#jedi and sith relationships

[alyssalenko]

Complications

Lord Scourge finds himself dwelling on all his feelings before the final confrontation with The Emperor, afraid for his Jedi Companion and she does her best to be there for him. Also on A03 if you prefer.

Written for the SW:TOR Gift exchange for @ipreferfiction

He found himself watching her from across the room--his savior, his rescuer, his…complication. Two sides of the same coin, but polar opposites in the ways of the force. And yet, he was drawn to her despite all that--it was hard not to be when he'd been dreaming of her for three hundred years. A fact that had probably tinted his perception of her and truth be told, he hadn't expected a jedi…it should have bothered him more than it did. But now he couldn't imagine anyone else in the role--she'd freed him, accepted him into her crew, listened to him and made time for him…and he trusted her. More than he'd ever trusted anyone before. Who else but a jedi could make him feel like that? The beginning had been awkward and stilted between them, both of them clinging so desperately to their codes for protection. But as time went by, they'd eased into a familiar pattern, an easy repartee with the other that now they couldn't remember what it was like to not have the other around.

A fact that hadn't escaped Scourge's notice.

He actually looked forward to their talks now, loving how she challenged his way of thinking and he could do the same, Jedi and Sith finding the balance between their codes that neither side of the force wanted to acknowledge existed. He'd always been alone--wanted to be alone--never desiring another's touch or affection...but now? Now he craved it. He didn't even know when she broken down the walls he'd built around himself, but with all the time they'd spent together, falling in love had been the only logical conclusion and it had taken them both by surprise. Three hundred years ago, he would have fought against it tooth and nail–h e had a reputation he'd carefully cultivated as the Emperor's Wrath but now he was smitten. Somehow he kept revealing more and more pieces of himself, allowing himself to be vulnerable and exposed, but he'd admit it was a nice feeling. To give all of himself and get the same in return.

She was the one person in the galaxy that could keep up with him, that got him so completely without trying, going toe to toe and not backing down. She knew who he was, what he'd done in the service of The Emperor--and yet she still accepted him... loved him. He was the luckiest man in the galaxy and he wanted to return the favor, to protect her and learn everything about her. For what wasn't the first time, he marveled at her; how she was able to hold her own and not let crushing odds keep her down while also taking his mind off of their approaching fight with The Emperor. He hadn't been able to escape on his own and then she'd blown in and freed him from his servitude, with barely any effort. And despite their codes saying they should be enemies, they had found a common ground.

But he couldn't stop thinking about the approaching fight. What if they failed? What if she didn’t survive? What if she wouldn’t be around to challenge him and make him rethink just about everything anymore? What then? He didn't want to be without her after keeping her in his dreams for three hundred years and now having the real thing beside him.

"You're thinking very hard over here." She teased, making him jump--he was thoroughly unaware of when she'd crossed the room to his side…too lost in his own thoughts.

"I guess you just bring it out in me."

She rolled her eyes as she rolled up onto her toes and grabbed the lapel of his robes, Scourge letting her bring his face down to her level so she could press a brief kiss to the crease of his brow. The ghost of a smile flickered across his face; she'd turned his world upside down the moment they'd met--his Jedi. That was just it though: she was his...he’d felt drawn to her since the moment they met. Maybe it was the aura of power she exuded that didn’t come from her mastery of the Force; it came from her very soul, but underneath, there was a certain vulnerability—hidden where no one could see, she was headstrong, determined, good, and absolutely beautiful. He got to see a side of her no one else did, a side she hid under her growing list of titles and accolades from saving the galaxy. Scourge would never admit it out loud but he was very attracted to her—for more than just her looks, though those were incredible too. It was her presence; the way she inspired him and taught him to not take everything at face value and to be the best version of himself.

"Anything you'd care to share with the class?" That flicker of amusement in her eyes was captivating.

He drew her into the circle of his arms, chin resting atop her head. "It's nothing you don't already know."

With the way she was staring at him, he knew she didn't quite believe him but didn't push the issue. Scourge couldn't bring himself to voice the worst case scenario he'd been turning over and over in his head–if he told her, it'd give his nightmare more power over him and he couldn't let that happen. Wouldn't steal her focus from the task at hand. She sighed and rubbed her hands up and down his arms, wishing there was something she could do to stop the terrors that plagued his mind—it tore her apart inside that she couldn’t fix it. All she could do was try to be there for him and hope her presence was enough to push the fear to the back of his mind, even if they were always going to be lurking beneath the surface ready to strike…

"Scourge. You know I'm here for you right? Anything you need, you just have to ask."

