Star Trek Secretly Confirms Fan-Favorite Romance

Garashir was given hope recently with the release of a new mobile game. Inspired by the new animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks, the mobile game by the same name dropped a noted easter egg regarding the pair’s relationship. One X (formerly Twitter) user discovered the nod to Garak and Bashir’s relationship in the mobile game and quickly made a post about it. 

A screenshot of the mention in the game showed Lower Decks Starfleet officer Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) in a conversation with Bashir (as a hologram). A dialogue bubble shows Bashir saying, “You don’t have to tell me. I know how difficult it can be, dating a Cardassian”. 

While Elim Garak has openly been confirmed as a homosexual character by both Andy Robinson (the actor who played him) and showrunner Ira Steven Behr, the DS9 series never canonically took Garak/Bashir any further than simply showing the tension between them. 

Behr did express regret for not moving forward with the relationship during the show’s airing. Deep Space Nine was a fairly open show in terms of sexuality, so the audience and the opportunity were there. 

Regardless, the remaining cast of the show and die-hard Star Trek fans are keenly aware (and endlessly interested) in the relationship between the two characters, referring to the two as “Garashir” for many years. 

Actors Andy Robinson and Alexander Siddig have publicly encouraged the relationship between the two DS9 characters in the years since the show aired. They met up in 2020 at a convention to read “Garashir” fanfiction, and Robinson even published a novel that centers around Garak writing to Bashir. 

The romantic connection between Garak and Bashir has been going strong since the ‘90s, resulting in more than 5,000 fanfiction stories about the couple on Archive of Our Own. It’s almost strange the bond between the two men has never been officially written into the Star Trek canon. While it’s pretty cool that an officially licensed Star Trek source made mention of Garak and Bashir’s love affair, fans are still hopeful for more in the future. Star Trek: Lower Decks presents the perfect opportunity to bring back the two characters, and Robinson and Siddig would likely sign on to do the voice-over work. 

Fans would certainly celebrate their revival. Another X user responded to the screenshot of the mobile game saying, “If Lower Decks doesn’t give us Bashir and Garak living their best gay life together, I will riot.” Star Trek: Lower Decks has now been served the challenge. Fans will have to wait, watch, and see whether or not Garak and Bashir will finally get the chance to officially create Garashir on-screen. In the meantime, you can find a plethora of Star Trek movies and episodes streaming on Paramount+ with a subscription to the channel.