Jadzia Dax undergoes her Zhian'tara, the Trill rite of closure, in which she has the chance to meet
Dax's previous seven hosts by temporarily transferring each one's memories from the symbiont into the minds of her friends.
Commander Sisko,
Major Kira,
Dr. Bashir,
Odo, Quark,
Chief O'Brien, and
Leeta have agreed to participate. Kira accepts Lela Dax, and Jadzia sees that she is the origin of many of Dax's personality traits, which she herself now exhibits. O'Brien becomes the shy but friendly Tobin Dax. Leeta receives the personality of Emony Dax, a cheerful and talented gymnast. Quark is annoyed by having to take on the personality of the female Audrid Dax, who tells Jadzia about motherhood. Bashir is Torias Dax, an adventurous pilot. Sisko is restrained in a holding cell to receive the personality of Joran Dax, a violent murderer. When Jadzia comes to meet him, he tricks her into lowering the force field between them and tries to strangle her. After a brief struggle, Sisko regains control of his body. Jadzia expresses anxiety about meeting the next Dax host, Curzon. Curzon Dax trained Jadzia when she was applying to receive a symbiont and recommended that she not be approved for joining. She later reapplied and was accepted, but despite having the Dax symbiont within her, she does not know Curzon's motivations for flunking her. Odo, a shapeshifter, accepts Curzon Dax, reshaping his face to resemble Curzon. He evades her questions and declares he intends to stay within Odo, leaving Jadzia's self-esteem in tatters. Sisko offers to talk to Curzon, who was his mentor and friend many years ago, but Jadzia resolves to face the Old Man herself. When she demands to hear Curzon's story, he finally admits that he flunked Jadzia because he was in love with her. When Jadzia reassures Curzon that he will always be a part of her, he is satisfied and leaves Odo's body. Also in this episode, Nog takes the exam that will allow him to later take the
Starfleet Academy entrance exam. He is despondent when he learns that he failed, but his father
Rom discovers that Quark rigged the exam so that Nog would fail. Furious, Rom confronts Quark for interfering in Nog's choice to enter Starfleet and threatens to destroy Quark's bar if Quark continues meddling. Sisko allows Nog to retake his exam, and this time he passes. == Reception ==