History Recap / StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E19Duet

Kira and Dax are chatting casually when a ship containing a passenger (Creator/HarrisYulin) suffering from [[SoapOperaDisease Kalla-Nohra syndrome]] docks at the station. That disease is only suffered by people who were at a brutal Cardassian work camp during the occupation of Bajor, so Kira heads down to pay her respects. She's shocked to discover that the patient is a Cardassian, so she promptly arrests him as a war criminal.

Once again, Kira confronts the prisoner with the evidence, accusing him of being Marritza after all and trying to pass himself off as Gul Darhe'el. The prisoner vainly tries to cling to his deception, trumpeting that he is Darhe'el, evil and immortal, while the pathetic Marritza was a trivial coward who cried himself to sleep at the sounds of the horrors he was unable to stop.

Eventually Marritza breaks down, admitting his identity and his motives. He believes that he deserves to die for his cowardice, while Cardassia needs to confront and acknowledge its crimes with a very public trial of one of their most wicked war criminals. Despite Marritza's pleas that she help him see his plan through, a moved Kira refuses and releases him, saying that enough good people have died, and [[CharacterDevelopment she won't help kill another]].

* AdultFear: You're a humble file clerk working in the administration of an internment camp where atrocities are being committed daily, before your very eyes, and you're powerless to stop it. Do you stand by and watch, knowing that you have no real ability to prevent these atrocities, and try to live with the guilt as people are massacred daily, or try to stop it, knowing that your efforts will almost certainly fail [[MortonsFork and the people will be massacred anyway?]]

With this loose thread to sort out, Odo gets in contact with Gul Dukat, who provides [[ShockingSwerve surprising information]]: Gul Darhe'el died six years ago and was buried under one of Cardassia's largest military monuments in a state funeral (which Dukat attended). Further investigation reveals that Darhe'el was not even on Bajor the day of the mining accident and so could never have contracted Kalla-Nohra. But why would someone lie about being Darhe'el? Odo digs even deeper and discovers that their mysterious prisoner spent a considerable amount of time researching Kira, and he has been taking medication for the aftereffects of [[MagicPlasticSurgery surgical alterations]].

* InstantDeathStab: Marritza is stabbed in the lower back by a small knife and dies instantly. Unless Cardassians have some BizarreAlienBiology, this shouldn't be an instant death injury. It's made worse by the fact that they're pretty close that no one even attempts to give him first aid or call for a medic.

* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: Marritza is stabbed in the lower back by a small knife and dies instantly. Unless Cardassians have some BizarreAlienBiology, this shouldn't be an instant death injury. It's made worse by the fact that they're pretty close that no one even attempts to give him first aid or call for a medic.

* ItIsDehumanizing: Odo calls Darhe'el[=/=]Marritza a "creature." The murderous Bajorn objects to being incarcerated with "one of those" rather than "one of them."

Once again, Kira confronts the prisoner with the evidence, accusing him of being Marritza after all and trying to pass himself off as Gul Darhe'el. The prisoner vainly tries to cling to his deception, trumpeting that he is Darhe'el, evil and and immortal, while the pathetic Marritza was a trivial coward who cried himself to sleep at the sounds of the horrors he was unable to stop.

Once again, Kira confronts the prisoner with the evidence, accusing of being Marritza after all and trying to pass himself off as Gul Darhe'el. The prisoner vainly tries to cling to his deception, trumpeting that he is Darhe'el, evil and and immortal, while the pathetic Marritza was a trivial coward who cried himself to sleep at the sounds of the horrors he was unable to stop.

** Marritza's guilt stems from the fact that he was a witness to the atrocities at the Gallitep labor camp, but was powerless to prevent them.
** By contrast, Kira pushes hard in the beginning for Marritza to be held and punished, even though he was just a desk jockey in the camp who wasn't involved, because she can't bring herself to believe that a Cardassian stationed at Gallitep could possibly be innocent.

* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: Marritza is stabbed in the lower back by a small knife and dies instantly. They're practically nearby Infirmary when this happens and Kira makes no attempt to call for Bashir or carry him there, while it's been established that ''Trek'' medicine can treat the freshly deceased. Also, Picard was stabbed through the heart and lived to laugh about it, so the whole ending feels rather rushed.
* AskAStupidQuestion: Kira asked Marritza what a file clerk was teaching at a Cardassian military academy.
-->'''Marritza''': Believe it or not, filing.[[note]]Immediately before this, he'd said he received a commendation for his innovative filing system, so Kira really walked right into this one, not to mention how militaries need a lot of bureaucracy to keep track of things.[[/note]]

* BizarreAlienBiology: The only explanation for Marritza's instant death, as he was stabbed in the rough location of a human kidney, which, while not a good thing, is not immediately fatal.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Gul Dukat, in this episode, refers to the "Cardassian Empire", which was consistent with some of the terminology used pre-''[=DS9=]'' and often used by Federation characters. Later episodes established it, and patriotic Cardassians in particular referred to it consistently, as the Cardassian ''Union''.
* EnhanceButton: Played straight, but lampshaded. When they first try it the computer takes a minute to process, causing the image to look like a real photo enlargement before the magic enhancement kicks in. Sisko complains that he needs better than that.

* ItIsDehumanizing: Odo calls Darhe'el[=/=]Marritza a "creature".

* [[MyCountryRightOrWrong My Planet Right or Wrong]]: Marritza is one of the series' best examples of most Cardassians' ''deeply'' ingrained devotion to the greater good of their state, invoking the ''full'' version of the oft-misquoted trope: ''"if wrong, to be set right".'' His plan is for Cardassia to be forced to confront its atrocities and make amends for them because he ''sincerely'' believes that it's in their best interests and the only way they can survive and thrive going forward.

