#Gul Darhe'el

[astralbondpro]

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine // S01E19 Duet

[geekysteven]

[audible-smiles]

better alternate endings for 'Duet'

-the Bajoran provisional government just goes ahead and does a show trial for Gul Darhe'el using Marritza as a body double per his wishes, to keep up the general morale and to piss off the Cardassian government, which keeps calling to yell HE IS NO MORE, HE HAS CEASED TO BE, HE'S EXPIRED, but no one believes them

-the Bajoran provisional government does a real trial for Marritza because he was still pretty complicit in some atrocities and they don't really care that he's sad about it even though Kira does

-Kainon fails to instantaneously knife Marritza to death so he actually has to go back home and we get to watch him awkwardly try to resume his own life even though he's like legally dead and got plastic surgery to look like a war criminal and gave all of his stuff away

-Kira asks Marritza to do a normal gesture of penance appropriate to his crime, such as for example: testifying about what happened at Gallitep so the Bajoran people can know the truth, since the Cardassian military destroyed all the records when they left and also he was the file clerk and HIS SPECIES HAS AN EIDETIC MEMORY

[abitunexpected]

IT WAS ME NERYS, GUL DARHE'EL, I WAS THE BUTCHER OF GALLITEP

Pinky promise

[theabstruseone]

My favorite episode of Deep Space Nine isn't one of the Big Ones, and while it's well-regarded, it usually only squeaks by at the bottom of most top 10 lists.

Season 1, Episode 19, "Duet". Spoilers below.

A Cardassian comes aboard the station who claims he is Aamin Marritza, a retired filing clerk. Kira doesn't buy it because he has a medical condition he could only have gotten at Gallitep, one of the most brutal labor colonies of the Bajoran occupation. She discovers that he is, in fact, Gul Darhe'el, the overseer of Gallitep.

Then...Gul Dukat calls the station to ask why they've imprisoned a Cardassian citizen. When told they have the war criminal Gul Darhe'el, Dukat says they can't have him in custody because Darhe'el is dead. But by this point, Darhe'el has dropped all pretense and is gloating to Kira in their interrogation sessions about the atrocities he committed.

Turns out...Darhe'el didn't have the medical condition. He wasn't at the camp when the accident happened. The man they have in custody is actually Aamin Marritza, a simple retired filing clerk. Who is absolutely fucking broken by what he witnessed at the camp. He got plastic surgery to look like Darhe'el specifically to come to Bajor and get caught, put on public trial, and force Cardassia to admit the horrors it committed during its occupation of Bajor.

But Kira lets him go. Kira, who at the start of all this wanted him arrested, prosecuted, and executed for the crime of being a Cardassian who was at Gallitep.

And in a touching scene where Kira escorts him through the promenade to a transport home...a Bajoran comes up and stabs Marritza in the back.

"Why? He wasn't Darhe'el! Why?!"

"He's a Cardassian! That's reason enough!"

And Kira, the woman who started the episode willing to do the very same thing herself, says "No. It's not."

Not only is the episode a master class in writing and acting in minimal environments (it's damn near a bottle episode with most of the best scenes taking place in the holding cell of the security office), but it has a powerful message about how fascism destroys everyone it touches. Obviously those it oppresses, but also those forced to carry out the oppression.

Marritza is a broken man because he felt powerless. He could see and hear the suffering around him and could do nothing to stop it. So he became an active participant. Even if he himself didn't commit any of the acts, he was there and he did his job.

And it broke him.

Kira: You're Marritza, aren't you?

Marritza: You mistake me for that bug? That whimpering nothing? Oh, you stupid Bajoran girl. Don't you know who I am? I'm your nemesis. I'm your nightmare. I'm the Butcher of Gallitep.

Kira: The Butcher of Gallitep died six years ago. You're Aamin Marritza, his filing clerk.

Marritza: That's not true. I am alive. I will always be alive! It's Marritza who is dead. Marritza, who was good for nothing but cowering under his bunk and weeping like a woman. Who, every night, covered his ears because he couldn't bear to hear the screaming… for mercy… of the Bajorans… Covered my ears every night, but… I couldn't bear to hear those horrible screams. You have no idea what it's like to be a coward… To see these horrors… And do nothing. Marritza's dead. He deserves to be dead.

hash tag community engagement bc I’m curious: what’s everyone’s favorite episode that’s not considered like. one of the big ones. just kind of a random episode that’s not trouble with tribbles/inner light/far beyond the stars level of generally cited as fan favorites.

[nerdypipsqueak]

Gul Darhe'el talks like a combination of the Bey of Deraa and just about every Nazi officer who ever stood trial.

