#though malgus would also work

[tempestswing]

Ranking the Dark Council:

hi! I was writing some notes for a piece of SWTOR fiction I am working on, and decided to create this list as a fun way to share that information.

Dark Council Pre-Shadow of Revan:

12. Darth Aruk - we know nothing about this character, other than that they were head of the Sphere of Sith Philosophy. According to the Wiki, rooting out Revanites was supposed to be their job. What a failure, hopefully they still have a job after Shadow of Revan?

11. Darth Rictus - Also kind of a mystery, which is ironic since he was head of the Sphere of Mysteries. Rictus does appear in a novel called 'Annihilation', but that book is mostly about Theron Shan. All we really know about Rictus is that he's (A) old, (B) dislikes aliens, unless they're murderous enough, and (C) founded the Dread Executioners to take down the Dread Masters. Not enough information to rank any higher.

10. Darth Acharon - at least this guy appears in the game. He's kind of a nothing character though. He defended the imperial occupation of Corellia unsuccessfully. He was head of the Sphere of Biotics. Since he died on Corellia, he would presumably have been replaced by Shadow of Revan, but we don't know who by.

9. Darth Arkous - hate this guy, but he's still technically head of the Sphere of Military Offense after the Hutt Cartel plotline. God, what a bag of dicks he is though. The one good thing about this character is that he's technically Lana Beniko's master? Although she's an advisor rather than an apprentice, so he gets no credit for the existence of awesome Sith wife.

8. Darth Decimus - Also found in game on Corellia! Decimus is actually present in the imperial quests, so you get a lot more interaction with him than Acharon. Canonically, he also trained Krovos! Krovos is really cool, so decimus should get a few points by association. Not enough to bump him up the list though. For the head of Military Strategy, he's not a very good commander.

7. Darth Ravage - You can meet Ravage at the end of the Inquisitor and Warrior storylines, and for all imperials he is present during the cutscenes preceding the Emperor Malgus flashpoints (although does nothing to help?). The main reason I'm putting Ravage so low is that he's a little bit inconsistently written. He'll gladly say "good riddance" to Darth Thanaton's death in the inquisitor plotline, but if you kill Baras in the Warrior plotline, he'll show up at Nathema and be all offended that you claimed power by murdering your master... does he know what a Sith is?

6. Darth Mortis - I have a bit of a soft spot for Mortis. He's got a no-nonsense demeanour which is rare amongst Sith, and he's clearly serious enough about their philosophy to join a secret conspiracy against the alliance if you "squander" the power of the Eternal Throne - a petty move, this man is a bitch after my own heart. He also is the one who snaps Darth Thanaton's silly little neck, which definitely earns him a few points in my eyes. As a point, he's involved in the Macrobinocular missions, which I did not enjoy, but he was a highlight of the questline.

5. Darth Acina - WOMEN IN POWER!!! Empress Acina is better than Emperor Vitiate. Unfortunately Acina is kind of bland, I really don't feel strongly about her either way. I've killed her on Iokath in most of my playthroughs, even if I don't intend to defect to the republic later. I might be lesbian but I just don't like her that much. Her reforms to the Empire are interesting though, I do have to give her credit for making the Empire slightly less racist and Sith dominated.

4. Darth Vowrawn - Silly guy!! This man is genuinely quite funny. He's a blast to spend time with at the end of the Warrior story, after dealing with Baras' grumpy ass for close to fifty levels. His choice to help the Wrath with the Hand on Rishi says... something. He's genuinely an interesting character to me, especially since he maintains that joviality when he becomes Emperor. It's tempered, to be sure, but I think it does show it wasn't entirely an act. Vowrawn could be a genuine friend to the Wrath.

3. Darth Jadus - Sue me, I like unapologetically evil characters. Jadus is not just an evil clown, he's an evil circus. Schemer to the core and melodramatic as fuck. I chose to serve him without a second thought in my agent playthrough. I appreciated the name drop on Iokath and I have 1% chance 99% cope that he will return at some point in the story.

2. Darth Occlus/Nox/Imperius - OCs are fun. No further notes. I should probably drop the lore for my verison of this character, huh... maybe in another post.

Darth Marr - Everyone's favourite tired Dad just trying to keep his society from collapsing as his colleagues bicker about inane bullshit. I reckon he drinks coffee straight outta the pot in the Dark Council's break room. I really wish he hadn't died, but his force ghost shenanigans were neat and I liked seeing him find a measure of redemption. Again, I am on a high dose of copium but if Malgus can return after being killed and abandonded on an exploding space station why can't someone scrape Marr off the floor of Zakuul and rebuild him. I do also low-key ship Marr with Satele Shan?

anyway, that's my totally subjective ranking of Dark Council members.

[zhakyria]

I had the chance to commission Kahl'ryn from @psychededoodle. I have no words for how much I love this. Everything, all the details, the expression, the scar, the cybernetics, everything is so well done!!

And with this amazing portrait - I'm gonna talk a bit about Kahl and what he is up to in my Arclight AU. So... some rambling thoughts under the cut. :)

For reference: The Arclight AU is a melting pot of various sci-fi franchises. Star Wars, Farscape, WildStar, Star Trek, to just name a few. However, the core of it is Star Wars. A lot of the universe rules are Star Wars rules - such as how space travel works and the Force.

The major players from Star Wars include: the Galactic Empire, the Mandalorians, the Sith Empire, the Chiss Ascendancy, the High Republic, and the Grysk Hegemony.

Much like swtor!Kahl, arclight!Kahl was born in the Sith Empire. His father is the (now former) Sith Lord Xhai'tan. He was trapped in a burning building when he was a child, which is how he got the burn scars. He joined the Imperial Academy and joined Imperial Intelligence upon graduating. Some of his first missions included hunting down terrorists and stopping Darth Jadus. For his double agent arc however, he didn't infiltrate the SIS.

In Arclight the Sith Empire is mostly at odds with the Dominion from WildStar. So, Kahl is tasked with infiltrating the Dominion and carrying out his mission there. The Star Cabal is still a threat and Kahl eventually dismantles it.

Now things really start to diverge. You see, most everything from Shadow of Revan onward doesn't happen. So how does my boy meet Theron?

I made the executive decision that since the Republic isn't the same Republic as in swtor and isn't the power in direct conflict with the Sith Empire, that Theron would instead be from the Dominion. ((I know, I know, not the best allegory if you know anything about the Dominion - like they live up to their name. Does make it way easier for Theron to defect though.))

Then I needed the catalyzing event. Enter the Dread Masters. They were imprisoned by the Dominion, but they escape but with Emperor Vitiate dead (did I mention that? no? So, yeah Emperor Vitiate does die, and after a short war between the Sith, Acina comes out on top and takes the Throne - this is also the time of Malgus's first betrayal,) they go rogue.

Kahl is called in to help with the situation by Lana and she eventually wrangles the help of Theron in tracking and defeating the Dread Masters. Much like in Shadow of Revan, Kahl and Theron grow close.

Then the tradegy of Grismara happens. For those unfamiliar with WildStar. Grismara was home to the Mordesh. A elf-like species who were masters of science, alchemy, and art. They were arrogant and proud, sure of their own superiority. That was until the Everlife Elixir, developed by their most lauded scientist became their curse. The Everlife was meant to give immortality, and they trusted Dr. Lazarin so much that it was distributed worldwide. Then the Everlife became the Contagion. Everyone (and the lore implies everyone) slowly turned into super aggressive mindless cannibals (basically zombies).

Grismara was a neutral world on the edge of Sith and Dominion borders. Both sides were trying to ally with them, but when the Contagion broke out - the Sith turned their back on the world and the Dominion set up a blockade and quarantined it.

Kahl and Theron disobeyed orders to try and help the Mordesh. During that terrible year long attempt at saving the Mordesh, Dr. Lazarin made a small break through. He created the Vitalis Serum, which delayed the effects of the Contagion, but also required frequent injections. The remaining Mordesh were trapped in a half-life. They no longer age (they got their immortality) but they also are unable to have children unless a cure can be found.

Kahl and Theron organized for the last of the Mordesh, to escape. Taking them to the Odessen Coalition. A small and new coalition of planets that came together with the help of Xhai'tan (Kahl's father) and Thrass (who is alive and rescued by Xhai'tan - That is another books of thoughts so if you are curious about how Thrass fits in here feel free to ask.)

With the fall of Grismara, Kahl and Theron defect and join the Coalition. Kahl eventually commanding a heavy cruiser as part of the Maarasu Nighthunters - the Odessen Defense Force division in charge of covert operations and missions that take place beyond the borders of the Coalition. It is Kahl who finds Thrawn and Ezra where they have been stranded for 7 years (again another book of thoughts that I can talk about later). Kahl then goes on to support Thrawn, Thrass, Eli, and the others Chiss fighting to save the Ascendancy.

I'll stop there but....yeah so lots of thoughts.....enjoy!

[ghostace]

blah blah blah

letida is the daughter of a high ranking admiral, one of garza's cronies, and her immediate addition to havoc squad as she finishes whatever sort of military school the republic has doesn't help the accusations of nepotism. as it happens, she is constantly going against her mother's wishes and she wanted a normal posting. it also adds to havoc hiding their impending defection since they assume she's a spy

rethza's mom is a sith, though she's not force sensitive herself, and she's fairly neutral in the galactic war. while she follows the canon smuggler story, it's only because she takes the opportunities given to her that she ends up working for the republic so much, and she's real annoyed at darmas for hiding it when she literally wouldn't have cared

teness is dathomiri, and it took some negotiation with them to get her to the jedi - which worked out for her in the long run, at least. there's some concern among the jedi council that she might have certain "tendencies" but they're wrong and adoptive dad orgus can see it. the edit to the canon story is that orgus is her master for closer to ten years than the five minutes in game

sunias lacks empathy in a way that should make her path as a jedi more of a struggle, but she comes to the same conclusions with logic - and she doesn't entirely lack compassion. while she's not above threatening someone to get her way, she never intends to follow through. she can be, at times, somewhat callous, and she gets along admirably with fellow pragmatist lana, but they disagree on what the pragmatic path is, sometimes, even if people suggest she'd have made a good sith, too

fenire would never have been made a knight except that he was present on coruscant during the sacking, after years of failing his trials repeatedly, and helped protect younglings and let them escape. the jedi council had brought him there to try and encourage him to perhaps leave and move on from the jedi, since he struggled with the ethics and code - though not out of anger, but being overly empathetic to the point of unintentionally picking up on peoples' internal emotions and addressing them as if they were public. due to his actions and how many jedi died that day, they felt they had to give him the promotion, regardless of his actual talent

seraad is acina's estranged child, and regardless of the heights he reaches she never welcomes him back, so he allies with her rival, darth vowrawn, instead. when his lighter-leaning nature puts him at odds with his agreement with vowrawn, he offers seraad up as a pawn for acina to take and forcibly mould into a personal, tethered assassin - much like she did to malgus.

kaliir takes her mandalorian culture all too seriously, having grown up dar'manda with family that were exiled from the clans, she seizes every opportunity to prove her knowledge and expertise on the subject. while winning the great hunt caused some controversy with the invitation from mandalore to be adopted into his clan - before he knew of her dar'manda background - in the end they didn't come to regret it, as she continues to uphold the strict honour code.

cheid, siol, and idrix are all "lost chiss" which were young children kidnapped from higher ranking families in the ascendancy by chiss rebels, and taken as leverage that ultimately failed. each of them were separated from their captors under different circumstances, and both siol and idrix ended up in the republic, and cheid on neutral world tatooine, all of them with no knowledge of how they ended up there - but eventually the ascendancy takes note, and tries to kidnap them back to their families.

currently merrina, khrenn, and othi are all canon inquisitors, and merrina and othi share the dark council seat - sort of. because she's an alien and less interested in the politics, she and merrina agreed that othi holds the seat in name, but merrina handles the day to day and politics of it all, which the dark council does not approve of, but their combined power puts off any attempts to fight the arrangement. khrenn has no interest in the position at all.

tlen takes the title of emperor's wrath, but in the end she's not politically able at all, quickly being surpassed by seraad who's far more adept at working in the upper class circles and playing the political game. she's a blunt executioner, and when she loses her status during the invasion of zakuul, she finds herself without any allies, having put them all off with her brutal, tactless ways

riyk, chiira, sohlaire, and farrai as the side smuggler crew all have some degree of force sensitivity, and all but sohlaire are directly related to someone who was or is a jedi or sith. sohlaire used to be a jedi and then a sith himself, riyk's daughter is a sith, chiira's brother is a jedi, and farrai's sister is sunias, who's literally on the jedi council. they adopt lost child malkah who is also mildly force sensitive, but other than sohlaire none of them ever get any training as they're not powerful enough to warrant it

[techtired]

Three Reasons The Ps5 Star Wars: Kotor Remake Is Such A Huge Deal For Fans

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[vani11a-ice]

Of course! Honestly, yeah, I've found very few people online who have mostly realistic/fair interpretations of Star Wars media in general so that's perfectly understandable. Your Mara Jade analysis is literally the first criticism I've seen for her as there either aren't enough who know about her, or the ones who do would not spot/do not care to find flaws in her character .0.

