Synopsis: After having taken control of the U.S.S. Discovery Osyraa takes the vessel to Federation Headquarters to try to negotiate an armistice between the Federation and the Emerald Chain.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of what Carl (C. G.) Jung described as the conscious ego being one-sided when it tries to suppress bits of unconscious material.
In “There is a Tide . . .,” the U.S.S. Discovery, afterhaving been taken over by Osyraa’s crew, heads to Federation Headquarters accompanied by her warship, Viridian. When they arrive there Osyraa demands a meeting with Admiral Charles Vance, holding Discovery’s bridge crew hostage as they negotiate. Osyraa provides Vance with an offer to unite the Federation and the Emerald Chain. She says that they both know that dilithium is running out and that the Emerald Chain has the scientific resources that are more likely to devise a way to replicate the spore drive, but that the Federation represents hope in a way that the Emerald Chain cannot. She even offers to stop behavior that violates the Prime Directive and step back from planets that the Emerald Chain has been trying to intimidate. Vance then asks for something more. He tells Osyraa that an individual completely independent from her would need to be the diplomatic representative of the Emerald Chain and that Osyraa would need to be tried for her offenses. This is something that she cannot agree to and she walks away from the deal.
In this episode, when Osyraa comes to Vance trying to negotiate an armistice between the Federation and the Emerald Chain, she does so subversively, believing that Vance would not hear her out if she did not hold Discovery and her bridge crew hostage. Nevertheless, they do meet and she presents him with an offer she believes is fair, and then even agrees to move forward abiding by Federation rules. However, Vance asks for still more, expecting Osyraa to be judged by Federation rules for her past behavior and punished accordingly. In this scenario, Vance can be said to represent the conscious ego and Osyraa the unconscious. And Vance’s actions can be analogized to how the conscious ego habitually believes that it is right and that the unconscious must submit to its demands. Jung would have deemed this to be an example of one-sidedness in an individual. This is something that must be overcome in order for psychic healing to take place. For that to happen, the ego needs to acknowledge the bits of unconscious material present and then integrate them into itself to be come stronger and make the psyche more whole.
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