#and he probably doesn't even have dooku

[wantonlywindswept]

okay but like space jesus baby anakin declaring 'you can't kill a jedi' and the force is like 'oh shit fr? guess that's how it is now'

so jedi just. stop dying. they're confused but maybe okay with it? like some of the older ones still die of old age but when they're out fighting somehow they always make it through

palpatine is furious. he knows what's going on and tries to convince anakin that jedi CAN die, look at all these past instances, but anakin just looks at him like he's crazy 'okay but none of the jedi I'VE met ever die'

and palps is desperately trying to prove that jedi can die by actually killing jedi but like. no. they can't die. all his attempts to kill them fail.

and anakin is a nine year old child going 'well if i've never seen it happen then obviously it's not true'

10-year plan to wipe out the jedi foiled by one (1) overpowered boy confidently deciding that jedi can't die, seeing that jedi never die growing up, and thus continuing to believe that jedi cannot die even when there's a war on and jedi should DEFINITELY be dying

palpatine has time scheduled every night just so he can scream into the void in frustration

[maidenvault]

During my last rewatch of the prequels I was actually shocked by how much I've misremembered or decontextualized certain moments in my mind because of how they're often talked about in fandom as showing the Jedi as too arrogant, too bureaucratic, generally just burying their heads in the sand while everything goes bad etc. So I'm gonna try to address every individual scene that typically gets brought up to argue that this is an actual theme in Lucas's portrayal of the Order.

The Council doesn't take Qui-Gon's account of meeting a Sith seriously.

Mace and Ki Adi Mundi do both express doubt this guy could be a Sith. (Understandably! Historically they've never known Sith to be able to hide their existence, and for them to have survived totally in secret for a thousand years is a pretty wild thing for Qui-Gon to be so sure of.)

BUT Yoda admits that the dark side is hard to see, and Mace assures Qui-Gon they'll do everything to find out the identity of the attacker. Later he's ordered to go back to Naboo and try to draw out Maul to discover more. Qui-Gon accepts this and doesn't ask for backup. Why should he? He held his own against Maul before, and Maul's probably not gonna show himself again to face a ton of Jedi. They end up missing the chance to learn who trained Maul because of how things go down, but Qui-Gon's death isn't the result of the Council mishandling the situation.

At the funeral, Yoda says the presence of one Sith means there's another out there. They know they've got to be on guard now and will be, but they've got no more leads for now.

2. Qui-Gon's not here to free slaves.

There's this idea that slavery existing on Tatooine shows the Order is apparently too tied up doing shady things for self-interested politicians (footage not found) to help the people who really need it. But Padme's shocked to know the Skywalkers are slaves for a reason. The truth is there isn't a lot of slavery in the galaxy at this time because the Jedi have helped keep it that way for centuries only by working with the Republic. In TCW we see that Zygerrian slavers have a particular hatred of Jedi because they're literally The Anti Slavery People and did so much of the work to crack down on their trade. But Tatooine is controlled by the Hutts and they simply don't have the resources to start a war with them.

(And honestly, it's crazy how people talk like Qui-Gon's a monster for honestly and apologetically telling Anakin no, that's not why he's here. This is a child he's already indebted to and who has a hero-worshipping idea of Jedi, it would be fucked up for him not to be clear about how he can't help him and his mom.)

3. They doubt Dooku could be behind the assassination attempt.

This I understand shows the Jedi to be a little naive. But they knew Dooku as a good man, and at this point he and his followers are still putting on a show of wanting to secede for idealistic reasons (and a few of them, manipulated by Dooku, actually do have good intentions). Only later do the Jedi learn they're illegally building an army before they've even officially left the Republic and clearly have no interest in the peaceful resolution Padme's been advocating for. And they only find this out because they have Obi-Wan investigate the assassin and this very quickly leads him to Dooku.

4. "Arrogance, yes. A trait more and more common among Jedi. Even the older, more experienced ones."

In context, this line from Yoda is clearly not meant to be taken so seriously. Obi-Wan says he fears Anakin is too arrogant, and this is Yoda's light-hearted way of telling him not to be so hard on him. Part of training a Padawan is learning to trust them so they can grow, and Obi-Wan perhaps needs the reminder that he isn't done learning himself.

Of course Yoda saying this could be partly motivated by them having been caught off guard before by the existence of Darth Maul and the dark side clouding their awareness, as we're told repeatedly throughout the PT they know is a problem. But it's kind of contradictory to take this as confirmation that this is a serious fatal flaw of theirs. If someone acknowledges their own arrogance then they're aware of their ability to be wrong, which means they can't actually be that arrogant. If truly meant in a general sense and not just as a gentle reproof of Obi-Wan, it's a pretty self-deprecating comment coming from Yoda.

5. "If an item does not appear in our records, it does not exist."

Chief Librarian Jocasta Nu gives this haughty response to Obi-Wan looking for Kamino, a system that's not in the Jedi Archives. So being so overly confident in the infallible knowledge of the Jedi, he takes her word for it and totally drops this lead.

Except no, he goes to someone older and wiser to figure out what this actually means. And he and Yoda are forced to conclude that the unthinkable - a trusted person among them somehow had reason to erase information from the archive - must nonetheless be what happened. This is honestly an exception that proves the rule: Kamino, and we can assume only Kamino, is missing from the archive only because it was removed, which is so suspicious it just shows he must be on the right track to discovering something. Jocasta is kind of snooty about it but theirs obviously is supposed to be one of the most accurate and complete databases in the galaxy.

6. Obi-Wan doesn't believe what Dooku tells him about the Senate.

For one thing, in this conversation Dooku's lying about basically everything but this. And I can't ever stress enough that Palpatine is a threat unlike anything the Jedi have ever dealt with before, who's already taken control of so much before they even know they're fighting anything, so the idea that a Sith is controlling the Senate would be really hard for anyone to believe.

Still, we know Obi-Wan reports this to the Council anyway. But it's a vague statement and they still don't have any information to act on. Palpatine soon has them very busy putting out fires in the war, and naturally fighting the Separatists who are led by Sith seems the best way for them to get to the bottom of what exactly is going on with the dark side. And they do finally turn their attention to how power-hungry Palpatine is getting once the war is nearly over and they've got the bandwidth for it, and think about what they might have to do if he's the threat to their democracy they fear, but of course he's too many steps ahead of them all the time.

---

So basically, what we see the Jedi being so guilty of in these examples are thought crimes. When confronted with the crazy explanation that happens to be true, their instinctive reaction is "No, I don't think that's possible." And then they do their due diligence to uncover as much of the truth as they can anyway. And Yoda, the Grand Master of them all, is often the first to admit that their first assumptions could be wrong. But Palpatine wouldn't be a good villain if his moves were predictable and he couldn't get an advantage over the good guys - that's just how storytelling works sometimes and it's not that deep.

It honestly felt stupid typing so much of this out because it's 90% just describing what actually happens in these scenes. But I guess it's a lot to ask that people actually carefully watch the films they discuss. 😒

[galactic-rhea]

you know, maybe I'm wrong, but my interpretation of Anakin/Vader and Redeemed Anakin is that he pretty much is aware he's terrible. He pretty much thinks of himself as a monster even before becoming Vader, he considers himself one as soon as he had to leave Shmi to survive as a slave alone while he got to become The Chosen One and travel the stars (his basic understanding of love is self-sacrifice), he knows the tusken massacre was bad, he knows murdering disarmed Dooku was bad; he knew turning against the jedi and helping Palpatine was bad; he's extremelly self aware of his violence and hates himself for it.

I think it's easy to think of him as nonchalant or as sort of a shameless dick about it all because his General At War Persona was to be jokey and pretend he's having fun. He's very confident on his ability for Murder (tm), he (tragically) became one of the Best general jedis in the order by becoming good at murder, he's useful when he's being murderous at the right people; so he has no doubts on his abilities on this regard; that doesn't mean he isn't aware of how fucked up and cruel it is, but he keeps doing it, and it's all he knows; he was born in violence, raised in violence, taught to yield a extremelly dangerous weapon, groomed into violence, rewarded for violence, cheered for violence, with Ahsoka then he had to teach violence, and then violence just became something that ran in his blood, it came to him easily, too easily because he was never given the means to deal with such a extreme hyperviolent paradigm. So yep, he knows he's good at murder and little self-preservation.

And he probably despised himself for it, he saw himself as less than a being with human rights, he saw himself as a weapon and he hated not being seen as a person, and at some point he became apathic about it, the fight left him as soon as he had no future with a family. As Vader his hate and anger is just cold fury, is mostly apathy and a void of emotions, there's just pain and self-disgust and regret and old anger, there's not even trying to be something else anymore, it's all he's ever been good at and all he's being asked to do.

So redeemed Anakin (which canonically just means Ghost Anakin lmao) acting oblivious or playing the dumb or victim card it's just something I can't even imagine him to do; like Anakin is aware of being violent and messed up and Bad, but he is completely unable to concieve the idea of having been a victim because besides violence, Anakin's other big trait is that he never ever processes trauma and he horrifically has a history of blaming himself instead of the people who owned him.

