Summary

• Killing off Jadzia Dax in DS9 season 6 was a huge mistake as she was a beloved character and her death devastated fans.
• Tensions between Terry Farrell and Paramount led to Jadzia's departure from DS9 and her replacement by Nicole deBoer as Ezri Dax.
• There are possibilities for Jadzia Dax to return in the modern era of Star Trek, including through animated series and a potential DS9 revival. Fans would love to see her back.

Killing off Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) at the end of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 6 was the series' biggest mistake. Dax was a beloved member of DS9's main cast who was introduced in DS9's series premiere, "Emissary." Jadzia's shocking death came in DS9's season 6 finale, "Tears of the Prophets," when she was murdered by the series' greatest Cardassian villain, Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo). Jadzia Dax's death was a devastating moment that crescendoed DS9's dark and complex Dominion War storyline. But it was behind-the-scenes tensions between Farrell and Star Trek's studio, Paramount, that led to Jadzia getting axed from DS9 and replaced with Nicole deBoer as Ezri Dax.

Lt.. Commander Jadzia Dax was Deep Space Nine's popular Science Officer and the closest friend of Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks). Although it took a couple of seasons for DS9's writers to truly define Dax, the initially inexperienced Farrell gradually grew into the character, and Jadzia emerged as a highly intelligent, spirited, and witty Starfleet Officer. When Worf (Michael Dorn) joined DS9 in season 4, the Klingon warrior and the Trill scientist quickly sparked a romance that brought out fascinating new sides of both characters. Jadzia married Worf at the start of DS9 season 6, and they looked forward to a happy life together after the Dominion War was over — until Jadzia's senseless murder, which necessitated a huge revamp of the Dax character as DS9 headed towards its ending in season 7.

Why DS9 Killed Off Jadzia Dax

The full details of why Terry Farrell left Star Trek: Deep Space Nine have not been fully disclosed, but Farrell has her side of the story while the producers and studios have their version of what happened. According to the Star Trek oral history, The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, Farrell requested that she appear in fewer episodes in DS9 season 7, which would essentially reduce her role to a recurring character. Instead, the actress claims the producers and the studio were trying "to bully me into saying yes [to signing onto a full season 7 schedule]." In What We Left Behind, 2019's DS9 retrospective documentary, an emotional Farrell blamed the studio and executive producer Rick Berman for her dismissal.

For his part, Berman takes umbrage at Farrell's accusations:

To say that this woman was let go is absolutely ridiculous. She was not fired. She requested to not be in all the episodes... to be a recurring character. The studio basically said "no way"... She's a regular character and she does all twenty-six shows or nothing... She ended up departing. It certainly was not my choice. It was the loss of a character and it was difficult for us.

Meanwhile, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's showrunner, Ira Steven Behr, and the writing staff were purposely kept out of the tense negotiations. Behr was livid when he found out Farrell was leaving the show, which meant he had to kill off the popular Jadzia Dax character. Behr said, "Let me put it this way, if I had known what was going on, I would have stopped it."

How DS9 Replaced Jadzia With Ezri Dax

With Terry Farrell out of DS9, the writers seized the opportunity to create a new Trill character, Lt. Ezri Dax, who received the Dax symbiont and joined the show as the space station's Counselor. Although de Boer was thrilled to join DS9, even for one season, the actress was also that aware a segment of fans wouldn't accept her as Jadzia's replacement. DS9's writing team rapidly integrated Ezri into the series but the shadows of Terry Farrell and Jadzia Dax were difficult for de Boer's Ezri to overcome and the constant comparisons between the two Daxes were inescapable. Worf was also left floundering without his counterpart, Jadzia, although Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) stepped in and closed out Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 7 in a romantic relationship with Ezri.

How Jadiza Dax Can Return To Star Trek & DS9

Terry Farrell has stated her desire to reprise Jadzia Dax, and there are more possibilities now for this to happen in the modern era of Star Trek on Paramount+. The easiest way to resurrect Jadzia would be in one of the animated series, Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy. Both shows revel in Star Trek history, and it would be a simple matter to bring back Jadzia as a hologram or through time travel, for example, so that Farrell can voice the character. This would also be an easy way to keep Jadzia the same age as when she died on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which is how fans best remember her.

Another possibility would be to bring Jadzia Dax back in live-action if Star Trek: Deep Space Nine gets a revival. This would require a lot more creativity, but one way would be for Ezri Dax to somehow access the Dax symbiont to tap into Jadzia so that they could share the screen together. Perhaps a Bajoran orb could somehow bring Jadzia back, or maybe Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) could resurrect Jadzia with his powers as the Emissary of the Prophets. It's been over 25 years since Terry Farrell left Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but Jadzia Dax could still return to Star Trek, and fans would love to see her.