(Long ramble incoming)

Mara Jade fans are incredibly obsessive for sure - it's one thing to just like her, but she is definitely not immune to character analysis/criticism just because she is a fan favourite. I think, as you said previously, she's just kind of a female (possibly self) insert for Luke and they just came up with the backstory on the fly, that has tons of potential by the way, only to do nothing with it because that's all she was meant to be :(

I'm really happy you agree, I don't think enough people talk about the difference in the EU pre and post prequels. And yes TCW era (TV shows and other media) is one of my favourite eras along with TOR (All the games and novels, characters like Malgus and Revan are so good).

Thrawn was actually handled quite well in Disney (At least at the beginning, maybe not so much in Ahsoka :/), the Rebels show and especially his new novels do a really good job with him (Timothy Zaun himself wrote those novels as well :D).

And yes, whilst I do love Legends for establishing more about the Mandalorians and their culture in the first place, I agree TCW added onto Mandalorian lore quite significantly by splitting the planet into different/diverse factions. The power struggle makes Mandalore/the Mandalorians much more interesting, and I still incorporate a lot of the old Mandalorian lore in my head because it can still work.

I loved the Force Unleashed, it is just so iconic (Even if I included it in my nonsensical legends list lol). I actually really like Galen just on a personal level as well. To expand on my previous point, I definitely agree that his sacrifice starting the rebellion in the way it did was silly. The Empire knowing who the leaders of the Rebel Alliance are with certain proof a few years before the Civil War is quite foolish, because that contradicts with the OT and Leia Organa having plausible deniability until she is caught red-handed with the death star plans (It's also a huge criticism of the Kenobi show also which made no effort to hide Bail collaborating with a wanted Jedi). For me, there's also a few other things that didn't make sense or didn't have the best writing. e.g. I thought Juno Eclipse was lacking as a character (they did expand on her in the novels a bit though, so there's that), but she's the love interest I guess that’s expected so whatever. Rahm Kota being taken into the Jedi Academy (By Mace WINDU, might I add) at a much older age from a war-torn planet (I think 17-18) never made sense to me, contradicts with Anakin a few decades later, who was considered too old/dangerous to train at 9 years old by the council.

I could go on, but honestly, I never strictly saw the game as canon/completely true anyways. The game is explained to exaggerate/overpower Galen's force powers to the extreme by the writers and actors (Beating Vader's ass the way he does is easily the most common example lol, then again Darth Vader was weakened in Legends continuity more than he is in the Disney Canon due to losing limbs, which is why I actually prefer Disney's interpretation of Vader slightly).

Regarding Galen however, he's cloned in the sequel after his sacrifice and basically just becomes himself again. I'm like you where I just headcanon he never died in the first game lol

Yes, absolutely, it is insulting that they prioritised Mara Jade over Leia in terms of force ability despite that being really unfair. I think in one continuity, Yoda actually would have preferred to train Leia. And ROTJ's reveal of confirming Leia's force sensitivity was supposed to be an indication that she would be the next Jedi and Luke's successor (The title Return of the Jedi and Yoda's dying wish of 'training others') and yet, Legends and Disney seem to ignore that or not care for some reason. I definitely don't think this should override her life as a parent/politician however. But I think that's the problem with Disney and Legends - Leia, can be a politician, a parent and a powerful Jedi, she does not need to pick, at least not in the NJO period. Palpatine and Plagueis maintained their careers whilst still being successful Sith and Luke and Mara also have a child whilst being successful Jedi, so I don't see why the same can't be done here. Although, I do believe that her Jedi training/character development should have taken precedence way before any marriage/kids, which should've happened at least many years later. And finally, her importance as a character and powers as a Jedi should not be overshadowed by Luke once she finally earns her skills.

Personally, I always saw Luke as the Consular Jedi, not just because of his lightsaber colour, but also because he is shown to be powerful in the force but also a meditative/peaceful Jedi first. Obviously, there were many powerful Consulars who had the fighting prowess of a Guardian, which describes Luke perfectly. Leia I see as a Sentinel/Guardian, because she would merge her career with her skill in the force (Sentinel) but also has a strong propensity towards justice/defence and protecting the weak (Guardian). Likewise with Luke, there are guardians that match a Consular's force abilities and skills in diplomacy, which would fit well with her political background. Overall, it doesn't matter too much because it's hard to put these two in a box, but just some thoughts about it I had.

I think, unfortunately, it's a given, that Star Wars fans, even within Legends, will disagree on many things. It would be a lot easier if people were more willing to have open discussions about things without being so toxic.

Funny enough, I've also been doing some thinking about reimagining my own Star Wars canon, just for fun, and it's a fruitful exercise/response to any Star Wars media you don't happen to like as well :) Regarding Mara Jade on this front, I'm no professional writer, but your criticism is a good place to start when it comes to improving her character. Here are some of my rambly/messy thoughts as to how she could potentially be improved...

She lacks trauma/scars from her childhood with Palpatine, so maybe they should give her these aspects. She should not exist to be perfect eye candy and this should be thoroughly shown not just from the scarring of her body, but her mind too.

Palpatine should not be a doting father figure who goes easy on her for her mostly her entire life. That, to me, is mischaracterisation and goes against the only other two pieces of evidence we have of him raising/grooming children as to what he would be like as a father - Anakin and Maul. Tbf I know their backstories were introduced after hers and Palpatine wasn't expanded upon until the prequels, but that doesn't change the fact that theirs is a more accurate/well-rounded depiction of his character that is just more realistic. Mara Jade should be a victim of Palpatine, it is the only relationship that would make sense and establishes sympathy for her.

Personally, I find the shoehorned appearances of her in the background of the OT unnecessary. They should just have her be busy elsewhere/explain her absence another way without her actually encountering the main cast until post-ROTJ. That just feels like fan service.

They should go into more detail about her life pre-Palpatine. Maybe have her be kidnapped as an older child instead so she will actually have memories of an old life to reflect back on. If she is kidnapped as a very young child, however, this should be thoroughly explored on how this affected her and her emotional development and not just ignored.

She can be a bad person/a villain, but there needs to be, as you said before, an actual redemption/acknowledgement of her wrong doings. She should be different by the end of it, not just the same or hold the same opinions she did about Palpatine before. It should be a lengthy character arc that spans a long(-ish) period of time that completely changes her and her world view (This would also be the perfect opportunity to go further into detail about her trauma in childhood and how she ended up the way she did).

This is just a starting point, but there are more ideas one could put to make her more interesting:

Maybe instead of just being a force-sensitive servant/hand she should be a full on Sith Assassin - maybe have her be powerful enough in force potential to be distinguished from the Inquisitors, giving the Emperor a reason to see her potential/personally train her, but weak enough to be below the likes of Darth Vader and Darth Sidious. This would make her more of a formidable threat to Luke as well when she is finally introduced.

Maybe her original family/home life was a place of poverty/neglect, and she thought the emperor had saved her from it. This could also render her more vulnerable to grooming. The Emperor could be sweet and lulling, posing as a father figure at first so she can let her guard down, but then gradually wear her down emotionally and physically with rigorous training, abuse and manipulation until she grows too comfortable in her mistreatment to properly recognise what he has done to her.

Perhaps Palpatine makes her believe she is more important, that she is an Acolyte and not just a servant/assassin and that she will one day replace Vader as his new apprentice, that she is stronger than everyone else. This would be her ultimate and only goal/wish as she has built up her self-worth and happiness around him and his twisted sense of approval. But unfortunately, she was never going to be anything but a disposable tool to him, and she will be overtly cast aside in favour of Luke in the lead up to ROTJ. Perhaps this would explain her hatred of Luke later (?)

And post-Palpatine's death, she is lost, confused and traumatised, but continues to serve the Empire with Thrawn at the helm because all she has ever known or been is a tool. Palpatine did whatever it took to secure the Empire, so she will uphold this in his absence to justify her continued existence. Her blame towards Luke, will therefore, be a defence mechanism and a mode of denial: because it is easier to blame one of the biggest enemies of the Empire, the one who (assumedly) killed the only family she had left, than to confront the truth that her entire life was a lie and that Palpatine used her.

These are all things that can be confronted, unpacked and explored in a detailed redemption/character growth arc.

These are just some of the silly thoughts I had whilst coming up with what a new story for her could look like in my head. It's a scrambled mess of random ideas, but I thought they might be some interesting starter ideas for her. If you have any additional thoughts yourself about Mara and what could be done, I’d love to hear them!

So, any unpopular opinions about Star Wars Legends that you have? I'm perfectly willing to listen.

Lmao hi, I didn’t expect to see you here! I really liked your Mara Jade criticism/analysis, and I saw your thoughts about my silly little hashtags—off topic to the ask but yes I definitely agree it’s too late to do anything with Mara Jade now given her story already concluded in Legends/EU verse, not to mention Disney now own the rights so that couldn’t even happen. If she were rewritten however she definitely could be far greater of a character.

As for your kind ask, when it comes to Star Wars EU there’s a lot to unpack because there’s so much content, but I guess I can give an overall opinion to make it more concise (But brace yourself, I will be yapping quite a bit anyways on here lol).

I generally love Legends. I grew up mainly with the central Lucas canon many years before Disney acquired the franchise: obviously the movies and 2008 clone wars series, and then some small EU content such as video games and some children’s comics/books before I even knew what the EU was. Because of this, I think it’s easy for me and many others to look back on the old stuff and be nostalgic for it.

But now that I’m older and gotten back into Star Wars (after losing interest in it for a while due to the sequels), I now have a better grasp of Legends content as well as a lot of lore I didn’t know as a kid—mainly books about what happens post ROTJ—and one thing I’ve noticed is that the quality highly fluctuates. On the one hand you get some amazing stuff like the Old Republic era, some of the Clone wars comics, old Battlefield games, the Darth Plagueis novel, the Prequel novelisations, Thrawn, Clone Wars 2003 and ofc many more. On the other hand, you get some pretty ridiculous stuff too, like Dark Empire, Shadows of the Empire, the Force Unleashed (Ironically, I actually really like this game for the nostalgia, its gameplay, Galen himself, story potential and the memes but many events of the game itself do not realistically make sense lol) and many books post ROTJ (mind you haven’t read all of them, way too many lol) that kind of have plot points I’m not too happy with and I could go on forever about (and some others I probably haven’t thought of).

My main point is, many legends fans will always advocate that the solution to Disney’s less than stellar Star Wars works recently is doing adaptations of existing legends material. And whilst I do think that there is a lot of lore you can pluck from legends and reuse/rewrite for their potential (I mean Disney already does that with characters like Thrawn), I never would want a 1-1 recreation. First of all, Legends started before the prequels so a lot of it doesn’t make complete sense now anyways (Hot take, but post-prequel-movies legends has always been better overall in terms of quality. For this reason, Old Republic/Prequel era was handled better overall than New Republic era). Additionally, Legends just isn’t as consistent or good overall as people would like to believe. It’s a large universe with several different writers, there’s bound to be mistakes/bad works riddled throughout here and there.

