How long was Picard held by the Cardassians in 'Chain of Command'?

[EnsignCassidy]

Hi everyone,

I am a new member and I cannot wait to explore this great forum with my fellow Star Trek fans.

The Next Generation has always been my favourite Star Trek television incarnation and I was recently reading an interview with Sir Patrick Stewart regarding his performance alongside David Warner in ‘Chain of Command’.

I am sure that for most fans of TNG this is an episode which is of particular interest and it certainly had the most intense acting scenes of the entire series. I’m hoping to watch ‘Chain of Command’ again soon and I would appreciate it if anyone can help with my question, which is: for how long was Captain Picard held by the Cardassians? Furthermore, given that Counsellor Troi remarked upon Picard’s report of the incident, what period of time – would you imagine – took place between the Captain’s return to the Enterprise and the resumption of his command?

Thanks

 

[R. Star]

Mostly this is a speculation topic. By implication it took them a few days to get to Celtrus III(I believe that was the planet) via that Ferengi smuggler. It's quite possible they could have been running around in that cave for a day or two. Conversely Worf and Crusher got back to the Enterprise dang quick, but the plot is convienent like that.

The Cardassians probably spent a day or two with that truth serum drug before Madred tried breaking him in a more "traditional" way. As for the actual torture itself, he's left dangling that first night. Is tortured the next day, wakes up to get fed taspar, gets tortured some more, wakes up to the Madred's daughter, tortured some more. So maybe three total days went by of his torture.

I'd say he was gone perhaps a week or so overall. Again, speculation and perhaps someone else can provide a better analysis of the situation, been awhile since I actually watched the episode so the facts aren't fresh on my mind.

 

[trekker670]

My speculation (not completely broken down like R. Star did above) is that he was gone a couple of weeks total.

 

[R. Star]

My speculation (not completely broken down like R. Star did above) is that he was gone a couple of weeks total.

You could make that arguement just as easily.

Actually... there could be some concrete dating in this. Jellico does make a number of captain's logs, if various stardates are given we can have something of a time frame of comparison.

 

[R. Star]

Hmm... not as helpful as I thought, but here's the timeline.

Stardate 46357.4: Picard is relieved of command, Jellico put in charge.

Stardate 46358.2: Jellico in command, Enterprise on course to rendevous for Cardassian peace talks, Picard & team training they depart the next day.

Stardate 46360.8: Jellico while negotiating, is informed of Picard's capture and played a copy of his interrogation.

Riker gives a log later on, but it has no date.

The next stardate given is 46424.1, which is the next episode Ship in a Bottle.

So nothing definitive, but dividing 1000 by 365(1000 stardate units in a year, by 365 days in a year) we can reasonable assume that a day equals roughly 2.74 stardate units.

So that's one day each way to Celtris III(I just mispelled it last post) pretty much. This includes the time in the caves because they weren't captured until they got to the Cardassian base.

That's the only definitive time frame we get, since the next Stardate we get is next episode and usually a few weeks -do- go by between the two.

So, the specific time frame for Picard's torture is still speculation. The only thing solid we get is, that they took no time at all to drug him up and get that confession. That was obtained the day of his capture and I guess transmitted right away to Gul Lemec.

 

[Mojochi]

I'm afraid there's no concrete time frame for his imprisonment, as the only logs with stardates are all before the interrogation begins

However, Geordi states that the Cardy ships would have begun having hull degradation from nebula exposure after 72 hours.

If we presume that Picard's interrogation takes place on a ship in the nebula or very near to it, as Lemec's ship is in close range of both the nebula & the interrogation area, we can presume that the interrogation likely took place within that 72 hour window. At the most he was possibly in their custody for like 4 days, maybe... & interrogated for 3 or so. Just an estimate though

 

[R. Star]

Well Jellico's last log was given after they captured him as he was immediately informed after he gave it of Picard's capture and played the video of his interrogation. So that's a solid reference point to the start of his capture.

The 72 hours bit, is a good catch and one I missed. The Reklar was negotiating with the Enterprise long enough for Riker to get a shuttle to the rendevous point and back, to pick up worf and Crusher after Jellico was informed. So maybe another day or so back there. Riker was relieved -after- he got back so Lemec was there for at least another day negotiating with Jellico.

This plus the 72 hour bit, would argue towards the lower end of the spectrum So 4 days, a week tops as I originally guessed, perhaps.

A light for each day?

 

[Pavonis]

I just realized that I assumed Picard was brought all the way back to Cardassia for his interrogation, but only because Madred's daughter was there. I suppose Picard may have been kept prisoner on Celtris III, but I hadn't considered that he might have been held on a Cardassian warship. I can't imagine the Cardassians would bring children along on a warship. Especially one about to go to war.

 

[R. Star]

I just realized that I assumed Picard was brought all the way back to Cardassia for his interrogation, but only because Madred's daughter was there. I suppose Picard may have been kept prisoner on Celtris III, but I hadn't considered that he might have been held on a Cardassian warship. I can't imagine the Cardassians would bring children along on a warship. Especially one about to go to war.

I just assumed they were on Celtris III the entire time. It's not ever specificly stated either way, but if they went to all that trouble to lure in Picard, you'd think they'd have the interrogator(Madred) ready to go.

It's not perfectly inconcievable that a high-ranking behind the lines guy like Madred might be allowed to take his family with him given the importance DS9 establishes on Cardassian family structures.

 

[Timo]

Also, Madred seemed to find it important that her daughter get (nearly) hands-on experience on the torturing of humans. He might have considered it important that she learn about the killing of humans in space battles, too.

The only counterpoint to this we have is Dukat keeping his family safely out of the way while ravaging Bajor. Although that may have more to do with Dukat's desire to keep his wife safely out of the way while ravaging specific Bajorans.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Mojochi]

I just realized that I assumed Picard was brought all the way back to Cardassia for his interrogation, but only because Madred's daughter was there. I suppose Picard may have been kept prisoner on Celtris III, but I hadn't considered that he might have been held on a Cardassian warship. I can't imagine the Cardassians would bring children along on a warship. Especially one about to go to war.

Yeah, you might have a point. It might not have been in the warship fleet, but on another ship, or on Celtis III like others have said. It's undisclosed so all we can do is guess, but it's near by & the time frame probably still holds up

 

[LtGarak]

If the Federation can take children on ships, why not Cardassians?I really don't remember anyone ever suggesting the Enterprise stop somewhere to let families leave before engaging a foe.
Also, remember Garak worked with Tain for years. Although Madred's daughter was young, probably she would still unfortunately follow in his footsteps and would learn the family business, as it were.

 

[Timo]

It certainly isn't impossible that Madred and his daughter would be in a war zone. And it may even be likely, yes. The real question is, where in the war zone would they be?

There would be one obvious advantage to taking Madred and Picard into the nebula: if Picard gave information the fleet could use for tactical advantage, it would be difficult to get that information to the fleet through the interference of the nebula unless the source was already inside!

The counterpoint to this is that the information could not be relayed out to the Central Command through the nebula, either...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[marksound]

How long was Picard held by the Cardassians?

Approximately 82 minutes, without commercials. Give or take.