KotFE fan theory: Vaylin

[Elcitseth]

Hi people, this is my first forum post!

 

I have sort of an in-game attraction to Vaylin, so I started paying close attention to her actions in the KotFE epic storyline. This is when I noticed a pattern that I thought I should bring to these forums.

 

To the casual player, Vaylin will come across as a rather onesided evil character whose desires are very simple: destroy everything in her way to power. And this is not wrong, but I suspect there's much more going on that's only depicted in a most subtle way.

 

It starts at the end of the dream sequence where the player walks with Valkorion. We find ourselves in the Zakuul throne room where Arcann sits upon his throne and Vaylin senses the player's presence. Valkorion explains Vaylin's extraordinary force sensitivity. At this point the player has a final dialog option of which option number 1 is to ask Vaylin to wake the player up. When she pierces through you with her lightsaber, this is exactly what happens: you wake up.

 

At this point the question is how much of a coincidence this is. I am quite certain that it is not. Vaylin knows we're there, so the step from this fact to being able to hear what we say is relatively very small. It also happens to be that Vaylin's one reaction exactly has the desired effect. Vaylin deliberately woke us up.

 

Another piece of evidence is that while the guards were unaware of the player's escape with Lana Beniko, Vaylin somehow knew she had to check up on you. She was the one who personally discovered you were gone. What a massive coincidence? No. Vaylin had orchestrated your escape. As the second most powerful person in Zakuul, she had all the means necessary to cut you off and stop you in person, but instead all that stood between us and an escape were a bunch of weak skytroopers. While she finds you're gone, she looks straight into the security camera, knowing you are watching and says the words "Everyone makes mistakes". These words seem sort of out of place. Is this a threat? No. She's saying she forgives the player. For killing Valkorion.

 

Why would Vaylin help the player to escape? Well, Valkorion reveals to the player that Vaylin is his favorite child. He was underwhelmed by his son Arcann and tells the player that he wants the player to rule over Zakuul instead of Arcann (off course, the player being under control of Valkorion). Vaylin is not stupid and is capable of understanding Valkorion way better than Arcann would. Also, Vaylin is aware that Valkorion's spirit isn't dead. So she has foreseen that Valkorion intends to replace Arcann with the player.

 

What is Vaylin's intention then? She wants to rule over Zakuul alongside the player. Always she will look to retain maximum power, and she knows Arcann is incompetent. Right before the duel with Senya, Vaylin confronts the player with the words "Do you have a crush on me". Not famous for her subtlety, this might be Vaylin's way of courting the player. She force pushes the player away. What an odd choice, isn't she meant to kill the player? By pushing the player away, he is guided towards a confrontation with Arcann. Smart girl you are, Vaylin, very smart.

 

So there's still a few ways the rest of the KotFE storyline might evolve. Perhaps you will be faced with the choice to ally yourself with Arcann and release yourself from Valkorion's influence for good. The other choice being to choose against Arcann, remain under Valkorion's influence and rule alongside Vaylin. At least, of Bioware would allow the player the luxury of being able to choose either way.

 

So that's my theory. Agree or disagree? Any comments would be appreciated and found your criticism with arguments.

Edited December 20, 2015 by Elcitseth

[SerraShar]

I have sort of an in-game attraction to Vaylin

 

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...........................................................

 

What is Vaylin's intention then? She wants to rule over Zakuul alongside the player.

 

why would she share POWER WITH THE OUTLANDER? WHY?

 

Right before the duel with Senya, Vaylin confronts the player with the words "Do you have a crush on me".

she say 'YOU have a crush on me' in a way someone say 'Your pants are down..funny!' and she said it to me 3 times and all my toons are FEMALES .

 

So there's still a few ways the rest of the KotFE storyline might evolve. Perhaps you will be faced with the choice to ally yourself with Arcann and release yourself from Valkorion's influence for good. The other choice being to choose against Arcann, remain under Valkorion's influence and rule alongside Vaylin. At least, of Bioware would allow the player the luxury of being able to choose either way.

 

Eew just no . Nope . No way .

Only an idiot would side with Arcann , he doesn't even make a Good Vilain . I would rather blow myself in my ship or ram my ship on the alliance HQ and kill everyone (me included) then finish the game and end up siding with that idiot .

 

And I don't wanna rule Zaakul . I wanna kick both those privilége rich brat to the Abyss and put Senya as ruler .

[DarthTyranid]

My money is on the character being one dimensional and lacking any real story behind her.

