Synopsis: Captain Archer and Sub-Commander T’Pol find the Syrrannites, and Ambassador Soval becomes a new ally to the Enterprise crew.
This episode can be seen as another illustration of the tension between the archetypal energies of the Senex, or wise elder, and the Puer, or eternal youth.
In “Awakening” Minister V’Las, the Head of the Vulcan High Command, terminates Ambassador Soval’s position because he threatened his power and the Vulcan traditions. V’Las is also threatened by the Syrrannites, whom he believes are radicals and whom he wants to annihilate. Soval comes aboard Enterprise to offer his assistance in locating Captain Jonathan Archer and against V’Las. Meanwhile, Archer and Sub-Commander T’Pol locate the Syrrannites, and it is learned that the katra, or essence of Surak, the father of Vulcan culture, has been place in Archer. Surak tells Archer that he must help the Vulcans find what they have lost.
In this episode, V’Las can be seen as embodying the energy of the Senex, the wise elder, but one that is stuck in his ways and will do anything to keep his power. The Syrrannites can be seen as representing Puer energy, that of change, of radical resetting of the status quo. The tension between these two opposites is an ongoing progression, where what was once Senex, is now Puer, until the Puer becomes the new authority – or Senex, until it is once again time for change. Archetypal Psychologist James Hillman believed that the relationship between these two archetypal energies could be used to understand all the complementary opposites within the human psyche.
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