Bareil Antos Bareil Antos was a prominent Bajoran spiritual leader during the year s immediately after the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor . He was the leading candidate to become the next kai after Opaka , but withdrew his candidacy shortly before the election took place , clearing the way for the elevation of Winn Adami to kai . He later played an important role in the negotiation of the first Bajoran - Cardassian Treaty , but died during the negotiations . Early life . Bareil spent his early years living under the yoke of Cardassian rule . He grew up in the Relliketh refugee camp . ( ) At the age of five , Bareil met a Bajoran monk who grabbed him the first time on his ear , to feel his " pagh " . As a chronic misbehaver , Bareil became his favorite victim and the monk was able to " virtually squeeze the " pagh " out of his ear with his thumb and forefinger . " ( ) During the waning years of the Occupation , Bareil became a gardener at the Bajoran Monastery of the Kai and his own goal was to plant the most beautiful Feloran bromiliad s on the planet . However , he eventually devoted his life to the Prophet s , becoming a vedek . ( ) Career . After Kai Opaka disappeared in 2369 , Bareil became the leading candidate to replace her in that role . Bareil spent the time before the election in seclusion , but was drawn to space station Deep Space 9 by his opponent , Winn Adami . He decided to visit the station after a school , run by Keiko O ' Brien , was bomb ed by Bajoran fundamentalists who were against her teaching that the wormhole prophets were alien s . Bareil hoped to act as a peace mediator . While Bareil was aboard the station , Neela , a Bajoran crew member of DS9 , attempted to assassin ate him . The assassination attempt was really engineered by Vedek Winn , who wished to be kai and who wanted to eliminate her rival , Bareil . The attempt failed and Bareil was favored to be the next kai . ( ) Bareil aided Major Kira Nerys in exposing a plot to overthrow the Bajoran government by Jaro Essa and the Circle , who were unwittingly being aided by the Cardassians . Kira was hurt in a shuttle crash as she was trying to deliver evidence of the plot to the Chamber of Ministers . Bareil sent his aides to rescue Kira , had her wound s tended to at his monastery , and helped disguise her and Jadzia Dax as monks . Bareil accompanied the women to the Chamber of Ministers , where they presented evidence that foiled Jaro ' s " coup " . ( ) When Bareil was tied to the infamous Kendra Valley Massacre , he withdrew from consideration for kai , and Vedek Winn was elected . No one outside of Kira Nerys and a few other members of the DS9 crew knew that Bareil had taken the blame for Kai Opaka ' s role in the massacre . She had allowed her own son and forty - two other Bajorans to be killed during the Occupation to prevent over 1 , 200 deaths in the Kendra Valley . Bareil took the fall to protect Opaka ' s memory , although Kira acknowledged that he was too honorable a man to avoid facing the consequences of his mistakes . ( ) In 2371 , Bareil visited the station to celebrate the Bajoran Gratitude Festival . He became infected by Zanthi fever , which Lwaxana Troi had transmitted to those at the station party . This caused misplaced amorousness in people who had been near her , and caused latent , subconscious attraction to others . Bareil amorously chased Dax , became jealous of Benjamin Sisko , and hit Sisko ; Dax subsequently punched Bareil . Doctor Bashir was able to cure him of the fever . ( ) After the election , Bareil joined Winn as her key adviser in negotiating the Bajoran - Cardassian Treaty . Bareil negotiated for five month s with Legate Turrel . Just before the final treaty negotiations , he was injured in a plasma explosion on board a Bajoran transport vessel . Dr . Bashir was able to bring him back from the brink of death , but needed to expose him to dangerous levels of neurogenic radiation in order to do so . Bashir told the vedek that he should be placed in stasis for an indefinite period of time , until a cure for the radiation damage could be developed . Bareil insisted that Bashir find another solution , so he could remain conscious to help Winn . Bareil believed the Prophets had spared him in the explosion so that he could ensure the success of the peace talks . Dr . Bashir , on the orders of Bareil , gave him an experimental drug that let him function for a few days . However , the drug did irreversible damage to the vedek ' s organ s , leading to their replacement with implant s . In spite of this , the damage spread , destroying part of his brain . At Kira ' s urging , Bashir replaced the damaged brain region with an artificial positronic implant , so that Bareil could continue to advise Winn . Soon after the peace treaty was signed , the remainder of Bareil ' s brain was destroyed . After Bashir gently refused to proceed with any further surgeries , saying he would fight Kira if he had to , Kira and Bashir decided to allow him to die , rather than replace his entire brain with a machine , for Bashir believed that , though Bareil would still look and talk like his old self , he wouldn ' t " be " himself . With Kira at his side , Bareil died shortly thereafter . ( ) Personal life . Even after becoming a vedek , Bareil still loved to tend his garden . He also enjoyed playing springball . ( ) He became romantically involved with Major Kira Nerys in 2370 , after meeting her during a visit to Deep Space 9 . ( ) During the attempted " coup " led by Jaro Essa , Bareil ' s relationship with Kira started to blossom . After Kira was dismissed by Jaro from the space station , she stayed at Bareil ' s monastery . On Bajor , Kira and Bareil grew close , and Bareil allowed Kira to consult one of the Bajoran Orb s for guidance . She had a vision that showed her and Bareil as lovers . ( ) Bareil and Kira subsequently became lovers until his death . