Story themes and parallels (spoilers within)

[Xilizhra]

I was thinking about the various class stories, and why they are the way they are, lately, and I think that I came up with the themes that drive each one... and the way that six of them are parallels.

 

I've heard a lot of people complaining about the Sith Inquisitor's story and how it's not sufficiently Palpatineish. I was wondering why that might be, and then I realized that the Sith Inquisitor's story is not, fundamentally, about the Empire or the Sith as a political organization; rather, it's a story about the Sith Code and how the Forcewalker follows it. It's a story about personal power, but more than that, it's a story about freedom, about how the Forcewalker seeks the victory that will break her chains. And "The Force shall free me" comes into play as a very neat set of bookends to the story; the Force frees the Forcewalker at the very beginning, from slavery, and then does so again at the very end, from the chains of Thanaton's persecution.

 

The Jedi Consular's story parallels this as being about the Jedi Code and its applications first and foremost. Peace and serenity are obvious, with the Consular being the calmest of the various classes; however, the Barsen'thor's quest revolves heavily around knowledge and harmony too. Knowledge is the most emphasized thread in Chapter 1, but it's not insignificant in later chapters as well, particularly when the mystery of the Children comes into full fore. Harmony, obviously, is the whole point of Chapter 2 and much of Chapter 3 as well.

 

The Jedi Knight and Sith Warrior, by contrast, are mostly stories about fighting for one's political allegiance; the Hero of Tython and Emperor's Wrath are the champions of the Republic and the Empire respectively, and place that emphasis above philosophical explorations (an archetype that I call the Champion, whereas the Consular and Inquisitor are the Soul, and the Smuggler and Bounty Hunter are the Fringe).

 

The Trooper and Agent are the only class stories that don't seem to be paralleled, probably because neither is directly based on any major film characters. This seems to have paid off far more for the Agent's plot, a fairly unique and fascinating story, than for the Trooper's, which seems to be largely a retread of the Knight's, except with smaller struggles and fewer thematic elements.