Star Trek: Discovery‘s weird and secretive Trills are a welcome reminder of how cool Lt. Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) was in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In Discovery season 5, episode 3, “Jinaal”, Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) heads to Trill to collect the next clue in the hunt for the Progenitors’ treasure. The return trip to the home planet of DS9‘s Dax is also a way for Ensign Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio) to reconnect with Gray Tal (Ian Alexander), as they continue training to become a Trill Guardian.

The USS Discovery’s mission on Trill in “Jinaal” is largely confined to the underground caves and pools where the planet’s symbionts live. This means that there’s a focus on the traditions and rituals of the Trill Guardians, rather than the planet’s larger populace. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine regularly introduced other Trill characters who existed outside the Guardians, to present a more developed picture of the planet and its culture. This portrayal of the DS9 aliens in Discovery reminds us how cool and multi-layered many of the Dax hosts were compared to their 32nd century counterparts.

Dax Was Cool In Star Trek: DS9

Jadzia Dax had gone through all the training and rituals related to the Trill symbiont joining ceremony, but it never defined her character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Jadzia was a brilliant scientist, a fearsome warrior, and a hugely charismatic woman. Dax’s previous seven lifetimes also gave Jadzia a great deal of wisdom, which she used to dispense advice to her friends, most notably Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks). A loyal friend with an effervescent personality, Jadzia Dax was truly loved by everyone who met her, which made her death in DS9‘s season 6 finale so painful.

When Jadzia was replaced by Ezri Dax (Nicole de Boer) in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 7, the contrast couldn’t be more different. Where Jadzia was supremely confident, Ezri was slightly shy and awkward. Where Jadzia had trained for years to become a Host, Ezri was a Trill who had never wanted to become one. Once again, Ezri’s character in DS9 was much bigger than her Trill heritage and their secretive rituals. Ezri’s arc in DS9 season 7 was never about her learning to become a Trill Host, it was about her becoming more comfortable continuing Dax’s legacy.

Star Trek: Discovery’s Trills Are Different From DS9’s

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, audiences were introduced to characters like Verad (John Glover) who went to extreme lengths to become a Trill Host. There was also Lenara Kahn (Susanna Thompson), a brilliant Trill scientist who specialized in wormholes and almost broke Trill laws by reassociating with Jadzia, the new host of her symbiont’s former husband. These two characters demonstrated how Trill society was strange and rooted in strict rituals and laws. However, Verad and Lenara were both fascinating characters in their own right, whereas Star Trek: Discovery‘s Trills can often feel quite two-dimensional.

The only Trills that audiences meet in Star Trek: Discovery are members of the religious sect that oversees the joining of the Symbionts with their Trill Hosts. Characters like Guardian Xi (Andreas Apergis) are quite cold and distant when compared to characters like Jadzia and Ezri. Xi and Gray in Discovery are largely defined by their focus on upholding Trill traditions, making it hard to dig deeper into their lives outside the Guardians. This is why it’s hard to feel sad about Adira and Gray breaking up in “Jinaal”, because Gray has largely been defined by their Trill heritage.

The Trill in Star Trek: Discovery who does feel of a piece with the Trills in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is Jinaal Bix. Once Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) embodies Jinaal’s spirit, it’s clear that the Trill scientist is a sensualist like Curzon Dax. Jinaal is chatty and charismatic, as well as being sly and secretive. Put simply, the first Bix Host has a personality way beyond that of Discovery‘s other Trill characters. As Jinaal lived in the 24th century, it implies that Trill society became more hardline and traditions-based in the 800 years between DS9 and Discovery.

Why Star Trek Trills Are Weird

Star Trek‘s Trills are probably one of the most complex and strange alien races in the canon, which is why they can come across as weird. In their very first appearance, in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 4, episode 23, “The Host”, the Trills are still hugely secretive about their relationship with the planet’s Symbionts. It’s only when Ambassador Odan (Franc Luz) is critically wounded in a shuttle accident alongside Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) that the truth about Trill physiology is revealed. Riker became a human Trill host to keep Odan alive and paved the way for Adira to host the Tal symbiont in Star Trek: Discovery season 3.

However, human hosts for Trill symbionts was a hugely controversial progression that led to huge debate within Trill society in the 32nd century. This hardline and isolationist policy toward Trill rituals and traditions could have led to the end of the Symbiont joining process if it weren’t for Adira showing them a way forward. Sadly, Star Trek: Discovery season 5 hasn’t explored this idea further, instead opting to stay among the secretive and strange Guardians, rather than revealing new information about one of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s most weird and wonderful alien races.