He knew, but that didn't make things easier, so he just nodded. She sighed and took his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze, before turning and heading towards her chambers, dragging him along behind her. He'd talk when he was ready, she knew that from experience and she'd be ready to listen, but for now she'd do her best to help him shake the phantoms from his mind…

[skywalkr-nberrie]

One of the biggest arguments I’ve seen used by the Ob*d*l*s against Anidala, is that scene in the ROTS novel where Padmé says she could trust OW with the secret of the rebellion and was hesitant to tell Anakin and I just wanna say:

Padmé wasn't an idiot. She was an extremely intelligent and competent woman, perfectly able to understand that loving Anakin and thinking that he could be trusted with a certain politic-related matter were two very different things and reducing her choice regarding who to trust with an important political matter only on the basis of her feelings of romantic love diminishes her professionalism, and this is why I say y'all could never understand her.

Padmé didn’t have to "love" OW or even like him at all to know he was the perfect Jedi to ask for help in a secret political matter.

That's the point being made in the novel, she’s hit with the realization that Anakin in this particular moment could not be told this piece of info because of his relationship with Palpatine, and Padmé specifically mentions in the Junior ROTS novel that she didn't want to make Anakin “keep a secret” if he didn’t agree with their stance because it’d be “unfair.” So this also played a part in why Padmé didn’t think it best to inform Anakin about the Rebellion. It honestly had little to do with her actually lacking trust in him, and more to do with the circumstances she was in not allowing her to be open with her husband and her not wanting to make him choose between his wife and his “father figure.”

However, Padmé knows OW’s political ideas aren't tied to ONE particular person but to a philosophy, one which is closer to her own, at that point. None of this was ever meant to be hinted as “romantic” or even remotely insinuated as romantic. It’s strictly professional and even the tone of the scene makes that so abundantly clear.

All I’m saying is that, some of these proshippers are doing the most out here to try and prove their ship, like my loves? You forgot a very important thing called ✨ context ✨ and regardless of her rational thinking, Padmé still went out of her way to try and talk out all of this Rebellion secrecy stuff with Anakin when she confronted him in the scene where she asks if he ever thought they were “fighting on the wrong side.” Padmé didn’t trust OW in the same way she trusted Anakin (with her entire self and being) she had the level of trust and love for Anakin that was only meant for him.

Mixing up her unwavering faith in Anakin as her husband with her trust in OW’s devotion to duty as her comrade/ally is purposely deluding yourself, because the two aren’t the same and therefore can’t be compared. An example of this is: Padmé constantly putting more value to Anakin’s words over OW’s in the end of ROTS when he came to tell her of Anakin’s “crimes”. She completely disregarded what OW had claimed about her husband and instead made her way to where Anakin was herself, to ask him directly. Despite what the truth was, this is proof of her trusting Anakin unconditionally, and I didn’t even think I had to spell that out because it’s as clear as day.

In conclusion, Padmé didn’t trust OW more than Anakin, she just knew the circumstances she was in didn’t exactly make it easy for her to openly talk with her husband about these matters and that’s part of what played into the issues they had in ROTS, it’s exactly what Sidious wanted.

[gretchenzellerbarnes]

"anakin would've never turned to the dark side had qui gon lived." utter. bullshit. not only is this particular hot take an insult to obi-wan it completely robs anakin of his agency, because at the end of the day it was anakin's decision to pledge his loyalty to palpatine and to destroy everything that the people he loved held dear. that's what makes anakin skywalker such a compelling character, and as darth vader a tragic and iconic villian... because he did this to himself.

