In the Pale Moonlight - Garak and the explosive gel

[AntonyF]

Something I picked up on on Reddit... and that's Garak was after bio mimetic gel for 'a friend'. But the gel can be used as explosives, which happened to come into play with the offing of the Romulan. The connection being that the gel was in fact for him to use.

In all these years it never occured to me. And it divided opinion into those that thought it already and those who hadn't realised.

So what say you Trek BBS gang? News or not?

 

[DonIago]

Eh. I don't think we have compelling evidence either way. There's plenty of ways to destroy a ship when one is properly motivated to do so.

 

[fireproof78]

I always thought Garak was responsible, either directly or through a proxy.

 

[DonIago]

I always thought Garak was responsible, either directly or through a proxy.

I think that's unambiguous, but what the OP is asking is whether Garak used the bio-mimetic gel to make it happen.

I guess one thought I have about that is that if the Romulans detected it in the explosion they might be able to trace it back to the Federation in general or DS9 in specific? It seems potentially risky.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I don't think there is a slamdunk case, but I suspect that the gel was used to make an explosive that works create only biological residue, not something obviously chemical or mechanical, when the explosion was investigated.

 

[fireproof78]

I think that's unambiguous, but what the OP is asking is whether Garak used the bio-mimetic gel to make it happen.

I guess one thought I have about that is that if the Romulans detected it in the explosion they might be able to trace it back to the Federation in general or DS9 in specific? It seems potentially risky.

To be clear, I think he used the gel for that purpose.

 

[kkt]

We'll never know for sure. I lean toward Garak being a very smart, very motivated operator who could think of any number of ways to make a ship explode without having to use a tightly-regulated substance like bio-memetic gel that might have been traced back to him if the Romulans had discovered it before the explosion.

 

[Crewman6]

To be clear, I think he used the gel for that purpose.

No, he didn't. He needed the gel to get an extremely rare data rod. Why aren't you accepting that at face value? Take the episode at its word (even if it means believing Garak.)

Creating explosives is just one of many sinister uses for the gel. Garak certainly wouldn't need to obtain that gel just to make a bomb, he's made plenty of bombs in the past and there's more than one way to make something go boom.

This was definitely not at all the writers' intention.

 

[fireproof78]

No, he didn't. He needed the gel to get an extremely rare data rod. Why aren't you accepting that at face value? Take the episode at its word (even if it means believing Garak.)

Because I don't trust Garak.

 

[Farscape One]

I have been thinking back and forth on this one. There is enough evidence to make a case for both arguments... he used the gel as the explosive or he didn't.

(Forgive me if this seems like an extremely long post, but this might be too complicated for a few sentences.)

Garak, being the expert saboteur that he is due to his Obsidian Order training, could very easily make the explosion look like an accident using the engine itself or planted a bomb to make Vreenak's shuttle explode. He wouldn't need the gel to do this. However...

The goal was to make the Romulans think it was deliberately destroyed, so he would use a bomb.

Bashir said it could be used as an organic explosive. And since biomimetic gel is strictly controlled by the Federation, it can easily point the finger towards the Federation. Except for a few things, from a Romulan perspective...

1. The Romulans know the Federation aren't ones to blow up a Romulan senator's ship.

2. The Federation is on the losing side of the Dominion War, and why would they risk creating a second enemy at the same time, guaranteeing the Federation loses completely?

3. Changelings: they have proven to have infiltrated EVERYWHERE, including Starfleet. They could easily have gotten several supplies of it while they were agents inside the Federation.

4. And even if it wasn't Changelings, the Jem'Hadar could have taken supplies of it from colonies or ships they took over during the war.


Garak correctly pointed out that the more the Dominion protests innocence, the more the Romulans wouldn't believe them "because it's EXACTLY what they'd do in their place".

There are three things that really convinces me of my final thought.

First, watch Garak's facial expressions, particularly his eyes while he is sitting looking (apparently) downward and Sisko is standing away, when Sisko first talks to him in the Wardroom. You can see the wheels are turning in his head already, before he even agrees to this. He was planning Vreenak's death right there.

Second, when Sisko talks to Garak after the fall of Betazed, he says his contacts on Cardassia are all 'dead'. Which is when he says creating evidence is the only guaranteed way of doing the mission. But... he has 'already been working on obtaining the rod', which indicates he has already been at HIS plan long before he tells Sisko about fabricating evidence.

And third (which I think seals it for me), notice Garak's eyes as he asks Sisko for the biomimetic gel on the turbolift. It's the SAME way he was during the initial meeting. Which tells me his 'source' is not the one using the gel, but Garak himself. He likely either already had the rod at that moment or it was already on the way. (Even though Sisko ordered Bashir to get it ready for interstellar transport, Garak can easily grab some while it was in DS9, or simply had his contact there receiving the shipment hand some over to Garak.) And even if the data rod guy DID ask for gel, Garak could have been given a small enough quantity to make the explosive.


