Star Trek’s Original Progenitor & DS9’s Changeling Salome Jens Explained

WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery's finale, "Life, Itself".

Summary Star Trek: Discovery explored Progenitor origins in season 5, linking back to TNG's classic episode "The Chase".

Salome Jens played pivotal roles in Star Trek history, as both a Progenitor in TNG and the Female Changeling in DS9.

Diversity was highlighted in Discovery by casting a new actor as a Progenitor, continuing Jens' contribution to the Star Trek universe.

All life in the Star Trek universe began with the Progenitors, an alien species originated by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actor, Salome Jens. Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6, episode 18, "The Chase" revealed that billions of years before the Star Trek timeline begins, an ancient alien race planted their DNA as seeds from which all humanoid life grew. Star Trek: Discovery season 5 returned to this concept, by sending Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the USS Discovery in search of the Progenitors' technology.

The Star Trek: Discovery finale, "Life, Itself", written by Kyle Jarrow & Michelle Paradise, and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi, saw Burnham meet another member of the Progenitor species, played by Nigerian actress and model, Somkele Iyamah-Idhalama. She follows in the footsteps of Salome Jens, who played the Humanoid Progenitor in Star Trek: The Next Generation, before being cast as the Female Changeling in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Now that Discovery has continued the story of the Progenitors, both of Salome Jens' Star Trek roles have had a lasting impact on the canon.

Related How To Watch All Star Trek TV Shows In Timeline Order The Star Trek TV franchise has existed for 57 years and consists of 12 shows (and counting). Here's how to watch them all in timeline order.

Who Is Star Trek: TNG’s Orginal Progenitor Salome Jens?

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Salome Jens is an actress and dancer who has been performing on stage and screen since the mid-1950s. Between 1967 and 1973, Salome Jens appeared in 500 episodes of the American daytime soap, Love is a Many Splendored Thing, and went on to have a recurring role as Mae Olinski in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. After these two regular roles, Salome Jens went on to clock up numerous guest spots on shows like MacGuyver, Cagney & Lacey, and L.A. Law. In 1993, Jens was cast in the role of the Humanoid Progenitor in Star Trek: The Next Generation's "The Chase".

Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6, episode 18, "The Chase" was directed by Jonathan Frakes, who has also directed 8 episodes of Star Trek: Discovery, including its penultimate episode, "Lagrange Point".

Star Trek's Progenitors were a long-dead race of humanoid aliens, who seeded their DNA across the entire galaxy 4.5 billion years ago. Salome Jens played the holographic recording of a Progenitor, who delivered the message explaining that all humanoid life in the Star Trek universe shared the same origin. The Progenitors hoped that this information would bring people together under a common ideal, but it was clear the 24th century wasn't ready for this message. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Dominion War erupted a few years after TNG's "The Chase", proving that humanoid life was still divided.

Salome Jens Also Played Star Trek: DS9’s Female Changeling

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Salome Jens' best-known role in Star Trek was the Female Changeling in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. To many of the Dominion's member species, the Changelings were creators of life, just like the Progenitors. The Changeling Founders genetically engineered both the Vorta and the Jem'Hadar to suit the Dominion's needs for both administrators and soldiers. The Female Changeling and her kind also saw all humanoid life as being the same, albeit from a much darker perspective than the Progenitors. The Changelings saw humanoids or "solids" to be cruel and violent, and believed that they had to be conquered and controlled to preserve peace in the galaxy.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 3, "Jinaal" revealed that the Dominion War was one of the reasons that the scientists hid the Progenitors' technology from the rest of the galaxy.

Although she made her debut in the previous episode's cliffhanger, Salome Jens' first full appearance as the Female Changeling was in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, season 3, episode 2, "The Search, Part II". The episode was directed by Jonathan Frakes, who had previously directed Jens in Star Trek: The Next Generation's "The Chase". It's unknown if Frakes suggested Salome Jens for the role, or if it was a happy coincidence. However, Salome Jens enjoyed the role greatly, reflecting on her experiences on DS9 to Grigware Interviews in 2010:

The cast was wonderful; the stories were interesting. Like a Greek tragedy, there's something quite wonderful that happened with all of them.

Why A New Actor Played Star Trek: Discovery Season 5’s Progenitor

Salome Jens doesn't reprise her role as the Progenitor in Star Trek: Discovery's finale for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Salome Jens is now 89 years old, and hasn't acted on screen for a number of years. The amount of time in make-up required to play a Progenitor in Star Trek is grueling enough for a younger actor, let alone someone who is nearly 90 years old. This is one of the reasons that Somkele Iyamah-Idhalama was cast as a different member of the Progenitor species in the Discovery finale.

The Nigerian actress was also chosen to play the Progenitor in Star Trek: Discovery season 5 to better demonstrate the infinite diversity that exists in the universe. Much as the Progenitors seeded a diverse range of humanoid species across the Star Trek universe, the casting of Somkele Iyamah-Idhalama reflected the diversity within the Progenitors' own species. The casting of Somkele Iyamah-Idhalama builds on Salome Jens' legacy as the first Progenitor by revealing a tiny bit more information about this most mysterious of Star Trek species.

All episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 5 are available to stream on Paramount+.