[my-thyla-my-captain]

Finally gonna get around to finishing that Aamin Marritza fic, I already have most of it written in my notes app lol

[marlinspirkhall]

Someone said "I'm glad that ds9 let the Bajorans grieve without being gaslighted by the Cardassians", but I'm currently watching a war criminal gaslighting and taunting Kira & wondering... Were they being sarcastic?

[filmjunky-99]

s t a r t r e k d e e p s p a c e n i n e created by rick berman, michael piller Aamin Marritza [duet, s1ep19]

'You saw what we wanted you to see. Who do you think started the rumors about brutality at Gallitep? It was Gul Darhe'el himself. Now there was a leader. Brilliant, extraordinary man. He knew that to rule by fear was to rule completely. Why bother with actual mass murders when the mere reports of such incidents had the same effect.' - marritza [to kira]

[jimintomystery]

DS9: "Duet"

Major Kira detains a visiting Cardassian, accusing him of involvement in war crimes at the Gallitep labor camp. Although he initially insists he is Aamin Marritza, a mere filing clerk, further investigation suggests that he is actually Gul Darhe'el, who ran the camp.

The title of this episode always struck me. Obviously it alludes to the intense tête-à-têtes between Kira and Marritza. Or, more to the point, the performances given by Nina Visitor and Harris Yulin. It's as if the title is commenting on that performance, rather than encapsulating the story. Weird flex, but okay.

Up to this point, Star Trek had presented the Bajorans as a rather general metaphor for displaced and oppressed people, struggling to reclaim their homeland and end various atrocities. So the first time I saw this episode, I was surprised when Kira called the Occupation a "genocide." I was confused, because Cardassia had seemed more concerned with exploiting the Bajorans, not eradicating them. But, as recent news from Ukraine has reminded me, there isn't some "clean" version of colonialism where conquered people aren't treated as a problem to eliminate.

Kira's "genocide" allegation might still be flimsy if it were just limited to one Bajoran-hating fanatic, Darhe'el, running one labor camp. However, Marritza's rants serve to neutralize that concern. Playing the part of Darhe'el, Marritza is a nationalist egomaniac, who resents the Bajorans simply for existing, and delights in gradually destroying them. Even if we wanted to say "not all Cardassians," his rhetoric will become the foundation for every villain who rationalizes the Occupation in this series.

Ironically, the Cardassian most associated with that stereotype, Gul Dukat, is held up in contrast with it. This is only Dukat's second appearance, and his role is still very much the passive-aggressive politician. Where Marritza-as-Darhe'el is proud of the Occupation's atrocities, Dukat tactfully insists that Cardassia would never do anything bad and you're just making a big deal out of this whole "war crimes" nonsense to harass an innocent man. It'll take a few years to get Dukat to drop this sort of pretense, and what's revealed underneath will strongly reflect the supervillain raving from the man he's trying to protect here.

[defconprime]

Skybox DS9 season one trading card number 27, "Gul Darhe'el," 1993.

[mandaloriangf]

I found a character that is basically everything reylos think Ben Solo is. Go to YouTube and type Gul Darhe'el into the search.

i just like....vaguely remember that lol

[foone]

God damn it, I'm a fool! I was gonna put Gul Darhe'el (from DS9: Duet) in the chat too, but I checked the dates and he died in 2363, and Chain of Command takes place in 2369.

Which doesn't matter! Because if Darhe'el was here, that would mean it was just Marritza impersonating him! Which makes sense!

Damn it.

*Madred has joined #gul-chat*

<Madred> hey guys

<Madred> hey

<Madred> check it out

<Madred> I've hoisted my own Picard!

<Madred> http://cardassia.egg/images/48629729484.jpg

*chanserv sets mode +o BigD_ukat*

*BigD_ukat has kicked Madred from #gul-chat. Reason: no*

<toran2> good riddance

<xEVEKx> you should ban him too.

<ocett{C}> I agree. Seconded.

[chronotopes]

WHAT THE FUCK i love cardassians as plot elements because it means like... a plot twist every ten minutes. it reminds me of an episode of house. does he have a similar but unrelated disease? no. is he a filing clerk? no. is he gul darhe'el? ye - no he's not. is he some cardassian weirdo who had plastic surgery to look like him? it appears so but there's six minutes left so who knows what will happen

[thisdayintrek]

This Day in Trek

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Duet - Season One, Episode Nineteen (X)

Original Air Date: June 13, 1993

"If your lies are going to be this transparent, it's going to be a very short investigation." "Well, in that case, I'll try to make my lies more opaque."

