Synopsis: The U.S.S. Farragut and the U.S.S. Enterprise combine forces to destroy a centuries-old scavenger ship, after which the crews learn the true identity of the vessel.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of Carl Gustav (C. G.) Jung’s concept of projection—when the conscious ego projects its unconscious shadow onto another.
In “The Selat Who Ate Its Tail,” both the U.S.S. Farragut and the U.S.S. Enterprise confront a large vessel. The Enterprise crew identifies it as the legendary vessel that in various cultures across the galaxy has been called the Asaasllich, or the Astrovore, also known as the Destroyer of Worlds—a scavenger ship, hundreds of years old, that is on the prowl just beyond known space. On the Farragut, Captain V’Rel is injured as the result of an explosion, leaving the first officer, Lt. James Kirk, in command. The Enterprise comes to the aid of the Farragut and is captured by this scavenger ship—seemingly swallowed whole—and attached to it by an umbilical. Working together, the two Starfleet ships are able to destroy the larger vessel. But after they do, they discover that there were over 7,000 human lifeforms aboard the scavenger ship. Further research uncovers that they were the descendants of a group of astronauts in a ship that was launched in the mid-21st century. Commander Pelia noted that at that time the vessel was launched the crew was considered the best of humanity. Later Captain Christopher Pike speaks with Kirk, and tells him that command may look easy from afar, but once there, he will have to live with the choices he makes for the rest of his life. Pike also tells Kirk that having empathy for the opponent is part of the job, that we’re not that different from the enemy. Kirk says that he doesn’t have that empathy yet and Pike responds that perhaps this is the lesson that he needs to take away from this.
In this episode, the unabashed barbarity of the scavenger ship can be seen as a physical manifestation of the unconscious shadow. This is especially true when it was revealed that the scavenger ship was launched from Earth centuries before, and her crew was made up of 7,000 humans. In the conversation between Pike and Kirk after the scavenger ship was destroyed, when Pike tells Kirk that having empathy for his opponent is the lesson that he needs to take away from this experience can be analogized to when the conscious ego realizes that the unconscious shadow that it has projected onto another comes from its own psyche. When Pike tells Kirk that the crew of the scavenger ship is not so different from the crew of the Enterprise or the Farragut, this can be compared to when once the projection is removed from another individual, or group of individuals, and they can be seen for who they really are.
Jung wrote that projections “change the world into a replica of one’s own unknown face” (1951/1968, p. 9 [CW 9ii, para. 17]). Jung further explained that projection was:
an unconscious, automatic process whereby a content that is unconscious to the subject transfers itself to an object, so that it seems to belong to that object. The projection ceases the moment it becomes conscious, that is to say when it is seen as belonging to the subject (1954/1969, p. 60 [CW 9i, para. 121]).
Once the ego realizes that what it is projecting onto the projectee comes from within its own psyche, then the ego began to integrate that quality into itself, to become stronger and make the psyche more whole. Additionally, the relationship with the projectee is able to evolve, and the projectee can be seen for who they really were.
Reference:
Jung, C. G. (1968). The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 9 pt. 2. Aion: Researches into the phenomenology of the self (2nd ed.). (In H. Read et al., Eds.). (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1951) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400851058
Jung, C. G. (1969). Concerning the archetypes, with special reference to the anima concept (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 9 pt. 1. Archetypes and the collective unconscious (2nd ed., pp. 54-72). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1954) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850969.54
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