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*Spoilers* Damar - What A Waste

G

Gul Bones

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Red Shirt
Was it really neccessary to kill off Damar? Surely he would have been the ideal choice to lead the new Cardassia. We've already had freedom fighting heroes dying before in DS9, Li Nalas for example.

Personally Damar was the highlight of season 7 for me... his unmistakable patriotism (Dukat was only doing it for Cardassia when it suited him), his sarcastic remarks to weyeon "No, of course it doesn't" ,his rousing crys for all Cardassians to resist and rise up and rid themselves of their occupiers and also being Trek's first recurring alchoholic showing his vulnerability and his helplessness as a Dominion puppet and let the audience know he wasn't some generic badguy.

And the actual death itself? Why? If the writers really felt the need to kill him, couldn't they have killed him in a more grander way rather than just dying in a routine firefight like some redshirt?

Anyone else feel the same?
 
He was a dumbass. Nice to see him go down in such a casual fashion.

Now Weyoun dying, that was sad. I would have liked Weyoun-a new one of course, being there at the peace treaty conference (and presumably a chief advisor to Odo's new dominion later on).
 
I remember someone suggesting that since he had killed Ziyal, there is no way that he was going to survive the slaughter that was the finale of DS9

Personally, I wouldn't have minded him living, but I kind of like that he died....leaves Cardassia as a big question mark instead of "oh it'll be fine, we still have Damar."
 
Augustus said:
I remember someone suggesting that since he had killed Ziyal, there is no way that he was going to survive the slaughter that was the finale of DS9...
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Agreed - he was, in effect, beyond redemption.

Of course, there are probably countless Cardassians beyond redemption because of their activities during the occupation. Were they all killed in the Dominion backlash? If you demand justice, I suppose you can assume that.
 
"They're dead. You're dead. Cardassia is dead." Female Changeling to Garak
 
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Not every hero has to die in some grand fashion worthy of martyrdom. Damar went out great, a good soldier and leader dying in a routine firefight.

It happens in real life, so why not on DS9?
 
I think it was a good death. He gave his all to free Cardassia. He led the charge to take the Dominion headquarters. He died like the soldier he was, along side his troops. I'm sure they built many statues in his honor.
 
Damar became one of my favorite characters of the series, especially from the middle of Season 6 onward. And after having read A Stitch In Time and 'The Lotus Flower' from Worlds of DS9, I really feel that killing his character was a mistake. Even more so than I did when the finale first aired.

That said... I met Casey Biggs last month at a Trek convention. What an awesome, approachable dude he is. Very genuine in his love of DS9 and the Damar character.

He also railed on Berman real good, which got him several points in my book. :D
 
I also wish Damar had stayed on because it would have made the post show novels more interesting because Cardassia would have a strong leader to rally around and the fact is he is an interesting character. I would have loved to see how he would cope without a war to fight, living with the knowledge his actions cost the lives of his family and over 800 million Cardassians in the final days of the war.

He also might have played a part in getting the Dominion into the AQ, he was at least complicit to the act. I'm sure there would be people who would be calling for his head in the Federation Alliance and maybe even on Cardassia.
 
Death was only ultimate reedemption of Damar in the eyes of audience. We just heard death of his family off screen ("they are dead" , "meh" , "well too bad") But Ziyal was a character audience knew and associated. Her murder could only be balanced with death of her assasin at screen. It would be better if Damar reflected his past actions or even displayed more guilt but at least he left the stage at the side of good guys , doing right things to the end and making ultimate sacrifice...He died as an honorable man. That is what is called character development...

Compared to this arc of Dukat just sucked at last season. He became from an resorceful , conflicted , layered , tragic but slightly arrogant villain (one of the most complicated characters I have ever seen in Star Trek) to unquestioning , power mad , religious fanatic who worships god-like aliens , gains superpowers etc....Such a weak writing and thrahing an interesting character. I heard that even actor Marc Alaimo did not like this turn at Dukat's personality...
 
Damar was marked for death from the minute he killed Ziyal. It's one of the most ironclad rules of TV drama: he who murders an innocent must atone with his own death. He can remove the moral stain from himself through a noble death, but he still must die. When I watched DS9 in its original run, this is the reason I was 100% sure Damar would not survive the series, and sure enough...

And it's not a waste in the sense that that was the last episode of DS9 anyway. I like the irony of thinking that Damar is a big hero and martyr for Cardassian freedom, while Dukat must be popularly despised. Yet in a sense, Dukat created Damar. He was the one who told Damar to get off his ass, get off the kanar and start doing something. Dukat was also a patriot of a sort, it's just that Cardassia was never more important to him than his own monumental ego. :D

Of course, there are probably countless Cardassians beyond redemption because of their activities during the occupation. Were they all killed in the Dominion backlash? If you demand justice, I suppose you can assume that.
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This isn't about cosmic justice, just TV justice. So Damar is the only one we need to see die - just as we all saw Ziyal die. The other crimes happened off camera and don't count for TV justice.
That said... I met Casey Biggs last month at a Trek convention. What an awesome, approachable dude he is. Very genuine in his love of DS9 and the Damar character.
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Did you tell him we need him to get his butt back on some TV show? I can't believe he's just vanished! There are a ton of new sci fi shows premiering in the fall and he needs to have a recurring role one one of them. I can understand if Marc Alaimo is retired, but I want to see Biggs in something again.
 
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Yeah, Damar signed his own death warrant with Ziyal, and he was beyond redemption. What I really appreciate is that despite being beyond redemption, he still tried to attain it, which in itself is pretty worthy.

I thought his death was pretty fitting. He helped get Cardassia into this mess, and he was going to help get them out of it. I loved how he went from nameless toadie/pointless sidekick/random henchman to the hero of Cardassian freedom in his character arc, as it spoke of many, many complexities and depth. And, frankly, his death probably helped cement his legend in the Alpha Quadrant, ultimately becoming an example of how heroic his people can become in dire times.
 
Not to mention the healing potential of Damar's enlistment of Colonel Kira, whose resistance experience came directly from the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor. Cardassia owed Bajor a direct debt of gratitude, and had better amend their view of Bajor as beneath Cardassia, or risk hypocrisy. Of course, in the real world, this rarely happens.

For Bajor, they learned a lesson of forgiveness from Kira. She represented their resistance, and she represents their return to the galactic stage as equals.
 
I was convinced he would survive. Cardassia had suffered so many losses I thought they would keep him alive to give them at least some hope after the war. I was really disappointed, he'd become such a great character towards the end.
 
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