Synopsis: When their runabout is attacked by a Jem’Hadar ship, Jake Sisko and Starfleet Cadet Nog are rescued by a Starfleet vessel crewed by a group of elite Starfleet cadets.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of the relationship between the senex and the puer archetypes, which archetypal psychologist James Hillman believed was the key to understanding the complementary nature of all archetypes.
In “Valiant” Jake Sisko accompanies Starfleet Cadet Nog on his mission to Ferenginar to bring an official message to the Grand Nagus. En route, their runabout is attacked by the Jem’Hadar, and Sisko and Nog are rescued by the USS Valiant. Valiant was a training vessel, and its mission was for supervising Starfleet officers to teach these cadets to crew a vessel by circumnavigating Federation space. However, Valiant was attacked by a Cardassian vessel and all the Starfleet officers were killed. The cadets are now crewing the vessel and when they receive orders to find a particular enemy vessel, instead of informing Starfleet of their situation, the acting commander, Tim Watters, decides to proceed as if nothing had happened. They find the enemy vessel, but a battle ensues, killing Watters and destroying Valiant. Sisko and Nog use an escape pod to abandon the ship and are then found by Defiant. In this episode, the cadets who comprised the crew of Valiant when Sisko and Nog arrive can be seen as embodying the puer archetype, most especially in Watters, its commander. Watters knew that Starfleet regulations would have had him notify headquarters of the death of the teaching officers, but instead, he decided to take charge and take on a risky mission that resulted in Valiant’s destruction and the death of most of his fellow cadets. This can be analogized as to how the puer energy sometimes strains against the archetypal senex energy in an effort to break free from authority. It is a necessary step in the maturation process, but sometimes, as here, it can also have dire consequences.
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