A three-decade-old fan wish has finally come true in Star Trek: Lower Decks‘ latest episode, though not quite in the way devotees might have imagined. The animated series’ penultimate episode, “Fissure Quest,” has made canonical what fans have speculated about since 1993: the romance between Deep Space Nine‘s Doctor Julian Bashir and Mister Elim Garak. The twist? It happens in an alternate dimension, where they appear as a married couple alongside other franchise favorites like T’Pol from Enterprise and Harry Kim from Voyager.
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Trek showrunner Mike McMahan acknowledged the long-running fan theory, telling Variety they “have enjoyed the romantic chemistry that Andrew and Sid brought to Garak and Bashir on DS9, and for the 30 years since. If there’s anything the multiverse is good for, it’s spending time with these two newlyweds as they explore the universe and their relationship together.” He playfully added, “Remember, never go to bed angry, and never break the prime directive — unless you really, really gotta.”
The relationship’s origins trace back to 1993 when Andrew Robinson guest starred in Deep Space Nine’s “Past Prologue.” The chemistry between Robinson’s “simple tailor” Garak and Alexander Siddig’s earnest doctor was immediate, transforming Robinson’s one-off appearance into a recurring role.
Both actors actively fueled fan interest over the years. They frequently discussed the characters’ potential romance at conventions until producers reportedly asked them to stop, per a 1998 Metro article. In The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years, Siddig revealed, “At the beginning, you’re not even sure of his sexuality. Then they throw the Cardassian Garak in the mix at a very early stage, and it’s not subtle. There’s a kind of quivering sexuality going on there.”
Robinson was equally forthright about his portrayal, stating, “Bashir is really good-looking, so as a character choice I thought, ‘What the hell? Why not go for it?’ There is a close-up of Garak where it looks like he could eat him alive.” In the Deep Space Nine documentary What We Left Behind, Robinson confirmed that “Garak definitely wanted an intimate relationship with Bashir.”
The pairing never materialized in the 1990s series, reflecting television’s limited LGBTQ+ representation at the time. Deep Space Nine showrunner Ira Steven Behr admitted in What We Left Behind that he wished he had “pushed harder to make Garak openly queer.” Writer Ronald D. Moore later expressed regret in a 2008 AfterElton interview, saying he felt “guilty” that he and other writers “failed” at including queer characters.
While modern Star Trek series have embraced LGBTQ+ relationships, notably with Discovery’s Stamets and Culber front and center, this particular fan-favorite pairing remained unofficial until now. The actors even performed fan-written works over Zoom in 2020, demonstrating their continued support for the relationship.
Though the Lower Decks version technically features alternate universe versions of the characters (with Bashir as an Emergency Medical Hologram), it represents a significant acknowledgment of a pioneering ship that never got its due in its original run.
