I would think Voq initially consented to a sexual relationship with L'Rell, and subsequently to the procedure. But then, once it was done, he really believed he was in fact Tyler, and had no knowledge of ever having been Voq or agreeing to such an arrangement. Thus, everything after that point was non-consensual (any consent he did give was coerced under duress), and every bit as traumatic as it would have been to the "real" Tyler. The fact that he now remembers everything doesn't erase that trauma at all. In fact, it may make it all the harder for him to deal with.
I would think Voq initially consented to a sexual relationship with L'Rell, and subsequently to the procedure. But then, once it was done, he really believed he was in fact Tyler, and had no knowledge of ever having been Voq or agreeing to such an arrangement. Thus, everything after that point was non-consensual (any consent he did give was coerced under duress), and every bit as traumatic as it would have been to the "real" Tyler. The fact that he now remembers everything doesn't erase that trauma at all. In fact, it may make it all the harder for him to deal with.
-MMoM
Yeah, I'm with you on this. Tyler and Voq are distinct characters sharing the same body... and it definitely seems like there's more of Tyler left than Voq at the end. He's kind of Tyler with Voq's memories. As for L'Rell, it's probably quite likely she would have felt unable to let go after the transition. The physical relationship might well have continued in a manner closer to how Tyler remembers. Especially as it would help with the story of how he survived in the Klingon prison.I would think Voq initially consented to a sexual relationship with L'Rell, and subsequently to the procedure. But then, once it was done, he really believed he was in fact Tyler, and had no knowledge of ever having been Voq or agreeing to such an arrangement. Thus, everything after that point was non-consensual (any consent he did give was coerced under duress), and every bit as traumatic as it would have been to the "real" Tyler. The fact that he now remembers everything doesn't erase that trauma at all. In fact, it may make it all the harder for him to deal with.
-MMoM
People choose to stay with, or return to, their current or former abusers every day. It's complex, and I expect this will be a primary source of conflict for them both. I certainly don't think we're supposed to look at them and envy what a healthy relationship they have.So he decided to run away with his rapist?
This storyline is highly confusing. It's unnecessarily convoluted and slightly offensive if they're going down the sexual assault route.
So did I.
This! I get tired of real world psychology getting glossed over because it's uncomfortable on Star Trek.
I didn't find it all that confusing by the time the season ended. In the first half, "Tyler" had no knowledge or awareness that he was actually Voq. He was never pretending at all. The Klingons ripped the memories and identity of the real, original Ash Tyler (whom we know to have existed because Lorca checked into and verified his background in detail) and transplanted them onto Voq, suppressing Voq's own consciousness beneath Tyler's, where it remained submerged and dormant until it began to re-assert itself, and the two personalities then both rebelled against the arrangement. To stop him from literally tearing himself apart mentally and physically, L'Rell re-suppressed the Voq personality—perhaps permanently, as seems implied by her mourning howl as if he had died, but we'll see about that—yet leaving his memories accessible to Tyler's, which now retains control (for the moment at least).
Personally, I would find it a far more "offensive" treatment of sexual assault/abuse if they had taken this...
BURNHAM: Who is she to you?
TYLER: I think you already know.
BURNHAM: You were her prisoner.
TYLER: Yeah. Her name's L'Rell. She's the reason I've had nightmares every night since Captain Lorca and I fled her ship. She's also the only reason I'm still alive. 227 days. But it only took one to realize I wasn't gonna make it out alive, not unless I made a choice.
BURNHAM: What did you do?
TYLER: That... That Klingon...was more than just my captor. She was my torturer. One who took a particular...interest in me. And I saw a way out. A way to live past day one, day ten, day twenty, day 97...I encouraged it. Her sick affections. Her obsession with me. Because if I hadn't, I'd be dead, like all the others. And I got out. I get to keep living my life. But the thing is...if none of that had happened, I wouldn't be here. On this ship. With you. And that almost makes it...worth it.
...and then simply dismissed it as not having been a "real" experience. At the very least, it was certainly real to him. He will still suffer the effects of and struggle to come to terms with it, as would anyone.
-MMoM
That's exactly what makes it all the more interesting, though. Which "reality" is more "real" from his perspective? The objective one or the subjective one? The reality of being Tyler or the reality of being Voq? Even if some of those memories were fabricated or time-compressed or conflated with Voq's or what have you, one way or another he ended up where Lorca found him in "Choose Your Pain" (DSC), in her captivity, feeling tormented and violated by her and desperately seeking escape. Think about Picard's experience in "The Inner Light" (TNG) or O'Brien's in "Hard Time" (DS9). "Real" or not "real"? And wouldn't deliberately implanting the false memory of a physical assault that might not have actually occurred constitute an equally egregious kind of psychological assault in itself? It's a fascinating subject and potentially a very dramatically fertile one.
It was a missed opportunity in Season One depicting Ash's memories in what clearly seemed violent flashbacks and then going in a different direction. Now it feels as if to keep 'Ash' as an active character we have to pick and choose when it's convenient to have Voq take the lead or Ash. So it was Ash that was abused (which it really looked like that to me) but when 'Ash' killed Culber he was who?? He was Ash. That who he was. He didn't flip out to his Voq side until he was in the Mirror Universe. If he's 'Ash' enough now he has every right to have his abuse recognised but he should also be held accountable for killing a man.So he decided to run away with his rapist?
This storyline is highly confusing. It's unnecessarily convoluted and slightly offensive if they're going down the sexual assault route.
