#jedi and sith codes alone were flawed

[lankoshine]

Star Wars. Far away galaxy forever Khaetskaya Elena Vladimirovna

My preface: I've wanted to post this for a long time. This text literally expresses my attitude to what is happening with my favorite character Anakin Skywalker, and confirms my doubts about the "wisdom" of the Jedi Order (they are not fools, but they are not wise men either). Wisdom should include all aspects and all-round thinking, but at times it "stagnates", "ossifies" and turns into a rotting swamp, in which the light that it should carry is drowning. And as a result, enlightenment turns into extinction and darkness.

Further words of the author:

Jedi: "the era of stagnation"

“The main content of the second trilogy, that is, the prequel, was the story of how Anakin crossed over to the dark side of the Force and how the entire Templar was destroyed ... That is, excuse the reservation: not the Templars, of course. Jedi. All Jedi were destroyed. Except for a few - Obi Wan Kenobi and Teacher Yoda. The first film, The Phantom Menace, portrayed Anakin as a boy; the next two - "The Clone Wars" and "Revenge of the Sith" - a handsome young man.

Anakin's childhood was not that unbearably difficult or completely bleak, but it could have been better. His mother Shmi and he himself (father, by the way, is unknown) were in slavery from the dealer of spare parts Watto, on the familiar "hole of the universe" - the planet Tatooine. Since Anakin from an early age was distinguished by diverse talents (for repairing equipment, for programming), the owner encouraged his studies, and the boy was busy with creativity: he would assemble a racing car from the trash, then he would build a robot and program artificial intelligence for it.

So, by the way, the boy Anakin created, again, the well-known droid C-3PO. Talkative, cowardly, endowed with useless good manners, the bore C-3PO, whom we fell in love with as Luke Skywalker's "funny magic assistant", it turns out that it was once designed by his father. (But then this droid's memory was erased, so he started the "original" trilogy from scratch.)

Naturally, such an outstanding embodiment of the Force as the boy Anakin could not remain unnoticed for long, and soon he was discovered by the Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn, who immediately recognized the Young Anakin as the Chosen One. According to ancient prophecy, the Chosen One must restore balance to the Force (by exterminating the Dark Ones). In any case, the Jedi were obliged to take possession of this promising child.

By and large, it was the Light Jedi who brought Anakin the first real grief. It was they who separated him from his mother when they took him from Tatooine for the sake of a "great future" which, for Anakin himself, remained an empty phrase. The reason why the powerful (and, undoubtedly, not in need of funds) light and noble knights left the boy's mother in slavery and inflicted severe moral and psychological trauma on him remains unknown. You can find some kind of "rational" explanations, for example: a real Jedi must free himself from all earthly attachments - but this does not change the essence of the matter. Which of the nine-year-old Anakin is a "real Jedi"? And why should he suddenly free himself from attachment to his mother? After all, this is the most natural and, in general, the most positive of all emotions - love for mom!

Jedi ideology, presented in different ways from the screen, is constantly bursting at the seams. You can, for example, remember how Obi Wan Kenobi, in the form of a Force ghost, appears to Luke in Return of the Jedi: "You must stop Darth Vader." Luke, a mentally healthy and sensible young man, answers quite logically: "I cannot kill my own father." Then the luminous ghost of Obi Wan sighs and says, “Then everything is lost. You were our last hope."  What happens? That the Jedi were urging Luke to commit an unnatural act - parricide? And they did it right from the focus of the Power! If the earthly, living Obi Wan spoke so, it would be possible to write off such speeches for the usual human ability to make mistakes, to be delusional. But Obi Wan is already a ghost of the Force, so he cannot be wrong. Why is he pushing Luke to the brink of a psychological and moral abyss? Maybe this is the last test? Provocation? Harsh - and risky, especially when Luke remains "the last hope" ...

The Jedi's behavior towards Anakin Skywalker looks much more brutal and far more risky. No matter what they argued, remaining within the framework of naked theorizing, in practice the picture looked monstrous: in fact, they raised a man with their own hands, for whom it was the most natural choice to kill all the Jedi.

Moreover, the viewer, on common sense, comes to the conclusion that Anakin, in general, if he was not completely right, then, in any case, was not greatly mistaken when he chose the Dark Side.

Let's try to trace the path that led Anakin to the dark side.

... Qui-Gon took the boy with him to the planet Coruscant (where the capital of the Galactic Republic was located) and demanded permission from the Jedi Council to teach the Chosen One in all the intricacies of Jedism. By the way, the Jedi Council is very pompous meeting in the spectacular Jedi Temple on the same Coruscant. This temple plays an important role in the history of Anakin and consists of five giant spiers. The largest spire, in the center, serves as a sacred place for contemplation. The other four are the High Council, the Primordial Knowledge Council, the Reconciliation Council, and the Reassignment Council. (This structure alone can judge how complicated, even bureaucratic, everything was arranged in the Jedi world ... somehow not in Zen, to be honest!)

So, the Council did not give permission to train the boy Anakin. There is nothing to spoil the child! First, Anakin is too old to start training. The boy is already at a conscious age, he has significant life experience. It will be difficult to brainwash such a guy. Secondly, Anakin experiences negative emotions - fear and anger. Which is not surprising given his past. (The fact that the attitude of the Jedi to Anakin's life circumstances was the reason for the increase in fear and anger is not taken into account.) Quite conveniently, there was an occasion to regale Anakin (and the audience) with the maxim: “Fear is the way to the dark side. Fear breeds anger; anger breeds hatred; hatred is the key to suffering. I feel a strong fear in you, ”says the wise Master Yoda to Anakin during the Jedi Council.

Yoda is right in essence: fear is the father of many troubles and vices. But how soulless and out of place it all is!

Eventually, the dying Qui-Gon will instruct Obi Wan to train Anakin. Here the Council, albeit reluctantly, agrees. Why?

The most logical thing would be to assume that the Council, though slowly, came to the conclusion: it is much more dangerous to leave such a gifted boy unattended at all than to start his training, despite the "strong fear" and other "shortcomings."

At first glance, the choice of a mentor looks somewhat artificial. Obi Wan Kenobi was considered a very average Jedi, so Anakin kept saving his life along the way. The behavior of Obi Wan himself regularly looks completely reckless (if not "stupid"), and the young student had to "clean up" after the teacher. Although it is postulated that they were friends, Obi Wan constantly nags Anakin and actually humiliates him. Then Anakin, and for the umpteenth time, has to pull the "mentor" out of the next pit.

So was Qui-Gon Jinn wrong about Obi Wan Kenobi? Why did he choose such a weak teacher for such a dangerous young man?

According to one suggestion, Obi Wan was just pretending. But in fact ... Secretly ... Carefully hiding from everyone, he was a mighty Jedi. He just successfully pretended to be a weakling. But then why? Where is the logic?

Or maybe the Jedi reasoned like this: since we could not get rid of the inconvenient Anakin, we will give him a frankly bad mentor so that he does not reach the Jedi heights?

But here - in general, it does not even lurk, but lies on the surface - there is a great danger: surpassing the teacher, the student begins to wise up on his own and in the end it is not known what he will think of (which, in fact, happened). No, a strong student needs a strong teacher, and the Jedi could not help but understand this (otherwise how did they even manage to exist for so long).

It seems to us that the answer is simple: and there was simply no one better.

The Jedi in the prequel are reminiscent of the Politburo of the mature stagnation era. A formal approach, indifference to a particular living being, a complete lack of flexibility, undercover intrigues ... Yoda - and he looks ossified in his great wisdom. Humanity will come to the old Taoist much later, when the Jedi are exterminated. Presumably, then Obi Wan will cover his famous ability not to condemn anyone (you see, he had enough time, living as a hermit on Tatooine, to think over everything that happened and analyze his own behavior first of all).

The Jedi actually used Anakin. And this is very insulting: to understand that you were taken advantage of by those whom you idolized, considered the focus of the Power of Light.

By the way, Obi Wan Kenobi had a flaw with the Jedi Code: Anakin did not understand many of the provisions. And then Chancellor Palpatine appears, who begins to secretly, but consistently and intelligently cultivate the seeds of Darkness in Anakin's soul ...

* * *

So, one of the most important factors in Anakin's transition to the dark side was the lack of trust in mentors. And in this, Anakin was right: such mentors do not deserve any trust. Virtually every prominent member of the Jedi Council had a purpose of their own, and Anakin did not like being a puppet of someone else's interests at all.

One of the most important reasons for Anakin's fall is his forbidden love for Padma Amidala.

It is obvious to Palpatine (as to any sane creature) that one who has loved ones is extremely vulnerable. Therefore, noticing Anakin's attraction to Padmé, Palpatine arranges so that Obi Wan and his student receive a responsible task - to be the beauty's personal guard. And then Palpatine could just relax and wait, allowing events to develop naturally.

The Jedi Council further aided Palpatine's plan by recalling Obi Wan for another assignment. So in the end, a handsome young Anakin, not fully trained, subject to all sorts of passions and weaknesses (the Council is well aware of all this, but for some reason no one, not even Yoda, attaches much importance to this), is left alone with a young beautiful girl ... Of course, this girl is formerly a queen, and now a senator, and Anakin is previously a slave of some dealer in spare parts on a seedy planet, and now a Jedi-dropout and a bodyguard ... But when and who was it stopping?

However, yes. After all, the Jedi explained to the young Skywalker that passionate feelings are absolutely unacceptable. Was there an explanatory conversation? Was! What's more?

Only the "era of stagnation" in the Jedi world can explain such thoughtlessness. Here, what is called the “formal attitude” to the personality, its individual characteristics, and its fate worked in full measure.

Didn't it occur to any of the Jedi that it was more than enough to tell the young boy about the "harmful passions"? In order to achieve true dispassion - not the ability to control oneself after a sleepless night spent in hot fantasies, but real dispassion, when a young girl evokes nothing but warm, brotherly or paternal feelings - years of spiritual exercise are needed. And even then there are breakdowns, because all people are human and nothing human is alien to them.

And then for some reason everyone decided that it was enough for a guy overwhelmed by passions to say: "Don't look at the beautiful Padmé, she is not for you, and in general your destiny is celibacy, because that's how it is for us, the Jedi," and that's it, the job is ready , he will obey. What arrogance!

... But we remember that arrogance is one of the greatest vices in the interpretation of "late Ben", "officer and gentleman" performed by Guinness. The true wisdom of Alec Guinness gave us the answers to all our questions twenty years ago ...

However, let us follow how the Jedi themselves dug their own grave.

Anakin's feeling is passionate; his love is earthly, he longs to possess a girl. In theory, such feelings are a direct route to the dark side. In theory. In fact, they represent a completely natural stage in the emotional and physical development of a young person. Demanding that the young man behave like an eight-hundred-year old man, the Jedi actually expected the impossible from him: that he should distort, mutilate his nature. He, in their opinion, should not improve himself, not investigate and subordinate himself to reason, but simply break.

Anakin had the will to disobey. And in his attraction to Padmé, he is absolutely right.

And then the detonator of Anakin's first earthly affection is triggered: in a dream he sees that his mother is in danger. The Jedi were of no help to Shmi Skywalker. They simply took away from her the only living being that she held dear. Well, yes, she later got married, but how can you forget your son, being apart from him? Of course, she was sad and not completely happy.

And then - the raid of the sand people (the very same Tatooine natives, whom we saw in the "original" trilogy, in "A New Hope"), who captured Shmi as prey. This is what caused Anakin's disturbing dreams - he did not cut ties with his mother. The young man already knows: it is useless to ask the Jedi for help in such an "empty" case as rescuing some kind of Shmi Skywalker on the distant planet Tatooine. Serious adults have more important things to do. Therefore, Anakin simply takes the matter of saving mom into his own hands and flies to Tatooine. True, the Council sends him some orders after him, but this is about mom! And Anakin sends the Council to hell.

Mom still has time to die in the arms of her beloved son. And then Anakin is overcome with hatred. Undoubtedly, this hatred affected everyone who treated his mother so cruelly. Including the Jedi Council. But only sand people were at hand for revenge. And, not remembering himself from grief and rage, Anakin exterminated the entire tribe, including the elderly and children.

It was here that Master Yoda felt the "great outrage of the Force." Mostly caused not by the death of a minor barbarian tribe, but by the rage of a young Skywalker. It's time to actually draw at least some conclusions ...

And Anakin completely lost faith in the Light side. What intriguers they are, liars and mumblers! They didn’t really teach anything, they jerked them with discontent, tortured them with senseless (unrealizable) demands, they forbade saving my mother, they forbade me to love Padme, they forbade me to be a normal person at all - but what in return? Never mind! The sacred right to be a brainless tool in the hands of politicians who do not even consider it necessary to explain something to him.

Then another episode takes place, which can be considered the most important step of Anakin on the path to Darkness. To some extent, the Light Ones are again responsible for this step. We are talking about the operation to free the captured Chancellor Palpatine (then he had not yet revealed his true face - for some reason, even the wise Yoda did not know about anything and did not feel any "disturbances of the Force").

The intrigue was complex, but overall it looked like Chancellor Palpatine was captured by rebels - separatists. Their leader, Count Dooku, seriously wounded Obi Wan Kenobi, after which Anakin had to join the battle, who defeated the count. And then Palpatine gives the order: to decapitate the unarmed, defeated enemy - "he is too dangerous to be left alive!" (recalls, by the way, the requirement of the ghost of old Ben: to destroy Darth Vader).

Anakin, however, freezes in some doubts: somehow not chivalrously ... The enemy is defeated, he surrendered, he is wounded and unarmed ... But Palpatine is the chancellor, Palpatine insists, and Anakin obeys.

Why did Anakin obey an inhuman order that seemed wrong to him? And why on other occasions did he violate the wrong orders of the Council?

Because Anakin didn't trust the Jedi at all. And he did not have a clear idea which orders were correct and which were not, so the young man was forced to be guided by one single criterion: his own opinion. If it was about mom, then the advice is not a decree to him: in any case, mom needs to be saved. When it comes to Padmé, the Council is also not a decree: he loves Padmé. But if we are talking about Count Dooku, who is not related to Anakin at all ... here a hesitant young man who does not have clear moral criteria may obey the order. After all, in the end, he was trained: the Council is always right, obey the orders of your elders!

But the Council, as it turned out, was almost never right ...

* * *

Anakin was still with the Jedi — perhaps by momentum, but most likely — because of Padmé. Anakin eventually entered into a secret marriage with her (witnessed by two droids, our old friends R2-D2 and C-3PO).

Meanwhile, the Council is giving Anakin another reason to part with the Light Side. For starters, the young man is publicly humiliated by refusing to be promoted to the rank of Jedi Master. Moreover, he is ordered to spy on his patron, Palpatine. And this is simply low.

And then Anakin had another ominous dream: as if Padmé had died. He remembered well how the affair ended when he had a similar vision of his mother. Therefore, Anakin is terrified.

He is still trying to find some way out of the situation, remaining on the Light side. It seems that the Jedi temple contains some information that could save Padmé. But access to this part of the archive for him - as for the uninitiated - is closed. And the Jedi refused to raise the young Skywalker to the rank of Jedi, despite the high patronage of Chancellor Palpatine.

Finally, Anakin turns to the wisest of all - to Master Yoda: prophetic visions persistently tell him about the imminent death of a loved one ... what to do, what to do?

In response, Master Yoda burst out with a priceless sermon:

“Death is a natural part of life,” he said in his inimitable florid style. - Rejoice for your loved ones, who have transformed into Power. Do not mourn for them and do not grieve for them. After all, attachment leads to jealousy, and a shadow of greed leads to jealousy. You must let go of everything that you are so afraid of losing. Fear of loss can lead to the Dark Side. "

Oh, how wonderful - for eight hundred years! But it is definitely not feasible when you are barely twenty and the woman you love is facing death. (Subsequently, Yoda tried to advise something similar to Luke, but he stopped in time: it did not work with father, and will not work with his son.)

... And Chancellor Palpatine is right there: he promises to save Padmé if Anakin goes to the dark side. The dark side, according to Palpatine, has the power to conquer death.

By and large, there is nothing holding Anakin on the Light Side anymore. And he becomes a supporter of Palpatine - all, "with giblets."

And then finally the truth is revealed to him: Chancellor Palpatine is the very Sith Lord Darth Sidious, whom the Jedi hunted for a long time and without success.

Once again, Anakin’s moral precariousness is evident, and nothing has convinced him that the Jedi Council can be trusted. Discipline required the Sith Lord to be “turned in”. And Anakin reports his discovery to one of the masters, Windu. And he once again demonstrates distrust of Anakin: they say, you wait for me in the Jedi temple, and I will grab a couple of faithful knights and go and figure it out myself. Maybe this was the last straw. Either way, Anakin changed his mind.

Palpatine promised to help rescue Padmé; Palpatine was the only one who treated him with respect and support all this time. Therefore, Anakin at the last moment intervened in the duel between Master Windu and Palpatine and with a sudden blow cut off the Master's hand with a sword. After that, Darth Sidious easily destroys Windu. The choice is made, the die is cast, the Rubicon is crossed. From now on, Anakin finally goes to the dark side and receives a Sith name - Darth Vader.

* * *

It is instructive to compare how Palpatine / Darth Sidious / The Emperor lures Anakin Skywalker to his place and how unsuccessfully he tries to repeat this act with Luke Skywalker.

In the case of Anakin, the entire Jedi order is on the side of the dark side: it was the Jedi who, in their arrogance, finally shattered the moral foundations of a very dangerous young man. In the case of Luke, on the contrary, on the side of the Light side - even as if Darth Vader himself. After all, it was Darth Vader who clearly explained to Luke what an unsightly future awaits him: loneliness, universal hatred and selfless service to the nasty evil old man who, as if on purpose, gets into an important conversation between father and son, shouting: “Oh yes! I can feel the hate flowing through your veins, my disciple! " - although in fact, the Emperor in Luke does not cause anything but irritation in this scene. Palpatine is not just not listened to - he is a hindrance, a buzzing fly.

The success could not be repeated. Why?

It is speculated that because Anakin was vulnerable because of Padmé Amidala. Luke didn't have such a passionate affection.

But love, even passionate, cannot in itself be the cause of the fall. Many additional factors are required.

Everything was pushing Anakin to fall.

And everything kept Luke from falling.

The Jedi paid a terrible price for understanding, but those who remained were able to correct the mistake.

Anakin was unlucky in that sense. Nothing - neither the state nor the knightly order - can exist for a long time in a state of stagnation. At some point, there is an explosion, a revolution. In this case, Anakin - Darth Vader served as a weapon of revolution: he begins the systematic extermination of the Jedi.

Obi Wan and Yoda survived, as we know. In the final battle between his former mentor and former apprentice, Obi Wan managed to cripple Anakin and throw him into the boiling lava. Not bad for a mentor who has failed his mentorship.

"Obi Wan killed your father" - remember? Oh yes, Obi Wan, Master Yoda and all the wise Jedi Council - they all somehow killed "the good man Anakin Skywalker." All of them, with lies, manipulation, arrogance, intrigue, mistrust, insults, inattention, a formal approach to a very gifted and very young person - they all pushed him to the Dark Side.

And when this, quite naturally, happened - they tried to destroy it physically.

However, Darth Vader did not die: burned and barely alive, he was saved by Darth Sidious. Now Darth Vader has to live in a special spacesuit, equipped with a special life support system, and breathe through a mask: inhale - exhale.

Well well. It's time to remember the "prophecy": that the young Skywalker is destined to "restore the balance of the Force." In fact, such prophecies are very insidious: those who know them do their best to ensure that something sinister does not come true - and usually achieve the exact opposite result.

The prophecy said that the chosen youth would restore the balance of the Force ... by destroying the Sith. It is somehow illogical: what kind of "balance" can there be when the Dark Ones are destroyed? This is not a "balance" of the Force, but simply the triumph of Light. If you think about what happened, the Council itself brought Anakin to the point that he ... really restored the balance: on each side there were two left (Obi Wan and Yoda - Light Ones, Darth Sidious and Darth Vader - Dark Ones). What they wanted to get - they got it. “Maybe we misinterpreted the prophecy,” the wise Master Yoda dropped meaningfully on this matter ...”

