Debuting in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s first episode Emissary, Lt.. Commander Jadzia Dax was one of the show’s most popular characters, so why did she leave? The Science Officer, ally of Captain Sisko (Avery Brooks) and eventual romantic partner to Worf (Michael Dorn) was played by Terry Farrell for 5 years before her shocking departure at the end of season 6. Her death sent shockwaves through Star Trek fan circles.

Deep Space Nine‘s era in the Star Trek timeline was one marked by war, and death was a frequent part of the long-running storylines. Some of the most prominent deaths of DS9 cast members – like that of Miles O’Brien and Benjamin Sisko – can be put down to time travel shenanigans, but Jadzia Dax’s death was permanent and came thanks to behind-the-scenes issues.

Why Did Terry Farrell Leave Deep Space Nine?

The real reason why Terry Farrell left Star Trek: DS9 is the subject of some debate. In 2011, Farrell told Star Trek.com that her contract came to an end, discussing her immediate casting in Paramount’s Becker:

My contract had ended, so I didn’t feel like I left the show. I felt like my contract had ended and there wasn’t a negotiation (for another year). It was ironic that Becker also let me go, as a person, I was really fortunate to have the experience of working on a half-hour show as well. That also took me a few years to get in the trenches and really wrap my brain around where I was at. The first year was terribly difficult because I was so used to being a hero. It’s very hard, then, to go be on a sitcom where your character is so neurotic and can’t get anything right. I had no break in between — I died one day (on DS9) and the very next day I tested (for Becker) for the same executives at Paramount. It was a lot.

She told Star Trek.com in the same 2011 interview that her decision to request a lessened role was linked to self-care:

I did not want to die. I would have been so happy if they just would have let me be a recurring (character) the final season, so I didn’t have to be in every episode. I was just really tired. I was tired of waking up at four in the morning. I was tired of all the minutiae. I’m sure a lot of the other actors feel this way, too. When you’re number five (on the call sheet), you’re waiting for that schedule to arrive and it becomes frustrating. You want to feel like you have your life again, and I’d definitely put my life on hold because I didn’t know how to balance a schedule constantly changing all the time. It was really hard for me.

As recounted in Star Trek oral history, The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years, Farrell wanted to drop her role down to a recurring character, meaning she’d appear in fewer episodes for the seventh and final season of DS9. Farrell revealed that she felt the producers were trying “to bully me into saying yes [to signing onto a full season 7 schedule].”

The problems with my leaving were with Rick Berman. In my opinion, he’s just very misogynistic… Basically he was trying to bully me into saying yes [to signing a new contract]. Rick said I was hardballing him and I said ‘I’m not. I just want to have a conversation. You’re giving me a take-it-or-leave-it offer, and I’m not okay with that.’ So, finally I did have a conversation with him and asked to cut down my number of episodes or just let me out.

DS9 executive producer Rick Berman refuted her claims that he was behind her dismissal in The Fifty-Year Mission, and offered context on why the decision was made to kill her off:

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.

Deep Space Nine showrunner, Ira Steven Behr subsequently revealed his frustration at how events played out: “Let me put it this way, if I had known what was going on, I would have stopped it.”

How Star Trek DS9 Killed Jadzia Dax

Star Trek has never shied away from killing characters for effect, but main characters tend to avoid the most final of fates. Notable exceptions, of course, include the likes of Tasha Yar on The Next Generation, Hugh in Picard, and Trip Tucker in Enterprise. Captain Kirk himself has died, more than once, and Spock temporarily crossed the veil in Star Trek II, before dying for real in Star Trek: Beyond.

Jadzia Dax joined that grim list of crew members at the end of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 6, in a shocking twist that left an indelible scar on the fandom. She was murdered during “Tears of the Prophets,” by Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo), as the most prominent casualty of the Dominion War, cementing his status as the show’s most despicable villain. It came just as she received the news she could conceive children with her partner Worf (Michael Dorn), adding a particularly cruel note.

After her mortal wounding in the Bajoran Shrine, Dr. Bashir (Alexander Siddig) did manage to save the Dax symbiote inside her, but he was unable to save Jadzia. Ezri Tigan became Dax’s new host, who joined for DS9‘s final season, played by Nicole de Boer.

Terry Farrell Revealed She Would Like To Return To Star Trek

Despite the seemingly acrimonious nature of her departure from DS9, Farrell did later express her enthusiasm at the idea of returning to the Star Trek franchise. At the 2022 Star Trek Las Vegas convention, she pointed out that death in Star Trek didn’t necessarily have to be final:

I was actually thinking about how Spock died. Didn’t he melt, basically? He saved everyone’s life. And then he just came back… and there he was. And Kirk kind of went, “Oh, there he is.” And everyone nodded and said, “Yes, he’s back!” I want that moment for me… Exactly how you bring her back, it’s no big fucking deal.

Since her departure from DS9, and after retiring in 2002, Farrell appeared in fan project Renegades, as a thinly-veiled clone of Jadzia Dax, called Jada. The fan film and subsequent series were forced to remove all Star Trek branding after the introduction of official fan production guidelines. She is also now a co-host on Star Trek rewatch podcast the Delta Flyers alongside former DS9 co-star Armin Shimerman.