The Enigma of Elim Garak

Despite Mr. Garak’s claims that he is nothing but a plain, simple tailor, this is definitely not the case. However, determining exactly what the “case” is, is another matter entirely, since what we do know about Garak’s past is a myriad of conflicting a half-truths, or just outright lies. As best I can figure out, Garak was the son of Enabrin Tain, and rose to become one of the top executives of the Obsidian order. He remained in this position until after Tain’s retirement, until he became involved in some scandalous event. We do know exactly what the scandal was about, Garak’s statements about himself and “Elim” in The Wire notwithstanding. As a result, he was exiled form Cardassia. However, Garak was still a member of the Obsidian order and, although he was exiled, was ordered to spy on the federation and Bajorans at DS9. Because of his overwhelming sense of duty to the state (and sense of self preservation), Garak complied. Events continued this way until the military government fell and the civilian leaders came to power on Cardassia and disbanded the Obsidian order, at which point Garak was no longer an exiled spy, but merely an exile. Gul Ducat’s subsequent seizure of power caused Garak to lose what ever standing he had left with the Cardassian government – causing him to fight against his own people during the Dominion war. While we can only guess at what Garak’s actual past was, the aforementioned scenario is a plausible explanation, for his remaining on DS9, and motivations for actions he took while he was there.