The hosts of Dax (and Trill stuff in general)

[HelenofBorg]

I always thought that the concept of the joined Trill was interesting. The idea of the symbiont living for hundreds of years through different hosts. It actually amazed me how different the hosts of Dax actually were, mostly because the idea was a blended personality of both host and symbiont. Like, even though we didn't exactly meet Curzon, we have a good idea of the kind of man he was, and then we heard some things about other hosts, even Joran the killer. Onscreen, we get Jadzia and Ezri, who are two very different people (and boy did Worf have a hard time trying to process losing Jadzia once Ezri arrived).

Something that I find fascinating is how the symbionts can live for a while with no hosts in those pools of mud in the caverns on trill. I mean, it's never said directly, but I would assume that this is where they breed or recover from illness or injury.

Less known is that a significant proportion of Trill are biologically capable of joining, and yet there are only enough symbionts for a tiny fraction of those to become joined.

In any case, the addition of the symbionts makes the Trill one of the more fascinating species of Star Trek.

 

[Farscape One]

It was a fascinating idea. And we got a fair amount of mileage out of it, though it was more in snippets than entire episodes. The symbiotes could not live for long once outside the host, though. Precisely why Ezri ended up joined.

Those symbiotes you see in the pools on Trill are unjoined. It seems once a symbiote joins, it is beholden to that kind of life permanently.

Sort of like how on FARSCAPE, Pilot's race, once joined with a Leviathan, would die if seperated.

One thing they never explored, or explained, is how a symbiote decides if it wants to be joined. Are there really only a handful in existence, or is it just a minority of the species actually want that kind of life, being permanently tethered to another living being?

 

[DonIago]

If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend reading...I think it's "The Worlds of DS9: Trill". It's really not a standalone story but you'll learn a lot more about their culture...for better or worse. It's set within the year following the events of S7.

 

[Kilana2]

If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend reading...I think it's "The Worlds of DS9: Trill". It's really not a standalone story but you'll learn a lot more about their culture...for better or worse. It's set within the year following the events of S7.

And I would add Unity by S.D. Perry to the reading list....

And The Lives of Dax of course.

 

[HelenofBorg]

Out of the books you mentioned, the only one I have is the lives of Dax, I found that fascinating. I did notice that the symbionts tend to be implanted into new hosts pretty much right away if possible, although in both the TNG episode and when Dax was implanted into Ezri, the death of the host was due to injuries. I wondered if trauma to the host would effect how long the symbiont could remain alive on it's own.

 

[Mrs. Silvercrest]

Does anyone know if there is a limit to how many hosts a symbiont is placed in? Dax has had what 10 counting Erza. So when does retirement happen for them?

 

[DonIago]

Non-canonically I believe after a symbiont becomes old enough it becomes incapable of further joining and is returned to the Trill homeworld, but my memory may be inaccurate.

 

[kkt]

I don't think they ever gave even an approximation of how long a symbiont might live, as long as there was always a suitable host available for joining. I expect the writers didn't want to pin themselves down.

 

[DonIago]

Well, non-canonically, again, they could live for thousands of years I believe...

 

[Cyfa]

The Worlds of Deep Space Nine novel, Trill: Unjoined, shows that Trill symbionts can live for tens of thousands of years, steadily increasing in size to at least 30 metres long. At some point before they reach about two thousand years old, the symbionts become unable to take hosts (presumably they get too big?) and return to the Caves of Mak'ala to become caretakers to the Annuated (the really big, old symbionts), before becoming Annuated themselves.
Of course, this is only from TrekLit, and has not been referenced on screen

 

[DonIago]

^Thanks! That was all the stuff I was trying to recall from memory.

 

[KJY]

Is there any source about where the symbionts came from? They can't be a result of natural evolution.

 

[DonIago]

Non-canonically they aren't required to join, it's just something they have the ability to do...not sure why that couldn't be any more natural than a race gaining telepathic abilities?

 

[matthunter]

Is there any source about where the symbionts came from? They can't be a result of natural evolution.

Why not? We have symbiotic lifeforms on our world. The notion that one form might confer memories as a benefit instead of, as a real-world example, the ability to process atmospheric nitrogen into protein, is only a stretch is we consider the evolution of intellect rare - which in Trek it clearly isn't.

 

[MAGolding]

Is there any source about where the symbionts came from? They can't be a result of natural evolution.

On a related note, Phil Farrand in The Nitepicker's Guide to DS9 wondered how anyone ever discovered how to insert symbionts into hosts. He wondered if some fiendish Trill tyrant who he called 'Vlad the Impaler" (or possibly "Vlad the Installer" or "Vlad the Inserter") had a hobby of surgically inserting random small animals into people and it turned out that the symbionts could merge with the hosts.

 

[Cyfa]

On a related note, Phil Farrand in The Nitepicker's Guide to DS9 wondered how anyone ever discovered how to insert symbionts into hosts. He wonder if some fiendish Trill tyrant who he called 'Vlad the Impaler" had a hobby of surgically inserting random small animals into people and it turned out that the symbionts could merge with the hosts.

Going back to Trill: Unjoined (again ), if memory serves, in ancient Trill history the symbionts, then known as "Swimmers" (before they had ever joined) lived in streams, rivers and other waterways, and observed animals (who they dubbed "Walkers") who came to drink and bathe. One particular Swimmer was envious of the Walkers' ability to move about on land and the sights that they must see, and latched on to a Walker's underbelly while it bathed then travelled around with it, gently guiding it with its electric-telepathy (as seen in DS9: "Equilibrium") observing the surface world for a bit before dropping off when the creature stopped to drink/bathe again. The Swimmer passed its experiences on to others, and soon others were doing the same thing.
Over time, particularly with marsupial-type animals with pouches that the Swimmer could enter, the relationship between Swimmer and Walker grew to be symbiotic - the Swimmer gaining more mobility and experiences, and the Walker gaining health benefits (rapid healing and the like, I think?) and knowledge. One day, a tribal Trill humanoid "medicine man" who had observed the health benefits the Swimmers bestowed upon the animals they "inhabited", caught a Swimmer and brought it back to his community and placed it in the pouch of his ill wife/mate who was not expected to survive. With the Swimmer's benefits, she did survive, and became the first joined Trill (although, I don't think the joining was as comprehensive as that depicted in the 24th century - I imagine the joining evolved and became stronger over time?).

I may have got a few details wrong, as this is all from memory, but, in Trek Lit, that's the general gist of how joined Trill came to be (although, perversely, I like the "Vlad the Impaler" take )

Edit: My memory was a bit off. I've just checked Memory Beta, and Sef became the first joined Trill. Hodak was the healer/medicine man.