The identity of the traitor in the war for Iokath

[SithKoriandr]

Remember, it is a game...we aren't making judgement calls about people in real life based on choices they make in a game. When I role-play in a game, I'm making choices based on what I think that character would do. And this particular character is a Sith. She's not a total monster and believes that the Empire needs to change in order to survive, but she is still a Sith.

 

I get that, but it's still siding with the side that does all that. Being the Alliance Commander, one would just be naive at that point to think the Empire would change now, just for you.

 

Also, if we're going to go with all that, what does Sith have to do with being part of the Empire. One could be Sith and still be part of the Republic. Obviously you can be with the Republic and still seek power, even the Sith Empire held a ruling council (which if Arcina doesn't have now, she'll have to have if you're around and then have to listen to them or be challenged herself). You can be Sith and still believe in Republic Government.

[ReiKai]

People don't want to believe it, but I feel it is actually Theron who is the traitor. But not by his own choice. People need to consider something. Of all the available powers in the galaxy, there was one not represented during the events on Iokath. Zakuul is tied to the Alliance, so they're safe, and both Republic and Sith came knocking with the same leaked intel. However, the Hutts, who're just as desperate for resources, according to Hylo's message, are the only ones not present. There's no reason to believe they wouldn't have tried to get there first, gather all the weapons and tech they could, and then sell them to all sides in order to make their profits and protect their interests.

 

You could argue the Hutts are allied with the Republic, but that was only a part of them from the Makeb incident, and the Hutts are resentful due to the Republic bleeding their resources to help both settle the Makeb survivors and fund their war efforts against the Sith Empire. Then they spent the next 5-odd years being bled out by Arcann and Zakuul. They're not exactly happy customers here.

 

So what does all that have to do with Theron? Well, while it may not be the Hutts themselves, or not the Hutts directly, it could very well be forces in the Underworld manipulating him by way of someone he cares about; Teff'ith. Through past events, the Twi'lek Teff'ith has been connected to both Theron Shan and his former teacher and surrogate father, Jedi Master Ngani Zho. Teff'ih has appeared in both the SWTOR comics and novels and Theron sees her as kind of a younger sister, despite Teff'ith really not liking having Theron watching out for her behind her back. However it doesn't change the fact he does keep tabs on her and tries to make sure she doesn't get over her head.

 

We actually receive a message from Teff'ith during the "Shadow of Revan" campaign, so she is established as existing within the game, we've just never met her directly. Teff'ith had worked as a slaver, a member of Black Sun, and was thought to have once worked for Rogun the Butcher. But now we move ahead 5yrs with KotFE and with the disappearance/loss of the Republic Smuggler, the entire criminal underworld has been left up for grabs amidst the terror of the Eternal Fleet stamping around.

 

Now, let's say the Hutts or a new powerful figure in the Underworld managed to learn about Iokath and what was going on with the Alliance through spies in Hylo Viz's smuggling groups, and they decided the best way to get what they want and remove the strongest military powers in the galaxy is to have them all fight each other. No better way to do that than with a big fat super-weapon that could change the balance of power and make them all fight over it. And that's where Theron comes in.

 

If Teff'ith was captured and/or her life was being threatened, Theron would want to do anything to save her, hence his further emotional state during the events on Iokath. Theron doesn't want to be a traitor, but until he can find some way to root out who's manipulating him, the Republic and Empire, then he's trapped. If he tries to tell anyone what's going on, in secret or not, Teff'ith could end up dead and all that would be accomplished is everyone loses trust in him. Theron is stuck between a rock and another rock. Neither can be scaled. He's stuck until someone else can find a way out of that situation for him.

[Dracofish]

I get that, but it's still siding with the side that does all that. Being the Alliance Commander, one would just be naive at that point to think the Empire would change now, just for you.

 

Also, if we're going to go with all that, what does Sith have to do with being part of the Empire. One could be Sith and still be part of the Republic. Obviously you can be with the Republic and still seek power, even the Sith Empire held a ruling council (which if Arcina doesn't have now, she'll have to have if you're around and then have to listen to them or be challenged herself). You can be Sith and still believe in Republic Government.

 

I'll agree to disagree.

