Synopsis: The scientist who created the weapon that killed Neelix’s family comes aboard Voyager to try to make amends.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of what Carl (C. G.) Jung would call inflation.
Inflation is the identification with the power of an archetypal god and is a necessary phase in the process of individuation, the way by which an individual’s psyche becomes more whole. The opposite of inflation, deflation, is the complementary phase, and the individuation process naturally moves continually between the two. However, when the conscious ego continues to identify with an archetypal power for longer than is required, it can make the ego believe that it has more power than it really does over the unconscious.
In “Jetrel” Dr. Ma’Bor Jetrel comes aboard Voyager telling Captain Kathryn Janeway that it is a matter of life or death for Neelix. Jetrel created the metrion cascade that killed Neelix’s family and hundreds of thousands of others on Rinax. Initially, Neelix refuses to see Jetrel, but when convinced to let Jetrel examine him for evidence of exposure to metrion, Jetrel tries to absolve himself of responsibility for his creation. Jetrel tells Neelix that after the release of the weapon that he created, he was seen as a scientific god to some and a monster to others. Now he has come aboard Voyager believing that he can find a way to reverse the damage that he has caused by bringing the dead back to life. He tries but is unsuccessful.
In “Jetrel” we get an example of what identification with the god-like power of an archetype can cause. Jetrel held himself up as the great creator of a thing that possessed incredible power. He says that he did it for science to be of value for everyone, because he could, but he does not take responsibility for it being used as a military weapon. This is an example of inflation with catastrophic consequences. Then years later, he once again believes that he alone has the answer to the problem he created, which is another instance of inflation. But here it seems closer to the necessary inflation required in the individuation process. Where it not for inflation, the conscious ego would never have the impulse to begin or go forward with the individuation process. Here, Jetrel’s second experience of identifying himself as a scientific god had the possibility to better the universe. He is not able to fulfill this process, but likely his work when picked up by someone else, may come to fruition in the future. Much as when the conscious ego, when recovered from its bout of inflation can go on with the process of individuation.
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