This guy, when he was at his best as a Jedi, was pathologically prone to suicidal missions even when it wasn't a necessity, he thinks he's an asset, a means for his superiors to impose their stance and chose to own it, instead of blaming his superiors he just hates himself because he can't stop pathetically reliving when he left his mom behind, when he carried her corpse, when he retaliated against even innocents including kids, when he hurt Padmé, all the times he failed, and the he lived in his personal, fitly created just for him, inferno and had no plans to escape it until one certain sunshine farmer showed up, and all because he thinks he deserves the torture and the abuse and being owned because he's just good at murder and nothing else.

So yeah, no one probably hates him more than himself. Someone could tell Ghost Anakin he's a monster, the worst thing that ever happened in the galaxy and he would say "Yes." And no attempts at arguing or whatsoever, his dignity couldn't be lower if he tried, he would half-heartly agree if someone like Luke said the emperor did him wrong by, y'know, torture him? But then he would also say something like "Well, yes, but cruelty is the way of the Sith, what else could be expected", he's just terribly messed up and couldn't stop himself from defending, at least a little, his literal groomer and abuser and master, and he certainly won't expect forgiveness, like,,,,at all. He can, and will, make excuses for people directly hurting him, but he also would retaliate in terrible ways against anyone, guilty or not, if it meant doing it for someone he cared about.

So Anakin is just...used to being used, and falls easily into being used because it's what he knows best, freedom feels useless and uncertain after he lost padmé.

It's an increíble vicious circle: He worked himself hard to be useful because being useful it's what makes people like him and a means of survival, he then hates himself for being just useful and loosing his personhood, and because he hates himself and thinks he doesn't deserve any sort of...human rights, he keeps on being a mere weapon, an object, but what a good and expensive weapon at least, repeat.

So nope, this guy would be completely unable to even dare to play the victim or excuse himself, even less act as if he doesn't understand he did wrong.

[phoenixyfriend]

Something something Dooku survives the Clone Wars, the Imperial Era, and even a few years past the OT...

And Luke finds him while looking for More Jedi to help him teach.

Chewie recognizes the decrepit old bastard, and there is yelling, but being A Hundred And Nine has mellowed Dooku out in his own dusty hermit hut, on the other side of the galaxy from Ben and Yoda's hermit huts.

All the Jedi ghosts are unhappy with this but Dooku is… not REFORMED, technically, but he's old and tired, even if the Force keeps him a bit more healthy and energized than the average Old Guy, and humans routinely live to pretty unreal old ages in the gffa anyway so really 109 for them is probably like 85 for us.

But yeah. Old mountain hermit (to contrast the desert and the swamp) who's been in hiding from That Dick Sidious since he lost both hands to babyface Vader in 19BBY.

@jebiknights (Sammie) said:

Dooku finds out Luke was also trained by Yoda and is like "oh Yoda finally gave me a younger brother like I always wanted"

Alternately he could probably get Luke to call him Great-Great-Grandfather.

Sammie: Funniest option is he's both which makes Luke even more confused lmao Ghost Obi wan in the background like "stop fucking using non Jedi terms to describe Jedi relationships it doesn't fucking work"

Luke calls him, irreverently, Gramps, but also. Leia definitely recognizes him as a Recent Historic Political Figure, but not until AFTER Luke has already integrated Dooku into his new Jedi school.

"Why did Chewie let him do that?" He thought it was funny. (And/or if you like Chewku, you can make this some sordid exes thing.)

"Why did R2 let him do that?" Best keep evil man in electrical prodding range.

Sammie: Leia comes to the school for her biweekly Jedi lessons and sees the newest teacher was a traitor to the Republic 😭

Best if they can find Quin or Ventress out in the black. Partly because like. Does this make Ventress their step-grandma (Quinlan's on-off something) or their great-great-aunt (Dooku's 4th apprentice)?

Sammie: Both and also Luke's niece. Luke has a migraine by the end of it and Leia is ready to disown herself. Ventress: I didn't realize the Jedi were so incestuous Luke: war flashbacks to before he realized Leia was his sister

Ahsoka in the corner with Spacebucks, five years late "Y'all suck. Hey, Quin."

Sammie: I know you likely didn't bring up Quinlan thinking of QuinObi but now I'm imagining Quinlan declaring himself their grandpa when he meets the twins bc 1) he loves to cause chaos 2) he does/did consider Anakin his kid even if not in neat non Jedi terms and 3) Obi-Wan thought being considered Anakin's father made him sound old, and Quinlan needs to harass him beyond the grave

Dooku must have a cane that the ghosts heckle him about because He Clearly Wants To Be Just Like Yoda.

@lyntergalactic (Lyn) said:

I feel like evil gramps could really bring out Ahsoka's snark once she shows up and that would be highly entertaining Ahsoka is simultaneously his most and least favorite grandchild

She's the most experienced as a Jedi (Ventress went full Sith, not just leaving the Order but following the tenets like Ahsoka, and Quinlan isn't in the lineage), has never Fallen unless you count that thing on Mortis.

Also she WILL bitch Dooku out at this age, and honestly he kind of appreciates the brutal honesty.

Ahsoka: I'm not a Jedi. All the old people: Lies

She brings up the Hondo incident since nobody else is putting in the effort. Anakin and Obi-Wan COULD as ghosts but nooooooo she has to do everything around here.

Sammie: Oh but it sets them off so hard they can barely get the story off from laughing NGL I think the twins did not understand how truly annoying Obi-Wan and Anakin could be together until the Hondo story gets told.

They are The Worst.

[yanderes-galore]

Yandere platonic duo Maul and Savage for a night sister reader who’s blood related to then ( same planet and all lol ) hcs if that’s alright 

Oh this could be neat! Sure, here you go :)

Yandere! Platonic! Darth Maul + Savage Opress with Nightsister! Darling

Pairing: Platonic - Sharing

Possible Trigger Warnings: Female Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Overprotective behavior, Sexism (Nightsister culture), Violence, Murder/Mass murder, Isolation, Dubious companionship.

Both of them have mixed feelings towards Nightsisters, particularly their mother.

Savage seems to fear and resent them, while Maul respects yet resents them.

You are a Nightsister who was raised on Dathomir.

You probably didn't actually know much about your brothers at first.

Male and female inhabitants tend to be separated in this culture.

Females, like you, often being witches and learn various Magicks.

This was where you resided, a Nightsister in training under Mother Talzin.

Since Maul and Savage were male, you rarely saw them and instead focused on magic.

Plus, well, they were doing vastly different things at the time.

Your mother sometimes mentions you have siblings, yet that's about it.

The one you probably met first was Savage and Feral.

You knew of him and had a feeling you were related in some way.

Yet even then you never interfered with him being picked to be a warrior, in fact you may have been instructed to help transform him.

Maul you just straight up don't meet for a while as he was taken when he was very young.

Nightsister Magicks allow you to dabble in the Dark Side which already makes you similar to your brothers.

Savage probably doesn't even know you're the closest thing he has to a sister until Mother tells him.

This is both an interesting concept and a complicated one.

Nightsisters don't usually leave Dathomir, that's where they are the strongest.

I don't imagine you interacting with your two brothers unless forced.

Like, for example, after the massacre Dooku orders.

Savage is the brother you meet first.

You meet him properly when he comes back to Dathomir after fighting Dooku.

Originally he doesn't seem to enjoy conversing with Nightsisters.

Not like you can blame him, you did help make him a tool.

Although, he seems more likely to converse when Mother mentions Maul being the brother of both of you.

Savage isn't very trusting of you at first.

You may be his sibling, but you are also a Nightsister.

Part of him fears you... although... eventually conversation comes easier between you.

Savage had no idea he had more siblings than Feral.

Yet it turns out he's related to a Sith Lord and a Nightsister.

It takes him time to get used to you.

He always has some hesitation... yet soon he realizes you can be useful to him.

You may even help turn Maul back to his normal self, which improves how your brothers see you.

The two start to be cautious around you.

Yes, you're their sister, but you're also a Nightsister.

Imagine if you're sent with them before the massacre on Dathomir?

That or maybe they find you in hiding on Dathomir after Dooku sends Grievous.

I feel that's when the yandere behavior kicks in.

Savage may fear your origins, but he still sees you as his sister similar to how he sees Maul as his brother.

Maul may see you as a useful asset and take you with them while he plans revenge.

Originally you're taken just to help them with their own plans.

However, once the fall of the Nightsisters reaches them, the two realize you're one of the last surviving Nightsisters... along with their sister.

Maul doesn't typically value familial connections.

Yet he'll admit, he's seen how Savage treats you.

After the death of the Nightsisters, Savage cast away his hesitation about you and took up a brotherly role with you.

Maul originally paid no mind to this, yet when speaking to you...

There was a certain connection he couldn't shake, what's even better is your Magicks were useful.

It was rather unexpected when the two eventually started caring for you.

