I agree that here Dukat stands revealed as his true self, all the excuses and masks stripped away by his recent losses, and I sort of agree that his arc is theoretically over. However, I don't mind where he goes from here (I can't wait to see what Shatnertage thinks!). That's basically because I see Dukat as a warped man with the personality of a young child, a little boy's ego in a man's body. A little boy's ego is both incomplete and vulnerable (dependent on others to validate him) and very selfish, as an infant of course is. Everything he does is about "being a good boy", earning approval and love, and that's what Dukat wants.
I see Dukat as never having left infanthood, in the sense of needing reinforcement from others, and in his case that's dangerous because he also failed to make the transition to genuine empathy with others. Empathy isn't just about the similarity between sapient beings, but about the differences too. An infant eventually learns that other people are alien, distant and the centre of their own worlds, and that empathy means acknowledging this just as much as it does understanding/sharing their emotions. Dukat, I think, doesn't. He's still the centre of his universe and everyone else orbits him. So that's two ways in which he's still an infant, and his need to have his worth reinforced combined with lack of true empathic understanding leads to the delusional idea that other people exist to validate him. His ego must be fed, and they must do it.
Dukat, in my opinion, sees everyone and everything else as props in his own life. Their job is to reinforce his ego and let him know that he's a heroic and noble person, either by supporting him (Damar) or antagonizing him "unfairly" (Kira, Weyoun). It's no wonder he had to create illusionary Damars, Kiras and Weyouns when he lost the real ones, because Dukat needs the reinforcement. That's what they're for. Why can't mean old Kira and Weyoun recognize his greatness?
Dukat wants to be seen as "noble" (as far as his own child-like sense of the noble can carry him), as a "good man" (really: good boy). And he surrounds himself with people to reinforce that illusion - Ziyal the blindly adoring daughter, Damar the lieutenant who is loyal but non-threatening (he's too unimaginative to challenge Dukat's position, yet ultimately he's more than the "typical" Cardassian military thug - he's intelligent enough to appreciate Dukat). Dukat has comfort women who will respond to his "generosity" if only because they know they're trapped and it could be far worse.
I also think Cardassia itself was just the same, a piece in his fantasy, where all that really mattered was him and the feeding of that desperate ego. If daughters and comfort women and lieutenants fulfilled his need to be the noble, benevolent master (again, to the extent that he understands "noble", which is through the prism of a child-like selfishness), then Cardassia fulfilled his need to be the servant. In his own mind, he's a good son to Cardassia, just as he's a good patriarch to his extended Cardassian/Bajoran community-family. Ultimately, though, he's every bit as disloyal a son as he is an abusive patriarch - both roles are ultimately to fuel his own need to experience a sense of his great worth.
And the tragedy of Dukat, as I see it, is that due to his inability to truly see perspectives other than his own, he never, ever grasped an opportunity to actually become a better person. He always chose to pretend to himself that's he was great, and get others to tell him he was, rather than trying to become great. He's completely trapped in his own lie. His mind is yoked to his runaway ego, which needs reinforcement or he'll fall apart. Weyoun has the Founders. Dukat is his own Founder.
As I say, my conclusion is that, spiritually speaking, Dukat never left infanthood. Everything is made to conform to his internalized need to reinforce his worth - every value of his culture, good and bad, warped by it, taken on in a completely selfish way that makes him a twisted, delusional idea of a "good Cardassian" who doesn't actually respect or understand the values he's adapting. And the traumatized selfish little boy in that man's body ended up, like so many traumatized selfish little boys when they grow older, leading war fleets and taking power, to make the universe acknowledge his worth - him, at the apex and the centre, his ego stoked by his power.
For Dukat in Season Six, as I see it, everything is fully safe and controlled with him at the centre, until the universe crashes down when he loses Terok Nor again, along with Ziyal and (in a way) Damar. The loyal lieutenant can't shoot the pet daughter and I can't lose my war and my empire, that just can't happen! And Dukat ended up obsessed with taking down Sisko, who is - shock and horror - someone like Dukat; a challenger. I honestly think the reason Dukat fixates on Sisko is because Sisko is the only other person Dukat actually truly recognizes as another person. And that's because Sisko can't orbit Dukat like everyone else is made to, because he's a rival for Dukat's position. Sisko is in Dukat's office, he's got Kira's respect, the Bajorans' respect, he's a strong, noble military leader, a loving father, victorious in battle - the little boy has encountered, of all things, a rival. And this universe isn't big enough for both of them. The universe revolves around Dukat - Sisko is cthulhu to Dukat. An other, the challenger. He usurps reality itself. And I think ultimately Dukat also knows that ultimately he'll lose - because he's just a selfish little boy and Sisko...Sisko is a man. Dukat can only play at those qualities I listed - Sisko truly embodies them.