I apologize for the crooked translation, mainly the translator helped, but the essence seems to be conveyed. After reading it, I stopped believing even more in the "Light Jedi", and indeed in everything that is openly declared as "bringing good and light." In Star Wars, only Luke, little Anakin and Padmé were true goodness and light. And when someone starts talking about what the Jedi Council is the wisest and the kindest, and Obi-Wan is the very embodiment of kindness and fluffiness, then think about what they will do to you if you are not pleasing to them. They will not even lift a finger to somehow save or sort out your problem, and will you be immured in disgusting armor, equipped with prostheses, while morally and physically crippled. Them easy to say that you yourself chose to be bad, instead of trying with your wisdom and experience to understand what drives you. Wisdom should cover all aspects, and not be one-sided and divide the world into black and white. "Only the Sith make everything to the absolute" remember? Oh god! How many times have Jedi done the same thing? Or does it not count? In short, pleasant reading and may the force be with you, my fair ones.

https://biography.wikireading.ru/1240

[thechaoticfanartist]

Aliit ori'shya tal'din - "Family is more than blood”

Characters: Satine Kryze, Bo-Katan Kryze, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Korkie Kryze, Darth Maul, Grim (OC)

Warnings: Death, Murder, The Lawless

Words: 2691

Summary: Obi-Wan’s padawan left the Jedi Order and was adopted by Satine. However Satine and her daughter’s lives take a turn for the worst when Darth Maul arrives

Read On A03

Satine and her daughter sat in a cell together when Maul walked over to them. Addressing Satine, Maul spoke, “you are now the former duchess Satine, are you not?”

The way he put emphasis in former, angered Grim and she pulled out a blaster she had stolen and concealed, before shooting Maul. The bolt simply grazed his shoulder so unfortunately didn’t cause much damage. Though there was now a hole in the glass making it more fragile.

“Grim!” Satine shouted.

“Yes buir?” Grim asked innocently.

Satine was about to tell Grim off for being so violent, and ask where she even got the blaster from but Maul instead shifted his attention to the teenager. “Ah Grim, formerly a Jedi padawan before abandoning your order.”

Grim glared at Maul, “Jedi life wasn’t for me,” she replied.

“Clearly not, as they would not have approved of your anger.”

Grim growled at him still holding the blaster in her hand ready to take another shot. Instead Satine spoke, “what do you want with us you monster?”

“Nothing yet, but I will have a use for the two of you in time,” Maul replied. Grim felt a shiver down her spine as she suddenly remembered when in the timeline they were at. “Where are the other leaders of your people?”

“You should know already,” Satine replied.

“They have either sides with Vizla or have been killed. There’s no one left now but Almec and I, but he’s as corrupt and vile as you.”

“Really?” Maul asked with a smile. Again Grim shivered. “Thank you for being so cooperative.” With that Maul and Savage walked off to talk with Almec.

Grim sat back down and looked at Satine, “I’m scared, buir.”

Satine gave her daughter a comforting smile, “it’s alright to be adi’ka. Now about that blaster.”

***

A Mandalorian wearing a suit of red armor entered their cell. “What do you want you traitor?” Satine asked.

The armored Mandalorian fell to the ground unconscious, and Korkie stood over him. “I would never betray you auntie Satine. I’m here to rescue you two.”

“Korkie!” Satine cried getting up and hugging him. Grim also got up and hugged her brother.

“Freeze hold it there!” called another one of those red Mandalorians.

Korkie, Grim, and Satine all put their hands in the air in surrender when a blue blaster bolt hit the Mandalorian in the chest killing him. The three turned around to see a woman wearing blue armor. “Death Watch,” said Satine. The woman took off her helmet revealing it to be Bo-Katan. “Bo,” said Satine. “It’s been a long time.”

“Don’t worry auntie she’s on our side now,” Korkie explained.

“Why are you helping now?” Satine asked.

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” replied Bo-Katan.

“Lots of great allies meet that way,” said Grim, smiling at her aunt. “Glad to meet you at last, Aunt Bo.”

Bo-Katan smiled back at Grim, “It's nice to meet you as well, Grim.”

“Now let’s go,” Grim said. “As nice it is to meet you, let's get out of here first.”

Bo-Katan nodded and put her helmet back on and the group of three met up with the rest. “It’s all clear, come on.”

“We need to contact the Jedi Council,” said Satine. “Korkie give me your comlink.”

“It will do no good until we get outside the city,” Korkie told her.

“Then that’s where we go,” said Grim.

Satine sighed, “you are all talking a terrible risk by helping us.”

“Nothing we haven’t done before, right auntie?” Korkie asked.

“Let’s go,” said Bo-Katan as their ride arrived.

They all got in and headed outside the city limits. The red clad mandalorians began to chase them through the skies. “Aunt Bo, give me one of your blasters. I’ll help fend them off.”

“Grim you know how I feel about-“ Satine began to interrupt.

“I would use my own, but kind of lost my blaster privileges after shooting Smaul.”

While the conversation was taking place, Bo-Katan was already ordering the members of The Death Watch to attack the Mauldalorians. “Get the duchess and her daughter clear,” Bo ordered Korkie as she jumped off the speeder, activating her jetpack and went off to fight.

“Awww I wanted to fight,” Grim sighed. Just as she said that one of the speeder’s engines were shot out and they began to crash just barely making it on the landing platform.

“It’s still blocked,” said Satine referring to the comlink in her hand.

“Then let’s get farther!” Grim replied as she and Korkie followed Satine to get the signal.

“You’re clear!” Korkie told her.

“This is a message for Obi-Wan Kenobi. I’ve lost Mandalore. My people have been massacred.”

Grim saw a Mauldalorain sneak up behind Korkie. “Oh hell nah,” said Grim picking up a blaster. Shooting the Mando dead.

Korkie smiled at her, “thanks Grim.”

She smiled back, “what’s family for if not saving each other?”

Other Mauldalorians arrived, “Obi-Wan I need your help,” Satine finished as the red clad warriors surrounded Grim,Korkie and her.

***

Once again Grim and Satine sat in a cell. This time Grim took to meditating. Grim smiled when she sensed a familiar beacon of light. It had been some time but she knew his presence anywhere. She opened her eyes, “buir, Obi-Wan is here.”

Obi-Wan, who had just entered the cell, took off the helmet of his Mandalorian disguise, “way to ruin my dramatic entrance.”

Satine smiled and turned around and hugged him. Obi-Wan smiled as well embracing Satine. Grim just grinned at her buire before joining in on the hug. After a moment they all let go. “Are you alone?” Satine asked.

“Yes. Unfortunately the Jedi Council and Galactic Senate will be of no help to us here,” Obi-Wan replied.

“Obi-Wan disobeying the Jedi Council? Never thought I’d see the day,” Grim joked with a grin. “Jokes aside, let's go.”

With that the two mandalorians followed Obi-Wan into an elevator, where he placed the helmet back on. “I trust you have an escape plan?” asked Satine.

“As always, my dear,” Obi-Wan replied. The doors opened and another Mandalorian stood there. Obi-Wan shoved Satine and Grim into the next elevator playing the part as a guard and the four of them stood in awkward silence.

“There’s no record of a prisoner transfer here,” said the Mauldalorian.

“The orders came from upstairs,” replied Obi-Wan.

“What’s the authorization code?”

“Oh um-“ Obi-Wan knocked the Mandalorian out.

“I guess the authorization code is death,” joked Grim with a small chuckle. She had missed the action, even though she left the order to escape it. Well that was one of her reasons anyways.

The three of them got to the landing platform but there were already mandalorians to meet them. The mandalorians began to fire at the Jedi and the two fugitives. Obi-Wan fired back as they got into the ship. “I really miss my blaster now,” muttered Grim, once the doors closed.

“You let her have a blaster?” Obi-Wan asked Satine.

“I didn't, she got one herself.”

“And I shot Smaul.”

“Smaul?” Obi-Wan asked. “Do you mean Maul? What do you mean you shot Maul? Maul is here?”

“Let’s just get out of here,” said Grim changing the topic.

“I agree. We have to contact my sister for help, she’ll send reinforcements,” said Satine.

“Who’s your sister?” asked Obi-Wan. The ship began to lift off but missiles hit it. “Brace yourselves!” The ship began to spin and crash to the ground and alarms began to blade. “Let’s get out of here.” The three of them headed to exit the ship as the door lowered.

“Obi-Wan!” Satine cried as she began to fall, Obi-Wan caught her and held on to one of the poles. Grim held on to the other, closing her eyes as she braced herself. However their grips slipped and they fell to the ground as the ship exploded. A piece of the ship landed on Satine.

“Buir!” Grim shouted using the force to move the rubble. Obi-Wan struggled to stand as Maul and Savage walked through the smoke.

“No, it can’t be,” Obi-Wan said as he saw the two figures, he stood up and activated his lightsaber.

Grim too weak to stand began crawling her way over to Satine who had fallen unconscious. Grim’s attention was then changed when she heard Maul speak, “we meet again, Kenobi. Welcome to my world.”

She turned around to see Maul choking Obi-Wan and not just with the force. “Buir!” she cried.

Maul tossed Obi-Wan into the arms of two commandos, and Savage picked up Satine and Grim. “Take them back to the palace,” Maul ordered.

“You’ll regret doing this,” Grim told Maul before passing out herself.

When Grim awoke she was by the throne with Satine on the other side and Maul sitting atop it. Facing them was Obi-Wan held back by the same two commandos from earlier. “Your noble flaw,” Maul began. “Is one shared by you, your duchess,” he began to force choke Satine, lifting her into the air. “And your daughter,” now the Sith began to force choke Grim lifting her in the air. She began to claw desperately at the invisible hands around her neck. She knew it was pointless but she couldn’t think. Maul stood up and began walking closer to Obi-Wan still holding up the duchess and her daughter. “You should have chosen the dark side, Master Jedi. Your emotions betray you. Your fear, and yes your anger. Let your anger deepen your hatred.”

“Don’t listen to him Obi,” Satine managed to get out.

“Don’t listen to him buir,” Grim also managed to get out at the same time.

“Quiet,” Savage told the two.

“You can kill me, but you can never destroy me,” Obi-Wan told Maul, though he cast a worried glance at his family. “It takes strength to resist the dark side. Only the weak embrace it.”

“It is more powerful than you know,” Maul told him.

“Then those who oppose it are stronger than you’ll ever be,” Obi-Wan retorted. “I know where you’re from. I’ve been to your village. I know the decision to join the dark side wasn’t yours. The nightsisters made it for you.”

“SILENCE!” Maul shouted. “You think you know me?! It was I who languished for years thinking of nothing but you! Nothing but this moment!” He pointed to the dangling Grim and Satine who were clawing at their necks as the force continued to wrap around them. “And now...the perfect tool for my revenge is right in front of us.” Obi-Wan looked heartbroken and worried watching the two of them struggle. Seeing Obi-Wan so crushed destroyed Grim as well, but there was nothing she could do. “I never planned on killing you,” Maul was walking backwards closer to Satine and Grim. “But I will make you share my pain, Kenobi….”

Maul lifted Satine higher, and then ignited the darksaber, the black and white glow illuminating the area. With one swift movement he pulled Satine forward and impaled her on the blade.

“Satine!” Obi-Wan cried.

“Buir!” Grim cried.

Then as Maul dropped Satine he lifted Grim higher and she realized in that moment, her life was about to end. She squeezed her eyes shut as Maul pulled her forward with the force, but Maul did not manage to impale Grim as he had Satine, but the blade did still manage to graze her side. Maul dropped her as well.

“Grim!” Obi-Wan cried.

“Adi’ka!” Satine cried, her voice weak as she was losing her life. Both Grim and Obi-Wan could feel it. Obi-Wan rushed to her side and Grim though severely injured also rushed to Satine. Maul sat back down on his throne and watched. Relishing in their suffering.

“Remember my dear Obi-Wan, I’ve loved you always. I always will....” She reached up and stroked Obi-Wan’s face a final time, then turned to look at Grim but before she could anything more she breathed her final breath.

“Buir…” Grim sobbed. The world had gone cold and dark. “Re'turcye mhi,” she added under her breath as one commando grabbed her shoulder and dragged her away from her mother’s corpse. The other took Obi-Wan, taking them down to the prisons.

Part of Grim wanted to fight them, break free and hold her buir forever. Even kill Maul for what he had done, the other part was broken, broken like Grim never had been before. Defeated, and she wasn’t even the one Maul was trying to break. There were binders on Grim and Kenobi’s hands as they were led to a cell. Grim sobbed but it was silent.

All of the sudden a mine was thrown. “It’s the Rebels!” cried one of the commandos. Grim kicked him back as his jetpack exploded. Bo-Katan landed on the ground and finished off the other two before taking Obi-Wan’s lightsaber from one of the unconscious ones and cutting Grim and Kenobi free and handing Obi-Wan his lightsaber back. “Aunt Bo!” Grim shouted wrapping her in a hug. Tears were still running down her face.

Bo-Katan hugged back for just a moment before letting go, “we need to get out of here. Let’s go,” she said. Then she handed Obi-Wan a jetpack. “Ever use one of these?”

“No but in this case I’m a fast learner,” he replied.

“Why can’t I have one?” asked Grim.

Bo stared at her for a solid minute, “you aren’t wearing armor you’re wearing a dress with a see-through coat. Jetpacks aren’t suitable for that attire.”

“Oh,” said Grim realizing. She looked down at an unconscious Mandalorian that wore the red that showed he worked for Maul. “Can I take his?”

“We don’t have the time for this,” Bo-Katan told her.

“I’ll just put on the chest piece then! Alright kark it I’ll just follow some way else.”

***

When they reached the place where a full on battle took place, Grim stopped and turned around heading right back to the palace. Maul could not go unpunished for murdering her buir in cold blood. For attempting to murder her. Clenching the gun in her hand she charged into the palace. What she had forgotten is that Maul and Savage were already busy with another enemy. An enemy that was behind the true reasoning Grim left the Jedi Order in the first place.

She could only shoot one person before revealing her presence. Only one kill before the others would notice she was there for revenge. Who should she strike down? The one who killed Satine? The one who had stood by and watched? Or the one who took away the life she knew? She hesitated but then aimed her blaster deciding who deserved to die. She pulled the trigger and all three Sith Lords turned around. Sidious, the one she had decided to aim for deflected the blast back at the teenager so the bolt hit her shoulder and she dropped the blaster in pain. “Osik!” she hissed.

“Copaani gaan?” asked Bo-Katan picking up Grim’s blaster and handing it back to her. Apparently Bo-Katan followed Grim to stop her from getting killed.

Grim smiled, “thank you.”

“We are getting out of here, you are in no condition to fight.”

“But-“

Bo-Katan had already started to lead Grim away from the palace shooting several shots at the Sith Lords inside. “No. I will not lose another family member today.”

Grim nodded in understanding and let Bo-Katan lead her away from the palace.

It has been several months since then. Grim had joined the Death Watch working alongside her aunt to stop Darth Maul and free Mandalore. When Grim did not wear her armor she wore a red and grey dress. The reasoning behind it was quite simple. A dress to honor the fact her buir was the duchess of Mandalore, red to honor family, and grey to show grief.

Mandalore would survive as it always had. Grim and the Death Watch fought for that. Grim and her family. When Grim had become Mandalorian she had learned many things but the most important of which was; Aliit ori'shya tal'din.

Family is more than blood.

[escaping-thoughts-reviews]

The “Jedi” from the “High Republic” are NOT Jedi and here’s why...

In part 1 we brokedown why this project of the “high republic” is poorly thought out and will probably fail.

Here we will see the new characters and how they prove that those on the project have no clue of how this Galaxy works. Here we go: 

So, form the get-go it’s established she’s a Mary Sue (like we didn’t have enough of those in Disney’s Star Wars). She perfect at everything, but she “not dogmatic”.

And there it is. Let’s keep in mind that these stories take place 200 years prior “the Phantom Menace”. Yoda is already the Grand Master at this point in time and, as we know, he’s all about that Code and dogma. So, if a Jedi doesn’t follow it, they’ll be shunned for it.

He had approached the Council with an offer to share his new understanding of the Force with the other members of the Order. He had expected some resistance, of course. The Council was stuck in the old ways. They didn’t understand that the Force was alive. They couldn’t accept that it had evolved beyond their staid teachings. Yet he had been unprepared for the sheer hostility of the Council’s reaction.

- Revan [Revan, Drew Karpyshyn, 2011]

This takes place 3954 BBY, if the Coucil was already set in their ways then, it’s impossible to have a “non dogmatic Jedi, who’s also the best of the best and everyone loves them”. It’s stupid. And it shows just how far removed these people are form the lore or they simply don’t give a shit (I’ll wager the latter).

“Too old I was,” Yoda said. “Too rigid. Too arrogant to see that the old way is not the only way. These Jedi, I trained to become the Jedi who had trained me, long centuries ago—but those ancient Jedi, of a different time they were. Changed, has the galaxy. Changed, the Order did not—because let it change, I did not.”

- Yoda [Revenge of the Sith, Matthew Stover, 2005]

Here Yoda himself admits that he was too dogmatic and unwilling to change with the Galaxy. If this “Avar” lives 200 years prior to this confession, she can’t be a “model Jedi”. 

Just like Qui-Gon was viewed as “rogue” for his bending of the rules and Anakin, who was downright mistrusted by Yoda and the Council, Avar would be considered a questionable rolemodel and not this beacon of perfection.

Also, never write “She’s the best of the best” if you want your character to be taken seriously.

This is the only good character of this list (maybe because he’s the Twi’lek version of Obi-Wan). The name is dumb. It’s not a Twi’lek name. Just give him a decent last name and not something out of a D&D campaign.

“Impulsive” is not a trait that Jedi have, especially those who were trained by Yoda. Those who were impulsive usually had a difficult time being chosen by a Master to become a Padawan, let alone a Knight.

And while at least this character has some flaws and insecurities that make her more interesting, it all goes down the drain because her only reason to exists is to remind everyone of how Avar is “the best”.

Also, can we appreciate the poc looking up to the white chick and wanting to be like her... smh. (Not to mention the fact that she looks exaclty like Rafa Martez. You know pocs can have more than one design?)

If he was this “natural leader”, why is he stationed at a outpost and not on Coruscant? Makes no sense.

And he’s just another character that exists only to prop up Avar. Seriously, how can all these people be “the best”?

In the EU there were many great characters, but some shined more than others because of their abilities or feats. If everyone is “the best”, NO ONE is. 

Also he looks like a butget Ven Zallow from the Old Republic. Again. Originality, what’s that?

Devoted to the Order. Good. 16 and a Knight?... Did these people even researched how Jedi training works? I mean, we alredy know the answer, but come on!

A Jedi Initiate is chosen by a Master when they are 12-13 years old, 14 at the most. Then they are trained for minium 9-10 years. Sure, some exceptions are made in time of crisis (see Anakin), but there is no way a Padawan gets knighted before 20 (Ashoka was offered the Knighthood because the Council was trying to cover their asses). This is ludicrous. These people need to read some books or at least google the information. It’s not that difficult.

Especially in this time period, the Jedi will follow the Code more than ever. During the Battle of Ruusan, the Order almost lost it self, so as the war ended it became more strict with its rules and dogma.

The irony of the situation was not lost on Kaan. For a change it was the Jedi who were split by infighting and rivalries, while the Brotherhood of Darkness remained united and strong. Part of him found the strange reversal troubling. In the long nights when he couldn’t sleep, he’d often walk the floor of his tent wrestling with the seeming paradox.

Had the armies on Ruusan crossed a line where light and darkness meet? Had the endless conflict between the Army of Light and the Brotherhood of Darkness drawn them both into a void where the ideologies became hopelessly intertwined?

Were they all now Force-users of the Twilight, caught between the two sides and belonging to neither?

- Lord Kaan [Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, Drew Karpyshyn, 2006]

When before they would train adolescents and sometimes adults, they started to accept only infants to lower the risk of them being corrupted by the Dark Side.  When before they would travel through the galaxy guided by the Force, they became subservient to the Chancellor and their missions were supervised by the Senate (a Senate that fostered many corrupt individuals).

Yoda trained Jedi for 800 of those years and, as stated before, he did it with the intent of making them like the Jedi who trained him. So it makes no sense to have Jedi that don't follow the Code and are guided by their "passion". The 1000 years of peace birthed the most dogmatic Jedi in the Order’s 36.000 year history. If the writers wanted less "dogmatic" Jedi they should have chosen a different time period.

