My Consular would want to take her back to the Order to be rehabilitated or put on trial because Shadows are "Good not Nice." My Bounty Hunter would try and stay out of it. Sa'har is not her problem - Hetta is. And she's got enough mixed feelings about the Hidden Chain. I headcanon that she regrets how the whole Cadera thing on Taris panned out ("Torian, your dad went about it the wrong way, but he may not have had the wrong idea. There really isn't any honor in hooking ourselves to the Empire."), and knows that if circumstances were just a little different, she'd have been dragged down with the Revanites or signed up with the Chain. My Inquisitor? "I'll take any help I can, darling. Can say I'm highly ANNOYED by how the Jedi separated you and your brother? Not much different from Sith or slavers, I suppose. But, the Force gave you a chance to break a few chains, starting with this Hidden one. Now, what I'll ask in return if this all pans out is to do what you can to break the chains of others. Fry a few slavers, scare a tyrant or two. It's merely a suggestion, however. Once your chains are broken, you can do as you wish."

I solo play a lot, and my main is a Shadow Tank. Stealth to avoid the annoyances, durability to deal with the stuff that's a bit tougher than mere annoyances. Good spec to just run around and explore the game world, hunt datacrons, run dailies, do story missions, etc.

Yup. Same old me. Used this handle for almost 30 years now and see little to no reason to change it. And yeah, the Expanded U did a lot to help rehab Qui-Gon (it also did a lot of things to not rehab the guy, see Jedi apprentice). It also softened the whole Shmi and Cleigg situation to something far less gross. And that's what I think Legends/Expanded U does best, because Lucas world-builds like a champ, yet leaves all these uncomfortable bits behind that make his heroes much less heroic. (His villains are always completely vile, so no worry about undue sympathy there) When presented with this gap, you can either lean in to the messed up angle or you can try and step back and try to make it not as bad as it looks like with a good explanation.

The third and final strike was the slave army. As far as Lucas is concerned, he has this recurring thing that organic is superior to mechanical. See the whole deal with the Empire - all shiny and chrome. And Vader, more machine than man. (On a related note, while it was needed for Vader to survive Mustafar with horrible burns, the way it was handled was also a "Huh?!" as far as the Jedi compassion front. I could get it if Obi-Wan could not reach him or if it was a reasonable assumption that dude was dead, but leaving him there to burn without putting out the flames or a mercy kill? Huh?) So of course, Lucas Logic is that the clone soldiers are organic beings, which makes them okay for Jedi, but "not of woman born," which makes it not an issue about the WHY they were born (or maybe some weird ideal state...see his sexism problems above). Human enough for the organic Jedi to work with, as compared to the technological droid army, but not human enough for the slavery issue to occur to him. And because of the slavery issue, Disney has to pile on increasingly convoluted bits like the control chips and go out of their way to show happy clone slaves...er, soldiers...serving their wonderful, benevolent overseers....er, Jedi. And it's all the fault of those meenie Republic citizens who forced the poor widdle Jedi into taking care of their wonderful clones... Uh. Yeah. Keep digging Lucas. Add this to Shimi's handling and I'd wonder if you also unironically sided with the South in a civil war film. Add this to the child soldier angle (the only time we see a youngling class in the PT, they are not studying meditation, or languages, or playing. They are training how to use a weapon that maims at best. They are training how to kill, and Lucas frames it as all cute and adorable), and I was pretty much ready to storm out and never even touch anything with the Star Wars label again. Sadly, this colored my view of the OT. no longer did I see Obi-Wan as a benevolent teacher or Yoda as a wise and kindly old man. Instead, I saw a pair of people who failed to turn Luke's dad into their fabled anti-Sith weapon, so they had to lie and manipulate the hell out of Luke to be that weapon instead. they didn't tell Luke not to go to Bespin out of concern for his safety, they just worried about the truth coming out. They weren't telling Luke "Hey, Han and Leia are soldiers and they know the risks. Don't make their sacrifice in vain," it was "If we toss Han under the bus, it's okay. He's nothing. Leia, more regrettable, but still okay. But if Luke doesn't have those messy friendships to distract him, he'll be more motivated to go and kill Sith and be completely loyal to us because he has nothing else. And hopefully, he never figures out we're setting him up on a wetworks op on his dad." KOTOR was what convinced me to give Star Wars another chance after being so disgusted with Lucas having the nerve to ask me to cheer on a faction of child soldiers and slaves. That and Karen Traviss, take it as you will. Instead of trying to mitigate or apologize or hide the sheer "Wow, this is f---ed up!", they totally lean in and go in as hard as they can on the f---ed up. Whether it's the Clones understanding they're slaves and having an uneasy relationship with the Jedi while embracing the "third option" style Mandalorian. Or sympathetic Sith like Yuthura Ban, who does more to explain the Sith in six minutes than Lucas did in six movies. Or the sheer "how many levels of f---ed up can we put on one ship" that was KOTOR 2, or how no one really knew or cared about the difference between Jedi and Sith. Or how Kreia laid out a devastating case arguing the Force was anything but benevolent. Or SWTOR where we have Malgus "marrying" his sex slave, then killing her in her sickbed because some other sith pointed out she's a potential weakness. Or a Jedi purposefully inflating the crimes against the Bounty Hunter (who really is a nasty sort, but not quite THAT bad), or Nomen Karr hiding how screwed up he's become out of revenge, etc. I mean, the Empire is a fascist, gas station toilet run by idiots and madmen, whose emperor is an omnicidal nutjob. Clearly the bad guys. The Jedi and the Republic are far better by comparison, but only by comparison.