[heartofmortis]

✶ Evenstar

gif by @houseofamidala

PAIRING: Anakin Skywalker x OC

TROPES: tragic romance, princess x jedi, forbidden love, secret relationship, kate & anthony coded enemies to lovers, anakin’s pov, mandalorian anakin skywalker, fluff & angst, found family, artist gf x mechanic bf, canon divergence, original planet, big old tragedy

WARNINGS: major character death(s), depictions of war, pregnancies & miscarriage, grief, violence, eventual smut

TIMELINE: post-tpm – post-rots (31bby–16bby)

✶ . *. ⋆ READ ON AO3 ! // PLAYLIST !

chapters 1 – 14 completed (last updated july 12th 2024)

━━ ACT ONE (complete; 5/5)

━━ ACT TWO (currently writing; 13/15)

━━ ACT THREE – SIX (coming soon)

current word count: 40k+

EXTENDED SUMMARY

Elia Valarys is a graveyard. A display case for all the former, torn up iterations of herself. Her innocence, her girlhood, her youth. She has died so many times before it is like a memory. She is no longer flesh and bone, but tendrils of smoke, a mournful spectre. Not a girl anymore, only a ghost.

She was not always so tragic. She was her parents' miracle, born nine years after they were told they would not conceive again. She was their ray of sunshine. Her three older siblings showered her with love, despite being nine and thirteen years older than her.

For her first nine years, Alana Uttara was happy. Her mother's role as a handmaiden to the Queen of their homeworld, Aphelion, allowed her to spend time running circles around the vast palace with the princesses and her little niece. Alana's niece was born when she was five years old. Violet was the daughter of Alana's oldest brother, Aerrik and his girlfriend, and she became Alana's favourite person in the galaxy. Alana and Violet were always more like sisters than aunt and niece.

Her first death came when the sky was lit by brilliant fireworks.

As Aphelion celebrated its liberty with a fine party, Alana's world collapsed around her. As sparks showered behind her, she learned that two of her siblings and parents were dead. She wanted to scream until her throat was raw, until the stars trembled above, until the universe gave her family back. Until she had nothing left to give. (Fate is not kind to little girls with big dreams.)

Aerrik Uttara begged the Queen of Aphelion to allow him to adopt his sister — they were all each other had left. But the Queen took her instead.

Her second death arrived a year later.

Alana Uttara was buried in cotton dresses and sunlight smiles next to her parents and twin siblings. Her soft heart was not built for such anguish. (Her mother always said her heart was as vast as Aphelion's great oceans. Alana's heart and gentle nature were no curse, no weakness. It was her greatest strength.)

In her place, Elia Valarys was born. At last, she was official. A Princess of Aphelion, the Third Daughter. Not an heir; a false princess; a royal without a crown. Her people adored her, and Elia Valarys shone bright as the sun, hiding her grief behind tiaras and balls. She refused to break. But when she did, she built herself back up like a mirrorball. Elia and Alana became two different people, but their hearts were still the same.

Alana let her pain drown her, Elia grew despite it. When death stole from her, her heart flourished and made room for more love. If she could not be happy herself, she would make the galaxy better for others and make them happy. She had two new sisters and a new father who loved her like she was his own. Until little Violet turned nine years old, the last of the Uttara family would visit the Palace as often as possible — much to the Queen's disapproval.

But Alana Uttara still stalked Elia like a shadow. She was the bottle which Elia poured her heartache into. When the novelty of being part of the royal family wore off, Elia had two people living within her: the lost girl and the quiet princess.

She died a hundred times during the war.

Like a blossom in winter, her famous heart grew brittle. Her hands turned to frost as she cradled dying children. She tried so hard to protect them all, to keep them safe and take them far away from the war. Even though she saved hundreds of children displaced by the war, she was tormented by the ones she lost. After you watch a child fade away in your arms, you cannot be the same.

When she believed she could not suffer through anything worse, the betrayal arrived. It cut through her knife, twisting in her heart. Finally, she surrendered to her stone heart. Nothing can hurt you when you cannot feel anymore.

The final death caught her a lifetime later.

(The worst betrayal came as a blade through her stomach as she clung to her lover's arms. He could not protect her anymore. She could wonder forever if his last words were a lie: “I love you.”)

In any universe, Elia Valarys and Anakin Skywalker were not destined for a happy ending. (But they still fell for each other like Icarus fell for the sun every time.)

[xplore-the-unknwn]

If you fall, catch you I will.

No. Not if but when. Yoda had said, When you fall, catch you I will. Had he known even then, seventy years ago, that this day would come?

Surely even Yoda could not guess that his star pupil would fall so very, very far.

