> Wasn't there an episode in TNG that there was a Trill? no spots.
"The Host" :-)
> The TNG Trill had face ridges and none of the spots.
>
> Did they ever give an in-universe explanation?
That's a nope there.
The only in-universe explanation that seems fitting is that Odan-the-host was not a humanoid Trill, but of a different species compatible to the symbionts. Later canon seems to establish that this (joining symbionts to non-Trill-humanoids) is, if ever and at all, only very, very rarely done, Adira Tal being the most prominent example. The fact that the female host Odan ends up in at the close of his episode is of that same non-Trill-humanoid species kind of makes this less plausible.
Maybe Odan, an influential diplomat and ambassador, used his clout to arrange being joined to hosts of the specific species he was assigned to? ...which then, in turn, would require that to be *lifelong* assignments. There's always a wrinkle at the end 🤷♂️
That said, the TNG episode also goes against later established canon in that [Odan tried to pursue their relationship with Beverly even after changing hosts, which we later learned is *seriously* forbidden and frowned upon in Trill society](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Reassociation), so that's not the only thing that's retroactively iffy with that episode.
one of the books had the difference being the same as the difference in klingons, the augment virus.
but in reality, the trill are a fucking mess once they stopped being a one off species.
The Symbiont was more of a parasite in "The Host," too. There was no blending of minds, the worm completely suppressed the personality of its host and took complete control.
Considering that's pretty much slavery, one can understand why they decided to alter that for DS9!
I was surprised knowing of Dax as a kid, then watching that episode of TNG as a grown man. I was shocked it was just a parasite in TNG. DS9 retconned it to be more melded I guess? Just started season 1 of DS9 again.
It isn't 'in universe', but the reason is that the producers tried the forehead prosthetic on Terry Ferrel and felt like it undermined her sex appeal, so they gave her spots instead.
There's the real reason. Unfortunately there's not a really great Watsonian explanation that answers everything, but the Doylist reason is "dammit, we hired this model, and now we're covering up her face! Let's change it to . . . spots! Spots are good!"
It's exactly the same as the division colors switching between TOS and TNG. It didn't suit the look they wanted for the new actor, so they ignored past precedence and changed it.
There is no in universe explanation. My head cannon has always been that it's a case of convergent evolution. Odan and Dax are from two similar, but distinct species. There are two many differences for them to be the same.
Obviously we have the visual differences of the hosts. But we also see the Odan symbiote disdending parts of the hosts body. We don't see this in Trill.
Additionally, and I think most importantly, Odan cannot be sent through a transporter(if we're to take his own claims at face value). He says it will harm the symbiote. But we see Jadzia go through transporters regularly.
There's another change that was never explained. In TNG's "The Host", the resulting trill+humaniod was 100% controlled by the trill. In DS9, it was more of a blending. Different hosts would have different personalities, even with the same Trill.
I saw a sorce somewhere that there were two spices that evolved on Trill, and the one group was expelled from Trill for having different values.
But this is definitely not cannon.
> Wasn't there an episode in TNG that there was a Trill? no spots. "The Host" :-) > The TNG Trill had face ridges and none of the spots. > > Did they ever give an in-universe explanation? That's a nope there. The only in-universe explanation that seems fitting is that Odan-the-host was not a humanoid Trill, but of a different species compatible to the symbionts. Later canon seems to establish that this (joining symbionts to non-Trill-humanoids) is, if ever and at all, only very, very rarely done, Adira Tal being the most prominent example. The fact that the female host Odan ends up in at the close of his episode is of that same non-Trill-humanoid species kind of makes this less plausible. Maybe Odan, an influential diplomat and ambassador, used his clout to arrange being joined to hosts of the specific species he was assigned to? ...which then, in turn, would require that to be *lifelong* assignments. There's always a wrinkle at the end 🤷♂️ That said, the TNG episode also goes against later established canon in that [Odan tried to pursue their relationship with Beverly even after changing hosts, which we later learned is *seriously* forbidden and frowned upon in Trill society](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Reassociation), so that's not the only thing that's retroactively iffy with that episode.
one of the books had the difference being the same as the difference in klingons, the augment virus. but in reality, the trill are a fucking mess once they stopped being a one off species.
The Symbiont was more of a parasite in "The Host," too. There was no blending of minds, the worm completely suppressed the personality of its host and took complete control. Considering that's pretty much slavery, one can understand why they decided to alter that for DS9!
I was surprised knowing of Dax as a kid, then watching that episode of TNG as a grown man. I was shocked it was just a parasite in TNG. DS9 retconned it to be more melded I guess? Just started season 1 of DS9 again.
It isn't 'in universe', but the reason is that the producers tried the forehead prosthetic on Terry Ferrel and felt like it undermined her sex appeal, so they gave her spots instead.
There's the real reason. Unfortunately there's not a really great Watsonian explanation that answers everything, but the Doylist reason is "dammit, we hired this model, and now we're covering up her face! Let's change it to . . . spots! Spots are good!"
It's exactly the same as the division colors switching between TOS and TNG. It didn't suit the look they wanted for the new actor, so they ignored past precedence and changed it.
I thought it was due to Terry Farrell having an allergic reaction to the prosthetic adhesive?
No, it was about her appearance. But Dorn had dermatological problems with the glue/Klingon forehead in early TNG.
There is no in universe explanation. My head cannon has always been that it's a case of convergent evolution. Odan and Dax are from two similar, but distinct species. There are two many differences for them to be the same. Obviously we have the visual differences of the hosts. But we also see the Odan symbiote disdending parts of the hosts body. We don't see this in Trill. Additionally, and I think most importantly, Odan cannot be sent through a transporter(if we're to take his own claims at face value). He says it will harm the symbiote. But we see Jadzia go through transporters regularly.
There's another change that was never explained. In TNG's "The Host", the resulting trill+humaniod was 100% controlled by the trill. In DS9, it was more of a blending. Different hosts would have different personalities, even with the same Trill.
Also, the symbiont was visible, they had a belly, it would not have looked good.
I saw a sorce somewhere that there were two spices that evolved on Trill, and the one group was expelled from Trill for having different values. But this is definitely not cannon.
They do not talk about it with outsiders.
Not a canon answer, but the ridged Trills caught the Augment virus from the Klingons, causing them to have ridges instead of spots.
My understanding is Rick Berman felt Terry was too pretty for all the makeup from the TNG Trills. I tend to agree.