10 Welcome Changes Deep Space Nine Made To The Star Trek Formula
4. Death That Isn't Gratuitous
Death of main characters in Star Trek is not unheard of in any series. The Original Series had Spock drop off the peg for all of five minutes, and The Next Generation's season one character, Tasha Yar, was killed off twenty-three episodes in to a resounding "meh" heard around the world. Deep Space Nine's deaths changed all that.
Granted, Jadzia Dax's demise at the hands of Gul Dukat is sudden and rather unceremonious, but given her romantic relationship with Worf, as well as her symbiotic nature, the effects of her death are felt throughout the whole of the show's final season.
The Dax symbiont is implanted into a Trill woman named Ezri, and as a result, she gains all of Jadzia's memories along with those of Dax's previous hosts. She comforts the crew by letting them in to some of Jadzia's most guarded feelings, which is a great way of both honouring the person she was and endearing the woman she is now to the audience.
Those closest to Jadzia have a hard time accepting Ezri Dax at first, but with her presence established as an evolution of her predecessor rather than simply a replacement, they gradually come to welcome her as part of the crew.