#DS9 The Die Is Cast

[walkingstackofbooks]

DS9 3x20 Improbable Cause and 3x21 The Die Is Cast thoughts (I'm re-watching, so beware spoilers for future episodes!)

(25/05/2023)

Garak!

Shakespeare! The first mention of this Garashir-fic staple XD

Garak is so obviously flirting XD this is the exact same way Gilora was talking to Miles!

G: "I'd be more than happy to bring some by the Infirmary later this afternoon." B: "Why thank you, I'd like that." His smile!

Kira's "Garak. :/". She's just so annoyed by his existence and it shows XD 

Oh, this is where he fakes his assassination attempt!

"But who would want to kill me? A simple tailor?" Always with the tailor identity.

G: "And of course, there's always Major Kira." B: "This is serious, Garak." G: "I'm being serious. I don't think she likes me." O: "She doesn't. But if she wanted you dead, you would be." Everything about this is 👌👌

Julian is so fed up with Garak's lies, isn't he

And the moral of the boy who cried wolf is... "You should never tell the same lie twice." Of course, Garak. Sigh

"I have bad news for you. Major Kira has an airtight alibi." Garak's tight amusement at this

"What makes you think I haven't already looked thtough [your security files]?... I'm joking, of course." Needing to mollify Odo.

"Odo I -" Miles is so stunned to see Garak there XD

"They're known to be favoured by Flaxian assassins, and it just so happens a Flaxian came aboard the station just this morning." Oh, Garak is gooood

This guy, the Flaxian, is not acting innocent, he's being super slippery and suspicious - but if Garak blew up his own shop, it can't have been him? Unless he was hired by Garak, I guess...

Odo's surprise to see Garak in the shuttle XD

Okay so Garak is genuinely stunned by the other ship exploding? I'm so confused!

"Because if he did know, he'd already be spinning out an elaborate web of lies to cover up the truth." Odo knows Garak's MO too well.

"Considering those uniforms of theirs, you'd think they'd appreciate a decent tailor." XD Odo has an opinion on this?

The unusual Romulans activity, as though they're getting ready for an invasion - this is them getting ready for the Dominion attack with Train?

Another five Cardassians were assassinated? But I'm almost certain Garak faked his! 

"I am not Doctor Bashir and we are not sparring amiably over lunch." Love this outside perspective on Garak and Bashir's lunch dates.

"You blew up your own shop, Garak!" The shock on Garak's face! And Odo's pleased, "Welllll, heh heh."

Ohhh, so there was a real plot to kill Garak

"He retired some years ago. He was, I might add, the only head of the agency ever to live long enough to do so." The fact that Garak is still showing pride at Tain's accomplishment

The emotion on Garak's face seeing Mila :3

"Is there anything you need me to do while you're gone?" Oh, sweetheart!

"Eat it? You're joking." "Yes I am." Julian's fond smile coming out there <3

CHOCOLATES

THEY'RE IN LOVE

"Is it so hard to believe that there's one person in this galaxy who could regard me with a certain affection?" "I could believe there's one (BASHIR cough cough) but I wouldn't expect it to be someone who worked for Enabran Tain."

"Tell me, is there one person in this universe you do care for? One person who's more than just an interesting puzzle to be solved." Interesting that it would just be the one. Why do they care so much about Odo only caring about Kira, because that's what's being implied, isn't it?

Aaaand I've only just realised that this isn't just setting up for The Die Is Cast, TDIC is the next episode! I'd thought it was the end of the season for some reason ..

"Ah, Garak. It's good of you to come. It spares me the trouble of having to send someone else to kill you." ... Whoops

"Like I used to say. Always burn your bridges behind you. You never know who might be trying to follow." I always find it fascinating when aliens have a twist on an English proverb. 

"You blew up your own shop? You, my friend, are a true original."

"I never betrayed you! At least, not in my heart." The emotion!

"You'll pardon me if I appear a little startled." This episode has sure been a tough ride for Garak's emotional control...!

321 The Die Is Cast

Julian's babbling on over lunch :3

Miles trying to pretend he was listening and failing miserably XD

His soft smiles leading into a sad face at remembering Garak

"That's not entirely bad news." *hopeful eye contact*

The slow realisation it's not just one ship out there...

Garak's so happy! 

"I was good wasn't I?" Garak still needing that validation

"I've missed you too, Enabran." Very deliberate pause there

"Next thing you know we'll be crying over our lost youth." Oh that was very pointed, and you can see Garak knows it.

