Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Garak
6. Not My Daughter, You Bitch
For Garak, his relatively brief affair with Torah Ziyal would lead to be one of the most affecting periods of his life. The fact that she was Gul Dukat's daughter was an irony that was not lost on the writing team. For her first appearances, Ziyal was played by Cyia Batten, but when it became clear that bigger things were required of the character, she was recast.
For the episode For The Cause, Tracy Middendorff stepped into the make-up. Despite there being a thirty-year age difference between her and Robinson, the combination of the make-up and her experience helped to sell the development of their relationship. Middendorf would only play the role once, before being recast with Melanie Smith.
This iteration of Ziyal would actively move away from her father's growing megalomania, and though her affection for Garak wasn't a deliberate attempt to hurt Dukat, it certainly didn't help. Garak did, somewhat ironically, encourage the best in her. She would go on to develop her art skills, including a series of paintings, some of which Garak would later hang in his office on Cardassia, according to the novels.