Star Trek Admits the Big Flaw with Tasha Yar’s Canon Death

Summary

• In Star Trek: Defiant Annual 2024, Tasha Yar’s daughter, Sela, confirms fans’ criticism that her mother’s death was senseless and inconsequential.
• Despite Sela’s initial negative view of her mother, witnessing Tasha’s bravery and courage helps Sela have a change of heart towards her and her death.
• Tasha Yar’s death had a lasting impact on Sela, as it severed her connection to humanity and led her to embrace the Romulan way of deception and violence.

Warning: contains spoilers for Star Trek: Defiant Annual 2024!

Star Trek has admitted to a big flaw with Tasha Yar’s canon death. Introduced in The Next Generation’s pilot episode, Tasha Yar was killed off in the show’s first season. The nature of her death was controversial, with fans pointing out how senseless it was. Now, in Star Trek: Defiant Annual 2024, Sela, Tasha’s daughter, seemingly confirms what fans have been saying about her death for years.

Star Trek: Defiant Annual 2024 is written by Christopher Cantwell and drawn by Ramon Rosanas. Thanks to time travel, Sela met her mother in the past. As she watches Tasha in action, she says that her mother will “soon die a pointless death after living an inconsequential existence.” Throughout the Annual, Sela repeatedly refers to her mother as “spineless” and a “coward.”

However, after witnessing Tasha’s bravery and courage, she has something of an awakening.

Tasha Yar Left the Enterprise Early in Its Mission

Tasha Yar, played by Denise Crosby, was the first Chief of Security aboard the Enterprise NCC-1701-D. An escapee from a failed colony, Tasha was brave but rough around the edges. Crosby, feeling her character was not being developed well, asked to be written off the show. In the first season episode “Skin of Evil,” Tasha falls to the evil entity Armus. However, she would later be resurrected thanks to the miracle of time travel, ultimately giving birth to Sela. Tasha died a second time while trying to escape her Romulan captors.

While Sela’s accounts of her mother’s life are somewhat distorted and filtered through a Romulan lens, she is nevertheless correct about her mother’s life and death. Tasha was born into dire circumstances, and grew up much quicker than she should have. Tasha’s first years were marked by suffering and loss. Joining Starfleet gave her purpose, but she would meet her end in the most senseless fashion possible. Her efforts did nothing to stop Armus or save lives. Likewise, her second death came after being held prisoner for years and forced to bear a child–another senseless, degrading death.

Tasha Yar’s “Senseless” Death May Have Long-Lasting Consequences for Sela

While it may be tempting to write both of Tasha’s deaths off as being in vain, there is still a silver lining to her daughter. After her mother’s death, Sela lost the sole connection to her humanity. She would embrace the Romulan way, one of deception and violence, and an affront to everything her mother stood for. Yet after seeing her mother, and what she actually was, Sela is left with a greater, and hopefully more sympathetic, attitude towards Tasha and her death. In the Star Trek universe, death is a constant, and not everyone gets a happy ending–including Tasha Yar.4

Star Trek: Defiant Annual 2024 is on sale now from IDW Publishing!