Synopsis: Commander Chakotay responds to a distress call and finds refugees from the Alpha Quadrant.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of what happens when bits of material from the Eros-driven irrational unconscious come into the awareness of the Logos-driven rational conscious ego and then when integrated into it make an individual more whole.
In “Unity” Commander Chakotay and Ensign Kaplan on their way back from a scouting expedition, respond to a distress call from a planet. After they land they are attacked. Kaplan is killed, but Chakotay is rescued by a group of people led by Dr. Riley Frazier. Frazier tells Chakotay that everyone on the planet was brought there against their will, but that a group of them have formed a cooperative. Chakotay then learns that Frazier and the rest of the individuals on the planet are former Borg. Frazier explains to Chakotay that she didn’t tell him the whole truth initially because she knows how humans feel about the Borg and assures him that her group means him no harm. Chakotay’s head injury becomes worse, and he is told that the only way to heal him is for him to temporarily join their collective so that they can send him healing thoughts. Initially he refuses, but it becomes apparent that this is his only hope to live. After he is healed and Voyager arrives to recover him, Chakotay tells Captain Kathryn Janeway what a unique experience it was. Frazier then asks Janeway if she will agree to help the individuals on the planet by reconnecting a generator from a Borg cube that is adrift nearby. Frazier says that when the drones were all connected they acted for the good of all, but now that the link between the Borg has been severed, some of the drones have become warlike and fight against the ones who want peace. Janeway refuses, but when the peaceful collective is attacked by the other drones, the collective sends orders telepathically to Chakotay causing him to reconnect the generator against his will. This inadvertently also awakens the once lifeless drones aboard the cube, but the collective destroys the cube so that it is no longer a threat to Voyager. Then the collective hails Voyager, apologizing for causing Chakotay’s actions.
The threat of the Borg to Starfleet and Federation forces is well known, so Chakotay’s initial resistance to be connected with it, even temporarily, is understandable. It can also be analogized to how the conscious ego often initially suppresses the bits of unconscious material that come into its awareness through a complex. Chakotay in trusting the collective is healed, although he is also made more vulnerable to its needs. Much like the Borg collective, there is much power in the collective unconscious, and much we don’t know about it. Properly balanced, a brief connection can be healing, but the forces are so great that to fall into it completely can be destructive.
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