I also don’t think there’s enough people that talk about (especially) the older legends materials’ problematic elements as well. I’m not always a huge fan of how certain writers treat female and even other minority/non-human characters in Legends. I’m sure you’re familiar with this with people like Mara Jade. One of my other personal main gripes just to list another example is Leia. I’ve always hated how sidelined she is because she was always my personal favourite as a child, and the writers throughout the continuity could not make up their mind on whether she should be a Jedi or not to the point where her skills largely varied between writers until they finally decided to make it official when she’s much much older. Even by then she’s already overshadowed by her children/brother. George Lucas himself didn’t always write her or other female characters in the best way either, but I always thought an EU continuity would be the perfect place to give her the attention she deserves, instead all we got was an inconsistent arc, especially after the Thrawn trilogy. Disney could have turned this around but unfortunately the exact same thing happened where they couldn’t make up their mind on whether she was a Jedi or not (and gave her the shittiest excuse for quitting—how ironic that both Legends and Disney write in immediate motherhood and marriage as a sexist obstacle rather than actually letting her character grow before/during these events).

Fanatic Legends fans will, however, unfortunately rarely agree or at least try to understand criticism of their favourite universe, and, in my view, this is no better than Disney Adults who vehemently reject criticism of some of the worst recent Star Wars media that’s been released.

To conclude this long ass rant, I just think Star Wars EU whether that be Legends or Disney could do with rewriting/organisation here and there. But that’s highly unlikely, so a more realistic solution is just to pick and choose the media you enjoy from both universes (or make up your own!) and just accept it as your own personal canon. That’s what gives me peace and mind anyways :)

[badsithnocookie]

i don’t jjba at all but i’ve had the phrase ‘you expected a new swtor antagonist, but it was me, valkoriate’ stuck in my head all day and now you do too

[ospreyeamon]

underestimation & disillusionment

It’s interesting just how badly the Jedi Order underestimates the danger posed by the Sith Emperor up until Forged Alliances. The fact that his former subjects have collectively turned on Vitiate before he devours Ziost is also interesting. I think these two things are connected, the disillusionment and underestimation fed by the same spring – Vitiate’s conduct during the Great Galactic War and the negotiation of the Treaty of Coruscant.

In the early days of the Sith Empire Vitiate was far more actively involved in expanding and running his little fiefdom. Partly because he had not yet grown bored, partly because abandoning the old empire had meant abandoning the old empire’s industrial base so it was necessary to throw his weight behind the early conquests to ensure they were successful. Over time he became bored and disgruntled that the Sith kept on trying to ferret out his secrets and overthrow him (like he wasn’t actively perpetuating the Sith Backstab Sith culture), spending less time tending to them and more focusing on his shiny new plaything on Zakuul. Eventually, Vitiate decided to perform another life-devouring ritual on a grander scale; a cold war between his unfavourite empire and the Galactic Republic would be convenient circumstances to lay the groundwork in so he initiated the invasion of the Republic. Having the Jedi focused on him personally or the Empire properly breaking Republic would be inconvenient, so he does nothing to help the Empire win.

The Sith and other Imperials know Vitiate is a singularly powerful warrior. They know he is capable of bringing an army to its knees, of ploughing through Republic forces to win glorious victories for his empire. But he doesn’t! Vitiate doesn’t take any active role in the Great Galactic War; all the victories won are won by other people, all the risks taken are taken by other people, all the loses suffered are suffered by other people. He sits the whole thing out until the hour of the Empire’s greatest triumph, when he swoops in to ruin everything.

And the Jedi see that too. But the conclusion the Jedi draw is that the Emperor can’t do these things rather than he won’t. After all, the Sith Empire is an autocratic state with an autocratic state’s massive propaganda machine. What are the odds that its leader is actually an immortal capable of feats no other Force-adept can match, as opposed to a guy who just says he is?

From the Republic’s perspective, the Emperor is probably staying out of the war because his overblown reputation won’t stand up if he ever suffers an actual loss to them. That could also be why he calls for peace negotiations; it’s dangerous for him that members of his Dark Council keep on winning personal victories while he has none.

Despite what people in the Senate like Leontyne Saresh and Gaul Panteer believed, the Treaty of Coruscant was a lucky break for the Republic. Even though its conditions were not strictly in their favour – because that’s what happens when you head to the negotiating table while losing the war – in the long run in worked out much better for them than for the Empire. The fact that the imperial military was able to sack Coruscant and hold the Senate and planet at large hostage during the talks proves that the imperial military would have been able to raise the buildings hosting the Republic’s political, bureaucratic, and military organs down to sea level, so if the war had continued that is exactly what they would have done. It still wouldn’t have been enough to knock the Republic completely out of the war, but if the Empire could hit Coruscant and Alderaan the other core worlds – the shipyards on Kuat and Corellia for example – were also now within striking range. That’s not even getting into the monumental loss of life that would have occurred; Darth Malgus wanted to intentionally target civilian sites like hospitals on Coruscant, repayment for the three-hundred years Korriban suffered orbital bombardment.

The Empire had the Republic over a barrel and could have demanded more. Should have demanded more, really. With politicians like Saresh echoing Supreme Chancellor Pultimo’s rhetoric sanctioning the war of genocide against the old empire and their own behaviour during the war having also escalated the violence to those heights, what the Empire needed out of the Treaty of Coruscant was to ensure that the Republic could not build up the military strength to become a serious threat to them again. They needed to force the Republic to disband part of its current navy and impose caps on the number of new warships being built.

Instead, all we hear the Empire getting out of the Treaty is the Republic acknowledging the planets the Empire successfully occupied during the Great Galactic War as imperial territory and placing some observers in the Republic to monitor their compliance. That’s not really anything at all because the Empire had already conquered those planets.

There are no economic or military sanctions. The Republic spends ten years rebuilding their forces until they are ready to go to war again in a stronger position than they were at the start of the Great Galactic War. The Sith no longer have the element of surprise.

A great many people in the Empire can see this and are furious about it. It’s at this time conspiracy theories about the Dark Council having secretly usurped Vitiate and locked him away in a storage closet somewhere begin circulating, because surely surely their beloved Emperor would never do this to his people.

After another ten years of distracted silence – with Vitiate’s attention eaten by matters other than steering the Empire through this precarious period – the life-devouring ritual is attempted only to be thwarted by Lord Scourge and the Jedi Knight. In the aftermath of the Voice’s death, a few Sith take advantage of the vulnerability of Vitiate’s followers – and discover from them that Vitiate has just tried to destroy the galaxy. The galaxy which includes the Empire; the Empire which includes them.

Clearly, something needs to be done. However, to kill Vitiate they need to find him and, embarrassingly, it appears that the Dark Council has lost track of their head of state. Revealing what they know too early will just alert Vitiate to what they are planning and perhaps not everyone on the Council can be trusted. Vitiate has many spies and a long history of rooting out conspiracies against him. So what the Sith do they do in secret until secrecy serves them no longer.

[rainofaugustsith]

Lana and Darth Nul. Um.

I saw some argument on Reddit today about Lana being Darth Nul, and FFS, when I had it in that post it was a joke. I was fucking around.

Given the poor writing the game has had for the last four or five years, I threw it out there because I fully anticipate they could do this no matter how outlandish it is. They've certainly had nothing but inconsistencies up until now. I also unfortunately would not put it past them to take the one wlw character with an actual substantial romance arc and send her down in flames.

Logically, though: I don't think there's anything there, unless she's a past apprentice of Darth Nul or otherwise had some association. In my own headcanon Lana's got a pretty garden variety past. But if we're going to speculate about Lana's past, my strongest guess would be that she was one of Darth Malgus's apprentices. She may have even been involved in the New Empire's development on some level, even if she didn't know what it was. It would make sense. Lana is clearly open to change and working with a lot of different groups, she's pragmatic and she's smart.

We also know that the Sith that were associated with Malgus did not all die or go to jail, but were placed in positions of some power afterward - because we worked with one, Lord Cytharat, on Makeb. If you were a Sith looking to shake up the entire Empire from the inside and effect massive change with cross-faction cooperation, would a former Malgus associate be attractive for that goal? Oh yes. We're told Darth Arkous brings her on board as an advisor because he thinks she will make a good Revanite.

In the most recent story beat (which I will not call an expac because that is a complete joke), Lana's clearly tense when she is confronting Darth Malgus. I feel it's entirely plausible that she and Darth Krovos are on the same page as to how Malgus should be handled, and it's not keeping him in a Silence of the Lambs cage. In the end, wasn't the Alliance more or less what Darth Malgus wanted to achieve? A third faction, with a very diverse population, a base outside the Empire or Republic and some power.

So yeah. If they are going to do anything, that would sound the most reasonable to me. Making her suddenly turn out to be Darth Nul or a Child of the Emperor in hiding would be bizarre. And:

We know nothing about Lana's family.

Well…isn't that the case for most of the characters? We don't know anything about Aric Jorgan's family, or Koth Vortena's, or Darth Marr's. We don't see parents or spouses or kids for the vast majority of characters in the game. When we do, like Vette's sister and mother or Elara Dorne's brother, it's a big deal in the narrative because it's unusual.

What we have for Lana's parents is actually more than we have for most of those other characters: we have their first names, their surname, what they did for a living and the fact that they're deceased. She knew Darth Nul is female. Yes, she did. We know Lana's got a very strong background in Sith history, and of course she's digging around on her own with this. She's the Alliance advisor. Ten to one she's doing research she's not necessarily sharing with Darth Rivix or the Empire, for one reason or another. She hides her power. Dude, she's Sith. In an Old Republic Sith world. Do you think anyone who knows how this game is played EVER shares their full hand? Hell, our own Sith characters in the game can pretend to be clueless with Darth Baras and Darth Zash and also can hide all manner of associations and power acquisitions. They're no fools. We also know that the Sith who stand there bragging about their power are usually the ones our characters can annihilate. All talk, no action, and such. When Darth Rivix tries to needle Lana by accusing her of hiding her full abilities, I feel like the uncensored answer would have been 'no shit, Sherlock. Are you new here?'

We don't know what her Sith experience is.

We know she trained with Harkun, which would imply she was at the Sith Academy within the last, let's say, thirty years. Training with Harkun also suggests she didn't have any cushy connections at the Academy, because the acolytes who had patrons or supporters with any pull were not going to be sent to that butcher. We know it wasn't, say, fifty years ago, because one of the acolytes who was there at the same time who had gone mad in the tombs was Zabrak, and long ago aliens were not allowed in the Academy at all.

We also know she was assigned to Hoth before she was with Arkous, and that she did a thesis on Jedi and Sith on the battlefield. We're told she hates titles, which could suggest she's been offered something higher than Lord and refused it.

But she's cagey about her background.

Yes, she is. If the PC asks her about it, the first time they meet in the cantina, she's clearly uncomfortable talking about herself. But she was also in an environment where trust was thin on the ground, and she was there to talk to the PC about distrusting Arkous - would she really have told the PC her life story? Also, if she did come from background with Darth Malgus, she may not have wanted to say so. In the Makeb storyline, Cytharat doesn't say it either unless you prompt him.

The fact that someone doesn't share their background doesn't mean they have something to hide, necessarily. Especially when they live in a galaxy where it can be used against you.

[introversiontherapy]

Afternoon Tea with a Darth (fanfic)

I imagine Malgus would most likely find it hard to have friends due to how he is as a person. He is a different breed of Sith who stays true to himself, no matter the cost. Having integrity means making enemies of others while making peace with yourself. I’d like to think he and I would be friends. This is also my first active attempt at a feel-good fic.

Pairing: Darth Malgus & Original character

Rating: General audience

Word count: ~1700

Taking a seat in a chair meant for the daintiness of someone built much shorter and smaller than him, the collective of him and his armour, drop the day’s worth of heaviness. Unlike a person sitting down, he is a planet settling into his molten core. He shimmies himself into the average space of the seat with its armrests, setting all of the teahouse’s fragile decor into a minor, yet noticeable quake. 

I watch him, and chuckle.

Leaning back, the chair complains under him. Rolling his eyes, this isn’t the first time a seat has argued with him. 