Dr Parmak mention - "When we get back, you should look him up." This is where all those fanfics start?

"Mila may not be around much longer." Garak's quick head turn. He's so easy to read?

"Is this a request I hear?" "Not at all! Just an observation :)" oh Garak. I guess protecting Mila is another reason you want to stay on Tain's good side.

G: "And believe me, if it were my decision, things would be-" O: "I don't believe you, Garak..." Yeah, legit

"You are imaginative, Constable, I'll grant you that. But I would suggest that you put those creative powers to better use. We would like you to share your unique insights on the Founders." Garak's trying to tell Odo to make it up, tell him anything.

"It sounds like you're hoping Tain will succeed." I mean, I can see why - the Dominion bring home would be beneficial, probably.

Eddington >:(

"I'd like permission to take the Defiant into the Gamma Quadrant and try to determine if he's still alive." No of course not. But you tried, Sisko <3

"I am not going to just abandon one of my officers." YES, Sisko, I should have known you'd not take no for an answer

"I consider this a volunteer mission, but don't volunteer yet. There's a good chance you won't be coming back." But it's still worth it to him to try to get Odo :3

Eddington is Not Enjoying This. I guess he wants to fly under Starfleet's radar and not get court martialled? I wonder why he volunteered... It would make more sense to me for him to remain on the station and get more entrenched there

Ah, so that's why Eddington came, to sabotage the mission. He IS sucking up to Starfleet

"You've turned us into sitting ducks for the Jem'Hadar!" Miles trying to attack and Sisko restraining him.

"Because I give you my word." "I make it a policy to never question the word of anyone who wears that uniform. Don't make me change that policy." Oh Sisko.... This hit harder knowing what Eddington will do

"Ohh, no, you're going to torture me, aren't you?" The sarcasm, Odo's so confident Garak can't do anything to him

"Tell me, what will happen if you can't revert to a liquid?" "I don't know." The fear in Odo's face.

"I can wait. The question is, can you?" Chills

"Major, leave the chief alone." XD

"Odo! Talk to me!" The emotionn. "Lie if you have to, but say it now!" He's saying the quiet bit out loud?!

Garak is so transparent! He cannot hide his need to keep Odo alive!

There's definitely something about Garak quoting the Shakespeare he disdained just a few days ago to Tain.

"Why are you doing this?" "Because no changeling has ever harmed another." You kind of let Odo be significantly hurt though... Like, that is a thing that just happened.

"To the Bridge, to get Tain." Odo's bewilderment, yeah we're all with you there!

"Odo, I hope you will accept my sincere apologies for all this." Always with the quest for forgiveness.

Odo's breathless, astonished "What?" as the Defiant appears! 

What a pilot! Jadzia dodging all those phases like they're nothing!

"It's good to see you again, Constable." "Likewise, Major." They are both looking at each other with heart eyes I swear.

This is very similarly shot to Odo's conversation with his Cardassian informant last episode, I like that choice. 

"Do you know what the sad part is, Odo? I'm a very good tailor." Oh, Garak.

[andyoullhearitagain]

me, a 1990s makeup artist, on the phone with a snientist (a snake scientist): so if you punched a reptile what would it look like

[space-dog-from-space]

Kay I can't get over "Improbable Cause"/"The Die is Cast" because Garak stabs Odo in the back without a moment's hesitation the second he gets the invite to return to the Obsidian Order/Tain/Cardassia/Whatever, and then he tortures Odo nearly to death looking for info on the Dominion and all he gets out of Odo is that Odo really wants to go home to his people and join the Great Link despite Everything, but when Odo gets the chance to go home, despite how much he wants to, he sticks to his morals and refuses.

So Odo gets stabbed in the back, and tortured into revealing a shameful secret. He should kick Garak out on his ass and never speak to him again, but he doesn't.

So whereas Garak took the chance to go home without hesitation, Odo refused his own chance to go home with equal conviction, so Odo could sit on his moral high horse and judge Garak for giving into temptation, but he doesn't.

Odo might not forgive Garak for what he did, but he understands why he did it enough to stick around and be his friend despite it all. Like, the guy really says "hey you did a really shitty thing to me but I understand, let's get breakfast sometime."

Something about that just hits, you know?

[bagheerita]

I reread Julius Caesar after watching IC/TDIC and I have a question: At the beginning of the play you meet a bunch of random citizens on the street, and the most prominent of these is the Cobbler, who has a very Garak-esque "who me? I certainly did not insult you with word play, I'm just innocently doing my job sir" vibe.

