Odo and Dr. Mora

[Kilana2]

We know that Dr. Mora was forced by the Cardassians to get some viable results when he did his experiments with Odo (or unknown sample or whatever).

Was Mora a collaborator? What did Kira think of him then?

I like how Odo finally came to terms with Dr. Mora when he absorbed the changeling infant to regain his shapeshifting skills.

 

[Nakita Akita]

I wanted to see Odo throw Dr. Mora out an airlock.
If he was s Doctor font you think he could figure out that what he put Odo through wasn't something 'good' that Odo liked to have done to him.
Would Dr. Mora have liked to have been given electrical shocks given to him?
Would he later thank and BF lying toward that person?

I wanted to see Dr. Mora's body floating away from the station.

 

[velour]

I don't remember if it was ever suggested that Dr. Mora was a collaborator, in the sense that he helped the Cardassians develop weapons or engaged in any sinister experiments to be used against his own people, the Bajorans. So was Dr. Mora some kind of evil collaborator? I don't think so.

I can't recall Kira's opinion of Mora, if she indeed expressed any.

Some might consider Odo a collaborator. He was DS9's constable at one point during the occupation. However, according to Kira, Odo wasn't considered a collaborator. She said Odo was "the one man who stood apart from everyone else, the one who stood for justice." That was before she discovered that Odo did, at least once, helped the Cardassians execute innocent Bajorans.

About the occupation and about collaboration, Kira made this observation: "I guess the truth is that anyone who lived through the occupation had to get a little dirty." (Things Past)

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I thought the story about the relationship between Odo and Dr. Mora was very compelling. It was a moving scene when Odo and Mora reconciled. Their relationship might have started out badly, but it developed into a father-son relationship.

In "The Begotten", as Odo was mentoring the changeling infant, I think he came to understand what Dr. Mora must have experienced when Mora was trying to "raise" Odo. It might be a case of a person coming to appreciate one's parent more after that person becomes a parent.

Odo came to terms with the resentment he held against Mora for all those experiments Mora put Odo through. It was a very good episode.

 

[Kilana2]

It was, indeed. And I think Mora's reaction when Odo regained his shapeshifting skills was genuine. I think Mora reappeared in the Terok Nor novels. I'd like to see his character again showing up in some future novels. DS9 was full of interesting characters with depth and potential.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Most Bajorans probably wouldn't consider just any Bajoran who worked for the Cardassians a collaborator. If he did any work that helped their military or helped them oppress the Bajorans, then maybe. It's not clear what else Dr Mora did for them. But they make it seem in other episodes like the only Bajorans who are truly shunned are the worst of the worst collaborators, who helped round up other Bajorans and such.

At the time, Dr Mora didn't see his actions as any different from spanking. He didn't realize the emotional effect on Odo until later.

 

[Paradise City]

If he's working for the Cardassians, then, yeah, he would be a collaborator.

I presume there's some off-screen stuff were Moro helps the resistance so he gets to keep his career. Or maybe they simply gave him a lenient time of it as Bajor needed scientists to get their post-occupation society of the ground.

There would probably be mass amnesties to people who served under the Cardassians as mere functionaries and the like. Perhaps Mora was just a junior scientist.

 

[velour]

DS9 was full of interesting characters with depth and potential.

You're right about that. The story of Odo and Mora's relationship was done really well, even though the story was told in only a few episodes.

At the end of "The Alternate", when Mora apologized to Odo and said that he would like to be part of Odo's life again, and Odo accepted, I found that to be very moving. That might not be scifi material, but it was good stuff anyway.

 

[Kilana2]

Mora Pol appeared in the Terok Nor novels. Unfortunately I don't have time to re-read these novels. At least not now. But later on I will do just that. I can't remember all the details of the stories told. It is easier for me to rewatch the episodes involving Dr. Mora. Odo is obviously fair and forgiving. Rumor has it....

Spoiler: Odo

that our Odo is the mirror Odo and the other way round. Interesting theory by the way.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

If he's working for the Cardassians, then, yeah, he would be a collaborator.

I presume there's some off-screen stuff were Moro helps the resistance so he gets to keep his career. Or maybe they simply gave him a lenient time of it as Bajor needed scientists to get their post-occupation society of the ground.

There would probably be mass amnesties to people who served under the Cardassians as mere functionaries and the like. Perhaps Mora was just a junior scientist.

In The Collaborator it seemed like the list of collaborators who were so bad they were exiled from the planet was pretty short. Short enough that every name on it is reasonable to memorize.

Some may have seen him as a collaborator but there seemed to be different levels of collaboration that led to different levels of scorn, especially for somebody with education who has utilitarian value to the planet.

 

[Jayson1]

I didn't think he was a Collaborator. To get that label I think you would have to be doing things with the Carddisians with the knowledge that it will be used to hurt other Bajorians. I think he was just a regular scientist and wasn't creating biological weapons or anything like that.

Jason

 

[Kilana2]

In The Collaborator it seemed like the list of collaborators who were so bad they were exiled from the planet was pretty short. Short enough that every name on it is reasonable to memorize.

Some may have seen him as a collaborator but there seemed to be different levels of collaboration that led to different levels of scorn, especially for somebody with education who has utilitarian value to the planet.

Dr. Mora simply tried to survive. He didn't have another choice than to cooperate. He was able to continue his research and was unmolested otherwise. Some resistance fighters might frown upon that, but not every Bajoran was able to fight the Cardassians the same way the resistance did.
I hope Dr. Mora shows up in some future novels.

 

[matthunter]

If he's working for the Cardassians, then, yeah, he would be a collaborator.

This was the problem for many French during WWII. You own a restaurant in Paris. You need to serve food to turn a profit and pay your staff. Likewise your French customers need to eat. Are you really gonna turn away (paying) German customers and run the risk of getting shut down?