Ezri Dax

For the mirror universe counterpart, see Ezri Dax (mirror).

Ezri Dax
Captain Ezri Dax in 2383.
Known aliases:	Ezri Tigan, Old Man, Zee
Species:	Trill
Gender:	Female
Birthplace:	New Sydney
Born:	2354
Affiliation:	Federation Starfleet, House of Martok
Family
Mother:	Yanas Tigan
Sibling(s):	Janel Tigan, Norvo Tigan
Career
Occupation:	Starfleet officer
Previous Assignment:	second officer, USS Aventine
Assignment:	commanding officer, USS Aventine
Rank:	captain
Insignia:
Ensign Ezri Dax in 2375.

Ezri Dax is a joined female Trill, born as Ezri Tigan on the world of New Sydney in the year 2354. Ezri started her career as an assistant counselor aboard the USS Destiny, up until she was joined with Dax. Ezri was later assigned to Deep Space 9, the original USS Defiant and its successor. During the Borg Invasion of 2381, Ezri was promoted to captain and took command of the USS Aventine.

StarTrek.com states that Ezri was born on Trill. However, this contradicts an on-screen personnel file.

Biography

Early life

Ezri's mother, Yanas Tigan, was the owner of a very successful mining concern on the world of New Sydney. Ezri and her mother, who wanted Ezri to help run the family business, argued constantly.

Ezri refused to let her mother control her the way she did her two brothers and refused to join the family business. Instead, she enrolled in Starfleet Academy and studied to become a counselor. (DS9 episode: "Prodigal Daughter")

Joining with Dax

Ezri attended Starfleet Academy Medical School from 2372 to 2374, focusing on psychology. Her final year of training was waived. (ST website : StarTrek.com)

In late 2374, Ezri held the rank of ensign and served as assistant counselor aboard the starship USS Destiny. In that year, the Destiny was diverted because of a medical emergency and traveled to Deep Space 9. Upon arrival, the Destiny docked with a runabout that contained the Trill symbiont, Dax, who had been separated from its previous host, Jadzia. Jadzia Dax had been brutally murdered by Cardassian Gul Skrain Dukat, with the assistance of a Pah-wraith. The Dax symbiont was escorted by DS9's chief of security, the Changeling, Odo. Dax needed to a new host in a matter of weeks or it wouldn't survive. When a shape-shifting Founder of the Dominion impersonated Ezri's lover, Ensign Brinner Finok, and attempted to kidnap the Dax symbiont, Ezri was the first to realize that something was wrong. Soon after the foiling of the kidnapping and the capture of the Changeling, the ship was attacked by Jem'Hadar vessels. Dax's condition worsened, and needed to be joined immediately. Ezri had never wanted to be joined, but as Brinner Finok was still missing, Ezri was the only available Trill to join Dax with. Ezri agreed to undergo the joining procedure, and became the ninth host of the Dax symbiont, Ezri Dax. Brinner Finok would later be found safe in a medical supply closet, but their relationship did not continue after Ezri's joining. (DS9 episode: "Tears of the Prophets"; DS9 - The Lives of Dax short story: "Second Star to the Right...", "... And Straight on 'til Morning")

Deep Space 9

2375

Ezri in 2375

Ezri, confused by all of her new memories, sought out the one constant in her previous two incarnations—Starfleet Captain Benjamin Sisko, on Earth. Dax's host Ezri initially preferred not to be called "Old Man" by her new mentor and longtime friend, Ben Sisko. (DS9 episodes: "Image in the Sand", "Shadows and Symbols", "Afterimage")

Dax returned to DS9 with Sisko where she received the rank of lieutenant junior gradeand position of station's counselor. She served in the position through the end of the war. (DS9 episodes: "Image in the Sand", "Shadows and Symbols")

After "returning" to DS9, she began counseling Elim Garak for his claustrophobia. After some time and work, they discovered his attacks were triggered by his guilt for helping the Federation attack Cardassian targets. (DS9 episode: "Afterimage")

Ezri fought in the Siege of AR-558. (DS9 episode: "The Siege of AR-558")

Just prior to the end of the war in 2375, Ezri began a relationship with Dr. Julian Bashir, who may have had unresolved feelings for her previous host, Jadzia. (DS9 episode: "The Dogs of War")

