Synopsis: The Enterprise becomes a surrogate mother for a previously unknown life form after Captain Picard ordered the destruction of its parent to save the lives of his crew.
This episode is an illustration of various archetypal energies that are universal. That of the senex, the wise old man or father figure; the puer, the eternal youth, and the Great Mother. James Hillman theorized that all the different psychological complexes could be explored through the dynamic of the relationship between the senex and the puer. The dynamics between the structure and restraint and knowledge of the wise old man and the exuberance of the youth.
In “Galaxy’s Child” the crew of the Enterprise encounters a life form that has never been seen before. It is enormous and lives in space just as freely as whales live in an ocean. Unfortunately, it had a way to fire upon the Enterprise a type of radiation that was deadly to the crew and Captain Jean-Luc Picard was forced to fire upon it, minimum energy. However, the alien died, and only upon its death was it revealed that it was about to give birth. Picard orders that the crew help the baby escape from its parent’s body, and it immediately attaches itself onto the Enterprise and siphons power from it – it thinks the Enterprise is its mother. Because Picard ordered its parent killed, he feels a responsibility to the young alien, and the crew devises a plan to bring it to where it can live with its own kind. Yet the alien also needed to break away from the Enterprise, the Great Mother. It does, and like all puers that are able to break away from their mother figures, it will lead a full life.
Original post created 10 September 2021
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