Garak Headcanon Time
Well, not really headcanon exactly. More like…an idea that got in my brain while rewatching the Wire and the Die is Cast, and I’m not really even sure if I like it, but it won’t get out of my head so I’m sharing it so I can maybe bounce the idea off of some people. Maybe some of you have already thought of this, and can point me towards some discussions?
So, in DiC, we’re given a description of Garak as an interrogator back in the day that DOES NOT MATCH AT ALL with what we see of him when he tortures Odo. Clearly, something has changed, and he is no longer the same person he was while working for Tain and the Obsidian Order. Now, the most obvious explanation is just that, well…he’s been living on DS9 a few years, he’s made friends…stuff changes. We all buy that. And in the rest of the series, while we see him kill (and try to kill) people, I don’t believe we ever see him torture anyone again, or even deliberately cause pain. Again, this is easily explained by good old fashioned character development.
But here’s my theory: is it possible that the implant in the Wire wasn’t just triggered by physical pain, but by extreme emotional distress as well? So, that reaction we saw in DiC was always happening, but the implant then flooded his system with endorphins, thus creating a kind of artificial sadism. That would explain what Tain said about how much Garak used to “relish” an interrogation–his enjoyment was actually in direct proportion to how much he was naturally repelled and distressed by it. If the implant reacted to emotional stress, it would also mean that Garak probably didn’t suffer any claustrophobic attacks while it was functioning, and then suddenly had to deal with that again as well after it was removed.
So, what do you guys think? I have to admit, I’m a little hesitant about it, since I generally don’t like fan theories that tend to “absolve” characters of responsibility (ex: I don’t enjoy the idea of Loki being brainwashed in Avengers), but I think it’s an interesting idea…and I think it could be true and still hold Garak responsible for actions–after all, even if it was very distressing for him, he probably still would have done those things for Tain, like we see in DiC.
Anyway, idk, just thought I’d share, and I’d love to hear anybody’s thoughts :-)
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