Rewatching Season 6 finally and then season 7. Got me thinking about Dukat and how he always seemed stable and level headed and then suddenly in the space of a few minutes in the 6th episode of season 6 he broke. Was he always broken and just hiding it very well or was it a sudden descent?
The Descent of Dukat
- Thread starter adamisme
- Start date
I'm pretty sure there was always something underlying in his personality, but the death of Ziyal pretty much broke him.
Dukat always had a very precise image of who he was; that being the stern but compassionate prefect of Bajor. Mistreated by his superiors, misunderstood by the Bajorans; but always living up to the ideals of Cardassia even when being a kind ruler to lesser races. Even the agreement to have his people join the Dominion fit that concept as the forward thinking of a patriot whom wanted his people to become strong again. The displays of disgust by the likes of Sisko? Just narrow minded Federation thinking the Captain stubbornly held on to rather than admit their shared status as great leaders.
The events of Sacrifice of Angels broke everything. Ziyal's betrayal of him and subsequent murder by Damar cracked the black and white view on what enemies of the state were. The Dominion retreat of the station ends his ideal opportunity to eventually best the Founders behind their back in the future. Intervention by the Prophets demonstrably proves Sisko was the savior of the Bajorans without equal. And the death his daughter destroys the most personal view of himself as the good father protecting his family.
In one fell swoop fate seemingly goes out of its way to shatter Dukat's plans and self image; delivering an existential gut punch that takes until the ending of Waltz to recover from. Faced with accepting responsibility for what his actions brought about, he instead just crafts a new delusion, that of a good man transformed into a Messianic destroyer because a cruel universe left him no other choice.
The events of Sacrifice of Angels broke everything. Ziyal's betrayal of him and subsequent murder by Damar cracked the black and white view on what enemies of the state were. The Dominion retreat of the station ends his ideal opportunity to eventually best the Founders behind their back in the future. Intervention by the Prophets demonstrably proves Sisko was the savior of the Bajorans without equal. And the death his daughter destroys the most personal view of himself as the good father protecting his family.
In one fell swoop fate seemingly goes out of its way to shatter Dukat's plans and self image; delivering an existential gut punch that takes until the ending of Waltz to recover from. Faced with accepting responsibility for what his actions brought about, he instead just crafts a new delusion, that of a good man transformed into a Messianic destroyer because a cruel universe left him no other choice.
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Dukat was always a sociopath. But he had enough self control to craft an image of himself of the magnanimous level headed statesman that even he believed.
In Sacrifice Of Angels he loses that sense of control and ability to believe his lie, so he stops acting based on his crafted image and acts based on his true feelings.
In Sacrifice Of Angels he loses that sense of control and ability to believe his lie, so he stops acting based on his crafted image and acts based on his true feelings.
I always love it when I see in depth posts like this!
You always wanted to like Dukat because Marc Alaimo gave him such charisma. When the producers decided to make him a real villain in season 5, and then make him crazy in season 6, it was hard for me to accept. Before he lost everything in Sacrifice of Angels he was turning into a long winded egotistical bore and after he went mad in Watz, he returned as a single-minded, focused sociopath, bent on revenge. Weyoun best characterizes his "evolution" in Tears Of The Prophets.
"We're in the middle of a life-and-death struggle for the control of the entire Alpha Quadrant and all you care about is quenching your petty thirst for revenge! You haven't changed a bit, have you?"
"On the contrary. I'm a new man. I no longer have a need for conquest or power. I'm far beyond all that! I exist in a state of complete clarity, a clarity I intend to share with the universe!"
"You're right, Dukat, you have changed! You've gone from being a self-important egoist to a self-deluded madman – I hardly call that an improvement!"
- Weyoun and Dukat
"We're in the middle of a life-and-death struggle for the control of the entire Alpha Quadrant and all you care about is quenching your petty thirst for revenge! You haven't changed a bit, have you?"
"On the contrary. I'm a new man. I no longer have a need for conquest or power. I'm far beyond all that! I exist in a state of complete clarity, a clarity I intend to share with the universe!"
"You're right, Dukat, you have changed! You've gone from being a self-important egoist to a self-deluded madman – I hardly call that an improvement!"
- Weyoun and Dukat
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