Ties of Blood and Water (episode)

Real world article

(written from a production point of view)

Kira asks Tekeny Ghemor to come to Deep Space 9 to provide information about the Cardassian government and the revitalizing dissident movement; Gul Dukat arrives and demands Ghemor's extradition.

Summary[]

Teaser[]

Dax, Worf, and Kira are waiting at an airlock, awaiting the arrival of Tekeny Ghemor, Kira's Cardassian pseudo-father. The two have become very close in recent days. The legate is not secure on Cardassia since the takeover by Gul Dukat and the recent alliance with the Dominion. Kira is hoping Ghemor will lead the political opposition on Cardassia when he tells her that he came to DS9 because he is terminally ill. He has Yarim Fel Syndrome and will probably die soon.

Act One[]

In the infirmary, Julian Bashir confirms Ghemor's diagnosis. He can't estimate how much time he has left, but there are some treatments Bashir can try.

Dukat contacts Captain Benjamin Sisko; after a brief exchange of barbs between the two, Dukat insists that Ghemor be extradited back to Cardassia. Sisko, who has no intention of negotiating, bluntly reminds Dukat that the Federation doesn't recognize the new Cardassian government's legitimacy, nor does Cardassia have a formalized extradition treaty with Bajor or the Federation, and abruptly ends the transmission.

Major Kira offers to spend the next few days with Ghemor, replacing the daughter he doesn't have anymore (Kira admits her contacts in Bajoran Security haven't found any trace of Iliana, but offers Ghemor, who has accepted that Iliana is most likely dead, the hope she might still be alive, just deep undercover). He holds Kirayoshi for a bit, feeling a bit like a grandfather. He asks if Kira wants her own child, and she's surprised he knows about Shakaar Edon. He explains she has her own section in the Cardassian Central Archives, as she's a public figure. He adds she should be proud. Then, Ghemor states he knows many secrets about the Cardassian Union that could be helpful. He wants to commence the Shri-tal with her, a Cardassian ritual in which a dying person reveals their closest secrets to the rest of the family, for use against their enemies. Since Kira is the closest thing Ghemor has to a family, she agrees to participate.

Later, in the captain's office, Kira tells Sisko about the responsibility this ritual entails; Sisko notes it's an opportunity to gain more intelligence on Cardassia than Starfleet's been able to gather in five years. She wonders if she's the right person, suggesting perhaps a Starfleet counselor or Odo might be better suited, but Sisko replies that Ghemor isn't looking to be debriefed; he wants someone to talk to at the end of his days. Thinking back about her own father who suffered a critical injury in the Occupation of Bajor, Kira knows she is all Ghemor's got.

Act Two[]

Bashir instructs Kira on operating the medical equipment in Ghemor's quarters and leaves. Then begins a series of long interviews. They are exhausting for Kira, but she doesn't complain. Her attention is drawn, though, thinking of her injured father on a cot, unable to get medical help and explaining he tried to reason with the Cardassians in the attack. He talks sadly about how the Cardassians destroyed his beloved garden he had spent so much time caring for. Kira assures her father that they will make another one together some day. Turning her attention back to the present, when Ghemor becomes unable to talk, Kira concludes for the day.

Later, she relates what she's found to Sisko. He says Starfleet Intelligence will be pleased, but then Bashir calls Kira back to his quarters. He's not responding to the treatment and wants to continue the interviews, while there's still time.

In Ops, Worf reports to Sisko that a Jem'Hadar battle cruiser is approaching the station. Its weapons are armed and the targeting systems are active. Sisko orders a red alert and all crew members to battle stations. Receiving a transmission, it is revealed that Dukat and Weyoun have arrived at DS9 aboard the battle cruiser to reclaim the fugitive.

Act Three[]

Dukat and Weyoun, or rather the fifth Weyoun, as Sisko saw the fourth die, are brought aboard the station. Dukat uses standard Cardassian strategies, saying Ghemor is cleared of any wrongdoing on Cardassia, and asks Sisko to see him to ask if he wants to come home. Ghemor rebuffs Dukat's offer to return home to Cardassia, so Dukat insinuates Ghemor's daughter is still alive, offering to reveal where to find her. Though tempted by the chance to see Iliana again, Ghemor doesn't believe Dukat, especially now that the Dominion are involved. Dukat and Weyoun leave, promising to linger for a few days should Ghemor reconsider.

