Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night
"Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night" is the 141st episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 17th episode of the sixth season.
Set in the 24th century, the series takes place on Deep Space Nine, a fictional space station near the planet Bajor, as the Bajorans recover from a brutal decades-long occupation by the Cardassians. In this episode, Gul Dukat, the Cardassian former prefect of Bajor, tells Major Kira Nerys, a Bajoran, that her mother was once his lover, and Kira time-travels to the days of the occupation in order to find the truth.
Production and development
"Wrongs Darker than Death or Night" aired in 1998 as the 17th episode of American science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space NineThe title of the show was developed by Hans Beimler, and it was meant to contrast with prior titles. The phrase is in a passage in Prometheus Unbound by Percy Bysshe Shelley, a drama published in 1820.
Plot
On the 60th birthday of Kira Nerys's late mother Meru, whom Kira believes to have been a hero who died in a refugee camp, recurring Cardassian antagonist Dukat sends a message to Kira telling her that Meru was his lover. Kira obtains station commander Benjamin Sisko's permission to consult the Bajoran Orb of Time to find out the truth.The Orb sends Kira into a vision of the past. Kira appears in a refugee center where her family once lived. There she befriends Meru, using the name "Luma Rahl". "Luma" and Meru are taken from the camp to become "comfort women" for Cardassian troops. On the space station Terok Nor—the future Deep Space Nine—Meru is overwhelmed by the bounty of food and other comforts. Dukat singles her out for special attention, and she eventually becomes Dukat's mistress. Nerys is thrown out into the station's Bajoran ghetto, where she is recruited by Halb, a member of the Bajoran resistance.
The next time Nerys sees her mother, Meru praises Dukat; Nerys angrily reminds her that Dukat is not only responsible for killing innocent Bajorans, but also for separating her from her family. Meru explains that Dukat has promised to provide her family with food and medical supplies. Nerys calls Meru a collaborator and storms out, hatching a plan with Halb to smuggle a bomb into Dukat's quarters. Meru could be killed in the blast, but Nerys no longer cares. Pretending to have had a change of heart, Nerys returns to Dukat's quarters to apologize to Meru, then secretly hides the bomb.
Nerys then sees Meru receive a message from her husband Taban. He thanks his wife for the resources her companionship to Dukat has afforded for their family: they have been released from the refugee camp, allowed to return home, and provided with extra food. Nerys, realizing that she owes her survival as a child to her mother, has a change of heart and warns Dukat and Meru about the bomb, and they escape just before it detonates.
The vision ends, and Kira returns to the present. She learns that her mother lived another seven years as Dukat's mistress, dying in a Cardassian hospital. The episode resolves ambivalently; Kira concludes that despite how outraged she feels at Meru's collaboration with the Cardassians, "no matter what she did, she was still my mother".