Ties of Blood and Water

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Star Trek: DS9 episode
"Ties of Blood and Water"
Kira tends Ghemor
Episode no.	117
Prod. code	517
Airdate	April 14, 1997
Writer(s)	Edmund Newton Robbin L. Slocum Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Director	Avery Brooks
Guest star(s)	Lawrence Pressman as Ghemor Marc Alaimo as Gul Dukat Thomas Kopache as Taban William Lucking as Furel Jeffrey Combs as Weyoun
Year	2373
Stardate	50712.5
Episode chronology
Previous	"A Simple Investigation"
Next	"Ferengi Love Songs"

"Ties of Blood and Water" is an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the nineteenth episode of the fifth season.

[edit] Plot

Two years ago, Major Kira was abducted and told she was the long-lost daughter of a Cardassian named Tekeny Ghemor. Although she never truly believed it, he did, and as he attempted to reestablish a bond between them, Kira developed a sympathy for him. When the truth came out and Ghemor realized she was not really his daughter, he told Kira he cares for her anyway.

Now Ghemor is dying. He wishes to participate in the ritual of shri-tal, a Cardassian tradition where a dying person reveals their secrets to the rest of the family for use against their enemies. He chooses Kira, since, as he told her before, she is the closest thing he has to a family. Captain Sisko encourages her to participate, as this could help the Federation and Bajor.

Kira joins in. The ritual is later interrupted by Dukat and other Cardassians. Dukat tells Kira about a massacre of Bajoran monks that Ghemor had participated in. Infuriated, Kira leaves Ghemor.

She soon learns Ghemor would have only been nineteen at the time of the murders. While he was a part of the Cardassian military, and did take part in the raid, he was simply a soldier, whose unit had been told that the monks at the Bajoran monastery had been stockpiling weapons - which were being used to kill Cardassians. Also, Kira recalls when she could not have been there for her real father, who died while she was fighting the Cardassians. Moved, she stays by Ghemor's side until the end. After Ghemor dies, Kira arranges to have his body buried on Bajor - next to her actual father, Kira Taban.

[edit] Trivia

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In an interview with Star Trek Monthly in 1997, actor Lawrence Pressman (who played Ghemor) likened the character to real-world examples of World War II German military officers who were unwilling to fight for Adolf Hitler and actually tried to assassinate him.