2376

Ezri in 2376

In January of 2376, Ezri brought the legendary Sword of Kahless into the possession of the new Klingon Chancellor, Martok, on the world of Boreth at a pivotal moment of a Klingon civil war. (DS9 - The Left Hand of Destiny novel: The Left Hand of Destiny, Book Two)

In April of 2376, Dax was onboard the USS Defiant when a surprise attack by the Jem'Hadar killed the ship's new CO, Commander Tiris Jast. Drawing on the memories of Dax's previous hosts, Ezri took command and defeated the attacking Jem'Hadar. The experience made Ezri realize that she was capable of so much more now that she was joined, and made the switch to the Command Track. It also earned her a nomination to receive the Starfleet Citation for Conspicuous Gallantry.

April also saw a strain on Dax's relationship with Bashir when she began to explore the connection with her previous hosts and momentarily took on the personality of Jadzia Dax when they were making love. The incident spooked and offended Bashir who stormed out of Dax's quarters. The pair later reconciled after Bashir nearly died. (DS9 - Avatar novels: Book One, Book Two)

Ezri and Julian traveled to the world of Sindorin to destroy the laboratory of Dr. Ethan Locken, a rogue former agent of Section 31, who was breeding an army of Jem'Hadar Soldiers. (DS9 - Section 31 novel: Abyss)

Ezri was given the position of first officer aboard the USS Defiant for its three-month exploratory mission of the Gamma Quadrant by the mission's commander, Elias Vaughn.

During the Gamma Quadrant mission, Ezri commanded a shuttle mission attempting to protect the Vahni Vahltupali from the debris of their shattered moon (an effort that tragically led to the mission's only casualty, Ensign Gerda Roness), mediated a solution to a caste conflict between the Cheka and Yrythny species, encountered an ancient alien artifact that actually separated her from Dax for a time, and confronted Commander Vaughn when he was letting personal desires get in the way of the mission. (DS9 - Mission Gamma novels: Twilight, This Gray Spirit, Cathedral, Lesser Evil)

Upon her return to the Alpha Quadrant, Ezri found herself in the middle of the Bajoran Parasite crisis. The alien Parasites had a genetic link to the Trill symbionts and had been encountered by a previous Dax host, Audrid. (DS9 novel: Unity)

The revelations about the origins of the Parasites brought major civil unrest to the world of Trill when Ezri returned there to testify about the Parasite affair. After a radical faction killed a large percentage of the symbiont population, the Trill President, Lirisse Maz, ordered a moratorium on joining, allowing the symbionts to replenish their population.

Ezri and Julian ended their relationship soon after, when Ezri began to believe that his feelings for her were a by-product of his unrequited feelings for Jadzia. (DS9 - Worlds of Deep Space Nine novella: Trill: Unjoined)

After these events, Dax was made second officer of Deep Space 9 and to have a permanent station in Ops, Captain Kira and Commander Vaughn assigned her to man the communication station during the alpha-shift. (DS9 novel: Ascendance)

2377-2378

After serving a year as second officer, she decided to widen her skill set and attended Starfleet's Advanced Tactical Training on Tellar. When she returned to the station, Dax started to work the beta-shifts at the tactical station on top of her comm duties to fill in for tactical officer Sam Bowers who was regularly assigned to the Defiant for patrol duty.

In the following months, Dax faithfully did her duties during one crisis after the next, dealing with Iliana Ghemor, Taran'atar and the Ascendant. Through these events, her confidence and ambition grew to test herself and get ahead in Starfleet. She wished to define her own identity and not just live in the shadows of Dax's former hosts. She eventually concluded that serving on Deep Space 9 was more to do with Jadzia's life than with her own and started to consider requesting a shipboard assignment. (DS9 novels: Warpath, Fearful Symmetry, The Soul Key, Sacraments of Fire, Ascendance)

The Aventine

2380

By 2380, Ezri was promoted to lieutenant commander and was transferred to the USS Aventine, assigned to the duties of second officer. (TNG novel: Greater Than the Sum)

