Synopsis: Renegade Federation forces attack Cardassian ships in an effort to disrupt the peace between the Federation and Cardassia.
These two episodes are really the telling of one story in two parts, so I will address them together in this one post. The depth psychological concept that is illustrated here is the idea that those forces trying to disrupt the peace between the United Federation of Planets and the Cardassians are acting like a complex. A complex being the way in which bits of material from the Eros-driven irrational unconscious can come to the awareness of the Logos-driven rational conscious ego.
In “The Marquis, Parts I and II” we learn that the Cardassian Central Command has secretly been arming Cardassian colonies in an area which a peace treaty has established as a demilitarized zone. Learning of this, a group of Federation renegades, calling themselves the Maquis start attacking Cardassian vessels linked to the weapon shipments. By doing this they are disrupting the peace agreement and causing a complex.
A complex, as described above is the way in which bits of material from the unconscious disrupt the peace of the conscious ego, and let the ego know that there is something that needs attention. Here, the Cardassian Central Command, by arming settlers in colonies in Federation space are alerting the Cardassians to the fact that there are some individuals who have not yet signed on to the peace treaty, and their needs need to be addressed. Unfortunately, just as complexes can cause us pain and discomfort, the actions of the Central Command have the possibility of causing pain by means of continued war between the Cardassians and the Federation.
The Federation, like the conscious ego, does not like things that disrupt its image of itself. The Federation also is unable to act in a way that can consciously be compared to the activities of the Cardassian Central Command, but the Maquis, individuals who chose to dismiss the Federation’s peaceful ways can. It is not pretty, and just as our conscious ego doesn’t like to behave in ways that it feels are beneath itself, sometimes it has to in order to get things done. This sacrifice of its perceived aspirations of perfection is the way that it becomes more whole. By embracing the shadow, those bits of unconscious material that are not condoned by polite society, the conscious ego becomes stronger. Just as although the Federation has difficulty accepting the Maquis, the presence of the Maquis makes the Federation stronger in relation to the Cardassians.
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