 

Old habits die hard, and a SW character was bred and raised to fight for the Empire and hate the Republic. Yeah, it's been years, but that conditioning is still there. Also, being an Imperial doesn't automatically make someone evil, just as being with the Republic doesn't automatically make someone good (my DS JK shows that much - that girl is viscous when it comes to defending the Republic). I still try to look at things internally, from my character's point of view, and from her point of view, she would rather deal with Acina than Jace Malcolm (despite his being Theron's father). She doesn't trust the Republic (at all), but she does have past experience with Acina. We've seen plenty of instances where the Republic has shown it's dirty underbelly too.

 

I have other characters who I'm sure will look at things differently. But like I said, I don't play based on my own meta feelings on the subject.

Edited April 29, 2017 by Dracofish

[Dracofish]

People don't want to believe it, but I feel it is actually Theron who is the traitor. But not by his own choice. People need to consider something. Of all the available powers in the galaxy, there was one not represented during the events on Iokath. Zakuul is tied to the Alliance, so they're safe, and both Republic and Sith came knocking with the same leaked intel. However, the Hutts, who're just as desperate for resources, according to Hylo's message, are the only ones not present. There's no reason to believe they wouldn't have tried to get there first, gather all the weapons and tech they could, and then sell them to all sides in order to make their profits and protect their interests.

 

You could argue the Hutts are allied with the Republic, but that was only a part of them from the Makeb incident, and the Hutts are resentful due to the Republic bleeding their resources to help both settle the Makeb survivors and fund their war efforts against the Sith Empire. Then they spent the next 5-odd years being bled out by Arcann and Zakuul. They're not exactly happy customers here.

 

So what does all that have to do with Theron? Well, while it may not be the Hutts themselves, or not the Hutts directly, it could very well be forces in the Underworld manipulating him by way of someone he cares about; Teff'ith. Through past events, the Twi'lek Teff'ith has been connected to both Theron Shan and his former teacher and surrogate father, Jedi Master Ngani Zho. Teff'ih has appeared in both the SWTOR comics and novels and Theron sees her as kind of a younger sister, despite Teff'ith really not liking having Theron watching out for her behind her back. However it doesn't change the fact he does keep tabs on her and tries to make sure she doesn't get over her head.

 

We actually receive a message from Teff'ith during the "Shadow of Revan" campaign, so she is established as existing within the game, we've just never met her directly. Teff'ith had worked as a slaver, a member of Black Sun, and was thought to have once worked for Rogun the Butcher. But now we move ahead 5yrs with KotFE and with the disappearance/loss of the Republic Smuggler, the entire criminal underworld has been left up for grabs amidst the terror of the Eternal Fleet stamping around.

 

Now, let's say the Hutts or a new powerful figure in the Underworld managed to learn about Iokath and what was going on with the Alliance through spies in Hylo Viz's smuggling groups, and they decided the best way to get what they want and remove the strongest military powers in the galaxy is to have them all fight each other. No better way to do that than with a big fat super-weapon that could change the balance of power and make them all fight over it. And that's where Theron comes in.

 

If Teff'ith was captured and/or her life was being threatened, Theron would want to do anything to save her, hence his further emotional state during the events on Iokath. Theron doesn't want to be a traitor, but until he can find some way to root out who's manipulating him, the Republic and Empire, then he's trapped. If he tries to tell anyone what's going on, in secret or not, Teff'ith could end up dead and all that would be accomplished is everyone loses trust in him. Theron is stuck between a rock and another rock. Neither can be scaled. He's stuck until someone else can find a way out of that situation for him.

 

This is really a great argument! The only thing that stands out to me though is the whole "hurt, losing hope" feeling that supposedly goes with the betrayer. If it is Theron, and he's coerced into doing it, then he still wouldn't be "hurt" or "losing hope" in the Alliance.

 

I just really really hope it's not him!

[OldVengeance]

Unless I'm remembering wrong, I thought Vowrawn was mentioned in passing in the emails about the surveillance of Empress Acina or something.

 

You may not consider Dark Side evil and Light Side good, but that's how it is considered in Star Wars.

 

I'd give you the stance of Satele maybe feeling that way about the Outlander, however it wouldn't make sense at all for the LS Knight or LS Consular to have her feel that way. These are two characters she's known personally for so long, one who served on the Council with her.

 

Time has gone by for sure, but if the Consular/Knight has continued to make LS choices, there should be no doubt.