 

But for what it is worth, I HOPE you are right. That would be a big jump in quality of writing for this game.

[jankiel]

Never stick your lightsaber into crazy.

[Lord_Sleepy]

Never stick your lightsaber into crazy.

 

Why not, crazy can be fun, just don't tell her where your base is or give her a holo-address to reach you at .

Edited December 20, 2015 by Lord_Sleepy

[SootyTX]

Never stick your lightsaber into crazy.

 

That right there was funny, lol

 

OP - I have been having similar thoughts. Although I had not reached any conclusion yet (I think the story has been left deliberately open after the first 9 chapters to minimize the amount of prediction going on, unfortunately most have seen it as 'choices don't matter' or just simplistic).

 

BW has a history of making more interesting female characters than male, certainly more nuanced. They also have shown no meaningful differentiation between the sexes when it comes to relationships, so the idea that she could be flirting with the PC is sound, regardless of the PCs gender. Your take on the lightsaber thrust was interesting although I'm not sure it represented her waking you up, so much as it was a "get out of here before Arcann senses you, you're being rescued" - maybe a little of both?

 

I play mostly Republic, mostly female, mostly lightside characters btw, and I can certainly see the appeal of Vaylin - she is an interesting one for sure.

[XiamaraSimi]

Haha I take it your a girl, light side of the force and preferably republican. <snip>

 

While I am a girl, my preference is Imperial and generally Dark Side.

 

That said, shes a total whackado, violently homicidal, looney toons cartoonishly evil, and you want to boink her... your projecting your own hopes and desires of being the one to tame, boink, and subdue the crazy into your "character rationalization", and its amusing in a rather sad way

 

you might want to go watch a movie called "Fatal Attraction" to see what happens when you sleep with crazy

 

Better hide all your minipets so they dont end up in a boiling pot of water...

Edited December 20, 2015 by XiamaraSimi

[Elcitseth]

I have also pondered upon Senya's role in this. Or the significance of this duel between Senya and Vaylin. Becuase in the end, nothing really happens, does it. The only end result of this duel is that Senya had a chance to exchange a few words with her daughter.

 

Will Senya play a role in healing Vaylin's mind? Will Vaylin ultimately become an ally to the player in bringing down Arcann, liberating the galaxy and bringing Zakuul under a competent ruler in the shape of a good Vaylin? It just might happen. We know it's not gonna end up being Arcann, the player or Valkorion, so who's left? Senya? That'd be a big letdown. Vaylin? Hell yeah. You have to keep in mind that eventually, Zakuul will need a new leader, otherwise it'd be either a massive plothole or we'll never dethrone Arcann which means the Zakuul story will never know closure. I sincerely hope for Vaylin.

 

 

your projecting your own hopes and desires of being the one to tame, boink, and subdue the crazy into your "character rationalization", and its amusing in a rather sad way

]

 

Don't you worry your pretty little head I have no intentions to subdue you.

[Kaedusz]

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...........................................................

 

You must be a girl.

 

Vaylin is one of the most beautiful creatures to ever appear in the Star Wars franchise.

Edited December 20, 2015 by Kaedusz

[Elcitseth]

You must be a girl.

 

Vaylin is one of the most beautiful creatures to ever appear in the Star Wars franchise.

 

This guy gets it.

[Lord_Sleepy]

I have also pondered upon Senya's role in this. Or the significance of this duel between Senya and Vaylin. Becuase in the end, nothing really happens, does it. The only end result of this duel is that Senya had a chance to exchange a few words with her daughter.

 

Will Senya play a role in healing Vaylin's mind? Will Vaylin ultimately become an ally to the player in bringing down Arcann, liberating the galaxy and bringing Zakuul under a competent ruler in the shape of a good Vaylin? It just might happen. We know it's not gonna end up being Arcann, the player or Valkorion, so who's left? Senya? That'd be a big letdown. Vaylin? Hell yeah. You have to keep in mind that eventually, Zakuul will need a new leader, otherwise it'd be either a massive plothole or we'll never dethrone Arcann which means the Zakuul story will never know closure. I sincerely hope for Vaylin.

 

 

 

 

Don't you worry your pretty little head I have no intentions to subdue you.