"Come," Yoda said urgently. He put his hand once more on Dooku's arm. "Catch you, I said I would."

"Believe you must: more forgiveness will you find from your old Master than from the new one."

-Yoda: Dark Rendezvous by Sean Stewart

Part 2

Review:

This book brings a whole new light to Yoda's character! Seeing how fleshed out he is in the book, I find that I understand more of how right he is and have a newfound respect for him!

We are familiar with the Jedi’s non attachment and controlling of their emotions. With this it may seem like Yoda and the Council lacks empathy or care. But then this book gives us passages like this one from him:

Sometimes we forget that in Yoda's 800 years, he has lost more and endured more than Dooku would want to see. It doesn't mean he completely wiped out his emotions. Yoda even still carries the grief and loss.

Although, Dooku did have noble intentions, he wanted swift action to the injustices. He was not wrong to question the suffering all over the galaxy. A padawan also states the same-

And Yoda acknowledges it. There is darkness in everything, and it is a choice on what you do about the darkness. "Be the candle or the night."

This is how Dooku gets manipulated by Palpatine. Dooku by following the easy way(Dark side) became the coming darkness he always warned about. He served the Master who killed his padawan, his son. In the end, he killed more than he could've saved. It's tragic.

AND THIS is my favorite part of the book.

-After all these years, Yoda still gave him the choice to come back home to him. Because that is the Jedi way. That is the light. It is forgiveness as much as it is love. The Jedi, love! 🥺

#also it just occurred to me, throughout the book, Yoda pokes his fellow Jedi with his stick like the troll grandpa he is. But when it comes to Dooku he reaches for him with his arms. 🥺🥺

[kanansdume]

Reading Light of the Jedi for the first time has made the fact that the first (non-preschooler) TV show set in the High Republic time period is going to be a Sith-centric anti-Jedi mess even more disappointing than it already was.

[antianakin]

I understand people liked Ahsoka by season five and all, but would it not have been more interesting to have had Ahsoka BE the bomber, like maybe she intentionally planned it so she was off planet and therefore free of suspicion when it happened.

Have her just... go dark. Both because of the war and its impact on the Jedi and the corruption in the Jedi, but also because she learned at the heels of Anakin Skywalker and he's taught her all of his worst habits. He's taught her attachment, and selfishness, and impatience, and mistrust, and arrogance.

The entire bombing isn't even ABOUT the Jedi or sending a message, it's to frame Anakin for the whole thing so that she can get him to come with her afterwards, but Anakin's a little better at proving his own innocence than Ahsoka was, so he manages to get out of it on his own and Ahsoka gets exposed and has to run.

Ahsoka also underestimates how attached he is to the idea of being a Jedi, and to Padme on Coruscant, so she's taken by surprise when he refuses. And maybe she even calls him out for staying with the Jedi even when he doesn't agree with them, even when he's powerful enough that he could "do more" to win the war quicker, even when he's thought about leaving before but he's too cowardly to do so. Anakin's there like "How could you do this, Ahsoka, how could you betray everyone you know, everyone who cares about you?" and she can come back with "Because this is what you made me, this is what you taught me." And Anakin would reject that, refuse to see the truth in it, because of course he would. He would NEVER be anything but a hero, obviously.

It feels more interesting and compelling than the framing narrative and I feel like it leaves more for Ahsoka to do and room for her to grow as a separate character later on if they wanted to keep following her.

I don't HATE the trajectory she's been on prior to this, but it also feels like she's ended up a little static for years now, stuck in limbo with nowhere to go. At least if they'd thrown her down into the pits in TCW, she'd have an obvious path up from there to explore.

[beginnerblueglass]

*takes a deep breath*

WHAT ON EARTH

(Context: this is a comment on a pin saying that people should stop taking their “Catholic trauma” out on the Jedi, since they are based on Buddhism and other eastern religions, not Christianity. I am concerned about the presence of a cross in this dude’s username. Read the book of Acts please.)

[marvelstars]

Obi-Wan, Anakin and Luke: Jedi, Sith and Fathers.