 

Well, until The Last Jedi comes out, at least. It's possible that movie will change all that.

 

I still think it's very possibly Satele because she and Marr are "following the will of the Force" now. She isn't the Jedi she used to be and if she feels like the currents of the Force want her to bring down the Alliance, the she probably would, even for Outlanders that were her friends in the Jedi Order. I'm not even sure it's entirely correct to even call her a fully LS character anymore.

 

I have a hard time imagining it's Theron. He actually has a very good reason to betray my Sith Warrior, but he stuck by him even to the point of turning against his own family and faction. And for my LS Outlanders, he has no reason to feel "pain, anger hope eroding." Plus, this all would have happened before coming to Iokath. Things were going pretty great for Theron in the immediate aftermath of the Fall of the Eternal Empire. Even when he was working for DS Outlanders, things weren't that bad.

Edited April 29, 2017 by OldVengeance

[Celise]

Spoilers ahead, obviously. Doubt you would be here otherwise, but there's always that guy.

 

So I've been lurking on this thread for a few days now and decided to post the theory my friend and I came up with the other night when I talked him into coming back for the Iokath stuff . I've seen a few people suggest this, but probably jokingly.

 

What about Thexan? Seriously.

 

1) All we know about Thexan is that he was "killed" by Arcann; but how do we know he actually died in the fight? There have been several other Force users that have survived serious injuries and/or deathblows. It is not completely unlikely that he wouldn't have survived. In the aftermath of the battle, Thexan all but vanishes from the game. We never once see his spirit - even in the final battle where Valkorian summons Vaylin and Arcann (if you killed him) to assist in the battle. Even Senya shows up to help (again, if she was killed). So... where was Thexan?

 

2) On Iokath when ARIES has Vaylin in her padded cell, he is talking to her as Thexan... but how does he know what Thexan looks and sounds like unless he had met him in the past? We know this type of technology exists. Z0-0M says that she can mimic anyone she has met, so I am assuming the same rules apply to ARIES here.

 

3) As has been discussed, it looks like the traitor is wearing scion robes during the cutscene at the end of Iokath with the superweapon console. I'd like to point out that the saboteur and the traitor don't necessarily have to be the same person. This scion, if it's a scion, could very well be a simple henchman. Going back to Thexan, being part of the royal family of Zakuul, he could easily have access to scions after Arcann drove the survivors into hiding. As far as I know, Thexan didn't have the hatred for scions that Arcann did.

 

4) On Iokath while you are plugged into the superweapon, Tyth goes on about being lured to Iokath, and being distracted by duty and trust, and being betrayed; and it is us and/or Theron/Lana that jumps to the conclusion that it is someone within the Alliance. I don't think it necessarily has to be. Someone with enough influence and resources to stage uprisings and other revolts to undermine those in power is not out of the realm of possibility. Hell, we did it ourselves. Regarding being distracted by duty and trust, we've been so busy in our fight against Arcann and Vaylin and building our Alliance that we didn't notice the ripples in the pond.

 

5) Tyth mentions one marked by anger, pain, and hope eroding. Thexan resembles that entire remark. Not only was he attacked by his brother, but he was potentially exiled from his home and his entire family may very well be dead at the hands of the Outlander despite anything he might have done to try to stop it. I don't know how he would have ended up on Iokath in the first place, but he would have had ample time to study the weaponry there while the war for Zakuul was going on. Later, he saw the opportunity to take out the 3 superpowers in the galaxy by starting a war over the superweapon(s).

 

6) I'm going to assume the old adage here to keep your friends close and your enemies closer when explaining someone close to us as being the traitor. Given our connection with Valkorian and his family, and our potential slaughtering of said family, I think that gives Thexan enough connection to us to be plausible. We don't know him personally, but that doesn't matter. He has a very personal vendetta against us.

 

7) Finally, if you spare Arcann, he sends you a letter at some point where he says that you remind him of Thexan and he says it's a shame that the two of you didn't meet. Foreshadowing?

 

I can't think of someone with a better motive and a better reason to want to begin a war. Getting revenge on the Outlander and/or reclaiming his birthright seems pretty reasonable, and makes a lot more sense than any motive Lana, Theron, Hylo, Sana-Rae, or anyone else in the Outlander's inner circle would have.