2381

After the ship's captain and executive officer were killed while defending the Acamar System from the Borg, Ezri assumed command of the USS Aventine as the highest ranking surviving officer. A week later, Starfleet Command field-promoted Ezri to the rank of captain, granting her permanent command. Ezri convinced Starfleet that the wreckage of the Columbia, discovered eight years previously by Jadzia Dax, could hold the key to understanding the Borg's new ability to travel vast distances without being detected, and the Aventine was assigned to a salvage mission. The mission was cut short after Admiral Jellico reassigned the Aventine to the fleet defending Trill against further Borg attacks. However, the Caeliar Arithon hid in the Columbia wreckage to board the ship, stole the runabout USS Seine, and opened a subspace tunnel, hoping to find his former planet Erigol, and merely found the supernova remnant now the Azure Nebula. (ST - Destiny novel: Gods of Night)

This placed the Aventine in position to answer the USS Enterprise-E's distress call and assist them in defeating a Borg cube. Captain Jean-Luc Picard ordered the two crews to investigate the tunnels to find ways to mine the nebula and collapse them to prevent further Borg incursions, despite protests by Dax and several of the Enterprise senior staff who considered the tunnels to be too valuable as an exploratory tool. Ezri initially felt awkward around the Enterprise, and in particular Worf, whom she had not seen since her promotion. She also began to doubt her abilities to command a starship. Her first officer, Sam Bowers, convinced her to speak to Worf, and the two reconciled, with Worf indicating that her continued success did honor to Jadzia's memories.

Scientific analysis performed by Dina Elfiki and Gruhn Helkara determined that attempts to collapse the subspace tunnels could cause catastrophic reverberations, and the dynamics of the supernova remnant proved to thwart any attempts to create a minefield. After consulting with Admiral Nechayev and requesting reinforcements, Picard ceased production of the self-replicating mines Dax had suggested and instead had the ships focus on opening the tunnels, hoping to locate the staging area of the Borg, with the Aventine entering the first tunnels able to be opened. After the arrival of an allied fleet of several hundred ships, the Enterprise and Aventine traversed one of the tunnels together, and ended up near the Carina Arm near the median between the Delta and Gamma Quadrants, where they fought and were boarded by Hirogen hunters. When the two vessels returned to the nebula, they found a graveyard of ships from an invading force of seven thousand Borg cubes. Captain Dax, certain that the advanced weaponry of the Aventine could be of use in saving something from the Collective, set course for Earth, forcing the Enterprise to chase after. (ST - Destiny novel: Mere Mortals)

Picard manages to convince Ezri to stand down and contact Starfleet for new orders. Unfortunately, Starfleet has no new orders for them, and instead gives them authorization to do whatever it takes to stop the Borg. Shortly afterward, the Titan under the command of Captain Riker appears, with Captain Erika Hernandez—long considered dead after the Columbia vanished 200 years earlier.

Dax and Hernandez worked together to devise a plan to stop the Borg by using Hernandez—now infused with Caeliar Catoms—to impersonate the Borg Queen by accessing a Borg Vinculum. Despite Picard's disapproval of the plan, Dax and Hernandez proceed anyway. Worf attempts to convince Ezri to call off the attack, but is unsuccessful.

Hernandez located a lone Borg scout ship to attack and the Aventine ambushed, disabled and boarded the Borg vessel. Ezri's plan was successful, and Hernandez accesses the ship's Viniculum, using her Catoms to impersonate the Queen. Under Hernandez's influence, the Borg turn on themselves, and half the invasion force is destroyed. However, the real Queen quickly reasserts control over the Collective and takes personal control over the scout ship. The Aventine is attacked by the reawakened scout ship, but manages to beam its strike teams back aboard. An explosive device inside the Borg scout ship is then detonated, destroying the vessel.

After the mission, Hernandez informs Ezri of a startling revelation: The Borg are the product of a botched fusion between Caeliar and humans from the Columbia who were thrown back in time in the cataclysm that destroyed the Caeliar's homeworld two hundred years prior. Ezri and Hernandez then come up with another plan to enlist the Caeliar's aid in dismantling the Collective. Although Picard initially disapproves of this plan, Riker is able to convince him otherwise.

