Synopsis: Just as Lt. Worf’s son Alexander Rozhenko decides that he doesn’t want to become a Klingon warrior another Klingon appears to try to change his mind.
Similar to one of the plotlines in “Journey’s End,” this episode is an illustration of the acorn theory from Archetypal Psychologist James Hillman, that we are all born with an inner daimon that contains all we need to fulfill our destiny, much as an acorn contains all it will need to become an oak tree.
In “First Born” Lt. Worf speaks to his son Alexander Rozhenko about his approaching the age of ascension, when young Klingons commit themselves to becoming warriors. But Alexander has different ideas and tells Worf: “I don’t want to be a warrior” (Echevarria & West, 1994). Worf decides to take Alexander to a Klingon colony to witness a Klingon ritual and there they meet a Klingon that introduces himself as Kmtar. But Kmtar is really Alexander from the future who has used alien means to come back to this time in the past believing that if he can change the mind of young Alexander that he can change the future in which Worf dies in his arms.
As I noted in my blog discussing “Journey’s End” the acorn theory and the idea of following your destiny is the central theme to Hillman’s bestselling book The Soul’s Code: In Search of Character and Calling (1996). But in this episode, the embracing the calling of the inner daimon needed to be done after the fact. Kmtar, once he identifies himself to Worf as the adult Alexander must be convinced that he cannot change the past, and shouldn’t even if he could, because in the past he followed his own unique inner daimon to become the person he is today. A loving individual who was broken hearted that his father died in his arms. But knowing this, this is a fate that Worf too embraces if it means that his son will have the opportunity to fulfill his own unique destiny.
Reference:
Echevarria, R. (Writer), & West, J. (Director). (1994, April 23). First born (Season 7, Episode 21) [TV series episode]. In M. Piller, R. Berman, & J. Taylor (Executive Producers), Star trek: The next generation. Paramount Television.
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