 

Sorry if this is a bit long-winded. It may be a farfetched theory and I'm sure there are holes I've forgotten about in the last few days that I've been thinking about it, but I still wanted to share.

 

1. a big "if" he was killed. and besides this he may not of learned the skill to keep his form and personality intact in the force after death, just remember he was a young man at the start of his life and he wouldn't of known a lot of stuff. most personalities and forms would of been destroyed on death of the force user who didnt know how to move that spirit from the body into the force.

 

2. remember that aries was conducting examinations on the organic prisoners andinformation could of been stored in the data banks of a gemini droid, especially if Thexan had directed them to the various planets in the core worlds on those raids. these droids would have that data in their memory cores. it wouldn't of taken long for aries to access that.

 

3. there isn't enough data to state if he loved or hated the scions and also going back to "if" he died.

 

4. a traitor is someone who commits acts against ones own nation or their leader, typically an attempt or actual murder of that leader or a political reason like a failure to do something. Thexan doesn't fit this defintion because he has no stake in the alliance and he has no axe to grind with the commander.

 

5. i think you are transplanting thexan's waning hope and betrayal for what happened with Arcann and Valkorion and moved it on the alliance. it doesn't work like that. Besides Thexan is smart enough to not give into Valkorion's ignorance unlike Arcann who grew more resentful. in a situation like that growing up hope does erode and so does his anger and frustration. He doesn't know the alliance commander either and striking out at the commander is like you commenting on something which you know nothing about as an example. Thexan is smart enough that he wouldn't just do something like that, he has to know the commander first o he can make up his own mind.

 

6. starting off with an assumption means number 6 has no point or basis.

 

7. more along the lines that if you both met up, the two of you would be very similar in manner and personality in the light side, that there is a lot of good in both of you. Thexan isn't Arcann and never was. i think you are mistaking foreshadowing for sideshadowing.

[Shepardess]

People don't want to believe it, but I feel it is actually Theron who is the traitor. But not by his own choice. People need to consider something. Of all the available powers in the galaxy, there was one not represented during the events on Iokath. Zakuul is tied to the Alliance, so they're safe, and both Republic and Sith came knocking with the same leaked intel. However, the Hutts, who're just as desperate for resources, according to Hylo's message, are the only ones not present. There's no reason to believe they wouldn't have tried to get there first, gather all the weapons and tech they could, and then sell them to all sides in order to make their profits and protect their interests.

 

You could argue the Hutts are allied with the Republic, but that was only a part of them from the Makeb incident, and the Hutts are resentful due to the Republic bleeding their resources to help both settle the Makeb survivors and fund their war efforts against the Sith Empire. Then they spent the next 5-odd years being bled out by Arcann and Zakuul. They're not exactly happy customers here.

 

So what does all that have to do with Theron? Well, while it may not be the Hutts themselves, or not the Hutts directly, it could very well be forces in the Underworld manipulating him by way of someone he cares about; Teff'ith. Through past events, the Twi'lek Teff'ith has been connected to both Theron Shan and his former teacher and surrogate father, Jedi Master Ngani Zho. Teff'ih has appeared in both the SWTOR comics and novels and Theron sees her as kind of a younger sister, despite Teff'ith really not liking having Theron watching out for her behind her back. However it doesn't change the fact he does keep tabs on her and tries to make sure she doesn't get over her head.

 

We actually receive a message from Teff'ith during the "Shadow of Revan" campaign, so she is established as existing within the game, we've just never met her directly. Teff'ith had worked as a slaver, a member of Black Sun, and was thought to have once worked for Rogun the Butcher. But now we move ahead 5yrs with KotFE and with the disappearance/loss of the Republic Smuggler, the entire criminal underworld has been left up for grabs amidst the terror of the Eternal Fleet stamping around.

 

Now, let's say the Hutts or a new powerful figure in the Underworld managed to learn about Iokath and what was going on with the Alliance through spies in Hylo Viz's smuggling groups, and they decided the best way to get what they want and remove the strongest military powers in the galaxy is to have them all fight each other. No better way to do that than with a big fat super-weapon that could change the balance of power and make them all fight over it. And that's where Theron comes in.