Ezri is present on the bridge of the Enterprise to witness the end of the Borg invasion, and of the Borg Collective itself at the hands of the Caeliar. (ST - Destiny novel: Lost Souls)

2382

Ezri Dax in 2382

Shortly after the creation of the Typhon Pact, the Aventine was sent to assist Julian Bashir into Breen space. The meeting between Captain Dax and Doctor Bashir did not go well, as their relationship was still highly strained. (ST - Typhon Pact novel: Zero Sum Game)

2383

In 2383, Starfleet sent the Aventine to the Venetan Outpost V-4 to investigate Tzenkethi activity there. While on this mission, Ezri was reunited with an old classmate, Commander Peter Alden who was attached to Starfleet Intelligence. During the mission, Commander Alden's behavior became erratic and Ezri relieved him of duty. Ezri was overridden in this decision by Admiral Leonard James Akaar. Subsequently, it was revealed that Commander Alden's behavior was a ruse to allow him to more freely investigate Tzenkethi movements. (ST - Typhon Pact novel: Brinkmanship)

2385

After Julian Bashir resigned from Starfleet and attempted to provide a cure to the Andorians for their reproductive crisis, President Pro-Tempore Ishan Anjar ordered Dax to stop Bashir by any means necessary. The Aventine was later involved in a standoff at the Andorian border with two ships. Dax attempted to extradite Bashir from the freighter he was hiding on but the Aventine took damage due to a concealed weapon system.

Later after Bashir was returned to the Aventine, Dax, along with Simon Tarses and Sam Bowers assisted in getting Bashir to Andor, in defiance of the Federation President, the USS Warspite, and USS Falchion. After the cure was disseminated, she surrendered to her security officer, along with Bashir. (ST - The Fall novel: A Ceremony of Losses)

After the Andor incident, Dax was imprisoned at the Jaros II stockade. She was visited by Christine Vale who had temporally taken command of the Lionheart and wanted to hear her side of the story. She then implored Vale to find Julian and set him free no matter the cost. While Vale promised that Rear Admiral Riker would ensure that Dax would have her day in court, Dax was not confident that would be the case. Dax felt that she, Julian, and the others had done the right thing and it was now time to pay the price. (ST - The Fall novel: The Poisoned Chalice)

Later in 2385 it was revealed that Ishan Anjar was long dead. Baras Rodirya - the man who had taken his identity during the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor - was revealed to be working with the Cardassian group the True Way. Baras was personally arrested by Attorney General Phillipa Louvois and removed from office. Admiral Akaar was soon authorized by President Pro-Tempore Sipak to drop all the charges against Captain Dax. Dax was issued a commendation for her actions and reinstated as captain of the Aventine. (ST - The Fall novel: Peaceable Kingdoms)

In November 2385, she was in command when Admiral Riker, under the influence of the Cytherians, transferred his flag aboard the Aventine and ultimately took over the ship until the conflict was resolved. (TNG novel: Takedown)

2386

In late 2386, after his defeat of Section 31 and Uraei rendered him catatonic, Dax and her chief medical officer Simon Tarses delivered Julian Bashir to Cardassia Prime, so that their friend would be cared for by the Castellan of Cardassia, Elim Garak. (Section 31 novel: Control)

She was presumably part of the group of friends referenced by Katherine Pulaski, who ensured that when she visited Cardassia afterwards (circa 2388) to collect an award for Bashir, Elizabeth Lense and her own work with the Andorian crisis, Bashir's bear Kukalaka was delivered to him. (DS9 novel: Enigma Tales)

Alternate versions

During Kira Nerys' vision from the Prophets, Ezri was represented by a woman named Zeir. (DS9 novel: Warpath)

Starfleet service record

location	assignment	dates	rank or rate	assignment insignia	rank insignia
Starfleet Academy	student officer	2372-2373	cadet
		2373-2374
USS Destiny	assistant counselor	2374-2375	ensign
Deep Space 9	counselor	2375-2376	lieutenant junior grade
USS Defiant II	first officer	2376	lieutenant
Deep Space 9	communications officer / second officer	2376-2377
Advanced Tactical Training	trainee officer	2377
Deep Space 9	alpha-shift comm officer / beta-shift tactical officer / second officer	2377 onwards
USS Aventine	second officer	by 2380-2381	lieutenant commander
	commanding officer	2381 onwards	captain

Appendices

Background information

• Ezri Dax was portrayed by Canadian actress Nicole de Boer^MA in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine from 1998-1999. De Boer was pleased with Ezri's promotion to captain, having been given a copy of a novel by David Mack. She commented: "Just the fact she got to captain – I mean, that is pretty cool – and it does make sense for Ezri because she was on that sort of trajectory. She was growing. I would have liked to have had a little longer on the show to become even more confident. What would be cool is if we did another show and you did see me walk through the doors with wonderful confidence because she was so lost before. And they [the other characters] would be like, 'Whoa! That’s Ezri! She’s really grown a lot'. But then we could also see how those people inside her have manifested in interesting ways now that she’s really grasped how to do it. That would be really fun just to explore all that stuff but with more confidence than I could at the time because it was brand-new for her".[1]
• In the post-finale "season eight" segments of the documentary What We Left Behind, Ezri commands the USS Emmett Till.

