Synopsis: A rendezvous with a Ferengi vessel allows its captain to seek vengeance on Captain Picard for the death of his son in the Battle of Maxia.
In “The Battle,” the Ferengi, Daimon Bok, is gripped by a complex. A complex in depth psychological terms occurs when a piece of an individual’s unconscious breaks into the consciousness of the ego to call attention to a psychic wound. And although we all have many complexes throughout the course of our lives, and that when they are recognized they can stimulate moments of psychic growth toward wholeness; when a complex is not acknowledged and integrated into the conscious ego, it can grow, and instead of us having it, it can have us. We can be in its grips. We know this is the case when we cannot control our rational thoughts or actions concerning something that bothers us, but instead behave irrationally, we just can’t help ourselves. When Bok sells all his possessions in order to purchase illegal mind control orbs in which to seek revenge on Captain Jean-Luc Picard, this is clearly illustrated in this episode.
But in addition to the personal complex of Bok, both the Ferengi and the crew of the Enterprise are also acting by larger cultural complexes, which interpreted the prior incident much differently. Picard, when Bok calls him the Hero of Maxia, or tells him of the Battle of Maxia, has never heard the incident referred to as this. To him, when he was commanding the Stargazer, he was attacked and destroyed the other unidentified vessel in self-defense; a maneuver that was justified by Starfleet Command. To Bok, whose son was in command of the vessel that Picard destroyed, this was an act of war committed by a superior power. It is important to remember that there is more than one way in which to perceive an event, and that each different interpretation is true to the one interpreting it.
Original post created 15 May 2021
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