Star Trek: 10 Best Cardassian Episodes

Garak is easily the most sympathetic Cardassian that we'll ever meet, despite the misdeeds of his past and those are exactly what this episode is about. While having lunch with Dr. Bashir, Garak's head starts to hurt. Later, he collapses in pain and Bashir strives to find out why. It turns out that Garak has a small device implanted in his brain and it is designed to limit his ability to feel pain, better to resist torture.

Ever since Garak has been exiled to Deep Space Nine, away from his beloved homeworld, he has been using the device more and more. He equates being away from his people as a form of pain until the day he simply left it on. The device was never meant to be used for this long and is now starting to break down in his brain. Bashir tries to find out why Garak is unwilling to go home, to Cardassia, to seek treatment.

Garak weaves three tales about his subordinate, Elim. He tells of how he let Elim die with a shipment of Bajoran prisoners. Then he changes his mind and tells of how Elim turned him in because he refused to interrogate a group of Bajoran children. Then he changes his mind again, telling of how the two of them were both powerful men in the Obsidian Order who betrayed one another.

Eventually, Dr. Bashir tracks own Enabran Tain, former head of the Obsidian Order and obtains the information necessary to save Garak. As he does, he asks what became of Elim. Tain laughs, saying that Elim is Garak's first name.

Garak has always been a mystery and would continue to be so for many years, vexing many on the station with his wiles. Bashir asks him for the truth later on, to which Garak says that everything he's said is true. Especially the lies.