In "Improbable Cause" when Sisko calls the Romulans, the woman he talks to literally says, "That would be Mister Garak. A cobbler, I believe" before Sisko corrects her.

...Was that a reference on purpose???

Anyway, the two part episode begins and ends with referencing the play. In his conversation with Bashir, the part that Garak chooses to critique is the fact that Caeser didn't see the betrayal coming (he says: "Supposedly, this man is supposed to be the leader of a great empire, a brilliant military tactician, and yet he can't see what's going on under his own nose." which is like literally my entire critique of tain as a character lmao) Obviously this is important to the plot because Tain is Caeser: the one who doesn't see "Lovok"'s betrayal coming.

But like... I want more. Was there any part of the play that Garak did like? If Tain is Caesar that kind of thematically makes Garak Antony ("When Caesar says, 'Do this' it is perform'd."), but given that he later quotes Cassius, Cassius is the most paranoid and melancholic of the characters, and the assassins claim to be working for the betterment of the state, it seems likely that Garak identifies more with that faction? Though I'm sure he finds the concept of the "republic" quite silly and all of the characters overdramatic, even by his standards. I mean, who even assassinates someone is broad daylight in front of literally hundreds of witnesses? How unprofessional.

Not entirely Shakespeare related but nested within the two-parter, the "The Die Is Cast" also has a smaller bookend in that Garak and Tain's first conversation in the episode is about Doctor Parmak, in the context of who Garak used to be and how good Garak was at his job. (For the purposes of this specific comparison, I like that he tells Tain: "Oh, I learned from the best.")

Their last real interaction in the episode (that Tain is entirely mentally present for anyway) is this exchange:

TAIN: How could this be? What could have happened? GARAK: I'm afraid the fault, dear Tain, is not in our stars but in ourselves. TAIN: What? GARAK: Just something I learned from Doctor Bashir.

So they basically start the episode with Tain saying "do you remember when you used to eat doctors for breakfast?" and end it with Garak saying "I eat lunch with them now."

[vaguely-concerned]

somehow enchanted by the detail that odo specifically gives himself (makes himself into??) a latte. he's thought about this. he has Colour Coordinated.

[sarahwatchesthings]

"Haha, hey, remember when you tortured me yesterday? Anyway, we should catch breakfast sometime."

[dilf-odo]

call me crazy, but I think Odo and Garak should have explored eachothers bodies

[ladyylavenderrr]

Me, very vocally, at my television screen when Enabran Tain threatens to hurt Mila in TDIC

[asexualjedi]

Julian misses his boyfriend. :(. O’Brien is going to give himself indigestion with how quick he’s eating. Also would be an incredible moment in series for Julian to realize his feelings for Garak are romantic.

[meefstewk]

look at this fucking Toad

[usstrekart]

Starting today and running for the next two weeks is a special limited time sale in my Threadless shop. I have had many requests to make a lot of my Star Trek episode posters available as prints so I am doing just that! I am starting with some of the most popular and most requested posters from Deep Space Nine for this first run. 

If you want more than a print, each piece is also available on magnets, stickers, shirts and more! You can find the collection at https://doctorheadly.threadless.com/collections/limited-time

For more of my episode-by-episode rewatch that has been the origination of these episode posters visit TrexReExamined on Twitter/X (for full episode live-tweets and episode posters).

[andyoullhearitagain]

*After a days-long cat and mouse game involving psychologically picking each other apart and culminating in Garak torturing Odo for information*

Odo: Why don't we hang out more, Garak? We should get breakfast.

[spocks-evil-godmother]

Garak torturing Odo until he becomes a squalid corpse of a man to get him to admit he longs to join the Great Link is SO MUCH and also I genuinely don't know how they ever came back from that tbh

[per1w1nkl3]

so is mila garak's mother? and tain some other family member?? (dare i say some kind of adoptive father?)

[bethebi]

The Die is Cast: Garek really commits a war crime against Odo and Odo is like "it's okay, I get homesick too"

[bagheerita]

When Sisko takes the Defiant to the Gamma quadrant against orders to rescue Odo from Garak's "old friend" and Kira's like, "We're getting a message: it's the Admiral calling to remind us he ordered us not to go to the Gamma quadrant." And Sisko's like, "No, you don't know what he said because we didn't get that message because of all the interference." and she just stares for a minute before she's like, "yeah... interference... must have been an ion storm." like the thought had never occurred to her to lie, and I lost it because "sorry can't hear you, going through a tunnel" apparently still works as an Earth excuse in the future 🤣