Kira's Age - She was 26 in Season One?

[Ro_Laren]

According to Memory Alpha's article on Kira Nerys, Kira was 26 years old during Season 1 of DS9 (you have to do the math... it isn't specifically stated on that entry). Does that seem realistic to you?? Apparently she got her start with Shakaar's resistance cell when she was 12.

It just seems kinda crazy to me that the Bajoran militia would give the post of DS9 Bajoran Liason / First Officer to a 26 year old, but I guess you could argue that after 50 years of the Occupation they didn't have many "qualifed" people to give the job to. Or would you try to argue that she distinguished herself so much as a resistance fighter that she deserved the post? That thought brings to mind a conversation that Kira had with Dukat (I believe it was him) when he said that the Cardassians considered her a minor member of the Resistance. Of course, he probably said that just to annoy her.

I'm guessing that the producers / story writers didn't really take Nana Visitor's looks into account when they came up with these figures. She didn't look like she was 26 during Season 1.

 

[Skywalker]

I didn't realize Kira was that young, either, but since she started in the Resistance at such a young age she I think it's plausible that she was able to distinguish herself in that amount of time, yes. Plus there's always the "Bajorans might age differently than humans" argument.

 

[Enterprise1981]

That wasn't only time an actor played a character almost ten years younger. B'Elanna Torres was said to have quit the Academy at 19 and eventually found the Maquis, and this was in the fairly recent past.

I could see Bajorans aging at a different pace, but a bit slower than humans assuming Els Renora isn't the only 100-year old semi-retired court judge.

 

[DS9Continuing]

That comment you mention about "minor member of the Resistance" is actually in an intelligence file that Kira reads in the episode "Battle Lines." Possibly written by Dukat, but certainly not spoken aloud by him. Kira is not happy to hear about it, so she obviously thought of herself as more than just a "minor" member. Maybe others did too.

Besides which, I think the idea of Dukat writing that is kind of inconsistent with the idea that her mother was his lover for a while. He knew very well who she was all along. The novels suggest that he deliberately downplayed her importance in official files to protect her on Meru's behalf. Which would also suggest that she was indeed more important than "minor member" would imply.

It's probably the same situation as Starfleet faced during and after the war. So many officers had been killed in battle, people were getting promoted and given command before their time. We know there were older officers around - General Krim and Colonel Lenaris for example - but they had higher ranks. Maybe in their minds a comparatively minor role as "liaison officer" - basically a make-work job - didn't need anyone older than 26.

Don't forget also that Kira suggested she had been assigned to DS9 almost as a punishment from her superiors. They wanted her out of the way because she was a loud-mouthed complainer, and the furthest they could send her was off planet. If that role required her being given the rank of Major (which was basically honorary anyway, until this point there had been no Militia for her to earn such a rank in), then so be it.

.

 

[Melakon]

Kira as 26 seems hard to believe, as Nana Visitor herself was about 10 years older at the time.

 

[Tosk]

Bajoran days are longer, if that helps you justify it. Personally, I don't see the problem.

 

[T'Girl]

Prior to the discovery of the worm hole, DS9 liaison officer would have been seen as a minor posting by the Bajorian military, so they sent a young major to fill the slot.

It's almost strange that Kira would have kept her assignment after the station was moved to the mouth of the worm hole.

 

[Pavonis]

It's strange that both Sisko and Kira kept their postings when the wormhole was discovered, but then again, after the wormhole was discovered the station was still just a port-of-call for crews to shop and drink and for ships to be repaired before moving through the wormhole. It wasn't until the Dominion became a threat that a major change in the command staff might've been called for. By then, Sisko could've been promoted to the admiralty (since his position was as much political as administrative at that point), and Kira, well, she was an officer with experience fighting the Dominion. Why move her away from the first line of defense?

At any rate, is there some reason to think that a 26-year-old can't be competent at her job?

 

[Timo]

...Or be a Major? That wouldn't have been too uncommon in the 1940s, now would it?