They're both Sith yet there's a certain fondness they share for you.

Savage shows it more, Maul often hides it.

Savage is more attentive and caring, often growling towards anyone who seems to get too close.

Savage is more akin to a brutish bodyguard, often helping Maul hide your true identity.

Maul's more focused on planning.

He has your identity hidden and probably even teaches you a few Sith tricks as you're attuned to The Force.

In Maul's own way, he cares for you as his sister.

Even if it seems he's trying to push you into the role of apprentice at times.

Their species tends to be possessive (my HC).

While Maul is more restrained when it comes to people around you, he often has to have Savage quiet his growling.

Or, if Maul wishes it, he'll have Savage deal with someone who seeks to be causing you or them trouble.

Maul is definitely the more manipulative brother.

Savage is often the one sent to take care of threats to their goals.

Maul on the other hand... He tends to manipulate others onto his side.

He particularly enjoys manipulating you into his plans.

You won't protest, will you?

It's not like you can return to Dathomir anyways.

You only have your two brothers.

Savage has always been the protective one, he's that way with Maul too.

Maul is protective too, although he seems to use Savage more than anything.

You're the one he seems genuinely interested in protecting... hard to tell if it's out of love or not.

I feel it's obvious these two are going to kill over your.

They're Sith assassins, they're used to slaughtering others.

Maul even slaughters innocents just to get the attention of Kenobi.

It would not surprise me in the slightest if either of them killed someone for just suspecting what you are.

Or even if someone looked at you wrong.

These two eventually even claim Mandalore to have a crime empire.

Murder is such an easy price to pay for them.

You've seen it countless times.

If someone suspects your power, a saber quickly cuts their body with ease.

You've seen their massacres.

You know what they can do.

Would they isolate you? Definitely.

There's no need for them to kidnap you if you have nowhere else to go.

Maul convinces you that with them is the best outcome for you.

You're a survivor, after all.

With them, you can hone your skills, you can help keep them in power.

You may not be as strong as you were on Dathomir... but one of them would probably train you like a Sith to help with that.

Savage claims they both love you as their sister.

Maul often speaks about how good it would feel to be in power with him... and Savage.

The two don't let you think of Dathomir much, or even Mother.

With them, you can be so much more.

Especially on Mandalore.

No Jedi or other threat will touch you if one of them watches over you.

Even when Savage falls, Maul takes you as his apprentice.

You belong with them, you deserve a powerful life with them.

Doesn't it feel good to finally be with your brothers? To feel powerful with the Dark Side?

You don't trust his words... but you accompany them anyway. They really are all you have left.

[ahsoka-in-a-hood]

But anyway the idea that Vader is too far into the dark to ever return is probably antithetical to the general idea of star wars, since, you know, the ending, but there was definitely a sliding escalation into him being convinced he'd gone too far this time. Even in AotC he has this moment of sheer panic and despair at fucking up supremely, but between Padme's acceptance and getting swept up with events he manages to brush it under the rug for a big. He can continue that uneasy trend when he kills Dooku and stuff, but he feels locked in when he helps kill Mace. At that point I think he gets into the mindset that he's gone too far this time but, actually, at this point I think if someone had talked him down, Obi Wan or Padme or Ahsoka- it might have worked. After he sacks the temple, now that- that is a point he refuses to return from, not without collecting his prize, no matter what anyone else can say. He's paid too high a price already. That wasn't done in fury, or panic, that was inescapably a choice. It can't have been for nothing. Still even then, he probably thought that if he just got what he wanted, if Padme asked him to walk away after that, then fine, but not yet, so she should shut up and stay out of it until the bargain is completed.

After he's killed her too, and Obi Wan left him, that's when he decides he just going to be evil now forever. Still, he will eventually come to the conclusion that he doesn't have to do all that. That it's never too late.

[darth-jess]

Anakin: A Genius and an Idiot

I love the headcanon (is it a headcanon or just an observation?) that Anakin Skywalker is just a complete idiot in addition to being a genius.

Like, don't get me wrong, he's extremely intelligent, he's often described as a genius, and I really don't think that's an exaggeration. He is an incredible strategist, he understands people and knows how to motivate others. I know he doesn't give off the vibe that he's very book smart but he's the kid who barely studies at all and somehow still absorbs all the material.

He also knows himself very well, and you see this in how he pursues Padmé. He is confident in himself and he knows what he wants, and he's not afraid to admit it. You also see this in his guilt over the things he's done: massacring the Tusken Raiders and murdering Count Dooku. He's not stupid, he knows these things are bad and it really eats away at him that he did these things, that he was capable of doing these things.

Even as Vader, he absolutely knows that everything he's done is his fault. He knows Padmé's death is his fault, he knows Sidious manipulated him, he knows he's a slave. He knows he betrayed all his friends and it amounted to nothing.

However, I think that sometimes he's just completely blinded to things that should be obvious.

Like… Obi-Wan makes it pretty damn obvious he knows that Anakin and Padmé are A Thing but Anakin thinks he's being pretty secretive about it. Skywalker notoriously lacked subtlety. Honestly, the whole Jedi Council was probably aware.

Also, in ROTS when Anakin is seeing Padmé for the first time after the battle over Coruscant, he picks her up and hugs her and like… he didn't feel how pregnant she was? DUDE.

I also think it's funny that the Jedi have literally allowed other Jedi to be married (Ki-Adi Mundi, for one, as well as Revan and Bastilla Shan) and Anakin didn't think they'd make some kind of exception for him, for the Chosen One. Like if he'd come out and told the Jedi Council that he was married to Padmé, they would absolutely disapprove but he was too valuable to them for the Council to banish him from the Jedi Order.

Don't get me started on all the instances of Anakin blatantly missing the obvious during the Clone Wars, as well. It's absolutely wonderful.

[jedi-enthusiasm-blog]

Hypothetical question for you

Assuming Mace manages to Kills Palps and it's not a mutual kill or Mace isn't killed by Anakin. How do you see Mace and the other Jedi managing the Senate and the other Republic institutions without things devolving into a War of the Diadochi esque situation between Palps cronies like Tarkin and Armand Isard and the Senators? The Episode III novel isn't really specific beyond this one passage.

-

"Have you considered," Ki-Adi-Mundi said carefully, from faraway Mygeeto, "that if Palpatine refuses to surrender power, removing him is only a first step?"

Mace looked at the blue ghost of the Cerean Master. "I am not a politician. Removing a tyrant is enough for me."

"But it will not be enough for the Republic," Ki-Adi-Mundi countered sadly. "Palpatine's dictatorship has been legitimized— and can be legalized, even enshrined in a revised Constitution—by the supermajority he controls in the Senate."

The grim future inside Mace's head turned even darker. The Cerean was right.

"Filled with corruption, the Senate is," Yoda agreed from Kashyyyk. "Controlled, they must be, until replaced the corrupted Senators can be, with Senators honest and—"

"Do you hear us?" Mace lowered his head into his hands.

"How have we come to this? Arresting a Chancellor. Taking over the Senate—! It's as though Dooku was right—to save the Republic, we'll have to destroy it..."

Yoda lifted his head, and his eyes slitted as though he struggled with some inner pain. "Hold on to hope we must; our true enemy, Palpatine is not, nor the Senate; the true enemy is instead the Sith Lord Sidious, who controls them both. Once destroyed Sidious is... all these other concerns, less dire they will instantly become."

-

Keep up the good work!

I have honestly no idea of how they would handle it. In my headcanon, Mace would probably just give himself up, confess, explain his reasoning and hope it doesn't backfire on the Jedi.

That's the brilliance of Palpatine's plan. He won the 4D chess match before the Jedi even realized they were not playing checkers.

At that point the only thing the Jedi could do was damage control.

[gffa]

What are your thoughts regarding the “Lost Twenty” of the Jedi Order?

I think it's significant that the Jedi not only create busts to remember them, but display them in the library where anyone can walk right by them--a reminder to everyone, adults and children alike, that it's possible to leave the Jedi life and that path is perfectly valid, the Jedi won't stop you, they'll remember you fondly. When Jocasta is talking with Obi-Wan about Dooku in the deleted scene, she literally strokes the bust of him and speaks with such a fond smile about how his politics took him on a path away from the Jedi:

Or there's a scene in Dooku: Jedi Lost (Disney supplemental canon, so take it as you will) where Yoda and another Jedi Master are walking a bunch of children through the Archives and they ask about the busts. Yoda takes the time to point out that asking about the Lost Twenty is a good thing for the kids and speaks highly of them, that many of them went on to become leaders of some kind, some chose to teach, but most simply vanished, and the whole scene is speaking well of all of those choices.

