Synopsis: When Voyager’s crew confronts a member of Species 8472, Seven of Nine, in an effort to save the ship, goes against Captain Janeway’s orders.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of the tension between two archetypes, that of the Senex, or wise authority figure, and the Puer, or Puella, that of youthful energy. Archetypal Psychologist James Hillman thought that the relationship between these two archetypes could be used to explain the relationships between all archetypes.
In “Prey” Voyager comes across a Hirogen vessel with only one crew member aboard, badly injured. Captain Kathryn Janeway orders an away team to board the ship to rescue the injured crew member. Seven of Nine opposes this idea. When the injured Hirogen is brought aboard, a member of Species 8472 comes onto the ship as well. The Species 8472 alien telepathically links to Lt. Commander Tuvok to let him know that it is injured and was left behind after a confrontation with the Borg. At the same time Voyager is confronted by six additional Hirogen ships determined to continue its hunt of the Species 8472 alien. They threaten to destroy Voyager if it is not returned to them. Instead, Janeway wants to send the Species 8472 alien back to the fluidic space where it came from. She asks Seven for her help, but Seven refuses, even though Janeway tells her it is an opportunity to learn compassion. The Species 8472 alien recovers from its wounds and the injured Hirogen continues to hunt it. When the Hirogen has the alien cornered, Seven beams them both aboard one of the Hirogen vessels, in an attempt to save Voyager. It works, but Janeway punishes Seven for acting against her orders.
In this episode the Senex archetype, a symbol of authority, wisdom, and order, can be seen to be embodied in Janeway, whereas the Puer or Puella archetype can be seen to be embodied in Seven. Janeway encourages Seven to seek out her humanity and her individuality. However, Seven points out to Janeway that when she does so, she is punished for it, because her individuality is different from Janeway’s. This can be seen as an illustration of the tension between these two opposite archetypes. Which in turn can be analogized to the tension between the Logos-driven rational conscious ego and the Eros-driven irrational unconscious.
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