 

If Teff'ith was captured and/or her life was being threatened, Theron would want to do anything to save her, hence his further emotional state during the events on Iokath. Theron doesn't want to be a traitor, but until he can find some way to root out who's manipulating him, the Republic and Empire, then he's trapped. If he tries to tell anyone what's going on, in secret or not, Teff'ith could end up dead and all that would be accomplished is everyone loses trust in him. Theron is stuck between a rock and another rock. Neither can be scaled. He's stuck until someone else can find a way out of that situation for him.

 

We know Theron cares for her, but that much? Enough to betray not only his family and the republic, but the alliance he's worked for so hard, and the love of his life? (Or good friend if you don't romance him)

 

That would be weak. They can do much better than that.

[Drayka]

Somehow it wouldn't surprise me

 

Or how about Valkorian's ghost, he tells you before he dies to remember him when your Alliance is in ruins.

[Drayka]

There's also the possibility that there isn't a traitor in your inner circle, it's just whoever set this up wanted it took look like someone in your inner circle betrayed you.

 

I am hoping its Not Theron or Lana! What better way to break up an alliance than to throw suspicion and discord onto the closest people to the leader?

[ReiKai]

We know Theron cares for her, but that much? Enough to betray not only his family and the republic, but the alliance he's worked for so hard, and the love of his life? (Or good friend if you don't romance him)

 

That would be weak. They can do much better than that.

It's much stronger than you give it credit for. Also, Theron didn't even know Jace Malcom was his father until just before the Makeb incident, and they've hardly had much interaction since because of both the war, the Revan incident and Zakuul wrecking everyone's collective ****. Hell he doesn't even have much of a relationship with Satele, his mother, whom he knew was his mother thanks to Ngani Zho, but hasn't had much interaction with either since Satele having had a child was a big secret to the Jedi.

 

If you look at it objectively, Theron doesn't like the Republic all that much anymore. Yes, he believes the People of the Relubic do need the help, but the people in charge is running it into the ground. Theron has been burned by the Republic multiple times and branded a traitor. Also, during the "Annihilation" novel, Theron was appalled to find out that Jace and those in charge were going to let Republic worlds burn as a sacrifice, just so it wouldn't leak that they have an Imperial Black Box that they could use to listen into all of the Sith Empire's most secure communications, claiming to be biding their time to get their best shot at taking down the Ascendant Spear.

 

In same book, Satele does warn Theron that Jace's hatred of the Sith could end up destroying him and leading to great mistakes in the future. She wasn't using foresight, she just understood him best from their time together. Theron rather hates the Jedi philosophy and hypocrisy, but after calming down from his argument with Satele, he did come to realize she had a point. The lengths Jace would go to to destroy the Sith Empire could very well ruin the Republic and cause even more innocent lives to be lost or sacrificed or his idea of the "greater good".

 

So, regardless of what side you chose on Iokath, Theron may not have much faith in the Republic with Jace being all gung-ho for Genocide and may feel that not every decision made by the Outlander was correct. On top of potentially having Teff'ith as blackmail material to keep Theron in check, he really would be emotionally unstable and unsure of whom he could really have faith in.

[Ralei]

 

What about Thexan? Seriously.

 

3) As has been discussed, it looks like the traitor is wearing scion robes during the cutscene at the end of Iokath with the superweapon console. I'd like to point out that the saboteur and the traitor don't necessarily have to be the same person.

 

 

Seriously, no. Thexan is such a non-person in the actual game that it would have no impact to have him as the villain. And they had better be done with that stupid family already.

 

#3 is the only thing I can agree with.

[RarePorcupine]

I am hoping its Not Theron or Lana! What better way to break up an alliance than to throw suspicion and discord onto the closest people to the leader?

 

I don't think there's any real reason to worry about Theron or Lana being the traitor, if for no other reason than Bioware relies on them as your constant/confirmed companions for gameplay/story.

[Celise]

I don't think there's any real reason to worry about Theron or Lana being the traitor, if for no other reason than Bioware relies on them as your constant/confirmed companions for gameplay/story.

 

there are still other characters to reappear, since Steve Blum does Aygo and various minor voice overs in FE and ET, like he has done in most of the game. Andronikos is a slam dunk reappearance, he could easily take over from Lana and Nadia could take over from Theron for example. Nothing is saying that it will or won't happen, but there are alternative characters should Lana and Theron end up being on that Traitor thing.