"Sacrifice, the Jedi Order demands", Yoda said. "No reward for you in it, either, Obi-Wan. Support you, we will. Change the rules for you, we will not."

- Yoda [Secrets of the Jedi, Jude Watson, 2005]

Hopefully the end product will be better thought out, but hope is slim. In the end is good to know this will probably end in a trainwreck. Like this poor franchise needs another one... May the Force be with us and if you want actual good books set in the days of old check out the EU. 

[iti-moved]

Rational Feelers: Where Many MBTI Typings Fail

To many, particularly those interested in MBTI typings, the term "rational feeler" may seem like a juxtaposition, but I am here to challenge that thought.

Too often, when a person or character doesn't seem to understand the feelings of others around them, they are generally typed in MBTI communities as a Thinking personality. Even though this seems reasonable on the surface, it is a deeply flawed deduction, rooted in a misunderstanding of the cognitive functions and a lack of consideration for outside influences.

While it is true that the Feeling types are inherently more humanitarian in nature and are highly attuned to their own values/the values of society, empathy itself is not limited to one type or the other. Thinking types may be very empathetic, and Feeling types may be very callous; to assume one or the other about a person or character based on whether they are a Feeling or Thinking type is to have a flawed understanding of high Fe/Fi and high Te/Ti.

An example of this fallacy can be seen in the typings of Obi-Wan Kenobi from the Star Wars universe. Over the years, I have seen many typings of this character, most notably ISTJ. People assume that because Obi-Wan thinks very rationally and that his most noticeable flaw is failing to understand Anakin's feelings and personal struggles, he must be a Thinking type--however, being rational is not the same as valuing Te. An ENFP may be just as capable of logical deduction as an INTJ; to assume otherwise it to participate in the stereotypical caricatures of the 16 personalities. The capability for rational thought is not rooted in any particular type, just as any type can be more intelligent than the another. Measuring things such as intelligence (which is already a difficult concept to define and systemize) based on whether a person is a Thinking or Feeling type has no ground in accuracy. Differences in intelligence are rooted in individual people and their complex life experiences, not to mention that there are many different ways intelligence is defined.

Obi-Wan failing to understand Anakin's emotions has everything to do with how he was raised as a Jedi and the subsequent values he was taught to uphold, not him being a Thinking type. Frankly, none of the Jedi understand emotion because they are taught to suppress it. The Jedi were not meant to have emotional attachments, nor were they allowed to feel strong emotions, for it was insinuated that unbridled feeling such as that would lead to the Dark Side; it is because of this that we cannot assume a Jedi is a Thinking type based only on their ability to healthily understand and express emotion.

A similar mistake is people equating Yoda being a very skilled Force-user to being an iNtuitive, when in actuality, using the Force is a skill separate from iNtuition. Anakin/Darth Vader was an excellent Force-user: he could manipulate the physics of objects around him with ease, read peoples' thoughts and emotions, and had multiple premonitions of the future--but he is certainly an ESFP, a Sensing type. Using the Force is not iNtuition; it is a skill that any Force-sensitive being can tap into under the right guidance, and therefore can not be used to distinguish a Sensor from an Intuitive in a typing.

People too often forget to include outside factors such as these into their type analyses; often, typings are done under the assumption that the person or character in question are perfectly healthy, developed versions of their type, raised in an environment fit for them to thrive, when this is only rarely the case. From here, I must move on to assert my typing of Obi-Wan: ISFJ. Yes, he is rational, yes, he was not a mentor suitable for fostering Anakin's troubled emotional state, but this is not indicative of being a Thinking type, as previously explained. Obi-Wan's Fe is clear to me by just how diplomatic he can be--this is not to say that a Thinking type can't also be diplomatic, but that Obi-Wan can talk his way out of situations by appealing to the general social norms of the species he is speaking to, which is something he picks up on naturally, with ease. Understanding and placing significance on social values is indicative of higher Fe, and Obi-Wan's level of rationality does not refute this fact: Rationality is not linked solely to a singular cognitive function or type, but rather varies from individual to individual.

Obi-Wan's high Fe can also be seen in the value he places on the general social roles and ranks within the Jedi. He doesn't understand why Qui-Gon won't simply suck it up and agree with the Jedi Council: "If you would just follow the code, you would be on the Council," he says to Qui-Gon in The Phantom Menace. Furthermore, Obi-Wan has little understanding of himself outside of his role of being a Jedi. High Fe is all about social roles and how the user fits into these social roles, which can also be an element of their immature understanding of emotions if that is what the role calls for. Similarly, ISFJs can have trouble with emotions, especially if it runs in their family or the environment they find themselves in: For example, if a high Fe user is a part of a family or environment that believes excessive emotions and being touchy-feely is a sign of emasculation or weakness, the appropriate role for the ISFJ in that family or environment is to take on that belief, for it is part of their identity in the system. This is just like Obi-Wan in the Jedi and has everything to do with how he was taught to define his role in their system.

When Obi-Wan loses being a Jedi after everything collapses in Revenge of the Sith, I believe that he lost a huge part of himself. His identity was strongly placed in not just being on the Council or just being a member of the Jedi, but also in being exceptional in these roles, which indicates someone who values Fe.

People don't necessarily think of Fe manifesting in this way, but it is certainly influenced by the social expectations of a family, job, or society as a whole. Fe allows Obi-Wan to connect and utilize the general social norms around him. His tertiary Ti allows him to internally and rationally justify his distrust of Palpatine. What separates this from Fi is that even though Obi-wan had his personal suspicions, he was still very bound to the opinions of the council and trusted their judgement above all else, therefore respecting the societal and hierarchical roles established in his society.

In A New Hope, when Obi-Wan (or should I say Old Ben?) convenes with Luke, he slips back into the typical ISFJ role of being a protector, but also, he immediately wants to teach Luke to know about the Jedi teachings of the past. Even after everything has collapsed and shifted, Obi-Wan instinctively reaches for the systems of old, the systems he put great faith in and believed worked perfectly before Palptaine. Placing high value on a trusted system in such manner is indicative of Si-Fe.

Thus, I confidently type Obi-Wan as ISFJ, but that is not the sole purpose of this article. I mean to blatantly reject shallow typings that rely on stereotype alone or on statements such as "he is very rational in almost all situations." I also reject the idea that one type may be more intelligent than the other, or that one Feeling function is more morally correct than the other. Each personality type has its own flaws; the purpose of identifying as a particular type is to become more self-aware of your own weak points and places of struggle, not to assert yourself as 'better' than someone of a different type.

[ariainstars]

Balance in the Force

“Don’t lecture me, Obi-Wan! I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the Dark Side as you do.” (Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith)

„If once you start go down the dark path, forever it will dominate your destiny.” (Jedi Master Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back)

Did anyone ever suspect that even Grand Master Yoda might not be quite right?

Are the Jedi entirely good? Is the Light Side meant to be “virtue”?

The Jedi we get to know in the prequel trilogy are neither free from flaws nor are they perfectly wise. They like to believe they are so, but looking at the facts they often don’t see what’s going on under their very noses. As Luke himself pointed out many years later, it was their hubris that led to their downfall.

We are speaking of a Council that had a Sith Lord among them for decades without realizing it.

Yoda wanted to preserve peace, but by teaching Jedi adepts for centuries to choose the Light Side, he unwittingly created an unbalance which favored the ascent of the Dark Side users, the Sith.

Besides, what was it with taking small children from their families, forcing them to become Jedi (i.e. having to live a life of sacrifice) whether they wanted it or not? And why did they equip children with a deadly weapon?

Both Obi-Wan and Yoda wanted to push Luke to commit patricide, Obi-Wan even telling him an obvious lie (that Vader had been Anakin’s murderer) for the purpose. In the Mos Eisley cantina, Obi-Wan cut off the arm of an importune although he had not attacked him, displaying an unnecessary cruelty. When he still was Anakin’s teacher he suppressed him, belittled his ideas and his need for approval, even denied him the right to worry about his own mother. Yoda did not take Anakin’s fears seriously either. The Jedi’s code of non-attachment was fatal because it made their commitment to compassion hollow. They were so far off from “mortal” issues in their ivory tower (it literally looks like one) that they no longer saw what was really important.

Are the Sith entirely evil? Is the Dark Side meant to be “evil”? 

We are led to think that the Dark Side is all evil, but looking closer, it’s not: while Obi-Wan and Yoda try to manipulate Luke, Vader is always brutally honest. 

Anakin never was in denial. He got married despite the Jedi code. He decided to embrace his feelings, including his sexuality. Not only was he obviously calm and serene (balanced and strong) after his marriage;

had he not married Padmé the children who would later bring down Palpatine’s Empire would not have been born. These children always reached out to others, no matter what they went through. 

Palpatine himself had encouraged the Jedi Council to set Anakin at Padmés side to protect her, most probably speculating that the two young people would fall in love and thus Anakin would have another weak spot; he assuredly did not imagine the role the children of this couple would play, as little as he imagined that Luke, lured to the Death Star by compassion for his father, would in the end refuse to turn, pushing Vader to redemption. 

It was Snoke who bridged Ben’s and Rey’s minds, with the purpose of manipulating Rey to come to him; he did not count with the strong connection that would arise between the two, and that this would finally mean his end. 

I remember that I was initially irritated when Han seduced Leia - I thought he was giving Luke, who was his best friend, a backhanded turn making a move on the girl they were both crushing on as soon as Luke was not around. But eventually this turned out to be the right thing, because Luke’s crush on Leia faded before he found out that she actually is his long-lost twin sister. 

Luke briefly considered killing Ben because he was afraid of losing everything he loved, yet in doing so he pushed his nephew to the Dark Side, which on the long run caused the death of Han Solo, who had been Luke’s dearest friend. 

So, from something that is or may seem bad, good can come, and vice versa. Dark and Light are not intrinsically separated from one another as Jedi and Sith like to believe. Ironically, they are very alike in this fundamental mistake. 

Looking back, I believe that Anakin was not “consumed by the Dark Side” as was said by Obi-Wan and Yoda. Half of his descent to darkness began with his training as a Jedi; when we see him again in Attack of the Clones he is already teetering on the edge, he is no longer the pure and idealistic boy he used to be. Palpatine manipulates his weakness, but that weakness was - albeit not consciously - caused by Jedi’s efforts to stunt him emotionally. They wanted to force him to make a choice, but Anakin couldn’t; he instinctively felt that it was wrong and that the Force is naturally made of both sides. He was told over and over that it is wrong to care for others, but that was the one sacrifice he was not willing to make in order to become a Jedi. 

Darth Vader’s “creation” visually illustrates this, too. Anakin is almost killed by Obi-Wan, the Jedi, and Palpatine the Sith creates Vader from his miserable remainders. 

My impression is that, being the strongest Jedi of all and the central figure in the conflict, he got between both sides and was crushed. The fact that beneath all of his power he was indeed physically and psychically broken would emphasize this.

Also, it would explain why Palpatine did not immediately contaminate Anakin’s mind but left him to the Jedi first: he needed both Forces in him. Vader’s enormous power did not come from the Dark Side, but from the conflict raging inside of him. 

In A New Hope, Vader is still mostly Tarkin’s lackey; in Return of the Jedi he is oppressed by Palpatine, his master. He is at the height of his power in The Empire Strikes Back, where he is on the hunt for his son! Which means he is yearning for the Light. (See also the symbolism of “animus” hunting for “anima”, a common trope in fables and myths.) Vader did come back from the Dark Side in Return of the Jedi; and his son could feel the conflict inside of him. But if there was a conflict, this obviously means that Vader had not chosen one side once and for all. 

Luke said to Palpatine “I will never turn to the Dark Side.” However he did so, if briefly, when he contemplated killing his own nephew. A further proof of the fact that with the Force, one cannot make a decision and pretend to stick to it for the rest of one’s life. Temptation can come at any time. 

Luke’s / Anakin’s blue light sabre, the one that calls to Rey, is commonly seen as a symbol of hope and justice. In his time as a Jedi, Anakin indeed often used it in order to help others. However he also used it when he raided the Jedi Temple and killed everybody, including the padawans. 

Kylo felt so torn apart by the conflict that he was willing to commit patricide to finally join the Dark Side for good. To no avail; he was traumatized, regretful and deeply hurt, proving that there still was good in him despite the horrible deed.

His power, too, came from the fact that he grew up with a good (at least well-meaning) family but was secretly influenced by Snoke all of the time. Like his grandfather, he was at his strongest while on the hunt for his equal in the Force: in this case, Rey in The Force Awakens. 

And both of them are never so impressive as while they fight the Praetorian Guards together as one.

The Force As the Human Psyche?

From the psychological point of view, one might say that the Light Side represents human conscience (Superego) and the Dark Side the impulse (Id). Now the Id is not “evil”; aggression and sexuality stem from the Id, which often leads to believe that it is. But the Id also means impulse, creativity, belonging. In other words, the Superego alone without the Id cannot know love. Without love, an individual cannot reach out to others, and who does not reach out to others is not evil but also not really good. For evil things to happen, not only the active participants are responsible but also the ones who do not see it, or see it too late to do something against it. The Jedi are a tragic example of this. 

Though we get to know the Jedi as the “good ones”, one of their major faults is that they live in denial. Anakin / Vader never is in denial, and neither is Ben / Kylo: both are brutally honest, to themselves as well as to others. Which is often painful for their surroundings, but both Luke and Rey need them to tell them the truth, and to force them to look at it. Luke was traumatized learning the truth about his father, but afterwards he finally became the last and strongest of all Jedi; Rey was deeply hurt when she had to accept that her parents not only were dead but had indeed not wanted her, yet later on we saw her so grounded in the Force that she could make massive rocks float. 

It may seem the most natural thing to do, and also a great honor, to become a Jedi (or a Sith) if one has the Force; but so far, we have never seen any Force user, Skywalker or not, finding happiness with this choice, whether he made it himself or whether it was thrust upon him. 

I assume there must be a way that someone can learn to use the Force without having to choose to be a Jedi or a Sith. Both of these extremes do not ensure peace and happiness, neither for the Force user nor for the ones around them. Only a balanced Force user can find happiness, and bring fulfilment to others, too. 

Leia would be a very good example for this: she always used her power for knowledge and defense, and she embraced her desire for belonging and her sexuality, too. She is very rightly paired off with Han, who used to be a small criminal but never was actually evil, and later used his shrewdness, earned through his many adventures, to help others.

So, what does this mean for Episode IX, the ending and culmination of the saga? Since the classic trilogy ended with the victory of the Light Side and the prequel trilogy told us the victory of the Dark Side, it can only end with Balance.

However, I am not sure that Ben Solo and Rey will “bring Balance to the galaxy” with their union. They must first and foremost find balance within themselves, and thus be the first of a new kind of Force users.

Rey was not tempted by the Dark Side yet; I am positive however that it is an important experience she must make, and her approaching the ruins of the old Death Star, where Palpatine is most probably lying in waiting, would hint at something like that.

 Ben Solo, on the other hand, must prove that he has overcome the resentment in his heart. He needs to be an example for the fact that someone can go down the dark path, come back to the light and survive, and still want to reach out to other people. He needs to find forgiveness and new life despite his sins, not to be punished for them and forgotten. 

Ben and Rey need to show the galaxy at large that Balance is possible; that a Force user, whether he is a Skywalker or an absolute nobody, needs not choose one side but that they can very well use the best from both sides; and that to preserve peace and justice one does not need to become a Jedi, but that anyone can do so who is balanced inside. 

Because in the end, the Force is neither simply Light and Dark, nor is it grey; it creates diversity and binds everything and everyone together.

“You refer to the prophecy of The One who will bring balance to the Force. You believe it’s this boy…?” (Mace Windu to Qui-Gon Jinn in The Phantom Menace) 

It is largely believed in the fandom that Darth Vader ultimately brought the much-needed balance by killing Palpatine. However, that act meant the destruction of the Dark Side and the victory of the Light Side of the Force: and if one side remains stronger than the other, that does not mean balance. Which could explain why, when we see our heroes again about 30 years after their “happy ending”, they do not look happy at all and we learn about a lot of disappointment and disillusion which they had to live through. 

Nevertheless, I do believe that when all will be said and done, we will realize that Anakin Skywalker was indeed the Chosen One. 

“Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” (Yoda in The Phantom Menace) 

Logically this must also mean that trust leads to serenity, serenity leads to love, and love leads to happiness. The old school Jedi may have been wise, but we never saw them display affection for anyone. Their fear of the Dark Side and philosophy of detachment was literally their doom; they feared Anakin Skywalker too much to show him the love and offer him the belonging he so desperately wanted. 

It is true that fear and anger lead to the Dark Side, but the quickest way to fall prey to fear and anger is to deny that one feels them in the first place. Denial was the Jedi’s first step down the path that led to their doom, and plunged the whole galaxy into darkness. That he never denied the truth of his own emotions, nor of anyone else’s, was perhaps Anakin’s greatest strength of all. 

To value love enough that he was willing to die for someone he cared for was perhaps the hardest, but most important lesson the Chosen One had to learn, and which he passed on to his successors.

[thebastardofgloucester]

So...The Rise of Skywalker (Spoilers, obviously)

No Star Wars movie is anywhere close to perfect. Frankly, they all have serious flaws of logistics or plot logic or characterisation changes or deus ex machinas or lack of originality (which includes A New Hope when you look at its inspirations). It's pointless and silly to pretend otherwise. At its best, Star Wars overcomes that with captivating characters, glorious spectacle, and John Williams.

I think you'll all be familiar with how much I disliked The Last Jedi (and chafed at being lumped in for disliking the movie in with bigots, unimaginative fanboys, and the like).

I liked The Rise of Skywalker. A lot. It had more than enough to offset its major shortcomings, in my opinion. It was not 'soulless,' it was not a complete recreation of Return of the Jedi anymore than The Last Jedi was a rough retelling of The Empire Strikes Back, and it was not as bad or incoherent as Attack of the Clones, jfc are you high

There are certain areas where I am more sympathetic to that not being the case for some people than others. I don't think it completely junked The Last Jedi, but it did demonstrate a huge gap in creative visions, preferred plot structures, and other priorities. Blame for that should not lie with JJ Abrams (or Chris Terrio) or Rian Johnson, who did what they thought was best, and what they were hired to do, and what they thought audiences would enjoy. It should lie with the Lucasfilm story group and Kathleen Kennedy, who had every opportunity to make a trilogy with a united vision and simply declined to do so. (There are a set of different issues with Disney that I'll get to)

Anyway, here's my take on individual components.

Rey ‘Palpatine’

We might as well start with the single most contentious part of the film, and where it is perceived (wrongly, in my opinion) to clash the most with The Last Jedi: Rey being of the Palpatine bloodline.

Rey's arc was about pushing past her own past traumas and doubts and the repeated attempts of other people to define who she was to make her own identity. It is about the refutation of destiny, of genetic determinism. I'm not really sure how anyone really came away with a different impression. I understand being annoyed that Rey couldn't just come from nothing, but call me an annoying fanboy - I wanted some explanation for how Rey was a match for the grandson of literal Space Jesus. Anakin being the most powerful Jedi ever born (and how he was failed by those who were supposed to guide him to that destiny) is kind of central to the entire mythology of Star Wars. Is it reductive and elitist? I guess. I certainly enjoy having Jedi not born of the Skywalker bloodline in the old EU and the Clone Wars/Rebels story. I was frustrated by killing off all of Luke's students as part of resetting the universe in The Force Awakens, and never learning anything about them.

Honestly, as somebody who was in the Rey Skywalker camp (and wrote fanfiction to that effect!), I was glad to be wrong. This was better. It gave Rey more agency, and emphasized found family.

The exposition is weird and clunky. JJ clearly meant for Rey to have some kind of blood link to the previous mythology of the series - you cannot watch the sequence in Maz's castle and tell me otherwise. Rian didn't want to tell that story. JJ did. Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm threw their hands up in the air and Disney raked in the cash. Looking at that Maz castle beat, there's a very good case to be made that Rey was supposed to be either a Skywalker or a Solo, and Palpatine was JJ's attempt to not completely throw out Rian's idea (that her parents went into hiding, becoming 'no one,' abandoning her and being killed somewhere else - their motivations in TLJ (drunks ditching her) are imputed by Kylo and Rey's own fears of abandonment, remember).