The Jedi aren't ashamed that some Masters chose to leave, they're not afraid of teaching their children about that even, which says a lot about how they're not forcing this life on others, how they're not trying to hide that other paths are available for Jedi, they're supporting that. And I like that it's specifically the Lost Twenty Masters over the course of their history, because it makes sense to me that there would probably have been far more Jedi who left as younglings or even Knights, when they were still figuring themselves out, because being a Jedi takes a huge commitment, that's one of the things Star Wars as a whole emphasizes, that the Force and the Jedi way is a very serious thing, it takes a lot of dedication, it's not just a whim. And being able to touch and use something as powerful as the Force should require a huge commitment, especially because of how it works based on your thoughts and feelings, you have to be mentally stable to use it, that's literally just how it works. But by the time you're a Master, you've had time to really consider your life, you've had time to question whether you really want this, you've had time to commit yourself truly to this path--and you can still leave! They'll still give you a bust in the library! It just doesn't happen very often because, by that point, a Master would have been asked to undergo several Trials to make sure this is what they want, to make sure this life is right for them, and given a lot of time to consider it. So, that we know the Lost Twenty were a thing in the Jedi Order, that it was significant enough to include in the worldbuilding and specifically how it was included (in a positive way), says a lot about who the Jedi are and how they treat those who leave. I mean, look at Dooku in AOTC, Mace and Ki-Adi-Mundi spoke positively about him right up until he was revealed to be a Sith Lord, because they trust Jedi who decide this path isn't for them. And if you go by Padawan (and possibly Tales of the Jedi), Dooku was STILL VISITING after he chose to leave:

Not only that, but he was there to talk with the Council because they still valued him:

Or in Tales of the Jedi, he was there during the events of The Phantom Menace because he asked Qui-Gon about the Sith he ran into, showing that he was still welcome:

He was also there after Qui-Gon's death, by which time he was already under Sidious' tutoring, so he would have had to have left the Jedi by the time of Qui-Gon's funeral:

Take Disney era canon as you will, of course, but even without it, the Lost Twenty speak well of the Jedi and how they treat those who decide to leave, even the ones that have spent decades committing themselves to this path. The Jedi are open about how you can always walk away, you can always change your mind. They ask that you be serious about it, but they make sure even the younglings know that it's always an option!

[tossawary]

Having finished the first "Jedi Apprentice" book... some thoughts based purely on that one book and the movies...

On one hand, I do think that no one should have ever let Qui-Gon Jinn be responsible for a child. Like, yeah, the Jedi Council keeps sending children into horribly dangerous situations all the time (because it's kids media, this is how kids media works), so I will not put Obi-Wan repeatedly being in lethal physical danger entirely on Qui-Gon (it's a little bit on him); there's an institutional issue here. But, for the love of goodness, that aside, Qui-Gon is obviously just not currently equipped to take responsibility for and help a child's emotional and mental wellbeing.

On the other hand, I do think that this was... decently written? The characterization is clear. I do understand why Qui-Gon Jinn thinks the way that he does even if I find a lot of his thoughts infuriating and strongly disagree with his conclusions. His past experiences with a padawan fucked him up and it's coloring all of his current choices, and he knows it but doesn't want to examine exactly how. PLUS there is the cultural / institutional element of even Jedi initiates being deadly little killing machines and padawans regularly being sent into danger. Qui-Gon grew up this way, he evidently views some element of this as normal and acceptable. This is along the lines of what happened to HIM as a child.

And that's interesting. Obi-Wan Kenobi will later turn around and make some of the exact same mistakes with Anakin Skywalker.

PLUS there's the knowledge that Qui-Gon was trained by Dooku and... I have to believe that Dooku was probably worse, honestly. Like, I have not read the additional materials that might show off that master-apprentice relationship, but Dooku became a damn Sith Lord who waged war against the galaxy because he thought that accelerationalism would fix shit, which suggests to me that he was probably a strict and demanding master, probably not especially emotionally available, especially emotionally intelligent, and/or especially respectful of, like, other people's opinions or feelings. I won't assume at the moment that it was intentionally abusive or that there wasn't some affection there; I AM going to assume that the Dooku & Qui-Gon dynamic was in some way dysfunctional as all get out, though.

Qui-Gon is actively refusing to take a padawan because he knows that he's not in a good place for one and doubts his own teaching abilities! He really does not want to be responsible for a child! (And Yoda is going, "Fix him, I can," and by "I", Yoda means "12-year-old Obi-Wan Kenobi".) Unfortunately, Qui-Gon is so desperate to avoid Xanatos happening again that he shies away from taking even temporary guardianship of Obi-Wan Kenobi for the duration of a transport flight.

So, while knowing that Qui-Gon Jinn is going to fuck up even harder in later books, my current vibes for him are... He's like one of those unintentionally toxic parents who is doing their best most of the time but honestly can't see what exactly is fucked up about their behavior, because THEIR parents were WAY worse and even more abusive, and also general society generally agrees that "not starving your child" / "not beating your child with a belt" / "not causing any physical harm" is the peak of "good" parenting. I would bet that Dooku's expectations for Qui-Gon's skills and behavior as a 12/13-year-old were extremely high.

So, Qui-Gon means well, and is probably internally holding himself up against Dooku and correctly seeing that he is WAY better with kids than Dooku, but unfortunately, Dooku REALLY sucked as a teacher and guardian. (Like, Dooku may have successfully passed on skills, but the whole experience was generally volatile and unpleasant for Qui-Gon.) So "way better than Count Fucking Dooku" still lands us all firmly on: "Oh, shit, Qui-Gon fucking sucks at this, actually."

And Qui-Gon KNOWS he sucks at this! He knows he's not good with Obi-Wan, even if he doesn't fully grip his own position and impact. He's busy risking his own life and nearly dying multiple times fighting pirates and mining overseers right now in this first book, so he doesn't exactly have the time or the tools to fix his shit right now, even if he knew where to get started and actually wanted to rip open those old wounds. (And he does not.)

[antianakin]

Pong Krell. It’s universally agreed that he deserved worse than what he got and I get that. I just wished we got to see what he was like before he Fell. Did he always hate clones, was it gradual? Did he suspect something off and went over paranoid?

I’ll say this one and I’ll say this probably a thousand more times but I wished the creators focused on more details with characters. It’s absolutely fascinating that they created a Jedi that Fell but did nothing with it besides outright evil.

How other Jedi reacted to learning that a fellow Jedi betrayed everyone? How did the Republic?

I just wished they did more with him than just, yeah that dude was a dick and killed clones.

Yeah, it's one of the things I don't like as much about TCW, the extremely episodic nature of it means that there really is never any build-up to anything or lasting impact from anything. Unless it's happening within one of the 2-4 episode arcs, we RARELY get to see any kind of build-up or fallout. It's one of the major issues with Barriss, too, we see her ONCE in season 2 and she's calm, kind, methodical, and selfless. And then three seasons later in season 5 she's suddenly ruthless, selfish, doubting everything and everyone, merciless, etc. There is NO BUILD UP to that radical 180 to her character and there's no real exploration of how Ahsoka really feels about that particular betrayal afterwards, the focus in later episodes after the Wrong Jedi focuses only on Ahsoka feeling betrayed by the COUNCIL and her feelings about that. Nothing since TCW has ever touched it either (Rebels, Mandalorian, the Ahsoka show). Satine's death never really comes up again after it happens aside from Bo-Katan being an asshole. Obi-Wan goes from being totally fucked up about Maul coming back to being chill enough to take on Maul and Savage alone and winning without us getting to see him actually deal with those emotions.

Pong Krell and the Umbara arc IN GENERAL falls into this category easily (so do the Zyggeria and the Deception arc tbh). Krell is such a basic evil character, there's so little nuance to him and we never get to see the Jedi react to the revelation that one of their own turned at all. Dooku turned after he had already left the Order as far as any of them really know, but Krell was still IN the Order when he decided to betray them and it would've been really interesting to see the impact of that on them. It would've been ESPECIALLY interesting to explore that more during the Wrong Jedi arc in particular in how the Jedi feel like they can't trust their own people not to betray them anymore after Dooku and Krell.

Krell is presented with like. Zero nuance. He is just unequivocally evil and despite Anakin greeting him in a friendly way at the beginning, the visuals tell you this dude's no good right from his first appearance. There isn't really any chance that he's going to be a good guy at all. So all we are left with are headcanons.

And I remember discussing my Krell headcanons somewhere, but I think it might've been on a Discord server I've since left, so I unfortunately cannot find them again. So I'll try to remember them and immortalize them here, I guess.

Here's the thing about Krell. NO ONE suspects him. So he cannot be overtly acting like a bigoted asshole from the jump at any point, he HAS to be acting in such a way that it's not trickling out to the other clones and to the Jedi themselves that Krell is an absolute monster. Even Fives takes a moment to decide that Krell is suspicious and only brings up Krell's casualty numbers after he sees Krell's behavior for a minute and combines that knowledge with what he's now personally experiencing and is starting to come to conclusions based on that. He doesn't go into the relationship thinking Krell is worse than any other Jedi already.

