Sometimes the light/dark choices don't make sense.

[Celise]

You're arguing potential unforeseen consequences, I'm arguing whether the choice makes your character dark or light and in my opinion freeing a slave is something that would be done by someone with an innocent and compassionate heart and not a dark and evil one. Forcing and subjugating an already suffering being is the dark and evil option. The mother machine's actions afterwards are certainly dark side but her choice is not your choice.

 

That's just it, isn't it? If you release a monster from its special cage with its own agenda and goals which are never going to be aligned with yours, and it at best you only known it for a few conversations? Ultimately you are responsible for releasing such a monstrosity on the galaxy, and any actions it takes will be as much you fault as its, because you chose to let it free without accounting for all the risks. Unforseen potential future actions are apart of consequences and your responsibility.

[bluehufsa]

That's just it, isn't it? If you release a monster from its special cage with its own agenda and goals which are never going to be aligned with yours, and it at best you only known it for a few conversations? Ultimately you are responsible for releasing such a monstrosity on the galaxy, and any actions it takes will be as much you fault as its, because you chose to let it free without accounting for all the risks. Unforseen potential future actions are apart of consequences and your responsibility.

 

If i may ask, what do we know about the ritual performed by Voss mystics on Arcann? Do we have any guarantee it is permanent? Do we account for all the risks in that situation? Nope, we don't really do any of that.

[SiegePro]

My main thought on sparing Arcann is, yes, he deserves death.

 

But at the same time his death is just a single moment that does nothing more to make up for what he's done. All his victims would be just as dead as they were before.

 

His victims didn't deserve to die. Life isn't about what we deserve; its about what we do.

 

Letting him spend the rest of his life atoning for his actions under your supervision; even if he only saves one more life that would have died if you'd executed him; is a galaxy better off than it would have been otherwise.

 

If he turns out to be a danger down the road, sure, kill him because he's a threat to others then. Killing him when he's not a threat and might do some good before he dies is just making the galaxy darker than it needed to be because you prioritize punishing past deeds over what can be done to help others now and in the future.

 

Yes, that's not how things work in the real world, but we don't have something like the Force, cleansing rituals and space wizards who can discern Force's intent in the real world either.

 

In the case of murder I see it like this. A life was taken. A life is owed in return. A LIFE, not a DEATH. My preferred penalty would be for the murderer to spend a lifetime making restitution to the victim or their family (a dead murderer doesn't feed their victim's kids... but making them work to supply them with the food, clothing and shelter their victim would have provided were they alive will.

[Celise]

If i may ask, what do we know about the ritual performed by Voss mystics on Arcann? Do we have any guarantee it is permanent? Do we account for all the risks in that situation? Nope, we don't really do any of that.

 

Now your arguing for no other reason but to argue and this has nothing to do with the thread, take a step back please. Unless you contribute and i've already asked you once before, that means doing some of your own research first.

 

you'd already know of the risks because you seen it with a light side character, and you know it worked. You know Senya was always going to do this with or without your assistance. I can't answer to the effect of the duration, but considering it almost killed Senya and it is almost certainly a one way transferrence and again if you did some research on the sith warrior and jedi consular mission to the shrine of healing, you'd know that Voss take life from one and gives to the other.

Edited November 19, 2018 by Celise

[IoNonSoEVero]

My main thought on sparing Arcann is, yes, he deserves death.

 

But at the same time his death is just a single moment that does nothing more to make up for what he's done. All his victims would be just as dead as they were before.

 

His victims didn't deserve to die. Life isn't about what we deserve; its about what we do.

 

Letting him spend the rest of his life atoning for his actions under your supervision; even if he only saves one more life that would have died if you'd executed him; is a galaxy better off than it would have been otherwise.

 

If he turns out to be a danger down the road, sure, kill him because he's a threat to others then. Killing him when he's not a threat and might do some good before he dies is just making the galaxy darker than it needed to be because you prioritize punishing past deeds over what can be done to help others now and in the future.