Okay, wall o text Number Two. After the Jedi managed to make exactly the wrong impression in TPM? Well, maybe it was just a bad day on everyone's part and we just started on the wrong foot. Surely this new film will show us just how wonderful these guys are... Well, once again, they're pretty much the Senate's not so secret police and enforcers. Um...okay, Kenobi just sliced someone's arm off again and it's not some dive bar in a lawless dump like Mos Eisley, but a dance club in the middle of the capital city. Shouldn't there be some actual oversight here? And the whole "Jedi business, go back to your drinks..." Uh...this kind of "maiming a suspect in public" is not only acceptable, but apparently standard procedure? This is a universe where reliable stun weapons exist, so why are those not used? So less than thirty minutes in and we already see some pretty interesting (if gross) use of permanent injury brute force on an uncharged suspect. And after a decade in the care of Jedi (who Lucas has called "intergalactic therapists") Anakin has grown from a sweet, reasonably well-adjusted little boy to...an emotionally needy, mentally unstable hot mess who thinks violence is the answer to everything. Isn't the point not to make the patient worse? Well, I guess if you want to shape a child into a living weapon, this is what you'll get. (Well, that and Darth Zannah, but she's a different story) Okay, Anakin and Padme are a complete disaster in the making. They were put in the spotlight way too young by adults who didn't give a damn about them as people, only about what those gifted kids could do for THEM. It clearly shows, and they're going to be like two ex-child stars who run off to Vegas after a weekend. Okay, confirmation the Jedi did absolutely nothing for Shmi. Explains the Lars connection, though. And here's where I have another big problem. Lucas points to the funeral as an example of healthy love versus unhealthy; Lars stating "thank you" at Shmi's grave (meaning that he "let go" of her in a healthy way) where Anakin goes "I miss you" (which centers it on him and his own feelings and is an unhealthy clinging). Here's the ugly part; Lars BOUGHT Shmi like a household appliance and then apparently discovered a bed warming function. Okay, he "freed her," so what? Where could she really go if she wanted to leave him aside from back to a slave pit? The "healthy" relationship Lucas argues, is the one where the woman is purchased like a tool by the male and has no autonomy or choice. Meanwhile, the woman who has the wealth and social class to freely choose her mate is the one who is the "unhealthy" relationship. See the issue here? And then we get into the hoary old sexist tropes of women being a threat to male sanity and a dangerous temptation away from the proper male role of being warriors. She has more social and political power than him, and that can't fly. So, she falls under the category of being an unwitting destroyer of the Heroic Age, like Guinevere of Arthurian Mythos, Helen of Troy, Pandora, or Eve. If she was a "good woman" minding her place, then she wouldn't hook up with Anakin, and he would be Ultimate Sith Slayer because he wouldn't be distracted by the love of a woman. Now add that the only female Jedi with a speaking part in the PT was Jocasta Nu, who fit safely into "harmless old crone" because she provided nothing of use. Yeah, Lucas has some issues here. And it's a bit like the Buddhist monks of Edo Japan who saw women as ritually impure and unclean, something that was an annoying distraction to good, holy men. (Misogyny - not just for Abrahamic religions!)

