Ezri Dax struggles with the reactions of Jadzia's friends, while helping a claustrophobic Garak confront the guilt behind his attacks.
Ezri Dax, the symbiont's new host, has trouble settling in at the station because of how Jadzia's friends react to her, especially Worf, who will not speak to her and threatens Bashir for lunching with her. Sisko offers her a permanent post and asks her to counsel Garak, whose crippling claustrophobia has escalated to the point where he tries to throw himself out of an airlock.
Garak cruelly dismisses Ezri as a confused child, and she considers leaving Starfleet, until Sisko berates her into staying. She returns and uncovers the root of Garak's attacks: helping the Federation defeat the Dominion means betraying his fellow Cardassians. Worf, persuaded by O'Brien that treating Ezri as a stranger dishonors Jadzia, makes peace with her, and she accepts the post as a lieutenant and counselor. The episode establishes Ezri as a regular in the final season and continues the crew's grief after Jadzia's death.