"Commander, if you'd been there twelve years ago when we liberated that camp... if you'd seen the things I saw... all those Bajoran bodies, starved, brutalized. You know what Cardassian policy was?  Oh, I'm not even talking about the murder, murder was just the end of the fun for them; first came the humiliation!  Mothers raped in front of their children, husbands beaten until their wives couldn't recognize them, old people buried alive because they couldn't work anymore!"

"You saw what we wanted you to see. Who do you think started the rumors about brutality at Gallitep? It was Gul Darhe'el himself. Now there was a leader. A brilliant, extraordinary man. He knew that to rule by fear was to rule completely. Why bother with actual mass murder, when the mere reports of such incidents achieved the same effect?"

"This Bajoran obsession with alleged Cardassian improprieties during the occupation is really quite distasteful." "I suppose if you're Bajoran, so was the occupation."

"I do miss working with you, Odo. I miss our games of Kalevian montar." "As I recall, Gul Dukat, we played one game, and you cheated." (laughs) "The same old Odo. Like a blunt instrument."

"You have no idea what it's like to be a coward. To see these horrors and do nothing."

[fardell24b]

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 1 review

Season 1

Deep Space Nine, the third live action Star Trek series, shook up the envelope of what Star Trek is. But it had a slow beginning. There are some stumbles and missteps, but by the end of the first season, Deep Space Nine had been well established. Where to begin? Well, at the beginning, with Emissary. The main characters are all well established from the outset. Sisko in particular, with his bereavement, and his encounter with the Prophets allowing him to move past it. As is Kira in their first meeting.

However, reviewing an episodic season is different to reviewing a more serialised season, like Season 2 of Discovery, or any season of (dare I say it) Babylon 5. One cannot talk about ongoing storylines, but rather the themes that run through the season. There are many themes in this introductory season. The main themes are the ongoing situation on Bajor (with the recovery from the Occupation, and trying to establish a Government), tensions with the Cardassians and the beginnings of exploration of the Gamma Quadrant.

There is also the Starfleet and Bajoran crews on the Station learning to work together, but that is mostly in the background. The situation on Bajor is set up very well in the first episode, with Sisko's meeting with Opaka not only setting up his discovery of the wormhole and the Prophets, but also his efforts to ensure that Bajor doesn't fall apart into civil war. It also sets a precedent that would be followed up when he needs to go to Bajor for help with a situation. e.g. him going to Bariel in In the Hands of the Prophets.

The Bajor theme repeats through the season. It doesn't slip into the background like the Cardassians do. The energy project in Progress and the land dispute in The Storyteller give excellent windows into the problems the Bajorans have to face. The situation Varis Sul has to deal with in the latter episode is an excellent depiction of a situation that would arise. Young people having to step up and lead their communities after their parents are killed by the Occupiers. Land disputes. It also depicts the stress such a situation would cause very well.

Then there's the situation in In the Hands of the Prophets. The overall situation would definitely allow for people like Winn Adami to get into positions of power. The tensions with the Cardassians aren't really given a focus. It just lies there in the background, only surfacing from time to time. For instance, tensions between Kira and Sisko when a trader arrives who had traded weapons (resources for weapons) to the Cardassians. The freighter that plays a role in the telepathic archive induced power struggle in Dramatis Personae is a case in point.

Of course one cannot talk about the role Cardassians play in this season without mentioning Marritza. The situation that he causes by coming to Deep Space Nine and claiming to be Gul Darhe'el is realised on screen very well. Kira's search for the truth and her realisation that not all Cardassians are evil were very well done. And Marritza's tragic end at the hands of a racist Bajoran was portrayed very well. (Of course, that Bajoran's experiences in the Occupation aren't elaborated upon, but that may have taken from the exploration of Marritza's backstory.)

Of course, there's also Garak, with the possibility of his being a spy being explored from the outset, along with his Tuesday lunches with Bashir. The exploration of the Gamma Quadrant mainly takes a back seat to these two other threads, with First Contacts mainly occuring by others stumbling upon the wormhole, like the Tosk in Captive Pursuit and the aliens in If Wishes Were Horses, or Vulcans exploring the Quadrant. (Clearly, Move Along Home was a massive stumble in this regard.)

Then there is the Klingon crew in Dramatis Personae bringing back something that should have been handed with much more care. And these this theme combines rather effectively with the Bajoran theme in Battlelines where Opaka ends up being the mediator between the two eternally battling factions. Clearly it is implied that the Prophets wanted her there for some reason. (Orb experience and then wanting to go through the wormhole...) Overall this is a rather good season to introduce the show with. 8/10.