I saw this great post https://www.tumblr.com/saglovesu/724007755416010753/do-you-ever-wonder-if-maybe-just-maybe-on-their?source=share

It was about Anakin and Obi-Wan final confrontation on mustafar being about Anakin not believing Obi-Wan could ever do this to him and I must agree, on this scene where Anakin is lying limbless on mustafer after his duel with Obi-Wan, Anakin was unconciously expecting Obi-Wan to still be his father/brother, if we watch the beggining of their duel Anakin gave Obi-Wan his back and didn´t begin their duel until Obi-Wan activated his lightsaber, the reason he did this was because he still saw him as his family before seeing him as a Jedi, he even told him he should go away.

Here, even after losing his limbs, he looked at Obi-Wan asking for help silently and ObiWan answered with "You were the Chosen One" "You were going to defeat the Sith not join them" he bassically told him you failed as the Jedi chosen one and now you must suffer the consequences with death and that was confirmation to Anakin that Obi-Wan was his jedi master doing his duty before his brother or his father figure and he probably always was like this, this was brutal confirmation of it and it was until this moment he said "I hate you"

This scene was done on purpose this way to signal the end of the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin so it connects with the old trilogy but I also believe this scene was meant to mirror Luke and Vader´s scene where their roles are changed.

Anakin in the past and Luke in the present expected them to be their father, begged them to be their father.

Obi-Wan and Vader are presented with a similar choice, are you their family or a you a Jedi/Sith first and family second?

Obi-Wan said: I am a Jedi and I do what I must because his crimes are unforgivable.

Vader said: I am your father, I am here Son, don´t be afraid and rescued him from Sidious even if it meant his death.

Like Lucas said it rhymes.

[thesunlikehoney]

my most offensive and controversial star wars opinion is that every single clone/jedi ship is the exact same degree of Problematic

[fantasm-legacy]

I put mine and my RP Buddy’s family tree together a while back and found it again and it still makes me smile.

My characters: Ng’aya, Vorakra, Naarimi, Azaphiel, Tyn’dalos

Rp buddy’s toons: Terr’okk, Irizi’in’ovy (Ziinovy) , Irizi’xre’onti (Zixreon)

Our shared ocs: the children they all have lol

Just some notes: Ng’aya and Vorakra aren’t actual playable toons I just made them for the visuals of Aza’s parents. Ng’aya is supposed to be Massasssi anyways

Also Naar and Aza’s siblingship came about after they met in the Sith academy.

Accidentally made a funny that my Jedi Knight and Sith Warrior are now in-laws. Family gatherings are gonna be mad goofy.

Ziin and Aza’s kid is ourple miracle Force baby

[queen-scribbles]

#YEEEESSSSSSS WHAT AN AMAZING GIFT 🥰💖🥰💖🥰💖#god I don't even know where to start it's all so good#tragen and marii understanding each other so well they can communicate without words or using the force YES#marii having a voice-kink and competence-kink and struggling to keep her mind out of the gutter while tragen gently threatens people YES YE#when brin actually thought he'd trapped them! 😂 alexa play 'now you fucked up' from whitest kids you know#the action! the fighting and the chase sequence! their banter! 😘🥰 YES YES YES YES#the contrast of tragen being so calm and in control as he casually wins 4v1 fights and sprints down hallways without even getting winded#vs aramarii 'force-assisted recklessness' wrinn ripping out wires and stabbing consoles and barreling around corners#him preferring to travel in her ship because his is too gloomy and scares people 😭 darling boy you would've made such a good jedi#(give her a hydrospanner and a week and she can fix it up. she's already planning a shopping trip to bed bantha and beyond with vette)#does he KNOW how sexy his voice is? that he could melt her into a puddle reading space-ikea instruction manuals?#or is he genuinely unaware of the power he wields? thank the stars he's not the type to use it for evil#okay I better stop before I write an entire tag novel 💖💖💖 I'm gonna go eat some cake and read this like. 30 more times

@haledamage I'M SO GLAD YOU LIKED IT. :D I did some poking around in Marii's tag for details and personality stuff but didn't have time to read everything, so I'm happy to have done her justice. 💖 (cut for length)

I love couples who know each other so well it's like they read minds or share thoughts, it's so good. They would clean up at one of those game shows where you have to writ down your partner's answer to a bunch of questions. xD I cannot blame Marii for any of those kinks bc they're all very fair ones to have wrt Tragen. Competence is extremely sexy. 😂 (I might have a bit of a Thing for the M!Warrior's voice. Just a little one. That may have bled through. I mentioned it was self-indulgent, right?)

