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Second Skin (DS9 episode)
Encyclopedia
"Second Skin" is an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
, the fifth episode of the third season. It maintains a fan rating of 4.1 out of 5 on the official Star Trek Website.
Quick Overview: Kira
is kidnapped by the Cardassian
s and told she is actually an undercover Cardassian agent.
is contacted by Alenis Grem, a Bajoran archivist who has discovered a computer record of Kira's time in a Cardassian prison camp; Kira is naturally skeptical, as she was never in Cardassian detention, but the records appear authentic. Arranging a meeting with Alenis to examine the files personally, Kira leaves for Bajor. She never arrives; Alenis then contacts the Station, telling them that nobody has seen Kira since she left the spaceport for the former prison camp.
Awakening in a darkened room, Kira is warmly welcomed 'home' by a Cardassian official. When she looks in a mirror, she is shocked to see that she has been surgically altered to appear Cardassian. Furiously rejecting any notion that she is Cardassian, Kira is introduced to Tekeny Ghemor, an officer of the Central Command, who claims that she is his daughter Iliana — a 'sleeper agent', altered to appear Bajoran and placed in a position of authority with the Federation as part of a long-term covert operation.
Ghemor is upset that his 'daughter' doesn't remember him, but is reassured by the other Cardassian that her memory will return, given time. Kira is upset and incredulous; when shown the body of a dead Bajoran woman named Kira Nerys, she declares it a fake, but begins to doubt her own memories. When Ghemor compares Kira to her (supposed Cardassian) mother, Kira angrily replies that her (real) mother starved to death in a Bajoran prison camp.
After several escape attempts, she is interrogated by the Obsidian Order, though she provides them with false and misleading information. Eventually, Ghemor offers to help her escape the harsher interrogation she will undoubtably suffer at the hands of the Order, revealing himself as a member of Cardassia's anti-military dissident movement. In a moment of insight, Kira realizes that the entire affair — her abduction, her 'Cardassian' identity, her supposedly blocked memories — were all staged in an attempt to reveal Ghemor as a dissident.
Odo, Garak
, and Commander Sisko
arrive in time to prevent the Order from taking Kira and Ghemor away for punishment. Back at Deep Space Nine
, tests reveal that Kira is definitely Bajoran. Ghemor understands that she is not really Iliana, but declares that he will never stop hoping that she's alive and will return to him.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
, the fifth episode of the third season. It maintains a fan rating of 4.1 out of 5 on the official Star Trek Website.
Quick Overview: Kira
Kira Nerys
Kira Nerys , played by Nana Visitor, is a main character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Backstory:Per Bajoran custom, her family name, Kira, precedes her given name, Nerys. She has two brothers , and her parents' names are Kira Taban and Kira Meru...
is kidnapped by the Cardassian
Cardassian
The Cardassians are an extraterrestrial species in the Star Trek science fiction franchise. First introduced in the 1991 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Wounded", the species originating on the fictional Alpha Quadrant planet Cardassia Prime...
s and told she is actually an undercover Cardassian agent.
Plot
Major KiraKira Nerys
Kira Nerys , played by Nana Visitor, is a main character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Backstory:Per Bajoran custom, her family name, Kira, precedes her given name, Nerys. She has two brothers , and her parents' names are Kira Taban and Kira Meru...
is contacted by Alenis Grem, a Bajoran archivist who has discovered a computer record of Kira's time in a Cardassian prison camp; Kira is naturally skeptical, as she was never in Cardassian detention, but the records appear authentic. Arranging a meeting with Alenis to examine the files personally, Kira leaves for Bajor. She never arrives; Alenis then contacts the Station, telling them that nobody has seen Kira since she left the spaceport for the former prison camp.
Awakening in a darkened room, Kira is warmly welcomed 'home' by a Cardassian official. When she looks in a mirror, she is shocked to see that she has been surgically altered to appear Cardassian. Furiously rejecting any notion that she is Cardassian, Kira is introduced to Tekeny Ghemor, an officer of the Central Command, who claims that she is his daughter Iliana — a 'sleeper agent', altered to appear Bajoran and placed in a position of authority with the Federation as part of a long-term covert operation.
Ghemor is upset that his 'daughter' doesn't remember him, but is reassured by the other Cardassian that her memory will return, given time. Kira is upset and incredulous; when shown the body of a dead Bajoran woman named Kira Nerys, she declares it a fake, but begins to doubt her own memories. When Ghemor compares Kira to her (supposed Cardassian) mother, Kira angrily replies that her (real) mother starved to death in a Bajoran prison camp.
After several escape attempts, she is interrogated by the Obsidian Order, though she provides them with false and misleading information. Eventually, Ghemor offers to help her escape the harsher interrogation she will undoubtably suffer at the hands of the Order, revealing himself as a member of Cardassia's anti-military dissident movement. In a moment of insight, Kira realizes that the entire affair — her abduction, her 'Cardassian' identity, her supposedly blocked memories — were all staged in an attempt to reveal Ghemor as a dissident.
Odo, Garak
Elim Garak
Elim Garak is a fictional character from the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, in which he is portrayed by Andrew J. Robinson. In the series, Garak is an exiled spy from the Cardassian empire and a former member of a prestigious Cardassian intelligence group called the Obsidian Order...
, and Commander Sisko
Benjamin Sisko
Benjamin Lafayette Sisko, played by Avery Brooks, is the main character of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Early life and career:...
arrive in time to prevent the Order from taking Kira and Ghemor away for punishment. Back at Deep Space Nine
Deep Space Nine (space station)
Deep Space Nine is a fictitious space station, and is the eponymous primary setting of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It serves as a base for the exploration of the Gamma Quadrant via the Bajoran wormhole, and is a hub of trade and travel for the sector's denizens...
, tests reveal that Kira is definitely Bajoran. Ghemor understands that she is not really Iliana, but declares that he will never stop hoping that she's alive and will return to him.
Arc significance
- The first appearance of Tekeny Ghemor, a Legate of the Central Command who is also secretly a member of the Cardassian dissident movement (cf. "Profit and Loss").