Totally agreeing here. And I think it has to do with some Death Star sized blind spots on Lucas's part. And this rant will be long, so it needs to go into several walls of text. I'm old enough to have seen ROTJ in a theater and got a crash course in the Legends during college because my sister's roomies were just big old nerds (so was I but didn't know there WAS an Expanded U until then). But given our West End tabletop session was Rebellion era, I knew very little about Jedi. We just had Lucas's word to go on; these supposedly wonderful people who were all about peace and solving conflicts without violence, but lit their sabers as a last resort to protect the innocent. And then TPM came out. Now, I go and see it with my niece (really, my pal's kid). My pal is a disabled, widowed veteran. Neoliberal policies being what they are, her benefits kept getting shorted and I was working extra shifts to make sure the kid ate. Said kid is, at the time, nine years old. Same age as Anakin. Single mom and impoverished, same as Anakin. Now, Lucas is operating off the fairy tale motif of the young hero having to leave the comforts of mother and home and be a brave little boy to meet his destiny. I was in the theater watching this jackass from a very powerful organization lie, manipulate, and do end runs over every damn ethical guideline in the book to get what HE wanted - The All Powerful, Almighty Order's potential Ultimate Sith Killer just showed up! He wasn't there to free slaves, but he sure could crash on a slave's sofa, raid her fridge, take advantage of her hospitality, conduct a blood test on her kid with no consent...and when the blood test turned out to show the kid was what HE wanted? Well, to hell with the best interest of the kid and to hell with this impoverished, desperate woman in need of the help only a so-called Guardian of Peace and Justice could provide who is still helping him out of the goodness of her heart. He's going to lie, cheat, manipulate, forcibly separate the two, leave Shmi to rot with a bomb in her head, and drag this child off to be shaped into a living weapon for his powerful, Almighty Organization! Would my pal give up her kid if it gave her a roof over her head, regular meals, an education, and a way out of desperate poverty, even if it hurts her? Sure. Would I want to take a baseball bat and tell anyone who is making this kind of devil's bargain to get off the lawn and perform some unprintable acts with said bat? Yup. Okay, so maybe this Qui-Gon guy is just a stupid cowboy with entitlement issues who doesn't see the problem of exploiting a slave to get what he wants. Let's see what happens when we get the kid in front of the people in charge. Surely they know how to handle a scared, Force Sensitive nine year old. Aaaaand they way they handle a scared Force Sensitive nine year old is to haul him in a room full of creepy old men, lock the door, leave him to be interrogated by these creepy old men for hours, then freak out and scold the poor kid for being homesick, scared, and missing the mother that was left in slavery in the hands of a dirtbag and these "wise and compassionate defenders of peace and justice" have NO #@#@$ intention of HELPING HER OUT OF THAT! They'll bend over backwards for the rich and powerful, like Padme, Vallorum, Palpatine...but the only powerless, helpless civilian in the entire kriffing trilogy, and they won't do bantha crap, aside from take her little boy away so he can be turned into a living weapon and pointed at their enemies. Oh, but he's too old? Really? Nine years old is too old for you clowns to shape him into a proper living weapon?! How young do you need your recruits to be...oh. You need BABIES. And you need them to never see or know their parents/caretakers. Order is mother, Order is Father, Order is your friends, trust the Jedi Order, I guess. (Yuck. Child soldiers should be the first indication your asses are not the good guys here) Okay. So we're supposed to agree with Yoda because this is future Vader. and these wise and compassionate Jedi are going to make an exception and take this obviously unsuited boy under their wing, and he is ungrateful and hurts them because no good deed goes unpunished. Instead, I wanted to punt Yoda through the Lambeau uprights, punch Qui-Gon, and drag that kid back to his mom after getting enough cash to free her and get them both to safety.

Let's just cut right to the chase and go Vitiate/Valkorian/whatever the kriff he's calling himself this week. I've snarked about this on Reddit and other spots. If Rey is a Sue, she's a three inch pocket knife of Sue. Vitiate is the freaking "I'm totally compensating" Buster Sword of Sue. Grossly overpowered compared to everything else in the setting (conquered a continent and imprisoned Daddy in a holocron at AGE 10?! Bantha $@!$%!), has some Artifact of Intelligence Drain on everyone else in the setting (what was done to Revan and Exile was CRIMINAL - you mean to tell me the alleged tactical geniuses behind the defeat of the Mando'ade were so STUPID they walked into an obvious trap with NO contingency plans or attempt to WARN the Republic, thus ensuring the Pubs got caught with their pants down?! Not to mention why hasn't any Darths wondered what the nine hells he's up to. And then there's Senya, who REALLY got hammered with the effect...), rubbishly boring motivation, bloviating speeches (though DePaul did a great job almost making them sound good), and basically twirling his mustache manipulating people that should be smarter and being annoying as hell. Worse, since that overpowered Stu has pulled a "Fooled you! I ain't dead!" twice already, I really don't think he's going to STAY dead as long as they need some go-to baddie off the shelf.

Justifications for Sabotuer as far as I can see it: Inquisitor: "Yes, dearie. I know the Empire took me off the auction block and I rose in the ranks to sit on the Dark Council. But do you REALLY expect me to forget the Empire put that chain on my neck in the first place? Through Victory, my Chains are broken. And I have NO interest in being chained to the Empire again." Bounty Hunter: "Torian, your dad may have been going about it the wrong way, but I think he was right. The Empire's treated us as their pet dogs and the Children of Mandalore have never benefited from the arrangement. Time to alter the deal." Warrior: "I have my own Empire now. Why should I bother propping up yours?" Agent: "You're hopelessly corrupt and inept. You treated the Intelligence Services as glorified janitors and left us to hang when we needed the Empire and the Empire needed us. Time to pay back the favor." --------------------- Trooper: "All that loyalty I showed to the Republic and for what? So you can get Suresh in there and have her try and kill me? So you can throw Havoc under the transport? Disgrace Jorgan and Dorne? The Imps at least TRIED to help while you sat on your shebs." Smuggler: "Look, I'm not loyal to governments; just my people. Now that I know how fickle your goodwill really is? I'll go with the people who tried to help mine." Consular: "The Empire realized we had a common goal and a common enemy and made overtures of truce and an alliance. The Republic repaid our loyalty by trying to assassinate me. They also let my friend (or husband) rot in a mad scientist's torture chamber for years. As much as I regret it, I won't betray my allies for those who betrayed me." Knight: "A Republic who abandons its people to Vitiate's rule and cruelty is not a Republic worth defending. And all my overtures of friendship and please for help went unanswered. Was my fight against him all for nothing?"