[OldVengeance]

Andronikos and Nadia are almost nothing like Lana and Theron, particularly in skill set. Edited April 29, 2017 by OldVengeance

[Celise]

Andronikos and Nadia are almost nothing like Lana and Theron, particularly in skill set.

 

check out from that mind set. andronikos is a pirate and he has leadership experience, he knows what it's like out there and he has a good insight into the dark side, he also knows a bit about imperials and republic as well.

 

Nadia would naturally grow into the role of management of people as well as choices to be made, she is youthful and would rather avoid causing a problem because of her jedi teachings.

 

both characters are contrasting with different points of view. they could take over because they would have these abilities. and because ever new war needs a new weapon to fight with.

Edited April 29, 2017 by Celise

[Lunafox]

I'm pretty sure Vowrawn is never mentioned on Iokath. The suspects suggested by Lana right off the bat are the Shroud, Jadus and 'A Rouge SIS Agent'.

 

 

But wouldn't it still be mean for those who like Lana? I mean, if Bioware want a betrayal to have weight, it has to be somebody somone likes.

 

Vowrawn wasn't mentioned in the cutscenes on Iokath, but it was mentioned in a letter received just after Iokath was completed:

(Proof I'm not crazy lol)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v509/Lunafox13/VowrawnTraitorTheory_zpsjzgmprjz.jpg

 

It would suck if it were Theron too. I don't give two craps about Lana, but I can sympathize, it would suck if it was either of those two.

 

Edit: This letter was received by my Sorcerer, not my warrior, as I had previously thought. I played them one after the other, so it was sketchy which it was, but I knew that I saw it mentioned somewhere during the Iokath story...and it was in the letter.

Edited April 29, 2017 by Lunafox

[americanaussie]

We know Theron cares for her, but that much? Enough to betray not only his family and the republic, but the alliance he's worked for so hard, and the love of his life? (Or good friend if you don't romance him)

 

That would be weak. They can do much better than that.

 

Not only betray but attempt to kill? No. He wouldn't hurt his love like that. He may not be great at relationships but the amount of almost heart attacks he's had over a romanced commander's close calls is probably proof enough along with the fact we haven't really met that character. Since BW isn't likely to do different traitors on romanced and non romanced toons or even different classes, I don't see it being Theron.

[JakRoanin]

The only way Lana, and/or Tharon would work is if they did another Master Syo. Obviously, this person cannot be:

 

1. Anybody you can choose to kill, or let die, so... Not Vette, Torian, Koth, Kalyio, Senya, Arcann, Aric, Acina, Malcolm, or Elara.

 

If it IS Tharon or Lana, they need more foreshadowing. Although I have less of a hard time believing Lana could betray you without a blink. There's something very strange about her...

 

2. While Master Shan is a plausible option, I just don't see her as effective for a non-FS class. Really why would the Bounty Hunter or Smuggler care if she betrays them?

 

Honestly, I think they did a great job foreshadowing that things would get even uglier after Vaylin, but I still say the side effects of Valkorian's eons of demented existence has to be lurking in this. Whoever it is, will be connected with him.

[Codedrago]

(Proof I'm not crazy lol)

 

We're all crazy down here!

 

It would suck if it were Theron too. I don't give two craps about Lana, but I can sympathize, it would suck if it was either of those two.

Basically, Bioware have screwed themselves over. They can't make an effective betrayal because the fanbase will hate them for making a character they like turn on them.

[Shepardess]

Basically, Bioware have screwed themselves over. They can't make an effective betrayal because the fanbase will hate them for making a character they like turn on them.

 

That's why I'm leaning towards it being the scions or someone boring like that. Single player game, no big deal if someone you wanted to keep betrays you, because you can always reload a save or do another playthrough etc. But with swtor idk how they would handle it if it were Lana or Theron. A lot of people are very invested at this point. Myself included

[Cassowen]

The Scions are supposed to help you. How is

sabotaging the throne and trying to sacrifice you to a god of destruction going to do anything beneficial to you?

 

 

Besides, Heskal only said they'd help overthrow Arcann and Vaylin, which you did without their help.

 

Well it wouldn't be the first time they did. How could we forget the arcann invitation.

