Synopsis: The Prophets appear to Captain Sisko, Lt. Dax goes against orders to search for Lt. Commander Worf, while the Pan-wraith make Dukat feel loved.
This episode can be seen as illustrations of James Hillman’s acorn theory, the concept that just as an acorn has all the genetic information inside it to grow into a tree, we all have an inner daimon that knows who we are destined to become if only we heed it.
In “Penumbra” Captain Benjamin Sisko proposes to Captain Kasidy Yates and makes arrangements for their marriage when the Prophets appear to him and tell him that this is not his destiny. Meanwhile, upon learning that Lt. Commander Worf’s ship is missing, Lt. Ezri Dax takes a runabout without permission and locates Worf. And when the runabout is attacked by the Jem’Hadar forcing them to land on a nearby planet, they make amends and have sex. Finally, while all this is going on, on Cardassia Dukat returns and has himself surgically altered to appear Bajoran.
In this episode The Prophets can be seen to embody Sisko’s inner daimon, especially here when they appear to him in the form of his mother. Similarly, the Pah-wraith that Dukat feels love him, can also be compared to his inner daimon. And Dax’s symbiont can be said to physically manifest her inner daimon, as the symbiont has remained constant through many lifetimes. Listening to their inner daimons make all three of these characters do something that the outside world may not be able to understand, but by staying true to who they are and are meant to be will lead them forward into the next episode. What will happen then, we do not know. Just as humans cannot predict what the outcome will be when they follow their inner daimons; just that it is something they are drawn to do.
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