"Equilibrium" (season three, episode four; 17 October 1994): Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: "Equilibrium" introduces Joran Dax, the Dax symbiont's forgotten sixth host, after Torias but before Curzon. Joran was a madman & a killer & Dax's memory of him was somehow suppressed by the Trill Symbiosis Commission; the emergence of Joran's memory's unbalances the symbiosis between Dax & Jadzia, threatening her life. Joran will return, through various avatars, in "Facets" (season three) & "Field of Fire" (season seven).
Beyond the personal peril to Jadzia, there are also wider societal implications of Joran's diastrous joining. There are many more Trill humanoids willing to serve as hosts for a symbiont than there are Trill symbionts available for joining with a humanoid. The Symbiosis Commission perpetuates the myth that only a small percentage of humanoids are even suitable for joining, that an improper joining would result in the death of both host & symbiont within days. This myth helps to suppress the demand for symbionts. The joining of the unstable Joran & Dax for six months, only ending after Joran murdered another humanoid, proves that many more humanoids are capable for being joined. The Symbiosis Commission knows this & is horrified at what might happen if that knowledge was ever made public. They are concerned that symbionts will become commodities to be bought & sold or prizes to be fought over. Alas, here continuity is the plot's friend & the writers failed to make use of it: In the second season episode, "Invasive Procedures," a Trill humanoid rejected for joining journeys to Deep Space 9 & tries to kidnap the Dax symbiont, almost killing Jadzia. A real world example of what the Symbiosis Commission fears, yet neither the Commissioners nor the Stafleet crew ever mentioned it. That is a shame about "Equilibrium," an otherwise quite solid episode.
Continuity is a friend, not a foe!
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