That Sisko stayed in power would be mostly attributable to him being a prominent religious figure. Removing him would bring Starfleet's (or perhaps just Picard's?) plans on Bajor to an early ruination. And Sisko would insist on keeping Kira, as he wouldn't be all that thrilled about his religious position and wouldn't really want to interact with his "devout followers", that is, the people wishing to exploit him through the religion angle. He apparently much preferred the more secular forces chiefly represented by Kira.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Ln X]

Let's not forget that Kira was a rather prominent member of the famous Shakaar resistance cell. Since most of the Bajoran Militia are composed of ex-resistance fighters, plus Shakaar putting in a friendly word (perhaps), plus Kira being a rather sharp, quick-witted woman all easily explain why she was a major in the recently formed militia at age 26.

And as luck would have it (writers <cough> <cough>) she was assigned to DS9.

 

[Pavonis]

Shakaar's little band was a famous resistance cell? Sez who? If he was so famous, why'd he end up a farmer after the occupation? And why would the word of said farmer carry any weight with the provisional government or its militia?

 

[Timo]

Shakaar's word appeared to carry weight even during his "rural retirement", in the titular episode. It was the word of the active military men that was treated rather lightly, in the Circle trilogy, or in "Shakaar".

Quite a few prominent WWII resistance men in France became leading industrialists. But others preferred grayer channels of influence, and still swayed votes.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Pavonis]

I doubt Shakaar had anything to do with Kira's career, either as a major as or as the liaison officer at DS9. I'm sure Kira knew more people than just Shakaar, and hell, we all know it wasn't supposed to be a glamour posting. Even after the wormhole's discovery, when the Bajoran government wanted to both congratulate and dispose of Li Nalas they sent their "hero" to be the liaison officer of DS9. If Shakaar were involved at all, it's unlikely that he would send Kira off-planet - he liked her.

 

[Timo]

Agreed. Then again, Shakaar might have considered Kira to be the only guy around with the balls to deal with the Federation invaders. So, a position without glamor or prestige, but one of vital strategic importance, at least to the old resistance folks...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Pavonis]

So, a political compromise? Shakaar and his ilk are happy - they have someone they trust watching the Feds and acting as a voice for Bajor. And the provisional government and the militia is happy - they get to send the argumentative and brash young major away to harass the Feds. The only one who isn't happy is the major. Well, that sounds realistic!

 

[Ro_Laren]

Plus there's always the "Bajorans might age differently than humans" argument.

Yes, that is that popular argument. In reality, it is the studios casting an older actor for a younger aged character. It always seemed kinda lazy and sometimes sloppy to me. Just find a different actor or in this case, change the age of Nana Visitor's character!

Besides which, I think the idea of Dukat writing that is kind of inconsistent with the idea that her mother was his lover for a while. He knew very well who she was all along. The novels suggest that he deliberately downplayed her importance in official files to protect her on Meru's behalf. Which would also suggest that she was indeed more important than "minor member" would imply.

I never thought of that before!

Don't forget also that Kira suggested she had been assigned to DS9 almost as a punishment from her superiors. They wanted her out of the way because she was a loud-mouthed complainer, and the furthest they could send her was off planet....

I remember when that was mentioned. But, it doesn't seem logical to me. The Barjorans truly wanted and needed Starfleet's help after the Occupation. You would think that the position of Liason Officer would be a very important one to Bajor and not one of punishment. Unless perhaps they believed that Kira was a very capable officer and able to get the job done, but that the post was far enough away to get her out of their hair (though DS9 was in orbit of Bajor at that time)

Bajoran days are longer, if that helps you justify it.

I don't know that that would make a difference in only a 26 year life-span. That is 1 hr x however many days are in a Bajoran year x 26 years. I don't think that would add up to the 10 or so year age difference that we see.