Kira Nerys and Dukat, 2373 — "*I promise you Dukat… I will make you pay for all of this one day.*"
"*Maybe – but not today.*"

Kira continues another long stretch of interviews and caring for Ghemor. Then, Dukat goes to Kira's quarters, trying to turn Kira against Ghemor, giving her his official record on a PADD which mentions the Kiessa Monastery massacre. Without reading it, she throws a teacup at his head and promises she will make him pay one day. He leaves, and she picks up the record and begins reading it.

Act Four[]

Kira angrily confronts Ghemor while cleaning up after him. He admits he kept his involvement in Kiessa from her, and explains why it happened (the Cardassian military justified the attack on the monastery by claiming the monks there were smuggling weapons to the Bajoran Resistance), but insists he eventually came to believe what happened that day, along with the rest of the occupation, was an atrocity for which the Cardassians, not the Bajorans, were guilty. He admits his regrets for ever joining the Cardassian military or volunteering for duty on Bajor, pleading he only withheld the truth because he didn't want Kira to hate him. A furious Kira snaps he deserves to be hated, does the bare minimum to care for Ghemor and leaves.

Sisko finds Dukat and Weyoun at the dabo table in Quark's, where Weyoun takes to a few games, clearly enjoying himself. With a bottle of kanar, Sisko acts as though he had forgotten his manners and offers some to Dukat, but the Cardassian refuses. The captain then reveals that the kanar had been poisoned with voraxna– and had just been delivered to Ghemor; clearly a murder attempt. Dukat acts insulted at the barely-veiled accusation, and warns Sisko he should not make such a threat to the head of a government; Sisko in return needles Dukat over what secrets he's afraid Ghemor will expose. Weyoun breaks the tension and chuckles, remarking how entertaining he finds their interplay before shocking both Dukat and Sisko by drinking the entire glass of poisoned liquor. He is able to detect the poison (of which there is quite more than a lethal dose), but suffers no ill effects, explaining to the others that the Vorta have an engineered immunity to most types of poison. Sisko leaves Dukat embarrassed and Weyoun amused.

Dukat's strategy to turn Kira away from Ghemor proves to have some success. Kira, trying to find some sense of peace at the Bajoran temple, goes leaves to find Odo outside waiting for her, who remarks he heard she'd stopped seeing Ghemor. Kira rages she thought Ghemor was different from other Cardassians, but Odo (who has also read Ghemor's record) points out Ghemor was only 19 years old at the time of the Kiessa massacre, having served in the military for less than a year, and there's no way to prove he fired a shot in anger there. Kira insists he shouldn't have even been there, but Odo challenges that view in his usual style, pointing out she already knew his record before Dukat gave it to her. She supposes she should forget about it and go back to him, but Odo says he's not saying anything, implying she already knows her general anger toward the Cardassians is keeping her from this new relationship.

She flashes back to when her father was in pain, saying the Prophets were calling to him. Furel says they found the troops that executed the attack and are going to hit them back. Kira insists on going with them to get revenge, despite her father pleading for her to stay with him.

Bashir comes to Kira's quarters to inform her that Ghemor's condition is deteriorating and he will be dead within the hour.

Act Five[]

Kira thanks him, but she obviously doesn't intend to go to Ghemor, set on her view of his betrayal. Bashir urges Kira to relent, insisting that even if Ghemor's past is stained by the Occupation, he doesn't deserve to die alone. He leaves, and she flashes back to that counterattack she helped with. They were successful, but she comes in the camp to find her father dead and informed he was calling her out name in the end. Without betraying emotion, she calls for another attack on the Cardassians to make them pay and starts digging his grave. Furel tries to get Prylar Quen to say a few words, but Kira says there's nothing left to say, intent on continuing digging.

Ultimately, Kira decides she will not do the same thing she did when her father died and won't find a last minute excuse to miss his death; she returns to Ghemor's bedside and stays with him until he dies. Afterwards, Bashir finishes the paperwork in the infirmary. Kira dwells on the experience, supposing he gave her something she needed instead of the other way around – since she missed her own father's death. She admits she could have stayed with him, but saw a chance to avoid the pain of losing her father and her own strength.

