Who was the best commander of the Defiant in Sisko's absence? I'm not counting Deep Space 9 because Kira was the only other officer who ever commanded it (except for that one time Jadzia died). Who was the best by way of tactics, diplomacy, sheer badassery? Kira, Worf, or Jadzia?
Kira. She was The Sisko's first officer after all. Granted not much of a diplomat, but the Defiant is a warship and she is by far the toughest fighter on DS9.
Gonna go with Worf edging out Jadzia barely. I never liked the idea of Kira being in command of the Defiant not being in Starfleet.
Worf really grew up when he moved over to DS9 after TNG had used him as comic relief and the bringer of the "let's kill everything" plan. His commands in DS9 did show the "let's fight" mentality but tempered. In DS9 and Defiant operations, Kira seemed outmatched, but give her ground operations and she's set. Jadzia was always a better second banana than a leader. Worf got my vote.
Jadzia seemed like the most well rounded officer of the three. Lifetimes worth of experiences across multiple disciplines. She has the warrior spirit, scientists curiosity and Curzon's diplomatic experience.
Jadzia? Nah. And considering an entire episode is dedicated to Worf being a trigger-happy failure of a captain, Kira wins. Plus, she was a bad-ass on dozens of occasions.
I'm gonna give it to Worf even though he's somewhat trigger happy (after all, that proved to be a set up anyway). If the question was who is a better Commander of DS9, that would go to Kira. But the only person better on the Defiant's bridge than Sisko is Worf. It's a badass fighting ship, no diplomacy, no exploration, just shoot. That's got Worf's name written all over it.
I totally agree with you. Sadly, I voted before I read the OP. I thought the poll was about the DS 9 station, not the Defiant, so I voted for Kira.
But Kira led the successful attack that won the First Battle of Chin'toka, no hesitation, she took command with Worf just sitting there following orders--which I always thinks he does better than give them.
I don't think Worf grew up so much in DS9 so much as he was put in more situations where his attitude would cause problems, like in Rules of Engagement. He was still very emotional and easily thrown into rage, his behavior in Sword of Kahless was absurd. If anything he became less Federation-like in his values. He refused to kill Toral because "It is the Klingon way but it is not my way". Then in DS9 he was like "Crap, I should have killed Toral!"
To be fair to Worf, I think anyone who spared someone's life only to have them come back and try and kill you later would have "Crap I should've killed them" go through their head at some point. Beyond that... everyone in that episode went crazy for a hunk of old metal that was supposed to do... something.
He also acted particularly childish in Hippocratic Oath. Also, I can't think of the name of the episode but he sacrificed intel that could have possibly won the war to save Jadzia. In general Worf had the same impulses in DS9 that he had in TNG but he was less good at restraining them and making the professional decision than he was in TNG. Here's a thought. Picard : Worf = Phil Jackson : Dennis Rodman?
But he came a long way from the guy who snarled and growled and had trouble opening doors in seasons 1 and 2 of TNG.
You know, i always wondered who was left in charge of DS9 when the entire senior staff went off somewhere on the Defiant. Dax: 'Benjamin, if the entire cast are here who is running the station?' Sisko: 'No one, i just left the lights and tv on so someone would THINK we are home'