The Empire can only do one thing well, and that's wage war. Every resource their have is blown on the war machine. Every aspect of their training is meant to weed out all but the most dangerous warriors. That, and they had the Mando'ade in their back pockets for centuries (Sorry, Torian. Your dad was completely RIGHT). They also have a brutal cross of theocracy and military dictatorship that ensures that every resource is thrown at war, and an economic base made of slave labor that frees up the humans and Sith species from having to perform grunt work. The Republic is very good at a lot of different things, but war really ins't their long suit. Much has been made of Republic sluggishness and corruption compared to Imperial "efficiency" (in reality, the Imps make decisions quicker, but it's often a stupid decision that leads to short term gains and long term headache). Their military and Force users are not offense-based. It takes the Republic longer to react to a threat, and they aren't usually the ones who strike first. That, and that $#@$%#@$#% IDIOT Revan charging in without so much as WARNING the Republic that the Empire still existed, meaning that the Pubs got caught with their pants down while the Imps had 300 years to prepare. The Republic is just STARTING to seriously fight back come Act 3 of the vanilla story while the Imps have been doing damage since 20 years before the opening scenes. The average Imp versus the average Pub? Yeah, the Imperial will likely come out ahead because all those lunatics know how to do is fight. Imps are glass cannon DPS, Pubs are stone wall tanks. A DPS can take down a tank if they overwhelm that tank, but if the tank can stay up, they'll wear down the DPS. Strategy-wise, the Republic knows the Imps do more damage to themselves than they do to the Republic, so the Republic isn't necessarily fighting to win, it's fighting to stay alive long enough for the inevitable self-destruct. This probably explains why they were so frustratingly passive during the KOTFE and KOTET arcs; they recognized Zakuul was operating with the same playbook as the Imperials and figured the best option was to hunker down, make some popcorn, and wait for the self-destruct.

Most of these are for KOTFE/KOTET 1. Have the option to exile Arcann, imprison him, or turn him over to one of the factions for a trial. I spared him mostly because it wasn't worth killing his mama, but the kid still needs to own his crimes. 2. Tell Acina and Malcolm that they're both idiots and to argue for a cease fire while we figure out who is setting all three of us up for an obvious trap and make them painfully sorry they tried. Now, the rest can play out with one of them going for that throne and you have to make a snap call on which one you prevent from sitting in the literal hot seat (which acts like a faction choice), but it would be nice to be the adult in the room with both factions insisting on fighting out their grudges when they're both too bloodied to stand. 3. Point out to Lana the painfully obvious; Tharon's background and training are SiS. SiS are a bunch of lunatics prone to going off the reservation and pulling one man infiltration ops that are just as brave as they are destructive. 4. Restore those class companion quests that were planned, but never really panned out. 5. Something silly or a breather like the Citadel DLC from ME3.

Skadge: Dude, you're not just an ugly creep, you're an ugly, brutish and rather stupid creep. Given my LS BH's druthers, she would have stripped him down to his underwear and a holdout pistol, then dumped him in some remote sector of Belsalvis. Xalek: Get lost. I already have an apprentice. I don't need to recruit anyone crazier than I am, since i'm insane enough for a whole asylum AND have a bunch of ghosts following me. Broonark: Again, bloodthirsty and crazy is not a combination I like hanging about my ship. I do the bloodthirsty and crazy around here. DS!Jaesa: Oh, nope. Nope. Nope! That's what you call "succeeding a little too well." I was hoping for a proper apprentice, not this bunny boiling whackjob. Doc: You are trying to be charming and fail at every step. Maybe you should be selling used speeders instead of practicing medicine. When you make Cedrax look like a class act, you failed "charming." I think a LOT of F!Knights were glad for the expansions because he stinks as far as romance option.

I've heard that Quinn could be killed off early on once you found out he was two-timing you with Baras. Only reason they cut that part was because he was the healer companion and a Warrior kinda needed one of those, as none of their classes can be speced for that. I also heard that Quinn was supposed to be a romantic option for either gender of SW. I also heard the Balmorra Star Fortress recruit was supposed to be Zenith, and I wonder why that didn't pan out as they have Baker on speed dial already. It would make sense that Mr. "Head Tails, Sniper Rifle, and Attitude Problem" would be just as cheesed off at Zakuul camping out on Balmorra as Imperials invading. Balmorra is a polluted, bug-infested dumpster fire of a planet, but it's HIS polluted, bug-infested dumpster fire.