Appearances

2374 DS9 novella: Second Star to the Right... DS9 novella: ... And Straight on 'til Morning ST - Strange New Worlds short story: "Ninety-three Hours" 2375 DS9 episode: "Image in the Sand" (First Appearance) DS9 episode: "Shadows and Symbols" DS9 episode: "Afterimage" DS9 - Prophecy and Change novella: Chiaroscuro DS9 episode: "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" DS9 episode: "Chrysalis" DS9 episode: "Treachery, Faith, and the Great River" DS9 episode: "Once More Unto the Breach" DS9 episode: "The Siege of AR-558" DS9 episode: "Covenant" DS9 episode: "It's Only a Paper Moon" DS9 episode: "Prodigal Daughter" DS9 episode: "The Emperor's New Cloak" DS9 episode: "Field of Fire" DS9 episode: "Chimera" DS9 episode: "Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang" DS9 episode: "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" DS9 episode: "Penumbra" DS9 episode: "'Til Death Do Us Part" DS9 episode: "Strange Bedfellows" DS9 episode: "The Changing Face of Evil" DS9 episode: "When It Rains..." DS9 episode: "Tacking Into the Wind" DS9 episode: "Extreme Measures" DS9 episode: "The Dogs of War" DS9 episode & novelization: What You Leave Behind DS9 novel: The Left Hand of Destiny DS9 novella: Second Star to the Right... DS9 novella: ... And Straight on 'til Morning ST - Strange New Worlds novella: Fear, Itself DS9 - N-Vector comic: "N-Vector, Chapter 1" DS9 - N-Vector comic: "N-Vector, Chapter 2" DS9 - N-Vector comic: "N-Vector, Chapter 3" DS9 - N-Vector comic: "N-Vector, Chapter 4" DS9 comic: "The First Year" 2376 DS9 - Avatar novel: Avatar, Book One DS9 - Avatar novel: Avatar, Book Two ST - Strange New Worlds novella: Gumbo ST - Strange New Worlds novella: Urgent Matter DS9 - Section 31 novel: Abyss DS9 - Gateways novel: Demons of Air and Darkness DS9 - Gateways novel: Horn and Ivory DS9 - Divided We Fall comic: "Crossfire" DS9 - Divided We Fall comic: "No Quarter" DS9 - Divided We Fall comic: "All Fall Down" DS9 - Divided We Fall comic: "United We Stand" DS9 - Mission Gamma novel: Twilight DS9 - Mission Gamma novel: This Gray Spirit DS9 - Mission Gamma novel: Cathedral DS9 - Mission Gamma novel: Lesser Evil DS9 novel: Unity ST - Worlds of Deep Space Nine novella: Trill: Unjoined DS9 - Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine novel: Ferenginar: Satisfaction is Not Guaranteed ST - Klingon Empire novel: A Burning House 2377 DS9 novel: Warpath DS9 novel: Fearful Symmetry DS9 novel: The Soul Key DS9 novel: Sacraments of Fire DS9 novel: Ascendance 2370s DS9 comic: "Only You Can Save Yourself" 2380 DS9 short story: "The Dreamer and the Dream" 2381 ST - Destiny novel: Gods of Night ST - Destiny novel: Mere Mortals ST - Destiny novel: Lost Souls ST novel: A Singular Destiny 2382 ST - Typhon Pact novel: Zero Sum Game 2383 ST - Typhon Pact novel: Brinkmanship 2385 ST - The Fall novel: Revelation and Dust ST - The Fall novel: A Ceremony of Losses ST - The Fall novel: The Poisoned Chalice TTN eBook: Absent Enemies TNG novel: Takedown ST - Prey novel: The Hall of Heroes 2386 ST - Section 31 novel: Control

External links

• Ezri Dax article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
• Ezri Dax article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Connections

Preceded by: Jadzia	Host of Dax from 2375	Succeeded by: unestablished, eventually Dax
Preceded by: Dexar	Commanding officer of the USS Aventine from 2381	Succeeded by: unestablished