Kira's Match Made in the Celestial Temple

In keeping with the theme over in the TNG forum, where there have been polls regarding Picard's best romantic match and Riker's best romantic match, I've decided to start one for Kira.

So, who is Kira's match made in the Celestial Temple? Multiple votes are allowed.

-Vedek Bareil Antos: The Prophets certainly seemed to bless this pairing, complete with romantic orb visions. Bareil's untimely death intervened, though.
-Thomas Riker: This dashing Maquis stole the Defiant and tried to steal Kira's heart as well.
-Dr. Julian Bashir: Ambassador Troi's Zanthi Fever revealed a latent attraction between Kira and Bashir.
-First Minister Shakaar Edon: There's something to be said for friendship that develops into love.
-Chief Miles O'Brien: They had a pretty close call in a runabout while she was pregnant.
-Gul Dukat: He certainly seemed to think he had a chance.
-Mirror Universe Bareil Antos: The reformed thief was torn between our Kira and the Intendant.
-Odo: He caused a planet full of people to cease to exist just to save her life.
-Captain Benjamin Sisko: They share a close friendship and a common faith in the Prophets.


Personally, I would pick Vedek Bareil. I like how their differences compliment one another. Plus, of the men she was actually with, he was the only one I saw real chemistry with.
I also think Kira/Sisko would have been interesting to see, but there is the whole captain and first officer thing going on, which would have caused some difficulties.

 

I agree on both of those counts.

 

I'm gonna vote Odo. I liked the Thomas Riker angle too, and had they one follow up on it I might have changed my vote, but it was a glorified one episode love connection as far as I'm concerned.

The Odo thing felt like the most real trek relationship, full of prattfalls, leadup, nervousness, etc.

 

I went with Vedek Bareil. I think his calm and peaceful nature provided a good balance for the often hot-headed former freedom fighter Kira.

I also went with Odo. I used to think their relationship was just okay, nothing to write home about really (and let's not even bring up how biologically implausible it was), but in the past couple of years, my opinion changed somewhat. I met a girl that I developed some rather strong feelings for... but she was taken. Still is. So I now kind of identify with how Odo was feeling in Seasons 3-5, and, as silly as it sounds, the fact that he eventually got involved with Kira is almost... encouraging, I guess.

 

I voted Odo. BTW, since you included Dukat, why didn't you include Mirror Kira? She also thought she had a chance.

 

Yeah...Dukat would have to have a very, VERY serious Road to Damascus experience to even stand a chance--and something tells me after that sort of experience, he would realize he didn't and not pursue it.

Spoiler: Seeds of Dissent

But it WAS really interesting to see the kinder, gentler Dukat in "Seeds of Dissent," who actually seemed to deserve her.

 

I voted for the Vedek and Odo - I like both of them a lot. Thomas Riker...well, I don't know. In some ways, they were a good match, but...I never liked that character very much, and since I like Kira a lot, I'd rather she be with somebody I like rather than somebody who just annoys me.

Dukat would just be...disgusting. Chilling. The only way Kira would ever go for him (aside from that Road to Damascus total change of life and heart that Nerys Ghemor mentions) is if she were no longer Kira. She would have to turn into a deluded fool, and I never want that for Kira.

 

INTENDANT Kira and Dukat...THAT I could see. In a sick, sick way, it would work.

 

Ooh, I like it. I smell a fanfiction coming.

 

A good alternative to that disturbing Winn/Dukat thing.

 

Well, maybe not 'shortly' but at least 'later today'.

And yeah...I found Kira/Odo to be exceedingly creepy. In fact, it is pretty nearly my only real criticism with this entire show. To me, it was just gross. Odo was a fuddy duddy from the start and Kira just wasn't...and the age difference between the actors was NOT hidden at all behind all the makeup. Rene just SOUNDED old. And Odo ACTED like an grumpy old man. And thus, in my mind he WAS a grumpy old man. And that made this 'ship creepy. And the fact that Nana Visitor in particular agrees with me on this point is a fact which should not be understated.