 

Or Vaylin is just messing with Senyas head

[SerraShar]

Haha I take it your a girl, light side of the force and preferably republican. I'm a man, on all characters dark side of the force and mostly play sith characters. It's what I like identifying with when I'm in a game world. You have to love being a sith in order to understand any attraction towards Vaylin. Vaylin is not an evil person by default. That would be a vey jedi way of looking at things. Vaylin had a difficult childhood, always being in the shadow of her brothers, knowing she can never claim the throne. She had all this potential, more intelligence than Arcann and much more strength in the force. And YET, she never rebelled. Not yet at least. She supported her brother and in her own right she developed as a powerful person within what's available to her. If anything, I admire this character. The fact that she's a woman who has her ***** together, even under all this pressure, remains in control of all her power and her intelligence... that is attractive to a sith player Strong, intelligent, disciplined (despite what Valkorion says), attractive, persistent... She's the kind of woman you won't easily find outside a fantasy world. .

 

Oh yeah , Girl can't like The Imp Side

 

Yes I'm a Girl , but that has nothing to do with my Eww . Please don't generalize or play the D-bag card .

 

Vaylin is not an evil person by default. That would be a vey jedi way of looking at things. Vaylin had a difficult childhood, always being in the shadow of her brothers, knowing she can never claim the throne. She had all this potential, more intelligence than Arcann and much more strength in the force. And YET, she never rebelled. Not yet at least. She supported her brother and in her own right she developed as a powerful person within what's available to her. If anything, I admire this character

 

There is NOTHING that support this . NOTHING . You are PROJECTING .

 

what will you do when she turn out to be Boring , Psycho with no reason and has no depth cose BW/EA are too lazy to make it happen ?

 

Sorry , I take that Psycho on Taris (Imp) , Zash even over Vaylin any day . They are more fun

[SerraShar]

You must be a girl.

 

Vaylin is one of the most beautiful creatures to ever appear in the Star Wars franchise.

You guys never played anything else..right? I mean..really ??

[SerraShar]

While I am a girl, my preference is Imperial and generally Dark Side.

 

That said, shes a total whackado, violently homicidal, looney toons cartoonishly evil, and you want to boink her... your projecting your own hopes and desires of being the one to tame, boink, and subdue the crazy into your "character rationalization", and its amusing in a rather sad way

 

you might want to go watch a movie called "Fatal Attraction" to see what happens when you sleep with crazy

 

Better hide all your minipets so they dont end up in a boiling pot of water...

 

You know how it goes right ?

 

Psycho Lady in a game is PERFECTIONNNNNNNNNNNN.......

 

Psycho lady in real Life is HARASSEMENTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

 

[CloudCastle]

I don't think Vaylin has any desire to share power with anyone.

 

What strikes me as odd about her, is that we learn early on that she is the most powerful of the three children, AND Valkorion's favorite, yet she is never considered for the throne, Arkann is. Not sure what the birth order of Val's children is, but she also - notably - has not tried to take the throne from Arkann either, which is odd because she is clearly more powerful than he is. What is her motivation? What the heck does she want? I doubt she's happy to take a back seat to Arkann. I think there are four possibilities going on here:

 

1) Either she is the youngest child, and therefore not eligible, or we've got the traditional assumption that only males are in line for the throne in Zakuul. This is a rather Earth-centered view that doesn't seem to be supported by most Star Wars lore, so I hope BW isn't going this route.

 

2) Vaylin is too crazy to be considered, and/or Valkorion has purposely handicapped her so that she can't be a threat to him. While Arkann can be controlled, Vaylin can't.

 

3) She's been playing along with Valkorion's plan all along, whatever that is.

 

4) She has some dastardly plan of her own.

 

No matter which is the four it is, I do expect Vaylin to try and take over the throne at some point, because I believe that is her design. I think she is toying with Arkann and doesn't expect him to be a threat to her for long. The line that clinched it for me was when Arkann said something like,

 

"I'll die before I let that Outlander threaten the throne of Zakuul." (something like that...maybe someone else has the exact line recorded.)

 

And Vaylin responds, rather patronizingly, "Of course you will." (Die that is.)

 

I don't think she is on the outlander's side. I expect her to be one of the main threats as the story progresses, possibly even greater than Valkorion himself.

[SerraShar]

I don't think Vaylin has any desire to share power with anyone.