Under the "Murphy's Law of FP" 1. It queued me as a DPS when I was in tank gear and tank spec. Maybe I didn't have it clicked off, or maybe it's a bug (I've had both). 2. This was a good thing, as this was Master Mode Red Reaper (a first rate pain in the shebs, even on Veteran). The tank was not only underleveled (55) and undergeared (Level 50 gear), but had never run the FP before! 3. The FP was in progress, and they got to the bridge and the big bot. We managed to skate by that and up to the pyramids. Tank gets a little too close to one of the mooks I didn't stun. OOPS! And gets knocked back into second mob. OOPS!! 4. Okay. We manage to limp through that mess. Tank gets knocked off the light bridge near the door leading to the end boss. We square away the last two mooks and get into Darth Iokal's big chambers. 5. We get clobbered. Seriously. Clobbered. Healer, Tank, and I know the mechanics, but the other DPS completely ignores the "GET BEHIND THE ADD!" shouts we keep shouting at them. Iokal enrages and wipes us. 6. We try...three more times. Eventually, idiot DPS rage quits. No big loss, as they weren't following directions. 7. Tank is still undergeared. We wipe again. 8. Tank is too tired, admits defeat, and quits. It's down to healer and me. 9. Figuring we haven't got anything to lose, we pop some L50 Comps for DPS. For added irony, I broke out Theron and he breaks out Lana. 10. WE BEAT THE BOSS. Just a tank mislabled as DPS, a really good healer, two L50 comps, and knowing how to work companion mechanics so Lana and Theron didn't stand in the stupid and could get behind the chosen when targeted (set to passive, get behind mook, have them follow) 11. I friended the healer and he did the same. Figured anyone who could adequately two man that fight was totally worth running more fights with.

I've had the queue pop a few times. It's RARE, but it happens. Most of the time, it's some folks on fleet going "Need 1 TANK, 2 DPS for GF Op" My style is more or less "tank for hire." I am in a guild, and sometimes raid with them. But most of the time? Yeah, I'm watching Endgame chat or queued up while I dink around doing dailies, WZ, FP...whatever strikes my fancy. Somehow, I blundered my way into being...not the best tank on the server, but one that gets calls from several guilds if their usual tank is MiA, or they have a newbie that they need to teach. I'm actually pretty stoked if that GF for OPS pops up, since it just means that I have a chance to play with folks I may not have run across before. Blowing through an op with experienced players is nice, but sometimes a group that has a good sense of humor despite losing more in repairs than the op pays out is more fun.

I'm guessing Nadia got hamstrung by both the Order and the politicians. She's a newbie Senator and a masterless Padawan, and the poor kid is smart...but very naive. It would be all too easy for some of the master manipulators in the Council and Senate to trip her up by telling her that since the Consular is lost (if not dead, then somehow lost to the Dark Side or some BS), and that she has to toe the line for the greater good. Zenith? Politics isn't his bag, and as others pointed out, the Alliance contains Imperials. Plus Balmorra was hit hard by both the Republic (screwed over again!) and Zakuul. He's probably back in his swamp, sniping anyone who isn't Balmorran at this point. I am and am not surprised he hasn't returned, seeing as Mr. Baker is pulling a major role as Tharon Shan. Zenith was supposed to return, it looks like, but something didn't pan out. Cedrax has always been a wild card. I would not be too surprised if the remnants of the Star Cabal or some criminal syndicate didn't recruit him.

I kinda guessed at what Mr. Shan was pulling from the start. I saw that bit on the train and figured that the idiot was running his own undercover op. What he did actually worked. I'm not entirely convinced he hasn't got some Force talent from his mom, because, to paraphrase Kreia, the Force has a soft spot for complete fools...and boy, can Mr. Shan be a spectacular one. Wanted in-game a chance to tear him a new one, starting with "what in the bantha-loving nine HELLS were you thinking?!" and ending with "Go off the reservation like this again, and you're going to get us all killed!" Maybe a "talk to fist" in there, too. Kill him? No. My main's the Jedi, and she's not the type. (side note: Would not want to explain killing him to Jace or Satele) Besides, what he did was for the best of intentions, and it worked. It worked by sheer, stupid "the Force loves a fool" luck, but it worked. Cast him out? No, because I'M not an idiot. Mr. Shan is WAY too much of a wild card. We have a very talented, dedicated, and skilled espionage agent who can pull one over even on Force wielders trained to sniff out deception. Cast him out, and there's a lot of parties who would be interested in his skillset.