And based on what we know of EVERY OTHER FALLEN JEDI (Dooku, Anakin, Barriss), they didn't start out as monsters. Dooku was a highly respected Jedi Master who seems to have had a really positive relationship with Yoda and Qui-Gon and simply became disillusioned with the Senate and his care for the people of the galaxy got twisted into something darker over time. Barriss was kind, selfless, compassionate, brave, and resourceful, and it was the war that caused her to start letting her fears and pain consume her into turning on the Jedi. Anakin was kind and spent years having his fears and doubts twisted into selfishness and greed and darkness that allowed him to justify murder and genocide for power. So it wouldn't make sense to me that Pong Krell wouldn't fall into the same pattern where he was once kind and good and selfless and brave, but that the circumstances surrounding the war caused him to lose faith and fall.

My headcanon is that he lost an entire battalion early in the war, much like we see happen to Plo Koon during the Malevolence arc and that that loss and failure just BROKE him. Krell DID care about the clones, he cared about his men, and he FAILED them all. And I think that he saw all of these clones dying by the dozens in all of the other battalions and instead of choosing to let go of his pain and fear and lean into his compassion, he chose to distance himself from them entirely to make it hurt less. If he didn't care about the clones, if he just saw them as the cannon fodder that the Senate treated them all as, then it would hurt less when they died. Maybe the Senate itself even dragged him over the coals for that initial loss. Or perhaps it was the opposite, maybe most of his battalion was killed, but it ultimately ended in a victory anyway because they were forced to just keep going despite the consequences. And so Krell decides to enter this mindset where he is disillusioned with the Senate and just CANNOT allow himself to care about the clones, because it won't change what the Senate is going to do to them anyway, so he may as well just treat them the same way.

And this wouldn't have happened overnight. It wouldn't have been a sudden 180 where he decided he was just going to treat them like shit. But he maybe decided to put some more professional distance between himself and his new battalion, not get close to them, not use their names (although he still knows them, still remembers them all). Maybe one day they're in a tricky situation and all of his options are bad, he HAS to sacrifice some of his men in order to salvage the situation at all, and it's a choice between a full retreat that he KNOWS the Senate won't take well, or sacrificing the men to achieve the victory. So he sacrifices the men. It's not an entire battalion, it's not even a whole company, but it's more than it would've been if he'd retreated. Maybe next time, there's a choice between going back to save some of the men even if it poses a risk to his own life or the mission or something, and he chooses not to go back for them because the mission is more important, or he rationalizes that his life is more important as the Jedi General. And it's just more and more little decisions like that that add up over time to being able to see the clones as nothing more than tools.

The disillusionment with the Senate leads to him sort-of agreeing with things Dooku and the Separatists have said and he can look at the war and realize that it's entirely possible that the Republic is going to LOSE, and he CANNOT be the one who loses again, so maybe he starts bouncing around the concept of maybe switching sides. And of course initially he rejects the idea. He's a Jedi, he won't just abandon the Republic, he can't be a traitor, who in the Separatist side would ever trust him anyway. But once that seed is planted, it doesn't go away and it keeps coming back up and he keeps finding ways to rationalize why it might be a good idea and then deciding not to do it over and over again. Until one day, he can't convince himself that it's a bad idea or that it wouldn't work. He tells himself it's the ONLY option, if he doesn't change sides then he's dead. But Dooku WON'T trust him unless he can prove that he's not on the Republic's side, so he has to come up with a plan to gain their trust. And what better way to earn that trust than to ensure a Separatist victory in an important campaign by double-crossing the Republic.

And once he's chosen to go down that path, it's even EASIER to stop caring about the clones because, well, they're all dead anyway. The Republic is going to lose, the clones are all dead men walking no matter what, so why bother caring about them or trying to keep them alive? He can't lose so often that the Jedi or the Senate become suspicious of him, of course, but it's REALLY easy then to get to Umbara and treat the clones like crap and turn them against each other and intentionally try to get them all killed. They're dead anyway, he's not the one killing them really, is he, the Senate is, the Jedi are, the war is. They were dead from the moment they were created in that test tube because they were created for this specific purpose. It's not his fault.

And much like Barriss turns against the Jedi in part because she did LOVE the Jedi and was devastated by what she saw happening to them and the pain of seeing her people forced to become something they were never supposed to be, as much as her actions were intended as some kind of message to try to sort-of save the Jedi from a course of action she saw as their downfall, I think that Krell turns on the clones because at some point he DID care about them. A lot. And that care became his downfall, the pain at what was being done to them just absolutely gutted him and it threw him down a path that ultimately led him to turn against the very people whose deaths had hurt him so badly just a few short years ago.

Krell might not have been the most effusive or emotional person prior to the war or anything, he might've been a more reserved person similar to Mace or Dooku or Luminara, but I think he probably was a perfectly good Jedi who was kind and selfless and compassionate once upon a time.

And none of the headcanons above have even touched what his relationships with other JEDI must have been like. It's just as possible that he did have friends and people he considered family among the Jedi. Maybe he had a padawan once at some point. And maybe all of those people had died by the time we get to Umbara. Maybe he had to watch a lot of the people he was closest to just fall like flies, and so it starts feeling like nothing matters. Maybe one of the Jedi who died on Geonosis was a former padawan of his, but Krell himself obviously wasn't there and the pain of THAT loss and the guilt he feels at not having been there (even though this padawan had been knighted for a while and there was a good reason Krell wasn't there that day) just sticks with him, too, and he never quite manages to let that go, either.

I think a lot of people choose to just headcanon Krell as having just always been kind-of an asshole even when he was a Jedi, but that doesn't work for me. If Krell was always an asshole, I feel like the Jedi would've stepped in at some point before the war even HAPPENED and tried to manage that situation. And it doesn't match up with the way pretty much every other fallen Jedi has ever been written, where they were GOOD PEOPLE once upon a time who saw awful things happen that they couldn't stop or had an awful thing happen TO them that they couldn't stop and the pain of that experience consumes them to the point that they spiral into darkness as a result. Krell should be the same way, which means he likely was a perfectly good normal Jedi before the war. He would've been kind, he might've been good with younglings (he's tall, maybe he was the one the younglings went to all the time for piggy back rides, maybe he often taught dual wielding to padawans who asked because of how clearly proficient he is at it), he might've taught a student of his own successfully, he would've been wise and selfless and compassionate, he would've loved the Jedi and the people of the galaxy.

Like, to be frank, if Tales of the Jedi HAD to explore a fallen Jedi story, they should've explored Krell instead of Dooku. Dooku has been explored before, we know quite a lot about him and his motivations and his backstory, but Krell, as you noted, is left a mystery and is stuck in the realm of being just purely evil for the sake of the story they were telling in this one arc. Krell needed more nuance in a way Dooku just did not.

[jedi-enthusiast]

Yk one thing I barely see talked abt is the fact that Mace Windu's lineage and thus legacy is one of the longest Order 66 surviving ones in Star Wars WHO STAYED TRUE TO THE JEDI ORDER'S PRINCIPLES.

Like damn, Mace rly managed to establish a liniage of highly competent and compasionate Jedi. The Shatterpoint Lineage either outlasted or survived for nearly as long as the Disaster Liniage who pretty obviously stopped truly representing Jedi with Obi-Wan (only rly returninh to the true jedi way with Luke if ya see him as part of that lineage)

Like- who do we have in the Shatterpoint lineage ?

-Master of the Jedi Order , died trying to save the galaxy from the Sith

-Former council member, died saving her padawan from her brainwashed men

-Rebel Jedi training a student despite everything that went down , died saving his padawan & loved ones from a giant explosion

-THE GUY LITTERALY ABLE TO GET THE CHANCE TO FORCE TIME-TRAVEL WHO SEND HIMSELF INTO EXILE TO PROTECT THOSE HE LOVES & THE GALAXY

And who do we have in the Disaster Lineage :

-Guy with questionable methods who did his best

-OBI-WAN who rly doesn't need any explanation (who's also the last true Jedi with expection of Luke (if you counf him) to come out of this lineage)

-a genocial manbaby with an alergy for any sort of moral code or basic logic

-a pick me shitting on her own adoptive family, who isn't even a Jedi if we are being honest (sry Ahsoka, but your character to assasinated to a point where I just can't anymore)

And honestly ? It says a LOT that Mace Windu's lineage stands as pretty much last bastion of a true Jedi Lineage from the old Order.

Agreed 100%

And ngl I find it so funny that people constantly praise the Shatterpoint lineage- (Depa, Kanan, Ezra) -and then shit on Mace like, my dude, WHO DO YOU THINK TAUGHT DEPA AND PASSED ON THOSE VALUES TO HER AND THEREFORE HIS LINEAGE???

But no, Mace's lineage is by far the best imo---I love Obi-Wan and Luke and Yoda, but they get negative points for having not one but TWO genocidal fascists in the lineage- (Dooku and Anakin) -and then someone who thinks the Jedi brought on their own genocide- (Ahsoka) -and then someone who decided that the fate of the galaxy was less important than her feelings and probably kickstarted another war- (Sabine, apparently, since Felony shoe-horned her into the lineage).

