Synopsis: After repeated attacks on Voyager by various Kazon factions, Captain Janeway decides to try to form an alliance with one or more of them.
This episode is yet another illustration of what Carl Gustav (C. G.) Jung called individuation, or the union of opposites. These were his terms to describe the way by which the Logos-driven rational conscious ego integrates bits of material from the Eros-driven irrational unconscious into itself. Here, what we see is how sometimes the conscious ego struggles with the idea of incorporating bits of unconscious material and ends up refusing to do so. At least for the time being.
In “Alliances” Voyager is repeatedly attacked by various Kazon factions. The situation is desperate and First Officer Commander Chakotay suggests to Captain Kathryn Janeway that since Voyager is all alone in the Delta Quadrant that there might be someway to allow this Starfleet vessel to make alliances with some of the Kazon sects, which do not hold dear the principles of Starfleet as she does. When Lt. Tuvok tells Janeway that Chakotay’s suggestion has merit, she descides she will try to form an alliance. Janeway is unable to come to terms with any of the Kazon sects, but on a nearby planet, Sobras, Neelix comes across a group of refugees from the planet Trabe. Unlike the Kazons, Janeway is immediately impressed by the rational and nonviolent ways the Trabe, led by Mabus, and she decides to form an alliance with them. When Mabus suggests a potential summit between the leaders of the sects, Janeway is excited by the opportunity for peace, but then shocked when it turns out that Mabus really wanted all the Kazon leaders in one place so that he could kill them all at once. After that disappointment, Janeway tells the crew that it is more important than ever to abide by Starfleet principles.
In this episode, Janeway’s reactions to the situations she finds herself in are analogous to how the rational conscious ego reacts to having bits of unconscious material come into its awareness. Janeway does not want to compromise. When she finds that the demands of the Kazon are intolerable, she ends the negotiations. When she believes she finds a likeminded race, she is immediately drawn to them, because it means that she will not have to bend her principles. When these new allies turn out to be as bloodthirsty as the Kazon, she leaves the short-lived alliance, certain that her way is the best way. This is what happens when the ego is confronted by bits of unconscious material but not yet ready to integrate it. However, just as the bits of unconscious material are suppressed only to return again at a later time stronger and force the issue of acceptance, Janeway will likely have her Starfleet principles challenged again, and maybe next time she will have to bend a little. It is in the bending that the psychic growth can occur.
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