Summary

• Kira and Odo's romance in DS9 was built on a lie, but they overcame obstacles to find love.
• Odo sympathized with Kira's past actions and learned to trust her again on their road to romance.
• Major Kira and Constable Odo's love story is one of the most unique in Star Trek history.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine characters to become romantically involved, but Visitor later conceded that the writers found a way to make sense of Odo and Kira's relationship.

The first overt hint of Kira and Odo's feelings for each other is in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, season 2, episode 8, "Necessary Evil", which has several flashbacks to their first meeting. It's revealed that Odo and Kira first met in the course of a murder investigation during the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor, when Deep Space Nine was Terok Nor. Meanwhile, in the present day, the attempted murder of Quark (Armin Shimerman) reopens the investigation, and reveals the true culprit to Odo, with potentially damaging consequences for his relationship with Kira.

Kira And Odo’s Star Trek Love Story Was Built On A Lie

Kira was the prime suspect in the murder of Vaatrik, a Bajoran shopkeeper, who was killed in his chemist shop aboard Terok Nor. Vaatrik's wife, Pallra (Katherine Moffat) suspected Kira and her husband of having an affair, but it becomes apparent that this was not the case. Instead, Kira was getting close to Vaatrik to ascertain where he was hiding a list of Bajoran collaborators who were selling out the resistance to their Cardassian oppressors. When she was discovered by Vaatrik late at night in his shop, Kira had no choice but to defend herself and murder the Bajoran collaborator.

Despite pressure from both Pallra and Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo), Odo let Kira go free because he didn't have enough evidence to prove her involvement in Vaatrik's murder. After Quark came into possession of the list of collaborators - almost losing his life in the process - Odo soon realized that Kira had been the murderer all those years ago. In the quietly devastating final scene of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "Necessary Evil", Kira tries to explain why she kept the truth from Odo for all those years, and why she built their relationship on a lie.

Kira: I tried to tell you the truth a hundred times. What you think of me matters a lot. I was afraid.

Odo: That it might affect our friendship? Maybe it doesn't have to.

Kira: Will you ever be able to trust me the same way again?

Odo: [Silence]

A deleted scene from "Necessary Evil" revealed that Gul Dukat was having an affair with Pallra, adding a completely different dimension to his interest in the murder of Vaatrik, and his desire to see Kira arrested.

How Odo Moved Past Kira’s Shocking Crime In DS9

Many of Star Trek's best love stories are rocked by secrets, such as when Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) discovered that Kassidy Yates (Penny Johnson Jerald) was a smuggler for the Maquis. However, Kira and Odo's love story in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine feels unique because it was built on one devastating lie. While Odo is rocked by Kira's revelation in "Necessary Evil", he does sympathize with what Kira had to do. Odo is just as disgusted by the actions of the Bajoran collaborators as she was, and he also understands that Kira was acting in self-defense.

However, it's interesting to ponder if this lie was what delayed Odo and Kira's romance. Odo didn't confirm to Kira if he could trust her in the same way again, so it would be understandable if this made her feel that a deeper relationship was off the cards. Similarly, Odo's isolation from his people gave him many trust issues, and he had to learn how to trust Kira all over again after she itted to killing Vaatrik. Thankfully, the revelations of "Necessary Evil" were merely an obstruction, rather than an insurmountable obstacle, on Odo and Kira's road to romance in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

All episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are available to stream on Paramount+.