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Bareil Antos was portrayed by actor Philip Anglim . Anglim commented , " " What I found most interesting about the way Bareil was written and conceived , and what I found such a pleasure , was the lack of pomposity , the lack of self - satisfaction and self - righteousness that goes with so many people who claim the moral high ground . " " According to the script for " The Circle " , the pronunciation of Bariel ' s name was " buh - RILE " . Writer Robert Hewitt Wolfe revised his original concept of Bareil , during development of DS9 Season 1 ender . " " When I created Bareil in that script , " " he said , " " I saw him as a wise old guy , sort of a Gandhi figure . And Michael Piller said , ' No , he should be young and vigourous . ' I think he always saw Bareil as a romantic hero , so the relationship with Kira was more his idea than mine . " " ( " " , p . 81 ) Bareil ' s given name ( which was not revealed until ) is a reference to the character Anton ( " Tony " ) in , whose first name is actually of Polish origin . As the DS9 writing staff was unable to directly reuse that name for Bareil , Hans Beimler suggested changing it to the " Antos " alternative . ( " " , pp . 510 - 511 ) The depiction of Bareil in displeased Ira Steven Behr . " " I didn ' t think the Bareil stuff worked that well , " " he complained . ( " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p . 88 ) While was in development , Bareil conceptually replaced a young Federation ambassador , who was conceived as being akin to John F . Kennedy and was proposed in the original story document for the episode . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 106 ; " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p . 90 ) As in the aired version of the installment , the diplomat was dying and arrived at DS9 aboard a damaged shuttle . ( " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p . 90 ) " " The same things happen : he dies on the table , Bashir brings him back to life and then it becomes his gradual descent into madness – Frankenstein frankly , " " recalled Ronald D . Moore . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 106 ) He specified about the character , " " He becomes this monster that Bashir has to let die . " " As the DS9 writing staff was breaking the story in the break sessions , it became evident that two aspects of the character weren ' t working . " " One was , ' Who is this guy ? " " noted Moore . The other was " " Who really cares what happens to him ? " " ( " " , p . 204 ) Essentially , Moore began to feel that the plot ' s central character , which would have been played by a guest star , wasn ' t important enough to make the audience care . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 106 ) For a short time , the writers toyed with the concept of making the dying character Miles O ' Brien , inspired by rumors that O ' Brien actor Colm Meaney might be departing from the series . Ira Behr offered , " " That ' s when Ron said , ' What about Bareil ? " " ( " " , p . 204 ) Moore himself remembered , " " As the audience I said , ' This guy should be Bareil . " " ( " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p . 90 ) He further explained , " " If this guy was Bareil [ . . . ] then you ' ve got Kira involved and it brings so much more to it . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 106 ) There was some discussion about deciding what extent to make Bareil suffer in " Life Support " . In the initial draft of the episode , the writers were going to torture him even more than they eventually did . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 106 ; " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p . 90 ) " " We were going to have Bareil ' s body completely collapse , " " Ron Moore reflected , " " and they were going to put his brain in an android body , to go the next step and go for Frankenstein . " " ( " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p . 90 ) Moore continued , " " So by the end of the episode he was Frankenstein the monster , but I think Rick [ Berman ] felt that was taking it too far . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 106 ) In their unofficial reference book " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " ( p . 90 ) , Edward Gross and Mark A . Altman liken Bareil in this imagined scenario to Spock in . Nonetheless , the decision to kill the character of Bareil had been made , partly because there was no impression in the DS9 production offices of him being a particular favorite with the show ' s fan s . ( " " , p . 204 ) " " I just felt that no one was dying to do a Bareil show , " " explained Ira Steven Behr . " " We never got letters from fans saying ' We love Bareil ' [ . . . ] No one was losing sleep over Bareil . It just wasn ' t clicking . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 106 ) Ron Moore concurred , " " He served his purpose for a while , and then we felt that the character [ . . . ] had run out of steam . " " Moore was actually instrumental in devising Bareil ' s death . " " I killed Bareil , " " he announced . ( " " , p . 204 ) With a laugh , Bashir actor Alexander Siddig theorized , " " Philip Anglim [ . . . ] was making so many noises about leaving , that I think they just did him a favor and did it . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 28 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 43 ) As such , Bareil joined a long line of recurring characters ( including K ' Ehleyr and James T . Kirk ) that Moore had killed off . ( " " , p . 204 ) In a manner that may have been only half joking , Robert Hewitt Wolfe declared , " " Ron butchered my character , what can I say ? [ . . . ] That ' s a character payment I ' ll never see again . " " ( " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p . 90 ) Philip Anglim was given little notification of Bareil ' s demise . " " He didn ' t know , pretty much until he got the script , and that was that , " " noted Alexander Siddig . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 28 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 43 ) Although fans didn ' t initially respond much to Bareil , the audience had ( in the words of Robert Wolfe ) " gotten to know Bareil " by the time he was killed off in " Life Support " . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 106 ; " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p . 90 ) Fan mail regarded the character in an extremely positive light after his life and recurring appearances were terminated . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 106 ) " " Why they killed him off is the big question everyone asks me , " " Kira actress Nana Visitor offered . " " I honestly can ' t figure that out . " " (