Vaylin...no. She's like a rabid dog. Not really her fault she turned out like she did, but she can't be saved, and the only thing you can do with her is give her a quick death. Senya or Lana. Senya or Lana...Now, it's actually getting tough. Because I see them as what my main Consular would have become if the Consular had been born in the Empire or Zakuul. Lana wins on longevity, but I'm very fond of Senya. Given the choice, my Consular would have happily handed the crown over to her (since she's technically Empress Mother and the only one in that kriffed up family that resembled a Responsible Adult), and worked on using the Alliance and Odessen to try and get the Empire and Republic to take their competition to less-lethal arenas. (Peace is a lie, but not all conflicts need to be solved with a saber)

The lore itself is a good argument for taking a third option. This whole Empire versus Republic war was just that $#@$#% Villain Sue tricking us all into slaughtering one another so he could either become a god in a galaxy for one, or have his pet project of Zakuul come sweeping in and take over the galaxy while our home factions are too weak from fighting one another to put up a defense. The Empire is a garbage pile with Third World infrastructure and an untenable economy built on war and slave labor because he was embezzling from it, and the Imps were too busy drooling over the prospect of plundering the Republic to notice or care. Hell, go back further and he conned Mandalore the Indomitable into being his attack dog and used Revan as a chew toy/gunsel/patsy. Enough's enough. Best way to flip him the bird is to sit down and refuse to get suckered into his garbage. Go back to Imp versus Pub and he's having his last laugh at the galaxy's expense from beyond even the grave. The Alliance? We get the best from both sides. Spies (Shan, Lokin, Beniko), soldiers (most of Havoc Squad, Aygo, and Mandalore the Avenger with her troops), Force Users (under the command of a Voss, who is the definition of "Third option"), and even shady sorts like Okarr and Viz. Everything from level 50 until now (Dread Masters, Revanites, Zakuul) has shown that there's bigger and scarier things in the galaxy to fight than one another, and that we can only fight those big and scary things if we stop using the blasters and sabers on one another and team up to take down the bigger problem instead of playing into their hands and wasting our resources and lives fighting one another. Comes down to it, I'm choosing Pub, even on my Sin and BH, because I despised the Empire even more when playing it than I did fighting it on my main, the Consular. But I'm sorrily disappointed that we can't show them both through example, that they can do better than this.

There were a few good arguments to spare him, and my toons did...reluctantly. From a pragmatic point of view, he was the one who had the most current/accurate intelligence and possibly an angle to play on his crazy sister and you can't interrogate a corpse. I felt I owed Senya a favor. She had been a lot of help, and deserved a lot better than the crap her...(insert every swear word Basic and Mando'a can come up with) ex-husband put her and the kids through. I knew I'd have to kill her to get the kid, and killing Senya would be like kicking a dog. One specific to my Consular. What made Arcann much different than the other "Emperor's Children" I had to deal with? And the Voss method was not so different than the shield technique in theory. If I saved (or tried to save) the other "children," might as well try and save him too. Another one for my Consular. If Nadia somehow fell to the Dark Side, or if Felix got overwhelmed by the time bomb in his head and either of them went on a rampage? My Consular would be right in Senya's shoes, trying to save them despite what they did. Hell, it probably would involve dragging them to the Temple of Healing and calling in whatever favors I had from Gaden-Ko to do it. (Yes, I know that happens to neither, but that's player knowledge, not character knowledge) Specific to my Bounty Hunter. She's Mando, and higher on the karma meter than my Consular. There is no honor in killing an opponent too wounded to fight back, and no honor in killing a mother trying to save her children, especially when the mother has pledged a vow of loyalty to my banner. Valkorian forfeited the honor of being a husband and father, so Arcann is his mother's property. His fate is her call, not mine. If they were facing me with sabers lit, or if Senya wanted me to mercy kill Arcann, that would be a different story. Valky was yammering on about killing his own kid while Senya was begging to save him. And anything that the (insert swear word of choice) advises...do the opposite. Too bad there was no option to tell him he could shove a saber up his ghostly bum and ignite it. (This is primarily why my Inquisitor decided to spare the punk...that, and he was touched by Senya's dedication. Having no more family himself due to Imperial slave raids, the idea of a mother being so willing to fight for her kids, even if she lost those battles, hits home). Recruiting him, though? No. I did not want to do that on any of my toons. Put him in Alliance custody with possibly a Force nullifier of some kind, yes. Tell him outright "You're only breathing because I like your mom. Be VERY nice to her or else!" , and tell Senya that he's entirely her responsibility, definitely.