[Codedrago]

That's why I'm leaning towards it being the scions or someone boring like that. Single player game, no big deal if someone you wanted to keep betrays you, because you can always reload a save or do another playthrough etc. But with swtor idk how they would handle it if it were Lana or Theron. A lot of people are very invested at this point. Myself included

 

Or that the traitor isn't a traitor by choice

[Ramalina]

Basically, Bioware have screwed themselves over. They can't make an effective betrayal because the fanbase will hate them for making a character they like turn on them.

 

Turning a liked or even loved NPC against the player character is the very essence of what makes an excellent betrayal story arc. Much more impact than someone you disliked and suspected all along (see Scorpio, Koth for DS characters).

 

The problem if that's the way they choose to go, is that they're likely to have a weak, inconsistent, illogical story about how the betrayal came about.

 

Having people yelling, "Why, Theron! Why did you do it?" at their computer screens is fine, and from a developer's point of view potentially desirable.

 

The problem is when Theron answers, "Well, I heard that when you recruited Nico you put a little umbrella in his drink, but at our victory party after defeating Valkorian you didn't put a little umbrella in the drink you gave me, and that made me jealous."

 

The great betrayal plot point is completely ruined by the utterly crappy writing.

 

Given their past performance I'd give them a 10% chance of doing a great job, a 30% chance of doing a decent job provided you ignore the dozen or so gaping plot holes, and a 60% chance of doing a complete face-plant.

 

On another past performance note, yes, they reused Vaylin's character model for the traitor, tattoos and all. Don't read too much into it though, the cape disappearance glitch is probably non-canon story wise, and beyond "thin, medium height, humanoid (the cape was probably also supposed to keep things androgynous)" it would be foolish to read all that much into the cutscene.

 

Bioware are understaffed to the point where they need every shortcut they can find just to miss a release date by only one week, and they love to recycle models. We already knew these things, and unfortunately the only things they foreshadow is that when this story finally finishes dribbling out there's a fair chance that it will be a large disappointment and below mediocre quality.

 

Bioware has demonstrated that they can hit the occasional home run given time and resources, but it's inconsistent and they're pretty short on both.

 

I hope they hit one out of the park with this, but I certainly don't expect them to.

[Ralei]

Or that the traitor isn't a traitor by choice

 

And I think it also hinges on how the traitor acts after found out and what choices you have to deal with them. If their plight is presented as sympathetic and if they come across as very sorry and ask for forgiveness and then we get the option to forgive them and everything is very clear about what happened, it could be fine to have it be Lana or Theron. Of course, if you hate one of them, you can just get rid of them, if that's your thing. Lana can easily replace Theron in the story and vice versa the way they've got everything structured. (Though, I think Lana will be easier to off, since she has no real place or connections to anyone in the universe like Theron has/does.)

 

If it's handled like Quinn, where Quinn was written to clearly and unflinchingly betray the warrior and be killed for it, but then they forgot that he was a female LI so they had to make it more ambiguous and then all these plot holes and questions came up around it and then they had to back track on letting you kill him so they needed him to be more sympathetic in order to justify not letting a Sith kill someone who betrayed them....... yeah..... what a mess. I'm not eager for anything like that to happen again.

[Celise]

2. While Master Shan is a plausible option, I just don't see her as effective for a non-FS class. Really why would the Bounty Hunter or Smuggler care if she betrays them?

 

I've seen this a few times but with what motivation would Satele act on? whatever action she chooses it will lead down a dark path and shes an older woman by the time of FE. she never truely had a run in with the dark side and she has sacrificed a lot personally and still come out the other side with a strong connection to the light side. She of all people knows how easy it is to fall to the dark side and shes very concerned seeing it in others as well.

 

She isn't concerned with material affairs because she has had her time and shes too old to start over as well. She is fully commited to the light side and going through everything she has in her life...

 

What motivation could possibly drive her to become interested in material affairs again and forsake the light side because i am not seeing it. Satele let go of Theron a long time ago even though she keeps tabs on his actions from a distance, she knows well enoughnot to form attachments and Theron is his own man now. There isn't anything between Malcom or Satele any more, they may work on a professional level but it still wouldn't be enough for her to drop everything and rage.

 

Or that the traitor isn't a traitor by choice

 

that doesn't make them a traitor, that makes them a puppet with no control over the situation and if it does go down like a roman candle they are the one who will suffer for someone elses actions. a scapegoat.