Editing Cardassian (section)

===''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''===

[[File:Marc Alaimo (2010).jpg|thumb|right|Marc Alaimo was brought in to play Gul Dukat, a recurring Cardassian character in ''Deep Space Nine''.]]

Launching the new series, ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'', was the pilot episode "[[Emissary (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)|Emissary]]", written by Rick Berman and Michael Piller. Focussing on the aftermath of the Cardassian departure from Bajor, the premise of the series revolves around the Federation taking control of Deep Space Nine, a Cardassian-built space station orbiting Bajor, at the request of the Bajoran provisional government.{{sfn|Erdmann|Block|2000|p=9}}

In "Emissary", the station's new [[Starfleet]] commander, [[Benjamin Sisko]] ([[Avery Brooks]]) is visited by the Cardassian who formerly served as prefect of Bajor, Gul Dukat, played by Marc Alaimo.{{sfn|Erdmann|Block|2000|p=10}} Alaimo had played a different Cardassian character in ''The Next Generation'', but was brought in to replace the actor formerly cast as Dukat, whose performance had dissatisfied the creative team. Ira Behr recalled that "It was either Mike Piller or Rick Berman who finally said, 'Let's get Marc Alaimo,' who had done a bunch of ''TNG'' episodes for them in the past. Marc came in and, of course, he ''was'' Gul Dukat."{{sfn|Erdmann|Block|2000|p=16}} ''Deep Space Nine'' would go on to introduce several more Cardassians as recurring characters, including the exiled spy-turned-tailor [[Elim Garak]], whose mysterious past and moral ambiguity made him one of the franchise's most popular recurring characters.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/star-trek-recurring-characters-ranked/|title=Star Trek: Ranking the 20 Best Recurring Characters|date=2018-12-28|website=CBR|language=en-US|access-date=2021-02-19}}</ref>

Late in the first season, the show's creative team included another Cardassian-themed episode, "[[Duet (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)|Duet]]". Written by Lisa Rich and Jeanne Carrigan-Fauci as a [[bottle episode]], it featured the arrest of a Cardassian believed to be guilty of war crimes against Bajor, Aamin Marritza ([[Harris Yulin]]), and the relationship he developed with the station's Bajoran second-in-command, [[Kira Nerys]] ([[Nana Visitor]]).{{sfn|Erdmann|Block|2000|pp=63–64}} The lengthy speech given to Marritza was an early example of what the writers came to call "Cardassian monologues". Behr said, "Cardassians love to speak. Garak loves to speak, Enabran Tain loves to speak. Dukat loves to speak—very slowly—and certainly Marritza loves to speak."{{sfn|Erdmann|Block|2000|p=65}}

Over the course of ''Deep Space Nine'', the Cardassians' internal politics and their relationships with the Federation and Bajor go through many upheavals. In early seasons, the Cardassians maintain a shaky alliance with the Federation, which comes to their defense against attacks from the Maquis and the Klingons. An ill-advised attack by the Obsidian Order, the Cardassian intelligence agency, against the alien empire known as the [[Dominion (Star Trek)|Dominion]] cripples the power of the Cardassian military dictatorship and allows a civilian government to take control. Later in the series, Dukat negotiates Cardassia's membership in the Dominion in exchange for his own appointment as ruler of Cardassia, leading to a war against the Federation. When Dominion rule becomes too oppressive for the Cardassians, Dukat's successor [[Corat Damar|Damar]] leads a resistance movement against the Dominion with the support of the Federation and Bajorans, restoring Cardassia's independence. However, during the final battle of the war, the Dominion leader ordered a genocidal retaliation for the Cardassian resistance. Although this was ended, at least eight hundred million people were killed and Elim Garak lamented that their freedom had come at the cost of much of Cardassia's rich culture, best people and greatest minds, leaving the Cardassians facing a dire reconstruction effort.