Star Trek: Everything We NOW Know About The Klingons

3. After Another Thousand Years, They Still Really Dig Their Ceremonies

After Jay-Den joined the Academy, he quickly found friendships with his fellow cadets. Darem, Caleb, Genesis, SAM, and Tarima all became close to him, to one extent or another. However, in terms of his family, he was the only member of the House of Kraag present, while also being the only Klingon.

While Jay-Den may not have been the most traditional Klingon in the life that he chose for himself, he also grew up among those old traditions, embodied by his parents and brother. Though his brother died, and his parents departed, he was still Klingon. It was this that helped him suggest a way for the Federation to help the surviving Klingons.

As Obol Wachok emphasised to Chancellor Ahke, the Klingons would not accept the charity of the Federation in the form of a new world. Jay-Den suggested a compromise, consisting of Starfleet 'challenging' the Klingons for 'encroaching' on Federation territory. This successful gambit was just one of two rituals that Jay-Den brought to the Academy with him.

In 300th Night, he invited his friends (sans Tarima, apparently) to take part in the R'uustai Ceremony. This ceremony was Jay-Den's invitation for them to join his family, which audiences previous saw demonstrated in The Bonding. Worf invited Jeremy Aster to join his family, following the death of the latter's mother. 

The Klingons may have faced seismic shifts in their culture and society, yet there are still those traditions that remain, regardless of the passage of years.