Plus, after the events of the Occupation Arc, it didn't even make sense because what Odo did was simply unforgivable. He abandoned her and everyone else, simply because the link 'felt good'. And I just never understood that. Or, at least never understood why Kira was so quick to trust him ever again. I know I couldn't after such a massive betrayal. I mean, we are not talking a 'white lie' kind of betrayal. We are talking about a 'turn your back on your friends and they DIE' kind of betrayal. NOT an easy thing to forgive...or forget.... [/Gowron] I mean, how could you ever trust a man who has such a weakness? A weakness which would NEVER allow you to feel safe from possible betrayal. The link, like a seductive mistress, was simply irresistable to him.... a fact we saw born out, by the way, with the ending to the show, in fact. So how she ever trusted him again is beyond me.

As for my own vote, I only voted once in this poll, because there is only one right answer to this question, in my mind, and no 'second place'. Bareil was the one and ONLY 'ship Kira had in this show that I could get behind.

They had both been through alot during the Occupation, and they both had strong principles and a strong sense of morality and decency. Both REALLY wanted to do the right thing for Bajor. They both were in positions of authority which required them to develop a sense of the common good and a good set of diplomatic skills. They were about the same age, and they obviously shared a set of deeply spiritual core values.

But while all of these made them a good match on paper, that was not all. I thought there was a tremendous chemistry between the actors which gave this 'ship some sizzle.

I'm generally not a shipper when it comes to Trek...but this 'ship had some sizzle.

IMO, they never should have killed off Bareil. It would have been much better if Kai Winn had thrown him in prison or something as a collaborator, and then at the end of the show have the truth come out courtesy of Sisko, The Emissary. Sisko gets Bareil freed and in WYLB, Bareil should have been elected Kai. The End.

Nice and neat.

 

^ Well, if you like it, who cares what Nana Visitor thought? But yeah...she didn't really like it much at all.

I'm not sure Rene is much on record about it...but Nana was not in favor of it.

But hey...she's a pro. That's what they wanted, and that's what she gave 'em.

You know what's interesting though? And what might even be worth an informal poll? It has been my observation that a greater percentage of men than women like Kira/Odo...and a greater percentage of women than men find it creepy (or don't like it for other reasons).

I think it would be interesting discuss why that is.....

 

I seem to recall Rene saying something like, "It was reasonably well-written and all, but neither Nana nor myself were that crazy about it." So take that for whatever it's worth.

Well, I've already stated why I changed my mind about the relationship (looking more favorably upon it than I used to): I found myself in a situation where I could identify more with Odo and his pining for the seemingly unattainable Kira.

As for the "old man Odo" thing, I did some checking and found out that the actors are 17 years apart in age -- which is nothing to sneeze at, but I wouldn't quite call it May/December romance material myself. It's only a couple of years greater than the age difference between my parents, so that might be part of the reason it never really bothered me.

 

Bareil, Odo is lucky he died because if he remained he wouldn't have a chance. Which makes the conspiracy nut within me wonder where Odo was when Bareil was injured in his "accident"...

 

I voted for Bariel. I absolutely loved him and the two of them together. I remember reading something years ago talking about how Riker and Kira would hate each other, then Tom Riker turned up on DS9 and that turned out not to be the case. I didn't vote for Tom, though, because I think that he and Kira are two damaged people who would probably not be good for each other. OTOH, Bariel has his issues too, I suppose.

 

Odo.

The only good ship is an O/K 'ship!

 

Yeah. I can't get excited about the age thing, either. My dad is 18 years older than my mother - they got married when she was 19 (!) and stayed married until he died nearly 40 years later. I wouldn't call that kind of age difference something that would work for everybody, but it worked for them, and anyway, while Nana is a lot younger than Rene, she and her character were definitely not innocent girls. Kira is a grown woman, fully capable of knowing her own mind. So was my mother, actually, but she grew up young because she had to. Come to think of it, so did Kira.

 

Ha, that's nothing: my mom was 17 when she married my dad, and now, 30 years later, they're still together. So while it might seem a bit strange to some people (even myself at times), it has obviously worked for them, and as I stated, it's one of the main reasons the age gap between RA and NV never phased me when I was watching Odo/Kira onscreen.

Always interesting to hear from people with similar stories.