Enabran Tain 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 , though . 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 . " ( ) 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 . ( ) Tain became head of the Obsidian Order in 2348 , and held the position for twenty years . Tain trusted no one , with the exception of 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 and moved to the Arawath Colony . He was the only head of the Order to live long enough to do so . 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 . ( ) The following year , Tain attempted to stage a comeback by destroying the with a combined fleet of Obsidian Order and Tal Shiar ships . His plan was compromised by 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 actually captured by the Dominion and detained at Internment Camp 371 . ( ) 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 . " " ( ) 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 . ( ) Appendices . Apocrypha . A younger Tain appeared in the " " 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 actually has no information . At the end of the novel , Picard and Guinan are transported onto the , leaving Tain to drift through space on an abandoned , badly damaged spaceship until he is recovered . The 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 " " novel " The Art of the Impossible " . His mirror universe counterpart appears in the novel " Rise Like Lions " , in which is depicted as holding the position of head of the Obsidian Order until his death in 2378 . He refers to as his illegitimate son .