Trekology: How Deep Space Nine Saved Worf

I am Worf, son of Mogh, house of Martok, son of Sergey, house of Rozhenko, bane to the Duras family, slayer of Gowron.

– Worf, 2401

For 7 seasons on Star Trek: The Next Generation, 4 seasons on Deep Space Nine and 4 motion pictures on the big screen, Michael Dorn played Lieutenant/Lieutenant Commander Worf. Worf’s story between the various incarnations of Trek goes something like this: At the beginning of The Next Generation, Worf is a junior security officer onboard the Enterprise-D until Tasha Yar’s death, at which point, he is made Acting Security Chief, which he remains for the rest of that series.

Following the destruction of the Enterprise (NCC 1701-D) on Veridian III in Star Trek: Generations, Worf takes an extended leave of absence from Starfleet to contemplate his future. However, when General Martok arrives uninvited at Deep Space Nine with a fleet of Klingons to help guard the Alpha Quadrant from the Dominion, Captain Benjamin Sisko calls in some help from Starfleet to help deal with his new Klingon problem, because as he put it, “Curzon told me once that in the long run, the only people who can really handle Klingons are Klingons,” so they fulfill his request and send him Lieutenant Commander Worf to get to the bottom of things.

By now, Worf has come to the conclusion that he’s going to resign his commission with Starfleet, but is swayed back into service by Sisko after sharing his own “come to Jesus” moment when he was finally able to move on from the death of his wife, Jennifer and the great loss he had been dealing with as well as raising his son on his own to run the Station and help the Bajorans to rebuild following the Occupation. So Worf takes this all to heart and agrees to stay on with Starfleet and take a position at Deep Space Nine under Captain Sisko, joining the command ranks as Sisko’s Strategic Operations Officer.

During service aboard Deep Space Nine, when the Borg attack the Federation in 2373 during the Battle of Sector 001, Worf is in command of the Defiant, trying to hold off the Cube near Earth. As the Defiant takes heavy damage, he and his crew are beamed aboard the Enterprise (NCC 1701-E), where he joins back up with his former crew under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, when the crew has to go back in time to prevent the Assimilation of Earth prior to First Contact with the Vulcans. Following those events, Worf returns home to Deep Space Nine with the Defiant, which was “adrift, but salvageable.”

Later on, while visiting the Federation Colony on Manzur to help establish a new defensive perimeter against the Dominion, Worf rendezvous with his friends onboard the Enterprise to help reveal a conspiracy regarding the involuntary relocation of the Ba’ku in the Briar Patch. And finally, after again, rejoining his former crewmates onboard the Enterprise for the wedding of his former crewmates, Will Riker & Deanna Troi, where he stays on to assist until the events of The Battle in the Basin Rift in 2379.

I like to look at his character’s journey in Star Trek as really, a Tale of Two Worfs. First…onboard the Enterprise, we’re introduced to a Klingon who was raised by humans, who is largely not welcome with his own kind. He’s the solitary Klingon in the entire galaxy who has graduated Starfleet Academy and wears a Starfleet uniform on a daily basis. While he wears his Klingon sash, it’s clear he is NOT like other Klingons.

As a member of a warrior race, early on, he often shows his teeth and growls at his adversaries much like a dog would. Also, it should be noted that his combat skills certainly leave much to be desired as he’s constantly getting beat up or thrown down by other aliens as if he’s not even there. In fact, it’s quite comical how feeble his attempts to inflict damage on enemies is early on in the series — especially considering he’s always been a member of the ship’s security team! It’s not until Deep Space Nine that we start to see Worf actually either hold his own in battle or actually defeat his adversaries as he successfully defeats a number of Jem’Hadar soldiers while being held prisoner by the Dominion.

He also befriends General Martok during this time and the two form a brotherly bond. It’s because of their time together in the internment camp and his service onboard Martok’s ship, the IKS Rotarran that Worf has his honor restored and is welcomed into the House of Martok, which Jadzia & Alexander will eventually also join. It should also be noted that around this time, Worf (along with Jadzia Dax and Kor) finds the Sword of Kahless in the Gamma Quadrant, which had been lost for over a thousand years, but ultimately decides to beam it out into open space to be lost for another millennia because of the power it wielded and the effect it had on both he & Kor once they found it, knowing that it would divide the Klingon people just as it did to them.