On a meta level, I can see why the Republic and the Jedi Order would turn their backs on the Consular, particularly if she and Felix were in a romance. The Consular's role is pretty much Kingmaker. They don't do as much flashy stuff as the Knight, or even the Trooper, but they pulled a LOT of strings behind the scenes. With them vanishing, a lot of those strings became loose ends, ones the Jedi and the Suresh administration would like tied off. First of all, the Rift Alliance were necessary during the 1-50 arc, but once the Imps were on the ropes, Suresh's administration felt little to no reason to keep them around. Judging from Ty Corden's cameo, the Rift Alliance was chucked under the bus as soon as they were no longer needed. Maybe Suresh made up some scandal...or someone found that dirt on the Selkath representative, and kicked them out on that basis. Nadia would protest, but wouldn't be able to be of much help as she was a young and naive Senator with a lot of enemies. As far as the Jedi? Well, the Consular holding that much political clout would have been troublesome for the Order's pretense that they aren't politically affiliated. Nadia would be a double-edged saber; she was taken in much older than most Padawans, and is more personally loyal to the Consular than the Order. Add her position as a Senator in the Rift alliance, and she's an even bigger liability. I would not be surprised if Suresh AND Satele tried to control her, and neither got much headway in doing anything but making her see the walls were closing in - so she goes into Wild Space to find her master. The Republic Army was never sure what to do with Felix well before the Consular came into the picture. They couldn't do a thing for the time bomb in his head, and he played fast and loose with the regs, but he was a good soldier and they were on the ropes at that point. so, they keep sending him to these outposts on the galaxy's rear end. I had a guess that he was set up to fail on Hoth, judging from what passed for his squad. Maybe the hope was that he would get killed or that he would get captured again and they could still wash their hands of him because he was a liability. But he succeeds...and the Rift Alliance demands he be their Republic liaison officer. The brass can't object at that point because they needed the Rift alliance, and Felix was a good fit for it - on paper, he was exemplary, and in practice he was just as expendable as the Alliance. As for the relationship with the Consular? Oh...boy. Technically, they were following all the regs; the consular is a Master, great service record, no real reason to question their judgement. They never lied to the council. Felix dutifully sat through the council sub-committee interrogating him over it, etc. But you can BET that the Council was less than thrilled. Amp it up even further with Grandmaster Satele! Think about it; Satele had that fling with Jace (that resulted in Tharon), but broke it off and views the whole thing (and Tharon!) as something shameful that she wanted to put behind her. And here's the Consular...showing up with a cute Republic soldier, announcing her intent to make it all official, not showing any shame about it. That had to grind Satele's gears a little bit, and likely brought up a lot of uncomfortable memories. Well, they couldn't just force a breakup by reassigning Felix - the Alliance demanded him there. And he and the Consular were following the letter of the law, so they couldn't nail them for breaking regulations. (And if Nadia backed them, it would cause trouble for her as well). But, damned if it wouldn't be a relief for both the Jedi Order and the Republic government for Consular and Felix to disappear.

I totally HC that the rescue op that bailed Felix out and got him to Odessen was the result of Jorgan and Rusk. Cathar temper is a marvelous thing to behold (heck, Juhani's was barely kept in check with the Jedi code, and while Jorgan is a little laid back for a Cathar, I figure this might be a good enough reason to say "screw it" to restraint), and Rusk's concern for collateral damage went out an airlock well before getting put on Hoth. Bonus points if they took Qyzen and a contingent of Warstalkers for that ride-along. ("Holy crap! Look at all those guards. We can get a MASSIVE pile of points!") And because I couldn't decide which toon for my Outlander, I had a triumvate (Consular nominally in charge, backed up by my Hunter and Inquisitor; Inquisitor knows he's too nuts to actually handle leadership, and Hunter doesn't want the job). My Inquisitor hears of it, and says "Well, Alylia {Consular} is on a top secret mission hunting that traitor and can't afford a distraction. I owe her a favor, and I would really like to bloody my lightsaber. Sure, let's bail him out." By the time they're done, that lab/prison is little more than a smoking crater with anything of value aside from Felix looted and brought back to Odessen. So, here's Felix, who is out of it due to all the hell he's been through, barely conscious, pretty close to dying, going nuts or both. And he hears this commotion outside his cell. Yeah, this is it, he thinks. He finally went insane, because there's no freaking way that could be Jorgan AND Rusk outside. And are those Trandoshan curses? Then the door caves in, and there's this outrageously-dressed dude with a double lightsaber and an Imperial accent cutting him loose. Yeah, he's definitely gone nuts or hallucinating this because there is no way his war buddies would have a Sith for backup. "No dying on me, man! Alylia will be very cross with me if you do." Okay, THAT gets his attention, hallucination or not. And the Force healing is also really not expected from the Sith, but he's at least on his feet, and someone passes him a blaster. They all get out and onto the ship. Jorgan volunteers to bring him up to speed on current events as he's (comedically enough) the one who has the greatest degree of tact.

Tharan? Yeah, I could actually see a full-blown romance arc for wither M or F Consular if there was some way to work out an arrangement with Holiday. He and Holiday have an arrangement that exists before the Consular shows up, and poly is a thing. Frankly, if it were an option, things could have turned out very differently for my Consular. M!Inquisitor? M!Inquisitor and Talos could be a great deal of fun, almost as sweet as the Ashara arc. As a Dark Sider, he would be fascinated by you being all a Sith ought to be. As an LSer, he would be equally intrigued by you being a heretic. Neutral, he would have fun trying to figure you out, and he's absent minded enough to be oblivious to the danger involved (or think it would be an appropriate way for someone that fascinated with Sith history to meet his end). Wasn't there some dummied out bits with Quinn being just as fixated on M!Warrior as an F!Warrior? Because I can totally see that. My brother in law, when playing his Warrior, came to the conclusion that Quinn was bisexual, masochistic (to the point of Kushiel's Dart), and in love with both Baras and the Warrior. Bounty Hunter? Well, Mandos don't give a rip about sexual orientation (your partner is of the same gender or a different species? Well, the galaxy has no shortage of orphans and parents who forfeit the honor - go out and ADOPT some kids!), so M!Hunter and Torian could work. Mako and a F!Hunter could work very well, too.

