
I just did... and I stand by what I said. They looked weak and stupid.


He was only doing what he thought best for himself and Cardassia.
Dukat always only did what he thought was best for himself. Even when he used the captured Bird of Prey, it was only to regain his name, power, and glory. And precisely why he joined the Dominion in Cardassia's name. Otherwise, he would have simply let someone else be in charge of the Cardassian government while he took care of the actual war.

(It was never established if he did join them with the Cardassian government backing him or if he did it on his own and when the Dominion fleet went to Cardassia, took over. Considering the state of their empire at the time, they couldn't fight back even if they wanted to.)
 
I just did... and I stand by what I said. They looked weak and stupid.
That's humans/Bajorans for you.
We're pretty weak and stupid for the most part.

Dukat always only did what he thought was best for himself. Even when he used the captured Bird of Prey, it was only to regain his name, power, and glory. And precisely why he joined the Dominion in Cardassia's name. Otherwise, he would have simply let someone else be in charge of the Cardassian government while he took care of the actual war.

Yes, because to him a strong Cardassia was embodied in himself. The Cardassians value loyalty to the state and he was driven by that to the extreme. From a Cardassian point of view I'm sure he seemed perfectly justifiable.
 
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