“Just once in my life…” He mutters. Though his respirator takes the humanity of his voice and deletes it into a flat static, snickers break from the quiet relenting of this innocent struggle from the closure of my lips, and like waves, they come and come until they become a sea of laughs. 

[anchanted-one]

Legend of Lightning Chapter 64. Moving Forward

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43208574/chapters/115178797

Jasme sighed heavily. Vajra still couldn’t look her in the eye. She’d hoped that he’d make his decision soon, but in the past three days, he had grown ever more withdrawn. At least he was able to talk to her now.

He’d managed to help her lay the foundations of Lightsaber combat, and had not stumbled or mumbled as he had explained how to do things. Indeed, he had been evidently delighted to be the one teaching her something, for once. But he still blushed every time he looked at her.

“Vajra?” She was about to press the issue again, when he pre-empted her with his own question.

“Jasme? Who’s Kairegane Rooks?”

“Huh?”

“Doctor Row told me that I got a present from her, and said that the Rooks family is quite a prominent family among the Imperial Nobles.”

“I’m surprised you don’t know who she is already. She’s quite famous, you know.”

It was Vajra’s turn to be confused. Jasme pulled him towards the guards’ locker room, which happened to be around the next bend. As she expected, several youths were busy getting ready for their shifts.

“Hey, if it isn’t our favorite Princess of the Archives,” Zamtha Collins smiled.

“Why it is her!” Jaime Garca clapped and whistled along with his friends Marco Barth, Risca Bell and Gelli Ri Alikrits.

“What can we do for you?” Zamtha asked.

“Show me your locker, would you?”

“Is this a surprise inspection?”

“Just a wager. Anyone would do, except Risca and Gelli.”

The guards looked at each other. Jaime shrugged, and opened his locker, revealing a shabby assortment of personal effects.

“That there is Kairegane Rooks,” Jasme pointed at the full-length poster plastered onto the inside of the door. “She won an interstellar beauty pageant a few months ago, the first Force user to win such an… honor.”

“Most gorgeous woman who ever existed,” Marco whispered, and the others nodded fervently.

Vajra looked carefully at the woman in the poster. She certainly did not look her height when photographed alone, but that wasn’t what it was meant for anyway. She was a humanoid with slightly tan skin, blazing scarlet hair, and golden eyes. Her cheeks were covered in golden scales. Black horns protruded from within her locks. Her arms were covered in tiny scarlet feathers, and a confident smile adorned her red lips. She also had a scar on her face, a diagonal Lightsaber burn which marred her nose. But since she wore it as a badge of honor, it only served to heighten her beauty.

Jasme let Vajra stud her for a few moments before smiling at the guards. “Thanks, guys. Have a good afternoon.”

“Who won the wager?”

“I can’t really say he lost, can I?” she pointed at Vajra, who looked… well, much like she had felt, back when she’d seen the stunning young woman earlier that year. The guards burst into laughter. “C’mon, Vajra. Anyway, I read this article a few weeks back, which claimed that nine out of every ten military lockers had her stills taped inside them.”

He followed her. “But… but she’s a Sith! Why do our guards have a shrine to a Sith in their lockers?”

“Well, you saw her, right?”

“Well… yes…”

“Mhm. It’s a bit scandalous, but High Command had to publicly say that they don’t care, so long as our soldiers don’t shy away from fighting her. And there have been people who fought her. On Balmorra and Taris, among other places. So long as people treat the beauty and the Sith as two different people, they’re allowed to have those posters.”

“Wouldn’t she benefit though? From royalties and the like?”

“I suppose. But I’m sure she doesn’t need the extra change. Like I said, she’s a prominent noble. Very wealthy. Other than that, though, there are only a few things I know about her.”

“Like?”

“She got that scar duelling Darth Malgus when she was fourteen. After she’d fought a dozen other contestants in an annual competition. Once she won, she was asked what prize she wanted. Most people demand the right to be accepted as a high-ranking Darth’s apprentice. Kairegane Rooks was different. She demanded a duel with the highest ranking Sith attending the contest. And she gave him quite a good fight, too. Malgus even gave her his Master’s Lightsaber crystal as a token of his respect.”

“So, she’s a warrior too?”

“Yes. Apparently, she did the pageant on a dare. But her boldness doesn’t stop there. She issued a ritual challenge to Darth Angral himself for some offense or other. Demanded a full-fledged war between their holdings. That was a few days before he embarked upon his mission. It does say something that he never answered her challenge, doesn’t it?”

Vajra thought about that for a moment. “Her family’s that powerful?”

“She’s the only one of ‘her family’ who’s still alive. No, it’s her armies that are renowned throughout the Empire. The Dracogriff Legions, they’re called. The strongest army within the Empire, responsible for their most decisive and overwhelming victories over the entire course of their history. They fought for Marka Ragnos and Tulak Hord, apparently, though they stayed out of the Great Hyperspace war since both Naga Sadow and his rival Ludo Kressh feared their ambitious leader. They fought in the Great Galactic War, and every engagement was a heavy loss for the Republic. Thankfully, they rarely fight without a Rooks at their head, so their use became limited after Kairegane’s mother Riy’avi was KIA, leaving only Kairegane to bear the name. She was… a child, at the time. Five, seven years old? In any case, they’ve recently started becoming active again. Kairegane claimed the title of Darth recently, something she believed she was due since Angral ‘ran’ from her challenge. Darth Kaimeryn.”

“I see…”

“But what you might be most interested in is this: she’s the one who turned Jaesa. I’m not sure what exactly happened, since the Council sealed all records about the incident. But apparently, Nomen Karr had a personal grudge against her master, Darth Baras. Enough to challenge him to a duel. Baras sent her in his stead, and she crushed him. Left him alive, though. Gave him to Master Braga in exchange for her mother’s effects, which had been claimed by the Jedi who killed her. Sometime between Karr’s defeat and the exchange, Jaesa had switched loyalties to Lady Rooks. Apparently, she was utterly devoted to her, though Master Braga believed she wasn’t under the influence of the Dark Side. Yet.”

“Doctor Row said she sent me something—”

“Oh, I’d forgotten about that. It should be in storage right now. Come, let’s go pick it up, if you want it right now. I’m sure the Masters will want someone to watch over you, in case it’s a danger of some sort.”

Jasme led him to the storage unit, which was next to the Archives. The parcel was fetched almost at once. As Jasme had predicted, several Knights waited as Vajra opened it.

He tore open the envelope and read the contents of the letter aloud first.

“‘Greetings, Jedi. Thank you for killing that smug bastard! He’s been up my arse with marriage proposals for years now. I still remember when his first one arrived; mere hours after my mother’s death. Before even her casket. Can you believe the gall? And even though I said ‘no,’ he never stopped asking. Every day, I’d wake up to reports that his men had attempted to muscle in on my lands. Collect tolls, stake claims, intimidate the people. MY people. I am a little disappointed I didn’t get to kill him myself, but watching him bawl like a baby really made my day. I’m sending you a few tokens of my appreciation.

Wear that medallion with pride; it means I’ve marked you as a worthy and honorable adversary, nothing more.

Let us duel someday! I absolutely relish all forms of contest, but none more than those with Lightsabers!

Warm regards,

Lady Kai.’”

“Sounds like such a character,” Jasme remarked. The forced wedding attempts made her feel more than a little pity for the Sith, but she didn’t know what else to think of the woman. The letter seemed friendly and innocent enough, but it could just as easily be mockery.

Vajra opened the two boxes in the parcel one by one. The first held a pair of magnificent swords; forged for battle as much as show, they were made of silver cortosis, and had artistic sheaths. The other was a large durasteel medallion etched with what had to be a Dracogriff. There was some kind of writing along the outside, in a language he didn’t understand. There were hooks on either side of the medallion to which a bracelet of hard, red leather was tied.

Jasme watched as Vajra weighed everything in front of him with his eyes; the swords, the medallion, the letter. He sighed and pocketed the letter with one hand. Two more placed the medallion around his neck.

“You’re keeping them?”

He shrugged.

“Really, you’re keeping it? Don’t tell me you’re having dreams of courting the ‘greatest beauty in the galaxy?’ Or perhaps ‘saving’ Jaesa Willsaam…”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’ve grown stunningly beautiful yourself since the last time I got a good look at you. Before Alderaan. You beat this Sith noblewoman any day of the week.”

Jasme blinked. “Oh, my! How could I have forgotten that you’re a charmer…” She pretended to blush.

“I’m serious.”

She giggled behind a hand. “Okay then, Sir Charmer. What are you thinking?”

“I’m not thinking anything, actually. It’s a feeling, that’s all. I don’t know what it means. Like she’s not as bad as Angral or Malgus.”

“Indeed, she is supposed to be closer to Praven. Which I’m sure I told you. But she’s still the enemy.”

His eyes blazed for a moment. “I remember. I won’t forget.”

Jasme flinched. He had to be thinking of his tribe. And Uphrades. As she should have been! Of course he knew better than to be ensnared by looks alone! “I’m sorry about that. That was thoughtless. Anyway. Did you know that the Rooks were once seen as gods by their people?” she asked. “They still do, to an extent! That’s why their loyalty to the family is absolute. I suppose this is a case of god-acknowledging-god, eh?”

“Huh?” Vajra turned around in confusion.

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten!” Jasme tapped his forehead beside the third eye. “You’re all but worshipped back on Raudraksha! You even have your own idol!”

“Oh, right!” he looked surprised. “Stupid idea, worshiping me, of all people.”

“Well, your third eye is white after all. Proof that you were chosen by a higher power!”

“Proof that I saw a higher power, but not in the way they think.”

Now it was Jasme who was confused. “Explain.”

His eye opened, revealing the milky-white orb. “It’s blind, and it wasn’t always so. I remembered it working just fine when I was a kid. I think it’s because I saw that Lightning attack. The one that Aparajita used to kill Bellicose.”

“Ohhh!”

“It’s not an omen. Or a sign. My people got the cause and effect all mixed up. See, my people were taught to keep our third eye trained on a target when we were hunting, instead of our two other ones. So it was always open, and always watching. A little harder to close than the others. All of Rudra’s chosen were people who also used that Lightning blast attack, right? I think they were the same as me. They saw the attack incinerate their enemies, and went blind as a result.”

“I see… that’s logical. Explains things better than ‘because deity x made it so.’” She sighed heavily. “But I hate it! Make me unhear what you just told me!” She began hitting his head playfully. “Give me back my sense of wonder!”

“Heya lovebirbs,” Kira appeared out of nowhere and took a seat beside Jasme with a tray full of snacks. “Quarrelling in the cantina of all places?” she tsk-tsked teasingly. “Anyway, who cares if Vajra’s some chosen one or not? He’s the one of galaxy’s greatest warriors even without it. Even many in the Empire seem to think so.”

“That can’t be right,” Vajra shook his head, but Jasme tossed back her hair and mimed outrage.

“What do you mean? Don’t you like the idea of our Vajra being magical?”

“He is magical. Just look at him.” Both girls did, with sly smiles. Vajra blinked, but seemed unsure of what to say.

“You could at least look at us, you know,” Kira suggested. “Please?”

“And give us our answer, maybe?”

Vajra met their eyes, but there was still some effort required. “Please don’t leave me,” he said in a small voice. “I can’t make it without you.”

The admission made Jasme and Kira beam at each other in triumph. As they were exchanging a lengthy series of high fives, Vajra added “Could you tell me a little about the Sith Nobility?”

 *

Kouhaush Muin

Lady Kai chose an outfit that, in her eyes, embodied both words ‘skimpy’ and ‘intimidating.’ Her black-and-red blouse covered her breasts but little else, allowing the world to see the scales on her bosom and the feathers on her upper arms. Her dark silver gauntlets and greaves had spikes and talons. A little excessive, perhaps, but she had loved these the instant she’d found them in her mother’s wardrobe. A red sarong was draped around her long white harem pants, her black Lightsaber hilt hooked onto her belt. The only jewellery she wore was a heavy iron crown with her ancestor’s orange Lightsaber crystal embedded in it.