And without risking spoilers, the end of Dukat's story ran very, very true for me. I'm a supporter of it.
I see Dukat as never having left infanthood, in the sense of needing reinforcement from others, and in his case that's dangerous because he also failed to make the transition to genuine empathy with others. Empathy isn't just about the similarity between sapient beings, but about the differences too. An infant eventually learns that other people are alien, distant and the centre of their own worlds, and that empathy means acknowledging this just as much as it does understanding/sharing their emotions. Dukat, I think, doesn't. He's still the centre of his universe and everyone else orbits him. So that's two ways in which he's still an infant, and his need to have his worth reinforced combined with lack of true empathic understanding leads to the delusional idea that other people exist to validate him. His ego must be fed, and they must do it.
Dukat, in my opinion, sees everyone and everything else as props in his own life. Their job is to reinforce his ego and let him know that he's a heroic and noble person, either by supporting him (Damar) or antagonizing him "unfairly" (Kira, Weyoun). It's no wonder he had to create illusionary Damars, Kiras and Weyouns when he lost the real ones, because Dukat needs the reinforcement. That's what they're for. Why can't mean old Kira and Weyoun recognize his greatness?
Dukat wants to be seen as "noble" (as far as his own child-like sense of the noble can carry him), as a "good man" (really: good boy). And he surrounds himself with people to reinforce that illusion - Ziyal the blindly adoring daughter, Damar the lieutenant who is loyal but non-threatening (he's too unimaginative to challenge Dukat's position, yet ultimately he's more than the "typical" Cardassian military thug - he's intelligent enough to appreciate Dukat). Dukat has comfort women who will respond to his "generosity" if only because they know they're trapped and it could be far worse.
I also think Cardassia itself was just the same, a piece in his fantasy, where all that really mattered was him and the feeding of that desperate ego. If daughters and comfort women and lieutenants fulfilled his need to be the noble, benevolent master (again, to the extent that he understands "noble", which is through the prism of a child-like selfishness), then Cardassia fulfilled his need to be the servant. In his own mind, he's a good son to Cardassia, just as he's a good patriarch to his extended Cardassian/Bajoran community-family. Ultimately, though, he's every bit as disloyal a son as he is an abusive patriarch - both roles are ultimately to fuel his own need to experience a sense of his great worth.
And the tragedy of Dukat, as I see it, is that due to his inability to truly see perspectives other than his own, he never, ever grasped an opportunity to actually become a better person. He always chose to pretend to himself that's he was great, and get others to tell him he was, rather than trying to become great. He's completely trapped in his own lie. His mind is yoked to his runaway ego, which needs reinforcement or he'll fall apart. Weyoun has the Founders. Dukat is his own Founder.
As I say, my conclusion is that, spiritually speaking, Dukat never left infanthood. Everything is made to conform to his internalized need to reinforce his worth - every value of his culture, good and bad, warped by it, taken on in a completely selfish way that makes him a twisted, delusional idea of a "good Cardassian" who doesn't actually respect or understand the values he's adapting. And the traumatized selfish little boy in that man's body ended up, like so many traumatized selfish little boys when they grow older, leading war fleets and taking power, to make the universe acknowledge his worth - him, at the apex and the centre, his ego stoked by his power.
For Dukat in Season Six, as I see it, everything is fully safe and controlled with him at the centre, until the universe crashes down when he loses Terok Nor again, along with Ziyal and (in a way) Damar. The loyal lieutenant can't shoot the pet daughter and I can't lose my war and my empire, that just can't happen! And Dukat ended up obsessed with taking down Sisko, who is - shock and horror - someone like Dukat; a challenger. I honestly think the reason Dukat fixates on Sisko is because Sisko is the only other person Dukat actually truly recognizes as another person. And that's because Sisko can't orbit Dukat like everyone else is made to, because he's a rival for Dukat's position. Sisko is in Dukat's office, he's got Kira's respect, the Bajorans' respect, he's a strong, noble military leader, a loving father, victorious in battle - the little boy has encountered, of all things, a rival. And this universe isn't big enough for both of them. The universe revolves around Dukat - Sisko is cthulhu to Dukat. An other, the challenger. He usurps reality itself. And I think ultimately Dukat also knows that ultimately he'll lose - because he's just a selfish little boy and Sisko...Sisko is a man. Dukat can only play at those qualities I listed - Sisko truly embodies them.
And without risking spoilers, the end of Dukat's story ran very, very true for me. I'm a supporter of it.