 

What strikes me as odd about her, is that we learn early on that she is the most powerful of the three children, AND Valkorion's favorite, yet she is never considered for the throne, Arkann is. Not sure what the birth order of Val's children is, but she also - notably - has not tried to take the throne from Arkann either, which is odd because she is clearly more powerful than he is. What is her motivation? What the heck does she want? I doubt she's happy to take a back seat to Arkann. I think there are four possibilities going on here:

 

1) Either she is the youngest child, and therefore not eligible, or we've got the traditional assumption that only males are in line for the throne in Zakuul. This is a rather Earth-centered view that doesn't seem to be supported by most Star Wars lore, so I hope BW isn't going this route.

 

2) Vaylin is too crazy to be considered, and/or Valkorion has purposely handicapped her so that she can't be a threat to him. While Arkann can be controlled, Vaylin can't.

 

3) She's been playing along with Valkorion's plan all along, whatever that is.

 

4) She has some dastardly plan of her own.

 

No matter which is the four it is, I do expect Vaylin to try and take over the throne at some point, because I believe that is her design. I think she is toying with Arkann and doesn't expect him to be a threat to her for long. The line that clinched it for me was when Arkann said something like,

 

"I'll die before I let that Outlander threaten the throne of Zakuul." (something like that...maybe someone else has the exact line recorded.)

 

And Vaylin responds, rather patronizingly, "Of course you will." (Die that is.)

 

I don't think she is on the outlander's side. I expect her to be one of the main threats as the story progresses, possibly even greater than Valkorion himself.

 

Usually when someone doesn't want the Throne , it mean what they want is far greater . Maybe she will let Arcann do her dirty job and she take the whole Galaxy ?

 

Or maybe she is setting her priority right and is going smart about it ? as long as Valk is alive , there is no reason to fight over Zaakul since she still need (as pawn Arcann) .

 

She sure doesn't care about destroying Zaakul to get what she want .

[Darklighter]

Never stick your lightsaber into crazy.

 

They're ALL crazy, bro.

[Lord_Sleepy]

Usually when someone doesn't want the Throne , it mean what they want is far greater . Maybe she will let Arcann do her dirty job and she take the whole Galaxy ?

 

Or maybe she is setting her priority right and is going smart about it ? as long as Valk is alive , there is no reason to fight over Zaakul since she still need (as pawn Arcann) .

 

She sure doesn't care about destroying Zaakul to get what she want .

 

She seems to be enjoying it way to much to want to take power and stop the outlander. I think she just wants to watch the show then take over after both sides are weakened from the final confrontation. Or she is just nuttier than a fruitcake and has no real motive except enjoying the show with no loyalty to anyone.

[Elcitseth]

You know how it goes right ?

 

Psycho Lady in a game is PERFECTIONNNNNNNNNNNN.......

 

Psycho lady in real Life is HARASSEMENTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

 

 

owkaaayyy... Is that experience talking that I'm reading here? GIrls like Vaylin do NOT exist in real life, so the comparison is futile anyway.

[LucianaIV]

Considering that the entirety of KOTFE has so far been another round of Bioware's ''illusion of choice'', I'm not expecting anything big, certainly not that I would be given a possibly meaningful choice in who ultimately ends up ruling the Eternal Empire, how the hell would they even do that with subsequent content?

 

As for Vaylin, I wouldn't look for too much there, most likely she is what she appears to be, a one dimensional lunatic who destroys everything in her mad bid for power.

[jankiel]

GIrls like Vaylin do NOT exist in real life, so the comparison is futile anyway.

 

Should I introduce you to my wife?

[GabDube]

You must be a girl.

 

Vaylin is one of the most beautiful creatures to ever appear in the Star Wars franchise.

 

I don't get your reasoning. Girls can also be attracted to girls, etc. And you don't have to be attracted to a specific gender to notice or recognize the beauty of people of that gender.

[Calinaph]

Considering that the entirety of KOTFE has so far been another round of Bioware's ''illusion of choice'', I'm not expecting anything big, certainly not that I would be given a possibly meaningful choice in who ultimately ends up ruling the Eternal Empire, how the hell would they even do that with subsequent content?

 

As for Vaylin, I wouldn't look for too much there, most likely she is what she appears to be, a one dimensional lunatic who destroys everything in her mad bid for power.

 

This. I love when people think the roller-coaster is taking them to Oz.

[Sarfux]

Vaylin was in episode 7!! Did you see her at the cantina?!!

[Kaedusz]

Every girl i have seen on these forums hate her. Even in-game and in my guild. Why is that?

 

If anyone has seen ''300 : Rise of an Empire'' and the scene with Artemisia and that athenian guy would know why many men like here. This is one example of why they do, in case you are wondering.

Edited December 20, 2015 by Kaedusz