Synopsis: Captain Sisko teams up with the Dominion and the Jem’Hadar to go after a common enemy.
This episode, like the several previous ones, can be seen as an illustration of one of Carl (C. G.) Jung’s central theories. That the Eros-driven irrational unconscious has a different way of doing things than the Logos-driven rational conscious ego, but that neither way is better than the other – only different. And how when working together, both the conscious ego becomes stronger and the psyche more whole.
In “To the Death” after a group of renegade Jem’Hadar soldiers attack Deep Space Nine, Federation forces, headed by Captain Benjamin Sisko agree to partner up with their sworn enemies, the Jem’Hadar and the Dominion, in order to find those responsible and destroy a tool that they could use to travel instantaneously anywhere in the galaxy. Combining forces they are able to accomplish the mission, but it is not smooth sailing as the Jem’Hadar and the Starfleet personnel come from entirely different cultures.
In this episode what caught my attention, from a depth psychological perspective, is how the Jem’Hadar prepare for battle. How they view victory as life and that they go into battle dead and have to be victorious in order to win their lives back. This is a very different mindset than Starfleet, with Sisko stating his goal is that the mission is successful and that everyone returns home alive. This is what is considered in our society, and in our egos, as rational. The Jem’Hadar seem to be operating from an instinct to fight and an emotional necessity that is completely, dare I say, alien to Starfleet. But, when joined together they are able to achieve the goal of the mission. And maybe afterward have gained a little more insight about each other. Much as when the conscious ego engages with bits of material from the unconscious, the psyche becomes more whole.
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