Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Kira Nerys

Second Skin is one of the strongest episodes of Deep Space Nine's third season, written by Robert Hewitt Wolfe. The introduction of Tekeny Ghemor would set up another strong Kira episode in the fifth season, Ties Of Blood And Water, but it was also going to leave an absolute mind-bender of an ending - though it didn't survive into the final script.

The original ending closed with Bashir telling Kira he couldn't confirm whether she was Bajoran, or Cardassian. This, in Wolfe's story idea, was to ensure that a person is not simply what they might appear to be, but rather that they are the sum of their experiences. It would have left the character as something of an unknown from that point forward, so it is understandable that the plot was dropped.

That said, as Kira's family were almost all dead before the events of Deep Space Nine, the audience only sees her interacting with Ghemor - at least in a contemporary sense. It is ironic that Kira would find the strongest family bond that she has with a Cardassian Legate, regardless of whether she was his biological daughter or not.