The trailer for NCIS Season 17 Episode 1 dropped on Thursday, August 29. After watching the season’s first-ever promo, fans are worried about Ziva David and Leroy Gibbs. The thrilling trailer showed the fan-favorite characters facing life-threatening danger from a mystery woman named Sahar. But who is Sahar? And why is she after Ziva and Gibbs? Here’s what we know so far about this brand new character.

Who is Sahar on NCIS?

Anyone who has watched the official trailer for this season’s first episode would understand that Ziva and Gibbs need to be prepared for some serious danger. 

At first, co-workers are seen discussing Ziva, who made a surprise return in Season 16 finale. They are intrigued to find out why Ziva was hiding from everyone all this time. Then, Ziva is seen warning Gibbs about an upcoming threat.

Ziva tells Gibbs, “There is a woman. Her name is Sahar. She wants me dead and now she’s after you.” Apparently, Ziva has no idea who this woman is and she why she is after them but it seems like they have some kind of history together.

The NCIS showrunners had sent out some big hints about this new character in the past and recently, the show’s co-showrunner Steven Binder did the same during an interview with Parade. 

Binder did not reveal the character’s name in the interview and the trailer was the first time when the name “Sahar” was revealed but he did give away some major details about the character.

Binder said, “One of the things that we wanted to do was not just create something out of whole cloth where you’re like ‘huh?’ So when we came up with this backstory, we laid a little pipe ourselves once we knew we had Cote.”

Binder went on to say, “...the initial genesis of this story was — and this is a clue — it’s something that has been part of the fabric of the show, her character and the introduction of her character from the very beginning. So, we’re playing with the DNA of Ziva David in terms of this jeopardy.”

“This isn’t some newly created arch-nemesis conspiracy theory or conspiracy that she’s tried to get out from beneath. This will tie into the lore and history of the show,” Binder assured the fans.

Ziva David and Leroy Gibbs’ history with Sahar

After watching Ziva warn Gibbs of Sahar, viewers thought that the threat might be related to the drug case Gibbs was working on in the previous season. However, producer Frank Cardea’s recent statement hints that the danger goes back way further than that. Cardea said that the rivalry dates back to Ziva’s original death on NCIS.

Viewers will remember, actress Cote de Pablo debuted as Ziva in 2005 during the third season of NCIS. Kill Ari Part 1 was her first episode. 

In that episode, Ziva was working at the Israeli Intelligence Agency - Mossad - and she was trying to stop Gibbs from killing her half-brother, Ari Haswari. Sadly, Ziva ended up killing her Ari herself.

Ziva went back to Israel in Season 11 and she was declared dead a few seasons later. In a surprising twist, Ziva returned in Season 16 finale. 

Speculations suggest Ziva was dealing with the consequences of killing Ari during the time she was away. There are also speculations that Sahar could be someone related to Ari and she’s trying to get revenge on Ziva for killing Ari. 

There aren’t any official statement but it looks like Sahar could be the mother of Ari’s child as the promo reveals that this season will also feature Ziva’s estranged daughter, Tali. 

To know more about Sahar and her history, be sure to tune in to NCIS’s first episode on Tuesday, September 24.