And I've long headcanoned for Tragen's own universe--and now this one apparently-- that they don't make it common knowledge he has less of a Force connection than your average Jedi/Sith. Might be perceived as weakness yada yada. And people he fights are too busy trying to survive to notice he's like 95% martial skill/5% Force use. This is just one more benefit; someone like Brin goes "How do you catch a Sith? Get him away from his lightsaber and cut the Force and he's nothing" aaaannnnnnddd they're Very Very Wrong. >:3 I love the contrast between Tragen and Marii's personalities, and their complementary roles in escaping(I had to throw in combat. It's my Brand now) were so fun to work out. The thing about Tragen's ship is another long standing headcanon, and Vette will be thrilled to help Marii redecorate. She's already complained about it being gloomy multiple times before the end of the class story. xD (Now I want to write Marii "kidnapping" Vette for a girls' day which just means giving the Celestial Dawn a makeover and Vette's practically dancing with excitement the whole way through Bed Bantha and Beyond(I'm laughing at that again jsyk) bc she's wanted to do this for a DECADE, why didn't you start dating him sooner?!?!? shush with your logic about Emperor's Wrath and Jedi Battlemaster etc

Tragen is... aware some people(Marii included) find his voice attractive. He is NOT aware of just HOW Attractive. We are very lucky he's at least partially ignorant and not the type to use it for evil even if he fully understood bc holy HELL could he conquer galaxies. That voice? His charisma and diplomatic skills? the Arms? YEAH.

[bisexualbailorgana]

okay as hot as i find manny jacinto i have reylo ptsd and i don’t want to see him Touch osha or mae STAY AWAY FROM THEM

[eorzeashan]

Sort of turning over thoughts in my head (and you've all seen enough of me yelling about swords lately) but even without the Inquisitor story, Eight and Talos already go way back -- before Talos ever meets the Inquisitor, Eight was often pirated from Intelligence to be Talos' bodyguard whenever he stumbled across dangerous knowledge or artifacts that would put a target on a humble archaeologist like him. they're good partners and good friends, and at first, Eight was not happy about being pulled into nonsense work for other branches, but as Talos tends to get wrapped up in situationsTM while gleefully chasing that spark of knowledge, things got rather...exciting and he found himself conscripted more and more on his expeditions (which he himself ended up liking and fostering his own fascination with the world which Talos studied). It's but one of the reasons why he expresses less derision towards Force-users compared to his other agent siblings.

This dynamic doesn't stop even when Eight is assigned to spy on Lord Zash (as my way of justifying him in the Inquisitor story) and even further beyond, where reuniting in the Alliance if the PC recruits both of them at the same time triggers a little cutscene where they happily point each other out, sort of like SCORPIO and Kaliyo.

I've also decided that whether in his own timeline of KOTFE/ET or a different Commander's, Eight's sword is one that he and Talos discovered on yet another scouting expedition to ancient ruins looking for Jedi remnants. They were too late to save the Jedi who sent the distress call from a remote planet of Je'daii ruins, and so unexpectedly ran into a trap of Zakuul Knights everywhere who had also intercepted the signal and lay in wait to try and capture the Outlander, but as Eight does, he protected both of them well enough-- but the situation was dicey enough that they had to hide in the Je'daii village.

Further discovery and Talos' nosey self revealed the site of many a Je'daii forge and one lone sword hidden under centuries of ash and dust, but Eight would note that it appeared to be unfinished, left on a whetstone all by itself. No sword guard, a misshapen piece strung together by wire above where the collar is supposed to be...it appeared the Jedi they'd come to rescue had spent all their lonely months trying to restore it. By this time, all the heavy fighting has long since snapped Eight's own vibroblade in two, so he takes it with him. It turns out to be the key to making it off-planet, as the original smith of the Je'daii sword made it as a lament to his people's descent into war and their own inability to find another way, and so left it as a gift to the future in the hopes that one day it would be used by someone unfettered by their mistakes, who walked the in-betweens and retained the strength that the smith lacked in their life. Eight's heart resonates with the force imbued into the blade, unbeknownst to him as this is, as he simply marvels at the craftsmanship and remarks that whoever made it put love and care into forging it, and decides that he'll be its custodian out of respect for the life that this one Je'daii lived. Talos urges him on to keep it and recreate the way it was used (mostly for his own anthropological studies), but also as a secret gift to his long-standing bodyguard of an agent who still walks with the soul of a warrior.