Weirdly, I think that of the outcomes, Palpatine was the best one. Explaining how Rey ends up alone on Jakku when she's related to either Luke or Leia is pretty hard without further damaging their characters. Palpatine having lovers, mistresses, whatever before Mace melted his face is gross but entirely plausible. The timeline is...confusing - I guess there's enough basis for Palpatine still having agents running around, chasing down Rey, that even years after his death Rey's parents would leave her behind in an attempt to protect her. It's a bit muddy, but so was Anakin being Luke and Leia's father before we had the prequels. A novel here would probably help if it is written competently)

The point is that Rey's arc refutes genetic destiny. Instead of being afraid of her, as the Jedi were of Anakin (and to an extent, the Skywalkers were of Ben) Luke and Leia (specifically Leia) allow her to grow into her own person, and ultimately she chooses to take the name Skywalker to honor them (and Ben's sacrifice). The problem in my mind is less that Rey is a Palpatine by blood or a Skywalker by choice, and more that she's the only Jedi standing at the end of the trilogy. Making Finn's absolutely obvious force sensitivity a bigger deal narratively in TROS would have helped a lot (more on that later). And we still have the important implications of Broom Boy! He's not erased from existence, there simply wasn't room for his story in these 2.5 hours.

The First Act (and a bit)

The first 30 minutes or so of The Rise of Skywalker are...nuts. They feel less like a movie and more like a series of trailers or a 'previously on' for a movie we never saw. It's about as well done as it could be at establishing plot threads, the situation of the Resistance v the First Order, and where characters are starting from, as you could reasonably expect, but it's like cramming the entirety of the Jabba's Palace segment of Return of the Jedi into about half its runtime, at most.

What it comes down to, and I said this at the time, is that The Last Jedi is a very bad sequel to The Force Awakens. That doesn't (REPEAT: DOES NOT) make it bad film, or even a bad Star Wars film. But in terms of what the middle movie of a planned trilogy should be. It is. Not Good. JJ had seeded hints of Rey's origins and opened a bunch of mysteries. You can contend that he never intended or was never capable of answering them, and I think that's entirely unfair and reducing JJ's opus to the unsatisfying ending of 'Lost' is stupid and lazy, but they were there. The Last Jedi threw all of that out with extreme prejudice. I deeply disliked that; other people didn't. Either way, you had a problem (and you would have had even more of a problem if Colin Trevorrow had directed Episode IX as planned - this could have been SO. MUCH. WORSE.). The Rise of Skywalker is a natural sequel to The Force Awakens, though Palpatine's return could have been foreshadowed much better (or at all, if we're honest?) and it really makes me wonder how much changed from the first drafts of The Force Awakens to the version of The Rise of Skywalker we saw on screen.

I saw some criticisms that we had to read the tie-in material (including a bit from Fortnite??) to understand all the specifics of what planets these were, who Kylo Ren was murdering, etc...I don’t really think any of that was particularly important. It actually opens up a ton of new storytelling opportunities and made the universe feel big again, which The Last Jedi didn’t, at least for me. Apparently the planet Kylo is fighting on is Mustafar. That...doesn’t make the slightest bit of sense (maybe we finally have a Star Wars world that isn’t a single biome?) but it wasn’t actually that important. We saw Kylo searching for the Sith Wayfinder and murdering anybody in his way, we saw Poe and Finn being pursued from one end of the universe to another, and we got the 16 hour deadline before the fleet was ready (which was...weird, admittedly, but not in the slightest less weird that the fleet running out of fuel on a slow-motion chase or needing to fly off to an entirely different system to find a ‘code breaker’ to counter a techo gadget thing that let you trace people through hyperspace.

And yeah, if you are going to forgive The Last Jedi the dumb codebreaker/fuel shit which led to the detached Canto Bight B plot, you have to just acknowledge the Wayfinder thing as a macguffin that gets the plot moving in a certain direction and gives a clear path from narrative point a to narrative point b. Rian is not ahead of JJ on this aspect.

The subsequent fetch quest is less about the macguffin and more about the character beats on the way. Kylo and his boy band pursue Rey, Rey realizes her powers are kinda scary and hella impressive (including the healing mechanic, which is entirely precedented in past canon), you get to see some brilliant, funny, and touching moments between the trio we were not allowed in The Last Jedi, Rey discovers hints about her past, and Lando shows up.

We also get to my least favorite part of the film.

Poe Dameron is Better Than This

I do not understand why they ret-conned Poe into having a past as a smuggler, or why Keri Russell’s character was even necessary. You could explain it as youthful rebellion, maybe after Poe’s mom Shara Bey died (both his parents were Rebel veterans - that’s a lot of pressure), but it fits awkwardly into the established timeline.

The one good thing that came out of it was a moment where Poe is tempted to leave the Resistance, but that only makes sense because of Poe’s terrible hotheaded, reckless characterization in The Last Jedi, neither of which at all fit with his portrayal in the Poe Dameron comics (which are excellent). Poe eventually gets where he needs to be, and the conversation with Lando after Leia passes is one of the best moments of the film, and justified bringing Lando all by itself. Oscar Isaac is apparently really frustrated with Poe’s character and I cannot blame him. Rian Johnson started this weirdness, and it is one of the greatest flaws of The Last Jedi and more people need to acknowledge how racist it was to reduce a 30-something brown-skinned veteran to an impulsive, out of control idiot who gets physically and verbally smacked around by two white women, and JJ didn’t really try to fix it. I guess his arc kinda works in a vacuum. I still deeply dislike it. Cutting that entire section down to the bare bones would have made more room for...

Finn and the Triad

The dynamic between Finn, Poe, and Rey was fantastic. There is abundant basis for Finn and Poe to be canon romantic interests, and I cannot conclude it was anything but Disney’s cowardice that prevented that from happening (and honestly, same for Finn and Rey). JJ is no more to blame than Rian - I genuinely believe this came from higher up. It sucks. A lot. What we do get is precious, and frankly makes Rian’s argument for separating them (that they would get along and it would be boring) kinda silly. They are also incredibly funny together - John, Isaac, and Daisy play off each other so damn well, and I was cackling when the Falcon was on fire and Poe was mad about BB-8.

Finn is absolutely force sensitive. It is apparently what he was trying to say to Rey, he has feelings that turn out to be correct like three times, he wielded a lightsaber with some proficiency in The Force Awakens. It’s canon. Why it isn’t explicit is a function of the Force User plot becoming divorced from Finn and Poe in The Last Jedi. JJ and Terrio also could have fixed that, and chose not to.

We got a tantalizing glimpse of what could have been with Janna and the other defectors. It was really good, but it wasn’t nearly enough, and I am Mad about it. To borrow from some great ideas on twitter, Janna could have revealed that her unit heard about Finn on Jakku and it inspired them to defect. They could have together swayed a bunch of reluctant stormtroopers to rebel (they were otherwise just treated as facist canon-fodder, which, not great when a lot of them are child soldiers!). It was perfectly set up from TFA and they just...dropped the ball.

Like I said, I’m Mad. TLJ did nothing with Finn as a defector or the child soldier thing in general, and TROS did the bare minimum. Huge, huge wasted opportunity. We got promises that we’d get to find out more about who Finn is and...we didn’t, or at least, not in the theatrical cut. TLJ had a scene of Finn and Phasma talking about his being a traitor/defector. Rian cut it down to a fight scene and the ‘Rebel Scum’ line. Writers jail for both of them, tbh, though JJ clearly cared about Finn (he’s why the character exists as he does, as why Boyega was cast, and maybe if TLJ doesn’t make Kylo into Rey’s co-protagonist we get something different. I'm not going to blame Rian for something JJ could have fixed if he cared to.

And least we got something, I guess.

Kylo Ben

I think the first time I actually cared about Ben Solo as a character was when Kylo symbolically ‘died,’ and Ben was saved by Rey’s healing abilities. That was excellent writing, even if it was not subtle. I liked Leia and Han (as part of Ben’s memories) have a role in helping him find some sort of redemption. I was frustrated and mad that Anakin Skywalker’s grandkid could be a straight up space fascist with even fewer redeeming qualities. He still deserved to die. He had no family to go back to and he was directly responsible for thousands of innocent deaths and closely linked to the death of trillions. Like Vader, you don’t just come back from that.

Like Anakin, Ben made his own choices. Was he manipulated by Snoke/Palpatine? Sure. He still had multiple occasions to chose differently and did not. It’s part of his flaws as a character. Han and Leia did their best as parents - we find out Leia even abandoned her Jedi training because she was afraid for her son. Ben’s inevitable fall (which mirrors that of Jacen Solo, a truly fascinating character who I will always be Mad about) soured the sequel trilogy from the start in some ways, but it is hard to envision it without Ben turning. I don’t know. I think without Ben being who he was we simply have a different set of movies.

The kiss is...I don’t even know. Rey clearly cared about Ben, and believed he could change, but also refused to compromise who she was in order to pull him back to the light. I would have vastly preferred a forehead kiss or something along those lines.

On balance I’m glad he got a Vader redemption. I think Palpatine came back in part because Ben simply was not a particularly captivating villain, and without him to provide contrast and make the stakes clear, Ben’s redemption is not possible, and that’s arguably an even worse outcome, especially given how he was manipulated so much at an impressionable age. I’m really glad Leia had a chance to influence his turn as her final act in this life (Carrie deserved a better ending but it was the best they could do after Carrie’s death imo).

Grandpa Palps

First, Palpatine finding a way to survive and setting up multiple contingency plans to return to power is completely in keeping with his portrayal in both the old and Nu EUs (a big part of the post-Endor stuff is Operation Cinder, where Palpatine posthumously ordered the scouring of dozens of Imperial loyalist worlds to spread fear and prevent the Empire from continuing without him). Palpatine also LOVES his superweapons - he built two Death Stars, ffs. A fleet of them is not exactly a stretch in terms of strategy. The Rise of Skywalker definitely felt like it owed a debt to one of the more divisive bits of the old Star Wars EU - the Dark Empire series of comics by Tom Veitch and Kevin J Anderson, which have cloned Palpatines, Luke turning to the Dark Side, an ungodly number of superweapons, and a planet where Palpatine hides and builds them after his defeat.

I don’t think his survival ruins Anakin’s arc - Anakin’s actions still destroyed Palpatine’s Empire (that he helped to build) and its 26 year reign of terror. The galaxy got 30 years of relative peace and then a war that was not nearly as destructive or large scale as the Galactic Civil War. People saying it makes Anakin’s arc irrelevant are just being silly.

Retconning Snoke to a cloned puppet (probably an unwitting one) is actually not a bad writing choice. It explains why he was such a cardboard cut-out villain, and why he was so easily defeated. Honestly, I’m far more okay with how he died in The Last Jedi now that I know this (even if the pacing and the placement of that scene is still utterly bizarre).

The new EU set up cults and fanatics around the Dark Side and its avatars in the emperor and Vader. None of that felt particularly implausible to me as a result.

Legacies in the Sequel Trilogy

I really loved the ‘thousand generations live in you’ conceit. I loved the power of the old Jedi, snuffed out by Palpatine, helping Rey defeat him one last time (including my girl Ahsoka, RIP, I'm sure you went out like a badass). These are legacies and powers that don’t require blood ties or dynasties, they just rely on the force spanning the whole of the GFFA.

Ben is offered the chance to either turn away from his grandfather’s dark path early enough to warrant redemption, or to follow it through until the end. He actually chooses to do neither. With Leia’s dying intercession, he ends up following Anakin’s path to an extent, but his story is ultimately about the tragedy of expectations, fears, and the immense weight of the Skywalker name and legacy. All of his family are caught up in it. Rey is mostly apart from it, and then explicitly subverts her destiny to be Palpatine’s heir, and faces her fear of ending up there, by intent or just fate. As Luke says, some things are stronger than blood. Rey’s story is the ultimate testament to that, and it’s a pretty powerful message.

Leia. Oh god. I was absolutely thrilled when we found out she trained as a Jedi, and then served as Rey’s Jedi Master after Luke failed Rey so badly (after failing Ben). I think Luke’s story from TLJ to TROS is easily the most consistent, honestly. He made mistakes, both with Ben, and then with Rey, and he recognized it. The Rise of Skywalker acknowledges that Luke wasn’t right in how he handled training Rey either, and that went a long way to making me better accept how Rian portrayed him as flippant and dismissive and cynical.

Carrie’s absence was so badly felt. As I’ve said previously, I think they did the best job they could with the footage they held back and Carrie’s recorded audio. They managed to give her a relatively coherent story and an effect on the plot which she didn’t really have in The Last Jedi. I’ve seen speculation that it was supposed to be Leia, not Luke, who gave Rey that pep talk on Ahch-To, and in some ways it might have made more sense. Selfishly, I’m still glad it was Luke, because it helped reconcile my feelings about him in The Last Jedi. But they really did a great job in a really, really tough situation.

Rose Tico

Let’s just get it out there: the film’s treatment of Rose Tico and Kelly Marie Tran was inexcusably bad. Whether her character was a great addition to the cast in the Last Jedi or not, KMT faced horrendous abuse from various bigots and assholes, and after making a lot of public promises they reduced her to barely a minute of screen-time and no real impact on the plot. It’s shitty, it’s bad, and JJ and Disney should feel bad.

Introducing a character like Rose mid-way through a trilogy is risky, and while it worked with Lando, JJ clearly had no idea what to do with her. It’s just a mess, it’s the biggest black mark on the film, and on the sequel trilogy more broadly. Nobody comes out looking good here, and Rose Tico needs a Disney + series of her own or something. Protect Kelly Marie Tran at all costs.

The Rest

- Lando was great. So great. I wish we’d gotten the line that his daughter had been stolen by the First Order (and thus was potentially Janna) - we’d better get a book or a film or something. Lando’s conversation with Poe salvaged his character arc. Billy Dee Williams did a damn good job getting in shape for the role. He came out as genderfluid recently. He’s an absolute treasure and thank god they didn’t waste him.

- I just wanted to reiterate how HAPPY I AM THAT JJ ABRAMS MADE LEIA A JEDI HOLY SHIT

- It was a blink and you’ll miss it moment for people who didn’t read Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath series, but the death of Temmin ‘Snap’ Wexley in a battle where his step-dad (Wedge Antilles) made a brief appearance was devastating and I still don’t know how to feel about it.

- The space battles were awesome. Lando and Chewie bringing in the cavalry was what we were so cruelly teased for in The Last Jedi, which I am still mad about. Forget the logistics, forget the story logic, it was awesome. Maybe in the future I’ll be more annoyed. I honestly doubt it.

- Hux lives (and dies) for drama. He’s the pettiest son of a bitch in the GFFA, he would absolutely turn informant to win his fight with Kylo Ren, especially if he suspected that Kylo had killed Snoke and then was an incompetent child. His dying shortly thereafter is honestly exactly what the character deserved.

- On the cavalry moment, and the galaxy rising to destroy the First Order - I loved it in Return of the Jedi’s special edition, I love it here. There’s a thematic resonance with our heroes overcoming their fear and the galaxy at large being stirred to action. I just wish we’d gotten a few ragtag forces to show up at Crait, but that was a choice Rian made. I’m glad JJ chose differently. It was incredibly Star Wars.

- The 3PO stuff was weird, especially given how emotionally centred it was in the final trailers. It was also tied up in the Poe stuff I disliked. I don’t really know what else to say. At least R2D2, BB-8, and him felt like characters, not purely plot devices.

- Chewie - his reaction to losing Leia was absolutely devastating, his relationship with the next gen trio was great, and his death fake-out was...weird. I could go either way with that - killing him would have been a huge risk I could have respected, on the other hand if he was going to go out he deserved better than that (like, say, a moon getting dropped on him saving the life of Han Solo's kid). His ‘death’ did set up a crucial character beat for Rey. And there were, in fact, two transports, I remember that.

TLDR;

It was a fun movie! It tried to do way too much because The Last Jedi was not an effective sequel to The Force Awakens, and that’s on Kennedy and the LFL story group more than anyone else. It nailed the broad strokes of the Jedi/Force plot in my opinion, including subverting genetic destiny and the power of blood ties over everything else. In the process, it let a number of characters down, who were unfortunately also the characters of color, which is: not great.

I found it rewarding as a fan. It rewarded my faith in the goodness of the denizens of the GFFA and the power of found family. I’ve loved Rey from the start and I’m thrilled with how her arc ended with her burying the Skywalker legacy and making a new start with her new family in Poe and Finn (and Rose, damn it). I’m glad it made me feel better about Luke Skywalker and finally made Leia a bona-fide lightsaber wielding Jedi. I was exhilarated coming out of it, instead of exhausted and frustrated like I was in The Last Jedi. It didn’t make me hate Star Wars. It had extreme Return of the Jedi energy, and that is literally all I needed out of this film.

Here’s to a load of more complex, nuanced, and adventurous storytelling that the Skywalker saga never really allowed. I’m still excited for the prospect of Rian working with his own characters in the universe. I think JJ should probably be done.

Chuck Wendig said that the Star Wars universe was junk. Fun, whimsical, exciting, but ultimately not really a well-crafted piece of art. I’m inclined to agree.

[goddamnmuses-a]

Dan Watches: Star Wars: Episode I -The Phantom Menace

So.. I got the idea of writing my thoughts up as I go basically as they get to the Gungan city so.. i’ll try and remember my thoughts before that and then I’ll do it kinda live. Under the cut cus long. 

Alright.. So the opening crawl was very.. politics which to be honest as i’ve got older I actually kind of enjoy that side of Star Wars but it doesn’t really add anyhting to the actual film because I think everything thats in it could be picked up by just watching the film. 

I kinda like the battle droids.. weird soft spot for them. I like the big ship ones too and Droidekas i thought were the coolest shit ever when i was a kid and i stand by that. 

I’m not all that bothered by the racial stereotypes because like.. i’m not the races they’re sterotyping but i can see why it’d be problematic.

Jar Jar isn’t as annoying as everyone makes him out to be.. don’t get me wrong.. he’s annoying.. but he’s not cancer. 

Aesthetically the Gungan City is pretty cool, giant underwater bubble city.. i bet there’s cool fan art of it somewhere. 

Alright now we’re live.. The duck things the Gungans ride are weird. 

Do Gungans like JarJar eventually become the giant Green guy? .. I googled apparently they’re just two different races of Gungan despite looking like totally different Aliens.

It’s nice that all races are like “Life debt? Oh yeah thats a legit thing.”

Gungans speak like English or Common or.. i forget the Star Wars term.. Basic? is their second language.. but it isnt. 

Yooo Qui Gon just made JarJar go to sleep using the force.. Why is Force Sleep not a thing in more stuff... gotta keep an eye out for that now. 

Naboo is pretty.

Padme is so extra, she’s in her iconic red dress that’s already extra as fuck and then sees that she’s been captured and is like “Alright.. but first.. wardrobe change!” and then shows up in some black number. I’m not sure if at this point she’s actually Padme or if Padme is pretending to be one of her servants now but either way she had a costume change and nobody questions it so she must be having costume changes all the time. 

When Qui Gon force pushes two battle droids theres a really weird sound effect that sounds like it belongs in a mario game. 

Pretty sure Padme is the handmaid now and this new Queen should take the opportunity to be like “Yoo peace out bitches.” Then we get Keira Knightley’s adventures in Star Wars.

Also who was she before this swaparoo? Was she a handmaid and just suddenly got promoted to queen? Like she could be saying all sorts of shit. I know she gets revealed later on but think of how much she could do whilst Padme is away. 

The first words ever spoken to R2 in Star Wars, chronologically, (although inderectly) are “Hello Boyos”. Just sit with that. 

The first words spoken to him directly are “How rude.” which seems about right tbf with how sassy he is. 

Darth Maul is awesome. 

Keira Knightly or Sabe (I looked it up) is like “Yo actual queen, clean that droid!” i think she just wanted to feel more powerful than the actual queen there, little power trip. 

Nice Poncho Qui Gon. Cal approves. 

I wonder how long Padme took to convince the others to let her go off alone with Qui Gon and Jar Jar and R2 (Dunno why R2 joins them?) on a planet thats ruled by the Hutts

I kinda like Watto.. not as a person.. he just amuses me.