Meanwhile the Shatterpoint lineage has the head of the Order who almost won the Clone Wars and stopped the Empire from being created, who only failed because he was betrayed- (Mace) -then an amazing and empathetic general who was literally so selfless that she sacrificed herself to save her padawan- (Depa) -then someone who fought against the Empire, successfully overcame his own issues to both train a padawan and then forgive those who he thought willingly murdered his family, and then sacrificed himself to save his family and give the Rebellion a leg up on the Empire for the Battle of Lothal- (Kanan) -and finally someone who let go of all his grief, rejected the Dark Side SEVERAL TIMES, and then sentenced himself to a life in exile to protect the galaxy from a genocidal fascist- (Ezra).

Like...there's really no competition here.

In the Imperial Era, Mace was probably sitting back as a Force-ghost, watching the Disaster lineage fuck up the galaxy and then have to fix it all over again, smugly staring down Obi-Wan and Yoda like-

Mace, smugly: Hm, did you know that today Kanan taught Ezra how to connect with animals? I'm so proud of them.

Obi-Wan, watching Anakin commit even more mass murder and Ahsoka blame the Jedi for Anakin's actions: Must be nice.

Yoda, staring down Dooku, who literally tried to take over the whole galaxy with a fascist regime: Yes. Nice, it must be.

[miscommunicationtree]

Formula 1 Star Wars AU (Jedi version)

Oscar is Mace Windu's favorite Padawan. He's really good at Soresu, maybe being trained in Vaapad as well. Good at diplomacy, weirdly, because he just doesn't say that much (but maybe that's the trick). Nicknamed "Loth-Car" by no one (Lando). Blue lightsaber, single blade.

Lewis is probably in the Council, really close with the Living Force. Really good at Ataru. Was he in a relationship? Is he still clinging onto it even if it isn't really with the Jedi Code? That's something for you to ask and for him to not answer. Green lightsaber, single blade.

Lando is Mace Windu's LEAST favorite Padawan (the second least depending if Anakin exists or not), probably has something to do with Lando breaking Mace's bedroom wall. Long story. Lando is definitely a Djem So user. Blue lightsaber, one single.

Charles is the Council's favorite child. He's now a Knight. Sadly, he's really good at diplomacy. Probably uses Makashi. Probably had some unfortunate Master like Dooku or something. Good with the Cosmic Force. Green or purple lightsaber, one single blade.

Max is Yoda's favorite, and nobody knows why. Yoda just wants fun, man. He's also a Knight. Really good at driving. Do you have to drive inside of an asteroid belt? Call Max. Do you have to course through the entirety of the Outer Rim and come out unscathed? Call Max. Do you have to win a Pod Race in a random planet with shady laws? Call Max. He's a Djem So user. Every Padawan wants him as their Master (Max has no idea why and is panicking). Knows probably every planet in the Galaxy. Blue lightsaber, single blade.

Carlos is Depa Billaba's favorite. Knows the Halls of Healing really well (This isn't a compliment, Carlos). He's getting wiser with age. He already has a Padawan (who?). A Makashi or Ataru user, idk. Good with the Living Force and the Unifying Force. Green lightsaber, one single blade.

George is favoured by the whole Council. He's also very scared of going to the Lower levels ("but what if they just shoot us, Alex?" "we have LIGHTSABERS, George!"). He has partaken in a political revolt in an Outer Rim planet when he was a Padawan (he's a Knight now). He's SO, SO GOOD at Diplomacy (Obi-Wan took this as an opportunity). Soresu user. Green lightsaber, one single blade.

Alex is Plo Koon's favorite and he's even following his steps because WHAT DO YOU MEAN you just FOUND a force sensitive human child??? WHAT DO YOU MEAN "HIS NAME IS FRANCO"? WAS LOGAN NOT ENOUGH?. He's also really good with the Living Force and loves to spend time with the little younglings (George, please, stop staring). Yoda favors him a little bit bc of this. Green lightsaber, one single blade.

Fernando is a Council member for sure. Wouldn't be surprised if he was behind the order of 10 thousand clones (for no reason). He went rogue for like a couple years but he's here, don't worry. Also does anybody know why he keeps visiting this guy named Mark from Corellia?. Ataru user. Purple lightsaber, two single blades. (if he could he would have a pink one, but alright)

Esteban is probably like a Jedi Instructor and so, so sweet with the Younglings, the Initiates and the Padawans. (Ignore the fact that he almost killed Pierre when they were young, multiple times. In his defense, Pierre started it). Really good at Ataru. Blue lightsaber, one single blade.

Pierre is really good at combat, and has already a Padawan (Paul). He used to have a little feud with one of the other Jedi Initiates but shhh (everyone knows) Djem So user. Blue lightsaber, double staff. (uuu, so evil)

[varpusvaras]

Bail got the news in the middle of his breakfast.

Onaconda was the one to call him, looking so uncharacteristically concerned that Bail knew immadiately that something big had happened.

"Castle Serenno was attacked a few hours ago", Onaconda told him. "They have reported Count Dooku dead."

Bail wasn't sure what to think. He didn't agree with many of the Count's political views, but he was well aware that the man was still widely respected even in circles that disagreed with him even more than Bail did. An assassination would've been bad enough, in the times of rising tensions they were living now, but for someone to go as far as to destroy the entire Castle?

It seemed like someone truly wanted the Count gone, and wanted to be sure.

"Is there any information on the attackers?" Bail asked, already opening up the news as he spoke.

"No", Onaconda said. "No one has claimed the attack. There were sightings of some ships, of course, since the attack was so large, but they have not been linked to any Republic world so far."

So it seemed. Bail glanced at the news he had found.

"This is alarming", he said.

"You don't need to tell me that", Onaconda said. "If the culprit is not found soon, there will be even worse times ahead when people start to blame each other. I'm not sure if the current situation can handle something like that."

Bail sighed. This was not how he had wanted to start his day.

---

"The Jedi want to investigate the attack, I heard", Mon said. "The Count was a former Master, after all. They probably feel like this was personal, in some way, even if the Count was not part of the Order at the time of the attack."

"I heard as well", Bail nodded. "Though the Chancellor hasn't brought it up. He is still looking into other options for investigation."

Mon frowned slightly.

"Odd", she said. It was, Bail had to agree. Usually, Chancellor Palpatine was more than ready to trust the Jedi in situations like this, but now, he had not even had a meeting with them regarding the matter.

It was odd, certainly.

Mon glanced around a bit, and leaned closer.

"Has the Chancellor...seemed somewhat strange otherwise, as well, after the attack?" She asked, quietly.

"He is probably just nervous", Bail said. "The Count was a central figure in the anti-Republic movement, after all. It is rather easy to see this as an aggression from the Senate's side. The Chancellor wants to avoid any armed conflicts."

Mon hummed.

"You're probably right", she said. "Something about all of this just...strikes me as weird."

"I know", Bail said. "I'll try and propose a meeting with the Jedi for the Chancellor. We need to solve this issue quickly, before more arise from it."

He did agree with her. Something about all of this was indeed weird. Bail just didn't know what it was, exactly.

---

"The Chancellor declined the meeting?" Breha frowned. "Does he think that the Jedi wouldn't be impartial enough?"

"Most likely, though I don't think that there is a group that is impartial enough for both sides", Bail said. "The only solution would be to get into an agreement with worlds that have taken part in the movement. The Chancellor has just been rather avoidant with it all."

Breha was quiet for a moment.

"That is quite...worrisome", she said. "Do you think that he could know something more?"

It was a thought Bail had not wanted to voice himself.

"I'm not sure", he said. "But it's a...possibility. Everything is, at this point. I am just worried about the fact that nothing is happening. This could all get out of hand, quickly."

"There has not been any signs of true aggression before this", Breha pointed out. "It would take time for them to respond. We still have time. The Chancellor might be pressured into taking action, and doesn't want to rush it."

"Of course he doesn't", Bail said. "We still need to do something, before anything worse happens."

---

Bail hadn't expected at all what happened next.

He was more than sure that nobody had.

The information came flooding in everywhere all at once. Palpatine was long gone by the time people were sent to apprehend him on his apartment on Coruscant.

By the time they had tracked his ship outside the Core, there was nothing left than depris.

The records recovered from Palpatine's ship showed more of the same ships that had taken out Count Dooku.

This time, though, they all knew who the ships belonged to.

"A clone army?" Padmé shook her head. "I can't believe it."

Neither could Bail. A whole army, designed to go against the armies of the Separatist movement, and in the end, betray everyone without having any say in it, and turn the Republic into a tyrannical Empire?

It sounded impossible.

But it wasn't.

Bail had not felt this lost in a while.

---

The Jedi sent a message to the Senate after arriving to Kamino.

The City where the cloning facilities had been were completely empty. Everything had been taken. There was not a single clone left.

The Kaminoans, who had been there, had said that the clones had risen up, taken the city for themselves, and then fled, and no one had any idea where they were.

"I cannot fault them", Breha said. "If they found out that they were made for an awful purpose like this...I cannot fault them for doing what they did."

Neither could Bail.