The last High King of Kouhaush Muin and the first Great Lord of Clan Rook, Rhoy’hadiin the War Demon. The man who led the Muinar forces against an invasion force of Sith, Dashade and Massassi. Their tenacity had persuaded the ageing Ajunta Pall to give them a place among the nobility in exchange for their loyalty.

His statues stood in prominent locations all across the Empire, including the Citadel on Dromund Kaas. “Ryuga? Hand me my sword, would you?”

Her lithe Nagai retainer approached her with the claymore slung across his back.

“You look potent as ever, my Lord.” Quinn supplied from his corner.

“Thank you, Quinn,” Kairegane flashed him a winning smile, making him go so red that steam might have erupted out of his ears. “But you might want to try some other adjectives from time to time.”

“Well, I happen to agree with him,” Vette remarked. “What one term can describe your immense physical power, frightening force of charm, and raw good looks in one breath?”

“Have you finished examining my silverware? I want you to ogle me, for once!”

“Okay, okay!” Vette gave her a look and sighed like a lovestruck maiden. “You’re spiffing perfect! I wanna eat you all up! I wanna turn you into a stuffed pillow and take you to bed with me. There, you satisfied?”

“Kind of. Now come here and kiss my nose.” She raised her nose as high as she could, smiling with expectation writ on her face. Not that Vette, who barely reached her navel, could oblige.

“You’re lucky you’re not a man,” she grumbled. “I have a really, really good shot from here.”

Kai laughed herself silly as Jaesa appeared in the room. She looked good in her new livery.

“Ah, here’s my most trusted little handmaiden, here just in time to assist me with tying my hair!”

“It looks just fine to me, my Lord,” the petite human woman bowed. “I cannot even imagine you looking anything less than pristine.”

“Awww, thank you, Jaesa!” Kairegane rubbed her head. Jaesa revelled at her touch, arching her head like a pet. “Are my guests here?”

“They are, Lady Kai,” the one who answered was Ryuga Yoshida, her Foremost Blade. His deep, soft voice belied his rather slender body. “As always, the high nobility paint a most comical picture. Would you like to complete the painting?”

“Would I ever!” Kai fastened her sword belt around her bust, making absolutely sure that the placement accentuated her curves. She was about to put on a show, after all! “Let’s show these little caoirigh who the Dracogriff is!”

“Aren’t you the Kaimeryn now?” Luma Felope asked.

Jaesa squealed. “You Kage move without even a whisper!”

“Get used to it, Apprentice. Luma and her clan are my closest associates and agents. And yes, Luma, I stand corrected. Let’s go.”

 *

[tiredassmage]

hold your breath

The tiniest little elaboration on The Cutscene because I had emotions about it relating to one of the fics I wrote earlier. No, there’s no direct connections to. Yes, this is spoilers for 7.1. I will probably eventually add this to my AO3, but I... realized I probably shouldn’t be overly eager and post things yet again at 1 am because I may or may not get up the idea to write the conversation that immediately follows this, which could then all be part of the same fic together, but I’m a monkey who needs to share this now, anyway, so this will live on Tumblr for now. :3

Pairing: Male Imperial Agent | Cipher Nine (Tyr)/Theron Shan

& featuring the lovely as always Lana Beniko, resident rational brain cell

Rating: Teen

Theron Shan showed up for like 2 minutes so naturally I made heart eyes about it. And this is basically a tiny little thing just exploring what those 2 minutes are like for my boys. Mostly Tyr. A lot of Tyr worrying. As he does. Also my continuing open love letter to exploring the extra thoughts that come with doing saboteur shit that the game doesn't always get to cover. (Lbr that's probably where this piece mostly came from, let me marinate in this, okay?)

-----

More than he ever had as an Intelligence officer, Tyr often felt like a ghost flitting about the Imperial fleet these days. There were so many eyes, so many voices, so many interests that were always - consciously or not - drifting through his mind as he passed through the crowds: the booming voice of broadcasts that carried throughout the fleet by necessity and order, the tatters of average conversations of troops, merchants, and civilians mingling in the cantina on layovers drifting through with the strains of cantina songs…

So many people meant so many secrets. And so many eyes and ears made his own settle heavily in his throat, made the collar of his jacket feel tight and hot around his neck.

Thankfully, all those years of training and field work made the schooled neutrality of an officer on a mission more muscle memory than something he needed to consciously project.

He moved with purpose and confidence through the crowds, easily keeping stride with a young officer that had met him with the offer to escort him to Malgus’s holding cell. His advisors had arrived in advance, he was told. They were ready to receive his attempts at interrogation whenever the Commander was ready.

He found himself thankful it was only him and his implants that would be able to note the way his heart pounded in his chest at the thought of facing down the obstinate Sith lord yet again - supposedly inescapable prison or not.

“Ah, there you are.”

The anxiety that had inevitably clawed at his chest at the idea of Theron left alone on the Imperial Fleet eased with the sight of his husband silhouetted against stark Imperial red beside Lana.

To be fair and to his credit, Theron was generally level-headed in their exploits, at least when others were too close at hand. And Lana would be able to keep any overly curious inquisitions in check, but…

Well, he’d always worry. They both would.

Most of the tension coiling in his shoulders didn’t ease until he rested a hand against his husband’s arm as they all turned their gaze back to the prisoner and he took his place between his advisors. Theron’s hand brushed along the underside of his arm in return - a small, subtle gesture of support that was about all they could afford, given their current surroundings.

“We tried warming him up a little before you arrived, but… that went about as well as you’d expect,” Theron quipped.

“Not a word, right?” Tyr replied dryly.

Lana’s frown deepened as she folded her arms across her chest at his right. “No changes,” she reported, “He’s not exactly forthcoming. I’ve seen stranger things though, so… perhaps you’ll have better luck?”

“I doubt it,” Tyr remarked with a frown.

“Chin up, Commander,” Lana ribbed lightly, though her stern gaze did not shift from Malgus. “I’ve faith yet in your specialty.”

Tyr stepped forward to the edge of the platform, his hands clasping behind his back as he studied their prisoner. He missed the comfort of having Theron directly at his side almost instantly, though his presence at his back was still reassuring.

The former Cipher paced a few lengths in either direction on the platform, eyes locked on his target. Malgus made no indication there was even anyone else present.

The Sith, admittedly, had them all at a disadvantage, damn whatever Rivix and the Council thought. Quite frankly, Malgus admitting to anything would almost be too easy. They were working on borrowed time. And they were still several steps behind.

Tyr’s jaw shifted in contemplation of this knowledge. He’d do everything in his power to avoid admitting that the Sith unnerved him, but… For the moment, he just needed enough control to keep up the mask.

“Well, even if we have an abundance of it, I see no use in wasting anybody’s time, Malgus,” Tyr opened carefully. “Sooner or later, we are going to talk about Elom and your purpose there. Or the ruins will simply do it for you. So, I’ll ask again: what was your purpose on Elom?”

No change. Not even a shift in his eyes. Just the same glaring stare down at the floor.

Tyr stilled in the center of the platform where he had begun. His eyes narrowed slightly. “Silence is unbecoming of you, Malgus. Your speeches on Ilum were quite something.”

A lifetime ago, Ilum… But he still remembered well what it had felt like standing in the path of the Sith’s calculating, menacing glare on Ossus.

He hated his next idea about the moment it even spawned in his mind.

“Let me out there. And… give us some privacy.”

“I beg your pardon?” A breath ghosted from his lungs as his head dropped at Theron’s remark from behind him. “Absolutely not, no way! You can’t be serious?!”

“Commander…” Lana’s brow knitted over her eyes as Tyr turned to face them. “I’m… not sure that is wise.”

“Believe me, I know what I’m asking,” Tyr breathed quietly. “But if it has a chance of getting us somewhere, it’s a risk worth taking.”

“By whose measure?” Theron asked with a slight hiss of worry edging his voice. His hands sought Tyr’s arms and his husband let him take both hands in his own. “Look, you know I trust you, but… is this really what you want?”

If they could have been honest, his heart was in his throat at the idea of being alone with Malgus save the security droids silently lining the hall behind his advisors. He needed no sensitivity to the Force to recall Malgus’s raw power and the memory of the Sith’s suspicious gaze lacing through him when they had played nicely for the Empire’s interests still haunted some of his nights.

But not here. They couldn’t here.

He squeezed Theron’s hands in his gently - the most he could offer in this utterly hostile environment where every ounce of their perceived weaknesses could be logged away and used against them. “It’s what needs to be done,” he replied.

Theron’s worried eyes lingered over him for a few moments longer, evidently conflicted, absolutely considering further debate. “Alright,” he relented. His hands tightened in return around Tyr’s. “Please… be careful. I’ll wait for you.”

“I’m counting on it,” Tyr said quietly, offering him a faint half-smile.

Lana, ever the professional, simply nodded beside them. “Very well, Commander. We’ll await your report.”

“I won’t be long.” Either Malgus would merely extend his silence, or… that was merely a hope he was speaking to.

Tyr watched as they left down the hall, planting into that old, comforting stance of quiet attention - grounded, feet spread about shoulder’s width, arms clasped behind his back. His gaze followed Theron’s retreating back, not missing the half-glance his husband cast over his shoulder in one parting check-in.

Be careful.

Tyr took in a deep breath silently and slowly, attempting to steel himself for the conversation ahead. Malgus wouldn’t hesitate to lunge at any flaw he let show - he could be certain of that.

And the truth was…? It’d been a long time since someone had set the Cipher this much on edge at the idea of mere conversation. As much as he hated to admit it, he, too, had been an awfully powerful Sith lord.

No walking out now, though. Time to face the music.

[sullustangin]

Darth Marr and Satele Shan:  Names and Priorities

I’ve reached the point in my Yavin fic that I’m starting to use Marr’s POV on occasion.  One of the things I’ve been chewing on (likely to the annoyance of others) has been the Marr-Satele-Theron dynamic during the Yavin 4 op.  It’s clear that Satele and Marr have put aside differences and have become friends (as much as a Force ghost and a self-exiled Jedi Master can be friends) by Chapter 12 of KotFE. 

I give credit to @swtorpadawan for posting about Satele on Yavin 4 a few months ago and being willing to have continued discourse about the post -- thank you.  In comments and reblogs, there’s been discussion about how to interpret Satele’s references to Theron during the op and her motivations for why she does this. 

This is a spin-off of that post, since I’ll be focusing more on the dynamic between Marr and the Shans instead of Theron and Satele. 

During the Yavin op, Theron is consistently referred to as Theron, not as Agent Shan or as Shan.  The issue of his last name is avoided.   A few people (including me) have the headcanon that ‘Shan’ is a common name in the galaxy, like Smith or Patel or Garcia would be on our world; two people named Shan does not a family connection make, necessarily.  It would explain why Theron doesn’t have a code name (though he jokingly? complains about it on first meeting). 

And yet, Satele avoids using the name in reference to Theron.  So does Marr.  And Theron doesn’t insist on being referred to by his last name, even though his peer, Lana Beniko, is referred to as ‘Beniko’ by Marr. (Satele never addresses Lana using her name.)

Why the dance? 

Honestly, when I try to reverse-engineer dev!logic, in terms of the game design for Yavin 4, I’d guess it was done to help the player differentiate between Grand Master Shan and Agent Shan.  And maybe that’s all it is: calling Theron “Theron” just keeps the player from getting confused, especially if the player isn’t a Jedi and doesn’t know Satele; and/or skipped the Forged Alliances quests and thus doesn’t know Theron.

Within the universe, however, what’s an explanation a player can come up with?

The Spies in Question

Theron’s name was broadcast across the galaxy as a wanted man for killing Colonel Darok.  He was to be apprehended on sight, but Theron was a spy; spy agencies to this day rarely let any images of their active duty agents be circulated, even if they do go rogue or defect to the other side.  Theron’s image in direct connection to his name and job as SIS agent would be on a need-to-know basis.  This has led me to headcanon that Director Trant was well-aware of Theron going off the grid; in fact, he aided and abetted it.

Lana, on the other hand, was a known member of the Sphere of Military Offense.  She commanded troops on Hoth.  She had a known face, and there was an Imperial bounty contract on her head, per Theron at Manaan.  If anything, Lana was in as much danger as Jakarro; someone could try to claim the bounty on her head, since the bounties weren’t lifted til the end of the Yavin op.