Kinda cool that Anakin can speak Huttese, wish he spoke it more often.. just cursing in Huttese as Obi Wan tries to teach him stuff. 

“Are you an Angel.” Smooooth kid. Smoooth, you’re gonna get with her. Despite her being way older than you. They couldn’t have just made him the same age as her? 

Toydarians should be used for more things, especially involving force users. 

Anakin. The slave. Is like “Here Qui Gon, you’ll like this food.” and he’s just like “Cheers” and pockets it for later. Dude. Try it. 

I really hope they do go into more High Republic stuff next, give me a Destiny-type game where you play as a Jedi with your mates. 

Quigons like “You must have Jedi reflexes to race pods” Then he catches Jar Jars tongue in a blink of an eye and Anakins like “You’re a Jedi Knight aren’t you?” And Qui-Gon is like “What makes you think that?” ...? .. You just fucking.. God damn it Qui-Gon. 

Anakin: “No one can kill a Jedi”. Palpatine: “Hold my Blue milk.”

I feel like im becoming fluent in Gungan broken basic which is worrying. 

Anakins mom whos name i’ve literally just forgot is like “He was meant to help you.” ... bitch.. what? Why does nobody question that? 

WHY DOES JAR JARS MOUTH MOVE WITH OTHER PEOPLES LINES!? ... Darth Jar Jar.  #PlagueisTheWiseWasAGungan. I mean not rly but seriously.. that would have been a really cool plot twist. 

Jar Jar got numbed and got his hand stuck.. so like.. perhaps not.. otherwise you’re playing a little too dumb mate. 

The look of worry from Shmi, good stuff. 

The two Headed announcer speaking basic and Huttese is pretty smart like, the one doing one and the other doing the other. 

What the fuck is Clegg Holdfast?

What the fuck are any of these races? Like.. where are these races throughout the rest of the franchise? 

Crazy that lightly bending that one part of the podracer can fuck it up so bad. 

Who the fuck is that other Hutt? Oh yeah I’m watching the like updated version with Geroge Lucas’ “Fixes” in it. Probably should have said that earlier. 

I cant remember if this is true but I’m pretty sure Qui-Gon knows Padme is the Queen and is just fucking with her at this point. 

Man Pod Racing is cool, fuck whoever says it isnt. 

Gimmie an updated Pod Racing ps4 game.

What the fuck is that long thin alien thats selling food to the crowd? Gimmie a Jedi version of him. 

Havent commented in a while because i just kept watching it tbh.

Coruscant looks cool. Still want more High Republic stuff. 

What the fuck is that driver alien, he looks in pain to exist. 

“There is no civility, there is only politics” The Chancellor code. 

Is it too late to call a vote of no confidence on Palpatine? 

I see you there in the background Yaddle. Get it girl. 

Fuck me the added extra of this long neck ass Jedi Master is so distracting. 

Where Jaro Tapal at tho?

You’d think after Padme’s like “Surprise bitch it’s me” moment coming up the Jedi would be like “Well shit.. maybe we’re less aware of things than we think... Yoda.. are you just a short human painted green?” 

Amedala... So extra with these outfits. I get that she’s a Queen but Jesus. 

Eyyyyyyyyyyyy it’s ET. 

Qui-Gon is such a bad boy. 

I kinda get why Jedi take kids when they’re really young, so they can’t remember their parents so they aren’t constantly worried about their parents and then fall to the dark side... doesn’t make it any nicer though. 

My vote went to Bail Antilles. 

To be fair not training Anakin could have been very bad. He could have like gone even more Darkside and Palpatine could swooped in and trained him himself completely. 

Maul is barely in this but fuck is he still cool. 

You know what I don’t hate Midichlorians. They’re just like atoms that stick to certain people and thats what gives them access to the force, it doens’t really change anything it’s just a scientific explination. 

You know what.. During the middle of the film, Jar Jar keeps his mouth shut and just lets people get on with it, that’s alright. 

How old is Obiwan supposed to be in this film? 

A little more variation in these creepy ass gungans would be nice. 

Damn the Viceroy and the other guy are huge or Maul is smol. 

Love that Gungan dindgeridoo horn thing. 

I also love the giant bubble shields. 

Are they watching a Star Wars battle tactics pc game on that screen?

Fuck The Darth Maul fight is badass. 

I don’t buy Anakin at all, he wants to fly out there and get involved, the little shit. 

Quigon doesnt even flip when he jumps, he’s just like “I’m too old for this shit.”

Yeah R2 is like “Go back” and Anakins like “Naaa fuck that”... Tut tut. Boys gonna be trouble.

The way Maul stalks back and forth the other side of that barrier like a Sith Tiger.. Good shit. 

Aaaaand Quigon is dead. RIP. 

“Now This is Pod Racing.”.. It’s not though is it? 

Nice to have something blow up and actually have debris instead of just all being gone completely. 

Anddd there goes Maul to go get robot spider legs and then be found by his bro Savage. 

Why do you wanna bring balance to the force anyway if it’s currently so one sided favouring the light side? Surely bringing balance is a bad thing at that point. 

Yoda’s already soooo old. 

Alright so they know there’s a Sith out there and the guy is still just like right next to them and they don’t know. Tut. 

That Jedi behind Mace Windu at the end looks intimidating as shit. 

Padme, he’s a kid, calm yourself down woman. You predator. 

Alright.. Film done. 10/10 Best movie ever. Naa tbh I enjoy the prequels more than most, obviously if you’ve stuck with me this long you know that but it clearly has its flaws.. still.. I enjoyed it! Feel free to ask me my opinions on specific things if you want.  Also shamelessly gonna plug my two star wars muses Cal and Savage here, rp with me you cowards. Also I’m down to star wars verse any of my other characters, literally any of them, i have ideas for all. 

[fancyfade]

okay SWTOR post day 1

(in response to this post (link)

Tank: Before the class story, Tank was in wherever they train spec force officers (I get the idea they have more training than regular republic soldiers because a) Forex says so and b) when you talk to Jakarro after understanding him in Shiriiwook, you say something like “amazing what they teach you in spec force training”.) But before that, she was working with some other people her age, Tam Zaris and Sharr Kii, who she met on Nar Shaddaa.

On Nar Shaddaa, Tank pissed off some Hutts by telling their enforcers to fuck off when they were trying to collect “protection” money from some guys who weren't paying up. Things wound up escalating until she got a bounty on her head, she wound up laying low in the sector of Nar Shaddaa Tam and Sharr Kii were in. Sharr Kii wanted to fight the empire because her wound up being pushed around during that Togruta rebellion thing (IIRC mentioned on Imp Side Nar Shaddaa plot?), and Tank went along for the ride when Sharr Kii suggested going off planet and helping rebels against the empire. The three of them (Tam Sharr Kii and Tank) eventually wound up over their heads and a section of Republic troopers both noticed them and rescued them when they invariably got kidnapped. They were each offered a place in Spec Forces, Tank took it but Tam and Sharr Kii didn't, preferring to stay helping rebels directly wherever they existed.

Tai: Since I've been playing him a bit recently, people who read my tumblr posts about SWTOR probably already know that Tai used to go to Korriban. He was the only child of Raihon Kor, and due to her hopes that he would continue their family and keep making them look strong, she ignored some of his flaws in battle and was happy when he got picked to go to Korriban. Sadly, he was way less powerful in the Force and lightsaber combat than all of his peers, and lived mostly by sneakery and getting other acolytes killed by other people or beasts (in the instances where the ultimatum is “one of you will succeed, the others will die” by the teacher).

After about two years of this, his Overseer got sick of seeing acolytes who were obviously more talented than Tai dying because of Tai's trickery (even though by sith logic, they'd be too gullible to stay alive) so he took Tai out to the Valley of the Dark Lords and slashed him across his back and cut off all his limbs, leaving him for dead. Tai finally tapped the force for something impressive and stopped himself from dying, hanging on until he was rescued by a team of smugglers (a zeltron, Dahxa Lyshow, and a twi'lek, Hay’laya).

Hay'laya and Dahxa wound up getting Tai medical care and taking him off Korriban. Tai learned how much of an asshole he was slowly over the course of 10 years and became a person you might not mind hanging around. The three of them also wound up rescuing Oriah Sam after she was wounded in an Akul hunt, and Oriah and Tai sort of became rivals, as Tai didn't like Oriah's edge and Oriah didn't like Tai's pretentiousness (because he was pretentious for a while).

After coming into possession of another ship, Dahxa and Hay'laya suggested that Tai and Oriah could use it for a second smugglign vessel, since they'd already taught the two everything they needed to know. Unwilling to work together without the glue of Dahxa and Hay'laya, the two of them settled the ship's ownership with a game of cards. Tai won and started smuggler story shortly after

Messilandre: Messilandre was training to be a Jedi on various planets, occasionally following around her mother, a politician from Miral, as mom wanted to instruct her on the way of her mirialan heritage and the political situation of the world. As she got older, Messilandre grew apart from her mom due to her own interpretation of the Jedi code, and she wound up working in a more formal capacity as a guard for her on dangerous missions. Mom disapproves of her daughter tagging along as a guard, because Messilandre's dad died on a combat mission, and mom is a bit worried. Messilandre takes this to mean her mom doesn't understand the realities of being a Jedi (it's dangerous). They have a strained relationship.

Either way, not too long after her last mission with her mom, Messilandre gets sent to Tython to finish her training and the plot starts.

Harin So: Harin So was a Voss Commando (IIRC military conscription is mandatory for the Voss?) who got tapped for mystic trials due to strategic acumen that wound up a little “Hmm, can zie see the future?”-y. Harin So never had a vision while training to be a mystic or in the mystic trials, and eventually sort of “dropped out”. Feeling useless and disconnected from zir society, zie wound up sneaking off world to try to learn more about the wider galaxy. There, zie met Yuon Parr, who trained zir in the way of Jedi on Tython until the start of the planet plot.

Lycaea: Lycaea's exact pre-planet plot will be told in my Trials fancomic if I ever finish it. The main difference between what's implied in game and her story is that she is not forced into Korriban early – not because she did all of the proper training channels, which she didn't (that wouldn't mesh with the Baras dynamic you have at first), but because she was ignored for a long time due to being mostly togruta. Her father sees what he views as his last opportunity to get her into Korriban by contacting Tremel, who also dislikes her for the aforementioned reasons (and her being part sith part togruta). Her dad convinces Tremel that she has at least been instructed in the ways of thinking like a Sith, and therefore will carry on Tremel's ideology. A desperate Tremel accepts, and Lycaea starts her planet plot (plus other details, revealed in comic if it gets finished)

Xareesh: Xahaiyarishin was a warrior on Kalee who was the second-in-command in her town (married to the first in command, the war leader). At one point, her town got attacked by a group of Czerka thugs because they had something Czerka wanted. Xareesh was left as the only surviving warriors after she had successfully evacuated a decent portion of the civilians. She felt aimless and lost, having lost too many friends in the battle, and wound up falling into a depression and working as a bounty hunter, alone, because staying with the rest of the survivors was a too painful reminder of what had happened.

When she is aimlessly bounty hunting, that's when she gets contacted by Braden, Jory, and Mako, and makes her way to Nal Hutta. After hearing their proposal for the Great Hunt, she figures that it will somehow snap her out of this and make her feel worthy again.

Aereinys: Aereinys's parents were exiled from Chiss space for (reasons I'll think of later). They died before she was born, and she grew up in an Imperial orphanage (probably state run and focused on getting the kids to be good little soldiers). She joined the army when she turned 18, as was expected of her, and impressed recruiters for Imperial Intelligence. Her path from Intelligence to the start of the prologue is straight forward, she was just assigned there due to her performance in the Academy, as the dialogue implies.

Nehari: Nehari grew up on Nar Shaddaa as a storekeeper's daughter. She started scavenging scrap metal to sell to help her mom make ends meet, and when her mom died when she was fifteen, Nehari took over the business and ran the store for a couple years, before getting fed up with kicking up protection money to hutts. She figured that she could be the victim or the victimizer, and quickly started fighting back and establishing her own miniature criminal empire. She became a pirate and raided cargo from everyone – and got captured by the Imperials, where she was put into slavery as a punishment. That is how she gets to the start of the Sith Inquisi plot, where she's recently been freed to become a Sith or die trying.

[queen-scribbles]

Steady as Stars: Tragen Meta

So time to ramble about Tragen because I am overly attached to this goober and have TOO MANY FEELINGS. Quick note, everything about his home planet is my own headcanon bc canon and Legends diverge pretty sharply so I just said “Screw allll of it” and am doing my own thing  😎 Also, i tried to keep some sense of order to it, but did not 100% succeed. Lots of parenthetical asides incoming. 

Brief backstory, for anyone who’s not familiar with my wonderful paladin son, Tragen is from Stenos, which is in the Outer Rim, right on the edge of Imperial space. They remained neutral during the Great Galactic War, but did host several Imperial supply lines. These supply lines eventually wound up integral to Stenosi economy, which the Empire used to blackmail them into actually joining shortly before the Treaty of Coruscant was signed.

Tragen’s love of the stars goes back to his childhood, but up until about 10 years old, it was just typical child’s awe and wonder at how many there were all the different places you could go among them, that sort of thing. Around ten is when the Empire started really pressuring Stenos to join, making threats, etc. This wasn’t common knowledge, but since Tragen’s parents were both high ranked government officials/nobility(the two are somewhat linked on Stenos; there’s the king/queen, their inner circle, and then a moderately-sized parliament of sorts drawn from the nobility. I’m still hashing out all the details, but that’s the basics), he’d hear them talking behind closed doors or after they thought he and his sister were asleep. They were worried the Empire would actually attack or invade or something like that, based off the displeasure the Imperial diplomat was conveying.

With the planet/culture’s future uncertain, Tragen started really appreciating the stars’ constancy. They’re always there, always the same, even if you can’t see them or are looking from a different angle. They’ve been there for ages and will be for ages more, and he finds that comforting.

Even moreso after the Imperial diplomat discovers how important the supply lines are to the economy and blackmails Stenos into joining the Empire with that knowledge. There are assurances things won’t change, of course, or at least won’t change much, but they do. And that’s before the Sith start looking for Force Sensitives. It’s very disconcerting for an acquaintance to be there one day and not the next. There are so many rumors about what happens to the people who go with the Sith(willing or no), it’s impossible to figure out the truth. With all the uncertainty, and his parents working even longer hours trying to merge Imperial statutes with Stenosi culture, Tragen finds even more comfort in the stars. Everything else might be changing, but they don’t.

And then the Sith find him. It takes a little over two years from winning Stenos to the Empire for the Imperials to work their way bottom of society to top looking for potential Sith, but Tragen’s one of the first they find when they finally get to the nobility/officials. By this point, the Imperials have abandoned all pretense of this ‘honor’ being optional, and so off Tragen goes to Ziost at thirteen years old. (He doesn’t want to, but loyalty/honor/duty are so central to Stenosi culture his father uses those to talk him down from a full-on freakout and into at least accepting this new path for his life, even if he doesn’t love it)

Tragen is not particularly gifted with the Force. It’s there, he has a decent enough connection to... amplify other things(ala Force scream, etc), but his real saving grace talent is martial combat. He’s been trained with a blade since he could hold one, is extremely observant and good at reading body language, and has a good head for strategy/thinking on his feet. The Sith training is where he’s introduced to the idea of dual-wielding(he’s ambidextrous, which is why one instructor suggests it), which is the only enjoyable thing about it.

Right from the start, Tragen has to hide his true self, bury it beneath a mask of anger and hatred he doesn’t really feel. He knows if he lets it slip he’s dead. He’s watched it happen; decent people who couldn’t ‘get over’ their scruples fast enough fall in duels to fellow acolytes who did, or are cut down by trainers as an example. He skates the edge of discovery the entire seven years he’s there; beating opponents to unconsciousness(so he doesn’t get stabbed in the back) but never killing anyone if can be avoided, claiming it’s so they have to wallow in the humiliation of defeat and/or “I rather like them owing me their life”. Still, he gets lectured multiple times about this merciful “flaw” he has.

During this time, he clings to the stars; to knowing that even when they’re hidden they’re still there, still shining bright, still the same. Just like him, sometimes their true nature is obscured or the constellations aren’t where you expect. bc you’re looking at them from somewhere different. None of that changes them, just how/if people see them.

Tragen’s survival tactic of hiding behind a mask of expected emotions he doesn’t really feel gets tested to its limit once Tremel summons him to the Academy for his trials, especially after Baras takes an interest in him. He’s constantly trying to outfox one of the most paranoid and brilliant Darths around, and sweats bullets the first few times he’s near the man. Once it starts to seem like Baras isn’t suspicious of him, Tragen relaxes ever so slightly. Not enough to do anything stupid, just enough he’s not a mess of suspicious tension every time he’s in his master’s presence. (And let’s not get into how hard the whole ‘wish the Jedi found you instead of the Sith’ thing with Dorgis hit him bc I’ll get too emotional to function. So many feeling for this dork.)

It’s a little easier once he picks up Vette. He doesn’t entirely drop his guard or his mask around her, but she at least is okay when he does nice/reasonable things, instead of lecturing about how he’s a terrible Sith yada yada. The two of them strike up a friendship pretty fast(she reminds him of his sister, actually), and Vette is usually the one to tag along when Tragen leaves the ship, even after Quinn joins.

It’s a still-tricky balancing act to accomplish enough of Baras’ objectives he doesn’t get suspicious while not violating his own code, but somehow Tragen manages. He leaves everyone alive he can, trotting out the ‘yes, but now they owe me their lives, giving me power and humiliating them’ excuse when needed. The entirely of looking for Jaesa, he’s adamant and upfront that he just wants to talk to her, leaves everyone alive(even makes Master Yonlach question his view of Sith :3) and resolves things as peacefully as he can. Even when faced with Jedi who are raring to fight and operating with the bias Sith = evil(tbf, he’s a rare exception...), Tragen always tries to talk things out first. He’s found pointing out he’s acting more Jedi-like than them works really, really well. On the whole, his conscience is pretty happy with how the search for Jaesa is going, though it does make him uneasy when he hears Baras got his hands on her parents. There isn’t really anything he can do at that point, so he just has to hope for the best and keep going.

While he is happy with the increased freedom and decreased oversight of having his own ship and underlings to do his job, it’s still lonely. He can’t completely relax on the ship, and he’s so used to having his mask up, he can’t bring himself to drop it around people, even Vette. Quinn there’s the obvious reasons(the man’s born and bred Imperial AND owes Baras his career; there’s no way Tragen’s trusting him with this), but Vette it’s more... worrying she’d accidentally spill the beans. She’s such a chatterbox and very impulsive, so even though he thinks she’d try to keep his secret, he’d rather not take chances with something this dangerous. This means the only time Tragen can drop the facade and be himself is when he’s alone, in his cabin, with only the stars for company. This adds a layer to his love of them; alone with the stars is the only place he can be honest, and living this lie is so exhausting he treasures those moments more than he can say.

He’s very used to opponents(especially Jedi) jumping to conclusions about him based purely on him being Sith, so Nomen Karr’s reaction on Hutta is.. expected At least, the initial hostility is. Tragen tries and tries and tries to be reasonable and just talk to the man, but Karr doesn’t cooperate. That he starts calling on the dark side is a bit of a surprise(not a huge one, though; a lot of the Jedi Tragen’s met have been hypocrites, and he could sense Karr’s pride and anger from the start), but Tragen is a skilled enough swordsman(I guess swordsman still applies to lightsabers??) he handles it.

Then Jaesa shows up. Tragen sends Vette to check in with the soldiers outside, and for the first time in eight years, drops his facade. If Jaesa can sense a being’s true nature anyway, there’s no point fighting it, and he hopes a gesture of trust like this will convince her(I did a lot of flashpoints/side quests etc with him, so he’s Light II by this point, better than a lot of my SWs). Dropping his guard like this makes him feel exposed, vulnerable. Naked, almost. He’s been so hidden for so long behind that mask, it’s mildly terrifying to let go of it.

*ahem* (But trusting Jaesa feels right, and safe, and this was the best course of action, right?)

