CelticMarauder Posted July 3, 2016 Share Posted July 3, 2016 I recently created a new Trooper to take part in the event, and while questing on Ord Mantell, once again came upon a quest that has bothered me every time I've done it. If you're unfamiliar with it, a couple of grieving parents send you to search for their lost son, who was presumed dead before a family acquaintance swore they saw him alive. So you fight through the separatists to the middle of their base and discover that he was indeed alive, having been captured by the Separatists and forced to take rage-inducing stims and fight for them. He's tired of this and wants out, and the bloody swathe you carved through the base finally gives him the chance he needs to escape. The dark side decision is to try to convince him to return to his parents, who clearly love him and would do anything to help him get past all the trauma he's been through. The light side choice is to tear apart a family, give this emotionally scarred teenager a handful of credits and send him out, alone, into a galaxy that he has absolutely no practical knowledge of. The galaxy is dangerous even for experienced travelers, and sending this guy out there is like throwing a small fish into a tank of hungry sharks. Some have argued that sending the kid back to his family endangers both him and the other refugees, but I'd argue that reuniting the family provides a chance for healing and recovery, while sending him out all but removes that chance entirely. TLDR: Sending a traumatized teenager into the galaxy alone with a handful of credits is light side, trying to reunite him with his loving parents is dark side, and I disagree with the aforementioned choices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DwightClark Posted July 3, 2016 Share Posted July 3, 2016 This always bothered me too. The best I could come up with was that he really really doesn't want to go back to his parents, but if you don't give him any credits he will be forced to. He doesn't feel emotionally stable enough to face his family, so while it may be the "right" choice its a choice you're forcing on him, hence dark side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhyltran Posted July 3, 2016 Share Posted July 3, 2016 Light Side = Giving him the choice. With those credits he could go back to them, go somewhere else, and do something else. The power is on him. Dark Side = Forcing a choice on him. Logically going to his parents is the best option for him but in the end it's his choice to make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CelticMarauder Posted July 3, 2016 Author Share Posted July 3, 2016 I never really thought about it from that perspective, so I guess it does make a little more sense than I thought, giving him a choice and all. I'm still not sure I 100% agree, but I can now justify it much more easily than I could before. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhyltran Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 I never really thought about it from that perspective, so I guess it does make a little more sense than I thought, giving him a choice and all. I'm still not sure I 100% agree, but I can now justify it much more easily than I could before. Thanks! No problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDutchman Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 The problem I have with the whole choice argument is what choices you are giving him. 1. go back to parents (the smart choice) 2. Run with a limited supply of credits to... what? Fall into another overflowing refugee camp somewhere with no supports whatsoever for the severe PTSD that kid would be suffering from, probably wind up turning to crime just to feed himself and who knows what else. Now, if you wanted to provide an alternate choice that might make some sense, it would be to book him a shuttle ticket somewhere civilized, with arrangements for support services already set up for him and maybe a simple job he can do to support himself financially. Of course, that's kinda boring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CelticMarauder Posted July 4, 2016 Author Share Posted July 4, 2016 The problem I have with the whole choice argument is what choices you are giving him. 1. go back to parents (the smart choice) 2. Run with a limited supply of credits to... what? Fall into another overflowing refugee camp somewhere with no supports whatsoever for the severe PTSD that kid would be suffering from, probably wind up turning to crime just to feed himself and who knows what else. Now, if you wanted to provide an alternate choice that might make some sense, it would be to book him a shuttle ticket somewhere civilized, with arrangements for support services already set up for him and maybe a simple job he can do to support himself financially. Of course, that's kinda boring. I actually don't think that's boring, although others might disagree. It allows him to leave the planet, like he wants, but actually gives him a better chance for a future than whatever he had planned. I believe that a slightly modified version of your scenario could have been realistically written into the game. The potential light side choice could have been the option to give him the credits he wants, but also allow you to book him a shuttle to a stable planet with an established healthcare infrastructure. Then it would truly be his choice. Of course, that would be a lot of complexity and writing for a simple side quest, and I don't think the devs wanted to devote that much time to that aspect of the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhyltran Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 (edited) The problem I have with the whole choice argument is what choices you are giving him. 1. go back to parents (the smart choice) 2. Run with a limited supply of credits to... what? Fall into another overflowing refugee camp somewhere with no supports whatsoever for the severe PTSD that kid would be suffering from, probably wind up turning to crime just to feed himself and who knows what else. Now, if you wanted to provide an alternate choice that might make some sense, it would be to book him a shuttle ticket somewhere civilized, with arrangements for support services already set up for him and maybe a simple job he can do to support himself financially. Of course, that's kinda boring. Ever seen Rebels? A good example of that is on the first episode. Ezra, at the end, steals Kanan's lightsaber and leaves. Kanan meets up with Ezra, reveals that he has opened the holocron, and points out to him that this shows that he's force sensitive. He tells him he knows he took the lightsaber. Then tells him "If you come with us. I can train you. The alternative? You can keep my lightsaber and it can collect dust and you can go back to stealing in order to survive." and leaves. Ezra, decides on his own, he wants to come with the crew. Maybe if you give that kid some credits he decides to do the right thing anyway and go back to his parents. Maybe he doesn't. In the end it's still his choice. Light/Dark aren't always about right and wrong. It's about the cosmic balance. Smart choice is to send him home. No one is disputing this. The light choice is to give him a choice at all. In the above Ezra would be better off with the crew instead of living on the streets in a hostile world hunting for force sensitives but Kanan gave him the choice. Edited July 4, 2016 by Rhyltran Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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