"I just wished we knew where they were", he said. "Though I can understand if they want to stay hidden. I hope that they will find whatever they need to survive."

"So do I", Breha said. "If they ever want to come back...then Alderaan is open to them. They didn't ask for any of this, so we must do whatever we can to repay them."

Bail couldn't agree more.

---

The clones didn't come back. Sometimes there was a sighting of them, but they managed to disappear before anyone could get too close.

It seemed like they were getting by, at least.

Jango Fett had disappeared as well. Many were getting rather frustrated over the fact that they were not able to apprehend him and bring him in for questioning.

Bail couldn't fault the man for not coming forward either. From what he had understood from the infromation, Fett was a father now. That was most likely his main concern right now.

---

Bail frowned at his datapad. It had been a long day already, and the vote was getting near, and he needed to get his speech ready, and it just didn't sound like he wanted to-

A hand pressed gently at the side of his face.

"What is it?" A voice asked him. It was a man's voice. Soft, with an accent different from Bail's, one that he thought endearing.

The hand moved up, and fingers ran softly over Bail's brow, smoothing the skin. Mostly because Bail couldn't frown anymore, not when-

Bail woke up in the early hours of the morning in his apartment on Coruscant.

He stared at the wall, still reeling from how real the dream had felt and trying to figure out what had woken him, when-

-when everything came back to him in one single supernova, so fast that his mind couldn't keep up with everything. The war, the Empire, Leia in his arms, the Rebellion, the flash before everything disappeared, Breha growing older before his eyes, the voice from his dream-

No. Not from his dream. From his memory. Golden eyes, steady hands, cold body in Bail's arms-

Bail stumbled out of his bed and threw up. He then sat on the floor of his bedroom, his eyes closed, reliving his whole life over and over again, until finally, everything seemed to find their own place on the timeline, and the burning inside his head lessened.

He got a droid to clean up the vomit. He then got up on his shaking legs and went to the bathroom to clean himself up.

Then he cried. He wasn't exactly sure what he was crying about- about all the suffering, all the death, about Leia, about Fox.

He decided it didn't really matter. He was already crying.

He had managed to somewhat dry his tears when his commlink started to ring. He sat down on the bed as he answered the call, and managed not to cry again as Breha wept.

---

The message arrived a day later.

We are here. You know where to find us now. Come, if you remember.

Bail was moving before he could even properly register it.

"I want my ship ready, now!"

He had already packed essentials and draped his cape over his shoulders when his thoughts finally caught up with him.

What if he doesn't remember you?

What if he is not there?

Bail pushed the thoughts away. He had the time to think over the journey.

He called Breha before they made the jump to hyperspace.

"He is not dead", Breha said, in a way that left no room for any arguments. "He will be there."

Yes. Fox's death had happened the same way two times already- there was no reason for the universe to suddenly change the course. Bail had to just believe so. He had to.

They had lost him already before.

Bail was not going to lose him this time.

He breathed deep as the coordinates were set, and the ship made the jump.

Now, he could just wait.

---

The wait had been excruciating.

It was impossible not to go through all of his memories during the journey. It had hurt, sometimes, but Bail wasn't going to let him forget again. No, he needed to remember everything.

His hands were shaking when they jumped out of hyperspace, the planet the coordinates were set on looming beneath them. It was rather easy to find the settlement based on them.

Bail's heart was in his throat as they started to land.

"There are a lot of people", Sateen said. "I know they won't do anything, but-"

"I will go", Bail said. "Just me. I-"

"I know, I know", Sateen said. He then smiled. "I'm sure he remembers. They wouldn't have sent the message if they didn't, right?"

Sateen was correct. Bail nodded, and tried to level his breathing.

He tried his best not to run out of the ship, but his steps were still quick.

There was a large crowd outside. Bail had by now learned to tell the clones apart from each other for the most part, even without the armors, but still. Bail couldn't see him-

There was someone who he did recognise straight away, standing in front of the crowd.

Commander Cody had all the regality and authority of a man who had seen years of war, and Bail knew that he remembered as well.

Bail stepped closer to him. Fox was his younger brother, and his batchmate, or at least had been before. If anyone knew, he would.

"Commander Cody." Bail nodded his head in greeting.

"Senator Organa", Cody greeted back, without hesitation. Yes, he certainly knew.

Bail's heart felt like a engine hammer falling. He needed to know, now.

"We got the message." Somehow he managed to say it without his voice trembling. "Can you tell me where-"

There was movement in the crowd. Bail glanced over, and-

There he was.

Fox looked staight at him, and Bail knew that Fox knew him.

His body was moving already, his legs picking up speed. Then Fox was there, within his reach, and Bail caught him in his arms as their combined momentum sent them straying from the straight-forward course. Fox's upper body was half way over his shoulder, as he gripped onto Bail just as tightly as Bail did onto him, his legs tangling off the ground. It didn't matter. Bail would've held him like this forever, if he needed to.

He did put Fox down eventually, just so he could look at him better.

He looked just like Bail remembered. There was less light streaks in his hair than before, and there were a couple of scars missing that Bail knew he had gotten early on into the war, but otherwise, he was just like before.

Fox looked at him, his hand coming to rest on the side of Bail's face as Bail traced the shape of his jaw.

"Hey", Fox said, his voice almost a whisper, like he didn't trust himself to speak any louder. Bail understood. There was something lodged in his own throat, something that was sure to come spilling out if Bail talked too loud.

"Hello", Bail said. "Hello, my love."

Fox smiled. There were tears gathering into the corner of his eye, and Bail lifted his hand to wipe them away.

They stayed there for a moment longer, before the world expanded back to include others as well. Fox breathed in, and stepped back a little. Bail didn't want to let go yet, and it didn't seem like Fox did, either, because he dropped his hand down, in order to grab onto Bail's arm.

"We need to talk", Fox said. He sounded more serious now, but not in a way that made Bail feel like he was going to tell him something the didn't want to hear. No, this was just something else important. "And...I need to introduce someone to you."

He sounded a bit hesitant, his eyes seaching Bail's, like he was looking for confirmation of some sorts.

Bail smiled.

"Of course", he said. Fox seemed to relax, and he smiled back a bit, before taking Bail's hand, and leading him towards one of the many buildings.

---

"I know it's a lot to ask", Fox said, not looking at Bail directly as he spoke. "I know you- we talked about a girl, and I know that you had one, I heard the news back when-"

"Fox", Bail said, as gently as he could. Fox snapped his mouth shut, and his arms tightened ever so slighty around the small body he was holding against him. "It doesn't matter. I was already a father to a brilliant daughter once. No one is ever going to replace her in my heart, the same way no one could ever replace you. That doesn't mean I won't ever love another child just as much. They are different people, just like you are different from all of your brothers."

Fox finally looked up at him, his eyes full of careful hope.

Bail put his hand on his arm.

"Can I see him?" He asked. Fox nodded, and slowly opened his arms more, letting Bail closer.

The baby had a round, soft face, and a light layer of dark hair on his tiny head, not yet long enough to curl. In the dim lighting of the nursery, his eyes were the same exact shade as Fox's.

The baby looked up at Bail, and Bail loved him already.

"He's perfect", he said, and leaned down to press a kiss to the bright smile on Fox's face.

---

They sat together in Bail's sleeping quarters on the ship.

"Have you thought of a name, yet?" Bail asked. "I know that naming is an important thing for you all."

There had been a lot going on before they left, so Bail had refrained from asking about it before now. Fox had been busy packing up and saying goodbye to all his brothers, and Bail had taken the time to talk more with Commander Cody, as well as met up with many of the members of the Guard. He had been happy to see Thorn again, as well.

Fox looked at the baby on Bail's arms. It was a familiar feeling, to hold such a tiny body, a feeling that Bail had missed greatly after Leia had grown bigger.

"If you want to have a say, we can talk about it more", Fox said. "But I've been calling him Even. It's not a Mando'a name or word, but one of the trainers back on Kamino once told me that it meant a gift. I...after all of what happened, and how we are here now, it just felt right."

"It does", Bail said. "A gift, for all of us."

Even sniffed in his sleep, and turned slightly more towards Bail. Bail smiled.

---

Bail held back a little when they got out of the ship. He stood there at the bottom of the bridge with Even and watched as Fox took Breha in his arms and spun her around, her laughter ringing out like the most beautiful song in the entire Galaxy. He waited patiently as they talked to each other in low voices, and smiled softly as Breha kissed every inch of Fox's face, like she was making up for all the time they had lost.

Then her eyes moved from Fox to Bail, and from Bail to Even. Bail smiled at the look in her eyes as she and Fox made their way to them.

Breha first reached up to press a kiss on Bail's cheek as well.

"A succesful trip, dear?" She asked.

"Very much so", Bail answered. "Enjoyable as well, at least on the way back."

He let himself smirk ever so slightly, making Fox flush and Breha to tap him on his arm.

"Have some manners", she said, and then peered down the little face. "Hello, little love."