 

[Timo]

Well, there are some discrepancies with the age of Molly O'Brien or the anniversary of Wolf 357 that suggest that the thousand-stardate Earth year cycle and the Bajoran year are quite significantly out of synch. Also, certain supposedly annual Bajoran festivals are witnessed on several seasons but always at different points of the season in question.

We have at least some reason to think that Bajor orbits her star at basically the same distance as Earth orbits hers, giving near-identical lengths of year. But it's by no means set in stone. The Bajoran year might easily be some 20 or even 30% shorter than the Earth one, or perhaps correspondingly longer.

The day length would of course have nothing to do with the year length, and we never got a reason to think that Bajorans would count their age on the basis of days instead of years anyway.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Ro_Laren]

Well, there are some discrepancies with the age of Molly O'Brien or the anniversary of Wolf 357 that suggest that the thousand-stardate Earth year cycle and the Bajoran year are quite significantly out of synch. Also, certain supposedly annual Bajoran festivals are witnessed on several seasons but always at different points of the season in question.

We have at least some reason to think that Bajor orbits her star at basically the same distance as Earth orbits hers, giving near-identical lengths of year. But it's by no means set in stone. The Bajoran year might easily be some 20 or even 30% shorter than the Earth one, or perhaps correspondingly longer.

The day length would of course have nothing to do with the year length, and we never got a reason to think that Bajorans would count their age on the basis of days instead of years anyway.

Timo Saloniemi

I had thought that perhaps Bajor was further from their sun and thus had more days in each year. But, how many days would needed to be added to each year in order to make to make Kira at 26 look like she is in her 30’s in earth years? Probably too many, but Bajor can’t be too far from their sun since the planet is able to sustain humanoid life.

 

[Pavonis]

Yes, that is that popular argument. In reality, it is the studios casting an older actor for a younger aged character. It always seemed kinda lazy and sometimes sloppy to me. Just find a different actor or in this case, change the age of Nana Visitor's character!

Why change the age of the character? Why is a 26-year-old major hard to accept? That's what I want to know. I expect that anyone involved in the resistance that lived to be over 30 was probably a colonel or a general.

Besides which, I think the idea of Dukat writing that is kind of inconsistent with the idea that her mother was his lover for a while. He knew very well who she was all along. The novels suggest that he deliberately downplayed her importance in official files to protect her on Meru's behalf. Which would also suggest that she was indeed more important than "minor member" would imply.

I never thought of that before!

But, why assume that Dukat wrote the intelligence reports? He was not an intelligence officer, he was an administrator. Administrators don't write reports on members of resistance groups, do they?

I remember when that was mentioned. But, it doesn't seem logical to me. The Barjorans truly wanted and needed Starfleet's help after the Occupation. You would think that the position of Liason Officer would be a very important one to Bajor and not one of punishment. Unless perhaps they believed that Kira was a very capable officer and able to get the job done, but that the post was far enough away to get her out of their hair (though DS9 was in orbit of Bajor at that time)

The Bajorans needed the Federation's assistance, yes, but did they really want it? They kicked out the Cardassians, are finally independent, then the populace sees their provisional government invite the other major power in the neighborhood in to "oversee" things. Probably sounded exactly like what the Cardassians had said at the beginning of the Occupation - "Oh, we're just here to help, we're your friends, you can trust us."

Clearly there were many factions on Bajor that did not want the Federation interfering in their business. Kira was one of them, at first. So why not send her to be the liaison officer? She'll stop complaining at the local government officials and start complaining at the Federation officials.

 

[Finn]

Shakaar's little band was a famous resistance cell? Sez who? If he was so famous, why'd he end up a farmer after the occupation? And why would the word of said farmer carry any weight with the provisional government or its militia?

Why not?

You seem to be demeaning toward farmers. Just because they run farms doesn't mean they aren't or weren't important people, with an advanced/professional education and/or attributed a lot to society.

Eisenhower helped lead the Allied Forces on D-Day, and he bought a farm in Pennsylvania where he spent his final years.