In the nineteenth episode of the second season of Deep Space Nine, Jadzia ponders her past as three Klingons board the station. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.Â
WELL, HOLY SHIT. This was an entertaining and thought-provoking episode of this show, and I believe that it is yet another example of how Deep Space Nine pushes the boundaries in terms of the story it can tell. Despite that the Star Trek canon has featured countless Klingon stories, this still felt absolutely nothing like what we’d seen before. I can’t ignore that the use of Jadzia as the focus of the story helps; once again, the use of Trill culture/biology plays a huge part in pushing the story forward. But have we seen Klingons in this context before? Have we ever examined age and relevancy like this?
I don’t think so, or at least I don’t recall anything done this well. It’s just fascinating to me that out of every species, the Klingons are the ones given this examination. “Blood Oath” is as much about the aging of Klingons as it is about Jadzia’s decision to honor Curzon Dax’s oath. Both stories transcend the 80+ year timeline that this episode operates under. Eighty years! That’s a long time to stay devoted to a plot for revenge, and yet, we know enough about Klingon culture at this point to accept that Kang, Kor, and Koloth would absolutely pursue revenge after eight decades. But what of Jadzia? In a sense, this episode feels like a spiritual companion to “Dax,” doesn’t it? If that episode argued that Curzon and Jadzia were indeed two separate entities, then does that mean Jadzia gets to ignore Curzon’s promises?
Both Koloth and Kang are quick here to reject Jadzia with every possible justification. The mission will be too risky with her around; she is not Curzon, therefore she is absolved of the blood oath; she is not a warrior and cannot hold her own in battle;Â In time, she proves each person and concern wrong, proving to these Klingons that she is indeed worth of this act of revenge.
Yet what does this mean for Jadzia? She’s so certain in the presence of the trio of Klingons that this is the best thing for her. However, when she’s alone or amidst her fellow crew? That certainty washes away. I think the best part of “Blood Oath” is the willingness of the writers to take Jadzia to a morally uncomfortable place, force her to examine the ramifications of her actions, and then refuse to absolve her of them. Even if in the end, she is not the person to kill the Albino, that doesn’t mean this has no affect on her. There’s a great scene early in the episode where Jadzia clumsily asks Kira about her history fighting in the Resistance, and I think it’s a perfect demonstration of how unprepared Jadzia was to actually kill someone. She just drops the subject into Kira’s lap and immediately slinks away from it. When Kira makes reference to how killing another person changes you, Jadzia then abandons the conversation. It’s clear that she’s brutally uncomfortable, and yet? She still pushes on. She convinces the Klingons of her worth, she organizes the attack on the Albino’s compound, and she is at the front lines when they storm the place.
But this question of loyalty is not the only one asked of these characters. What place do Kang, Kor, and Koloth have within the world anymore? Kang is perhaps the most interesting of the trio, especially since he is most aware of the fact that he doesn’t fit in with modern Klingon existence. The cultural standards he held himself to don’t really exist anymore. As he puts it, the very idea of the Klingon “empire” does not inspire fear or respect as it once did. So where does that put someone dedicated to its archaic virtues? What life can Kang live if his values and his best qualities are of no use anymore? Thus, he initially designs the siege of Albino as a mission destined to fail. It’s a horrifying concept when you think about it because he basically wanted a guarantee that he would be killed fighting impossible odds. It would have given his death meaning, perhaps, but Jadzia is quick to point out that this is TOTAL BULLSHIT. Kang’s master plan was to design his death? How is that honorable by Klingon standards?
Even in the end, I found this episode satisfying. The fight itself was riveting because as soon as Koloth died, I knew that pretty much everyone aside from Jadzia could die, too. Once Kor was wounded, too, I realized that the writers were setting up an inevitable confrontation between Jadzia and the Albino. Could she really kill this man for what he’d done all those years before? Was she the same as Curzon in this regard? I understand if someone read the climax of this episode as a cop-out, since Kang is the one who kills the Albino before dying himself. But I think Jadzia orchestrated this on purpose. Her own son was not murdered by the Albino, and therefore, one of the original three fathers had to be the one to take out the Albino.
At the same time, I think it answers the question posed by the episode. Jadzia is not Curzon, and in the end, I bet she would not have killed the Albino anyway. That doesn’t make the end of this story less disturbing. I love the silence that greets Jadzia when she returns to Deep Space Nine. No one asks her who survived, but it’s assumed that the Albino is dead since she made it back. Did she kill him? Maybe they’ll find out on their own someday, but Kira’s look alone killed me. It’s distress and sympathy all at once.
The video for “Blood Oath” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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