Even blinked at her, excitedly searching her face. In the late afternoon sun of Alderaan, a few specks of gold shined through in his dark eyes.

"Here", Bail said, and turned his body properly towards her. She didn't waste a single moment to take Even into her arms. Motherhood had always looked right on her, and it still did.

Bail looked at her, at Even, and at Fox. Perhaps this wasn't the same family he had been given before, but it was still his, and they were all home.

Truly, a gift, for them all.

(Based on my Cody Day fic Like Suns rise and Stars fall)

[phoenixyfriend]

Heiress of the Count AU

Early in the Imperial Era, Vader is sent along as The Muscle for someone's trade negotiations with what's left of the CIS. There's not much, all told, and they've already capitulated to The Big Ask of submitting to the Empire, but bureaucratic minutiae still need to be pinned down, and they're still cohesive enough that it'll be easier to discuss things like tax rates by meeting with a few representatives than hashing things out planet by planet. Vader doesn't want to come along, but Sidious said he had to (and then laughed).

Once he arrives, he finds out why! The head of the loose coalition of CIS planets is the Countess of Serenno, Asajj Ventress.

Asajj is listed as Count Dooku's primary heir in the will, despite him trying to kill her and her fucking off to be a bounty hunter instead. He still cared? Was fond? He still regarded her well enough to name her as basically his adopted daughter. The line of succession will revert to Dooku's nephew if Ventress doesn't have any heirs of her own, and a good portion of the larger estate did go to him (and some pockets went to Obi-Wan), but the title, castle, fortune, and throne went to Asajj.

She doesn't know what the hell to do with it. But then comes the situation of negotiating with the Empire, and her... cousin? Grand-nephew? Whatever the fuck Dooku's actual blood nephew is. The guy said she had to go because she was the only person around that could claim to be at least somewhat resistant/unintimidated by Imperial lackeys, being a notably powerful Force User with a history of Jedi Kills.

So Asajj is now the new face of what's left of the CIS.

And she's honestly pretty likely to recognize Vader as Anakin, if they're in the same room for a few hours and she's calm enough to try and figure out which idiot is in the massive armor.

IDK where this goes but I think maybe Asajj could pspspsps Vader out of the Empire by mentioning that the nightsisters had a better grasp of necromancy than the Sith, and if Vader really wanted to follow through on whatever it was about immortality that got him on Sidious's side (she's heard Amidala is dead, and the two weren't subtle, though she doesn't mention it), then she's basically the only one left alive that could help him access the right Dathomiri texts to fuck around with dead souls.

Anyway. Countess Asajj. I want to put her in fancy outfits and have an actual noble (Dooku's nephew) as her long-suffering chief advisor.

(The man is not planning to usurp or betray her because she's letting him have a fair amount of power and will probably let the line go back to him anyway, possibly even abdicating after the situation is stable enough that they don't need her Former Sithliness anymore, so like... what even would be the point? Waste of resources.)

[yanderes-galore]

Yandere platonic Savage compress who’s grown fond of his new apprentice while working for the sith at the time.

Sure! Here's me rambling about him ^^ Added Maul because I feel they're too connected to leave out of one another.

Yandere! Platonic! Savage Opress with Apprentice! Darling

(FT. Platonic! Darth Maul)

Pairing: Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Possessive/Overprotective behavior, Slight manipulation, Murder, Abduction, Isolation, Possible OOC Savage, Dubious companionship.

As part of his mission, Savage Opress was made to be Count Dooku's apprentice.

Honestly in the show he's always been an apprentice.

He was one for Count Dooku and then forced to be an apprentice to Darth Maul after he lost their fight.

Him getting an apprentice probably wouldn't happen...

Yet let's tweak the narrative.

Savage Opress met you when you were a young Sith in training.

Maybe you also worked under Count Dooku, that or you become someone Savage Opress manipulated into being part of the Sith?

The first option seems more plausible as Savage Oppress doesn't seem all that... manipulative compared to other Sith.

Regardless, Savage Oppress didn't expect to take you in as an apprentice.

Although, as he got stronger under Dooku's training, the opportunity eventually came.

You were to be under him for missions, Dooku claiming he wants to see improvements from both of you.

Normally masters and apprentices of the Sith aren't meant to be fond of one another.

Hate makes Sith stronger with the Force.

Savage Opress knows this due to how his training with Dooku goes.

Yet Savage Opress doesn't outright harm you as your 'master'.

Which makes the title a bit dubious.

He encourages you to fight with your rage though.

Despite being a brutal assassin, it's odd how much he's merciful with you.

You... just remind him of a sibling in a way.

After all, he was a big brother at one point in time.

You two may indeed get in fights, yet Savage notably is against roughing you up too much.

Unlike Dooku who would use Force lightning the second you didn't use your full strength...

Savage hates that.

Which, as a Sith, is probably good.

You weren't meant to be his 'apprentice' forever.

It was meant to be temporary to train him, yet when his initial plan to kill Dooku goes wrong...

He just takes you with him.

Dooku probably left you with him, expecting Savage to kill you in a blind rage.

That didn't happen though.

As much as Savage is a beast, it's not like you betrayed him.

Which ends up with Savage snagging you as his own.

You struggle to see him as a master because of how he treats you at times.

Even though you both aren't the same species, he acts as though you have a kinship with one another.

Truthfully Savage probably was never master material.

He treats you like he's meant to be your brother more than anything.

It's odd, while he's rough at times, you're more of a companion than a pawn to manipulate?

I don't doubt savage would drag you back to the Night Mother, then probably take you to find Maul with him.

You train with Savage many times under his watch.

That's what master and apprentice are supposed to do, after all.

Yet even you can sense an uncharacteristic fondness in him when he fights or works with you.

Even at Lotho Minor, Savage never takes his eyes off you.

It's weird, Sith don't typically have familial connections like this.

They usually breed hate... yet Savage is an enigma to you.

Savage is noticeably protective of his apprentice.

It's nothing like how a Jedi treats their apprentice, yet it's also unlike a Sith.

You're stuck with Savage during the Maul situation too.

Savage makes you stay back when he reasons with the beast his brother's become.

You still keep your Saber up though.

By the time Maul regains his mind, that's when you feel the aura of a true Sith Lord.

Maul only ever saw Savage as an apprentice honestly.

He may even be baffled at the bond you and Savage have.

You? His apprentice?

Absurd.

... but he can work with this.

I have a feeling you'd get two platonic yanderes eventually.

Savage's whole goal after Dooku was to meet Maul.

Which means Maul and you were going to be acquainted eventually.

What probably ends up happening is this...

Maul becomes Savage's master, while you remain Savage's 'apprentice'.

Although to Maul... He probably views it as him having two apprentices.

Savage is a brute after all... You both may need a guide in his eyes.

Anything Savage is taught is eventually taught to you.

Imagine if Maul himself ends up growing fond of you?

Maul has always wanted an apprentice to get back at those who have wronged him.

Now he technically has two....

Back to Savage, it's obvious he's an odd master to have.

You're taught how to use your rage by him but he doesn't seem to be a great teacher.

Not without Maul.

Savage mostly acts like a protective older brother, taking on most of the threats while you're meant to finish things off.

He feels a bit too nice to you, honestly.

Which is where Maul comes in.

Maul isn't as affectionate, in fact there's times he sees Savage's protective behavior as unnecessary.

Even though over time he starts doing it himself.

He tells Savage to be more cruel with you, that he needs to manipulate you.

Savage does... but it's more like him making you rely on him instead of what Maul intended.

Savage as a yandere can be brutal.

He may be nicer than most Sith or even Zabrak... but those who he isn't close to are demolished.

He's possessive, even if it manifests as him protecting you.

The thought of Jedi or anyone taking you...

Well, Savage plans to have them pry you from his claws if they want to try that.

His species are naturally good fighters and Savage is actually a strong Sith.

He'll crush bones, snap metals, and split his enemies in two over you.

He even feels a small amount of jealousy towards Maul when he offers to enhance your skills.

Savage thinks you're his apprentice, after all.

Maul may just find this behavior amusing.

Oh lovely, more hate Savage can use.

You most likely aren't surprised by Savage's behavior.

That or you see his possessive and ruthless nature as normal.

That is until you realize it's because of you.

Even then, best to not look too much into it, right?

Savage doesn't seem all that affectionate, either.

Maybe he occasionally pulls you close against him during fights, but I doubt he'd be overly smothering.

It doesn't seem to be in the culture?

Overall, Savage is animalistic and ruthless when it comes to taking down foes beside you.

He doesn't want anyone harming you, in this way he's selfish.

He can't have anybody taking you, after all.

This is an excellent source of rage for him... hatred caused by his fondness for you.

An animalistic and primal feeling that causes him to want to tear others apart for being too close.

He growls at passersby and never seems to have you out of his sight.

Maul only seems to encourage him at times just to get things done.

Savage cares for you more than any Sith master ever could.

When he dies, you'll probably be fine on your own.

Free, even.

Until Maul decides to step in.

It's about time you had a proper master than his brute brother, hm?