hadeantaiga:

Enabran Tain definitely didn’t intend to ask Garak to return to his side in Improbable Cause. Not initially, anyway. But the scene between them at the end of the episode is so good at showing two master manipulators trying to gain the upper hand.

I think Tain was genuinely surprised to see Garak both alive and hanging around his secret moon base. And I think for the first few minutes of their conversation, he was fully intending to kill Garak when they were done talking.

Garak is, of course, aware of this and is busy the whole scene trying to learn as much as he can, trying to observe any weakness in Tain he can find.

There are a few key lines in this scene, I think.

Tain, speaking about Odo: “He hides his true feelings almost as good as you do, Elim.”

Now, Garak does usually hide what he’s truly feeling, but I don’t think Garak is particularly good at doing it in the way most Cardassians do, though a calm icy demeanor. Instead, he hides what he means by being overly emotional and dramatic and lying all the time. It makes it difficult to judge when he’s actually feeling something strong or telling the truth, which I think is clever given what he does next:

Tain, to Garak: “If you hadn’t betrayed me, things would have been very different.”
Garak, with passion: “I never betrayed you!! At least… not in my heart. Why do you think I am here? I came because I thought the Romulans were trying to kill you - I came here, to save you.”

Tain pauses after this, a skeptical but thoughtful look on his face. He knows Garak; knows that you can’t trust Garak’s passion. But I think he also has a weakness, and Garak knows it.

Garak is Tain’s weakness, just as surely as Tain is Garak’s. They are both trying to play each other’s feelings. Garak is just trying to stay alive. Tain has changing motivations.

Tain: “I never thought I’d hear myself say this Garak, but I believe you.”

Does he, though? Or is he pretending, in order to manipulate Garak? It’s at this moment he says Garak can “go”, if he chooses. Tain has decided, at least for the moment, to let Garak live. Also, of interesting note, he calls him “Garak” here, not Elim.

Odo: “It’s a trick, Garak. After all this, he won’t let you just walk away.”
Tain: “It’s not a trick. It’s a choice. You can walk out that door, or join me.”

And here’s Tain’s manipulation: he knows Garak is desperate for his approval and always has been.

Garak: “Join you?”
Tain: “That is what you’ve been waiting for, isn’t it? To end your exile? To come back into the fold? I’m asking you to serve Cardassia again. By my side.”

Prince Zuko I mean Garak has indeed been desperate for this for the whole series up to this point. Tain’s approval, being able to serve Cardassia again… yes, those are Garak’s dreams.

eddiethehunted:

eddiethehunted:

what is the opposite of a blorbo. like a character you hate so fucking much for no reason really you just cannot stand them and seeing them triggers rage. you want them dead. what’s the silly goofy word for that

actually yeah. barfo sounds right.

i would like to know everyone’s barfos please tell me

starbashir:

the way garak begs for tain to call him son, when tain says he shouldve killed his mother before he was born and the way garaks voice wavers when he says “as you have told me”

.. im not okay fellas

ofhouseadama:

the way. the WAY that tekeny ghemor refused to allow kira-as-iliana and then kira herself suffer from his “sins” against cardassia and her people versus tain using garak’s fear of him and fear of him killing mila against him to keep him loyal to tain’s very real sins against cardassia and her people. tekeny ghemor who believes fiercely that kira nerys deserves love and softness and to be whole and live a life not consumed by violence and war, because he has all this paternal love for iliana and his wife nowhere to put it. enabran tain who uses the lifetime of fear and obligation and guilt he’s built up to control garak in order to shape him into a weapon over and over and over again. kira’s devout loyalty to her mother’s memory. garak’s loyalty to mila and how she is used against him to keep him in line. will i ever recover

bijoumikhawal:

Thinking about the implication in ASIT that Garak’s betrayal of Tain wasn’t continuing to see Paladine after he forbid it or getting caught killing Barkan, that it was Garak threatening to view Tolan as his real father… that Tain was free to deny Garak his entire life but considered it an unspeakable crime for Garak to deny Tains claim over him…

garakcore:

I was thinking about how I call In Purgatory’s Shadow “the Tain Pain Train” and then my stupid fucking brain was like “you know maybe Tain asks Mila sometimes if she wants to ride the Tain Train” and now I want to throw myself bodily against a concrete wall.