Only One Will Survive

Waltz

Well I guess I finally know what happened to Dukat.

I don’t really know what to say about this episode.  Honestly, I don’t.  I suppose there will always be episodes where a person is unsure of how they really feel about it at first.  I suppose that a few days down the road I might think of something better to write once I’ve thought about it more.  This episode just has me thinking about a bunch of different things and scenarios all at the same time.  Real thought provoker this episode was.   

Anyways, I think the biggest thing about this episode for me was when Sisko said: “Sometimes life seems so complicated; nothing is truly good or truly evil.  Everything seems to be a shade of gray.  And then, you spend some time with a man like Dukat and you realize that there is such a thing as truly evil.”

This was a very powerful line because Sisko has stated that Dukat is in fact evil.  He has summed up Dukat in one word and not just any word, but evil.  Evil is not behaviour but who you are, and that is what makes this line so powerful.  And yet, Sisko made this decision knowing that Dukat’s mind was still fractured.  Of course a lot of things that Dukat said definitely made him appear evil.  For example:

Dukat: “From the moment we arrived on Bajor it was clear that we were the superior race, but they couldn't accept that. They wanted to be treated as equals, when they most certainly were not. Militarily, technologically, culturally-- we were almost a century ahead of them in every way. We did not choose to be the superior race. Fate handed us that role and it would have been so much easier on everyone if the Bajorans had simply accepted their role. But no... day after day they clustered in their temples and prayed for deliverance and night after night they planted bombs outside of our homes. Pride... stubborn, unyielding pride. From the servant girl that cleaned my quarters, to the condemned man toiling in a labor camp, to the terrorist skulking through the hills of Dahkur Province... they all wore their pride like some... twisted badge of honor."

Sisko: “And you hated them for it."

Dukat: “Of course I hated them! I hated everything about them! Their superstitions and their cries for sympathy, their treachery and their lies, their smug superiority and their stiff-necked obstinacy, their earrings, and their broken, wrinkled noses!"

Sisko: “You should have killed them all, hmm?"

Dukat: “Yes! Yes!! That's right, isn't it?! I knew it. I've always known it. I should've killed every last one of them! I should've turned their planet into a graveyard the likes of which the galaxy had never seen! I should've killed them all."

Hearing this speech, I couldn’t help but think of how messed up Dukat was, and just how damaged his mind really was.  See, this speech made me wonder if he really thought those things when he was “sane” or if his damaged mind was making him think those things.  What if when he was “sane”, he didn’t actually believe he was trying to do good things?  Of course that still makes him evil, but kind of in a different light.  See, I hesitate to pass judgement on Dukat.  Dukat stated that the occupation had been going on for 40 years before he even arrived at Bajor.  It just seems to me that his mindset and his view of Bajorans may have been skewed before he even set foot on Bajor.  He was probably raised with his parents or adults telling him that Bajorans were inferior and therefore needed the Cardassians to help them and rule over them.  If you grow up in that kind of environment, you are likely to become the man that Dukat did.  And this is why I’m not willing to pass judgement on him so quickly.  Dukat might be evil, but he didn’t get there all by himself.  (Although, the fact that Dukat beat the crap out of Sisko makes me depise the him and I was definitely willing to agree that he was evil at this point).

Ha, I’ve said more than I thought I would!  Anyways, this was a good episode.  We now know what happened to Dukat and where he is now.  We know that he is still suffering from some form of psychosis and that his mind is fractured.  This was quite evident through his hallucinations.  Another thought that just crossed my mind, what if Dukat was always sick?  What if he was always psychologically imbalanced and this is the first time he wasn’t able to keep it in check?  Would we still judge him the same way?  Would he still be the evil man that Sisko says he is or is just a victim of psychosis?  We tend to be a little less judgemental when we find out that someone was sick and we tend to not blame them.  I’m not saying this is the case, I’m just saying it’s something to think about and consider.      

I liked this episode even though I found it to be a bit harsh.  I’m glad that Sisko was found and that the crew was able to rendezvous with the other Federation soldiers.  OH and Bashir, standing up for what he believes in, nice touch.  I don’t really remember him saying anything like this before:  “You will forgive me if I don’t consider your honour to be worth Captain Sisko’s life.”  Very powerful words.

Another dialogue that stood out for me was Sisko’s opening thoughts.  He was wondering if Dukat was better off dead, if he’d be less dangerous that way.  Another part of him was sympathizing with Dukat.  He wondered if losing one’s daughter and then one’s mind was punishment enough.  Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, but I will not stand in judgement.   In the end though, Sisko has decided that it’s either him or Dukat, only one will survive.      

LLAP

-B