You also need to take a look at his personal life. Early on, we’re introduced to his love interest, K’Ehleyr…a half human/half Klingon who does not embrace Klingon traditions or follow the basic rituals of Klingon society as she sides much more with her human side. As such, it actually makes sense that she would have met Worf since he lived on Earth, was raised by humans and attended Starfleet Academy. However, it’s her reluctance to follow Klingon traditions by refusing to become Worf’s mate that makes you believe she’s a character we won’t see again…except she shows back up, only this time with a son that she had been raising…which, unbeknownst to him, turned out to be Worf’s! As Worf now refuses to marry K’Ehleyr to save her and Alexander from the discommendation he had accepted from the Klingon High Council where he was stripped of his honor as a coverup for political reasons. Unfortunately for their son, Alexander, K’Ehleyr is killed by Duras when she uncovered the evidence that implicated Worf’s father and cleared his father’s name.

Due to her death, Worf is now an overwhelmed reluctant single father to Alexander, and one who doesn’t have any clue as to how to raise a child. After a short time living on the Enterprise with Worf, it’s clear that Alexander has no interest in learning Klingon customs and does not aspire to be a Klingon warrior when he grows up, which goes against everything Worf stands for. After sending him to Earth to live with Worf’s adoptive parents, Alexander does eventually return to the Enterprise as the Rozhenkos are just too old and are not able to keep up with a young Klingon. Following the destruction of the Enterprise D on Veridian III, Alexander returns to Earth to live once again with his adoptive Grandparents and doesn’t see Worf until years later, after he’s joined the Klingon Defense Force during the Dominion War. It’s not until this point, that Worf actually wants anything to do with his son, who he initially didn’t even recognize until he stated his name as by now, he appears to be a teenager.

In terms of prospective mates, Worf’s choices are few. Of the Klingon women he knows, the Duras sisters of Lursa & B’Etor are certainly not options as it was their brother, Duras who murdered K’Ehleyr and their father’s dishonor which was applied to Worf when he accepted his discommendation. And it’s because of his discommendation and his status as a member of Starfleet that largely makes him unattractive to just about every Klingon woman.

In fact, he really only gets together with Deanna Troi for a short while because of the closeness he experiences with her while she helps to guide Alexander on the right path and because of an alternate reality that he finds himself married to her in during one episode. It’s not until Deep Space Nine when he finds Jadzia Dax, that he finally finds an acceptable mate. And though she constantly challenges his views and beliefs, it’s hard to deny that these two were a great couple.

And though the Dax symbiote makes it’s way back to Deep Space Nine following Jadzia’s death, the magic just isn’t there between Worf & Ezri. In fact, due to Ezri’s intimate knowledge of Worf & Jadzia’s whole relationship, things are even more awkward as you’d expect. However, when Worf is on an away mission and is forced to abandon ship, and his escape pod is lost in the Badlands, Ezri takes a runabout out to find him because of the Dax symbiote’s love for him. Surprisingly, Ezri is able to find his escape pod adrift in the Badlands and is able to save him, and even though they do end up getting intimate together on a planet…in the end, it’s obvious that Ezri isn’t Jadzia and it’s Jadzia who Worf is still in love with while it’s discovered during their time being held captive by the Dominion, that Ezri’s true feelings were for Doctor Bashir…not Worf.

There’s just so many times while with the crew of the Enterprise (including the motion pictures — especially Insurrection) that he’s just made to look foolish. From being electrocuted while making an idiotic face, declaring that he’s “NOT a Merry Man!” in a Q fantasy world to taking a mud bath with Alexander and Lwaxana Troi. It should also be noted that upon his return to the Enterprise for the motion pictures, that the TNG writers pick up right where they left off, putting him through Klingon puberty again in Insurrection. If it weren’t for Deep Space Nine, I’d seriously wonder why they had to make Worf’s character a Klingon at all.

It should also be noted that for all the damage that TNG did to Worf’s character both before and after the events of the DS9 series, that the Star Trek: Picard series writers continued the great rehab work on Worf that the DS9 writers had started. By 2401, Worf is a true badass, wielding his Mek’leth as his weapon of choice, as he’s an incredibly zen warrior working for Starfleet Intelligence. Thanks for reading.

Trek on, fellow Trekkers! 🖖