Synopsis: The First Officer of the U.S.S. Shenzhou, Commander Burnham, accidentally kills a Klingon and then mutinies against Captain Georgiou in an ill-fated effort to stave off a war with the Klingon Empire.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of what happens when the conscious ego becomes inflated, not being able to recognize that it is identifying too closely with the power of a god-like archetype.
In “The Vulcan Hello”the U.S.S. Shenzhou is on an assignment to survey damage to an interstellar array when an unidentified vessel is sensed. In spite of the radiation danger, the Shenzhou’s First Officer, Commander Michael Burnham, insists on investigating the vessel by using a thruster pack to get her through a debris field. When she reaches the vessel, she discovers that it is Klingon, and when confronted by a Klingon on the hull, kills him. Upon her return to Shenzhou, she tells Captain Philippa Georgiou that in order to avoid being attacked Shenzhou needs to fire on the Klingon ship first. Georgiou tells Burnham that Starfleet does not fire first and orders Burnham to speak with her in private. When Burnham still cannot change Georgiou’s mind Burnham gives her a Vulcan neck pinch and while Georgiou is unconscious orders the crew to fire on the Klingon vessel. Before they can, Georgiou regains consciousness and retakes the bridge. Shortly thereafter, Shenzhou is surrounded by Klingon ships.
In this episode, the way that Burnham acts, believing that she is right and not willing to listen to what any other member of the crew has to say, not even the captain, can be compared to how the conscious ego operates when it becomes inflated and believes that it is the only part of the psyche that knows how to proceed. Here, Burnham has put herself, her crewmates, and her ship unnecessarily in danger, as well as goes against the Starfleet regulations that she has sworn to uphold. This can be analogized to how dangerous it can be when the conscious ego is too one-sided and becomes inflated by failing to acknowledge that it is identifying with the god-like power of an archetype, and putting the psyche out of balance.
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