(Wrong. She’s confused this Sith reads as merciful and compassionate against Master Karr’s arrogance and rage, and attacks him anyway)

During their fight, Tragen can’t help but admire her form; he knows dualsabers are tricky to wield and she’s very good. Good enough that it’s a challenge to beat her without hurting her(too much). By this point, Vette’s brought the Imperial soldiers back in, so he has to hide how giddy he is when Jaesa agrees to join him and help change the Empire from within. 

(Having her along is like surfacing for air after much too long underwater.)

It’s a little bit... cautious at first--they can’t speak freely enough on the ship to really connect. Tragen does encourage her to have confidence in herself; she’s grown since her days as a handmaiden, and understands all too well her struggles with pretending to be something she’s not. A lot of the advice he gives her  is the same things he’s clung to for years(”Keep your eyes on the goal” and “masks worn for survival are different than those worn for personal gain”) Jaesa has a million questions and Tragen’s dying to talk to someone he can be himself around, but they don’t get a chance until Taris. Tragen marks a couple firsts for me there; minorly, he’s my first male toon who did the planet arc but didn’t flirt with Thana, and more importantly: first Sith Warrior to talk every. single. War Trust target into surrendering. He didn’t kill a single one. (which I didn’t know was possible until him; I thought at least one of them[Frelka] fighting was unavoidable, but he did it.) This is where Jaesa starts accompanying him pretty much everywhere(she’s his apprentice, why shouldn’t she?) and they start building up trust and friendship and she gets a real look at his character.

Tragen keeps his word to the Siantide miners, shows restraint, and is basically the least Sith-y Sith Jaesa’s ever seen, let alone met. This is what brings her curiosity out in Shining Bright. That conversation opens the floodgates and they talk freely as they work their way through Taris, a freedom both miss once they’re back on the Empire Dawn. But even if Pierce’s quarters weren’t right next to Jaesa’s, being more open is not a good idea. Too much risk.

It is, however, very difficult to keep their conversation quiet when Jaesa tells him about the other light-leaning Sith. Tragen’s ecstatic (and relieved) to know he’s not the only one(also, impressed by how much stronger + more skilled Jaesa’s gotten with her power). He’s very eager with his encouragement she keep looking, and so giddy when she actually finds them, they’re both equally to blame for Pierce almost catching them. (It’s very hard for a pair of excited 21 year olds to keep their voices down) He sends her to make contact with these light-leaning Sith and paces his cabin in antsy, impatient circles until she gets back.

Thanks to their Force bond, Tragen can tell even before Jaesa boards the Dawn that something’s wrong. When she tells him how badly her attempt went, the first words out of his mouth are reassuring her this wasn’t her fault. She tried, and no matter the outcome, that was the right thing to do. (He does hug her, even if it’s risky, just for a moment. She’s his friend and she’s hurting, he doesn’t care if it raises suspicions)

(side note: this is where the first seeds of Jaesa falling for him are planted, when her feelings matter more than her failure, even if she doesn’t realize it until years later)

Disappointed as they might be by this setback, there’s not much they can do about it(both somehow find solace in the stars, though neither mentions it), so they soldier on. Both improve in combat prowess, Jaesa’s strength with her power grows, they become uncannily good at working as a team. (this is part experience and part Force bond--Tragen might barely be decent at most Force stuff, but he and Jaesa bond STRONG)

It’s almost a relief when Baras tries to kill him. He can stop even pretending loyalty. Though he does find it deeply ironic the Emperor’s Hand reaches out to recruit as Wrath someone so diametrically opposed to Sith values. He shares Jaesa’s excitement for potential influence he can wield, being so high-ranked and even less subject to oversight bc who’s gonna be brave enough to question the Emperor’s Wrath? Between that and Lord Emmoridg reaching out to Jaesa, Tragen’s actually feeling good about their chances at reforming the Empire. It turns out a bit more complicated than he’s anticipating--while there’s less oversight, there’s also a stricter and more definite set of expectations placed on the Emperor’s Wrath than on a run of the mill Lord. Expectations that are harder to look like he’s fulfilling while actually subverting.

Belsavis, for example. Tragen has no problem or qualms about killing Ekkage. And he knows Jaesa’s not going to tell anyone how readily he partnered with a Jedi(who he not only let live, but parted on good terms with) to achieve his goals. But he didn’t kill Col. Trill for not helping him, and he lets Lord Melicost walk away, and he has no guarantee those actions won’t raise eyebrows. Sure he can argue he doesn’t want to weaken the Empire/Sith in their war with the Republic, but a) it doesn’t stop other Sith and b) he has a history of being less brutal than a Sith should. With being Wrath now, Tragen’s starting to really stress over the balance and his facade is straining him to the breaking point.

The stars remain a huge comfort to him. He spends a lot on his time on the ship just sitting in his cabin and staring out the viewport(he calls it meditating if anyone other than Jaesa asks). The stars are still there, still the same. The constellations and which ones he can see might be different depending on where in the galaxy he is, but even when he can’t see them, he knows they’re still there. Still magnificent and beautiful no matter what happens. That thought is one of the few things that keeps him going strong.

Another is his friends. Tragen is all too happy to help Vette find her family(it makes him miss his even more) and backs her up in her reluctance to seek revenge for her mother’s death. The two of them are pretty close, and Vette always manages to make him smile, so helping her is no trouble at all. There are times Tragen wonders if she suspects how truly un-Sithy he is, but he can never quite bring himself to admit it to her for sure. That mask is such habit, it stays on around everyone.

Except Jaesa. Even if their Force Bond and her power didn’t make hiding things an exercise in futility, they’re a team and Tragen a) trusts her and b) is eternally grateful to have someone he can be himself around. Completely himself. And he feels like no matter how daunting this goal of reforming the entire Empire is, with her as his partner it’s possible. Jaesa found the light-leaning Sith, Jaesa reached out to them. Despite the initial disaster, she’s the one Lord Emmoridg reaches out to and she’s the one who keeps in touch with him.

Tragen is feeling very good about about their goals and actually starting to hope he won’t have to hide forever when they learn about Cendence. Jaesa is so distraught  when relaying her encounter with the tortured and dying apprentice, Tragen shuts and locks the door under the pretense of meditating so he can comfort her without being disturbed. Knowing there’s a Sith out there hunting down ‘their kind’ is more than a little troubling(terrifying is the word he would use), but Tragen’s too busy with the Hand’s assignments to do anything about it, so he entrusts this foe to Jaesa. He knows she can handle it. She a gifted Force-user, skilled saberist, and stronger than she realizes. He’s so proud of her when she goes face to face with Cendence and beats him bc he knew she could do it.

Regarding the Quincident--bc how do you meta a Sith Warrior without touching on the Quincident?--Tragen of course forgives him. Has to dress it in the usual ‘Your life is mine now’ rhetoric, but he’s secretly amused at the irony. Baras is the Proper Sith(TM) between the two of them, is more in line with Sith values and would technically be the right choice by that metric. Tragen’s just more powerful--even if it’s still more combat skill instead of the Force. (He’s better with the Force than he used to be, but still largely relies on lightsabers. He’s more comfortable with blades)

After defeating Baras(which is a relief) and being confirmed as Wrath by the Dark Council(which is stressful af), Tragen takes a long time wrestling with how to balance his goals and his new position. Yes, he has more influence, but people will also be more wary/skeptical that the EMPEROR’S WRATH is light-leaning and trying to change things,and he’s pretty sure the more times he’s merciful, the more questions will be raised. If he and Jaesa thought what Emmoridg is doing is dangerous, training LS Sith right under the Council’s nose, this is.... too perilous for words. He actually talks to the Emperor. Tragen interacts with Vitiate; pure, remorseless evil and incredibly powerful, who he’s actively working to undermine. It makes the next few years extremely harrowing, but at least things are never boring(and most of his orders--what few there are--come through the Hand, so he doesn’t talk to Vitiate MUCH). The only thing that keeps all his plans from crashing down and totally wasting the years of wearing his mask, is that the Wrath is allowed to maintain autonomy rather than being bound to Vitiate’s will via dark side rituals. That would have led to his discovery and torture/execution, Tragen is 100% sure. Even as things stand he has to be incredibly careful.

It helps him immensely that Jaesa’s sticking around; both for her help with their goals and just bc Tragen values her as a partner. He admires her growth and resilience, she admires his bravery and sacrifice(both admire the other’s inner strength), they work fantastically well as a team--by the SoR prelude they can practically read each other’s minds, and his future plans rely heavily on her being there. Which she’s all too happy to do.

(both of them are halfway in love at this point and both are completely oblivious to it. There’s no pining--yet--bc neither has a clue the true nature of their feelings-- largely bc they both come from planets where marriages are usually for politics over love, and then their respective orders; the Sith encourage lust, not love, and the Jedi ofc with their acting like Love Is Bad Bc Attachments)

I’m toying with headcanon-ing that Tragen’s acquaintance with Lana and Theron starts with the Depths of Manaan flashpoint, bc I’m verrryyyy conflicted about him doing Attack on Tython. It feels OOC for him(I played him through it, but it didn’t sit right >.>).Whatever I do there, his familiarity with Vitiate’s nature makes him all the more frantic to stop Revan bc seriously, man, you don’t know what you’re doing, this is going to end so very VERY badly. He is, of course, right, and he hates it.The disgust he’s always felt for Vitiate multiplies exponentially at the end, when Mr. Embodiment of Pure Evil and Dickishness escapes and promises to consume his Wrath last since Tragen’s “special” to him(which makes his skin crawl; he doesn’t want to be valued by something so evil). And like all my Force-users, Ziost hits him really hard. He’s more familiar with how evil Vitiate is, so on that score he’s braced himself. But even with his mediocre Force connection, all of that terror and death so fast hits him hard--though not as hard as it hits Jaesa. She goes catatonic for a little bit, which scares Tragen half to death. It’s only about 5-10 minutes, but he recovered in under a minute, so it still feels like an eternity. And she’s quiet and closed off the rest of the day.

The one good thing to come out of SoR-RotE (aside from new friends), is Tragen can now openly, full-throttle oppose Vitiate and it’s okay. More than okay, Darth Marr himself approves. And being the Empire’s Wrath instead of the Emperor’s has him back with the increased leeway to do his own thing which makes it possible to work(still subtly) toward reforming the Empire. And he’s more sure they need it than ever now; with Vitiate out there as a threat, he’s pretty sure the Empire and Republic will have to ally again to deal with him. That’ll be much easier to do it they aren’t so wildly different. His progress may be measured in inches, but he has time; he’s not going anywhere.

Or so he thinks.

(KotFE onward coming soon in a separate post)

[swan2swan]

“Is the galaxy worth saving?”

This should have been the question The Last Jedi posed.

The Original Trilogy showed us a group of freedom fighters fighting for good against an unquestionably evil Empire, so there was never any doubt that the galaxy was worth it--at least as far as putting people who made good and righteous decisions was concerned. The only alternative was oblivion in the form of weapons that literally destroyed worlds, and life in terror of a mechanical monster.

The Prequel Trilogy, though, showed that the galaxy more or less chose this fate for itself: our own heroine nominates the future Emperor, the Dark Lord of the Sith, to the position of Chancellor; the comic relief proposes that his army of evil henchmen be created; the heroic Jedi Order begins the war that tears the galaxy apart; and our protagonist is the one who murders children and cements the Empire in its place. They may have all been manipulated by a greater evil, but as they watch in horror while the galaxy embraces wickedness and tyranny, there is no one who rises to help them.

In the Sequel Trilogy, our protagonists are all disconnected from the greater galaxy: Rey is abandoned on a junk world, Finn was raised to be evil from the beginning, and Poe serves a Resistance force that isn’t even recognized as an official faction. It is then revealed that complacency and corruption pierced even our New Republic, and their capital and fleet are annihilated. Any chance of becoming “good” is gone--and even the Jedi are absent from the galaxy.

Thus the question should have arisen: is the galaxy worth saving? What stake does Rey have in a universe where her own parents don’t return for her, leaving her alone and thirsty on a ball of sand and metal? Why should Finn take up arms against a force he knows is unstoppable, or trust people whose flaws have been relentlessly exposed through countless feeds of propaganda? Why should Poe have to respect what the galaxy wants when they didn’t listen to him and his superiors, despite all of the warnings he gave? And finally, why should Luke Skywalker return to a galaxy that continually demanded the help of the Jedi, but did not rise up as one when the Jedi who helped them were massacred? Why should he help a galaxy that rejected him and his teachings when they learned of his heritage? Why should they all fight for a universe that doesn’t want them?

We could see Canto Bight--wealthy and opulent, uncaring even after an entire system vanished. We could see the quaint comfort of Ach-To: the Jedi’s first temple, destroyed not by violence but by the steady weather of time, where a peaceful race lives unbothered by the galaxy’s strife. We could have explored other worlds, questioned whether people should cut deals with the First Order, whether a united galaxy is all that bad, or necessary.

Then, the movie could have explained why you have to care. Why even though the world may not treat you right, you should still treat others with love, because that’s how you win. You preserve those you can, and keep moving to help others. The trilogy could have explored more of what the heroes are fighting for: individuals. People. Peace. This could have been written in the first Jedi Temple: stories of how they saw people suffering, and realized that they could use their powers to heal, to comfort, to communicate...and to resist evil. They could have spoken of schisms, of guidance, of moral dilemmas and unanswerable questions...but always come back to this code of the Jedi: protect the weak. Teach the ignorant. Create hope.

Thus we could see how the first Jedi spoke to the last. We could witness the rebirth of the Jedi in the same way as it began: with a few small nobodies from the outside reaches of space taking their power and using it to fight evil. Not because they think they can put a perfect government in place, or because they think if they bring peace, all wars will end and all troubles will stop. But because they can fix things. No, you can’t just free a bunch of animals from their pens and burn down a casino; it’s a temporary solution. You have to teach people, be patient, make plans. You can’t eliminate all the bad people in the galaxy, and you can’t just create good ones. These could have been the lessons: the first movie shows the threat facing the galaxy, the second one shows them finding the way to fix everything and learning about the problems of the past, and the third film would have them uniting and driving toward their goal.

It would have opened the universe so much more...

[kovnynir]

𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑪𝑯𝑶𝑶𝑳

obi wan was incredibly nervous, but now wasn’t the time to fall back on what he had said he would do. he’d spent months working on this new code, months planning how the school would work and who would be there to help and what the students would learn. he established a curriculum, planned the first several weeks of lessons… obi wan had established a school. one that would run well, one that would surpass the old way and make this a good experience for the force sensitive students that had found their way to him.

he’d asked the students to let the force lead them to the cave. he’d warned it would be hard, but to just trust him. he’d done so much work in that department as well- he protected that cave, making it impossible to be found unless you were one of the few that he’d given permission to enter. and he could give more people permission to find it depending on if he knew them, but the students couldn’t just bring whoever they wanted, nor could strangers find it. it was foolproof, and it would keep them safe. within the cave, he and rye had spent a few days excavating what crystals were meant to leave so rye could work with them, and the rest served as lovely reminders of the power of this place. every room and tunnel had been reinforced so they wouldn’t collapse, and every room had been made to serve this school. classrooms, a large area that he’d put cots and clothes and food in case there was any need to stay overnight, this space was outfitted with everything it needed to be perfect for its inhabitants. it was a temple. a true temple. the main room, the one he stood in now, would be the new main space for everyone to collect and have their little gatherings. like what he was preparing to do now.

he was pacing slowly, deep in thought. waiting for people to start showing up. ahsoka had been a gentle force in his life, extending her encouragement, but he was grateful that she was leaving him alone with his thoughts for the moment so he could prepare. obi wan was very proud of this thing he’d worked so hard to build. but that didn’t change how scared he was.

he watched as people started filing in, students and teachers alike. it was beautiful, seeing them all mingling and chatting – this was what obi wan had worked so hard for. this was what he’d been wanting all along, a sense of connection and camaraderie. and of course, the wonder in the eyes of those that hadn’t been there before was always exciting to see. once all students and teachers had arrived, he stepped up onto the small platform, raising him up a head or so so he could regard the crowd and see everyone. he glanced at ahsoka, silently asking her to stand beside him. he couldn’t do this alone.

he took a breath. ❝ hello everyone, ❞ he greeted with a small wave. ❝ and thank you for coming. i’m glad to see you all here, safe and sound. ❞ obi wan was a talented public speaker, but with all these eyes on him, the eyes of those whose future rested in his hands, it was a little scary.

❝ from the day i was brought back to this world, i knew my true purpose was to continue teaching. i knew, back in my time, that the jedi code i was raised under had flaws that hurt more than they helped. and in my isolation following the purge, all i could think about was how it could be changed so that we could grow in a healthy way, not force people through a system out of necessity. we left so many people behind, we failed so many bright people thanks to apathy and detachment. there was also this heavy cloud that covered the jedi – refusal to view other schools of thought with respect. those that fell somewhere between sith and jedi were discarded, and the sith were outright hated and treated as though they were all the same. it created a close-minded, heartless order that opposed the very things we sought to preach. but then i woke up here on batuu, with a new generation of jedi that needed a plan. i can’t help but feel as though i’m meant to be here, for that very reason. the force has led me to all of you, and you to me. all i ever wanted was to be useful, and i’ve been granted that chance. ❞ he held up a bound book for just a moment or two as he explained what it was. it was small, plain.

❝ i have rewritten the code, thanks to the help from all of you. every single one of you have helped me build this into a lifestyle that helps us grow and keep balance in the force – and i couldn’t be more thankful that you trusted me with this task. ❞ he was trying to keep himself from getting choked up. ❝ i actually, um… i don’t believe i’ve done much of anything. each and every one of you has done more to build this new code than i ever could. i just… wrote it down. ❞ though he was on the emotional side, he had a little smile on his face. he gazed at all the people he cared about, all of those that would be teaching these bright students, the bright students themselves… it was such a wonderful sight.

❝ i won’t read the whole thing out to you, i don’t want to keep you here all day, but… i do want to tell you the most important tenants. these tenants are the core of our order, and i hope you’ll remember these if you remember nothing else. ❞ he took a deep breath, then started.

❝ the force desires balance over everything. be prepared to face those consequences and work to make them right should you tip the scales either way.

honesty, understanding, and kindness are the core of our teachings. whether you fall on the light, grey, or dark side, you should always move through this life with justice and honor as part of your path.

diversity is a strength, not a weakness. your individuality is what makes you special, and what makes you special only provides more strength to those around you.

and finally… your love drives you to do good. do not let your attachments be manipulated, instead let them guide you, bring you peace, and make you stronger. ❞

he paused a few moments, letting it sink in. the last tenant was so important – he really needed everyone to hear him, to understand that rule. ❝ all i hope for is to watch all of you grow. you’re all so strong. the strongest i’ve ever seen. i couldn’t be more lucky, more blessed and more proud to be a witness to this… this renaissance. it’s truly astounding. and it’s all thanks to you. ❞ obi wan refused to take credit. not when he felt so small in comparison to his students.

❝ now, i ask that the students form a line in the front, please. ❞ he watched as the crowd shifted and the students stood before him. he got down off the platform and started at one end. he initiated every single one of them, making the ceremony shift with each person. it was individualized and sweet. he was happy to have a little moment with each student, connecting with them personally. and it was clearer than the way his had gone with caledance – he’d even redone hers so it was more proper. and once he finished the line, he returned to his platform. ❝ to the first students of the temple of batuu- on behalf of myself and the masters here to guide you…. welcome home. ❞

the cheers of celebration, the jumping around, and the hugging that erupted the crowd simply made obi wan’s heart melt. his hands found their way into the sleeves of his sweater, anxiously toying with the knit. he was just so… overwhelmed. the force was so strong and bright, it was as if one of the suns had found its way inside the cave, illuminating all the crystals.

and everyone was so happy. stars, he never though he’d see them all so happy.

he stepped off the little platform and stayed towards the back, just looking on at all the love and excitement. this was good. they really were home. he hoped he did it right, he hoped they all felt good about this, he hoped he hadn’t forgotten anything or made any mistakes… stars, his worries would drive him mad. obi wan shut his eyes, took deep breaths, centered himself. it’s okay. this new order was about forgiving mistakes, not punishing them, right? it was all going to be okay. they were home, they were never going to have another nightmare like order 66 ever again. obi wan would defend this school with everything he had. the jedi had been through too much, it couldn’t fail. he wouldn’t let it.

READ THE JEDI CODE & OPERATIONS.