So my conclusion: I think Garak used the biomimetic gel precisely because it might implicate the Federation, but knowing how they typically don't do such things, makes it appear more likely that the Dominion killed Vreenak and tried to place the blame on the Federation, hoping to get the war done faster while at the same time destroying 'evidence' of their plans to invade Romulus.

 

[DonIago]

To me the obvious counterargument to points #1 and 2 is that the Federation was desperate.

 

[Crewman6]

Because I don't trust Garak.

It's not about trusting Garak, it's about trusting what the writers are telling you. Garak didn't need any help getting explosives and the script wasn't a long, elaborate ruse just to allow Garak to obtain bomb-making materials while never actually even slightly hinting that that was the intent.

That was in no way, shape, or form the intent of the episode. You can always make up wacky fan theories until the cows come home, just don't expect anyone else to care or give them any credence.

 

[Tosk]

For me the answer is simply, "Maybe. Doesn't seem necessary, but it's possible."

 

[Farscape One]

To me the obvious counterargument to points #1 and 2 is that the Federation was desperate.

Good counterpoints, but since nothing else could trace the Federation as a possible suspect (at least, nothing mentioned), it might not even occur to the Romulans. Particularly since Starfleet always comes off as 'truth above all'.

My wife made a good point about the turbolift scene. Garak's demeanor seemed almost nervous. At least, nervous by his standards. Maybe it's because Sisko might say no to the whole thing... or maybe because the gel was the key and he thought Sisko might see through his idea.

 

[fireproof78]

It's not about trusting Garak, it's about trusting what the writers are telling you. Garak didn't need any help getting explosives and the script wasn't a long, elaborate ruse just to allow Garak to obtain bomb-making materials while never actually even slightly hinting that that was the intent.

Maybe.

You can always make up wacky fan theories until the cows come home, just don't expect anyone else to care or give them any credence.

I never do.

 

[DonIago]

Good counterpoints, but since nothing else could trace the Federation as a possible suspect (at least, nothing mentioned), it might not even occur to the Romulans. Particularly since Starfleet always comes off as 'truth above all'.

I guess it would depend on which Romulan you talked to. Vreenak himself seems like the type who would have guessed the Federation might have been desperate enough to do such a thing, and it's damn fortunate he didn't have the opportunity to communicate with the Romulan government about the faaaaaaake rod before his timely passing.

I'm sure there are those within the Tal Shiar who might have had their suspicions as well...of course, it was later made clear that S31 had their fingers in the Tal Shiar as well, which might have undermined any investigations they would have conducted.

But also, since it seems as though a substantial portion of the Romulan government was in favor of going to war against the Dominion despite their official stance at the time, this may have just been enough to let those sentiments prevail even if there were doubts as to who was really responsible. Which is to say, regardless of who removed Vreenak as an obstacle, Vreenak had now been removed as an obstacle.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Why aren't you accepting that at face value?

Why don't we take Garak at face value? Is this a serious question?

 

[Bad Thoughts]

How might a biological substance capable of taking on any form be part of an explosive device?

1. It can take the place of a mechanism, but upon explosion, appear only as indistinct biological matter upon detonation.
2. It can take the place of a chemical source that can be combusted, but appear only as indistinct biological matter after detonation.
3. It can imitate the presence of any entity, including Shapeshifters themselves, in an explosion.

Garak using the gel as part of the assassination is at best a suggestion. Both RDM and ISB would likely want to decenter the discussion away from how the explosion was achieved in order to focus on the moral dilemma, so it would suit their purpose not to be too specific. Nonetheless, there are probably dozens of uses for the gel that could take suspicion away from the Federation.

 

[Crewman6]

Why don't we take Garak at face value? Is this a serious question?

I'm asking you to take the show at face value. And even Garak despite all of his lying, is actually a pretty straightforward character most of the time and the lies he tells are almost always obvious to the audience, if not the characters.

The line about the gel making explosives is clearly just tossed off, one in a list of potentially dangerous things you can do with the gel, to show how insane it is that Sisko is going down this plan. There was absolutely no more thought put into it at all and it isn't some secret clue that the writers buried that unlocks the "hidden truth" about the episode.

DS9 is a quality show, but it's not a show where the writers bury a plot point under layers and layers and never remotely acknowledge it in any way. The storytelling is all out there on the surface, even if there are twists and surprises along the way.

Analyzing Garak's facial expressions to give credence to this nothingburger of a theory for instance, is just beyond hilarious. There's absolutely no "there" there here at all.

These comments make me wonder if any of you have ever seen a TV show before.

 

[fireproof78]

Why don't we take Garak at face value? Is this a serious question?

Garak should not be taken at face value. He is the epitome of a "wheels within wheels" type plotting.

No, he probably didn't use the biomemetic gel for the explosive. Way back when I first watched it I figured that he had used it for his own machinations, and the possibility of an explosive was on my mind. But, he likely had other uses for it.

In the end, Tolar was dead, and Garak would have repurposed his "compensation" for his own purposes. I think that's a reasonable evaluation of Garak's character. As Sisko notes, Garak had planned to kill Vreenak all along, even as a secondary plan. Tolar, the same.

Spies have no use for loose ends.