After Ghemor passes away, Dukat informs Captain Sisko that he intends to tell the general public that Ghemor decided on his deathbed to embrace the Dominion and insists on having the body brought back to Cardassia so he can be buried with full military honors. Sisko informs him that the funeral arrangements have already been taken care of. Kira has Ghemor buried on Bajor, right beside her father, under the same tree.

Memorable quotes[]

"Cardassian politics are very complex."
"I think they like it that way."

- Worf and Dax

"Major Kira – friends with a Cardassian. It seems wrong."
"You should have known her five years ago. Back then, I never thought she'd be friends with anyone."

- Worf and Dax, on Kira's relationship with Tekeny Ghemor

"I have Yarim Fel Syndrome. It's terminal, Nerys. I'm dying."

- Ghemor

"Still calling yourself gul? I'm surprised you haven't promoted yourself back to legate by now."
"I prefer the title 'gul'; so much more hands-on than legate. And less pretentious than the other alternatives: president, emperor, chancellor, first minister… emissary."
"How about Dominion puppet?"
"Captain, such comments only reveal a deep misunderstanding of the intricacies of the Dominion political system. Under our new administration, Cardassia enjoys unparalleled autonomy and -"
"You can justify yourself later, Dukat. I'm a busy man."
"Very well. We have reason to believe you have one of our citizens aboard your station. A certain Tekeny Ghemor, formerly a Legate in the Cardassian Central Command."
"And if we do?"
"Well, we want him back. To put it mildly, he has a lot to answer for."
"I will take your request under advisement. But considering the Federation doesn't recognise your government, and that Cardassia has never agreed to an extradition treaty with Bajor or the Federation, you shouldn't get your hopes up."

- Sisko and Dukat

"Dukat, I have a week to live, maybe less. Do you really expect me to trade my silence for a few short days under the Cardassian sun?"
"It's where you belong, Ghemor."
"And it's where I'd be if you hadn't betrayed our people to the Dominion!"

- Ghemor and Dukat

"You haven't heard my entire offer. We do have something else I think might interest you. Your daughter, Iliana."
"Iliana?"
"Don't listen to him."
"Your daughter is alive. I know where to find her."
"I want to believe you, Dukat, but even if I did, let's just say I don't like the company you're keeping. You and I might have come to an agreement, one Cardassian to another. But now dealing with you means dealing with them, and that makes the price too high."

- Dukat, Ghemor and Kira

"'Wha…"
"Oh, my… that is quite toxic, isn't it?"
"Are you… insane?"
"Oh, Vorta are immune to most forms of poison; it comes in handy when you are a diplomat."

- Dukat and Weyoun (knowingly drinking a glass of poisoned kanar)

"DABO! That is dabo, isn't it?"
"I don't see why you insist on playing this ridiculous game."
"I like games."

- Weyoun and Dukat

"You are really enjoying this, aren't you? Hm? All your sick little games."
"I must admit, I do get a certain… perverse pleasure out of it."

- Kira and Dukat

"I understand you've stopped visiting Ghemor."
"He lied to me. I thought he was different, but he's just like the rest of them."
"Is he really? I've seen his file, too, Major. He was nineteen when Kiessa was destroyed. He'd been in the military for less than a year and was only one of four hundred soldiers at the monastery. There's no way of knowing if he even fired a shot."
"He shouldn't have been there at all."
"This isn't about Ghemor's war record. If it really mattered, you wouldn't have waited for Dukat to hand it to you. You would have looked it up yourself."
"What are you trying to say? That I should go back down there?"
"No, I wasn't saying that at all. Are you?"

- Odo and Kira discussing Ghemor's actions during the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor

"I thought you should know that Ghemor's condition has deteriorated. He'll be dead within the hour."
"Thank you for the information, Doctor."
(shocked)"Is that it? 'Thank you for the information'? Ghemor is dying."
"I heard you."
"Major, he wants to see you."
"Well, I don't want to see him."
"Major, please. It's almost over. There's no more questions to ask, no more work to be done. Just go to his quarters and sit with him."
"I said no. Please don't ask me again."
"Fine. You must do what you want. But I think you're making a mistake. Regardless of what Ghemor's done in the past, he doesn't deserve to die alone. Nobody does."