[captainshadowgirllostfan]

I kind of disagree with some of what you said. Like Mind-Control was a thing in OT. There was that scene with Ben Kenobi and the stormtrooper where he manipulates his mind by waving his hand and saying the words which the stormtrooper repeats and then lets them go.

Also while I agree that Obi-Wan prioritising his brotherly relationship over the Chosen One prophecy would’ve been more impactful, I actually do think that for him that was the most important because Anakin’s apprenticeship was all about that prophecy. Qui-Gon freed him because he thought he was the “Chosen One”, and pleaded to Obi-Wan to train him because he was the “Chosen One”. And so it all became about that more than compassion and in a way sort of does define what the Jedi Order of the prequel era was and this prophecy, alone with how the Jedi Order functions is precisely why Anakin came to fall so easily because in a way it defines his lack of agency or the obstacles of it which Palpatine later takes advantage of to trap him in ROTS by using the one thing he actually does care about against him. Also the fact that he starts out as a slave.

But I got to say you definitely put into words my own issues with the prophecy of the Chosen One as well, including how everything ended up being, it’s pretty fucked up. I generally hate prophecies in any stories. Never understood the point of it. I guess I could say that maybe your view of the Force is correct and the Jedi’s initial view is wrong hence why he failed. A lot of prequel fans I’ve spoken too though I generally interact with Anakin Skywalker fans claim that the reason Luke succeeds because he became what a Jedi was meant to be, he was the true Jedi, not the prequel Jedi who were full of themselves in their high towers and were full of hubris. Of course there’s also the problematic view for me anyway that the Chosen One Prophecy was about eliminating the conflict by destroying both sides of the equation and that to me is like whoah okay.

So yeah I definitely get your views. Thank you for writing down what I also feel. I wasn’t sure if anyone felt the same way either because it’s like most of fandom seems to accept that uh killing everyone was the answer?

I mean if the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire needed to fall...idk how I would feel if to do that Jesus had to be a genocidal killer or to join the Emperor, help him cause as much harm because he believes he’s bad, only to finally throw him down a shaft to save his son... it doesn’t scream saviour to me and personally I don’t think Anakin wanted to be a saviour, certainly not the way the Jedi was picturing it which was basically killing the Sith and putting everything back to the Status Quo when Anakin early on dreamt of saving slaves, which I think is a pretty saviour quality, but how can you have a saviour if he’s raised in an institution that doesn’t look beyond itself and thinks that it (and the Republic) is more important than the rest of the Galaxy? Had Anakin been raised by his mother perhaps we would’ve had that saviour story but like you said, his conception is pretty questionable and perhaps his story isn’t meant to be about compassion but more the dark side, the stolen agency, the destiny in which he always has to be told. Perhaps he wasn’t a saviour or Chosen One but a deconstruction of that as an example of how flawed and wrong the Jedi’s view of the force and all things actually was? This is probably why Luke ended up failing in the sequels too because he was trying to follow the prequel era Jedi way when in reality he always knew the right way of the Jedi by the very little Yoda was able to teach him and that was enough. He didn’t have to copy and follow the Jedi Code or how the prequel Jedi functioned. The same could be said about how the New Republic tried to copy how the Old Republic functioned instead of focusing on why it fell in the first place and making sure the New Republic doesn’t end up in the same path.

Okay I’m rambling now and probably gone off topic haha

How Western (Christian) Theology Crippled the Prequel Trilogy

I’m not gonna lie, my personal scale for how good the various Star Wars trilogies were is pretty much a straight downward trend, and this is probably as much because of how old I was when I saw them and my preference for nostalgia as because of anything logical or factual.

But because I like to examine my biases (and justify them) I’ve been thinking a lot about the stories, what their strengths and weaknesses were, and why people are still drawn to them (outside of money makes for good advertising which makes for larger market). I’ve thought a lot about how individual characters were treated, how telling the story out of order meant a lot of retroactive justifications for, well everything, and what story devices were used and what they did.

As such, I now have (rather violent) feelings on, well, the title of this post.

At its core, I object to the shortcut cues. All stories, but films especially, rely on these to help tell the story in limited space by drawing on things the audience already knows/is familiar with. And boy do the prequels disappoint on this one. And undervalue the themes of the original trilogy.

Keep reading

[xivu-arath]

so back when I was running rkorya’s storyline, I ended up turning jaesa to the dark side because it was the right in character choice, and then regretting it so much that I dropped the game for like a year. my edgy daughter has grown on me a lot since then but I always resented how drastic the change was and how flat her characterization seemed so I took some months figuring out a way to establish more of a continuity with her light side personality and uh. this fic happened! 

idk if the result is entirely a success but I’ve been working on this for two months So There

“You’re never like this with the others. They don’t have you frowning at them every time they kill.”

“The others,” her master says, almost unbearably calm in the face of that accusation, “are not my apprentices. They also aren’t running away from themselves.”

(crossposted to ao3)

“I’ve returned, master,” Jaesa declares, sweeping into Rkorya’s quarters. It’s one of those rare days when there isn’t some immediate crisis for the Wrath to handle, and the crew had already dispersed to carouse and shop, though she knows by now that they won’t stray far. She’s still giddy from her own use of this reprieve – the other apprentices staying in the sanctum are weak and boastful, puffing themselves up to cover their glaring flaws, and it’s a heady delight to lay them bare, turn each word into a knife to twist in the wound.

A shame she can’t go further, but her master has been exceedingly clear about what she can and can’t do, with the war in full swing. Indulging in slaughter is to be reserved for the enemy, and it’s not as if she really cares about who she’s killing, as long as she gets to go through with it. Fortunately, the Emperor’s Wrath is never short of people to stand in her way, and the chance to carve through them is something Jaesa can always count on.

A chance that will hopefully come soon. Her master’s impatience is all but tangible – the air around her hums with it.

“So I see.” Her arms are crossed and Jaesa reflexively straightens, feeling her gaze sweep over her in fleeting assessment. “You enjoyed yourself?” Her voice is even, but Jaesa can see her tension coiling inward, becoming the honed focus that she so admires – and, in those moments when it’s trained upon her, fears, just a little.

It’s not fear of Rkorya herself. She knows her master will never betray her, discard her when she proves unfit or tiresome – that is one of her new life’s certainties. She’s never quite said as much, but Jaesa knows, sees it every time even just one of the crew is threatened and she flares with protective rage, malice to rival the heat of stars.

Jedi fear attachment, think it makes them weaker and swayed by the trivial whims of those around them, and at first, Jaesa thought the Sith were much the same – revelling in the feeling of the moment, but cutting away each bond when it became too permanent, too vulnerable. But Rkorya takes that sentiment and turns each connection into her strength, guards those near her fiercely. So no, she would rather have tossed herself off of the sanctum than seriously punish or injure her apprentice.

On some days, she finds it sweet, a devotion that she strains to match in service and loyalty. But on others, it’s jarring to be cared for, protected, even as she can see her disapproval whenever she comes back from a night out, streaked in sweat and blood. When they train, the difference between them gapes open like a void that can’t be filled, that aches with uncertainty, and she doesn’t know what she can do to make it better. She’s opened herself to the dark side, embraced her anger, and yet it’s never enough.

That it troubles Rkorya as much as it does her is a bitter balm – she doesn’t want to be the problem apprentice, forever the weak link. Some part of it might be her master’s fault, even if she is Sith to her bones, but... how much of it is her own?

“You know I always do,” she says, trying to shrug away the doubts. “No news from the fleet yet?”

“If there was, I would have called you back.” The focus remains, unrelenting. “Since you’ve returned already, I thought we might spar.” Jaesa relaxes, breathing out. Sparring is something they can both enjoy – it’s straightforward, ruthless, fun. When she had been a padawan, sparring had always been a stiff, stilted thing, all forms that had to be matched perfectly and boundaries strictly adhered to. She was never supposed to go beyond her limits, be tested past what her master thought best.

How things have changed.

“As if I’d pass up a chance for more entertainment.” She tilts her head, stretches her arms out indulgently. There’s nothing like a bit of violence to put them both at ease.

They’ve done this often enough that it almost has the feeling of a ritual, by now. Rkorya deactivates her shield generator – once, Jaesa had been amused at this show of paranoia, before she’d learned just how necessary it was – and shrugs out of her outer robes as Jaesa takes her place in the centre of the room. It’s always odd to realize her master is shorter than she is – her spikes make them barely even – when her presence in the Force is towering, and seeing her unarmoured feels like a gift of trust, a layer of protection peeled away.

This too is a good distraction from thoughts she’d rather not have. The tunic Rkorya wears beneath the rest of her gear leaves her arms bare, and Jaesa watches her muscles shift as she stretches, the way old and newer scars ripple and pull taut. There’s a faded tracery of burns going down her left shoulder, still pale against her red skin – lightning from a Sith, surely, but too old to be Baras’. Maybe she’ll ask about it, some day.

It’s a pleasant diversion, nothing more. There’s no point in voicing her interest when she knows it won’t be reciprocated, and for all Rkorya’s passions, she seems completely dismissive of the physical ones.

Still, she is ferocious, deadly, powerful, and as a Sith apprentice, shouldn’t she admire that power?

“Ready?” Rkorya asks, catching her gaze.

“I always am.”

Then there’s no more space for any further admiring – Rkorya crosses the distance between them in a single smooth movement, the sense of her in the Force crashing down like some abrupt, relentless disaster, and not just a single warrior. Even knowing her opening move, expecting it, Jaesa can’t quite shrug off the leaden weight of limbs that want to freeze up, instincts that say stop and run and this is death. She’s no longer a blind, obedient child, though, and instinct had never saved her. It’s grim fury that brings her saber up in time to block, though it’s a bad start, forcing her back a step as Rkorya lands and lashes out again.

She won’t win this bout – she rarely ever does – but it’s exhilarating to be so close to death, again and again and again. Power waits at her fingertips and Jaesa is giddily aware of each breath she takes, each heartbeat, the comfortable strain as she deflects and dodges and flows into every barest gap of an opening.

The Sith Code is right – this is the freest she has ever felt.

At least she has the advantage of reach, but it’s a small advantage when her master doesn’t have the grace to let her use it. The moment she stretches a little too far, Rkorya is there, trying to swat her blocks aside and get within her guard. A twist of her saber, and she wrenches Jaesa’s from her grip, hurling it across the room.

“Let’s speak about your appetites,” she says calmly, for all that they’re both breathing hard now, and Jaesa halts, hesitating in calling her weapon back.

“This... doesn’t seem like the best time, master.” She’s never known her to ruin a fight with talking before.

“On the contrary. You’re clearheaded now, which makes it the best time for this.” Jaesa lets her breath hiss out and pulls her saber back, sweeping it out reflexively for an attack that doesn’t come. Rkorya keeps her distance, watching her with measured intensity, and she knows she won’t let up on this, even with the offer of more violence as a distraction.

“Fine,” she says. “I’m listening.”

A flicker of sharp amusement. “You think I disapprove of you.”

“With respect, master, I know you do. I can feel it. Or did you forget why I’m your apprentice in the first place?” It comes out more heated than she’d planned on, but if they’re going to talk, she might as well be honest. “If this is going to be another lecture on how I should learn control –” Her voice rises, frays – control and composure belong to the Jedi, and it stings each time Rkorya tosses them back at her, as if she’s trying to chain her again.

“You’ve stagnated. You can only gain so much strength from indulging in death alone.” That brings her up short and she pauses, eyes narrowing. “Do you still hunger for it, even now?”

She can’t, won’t, lie to her. “You don’t understand what it’s like. Seeing everything about someone, everything that they are, like I’m holding it all in my hands, and then just... snuffing it out myself – there’s nothing like it. It’s so overwhelming... if you could just feel it, you wouldn’t blame me.” She plunges ahead before she can think enough to regret it. “You’re never like this with the others. They don’t have you frowning at them every time they kill.”

“The others,” her master says, almost unbearably calm in the face of that accusation, “are not my apprentices. They also aren’t running away from themselves.” She’s not sure what stings more, the words or the resolute conviction behind them, and it’s easier to be hurt than to dwell on why.

“I’m not running from anything.”

Rkorya’s dropped her guard as much as she ever does, and Jaesa surges forward to press her advantage in an echo of her master’s favourite move, whipping her polesaber out and down and knowing that this time she’s fast enough, close enough –

This close to her, she feels the momentary flush of Rkorya’s pain before she even sees her blow land, and then her master bats her away, power snaring her in mid-air with frightening ease and throwing her to the side and down before she can try to break loose. The impact cracks her head on the floor and knocks the breath from her lungs, so for a moment she’s too stunned to even consider drawing upon her anger again.

It could have been much worse. By now, Jaesa knows all the ways of choking breath out of the body, how to crush the spine or snap the neck or leave countless fractures when holding someone with the Force, and for all that this is a harsh, definite ending, it is still her master being merciful.

By the time her vision stops swimming, Rkorya has knelt down beside her. She watches her warily, trying to pick apart her feelings and find an answer there. There’s the superficial irritation she expected after the attack, a twinge of the earlier pain, and... regret, caution, hesitance.

Not emotions she’s used to sensing from her. At least there’s the focus beneath all of it, unrelenting and precise as a laser, or it would have been entirely disorienting.

“I’m sorry,” Rkorya says, which doesn’t exactly help. “When I took you on as my apprentice, I wasn’t ready for it, or for you. I wasn’t... good at this. I’m still not.”

Humility doesn’t suit her, but she doesn’t have the breath to say as much. Besides, interrupting seems a risky move.

“In many ways, this is my mistake. I did not understand what you were doing, or why it didn’t feel right. I let you lie to yourself for far too long.” That gets a surprised, strangled sound out of her. “Violence and bloodshed does not make you Sith. If I have only taught you how to be cruel, then I can’t say much about the example I set.”

“N-no, that’s not – you haven’t been cruel to me. Now, or ever. Not even –” Jaesa bites her tongue and tries to focus on breathing and not saying everything that comes into her head, but it’s too late.

“Not even when it would make it simpler?” Rkorya says, catching the trailing end of her thought. “It would be easier if I was like the Sith you were warned about as a padawan. Or even if I was more like Baras, and cared only about your place in my plans.” She pauses – yet another hesitation, but her gaze is as steady as ever. “But I did hurt you, Jaesa. I forced your master into a situation where he was doomed to fail you when you needed him.”

She hadn’t risked guessing what she had been trying to lead into, but she would have never expected Rkorya to bring up this. It had been over a year since all that. What does it matter now?

“He was weak,” she rasps. “And petty, and jealous, and a fool.”

“He betrayed you,” Rkorya continues, as if she hasn’t spoken. So calm. Sith shouldn’t be able to sound so composed, even if her master’s anger is just within her reach, like heat at her fingertips. “You trusted him to keep you safe, and because of me, he broke that trust.”

“So what? Then you beat him, because you were better. That’s just how things are.” Saying it shouldn’t hurt when it’s the simple truth. She hasn’t thought about Nomen Karr in a long time, and she doesn’t see the point in reminiscing about him now. Struggling to sit upright, she winces – the bout will likely leave her badly bruised later. “Is... is there a point to this, or are you just getting nostalgic?”

“I killed your parents,” she says, and the razor’s edge of balance Jaesa has clung to for so long wavers. She forgets her bruises in an instant and bows her head, watching her hands clench and loosen as if they belong to someone else.

“Because Baras told you to. You had to listen – you were his apprentice. You obeyed him, just – just as I obey you. Besides, I hadn’t seen them for years. We just spoke on the holo, sometimes –” Even that brings up memories she’s done her best to forget and ignore. “It doesn’t matter. They’re dead, and you killed them. I know that you would have done it quickly. They didn’t... they didn’t suffer. So,” she says, not daring to look up, “are we done now?”

Again, she feels that jarring reluctance from Rkorya’s mind – from the Sith who got up after nearly being crushed to death, who has never once flinched away from duty or battle – before she kneels down. “They may not have suffered much, but you have. I did not give you a chance to grieve. For that, I apologize.”

Jaesa stumbles over what might be a fitting excuse, some way to deflect away from prying into people who are dead and gone. “So – so what? You’re Sith. We both are.” She searches for the anger she’s wrapped herself in so easily since that day, but for once it evades her. “So you can stop trying to care.” To her horror, her voice trembles, and she can feel her eyes start to sting. She hasn’t cried since her first days as a padawan – what is she, a child?

“To be Sith is to care, Jaesa,” Rkorya tells her, voice rough. “To care so much that you kill for it. There is only passion, but passion is not just anger and hate. It is this, too.”

“But it hurts. It makes me weaker. I don’t care about who I once was – she might as well be dead.” She can’t even convince herself right now, and she curls her hands tight until her nails dig into her palms.

Rkorya shifts, and then lays a hand on her shoulder, the contact startling her enough into looking up.  “This grief is yours,” she says. “As is this pain. It will strengthen you, if you let it.” Her gaze bores into her, golden eyes alight. “But first you must allow yourself to feel it. All of it.”

It’s easy for her to say. Rkorya seems like she’s never once been uncertain, never suffered any pain she couldn’t recover from or push through, never fled from the person she once was. And why should she? She was born and raised to be Sith, had been taught duty and violence since she could hold a weapon. Jaesa is sure that if she looks back for too long, she’ll just – collapse. Shatter.

“What if I can’t?” she asks. “What if I do, and I... change my mind, and turn back?” The Jedi Code feels so stifling now, but at the same time, she could push all of this away again – the memories and the pain and every conflicted feeling.

“Then that is your choice,” Rkorya says, without even a second’s hesitation. “Made wholeheartedly. But remember – even as a padawan, you saw something that led you to trust me, despite everything.” The grip on her shoulder tightens for a moment in reassurance. “I doubt that would change so easily. But if it does, know this: I will not leave you, Jaesa. Not unless you wish me to.”

That shakes her almost more than everything else, and she chokes back a sound that is almost definitely a sob. There is something sad and absurd about this; the Sith who hunted her down and destroyed her old life being the one person who has been the most faithful to her, who wants to let her choose. Maybe she shouldn’t be grateful, but she is.

“Thank you,” she says, and means it. It takes a long moment to get her voice back under control, and she scrubs at her eyes, though Rkorya doesn’t comment on her tears. “I think I... need some time to think.”

“Of course. Take as much time as you need.” She rises to her feet and offers her hand, and after a second Jaesa takes it, letting her help her up. Rkorya is standoffish about physical contact, and twice in such a short time feels a little like a gift, one she’s not sure she deserves.

“I... we’ll talk later,” she says, and waits for her master’s nod before she can turn to go. Behind her, she can feel a swell of emotion, and it takes a moment for her to identify it as quiet but unmistakable pride.

Like the sun, it heats her back and warms her steps as she leaves.

[delicatefury]

TDPL snippet - The Padawan Discussion, round 2.

I got 2 likes and a hell yes, so here’s the next NaNo snippet. I wrote it on it’s own because it was one of the scenes that begged to be written. It’s the second of three conversations regarding Luke and Leia’s potential as padawans and who will be teaching them.

These conversations are necessary because Obi-Wan, self-sacrificing, self-deprecating man that he is, long ago came to the conclusion that if Anakin had had any other choice, Obi-Wan probably wouldn’t have been his master (comparisons to Qui-Gon were distinctively effective in planting this idea). As such, he is determined to ensure the twins know that they can have any available master and refuses to claim them for himself. He doesn’t want them staying with him out of any sense of obligation or thought that they have no other options.

Stupid, yes, but he’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, and his master and student did wonders in building up his self worth.

So the Padawan discussion, Round 1 is between Luke and Leia. Round 3 is between Obi-Wan and the Council. Round 2, though, is Luke and Obi-Wan.

Also, slight, very slight Anakin bashing and less slight Jedi-defending ahead. 

Anyway, enjoy.

“I know… I know I made a big deal about being a Jedi like my Father,” Luke beings. “And I’m not taking it back,” he hastens to add. “I wanted to be a Jedi at first because he was. I guess I just wanted to know him in someway. But I didn’t wanna be a Jedi like my Father, y’know?”

Obi-Wan does not know. Luke has been adamant on preserving Knight Anakin Skywalker’s legacy. He’d made that very clear. To Master Yoda, to himself, to Vader, and especially to the Emperor. As a result, Obi-Wan finds himself puzzled trying to find the meaning behind Luke’s words.