And yet, Theron’s name was the unspeakable one. 

Satele and Theron

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I feel that the dynamic between Theron and Satele is not that of son and mother; both of them have gotten past that decision.  Rather, it’s more similar to a child who was given up for adoption looking for some sort of acknowledgement from his birth family -- it’s not love.  It’s not approval.  It’s.... complicated.  Acknowledgement of existence.  Acknowledgement that the decision had impact on Theron well beyond his first year of life.  Acknowledgement that Satele hurt Jace. 

I’ve interpreted Theron’s bristling at the use of the term “my agent” to be more directed at the possessiveness of the word, yet how far apart they still are, despite the biological connections.  Technically, Yavin 4 was the first time they worked on an op together.  This was their first professional collaboration.  They haven’t seen each other socially, they can’t talk about their issues/relationship/whatever.....and they have to save the galaxy together.

Giving up Theron doesn’t mean Satele felt nothing. She privately struggles with what she did and how it turned out -- still does, based on 6.2.   However, she, like Jace and Theron, believe in serving the cause at great personal cost.  Seeing Theron beat to hell after Rishi bothered her -- it would bother anyone with any sense of compassion (which she does have).  Theron got the beatdown he did because he was taken by the Revanites.  Revan attempted to convince Theron to join him on Yavin 4 by invoking the idea that they are flesh and blood -- family.

Pretty sure Revan wasn’t talking about the Malcom side.  Satele knew that.  Was there a sense of protectiveness for Theron because of what happened immediately before Yavin 4?  I think so, yes, but it’s not motherly.

Theron’s experience on Rishi probably made Satele hyperaware that if Theron was of interest to the Revanites, then the Empire would doubly interested in Theron if they knew that he was not only an heir of Revan, but that the Grand Master of the Jedi Order was his biological mother.   Referring to him as “my agent” may be Satele’s way to avoid using any part of his name on Yavin 4.

I’m willing to bet, regardless of any efforts to ignore or conceal Theron’s name, that Marr quickly figured out that the agent who managed to outfox Revan, resist torture, get Marr’s attention, and unravel an intergalactic conspiracy was something special to the Republic.  Odds were that this agent had acted against the Empire.

Marr would be interested.

The History of Darth Marr and Satele Shan

Prior to Yavin 4, Marr and Satele had most recently squabbled over Makeb in the Hutt Cartel expansion through their various operatives.  When Marr saw Satele on the Imp side Battle of Rishi, he bowed.  He respected her and she respected him.  I didn’t get any other impression from their interactions. They saw each other as equals, though on rival sides; that creates tension, since a fight between them would be a draw or mutually assured destruction.  It’s highly likely they fought against each other in the previous Galactic War (which I’ll talk about below). 

Marr was born in 3702 BBY, Satele in 3699 BBY.  They’re about the same age, and they ascended almost equally quickly when the Sith returned in 3681 -- Satele is 18, Marr is 21.  I have spoken about how Satele and Jace (who seems to be somewhere between 16 and 20 in the trailer) were essentially just kids when the conflict started.  So was Marr.

The big difference, in terms of how their characters are constructed, is that we have the end product of Marr.  Period.  We don’t know what his name was before he took on the name ‘Darth Marr.’  We know nothing about his family, his relationships, his struggles.  As Marr said later to the player in KotFE, he wanted to be a symbol to the Empire.  Marr did not let himself be just a man.

Darth Marr is not the singular leader of the Sith.  Marr is the head of the Sphere of Defense of the Empire for decades, and as of the Battle of Corellia and the death of Darth Decimus, he also becomes the head of the Sphere of Military Strategy.  With 2 of Military Spheres in his grasp, Marr was the de facto leader of the armed forces of the Sith Empire.  The Sphere of Military Offense passed from Baras to Arho and then to Arkous after Ilum.  When Arkous is killed by the player’s character, there is no indication as to who was the next head; that Sphere is never spoken of again in-game.  We may assume Marr took hold of that.  Either way, he has become the de facto leader of the Sith Empire.  His voice, his robes and mask -- immediately recognizable to the whole galaxy.

The creators of content for SWTOR took the opposite approach to Satele. We can read about how her mother Tasiele was forced into exile when Satele was still a child.  We meet Satele at 18 in a SWTOR trailer during the first Sith incursion at Korriban.  We see her in comics fighting against the Empire.  We see her at the Battle of Alderaan against Malgus.  In Annihilation,we see bits and pieces of her falling in love with Jace Malcom and hoping she doesn’t get too attached... until a pair of permanent complications occur in 3667 BBY:   Jace was severely maimed in the Battle of Alderaan, and Satele got pregnant.  Jace’s injuries made him a much harder person than the soldier Satele met in 3681 BBY; he scared her with his hatred of the Empire. 

I’ll take a moment here to say that Satele wasn’t dumb or naive when she made the decision about Theron.  Satele was at least 32 years old, possibly 33 by the time Theron was born in 3666 BBY. She wasn’t a teen having a knee-jerk “oh noes, he’s evil” moment.  She had been in a constant state of war for 15 years when she got pregnant.   It’s in that context that Satele was concerned that Jace’s hatred could drag their child to the Dark Side... but also, Satele’s love for her child would make it impossible for her to serve the Republic without a second thought.  She couldn’t fight and die for the Republic if she was always preoccupied with coming home to her baby.

So she let Theron go.  She had other adventures.  She was at the Treaty of Coruscant.  Satele founded Tython.  She became the Grand Master of her order.

We don’t get any of that pathos or glory with Marr.   Marr IS.  Marr is the Empire. He is the best of them.  He has been, is, and will be. 

The odds are pretty good that Marr and Satele met each other in combat, directly or indirectly. The bow on Imp side Rishi is a big thing for me that points to that.  Also, look at their responsibilities during the last war.  Marr was responsible for not only defending Korriban and what would become the Imperial core, but also any gains the Sith made over time against the Republic.  That’s the job of the Sphere of Defense of the Empire; taking planets was somebody else’s rodeo, not Marr’s.  His job was to defend... something the Imperial people living on these planets would love him for.  He was their protector against brutish Republic troops and their systemic corruption. 

Satele was responsible for winning those territories back; we see her on counter-strikes against the Sith.  Satele is cast as the liberator of people imperiled by the spreading Sith Empire, not a conqueror taking new territory.  Marr probably had to defend against Satele at least once in their careers, possibly multiple times.  If she was absent from the front lines for any period of time, Marr would have noticed; he had to anticipate the next move of Republic counterstrikes as part of his job. 

And indeed, Satele was absent for an extended period.  How long Satele was absent from the battlefield due to her pregnancy, we don’t know. Satele did continue her battlefield duties for “months” after she found out.  The only information we have about post-partum Satele is that she stopped visiting Baby Theron at 6 months old, according to Lost Suns.  I don’t think she could just skip off at random while in command, so I think she probably was off the battlefield at least 10 months (last 4 months of her pregnancy, 6 months post-partum), possibly as long as 18 months, since Gnost-Dural reports she was assigned to duty with the Republic Navy at some point in 3665 BBY.  She did give birth on a random planet in a cave, so she didn’t exactly have the best medical care immediately.  Maybe there were complications. Maybe she did show early. We don’t know.

Regardless of the timeline, Marr would have been paying attention.  Marr would have noticed when Satele Shan stopped fighting for the Republic.  Where was she?  What was she doing?  Was this part of a greater plot by the Republic?  What were they planning?  And when Satele did return, he may well have wondered what she had been up to.  But no matter; she had returned.  Marr had to be ready.

There’s no obvious indication in the game as to when Marr figures out Satele and Theron are mother and son.  He makes no comment to indicate that he knew before Rishi.  Based on Marr’s dialogue in game on the Imperial side, he heavily suggests that he knows who Theron is by the time Iven, the former commandant of the Imperial Guard, is taken into custody and it’s time to interrogate him. Satele objects to Marr’s plans to torture Iven.  “And what do you think your agent has done in the Republic’s name?” is Marr’s response. 

The delivery of ‘your agent’ is indicative that Marr knows.

Theron himself stated at the end of the Imp side romance that if he was indeed recruited by the player to join the Empire, people would be suspicious that he’d be working for his mother.  That would have to include Darth Marr. 

Personally, I would guess that the after-action reports from Lana and Theron would have some clues for Marr.  However, once Theron had healed up from the Rishi events, Marr may well have taken one look at Theron standing next to Satele, and then had an epiphany so immense it gave him a headache that Lana felt across the compound.  There’s the answer.  That’s why she disappeared for almost two years, twenty-nine years ago. Theron Shan.

(According to Jace in Annihilation, Theron has some similar features to his mother. He doesn’t specify which ones.)

The Lie of Omission

A lie of omission is permitting an inaccuracy or a falsehood to continue to circulate without correction, even though the person knows the truth. (In contrast, a lie of commission is when you actively make something up or contribute to the lie -- you commit the act lying.)  Marr signals he knows who Theron is by the time Iven is retrieved from the Imperial Guard training facility on Yavin, but he never says the name Theron Shan out loud.   It’s simply “the agent” “your agent” or “Theron.”  But not Agent Shan.

The use of “Theron” in the Pubside story is most eyebrow-raising.  

Marr calls people by their titles. Marr always keeps professional distance.  Underlings are uniformly referred to by their titles.  Lana doesn’t like titles, so Marr doesn’t refer to her as Lord Beniko or Darth whatever;  it’s just Beniko.

Calling someone by their first name is highly irregular.  He does not refer to Satele as such until 6.2 (and that might be the Socratic Problem of Marr in the player’s memory rather than the real Marr).  It’s always Grand Master or Grand Master Shan. In a unique instance in the game, Marr calls Theron by his given name when he finds the Imperial Guard’s buildings in ruins during the Pubside story:  “But given the destruction Theron describes, it’s mostly likely a distress call.”  This is before the Pub operative annoys Marr by going to the Imperial Guard facility by themselves; it’s not said in anger or in irritation.  It’s said under ‘normal’ circumstances (if circumstances on Yavin are normal at all). 

But why?  Why not “Agent Shan”?  That would differentiate him from Grand Master Shan.  Just referring to the pair as Grand Master and Agent would work too; how many Grand Masters and SIS Agents are running around on Yavin 4?  Why is Marr avoiding attention to the man’s last name?

And why doesn’t Marr hop on this and use it to the Empire’s advantage?

Pragmatism and Prioritization

Marr is not a Jedi.  Marr doesn’t do things for the greater good.  He does things for the Sith Empire and for the people of the Sith Empire.  Offing Theron Shan?  Definitely on the agenda.  So is killing Satele, eventually.

But not now.  Not on Yavin 4.

Marr is probably the person closest to knowing what Revan is going to try to do in order to make the Emperor take physical form again so he can kill him.  It’s going to involve a lot of dead people.  That can easily happen; up until this tiny fragile cease fire between Marr and Satele, the Empire and the Republic have been engaged in a hot war. When they first make camp on Yavin, there is a real possibility they’ll frag each other regularly.  This is why players have to do daily quests, in theory -- to build good will between the factions. 

My partner is a military nerd and a Star Wars nerd.  He watched both version of the Battle of Rishi.  His conclusion:  based on the ships we see, Marr had more than twice the number of troops that Satele did (I put the numbers in my Yavin 4 fic).  The Imperial troops, at Marr’s word, probably could wipe out the Republic forces on Yavin 4, pack up, and head back to Dromund Kaas in time for tea.

But they won’t.  Marr wouldn’t permit it.

He knows how dangerous the Emperor is, and if he does let his troops kill the Pubs, they feed him. There also appears to be some sort of weird mystical thing going on with Revan’s bloodline.  Revan knew highly personal information about Theron (and Theron says so when the player opens the temple later on); somehow, Theron was able to use that connection to get Revan to give up Yavin 4 and secure an invite there at the end of the Rishi op.

Marr knows about this.  Marr doesn’t know what Revan would do if Marr did kill Theron or Satele, plus there’s the more predictable possibility that the Republic would respond to the death of Satele Shan thanks to the Jedi feeling it through the Force.  Chancellor Saresh would not let that opportunity pass by, even if it did feed the Emperor; we saw that at Ziost. 