- Bashir and Kira as the former tries to convince the latter to stay with Ghemor in his last moments

"He fought for every last second. I don't even think he knew I was there."
"He knew. You gave him what he needed. He didn't die alone."
"Maybe he gave me something I needed too. I missed my father's death by less than an hour. Did you know that? Less than an hour. I always told myself that it was bad luck, bad timing, the will of the Prophets. But the truth is, I didn't have to go when I did. I could have stayed a while longer. I saw my chance to get out and I took it. I saw so much death during the occupation, I felt so much pain. But my father, he was my strength, and I couldn't stand to see that strength slipping away. So I ran."
"Just like you tried to run from Ghemor."
"He reminded me so much of my father. Going through it again, I just couldn't face it."
"But in the end, you did. You were there for Ghemor."
"I owed it to him. I owed it to my father to get it right this time."

- Kira and Bashir after Ghemor's death

Background information[]

Story and script[]

This episode introduces Weyoun 5 after his "death" in "To the Death" and reveals that the Vorta clone themselves (a premise which was created specifically so Jeffrey Combs could reprise his role). As Ira Steven Behr explains, "When we first saw Jeff Combs do the role in "To the Death", we were wishing we could find a different ending to the episode, because we really didn't want the character to die. But we couldn't think of anything. The next thing you know, they're out in Griffith Park, shooting the fight, and he's dead. I knew immediately that he had to come back. There was no way he couldn't." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 442)

Production[]

Avery Brooks directing 'Ties of Blood and Water' — Avery Brooks directs Lawrence Pressman and Nana Visitor on the set of "Ties of Blood and Water"

Of the montage sequence, director Avery Brooks says, "There is a suspension of time. Time is kind of irrelevant. Each shot was, for me, like a portrait. I was very interested in creating portraits, in terms of composition and lighting. Still portraits. Not photographs, but paintings." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 441)

Reception[]

This episode is a favorite of Nana Visitor's; "I like playing the truth of things. I love that they did this with my character, that they wrote that Kira isn't Miss Perfect Saint. It wasn't about her not loving the person she cared for. It was about 'This is tough.' And that it required more of her than she had at the moment. And it was a learning experience for her." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 441)
Lawrence Pressman was impressed by Avery Brooks's direction of the episode. Pressman commented "Avery's a man who keeps to himself, not somebody who chats easily, but as a director he was right there and extraordinarily helpful. Somebody said to me 'Avery talks like jazz'. It's true, he does. What's more, its brilliant jazz, wonderful stuff. He gives you images, and he does it through eye contact with you, so you get the feeling of what he wants. He gave me a lot courage. It would be so easy to go the wrong way with the character. He pushed me constantly in other directions, then pushed me even further in that direction. You can't ask for anything more than that". ("Back for Ghemor", Star Trek Monthly, issue 30)
For Robert Hewitt Wolfe, the most important scene in the episode is the scene where Kira introduces Tekeny Ghemor to Kirayoshi O'Brien; "This is her family. The father that is not her father. The baby that is not her baby. That's Kira's family." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 441-442)

Trivia[]

This episode is a sequel of sorts to the third season episode "Second Skin". Since it is the first episode to feature Dukat after Cardassia joined the Dominion, it also clarifies some of the political maneuvering which has taken place on Cardassia since "By Inferno's Light".
This episode marked the first obvious appearance of the Jem'Hadar battle cruiser. In the episodes "In Purgatory's Shadow" and "By Inferno's Light", the battle cruiser is seen flying through space but is never mentioned.
This is the first episode in which Kira is shown wearing her normal uniform since becoming pregnant in "Body Parts".
Thomas Kopache also portrayed Kira Taban in the sixth season episode "Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night".
When Kira first appears in the flashback sequence where her wounded father is brought to her at the Shakaar resistance cell base, another resistance fighter to her right can be seen holding a Jem'Hadar Kar'takin years before the discovery of the wormhole.
Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode.

Remastered version[]

Remastered footage from the episode is featured in the documentary What We Left Behind.

Apocrypha[]

It is revealed in the novel Fearful Symmetry that Dukat did in fact know Iliana Ghemor's location, meaning that his offer was at least partially honest. Given his treatment of her, however, it is doubtful that he would have followed through.

Video and DVD releases[]

UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 5.10, 22 August 1997
As part of the DS9 Season 5 DVD collection

Links and references[]

Starring[]

Avery Brooks as Captain Sisko

Also starring[]

Guest stars[]

Previous episode:
"Business as Usual"

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Season 5

Next episode:
"Ferengi Love Songs"