Saturday, December 15, 2018

Character Insight No. 306: Solbor

Happy Holidays, and Welcome back to Character Insight!  This week, we review a recurring character named Solbor from Deep Space 9.

Solbor is a Bajoran ranjen who serves as an assistant to Kai Winn, one of the most complicated characters in the Deep Space 9 story.  Solbor's first appearance is in the episode Til Death Do Us Part, and he joins the Kai as she comes to the station to be the officiant of Benjamin Sisko's wedding to Kassidy Yates.  During this visit, Solbor is deceived by Gul Dukat, who was disguised as a Bajoran farmer named Anjohl Tennan, into allowing Dukat to visit with the Kai.  Of course, Dukat is on the path to releasing the pah-wraiths by this point, which is something Solbor would not be copacetic with.

This role was supposed to be for just one isolated episode, but the showrunners loved actor James Otis and his portrayal of this character, so Solbor became a recurring character as a result.  One of his later episodes was simply a small role in Strange Bedfellows, where the Kai sends him to obtain the Orb of Prophecy for her.

The appearances for this character culminate in another episode near the end of the series centered on the Kai, Dukat, and Solbor struggle, that being The Changing Face of Evil.  Solbor begins to see though Dukat's Anjohl disguise when the Kai starts acting strangely, including asking Solbor to go retrieve the Book of the Kosst Amojan for her.  This text is believed to be evil by Solbor, and it leads him to test Anjohl's DNA, leading to the realization that this is a Cardassian in disguise.

QUOTE

When Solbor confronts his boss the Kai about the deception, he realizes too late that she is now in on the plan to release the pah-wraiths.  And thus, Solbor met his grisly end at the hand of the Kai.  Later on, a pah-wraith in the appearance of Solbor shows up in a couple more episodes, but the real Solbor is gone forever. 

As mentioned before, James Otis plays Solbor.  Outside Trek, he played small roles in movies like The Prestige and The Black Dahlia.  His most recent acting credit was in 2010 in the TV series Supernatural, and he has retired from acting in the meantime.

----

Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!


No comments:

Post a Comment