So far, I only got my Consular to Outlander status (which suits her very well): Qyzen: Okay, I dug the fact that he took over Kephess's crew. I also dug the idea that he wants you to hunt World Bosses and other big nasties to prove your worth. But what I would have really liked to add? The Scorekeeper religion states that a hunter's Score is forfeit if captured alive, and that amends must be made, which was a big part of Qyzen's arc. I would have made it come full circle by having the consular have the option of telling Qyzen "I was captured alive, and failed in my duties as Herald. I must make amends to the Scorekeeper." And maybe some additional dialogue for one of the new party members, like Lana, to be a bit boggled ("You don't actually BELIEVE in that alien religion, do you?") Okay, maybe a bit headcanon-ish, as my Consular kinda came around to Qyzen's ideas. If the Scorekeeper is the aspect of The Force that Qyzen honors, and that aspect chooses the Consular, who is Consular to argue? Tharan and Holiday: I am so waiting for these two, as Tharan was such a great foil to my Consular. And the end of Tharan's arc had an interesting possibility. Holiday, with full sentience, is no longer as slavishly devoted. It might be interesting if the two had a falling out. I figure that Tharan, being nowhere near as jaded and shallow as he likes to pretend he is, decides to do something brilliant, crazy, and borderline unethical to hit back against Valkorian's forces. I could see him cooking up a Force-nullifying device of some kind, given that he's observed enough of the Consular and Master Syo to give him a few ideas. Maybe Holiday got annoyed with how much he was working and left, becoming a virtual ghost on the Holonet. And, depending on how the Outlander plays their cards, they can get Tharan (and his great toy to use, which would count as a permanent buff), Holiday (and all the information she can access, which might give a bonus to Companion influence), or both of them. Zenith: Seeing as Balmorra got screwed over AGAIN, judging by Ty Corden's appearance, he's probably back on his bug-infested dump of a planet, sniping Zakuul and Imperials. I can see an Imperial Outlander as either not being able to get him at all, or having a very difficult time of it, given how much Mr. Attitude and a Sniper Rifle hates their guts. Felix: The single cutscene rescue was sweet, but a bit lackluster. Some mad scientist (the one who turned Vaylin into a rabid mutt) experimenting on him due to the time bomb in his head? Great idea, but that should have been a full blown smash and grab of that laboratory. I do like having the LS/DS choice to spare him or take the data and kill the man. I can also see a couple options - if Jorgan's alive, have him being the party member along for the ride and taking a massive blow to any affection points if you take the DS option, and a major boost for the LS one. If Jorgan isn't alive, then maybe a companion that approves of the DS option and loses affection for the LS. Nadia: Was a little disappointed that she wasn't in a team-up with Ashara, as they would probably have a lot in common. Before Ashara returned, my guess is that the two would be renegade Force users (Nadia would probably have issues with the Jedi for writing off the Consular, wouldn't be happy with Suresh steamrolling the Rift Alliance, and would also be upset if she knew the Republic wrote off Felix) searching for their masters, wandering the galaxy and doing what they felt was right while trying to find a third option.

Just put one in the weekly challenge. Mostly due to the fact I couldn't decide how to react to Zash's little stunt, and concluded the situation was just too absurd to take all that seriously.

Not only noticed it, but also put it on TV Tropes, because it IS a Dark Reprise of Revan's team. And I'm sure it was a very deliberate choice. Because think about that first game. Heck, think about the second game. Or this as a third game. Yes, the player character is awesome, but they need that squad. They need the Companions. Bastila saved their life with the Force Bond. Trask sacrificed himself so Revan could get to the escape pods. Carth got Revan off the Endar Spire and nursed them back to health on Taris. Mission got the party into the Vulkar base. T3-M4 got them into the Sith Base. Canderous got the party off the planet. Zaalbar was invaluable on Kashyyyk. Jolee got them to the Star Map. Juhani was there at the temple top, paying back the old favor. And canon!Revan's critical error? Running off in the middle of the night like an idiot , not telling his friends, not trusting the people who saved his butt time and again, thinking he was the one and only big hotshot who could go it alone. And look where it led. And Outlander? Big nasty threat from the same guy on the horizon, and Outlander does NOT make the same mistakes. Outlander is going to respect their allies enough to let them help. Which is why The Outlander appears to succeed where Revan and Exile failed.