Synopsis: The first contact team aboard the U.S.S. Discovery tries to communicate with Species Ten-C in order to save Earth and Ni’Var.
This episode can be seen as an example of what can happen when the conscious ego acknowledges and integrates bits of unconscious material into itself.
In “Coming Home” Cleveland (Book) Booker’s ship heads for the Dark Matter Anomaly (DMA) power source, which Ruon Tarka needs to transport himself to another universe. Meanwhile, Captain Michael Burnham and the rest of the U.S.S. Discovery crew are tasked with both trying to communicate with Species Ten-C and to stop Booker’s ship. President T’Rina of Ni’Var initiates a mindmeld with Species Ten-C and discovers that they maintain a sense of harmony and may not be aware of the idea of individuals existing separately. She also learns that they are terrified and confused. General Diatta Ndoye takes a shuttle to try to stop Booker’s ship. She rams it with the shuttle, which slows it down. Tarka tries to beam Booker to Discovery, but he does not make it. Species Ten-C reestablishes communication and the first contact team learns a way to express their own emotions to them. Species Ten-C then not only stops the DMA, but also returns Booker to the crew, when they feel Burnham’s sadness in losing him.
In this episode, when T’Rina learns through the mindmeld that Species Ten-C do not understand what individual existence is yet do share the Discovery crew’s emotions, this can be compared to when the conscious ego becomes aware of unconscious material in the psyche. In that analogy, T’Rina, and the rest of the Discovery crew, can be seen as embodying the conscious ego. When the crew finds a way to communicate with Species Ten-C, this can be equated with the conscious ego acknowledging that there is another way to perceive the world and integrating that into itself, which is how it becomes stronger and the psyche more whole.
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