Synopsis: Kes begins traveling back in time causing her to remember the future.
This episode speaks to James Hillman’s idea of the acorn theory, that just as the acorn has all the material it needs to become a tree, inside each of us is an inner daimon that has all the information we need to be who we are meant to be, if we listen to it. Also, it illustrates what can happen when information received from the Eros-driven irrational unconscious is integrated into the Logos-driven rational conscious ego.
In “Before and After” Kes awakes in Sick Bay, having been exposed to a type of radiation that is causing her to move through time. After the third such incident Kes understands what is happening and alerts The Doctor and the others of what is transpiring. Eventually, the cure is found and Kes is restored to the present, but with important intelligence about a foe that Voyager and her crew will encounter in the future.
In this episode we see how Kes remains true to herself, and arguably her inner daimon, no matter how disorienting the circumstances. She knows who she is and with her confidence convinces The Doctor, Captain Kathryn Janeway, and the rest of the crew of what is transpiring. In that Kes is able to take in the information from what seems like disjointing dreams to make sense of what is happening, is analogous to what it is like when we listen to bits of information that come to us through intuition or other irrational modes of understanding and integrate it into the conscious ego. Here Kes returns to her normal existence with knowledge that will help Voyager and her crew in the future; in our psyches, the integration of knowledge makes the ego stronger and the individual more whole.
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