Enabran Tain was a male Cardassian of the Cardassian Union in the 24th century. He gained notoriety as the leader of the Obsidian Order, of which he maintained tight control. He was married, and the father of Elim Garak – a fact he never admitted publicly.
His son would later recall that Tain never grew tired of repeating to him "I should have killed your mother before you were born. You have always been a weakness I can't afford." (DS9: "In Purgatory's Shadow") Tain would also discipline his son, who had a strong case of claustrophobia, by locking him in a closet. In contrast to this, Tain spent a day in the country with his son when he was four, their "only day" as Garak would later recall. Garak impressed his father by mounting a riding hound despite falling off numerous times. As he limped home, his father held Garak's hand and would later recall that he was very proud of him that day. (DS9: "In Purgatory's Shadow", "Afterimage")
Tain became head of the Obsidian Order in 2348 and held the position for twenty years. Tain trusted no one, except his housekeeper, Mila. He was known for ruthlessness, and many said that he lacked a heart. Tain was also Garak's immediate superior, whom he trained and molded into a mirror image of himself. Nevertheless, Tain was directly responsible for exiling Garak after being betrayed by him in some way.
Tain retired from the Order in 2368 – the only head of the Order to live long enough to do so – and moved to the Arawath Colony. During this time, in 2370, he was visited by Julian Bashir, who was seeking information on Garak's cranial implant so that it could be removed. Tain claimed to be only helping Bashir so that Garak could live a long, miserable life. (DS9: "The Wire")
Tain and Lovok
The following year, Tain attempted to stage a comeback by destroying the Founders' homeworld with a combined fleet of Obsidian Order and Tal Shiar ships. He had the Romulans kill his former inner circle, but Garak survived. When his son and Odo followed a lead that sent them to the location of the combined fleet, Tain had them captured. He offered Garak to fully reintegrate him into the Obsidian Order and the Cardassian Union, the former agent agreed enthusiastically even though Tain had ordered his execution attempt, and the fleet departed for the Gamma Quadrant. However, his plan was compromised by his Romulan co-conspirator, Colonel Lovok, a changeling infiltrator, and the resulting Battle of the Omarion Nebula was a complete failure. The entire combined fleet was destroyed by the Jem'Hadar. Tain was assumed to have perished when his warbird exploded, however, he was captured by the Dominion and detained at Internment Camp 371. (DS9: "Improbable Cause", "The Die is Cast", "Broken Link")
In 2373, Tain managed to modify the camp barracks' redundant life support system to send a subspace signal to Garak, indicating he was alive. By the time Garak reached him though, he was dying of unspecified heart trouble. On his deathbed, Tain asked Garak to escape, so that he could seek vengeance on the Dominion for what it had done to him. Garak agreed, but only if Tain asked him as his father. Tain died in the presence of Garak and Bashir after acknowledging that Garak was his son, his last words were to Garak, "I was very proud of you – that day." (DS9: "In Purgatory's Shadow", "By Inferno's Light")
Damar discovered that Tain was Garak's father in 2375, when Garak and he, with Commander Kira Nerys, sought refuge in Tain's old house. (DS9: "The Dogs of War")
Quick Answers
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Appendices[]
Appearances[]
Apocrypha[]
A younger Tain appeared in the Stargazer novel Oblivion, where he is pitted against a young Captain Jean-Luc Picard during Picard's first meeting with Guinan. During this mission, both Picard and Tain are looking for a friend of Picard's who claims to have vital information about a potential threat, but it is eventually revealed that the friend has betrayed Picard and has no information. At the end of the novel, Picard and Guinan are transported onto the USS Stargazer, leaving Tain to drift through space on an abandoned, badly damaged spaceship until he is recovered.
The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine novel A Stitch in Time reveals that Mila was Garak's mother and that Tain hid his paternity by having Mila's brother Tolan raise Garak as his son. Later, it was Tain who sponsored Garak's entry into the elite training academy for Obsidian Order recruits.
Tain also appears in Keith R.A. DeCandido's Star Trek: The Lost Era novel The Art of the Impossible.
In Star Trek Online, the Cardassian dreadnought C.U.V. Tain is named in his honor, and serves as Garak's flagship during the campaigns against the Hur'q.
His mirror universe counterpart (β) appears in the novel Rise Like Lions, in which is depicted as holding the position of head of the Obsidian Order until he died in 2378. He refers to Elim Garak as his illegitimate son.
External links[]
- Enabran Tain at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- Enabran Tain at Wikipedia