“Why ever not? If any Jedi proved that attachments are not necessarily a bad thing, that they can save lost souls and bring them back to the light, I would think it would be your father. He certainly taught me quite a bit about it.”

“Yeah, but… I looked him up, y’know. Anakin. His Jedi career, I mean,” Luke says. He’s looking at his boots, at the desert wrappings he’s managed to keep despite otherwise acquiescing to the initiate uniform. “And you were right. I mean, I’ve met him, now.” The boy gives him a wry smile. “He is an amazing pilot, a great warrior, a brilliant tactician, and a good friend.”

Obi-Wan returns the smile, hearing his own words echoed back to him, twenty-odd years before they were said.

“But…” the boy trails off.

“But?”

“I don’t think he’s a very good Jedi.”

Obi-Wan’s eyebrow rises at that. While he would not exactly argue, hindsight and all that, it was surprising hearing such a proclamation from Luke, the one person able to see the Light in Darth Vader.

“When Master Yoda died, I was alone. I still had you and Father around to advise me, but I was the only one who could rebuild the Jedi. So I had to decide what the Jedi were going to be.” The boy takes a deep breath. “I didn’t want us, well, me. I never had time to find anyone but Leia to be an ‘us’.” His smile turns rueful, and Obi-Wan thinks a look of such intense loneliness should not be on the face of a child so young. Obi-Wan remembers seeing that look on a young Anakin at a funeral pyre a decade and lifetime ago, and ignore the memory of seeing it on his own during a trip to a certain agricultural planet.

It won’t do to dwell.

“And what did you decide?” he prompts.

“I didn’t want to be pacifists, never lifting our weapons, and I didn’t want us to be isolationists, hiding from the galaxy so we could stay pure. The Republic would need us. Me. They would need me to undo a lot of the damage Sidious had done. To find the pockets of darkness that he left everywhere. And there was so much hurt and pain. Once I knew how to sense it, I could feel it everywhere. I finally understood what you felt with Alderaan. And… and I know how pain affected Father. It lingered in him. It never went away or got better. Instead, he dwelled on it, he feared it. But, I didn’t want to ignore it either, like some of the old books I found said. I didn’t want to pretend it wasn’t there. You can’t release a feeling into the Force if you don’t acknowledge it’s there.”

And, oh, the wisdom of children, Obi-Wan muses, to see that which so many of the Order misinterpreted, whether deliberately or not.

“I wanted the Jedi to be better. I wanted us to turn sorrow to sympathy and pain to compassion. I wanted the new Jedi to be strong enough to be kind, even if the galaxy took everything from them. To… to remember how easy it is to be hurt and to try not to inflict that on others. Maybe even find a way to take it on themselves, relieve other’s suffering, y’know?”

“You wanted your Jedi to be the opposite of the Sith.”

Luke nods. “I didn’t want to be the type of Jedi Father was,” the boy says. He takes a deep breath, bracing himself for his next words. The Force is whispering in Obi-Wan’s ear, telling him to pay attention. That what comes next is important, a fulcrum upon which the future might rotate.

“Ben,” the boy whispers, heart in every word, “I don’t want to be a Jedi like my Father was. Is. I want to be a Jedi like you.”

And once more a Skywalker has shattered his heart. He’s beginning to forget what it feels like whole. It takes him time to respond. He opens his mouth to speak, and finds a large lump blocking his words. He swallows, and realizes his eyes are over-wet as well. He’s forced to blink a few times as he struggles to get his breathing back under control.

“You wanted to be like… me? Whether for the good of the galaxy or not, I lied and manipulated you, Luke. I’m very good at it.”

The boy shrugs. “You were hurt and in pain. It’s kinda obvious how much you love Anakin.” Obi-Wan was tempted to point out it was obvious to everyone but the man in question. “I’d be telling myself the same things if Han or Leia did even half of any of what he did. And I was really mad at you when I found out. You still should’ve told me yourself but… I tried to lie to myself about Vader, too.”

“Luke…” The boy really is far too forgiving.

Said boy suddenly looks up and meets his eyes. There is a defiance, a spark challenging Obi-Wan to deny him.

“I read your journals. Not all of them.” It’s a bit of a non-sequitur, Obi-Wan thinks, but Luke evidently has a point he wants to make. “I didn’t… didn’t get the chance to complete them, y’know. But I read about what happened during the drought. Uncle Owen hated you, tried to hurt you, but you were always nice to him. The Tuskens tried to kill you, but you just disarmed them cause they were weaker. Everyone back home can barely stand Jawas, but you helped them. The only way you could stop yourself from helping was to never interact with people, ever.” Obi-Wan wants to cringe. He had hated, well, resented at times, that he’d been put in a position where he was forced to choose between others and Luke. He’d chosen Luke, like always. It makes him a terrible role model, he thinks. The boy in question, however, seems to disagree.

“You saved everyone that day when you stopped the slugthrowers, y’know? Jabba’s men would’ve just murdered them all because they were dying of thirst and angry, and you helped them without even thinking. That’s the kinda Jedi I wanted to be. The kind of Jedi I want to be.”

Obi-Wan finds that words have failed him. Perhaps it was for the best that Owen had kept Luke far away from Obi-Wan. With his ability to render the great Negotiator speechless, the boy probably would have convinced him to hijack a freighter off the planet and join the rebellion before he was six years old.

The mood shifts suddenly. Luke has his feet planted in a stance that reminds him of Anakin. But the way his jaw is set is pure Padme.

“I know Father betrayed you. I know I’ve got a lot of his faults and problems. But I promise, I won’t fail you. I’m not afraid!” There are tears in the boy’s eyes as Luke repeats to Obi-Wan the same words he said to Yoda on Dagobah. “I won’t fall to the Dark Side. I won’t.”

Obi-Wan doesn’t even have to check to Force to know which action to take next. But he gladly obeys it’s commands to gather the tear-stained boy into his arms and hold him close. Luke responds instantly to the comfort, collapsing into near silent sobs of frustration, weakened by the intensity of his emotions.

“Shh… Luke, shhhh.” Obi-Wan murmurs in the boy’s ear, hand reaching up to rub wide circles on his back. “You have it wrong, my boy. So, so wrong,” he confesses into blond hair.

Calmed, Luke sniffles and pulls back. He stares back at Obi-Wan through watery blue eyes. He’s confused, but determined to make sense of the emotional wreck he has made of Old Ben.

Obi-Wan answers him with a wan smile of his own. “I am not afraid of you falling to the Dark Side, Luke. I do not believe that there’s a fundamental flaw in the Skywalkers. Large hearts that care oh so much, but that carry the capacity to bring so much Light into the world, like you’ve proved yourself several times over.” The smile sharpens into a smirk before fading away.

“I’m worried that I will fail you. I don’t exactly have the greatest track record for padawans. The one who was solely my responsibility destroyed the Order. The one who I helped train left it and apparently spent the next decade or so of her life proudly proclaiming the fact that she was not a Jedi.”

“You taught me.”

“For all of two weeks. Master Yoda did far more for you than I did.”

The boy shakes his head vehemently, pure denial flowing in the Force around him. “Master Yoda was great, but I only trained with him for six months. Everything else, I learned from you. From the books and stuff you left for me. Even though you weren’t there, you were my teacher.” The boy gets a frightfully concerned look on his face. “Wait… do you… do you not want us around?”

Truly, there should be a law or a provision in the code that prevents younglings from tugging on heartstrings this effectively.

“Luke… I want to teach you, and Leia, far more than you can possibly imagine. But don’t think you that you are obligated to stay with me out of some sense of loyalty. The finest knights and masters of the Jedi Order’s entire history are available to teach you now.” Obi-Wan does not want to push Luke and Leia on another master. He wants to hold them close and keep them safe, as he has wanted since the moment they were born. But it has never been about what he wants. He could never forgive himself for binding Luke and Leia to him out of selfish need. So he continues to try and reason with the boy. “Master Windu knows how to channel anger and the Dark Side without letting it cling to him, a wonderful gift for those who must constantly face the darkness in the galaxy. Master Yoda, I know, would agree to teach you once more if you wanted him. I convinced him to do so when you were twenty-two, I think I can do so again now that you are twelve. Master Fisto recently knighted his padawan, and is certainly one of the greatest Jedi you’ll meet. The only reason he is not on the council yet is because of his humility. He will be raised within the year. And those three are only a handful of the top masters in the Order. Other members of the council would take both of you as padawans in a heartbeat, and if they refuse you, I will advocate for you until they do. I am not your only option.”

Luke has that stubborn set to his chin again, but Obi-Wan can see his lip is trembling. “I don’t want the top masters, or the best, or… or… or whatever you’ll call everyone else. Leia and I already agreed. We want you. That is… if… if you want us.”

And suddenly it is not Padme or Anakin’s reflection that Obi-Wan sees before him. It is ginger hair, saber bruises, and eyes defiant even as their owner cannot comprehend what’s so wrong with him that he isn’t wanted.

And Obi-Wan wishes it were possible to kick his own ass for being such a Force-blind fool.

While the Force is great, his ally, and in agreement that he is an idiot, that is a feat it cannot grant him. So, he follows it’s guidance, makes his choice, and swallows until he can find his voice again. “Go get your sister.”

Luke hesitates, not sure if he has won or not.

“Now, Luke.”

The boy dashes off, and Obi-Wan takes the time to recover.

Of all the ways to take after Qui-Gon. The Force is more comforting than he deserves, but he lets himself be assured. He caught himself. He listened. Yes, he acted out of fear, but it was fear born of love for the children, of wanting the best for them, not a fear of the pain a betrayal might cause. Of all his master’s mistakes and flaws, this is one he won’t repeat.

But there is something else there. Something small and trembling in his heart, overwhelming him. A hurt he’d stopped acknowledging long ago beginning to heal. Luke and Leia had already discussed this, had agreed long before he asked. All the available masters in the Jedi order available to teach them, and they had chosen him.

By the time Luke returns with Leia in tow, Obi-Wan has centered himself is standing in front of the couch once more. The twins are confused, rightfully so, but when he motions them to sit, they comply.

“At least once in my life I am going to do this the correct way.” He takes their right hands, Luke’s in his own right, Leia’s in his left, and kneels so he is closer to eye level.

“Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa,” he meets their eyes, uses their old names, their true names. The names with which they best know themselves. It may be the last time he can say them out loud for a long while. “Will you do me the great honor of agreeing to be my Padawan learners?”

Leia is the first to respond, silently nodding, starting slow, but gaining speed. “Yes.”

“Yes!” Luke’s agreement is instantaneous. And, like so many times since they’ve reunited on Jakku, Luke launches himself into a hug. This time, though, he drags Leia with him. “Yes, yes, yes yes yes! I told you, Leia!”

“Thank you, General Kenobi, for taking us both,” the girl whispers into his shoulder, and Obi-Wan realizes that, for all her strength and fire, that trembling he’d felt in the silk-thread of their bond had been fear. Fear that, regardless of his attempted assurances otherwise, he would abandon them, or worse. Far wrose, she’d been afraid he’d separate them, take Luke but leave her in some other master’s care.

He clutches the children, his children, his padawans, though making it official will have to wait, even closer. Never, he swears, never again will I allow them to fear I will leave them.

Though parting is inevitable, never would he do so willingly, and always would he come back. After all, he thinks ruefully, even death has failed to part me from the Skywalkers before.

[linandara]

My Last Jedi review

I like how this has been a bit of a "coming out" season: Serious, edicated, professional people suddenly post Star Wars reviews, sometime very critical, and I realise they really care, and are crazy life long fans just as I am.

Here is my contribution. I watched The Last Jedi (TLJ) twice. Discussed it with the family, then read other reviews. I did enjoyed quite a lot of it and may watch it again but my overall opinion is, sadly, negative. Spoilers are coming.

The biggest, greatest mistake is the lack of good strong relationships. Space is cold, but ALL previous Star Wars movies always had plenty of warmth from the the various forms of love and affection: between children and parents (Luke's towards his father, Anakin and his mum, Jyn Erso and her dad), best friends (Han, Luke, Chewie, Lando), siblings (Luke and Leia), teachers and students (Obi-Van and Qui-Gon, Obi-Van and Anakin, Luke and Obi-Van, Luke and Yoda), lovers (Leia and Han, Padme and Anakin). Where are any of these in the new movie?

Whatever was developing between Rey and Finn, Finn and Poe in The Force Awakens (TFA) is mostly forgotten. Rey and Luke are not getting along, which is particularly disappointing. Finding a lost close relative (father, sister) always was a Star Wars shortcut to developing a relationship and strong feelings. Alternatively, people spend years "in the same boat" and have got to the same point, when they knew and cared for each other. Rian Johnson did none of those. It seemed for a while that there was a spark between Rey and Ben Solo but it went nowhere when they parted. A glimpse of something between Finn and Rose was at the very end. A very short heart warming scene with Luke and Leia and that's it. I really liked the moment when Yoda said he missed Luke in his nicely mocking way. But all was just some rare raindrops in a wast emotional desert. Even through Luke had known Obi-Van for a day or so, he was so upset when the old man died. Yet Rey and his own sister didn't spared a tear for him. Like saying "this was for the best".

I really liked TFA and "Rogue One". I was looking forward to seeing TLJ a great deal. Now I like TFA less as its promises went unfulfilled.

Plot holes and apparent disregard for the laws of nature was another blow. Did rebels abolished autopilots? Why did they need to sacrifice pilots with their ships? How they better than the First Order then? Why can the admiral trust her soldiers and explain the situation avoiding a mutiny?

Creating a consistant fantasy reality or suspension of disbelief is essential to fictional stories. Only once before this was broken for me in Star Wars: in the Revenge of the Sith when Anakin turns to the dark side. His downward ark was badly written which was a pity because the first half of that movie was really good and strong. In TLJ this was happening several times! Leia floating in space didn't work. Lots of aliens were badly made (including Yoda himself). I thought we are past this with the modern technology! The "Luke milking an alien" scene was disturbing because in Star Wars it is often difficult to distinguish between intelligent and non-intelligent species. One of the frases Rey said to Luke sounded definitely awful. Why wasn't it retaken? The Luke's face when he was thinking of slaying teenage Ben in his sleep was so wrong, probably because Mark just couldn't believe his character, who saved Darth Vader despite all odds, would do that.

I think, the Luke's last stand and dying scenes were good. Well made, dramatic and original. I think, him projecting through the space rather than being here in person was necessary because he was already too weak to face Kylo Ren. That's the reason he never got back. He appeared to his former student and Leia younger, as he would look like before his exile, because he wanted to be remembered strong, proper Jedi, not a broken old man already dying far away, alone.

I wish it all happened in the next movie because I just have nothing to look forward any more. Unless JJ will have a lot of Luke's ghost appearances - which would be something new for the series. Luke was the most unique and alive character in TLJ. Grumpy, weird, but thinking and feeling. None of the young characters are good enough for me to care. Especially when Rey is now really nobody from nowhere, which is boring (unless Ben lies about her parents). And she is a "Mary Sue", which is boring again. Pity, because she had a good potential to be a great character after TFA. Ben has tantrums, which is funny but I can't take him seriously. Finn, Rose and Poe are just you average token generic good rebels, nothing much to say. They are nice and are played by good actors, but it's not enough. We need true heroes for these movies to work. Luke was a simple rebel character in the New Hope which never was my favourite Star Wars movie. But he grew steeply into a proper wise knight, which was the main point of the original series to me. Rian Johnson made him broken by guilt and fear, destroying everything he had achieved. That I could potentially forgive because he finally redeems Luke and brings my favourite ever fictional character back, when he returns to Leia and confronts Ben Solo. I wanted more so much - but instead he dies.

I really hoped Luke will leave his exile and go on a quest (several quests - even better) together with Rey, his new apprentice for years to come, building a strong relationship, whether they related by blood or not. When I've seen the casino pictures I thought by some reason that this will be one of their destinations, like great scenes with Obi-Van and Anakin, Obi-Van, Han and Luke, Rey and Finn in alien bars. Nope.

As Han dies quite suddenly and frankly pointlessly in TFA, a connection between the generations seems to be unfortunately lost. I think Han should have been very seriously injured but survived his meeting with his son for a better plot.

Lots of plot lines in TLJ lead nowhere. One can say this is what real life is but if the movies will be "nothing in particular happened on that day" what would be the point of watching them? Art is in selecting and prioritising what's matters, in making good stories, not simply copying the mundane.

There was so much of an introduction from Maz for the master code breaker - and then another one chosen. And then it all was unnecessary after all. A silly Rose monologue about evils of arms dealing and revenge on the rich, just to erase all that by showing that the rebels shop for their x-wing fighters at the same casino planet… Incidentally, were rebel generals so overdressed because they were planning to go arms shopping here after the battle? I loved the costumes and the jewellery (even hope to buy some replicas) but it was too much for the rebel situation. The casino planet, as Finn noticed, was beautiful - apart from some badly made aliens. And captive animals suddenly released in the wild are not likely to survive, Rose and Finn! Whole "rebels loose all the time" situation reminded me of Blake's Seven, which I find very depressing.

Were Knights of Ren got to? Phasma was easily killed without any chance to do or to say anything important. Characters which don't enrich the story are not necessary. It's not a tv series, time on the screen is pressious.

The sword battle in the Red room was very good and the way Ben killed overconfident Snoke was, I thought, excellent. Although unfortunately we didn't learn a thing about Snoke.

Unlike many critics I liked the humour in TLJ. Luke winking to C3PO, brushing dust of his cloak and saying to Ben something like "see you around" just before he died was good. The red sand planet was hauntingly beautiful. Riding the huge alien beasts was fun to watch althrough that whole part of the story was pointless. I liked Rey in the "dark side" cave but the scene didn't gave as anything apart from feeling weird. What is the dark side about? What is the attraction?

The movie is criticised for paving the way for merchandise to be sold. Rubbish. I wish me and my friends, teenagers in the Soviet Union, had any merchandise to cherish when we watched the Original Trilogy. Instead we had to stop the videotape and take black and white photos to have at least something.

The music score in TLJ was the worst of Star Wars. Especially painful because TFA and Rogue One scores were so good. Almost no unique tracks to listen, just a mishmash of old tunes plus something reminding totally childish Harry Potter music.

Another big problem is the meaning of good and evil. How Snoke got to Ben? Why did Ben chose the dark side? Why Rey didn't? It is good that Luke admits the Jedi Order's flaws to Rey but why didn't he went to the dark side knowing all that? This is a big problem for the whole Star Wars saga. In real life people do horrible things thinking they are doing good. Nobody "chooses evil side". So Snoke, a vilian for the sake of being a vilian, already was a mistake in TFA. I think it was Aristotel who said that confrontation in a story should be between relatives or former friends to keep us engaged. This is why Luke, Leia or Han are needed to oppose Ben. Unless Rey is Ben's cousin after all. An opportunity for a romance (which would bring some necessary viewer engagement) for those two young people, I think, is already lost as nothing even started so far, after two movies.

TLJ is very entertaining to watch but that's not good enough for Star Wars. For Jurassic Park or James Bond, yes. A Star Wars story needs a strong emotional connection with the viewer and the latest doing lots of thinking about "What is Good?" because of what he sees.

All the flaws were very surprising considering that movies are done by groups of people. Could somebody brave point the mistakes and the weak moments to the director? How so many "professional" reviews ignored them and why?

I hope JJ will rescue the ending of this three parter but not in a way in which the ending of Lost was done, ruining the series! And maybe in a few years time somebody will make good quality CGI movies or an Dragon Age Inquisition/Witcher-like choice game, either set in alternative reality or in between The Return of Jedi and TFA. To give Luke, Han and Leia a bit more screen time they deserve and to reestablish the good proper heroes they originally were.

Saying that, I think all movies, games and books should come with a waring "To avoid disappointment, write your own stories" ;)

So here's the list of Star Wars movies in the order I rate them, from the favourite and much loved ones to the less loved.

The Return of Jedi

Empire Strickes Back

Rogue One

Attack of the Clones

The Force Awakens

A New Hope

Revenge of the Sith

The Phantom Menace

The Last Jedi

Still, I think it's the best film series made so far on this planet and any one is far ahead (in my rating) of other sci-fi, adventure and fantasy movies I ever enjoyed watching. Honestly I tried to find other good stoies and other good heroes many times since I was 15. Maybe I will one day.