[The idea of 7th season Jadzia being promoted to captain of a ship and thus only being in some DS9 episodes would have been a good one. It could have built on the character work from “Change of Heart.” The promotion would have gone to Worf, but instead they pass him over for her. That would have created believable, complex, but ultimately surmountable tension between Worf and Jadzia.]
Thiiiiiis. Also, if Jadzia had lived she and Worf could have had a child. Imagine the emotional stakes if the baby was on DS9 for a while with Worf since it’s a slightly more stable environment than a starship, though barely, before having to be evacuated to the Trill homeworld to be with Jadzia’s family. Ezri could even have made an appearance as counselor on board the evacuating ship, assuring Worf that she will make sure the infant would be cared for until arrival. We would have gotten to see Worf as a father, seeing him manage a wartime long-distance relationship with his wife, the two of them more determined than ever to win the war so their child can grow up in peace.
Jadzia could have died at the final battle in a brave sacrifice, showing us just how high the stakes are. Maybe she could message the Defiant one last time, telling them what she’s about to do, and while Benjamin hesitates Worf doesn’t skip a beat, telling her that he will sing songs of her courage. Jadzia says, with infinite emotion and a bit of humor, that she knows he will. We see her ship destroyed and Worf sings to her honor as the battle rages on. We see a different side emerge later on, however, when he is alone and views her prerecorded good-bye message.
We can even have Ezri as the new Dax by having Jadzia and the other survivors of her ship being beamed away in emergency transport, but Jadzia is too gravely wounded to wait for a more suitable host. Ezri can consent to be implanted with the symbiont out of compassion even though it was not something she wanted or was prepared for, just like in the original Season 7. Then she can give Jadzia’s final words to Worf, Benjamin, Julian, Kira, Quark and everyone, telling them that she was thinking of them to the last.
But when Worf asks her to go see the baby with him, Ezri hesitates a long moment before saying “no.” His wife is dead, she tells him gently, and Ezri has her own life to live as Dax. She’ll meet the child later on to tell them more about their mother, but it would be cruel to everyone involved for her to be involved deeply in the child’s life. Besides, she says with chirpy attempted humor, she can barely walk around safely and won’t be leaving the symbiont center for a good while.
Then it finally hits Worf that his wife is gone, the mother of his child is never coming back, and as we gaze into his stricken eyes we see the weight of the future the two of them must face without her. The losses of this war are irrevocable and devastating.
When Worf accepts the position of the Federation’s Ambassador to Klingon he says he will be in regular communication with the child and travel often to Trill, and when the child is older they will join him on Kronos to be brought up in the other half of their heritage. Worf expresses his determination to be both a mother and father to their child, and to let them know what a brave and honorable woman their mother was. Benjamin, with great feeling, tells Worf he will be an amazing father.
Like, let Jadzia have agency in her own death instead of the
egregious random fridging we got. Let Benjamin’s insistence that they
push the final offense on Cardassia have actual, tangible consequences.
Jadzia’s death in battle would have shown the stakes of war better than
any number of ships exploding on screen.
L.J.'s Obsessions 