Years after Ziva David’s (Cote de Pablo) supposed death and Tony DiNozzo’s (Michael Weatherly) departure from NCIS, a new spinoff series follows the fan-favorite couple as they live in Paris, raising their daughter, Tali (Isla Gie). However, their peaceful life is disrupted when mysterious assailants force them to go on the run, struggling to secure their future and find a happy ending. But what exactly happened to Ziva on NCIS? How did she fake her death? Why did she leave Tony and Tali, letting them, and even her closest friends, believe she was dead? Let’s take a deep dive into the events that led to Ziva’s disappearance and her decision to go off the grid.
In the Season 13 finale of NCIS, titled “Family First,” it appears that Ziva dies in a mortar attack on her farmhouse, orchestrated by rogue ex-CIA agent Trent Kort (David Fayan Fisher). Tony, who had no idea that Ziva had a child, learns that they have a daughter, Tali. Mossad Director Orli Elbaz (Marina Sirtis), a close friend of Ziva, explains that Ziva chose not to tell Tony about Tali to avoid disrupting his life. During the episode, Tony meets Tali, and it becomes clear that Ziva had prepared her daughter for this moment, as Tali recognizes Tony in a photo and calls him “Aba,” Hebrew for father.
In the wake of Ziva’s presumed death, the NCIS team tracks down and kills Kort. Devastated by her loss, Tony resigns from NCIS to focus on raising Tali, seemingly closing the door on his romance with Ziva. This also marked the end of Michael Weatherly’s 13-year run on the series. But this wasn’t the end of the Tony and Ziva saga—Season 16 would bring new revelations.
In a shocking twist, the Season 16 finale, “Daughters,” features the surprise return of Cote de Pablo’s Ziva, revealing that she is alive. Ziva reappears to warn her former boss, Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), that he’s in danger, setting up a cliffhanger that is resolved in Season 17. Over the course of several episodes, it is revealed that Ziva faked her death to protect her loved ones from a dangerous operative named Zahar (Louise Barnes), who sought revenge for the death of Ziva’s half-brother, Ari Haswari (Rudolf Martin). Ari, a rogue Mossad agent turned terrorist, was killed by Ziva in 2005 to protect Gibbs, leading Zahar to hold both of them responsible.
To shield Tony, Tali, and her friends from Zahar’s revenge, Ziva faked her death and went into hiding, working covertly to dismantle the threat. In Season 17, Ziva and Gibbs join forces to finally defeat Zahar and her group. In the episode “The North Pole,” Ziva discovers that Zahar had been living next door to Gibbs under a false identity, raising her son, Phineas. The confrontation between Ziva and Zahar climaxes in an abandoned warehouse, where Gibbs ultimately arrives in time to save Ziva and eliminate Zahar for good.
Ziva’s final appearance in NCIS occurs in the episode “In the Wind,” where she helps the team rescue the kidnapped Phineas. After bidding an emotional farewell to Gibbs and her NCIS family, Ziva heads to Paris to reunite with Tony and Tali, setting the stage for the events of the new spinoff series. Now, with their family together, Tony and Ziva face new challenges as they struggle to stay one step ahead of the forces pursuing them, hoping to secure a future free from danger.
