Synopsis: Chief of Security Odo and Lt. Dax discover a village that is a projection created by one individual.
This episode is an illustration of how the psyche uses projection to allow the Logos-driven rational unconscious ego to perceive elements from the Eros-driven irrational unconscious.
In “Shadowplay” Deep Space Nine’s Chief of Security Odo and Lt. Jadzia Dax are in the Gamma Quadrant when they come across a village on a planet that is emitting omicron particles. Something very rare. When they arrive, they are told by Protector Colyus that one by one citizens of the village have been disappearing. Odo and Dax come to learn that there is really only one living inhabitant in the village, Rurigan, and that all the others are holographic images that he created to keep him company. What has been causing the citizens to disappear is an equipment malfunction, which they are able to fix. Meanwhile, on Deep Space Nine Major Kira Nerys both confronts Quark and has a romantic encounter with Vedek Bareil.
All these scenarios can be seen as uses of projection, but they differ. For Kira, projections allow her to bring bits of material from her unconscious into the purview of her rational ego. When Kira sees Bareil as a romantic partner, it is initially because she is projecting her own unconscious inner ideal mate onto him. Conversely, when Kira tells Quark that she despises him, she is projecting her shadow traits upon him. The shadow being that part of our personal unconscious that contains those traits which we tend to keep hidden and feel uncomfortable with. As for Rurigan, he has used technology that has allowed him to create an entire community populated by projections. This is projection on a mass scale and something that has allowed him to lead a full life, at least on the surface. The difference between Rurigan’s projections and Kira’s is that when Kira removes the projections from Bareil and Quark, she will be able to see them for who they really are. But Rurigan’s projections are created by technology devised by the rational conscious ego and have no substance beneath their surface.
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