In this episode, the Bajoran Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) copes with her feelings about the impending death of Tekeny Ghemor (Lawrence Pressman), a Cardassian dissident she has become close to, while Cardassia's new Dominion government attempts to co-opt his legacy.
He wishes to participate in the ritual of shri-tal, a Cardassian tradition in which a dying person reveals their secrets to the rest of the family for use against their enemies.
However, she later learns from security chief Odo that Ghemor was only nineteen at the time of the massacre, an inexperienced foot soldier, and there is no evidence he killed anyone there.
Kira recalls that when her own father was badly injured, she chose to participate in a counterattack rather than stay with him, and missed his death by minutes.
This episode is a sequel to the third season's "Second Skin", in which Kira met Ghemor and formed a bond with him as a result of a plot by the Cardassian intelligence agency in which he was made to believe she was his missing daughter.