Synopsis: A red signal leads Discovery to a planet in another quadrant inhabited by descendants from a group of individuals from Earth, brought there two hundred years prior.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of the metaxy, the third place between the conscious ego and the unconscious, where change can happen.
In “New Eden” Discovery’s sensors pick up a red signal from coordinates in the Beta Quadrant.Discovery’s crew tells Captain Christopher Pike that the ship’s spore drive can take them there. And when they try to explain it, he tells them that he will have to take on faith the idea that Discovery can travel instantaneously this far on a network of fungi. When they arrive at the location they find a colony of humans, descendants of a group of individuals placed there by a red angel. Wanting to thank the red angel, and not knowing which religion honors one, they created their own religion bridging the major religions on Earth. Pike, Commander Michael Burnham, and Lt. Joann Owosekun beam down to investigate. Even though these are humans from Earth, because they left the planet before warp drive was used there, General Order One applies, and Pike orders the team to not divulge their true identities. When they meet the leader of the planet, Terralysium, Burnham has a very difficult time with this, as she believes in science. When Pike, Burnham, and Owosekun look around the basement of the church they run into Jacob. Jacob tells them that his family has been keeping the distress signal activated for generations in the hope of being found, because they believe that the humans on Earth did not destroy themselves. Jacob detonates a stun grenade, knocking out the three Discovery crewmembers and taking their technical gear. They get it back, but not before a young girl, Rose, unknowingly fires a phaser into Pike’s chest. He is discretely beamed back to Discovery. After he recovers he discusses with Burnham the camera in the ancient helmet that Jacob told them about and how it could give them information about the red angel. Pike goes down to Terralysium to see Jacob, revealing that he is from Earth and exchanges a power cell for the helmet. Pike examines the footage from the camera on the helmet and sees a red angel.
In this episode, the rational conscious ego can be seen as being embodied in Burnham, and much of the Discovery crew as well, who believe that science can explain all things. The irrational unconscious can be seen to be represented by the All-Mother of Terralysium and her followers, who faithfully believe in the divinity of the red angel. Pike can be seen as a bridge that can connect the two belief systems. He is a Starfleet officer, so he is essentially motivated by scientific research, however he is respectful of the beliefs of the people of Terralysium as well. When he takes it upon himself to break General Order One and reveal his identity to Jacob, it is to bridge the two realms. The basement of the church, where Jacob carries out his work, sent his distress signal from, and where Pike revealed himself, can be seen as a third place. Not on the surface of Terralysium and not in the sky, where Discovery can be found. This third place James Hillman called the metaxy, and in depth psychology it is the place where healing can begin. And in fact after Pike appears to Jacob, Jacob is satisfied. He will no longer need to try to reach out to the stars and will be happy in his community. This can be compared to psychic healing that can happen when a new third way of being in the world, not conscious or unconscious, but bits of unconscious material integrated into the conscious ego, to make it stronger and the psyche more whole.
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