Grand Master Shan is a public figure.  Her name and her power is obvious to everyone in the Yavin camp.  Theron, however, is everything his mother is not.  He is a spy.  His face is not known to the general public.  His work is secret, his exact abilities unknown.

Sure, the last name is common enough....

But Theron and Satele have never worked together before.  They’ve never operated in such close proximity before.  Yavin 4 would be the first time all the pieces could fall into place to someone observant.  Marr is many things, but one of the things he really gets annoyed about in regard to the Sith is their arrogance.  They get such fat heads that they can’t see obvious danger or they overlook aliens and non-Force Sensitives to their own detriment. 

Marr isn’t arrogant.

He doesn’t think he’s the only one who can see a family similarity or sense some connection between them.  Saying someone’s name is a powerful thing; we get upset when someone screws up our name.  It’s how our attention is attracted.  Shared last names of interesting people attract attention.  Attention leads to distraction away from the primary goal of stopping Revan and the Emperor.

That’s something Marr doesn’t want to deal with right now.  Revan and Emperor now.  The Shans later.  He avoids referring to Theron as “Shan” so as to reduce any chance that some young Sith will attempt to make their bones killing Theron, since that would spell doom for the Empire, whether through Revan’s anger or the Republic’s revenge.  It would also help empower the Sith Emperor to retake physical form, which is the last thing Marr wants him to do. 

Exposing the Grand Master as having a secret son would remove an ally from the field for Marr; Marr doesn’t want to destroy his assets before he’s used them to their full ability.  There’s no point in burning Satele Shan on Yavin 4 before Revan is dealt with. 

...And Marr respects her.  It’s a cheap way to win against a rival he knows to be his equal.

Marr wants to end Revan and the Emperor now, in that order, to defend the people of the Empire.  He’ll worry about the Shans later.  Marr will let Theron’s last name be overlooked and unmentioned, if only because it makes his job as Defender of the Empire less complicated for a few months.

**

Thanks again to @swtorpadawan​ and also @inyri​ @shabre-legacy​ @theniveanlegacy​ for discussing the original post about Satele and Theron and making me think about this.  

Headcanon Postface:

This last bit is purely my headcanon ideas about Marr, so you can leave here if you so desire. I’m placing them here rather than making a separate post and having to link back to this one. 

As I’ve described previously, we have the finished product of Darth Marr, with none of the personal insight that was provided for Satele Shan.  Who’s under the mask?  Nobody knows, really.  His first comic book adventure takes place in 3678, when he’s about 24 years old.  There’s nothing about his life beforehand that would let the player wonder how his past life affected his current decisions.  Marr ultimately would do the best he could for the Empire, regardless, but knowing if he ever hesitated, ever had second thought, had a regret -- that would make him mortal. 

And Marr is an icon, not a man, in the grander SWTOR universe, per the writers. That’s the point driven home to the player.  So that leaves it to fan fic to take off the mask or not. 

In “The Planter of Trees and Other Tales from Yavin 4,” Marr comes to this conclusion about the Shans’ relationship after observing two Shan chins.  He then alludes to understanding Satele’s decision to conceal Theron’s existence.

After Marr had gained his seat on the Dark Council (late 3680s, early 3670s), a lot of Sith families wanted him to add to their prestige. The man needed a legacy; he needed heirs.  Marr had already set himself on his path, however; he understood that it was better to be an icon.  If Marr was a normal man, he would be weakened by family connections, love, protectiveness, concern for his personal future.  Instead, Marr’s devotion to the Empire was unmatched and pure.  In the public’s eye, he was the great defender. He was the perfect Sith.

Marr never did have a public wife or a political marriage. His private life -- better secured than Imperial state secrets -- produced a  daughter that did not inherit her talents from her Force-Using parent.  Marr had been relieved that his daughter was not like him.  It meant she would never be pressured to come into public life. It meant she was free of the burden of his legacy. 

Lately, I’ve considered that, regardless of having access to the Force or not, a child of Marr was always in danger of becoming a pawn.  She was something Marr’s enemies could use against him, if they ever found out about her; being Force-Null simply meant that others could not detect her as easily. That may have also have been a concern of Satele in regard to Theron, especially as she rose through the ranks of the Jedi Order.  As soon as Marr could let his daughter fly away from Dromund Kaas, he did.  She was free. 

She died shortly before the Sack of Coruscant.  Marr did not go to her. The Empire had to matter more.  That doesn’t mean he didn’t love her.  He just never could prioritize her over the Empire. 

In my fic universe, Marr understands Satele’s choices.  He can keep his mouth shut.  For now. 

Theron is far more dangerous to the rival faction than Marr’s daughter ever was, however; he is an active player in the war, while she... just got caught in the middle, in the end....

Revan and Emperor now.  Shans later.

**

[aurora-light-blog]

My first SWTOR fanfic

“Possession” is my first SWTOR about Darth Malgus and Eleena Daru first meeting to the start of their romantic relationship. There were a lot of hurdles in writing this story because there isn’t much known about this time period or about Eleena herself.

She was a slave in the fighting pits of Geonosis. That doesn’t actually tell us what her job there was. She was too thin for a gladiator, so I figured she would work as kind of an animal wrangler. Darth Malgus is a powerful capable man. I figured that she would be capable too. Though, I also had to determine a possible reason for her getting beat by her master, and why Darth Malgus happened to be strolling over at the time to save her.  

I researched as much as I could about Geonosis and later Dromund Kaas. A few npc characters from the game are there as well. I enjoyed writing it and hope everyone enjoys reading it.

 https://archiveofourown.org/works/44921239

[a-master-procrastinator]

First impressions on 7.0 story

I did the story on both Imperial and Republic sides, but only one time, so my thoughts and impressions might change after another replay. In general, it felt lackluster. Not without some bright moments, but 7.0 leaves more questions than answers and confuses me even more.

Spoilers under the cut!

Since I don't have backup characters (not main characters, so if something bugs I won't be disappointed) to experience new story, I took Airistan (DS-neutral Knight, Republic loyalist) and Jett (neutral-light BH, still unsure about loyalist/saboteur thing, both are terrible options for her, so I have 2 versions rolled with different options, today it's Imperial saboteur).

Didn't expect Manaan to be first, kinda figured it would be a story between the overall plot with Malgus and war. I didn't know what to expect from this plotline other than "we need kolto!" for either Republic or Empire, and, honestly, the game didn't get me invested. I don't know how to put it, but when Onslaught came out with the whole deal about Meridian complex, I had a sense of importance of either defending or destroying it. With Manaan I didn't have this feeling. Maybe it was my sleep deprived brain (can't rule it out), maybe it was lack of necessity of this mission in overall plot. Other than one "if we had that kolto shipment we'd get you more soldiers" line, Manaan's story don't have impact on anything else, at least so far. I'm willing to wait until next story updates release and see if the result of mission on Manaan has any more consequences.

Underwater mission was fun though. Gave me a little nostalgia from KOTOR.

New area looks good (even if it burns my computer and I have to lower shadows to get better fps and not hurt my eyes). Also happy about characters using their class ship.

Republic

Glad to see Arn again, congratulations on passing the trials and becoming Knight, even if his doubts are still there. Too bad Airistan can't help him much with his struggles as a Jedi (because she doesn't care about Jedi path).

Colonel Gallo is cool, hope she appears again (but pls don't make me come back to Manaan if it's gonna be so slow again).

Surprised that Airistan chose to save people instead of kolto, but in retrospective it makes sense - kolto isn't exactly a resource that's going extinct, and gaining trust by saving Selkath over kolto can help in future relations with Selkath. Airistan is devoted to win the war by any means, but she is also clever. Usually.

Empire

Ooops, another Dark Councilor is dead on Jett's watch, must be a coincidence. Shouldn't have gotten overly ambitious. In other words, Darth Norok didn't impress me.

Colonel Korrd wasn't super interesting at first, but with time I got more invested. Jett even didn't expose him and told to go Odessen.

Anri is great as always. I felt shame when she said "I know I can trust you".

Kolto was sent to Odessen, but to be fair, Jett would do so regardless of saboteur/loyalist status.

I still have characters ready to do Manaan, so maybe my opinion will change.

(about Darth Nul) "Even so... I struggle to think of anyone else with the power to wipe someone from history so completely" ever heard of Black Codex? (people who main Agents, pls tell me that they make a comment about this)

Then we finally get to the main plot of the, ahem, expansion.

Elom is even better looking, but I could not get through this flashpoint without lowering graphics. A few more updates, and even NASA computers won't handle SWTOR at highest graphics.

Anyway, I'm intrigued by Darth Nul and hope we learn more about her work in future.

Absolutely didn't expect to capture Malgus so early on, seeing how he is the main hype about this expansion, but it's not the last time we see him, plus they seem to focus more on Sa'har now.

Republic

Okay, but you can't convince me that Tau and Lana's bickering isn't them flirting.

New girl gang shot just dropped! (maybe not as iconic, but still cool)

Love all the Jedi who come to capture Malgus. Arn, Tau, Aryn, Gnost-Dural, SATELE HELL YEAH!!!

"Malgus is too dangerous to keep alive. We should kill him while we have the chance" ah yes, good old Airistan, finally back.

Empire

[Not this guy...] Heh, poor Rivix, Jett gives no cares about you.

"If he crosses us, we kill him" even better xD, making life difficult for Acina.

Rivix's interactions with Lana are fun as well.

Was wondering how non Force-users go about Malgus throwing a big ass rock at them (Jedi and Sith simply stop it with the Force and throw back at him), such an iconic slide.

So, Imperial cameos - Xarion, Krovos, as expected; even Acina decided to show up? (or Vowrawn if he's the Emperor, I guess).

As much as Jett enjoyed taunting Malgus on Ossus and Corellia, this time it would be outright asshole behavior, and she kinda understands not wanting to serve the Empire.

Lord Eldrid... hm, name drop and possibility to replace Savik on the Dark Council? I have a feeling we'll see Eldrid again.

In general, story was very short, yet at the same time it felt so long to get there (especially Manaan). I have mixed feelings about it: on one hand, not much happened, and Manaan didn't feel overly important, on another hand, I loved some characters, and story seems to have only started, so here's hoping it gets better with new story releases.

My thoughts on all technical stuff (combat styles, conquest, GS 2 and all that) will be later, as there's still many new things to try.

[synoxshots]

SWTOR Characters Meme

Thanks for tagging me @sullustangin @thebreadtree - as always I love talking about myself ;)

Brain is pooped but if anyone hasn’t been tagged yet and wants a go - just say it was me yeah? This is a long one so it’s all under the cut

Do you have more Imperial or Republic characters?

Sadly I am a filthy imp these days, though it’s a close one. On Malgus (main server) I have 11 imps vs 10 pubs, though all the imps have at least some levels on them, whereas two of my pubs are at level 1. I have 4 toons on SF as well where it’s 3 pubs to 1 imp, though one of the pubs is also at level 1 (made more as a character design that ever having an intent to play them).

The spread goes like this for my main server:

Knights: Yalla’ra (75, focus guardian), Kaetos (~70, watchman sentinel), Adaryn (~32, combat sentinel)

Consulars: Ruka’ii (75, seer sage), Jadneehi (75, kinetic combat shadow), Rykaeza (1, balance sage)

Smugglers: Ticcer (75, ruffian scoundrel), Qiren (75, sharpshooter gunslinger), Arbutus (1, scrapper (to be sawbones) scoundrel)

Troopers: Leire (75, combat medic commando)

Warriors: Emyr (75, rage jugg), Iphedarius (75, anni mara, semi retired), Ceirios (70, vengeance jugg)

Inquisitors: Azunee (75, corruption sorc), Zayyu (75, lightning sorc), Xianen (75, darkness sin)

Agents: Ev’aari (75, lethality operative), Jaenda (~65, virulence sniper), Arthyen (~30, concealment (to be medicine) operative)

Hunters: Jayma (75, pyro pt), Jait’ee (75, bodyguard merc)

On SF I also have a Yalla’ra clone, her kids Alae’ra (gunslinger, lvl 68?) & Emel-Din (the untouched shadow), and another lethality operative Rodi in case I find myself wanting to do some group things. 