There's a lot of ruminating on the Force and the past during this little arc, and Eight is a bit starry-eyed by the thought that the Sith and the Jedi used to be one, like a confirmation to his dream of living side-by-side to both these respective cultures. He and Talos emerge from the gauntlet with a newfound appreciation for being tourists in this strange history, as well as the knowledge that someone from thousands of years prior could feel the same way you do now.

Anyways, long ramble aside, I really liked the idea that Eight's sword is still a Je'daii sword which opens his eyes to a bit of their storied past since he has little to no experience with Jedi but needs to understand them in his own way as well in order to truly live as part of their secret world. Like the red sageo cord on his belt dyed in the blood of Sith, I thought it'd be nice if he carried another's object of grief and unfulfilled wishes on his back like that.

There's something about ancient history and touching it as someone who has no relation to it that really speaks to me, and the idea of non-force users taking up their legacy is sweet, imo. Like we'll take care of you even when you're long gone. It's the kind of love that you don't really see between the Force-sensitive and Force-blind in-game.

And a sword must be used. It has no use without a wielder, even if its very existence is a question that cannot be answered on whether the world is better off without a weapon that can only be used for violence, good intentions aside. That sword was created to answer that very question, of which its blacksmith could not answer themselves and hoped for another to take up the blade in their place.

In that blade, Eight sees himself.

[darlingkairos]

AND ANOTHER THING! The sith are encouraged to be the best, being replaced as your masters apprentice means YOU FAILED, you are a failure! And if you aren't dead, this is the worst thing that can happen to you. It's an insult to be replaced. Sith is competitive. it's an Ivy League school baby, and only two of you can exist, and only one can graduate! better always be on ur A game! You gotta be the best, or else you're getting ur ass replaced with the next chum.

This is opposed to the Jedi, who embrace change and new apprentices. Yes, your master will have many apprentices before and after you, but this doesn't make you worse or better than the other apprentices because they are simply on a journey as you are.

[iconac]

aside from some generic comments about revan's hunger for knowledge and power in their youth there's an overarching preconception from the jedi council on dantooine that revan was corrupted/turned by 'something' as opposed to just. falling. it's literally a formula: revan was a little bit of a problem child, and then Something Got At Them because they were a problem child and didn't listen to reason, and now no one is surprised. when speaking to all the other members of the dantooine council, they give various permutations of alluding to something out in the outer rim corrupting revan and malak to the dark side (or in vandar's case, outright stating it).

jedi master lamar is the most antagonistic towards the player character, he's the only one who actually believes that it's possible that revan and malak fell before the mandalorian wars

PC: What happened on the Outer Rim to corrupt Revan? Vrook Lamar: I do not believe Revan and Malak were corrupted on the Outer Rim. They had begun their journey down the dark path long before the Mandalorian threat appeared. Here on Dantooine they discovered a sinister cave, a place where the strength of the dark side overwhelms the light. Perhaps this discovery was what first corrupted them… or perhaps they sought the cave out because they were already corrupted. Whatever the explanation, the Order was unable to turn them back to the light. Had the Council taken more decisive action in this matter, perhaps Revan and Malak could have been stopped. But in this we failed.

but even he makes a mention of the ratakan ruins possibly corrupting revan and malak somehow. the logic of it makes sense, considering the last jedi to fall and become Everyone's Problem was exar kun, who was turned by freedon nadd in some sith ruins. and in the context of just the game it's all very black-and-white, but taking in what comes out of the comics there's a deep rejection of the role the jedi council played in alienating revan and malak from the jedi order. if anything, the council would interpret their actions during the lead-up to the war as attempts at damage control for the inevitable storm that would be the jedi civil war. and again, none of this is acknowledgement of revan's fall as a something they wanted. it's always about something corrupting them, something dark and evil reaching out and winding its grip around them. and compare that to kotor ii, where you speak with others who had known revan during wartime, who had been on revan's side, that it's suggest that their fall is something they did of their own volition.