* PetTheDog: Odo gets ahold of one of Quark's more expensive drinks meaning either he actually bought it or Quark gave it up willingly, either way this shows how much they care for Kira and her tough circumstances.

Duet begins with Kira and Dax discussing their lives when a ship containing a passenger (Creator/HarrisYulin) suffering from [[SoapOperaDisease Kalla-Nohra syndrome]] docks at the station. Kira heads down to Doctor Bashir and, seeing the passenger is Cardassian, arrests him on the spot. As it transpires, Kalla-Nohra is only ever found in people who were at a specific work camp during the Occupation of Bajor on the day of a mining accident. Many bad things happened at that camp, so Kira has arrested him as a war criminal.

His claims that he does not have Kalla-Nohra, but instead a similar disease that was mistaken by the transport doctor he was traveling with, are quickly dismissed, and he keeps insisting that he is Aamin Marritza, a military file clerk, who had nothing to do with the crimes committed by the Cardassian occupation. During Kira's questioning of him, a [[ChekhovsGunman Drunken Bajoran]] is released from holding muttering about being imprisoned with a Cardie.

While Sisko faces pressure from the Bajoran Government to hand him over for trial, he holds off while he attempts to verify his identity, which is tricky when there are few images of the work camp. During this he discusses the matter with Kira, and his intent to release Marritza if his story checks out. Using a picture from the work camp, the prisoner looks nothing like Marritza… but he is a spot on match for Gul Darhe'el, the camp's administrator.

Confronted with this, he admits that he is Gul Darhe'el and [[EvilIsHammy gives a long boastful confession about how he slaughtered people and all his other crimes]], and how Kira and her Shaakar resistance cell were insignificant. With this it looks like he will be handed over to Bajor for trial and execution, but something's amiss… [[INeverToldYouMyName how did he know the name of Kira's Resistance cell]]?

With this loose thread to sort out, Odo gets in contact with Gul Dukat, who provides [[ShockingSwerve surprising information]]: Gul Darhe'el died six years ago and was buried under one of Cardassia's largest military monuments in a state funeral (which Dukat attended). Further investigation reveals that Darhe'el was not even on Bajor the day of the mining accident and so could never have contracted Kalla-Nohra, that the prisoner spent a considerable amount of time researching Kira, and he has been taking medication for the aftereffects of [[MagicPlasticSurgery surgical alterations]]. Once again, Kira confronts him with the evidence, claiming that he is Marritza after all trying to pass himself off as Gul Darhe'el, but he tries to cling to it:

-->"[[EvilIsHammy I am alive!]] ''[[EvilIsHammy I will always be alive!!!]]'' [[EvilIsHammy 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 [[VillainousBreakdown couldn't bear to hear the screaming… for mercy… of the Bajorans…]] ''[breaks down sobbing uncontrollably]'' [[TearJerker/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Covered my ears every night… 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… ]][[ThatManIsDead Marritza's dead. He deserves to be dead.]]

Marritza finally admits his true identity and his motivations: [[TheAtoner he believes Cardassia has to face its past and accept responsibility for what it has done]], and by having a very public trial he can force Cardassia to deal with it. Despite Marritza's pleas that she help him see his plan through, a moved Kira refuses and releases him.

-->'''Kira''': [[CharacterDevelopment What you're asking for is another murder. Enough good people have already died. I won't help kill another.]]

Kira arranges transport for Marritza to return to his home, saying [[HopeSpot Cardassia needs good men like him if it's ever to reform]]. As they head for this transport, the drunken Bajoran from earlier comes up [[ShootTheShaggyDog and stabs Marritza in the back]]. As Kira cradles him as he dies, she looks at the Bajoran.

-->'''Kira''': [[CruelTwistEnding Why?! He wasn't Darhe'el!]] ''[[BigWhy Why?!!]]''
-->'''Bajoran''': [[FantasticRacism He was a Cardassian! That's reason enough!]]
-->'''Kira''': [[HeelRealization No..... it's not.]]

The TV screen tends to become [[TearJerker/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine unusually blurry]] at this point, and no amount of whacking seems to fix it…

-->'''Marritza''': Believe it or not, filing.[[note]]Immediately before this, he'd said he received a commendation for his innovative filing system, so Kira really walked right into this one.[[/note]]

-->'''Kira''': [[CruelTwistEnding Why?! He wasn't Darhe'el!]] [[BigWhy ''Why?!!'']]

-->'''Kira''': [[CruelTwistEnding Why did you do it?! He wasn't Gul Darhe'el!]]

* ImposterForgotOneDetail: Two detail's, actually. First, that Darhe'el wasn't present during the mining accident to contract Kayla-Norah. Second, that Darhe'el had been dead for several years already. He was counting on the Bajorans using a Cardassian style trial, i.e. executing the suspect and ''then'' investigating the issue.

* AlienBiology: The only explanation for Marritza's instant death, as he was stabbed in the rough location of a human kidney, which, while not a good thing, is not immediately fatal.

* ImposterForgotOneDetail: Two detail is, actually. First, that Darhe'el wasn't present during the mining accident to contract Kayla-Norah. Second, that Darhe'el had been dead for several years already. He was counting on the Bajorans using a Cardassian style trial, i.e. executing the suspect and ''then'' investigating the issue.

-->'''Marritza''': Believe it or not, filing.

* ChekovsGunman: The drunken Bajoran man (named Kainon in the script) who protests having to share a jail with a Cardassian, shows up again in the final scene to murder Marritza.

* CerebusSyndrome: After [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E05Babel crew members spouting gibberish]], [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E10MoveAlongHome surreal tabletop games]] and [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E16IfWishesWereHorses Rumpelstiltskin for some reason]], this is the episode where ''Deep Space Nine'' gets very, ''very'' serious about its premise.