Which class do you play as the most?

Kind of a complicated question. If we’re counting classes rather than toons, it probably balances out as inquisitor - I heal quite a bit with Azunee, I’ve been working on learning lightning with Zayyu, I sometimes play Xianen too, I like space barbie with all 3. Yalla’ra is my story main and has the most renown, she’s the most spoilt and I tend to use her for general things, and I’ve been playing Adaryn for story lately so knight is definitely up there. Emyr, Ticcer, and Ruka’ii are also varying levels of mains too. I’m at a weird cross-roads between which class to play tbh.

Which race do you play as the most?

Probably human overall - Emyr, Ruka’ii, JT & Leire are humans and get a lot of play, Qiren was my first main too. Shout out to Miraluka and Mirialans though.

How many have completed KOTFE/KOTET?

Five - Yalla’ra, Qiren, Iph, Jayma, Emyr. 

Ruka’ii & Azunee have skipped ahead, Jadneehi was a character token toon so is also at Ossus story wise. 

How many have completed up to Secrets of the Enclave?

Four - as above, minus Emyr. Ruka’ii is probably the next through it as she has EoO next on her to-do list, then Emyr. 

Who has stayed loyal to their class romance? Who didn’t?

Emyr, Jayma, Ruka’ii, and Qiren. Qiren flirted with everyone without ever committing though. 

Yalla’ra broke up with Doc, Iph broke up with Quinn after the Quinncident so it doesn’t really count I think.

Azunee is a bit more complicated. She was with Andronikos through the class story and has done the reunion scene. I played KotFE c1-9 with the intent to romance Lana but duly messed it up by misinterpreting the dialogue, was so sad that I went and made Iph instead to do that with. Now Azunee’s role in my canon is a bit different so I’m not sure she actually meets Andronikos or not. Maybe, because I love him. 

Others haven’t had the opportunity either way.

Who started a Romance with the Kotet/Kotfe companions?

Yalla’ra has romanced Theron - a bit of casual flirting but not committing in SoR, then full on from KotFE. Iph has done the full romance with Lana. Azunee, as above. I did a bit of the Koth romance with Emyr as well but didn’t commit to it as Vette is the one. I have Rykaeza earmarked for that one when the time comes. Haven’t tried the Arcann romance at all.

Who is your oldest (having played the longest)?

Qiren was the second toon I made, dates back to May 2018. I think Yalla’ra and Azunee were made later that year and are the only others surviving from 2018. There are kind of generations of toon-making, in a way. Leire, Jayma, and Iph came late 2019/early 2020 (Ticcer was also made at the end of that sub period I think, before I would lose the chance to make a Mirialan, though I didn’t play him til the summer time). Those 6 are all part of the ‘first run’ phase though, when I was doing the class stories for the first time (the ones that finished consular and agent no longer exist in game, as well as some others I abandoned before that).

Who’s you newest?

My shadow, Jadneehi. She’s a token character which is why she’s up at 75 already. She’s kind of a remake of the very first toon I made, though a different species and playstyle, and I have the benefit of knowing how to play now. Arthyen is also very new and his levels just come from running around during double xp. 

[ospreyeamon]

malgus’ empire: doomed from the start

Why can’t you side with Malgus during The False Emperor? The guy does have some good points – not the fighting everyone in the galaxy at once thing, but about the stupid Sith infighting and stupid xenophobia holding the Empire back, and about the Sith Emperor being unworthy of loyalty.

One of the reasons is the devs can’t offer player decisions that would significantly diverge the overall world-state; creating a break between players who stayed loyal to their faction casting down Malgus and players who joined Malgus and propped up his empire would be hugely resource intensive, especially since the two-faction system is deeply baked into the game code. Another complicating factor is that, because The False Emperor is open to all classes, the logic of gains players making for their faction being promptly offset by the heroes on the other side can’t be used to justify a continuing stalemate the way it can be for Ilum, Makeb, and the class stories.

But those are Doylist explanations. What about potential Watsonian ones? Why would the player character, regardless of class, always turn down Malgus’ offer to join him? Why would a character who broadly agrees with Malgus’ position refuse him?

Maybe because there are hints that, even if they did join Malgus, they would be joining the losing side. Malgus’ new empire was doomed from its proclamation because Malgus just didn’t have the numbers.

With the exception of the imperial troops under his personal command, the two most prominent groups Malgus recruited – the Schism Collective, Talsa-Ko and her fellow voss – are from outside the Sith Empire. While Malgus is said to have “carefully cultivated the opinions of likeminded Sith leaders for years”, recruiting people like Darth Serevin, it’s not clear that Malgus’ primary aim was to bring them into his conspiracy rather than just promoting his more equal and diverse ideology for the Sith Empire. Notably missing from Malgus’ list of supporters are his apprentice Darth Karrid and his old ally Shae Vizla. As a falleen you would expect Karrid to be an obvious proponent of doing away with the Empire’s entrenched xenophobia, and the Mandalorian creed has never been one that looks down on a warrior merely because of their species.

Karrid’s absence is the one that is most suggestive because she is promoted to the Dark Council after Malgus’ defeat with no stain of his treason on her reputation. Given that knowing beforehand about Malgus’ plans but remaining silent would have also constituted a betrayal of the Sith Empire, it is likely that her Master left her ignorant of his plans. That would match with his behaviour towards an Imp-Side player; even though Malgus has been trusting you with missions for years, you still don’t warrant a personal invitation into the plot after delivering the crystals into his hands on Ilum.

It seems that, while Malgus worked hard to secure alliances outside the empire, he failed to properly canvas support for his plan inside the empire ahead of time. He assumed that the desire to see the Sith Empire reformed would translate into the willingness to abandon it. He assumed that discontented imperials would rally to his cause without his needing to make any effort to court, caucus with, or even inform them about his intentions.

This was not only arrogant but extremely stupid because Malgus needed the support of those dissatisfied imperials. Malgus’ first act after proclaiming himself emperor was to declare war on both the Galactic Republic and Sith Empire. Fighting a war on two fronts is something that leaders generally try to avoid for good reason. Because he refused to take the practical route of just picking one and engaging diplomatically with the other Malgus needed more troops, more ships, more supplies. Waging war on the galaxy is not a cheap exercise.

Malgus was depending on his support snowballing once he got going – winning some impressive early victories to raise his new empire’s profile to draw more followers in. Unfortunately for Malgus, not having as much initial support as he expected made snowballing more difficult, especially since attacking both the Republic and Empire meant that both sent their best and brightest to stop him.

Usually I would try to write about the player characters in more general terms, trying to account for the different classes and paths you can take through a story, but in this case it will be more coherent if I stick to mine. Malgus only asking the player character to join him after naming himself emperor means he decided to not preemptively approach:

The new Councillor of Ancient Knowledge, a twi’lek whose career Malgus actively helped further by assigning her plum missions. Darth Occlus has publicly supported Malgus’ position on removing the species-restrictions around military enrolment and imperial citizenship.

Lys’trel, who while younger than Malgus with a narrower support base is his equal in Force-skill and rank, finds herself genuinely offended that Malgus failed to so much as attempted to suborn her. As the only alien on the Dark Council she should have been an obvious potential ally. If he didn’t approach her, who else hasn’t he talked to? His apprentice Karrid apparently. Not a good sign. Malgus has already screwed up so throwing in with him will be very risky – but for how much reward? Lys’trel doesn’t care about war and conquest; violence is a means, not an end. Equality is something she wants, but she believes she can achieve it within the Sith Empire. For the Sith Empire to immediately implement its equality reforms after Malgus’ short-lived rebellion the policy changes must have already been in the works before it began; Occlus is an active participant in Darth Marr’s schemes to that end and had been trying to arrange an in-person meeting with Malgus to bring him in since with both Military Offence and Defence onboard they would have it in the bag. From Lys’trel’s perspective, Darth Serevin being invited in but not her and out of Malgus’ own apprentices Lord Cytharat not Darth Karrid – the lower ranked red sith but not the higher rank aliens – suggests that Malgus’ own subconscious biases are already undermining the equality he’s trying to create and the viability of his faction. It doesn’t help that in some important respects Malgus’ declaration just isn’t radical enough for her. Lys’trel wants to see slavery abolished and Malgus has said nothing about that.

Barrak Akkee of Clan Lok, Champion of the Great Hunt, is the most romantically famous of the aliens among the Sith Empire’s mercenary forces. Her underdog victory in the Great Hunt and adoption by Mandalore the Vindicated made her an honoured ally of the Sith – a feel-good story that improved the perception of fighting for the Empire among Imperial mirialians and mirialians among Imperials generally (which the Empire really needed because they are forcibly occupying Mirial). Then there was the whole being grievously slandered by the late Jedi Battlemaster only to clear her name by… besting the Battlemaster in single combat? forcing the late Chancellor Janarus to repent his lies at gunpoint? dramatically confronting Janarus with the evidence she had been framed before the Chancellor was assassinated by the late Darth Tormen? …the retellings vary but it was certainly very exciting.

As a Mandalorian, Barrak adheres to the Resol’nare and follows the Mandalore. Unless Mandalore abandons the alliance with the Sith Empire to make a new pact with Malgus, her loyalties will remain unchanged. As a bounty hunter, Barrak knows honour and glory won’t mend your gear or feed your family. Unless Malgus’ new empire can pay as well and reliably as the current one can, that’s going to be a problem; you can only pay your troops with loot if you win and keep winning which easier said than done, and it’s one thing to take people’s gold but another to take their grain. Anyway, it’s not like she or Mandalore got more of an “invitation” than Malgus’ widenet broadcast. What a snub.

While the Emperor chose another red sith of exalted lineage as his new Wrath after the previous one ran off with a Jedi, said new Wrath plainly doesn’t hold to the Emperor’s edicts on alien inferiority; he followed Malgus’ advice on tempting the kaleesh war-band on Ilum out of the Republic’s service into the Sith’s. Becoming the Wrath would give any Sith enough insight into the Emperor and his Hand’s behaviour to see the disregard he holds for his Empire. Vitiate’s Wrath publicly disowning him in favour of Malgus would send a powerful message to the Empire.

Tsojât accepted the mantle of the Wrath for personal reasons, not out of loyalty to the Emperor or to serve the Empire. But, having done that, he can’t turn away from the duty it implies. Having met the Hand it is clear that what people have been whispering since before the Treaty of Coruscant about the Emperor’s poor leadership is true – he doesn’t care about the people of the Empire, only his own powers and plans, whatever they may be. In the face of the Vitiate’s absence and apathy what should be the duties of the Emperor, the protection and guidance of the Sith Empire, instead fall to the Wrath as his emissary. Tsojât is honour bound not to betray the Empire and duty bound to attempt to fix it. Despite Malgus’ belief to the contrary, his breakaway is just another example of the destructive Sith infighting Malgus’ is railing against. This split in the Empire’s strength and attention right as the new war with the Republic begins leaves its worlds and its people in even more danger than they would be otherwise; it must be resolved as soon as possible.

(The infamous rattataki Cipher Agent is still officially listed as KIA and is not answering commcalls from the Dark Council at this time. Malgus couldn’t have gotten a hold of Cipher Nine if he’d tried, which he didn’t. Cipher took the Black Codex and ghosted the Imperial establishment with as much of the remains of ImpInt as vhe could safely disappear. To Yjimir, Malgus is just another self-absorbed and selfish Sith; another Dark Councillor unfit to lead the Sith Empire or any empire. His vision of a new empire is neither workable nor desirable.)

And they’ve all heard the story about Malgus and Elena Daru; Malgus taking a twi’lek slave as a lover, arming her to fight beside him, before murdering her because his love was a weakness. It doesn’t paint Malgus in a flattering light, even by the measures of the Sith. Murdering someone you love so they can’t be used against you is a tacit admittance that you aren’t strong enough to protect them. Turning on someone who has followed you loyally without provocation makes pledging service to you less attractive, for a leader who betrays his followers once may do so again.