 

Yes, that's not how things work in the real world, but we don't have something like the Force, cleansing rituals and space wizards who can discern Force's intent in the real world either.

 

In the case of murder I see it like this. A life was taken. A life is owed in return. A LIFE, not a DEATH. My preferred penalty would be for the murderer to spend a lifetime making restitution to the victim or their family (a dead murderer doesn't feed their victim's kids... but making them work to supply them with the food, clothing and shelter their victim would have provided were they alive will.

 

That's all true - but in Arcann's case the game doesn't give you the agency to ensure he's atoning for his actions in any way. He just becomes another member of the Alliance, and there's nothing said or shown at any point that he's working on the reconstruction, doing humanitarian work or doing anything at all to help the planets and people he's victimized. The next times you see him after KOTET he's apparently had plenty of time to sit around Odessen making armor for the Commander and lecturing them in the War Room.

 

If the game had offered a choice of, "You're going to jail forever" or "you're going to spend the rest of your life doing menial labor to rehabilitate every single planet you hurt," I might have taken them - but when the choice was killing him vs. letting him completely off the hook with no consequences, I'm always going for the former.

[Goreshaga]

That's all true - but in Arcann's case the game doesn't give you the agency to ensure he's atoning for his actions in any way. He just becomes another member of the Alliance, and there's nothing said or shown at any point that he's working on the reconstruction, doing humanitarian work or doing anything at all to help the planets and people he's victimized. The next times you see him after KOTET he's apparently had plenty of time to sit around Odessen making armor for the Commander and lecturing them in the War Room.

 

If the game had offered a choice of, "You're going to jail forever" or "you're going to spend the rest of your life doing menial labor to rehabilitate every single planet you hurt," I might have taken them - but when the choice was killing him vs. letting him completely off the hook with no consequences, I'm always going for the former.

Isn't there a mail from Lana after Voss where she said that he was spotted on Nar Shadda helping orphans or something like that ?

If he was doing things like that on his own, nothing says that he'd not do that kind of things with the Alliance.

And we don't know what every member of the Alliance are doing during their free time. For all we know Kaliyo could be bombing stuff here and there or Gault could be stealing money where it would be more needed.

 

If he lives, he gives you intel about the Eternal fleet and fights by your side first to protect Odessen and the Alliance, then to stop the Eternal fleet and finally to stop his father once and for all. He has probably helped save a fair amount of people by doing that.

Doesn't change the fact that he had killed a lot of people, but it's a start.

 

About my JK's reasonning about letting him live, it's simple, she considers that a dead person can't do anything to at least try to correct their wrongs, and having someone who can help her defeat Valkorion is a plus.

And he'll have to live with the weight of what he's done for the rest of his life.

 

 

And yeah i don't understand why a JK's flirting with Doc grants DS points when i don't remember a JC flirting with either Iresso or Nadia getting DS points for the same thing.

[JakRoanin]

Isn't there a mail from Lana after Voss where she said that he was spotted on Nar Shadda helping orphans or something like that ?

If he was doing things like that on his own, nothing says that he'd not do that kind of things with the Alliance.

And we don't know what every member of the Alliance are doing during their free time. For all we know Kaliyo could be bombing stuff here and there or Gault could be stealing money where it would be more needed.

 

If he lives, he gives you intel about the Eternal fleet and fights by your side first to protect Odessen and the Alliance, then to stop the Eternal fleet and finally to stop his father once and for all. He has probably helped save a fair amount of people by doing that.

Doesn't change the fact that he had killed a lot of people, but it's a start.

 

About my JK's reasonning about letting him live, it's simple, she considers that a dead person can't do anything to at least try to correct their wrongs, and having someone who can help her defeat Valkorion is a plus.

And he'll have to live with the weight of what he's done for the rest of his life.

 

 

And yeah i don't understand why a JK's flirting with Doc grants DS points when i don't remember a JC flirting with either Iresso or Nadia getting DS points for the same thing.

 

 

Dead people cannot atone for the sins they commit if they want the chance. Arcann wanted a chance or he would never have saved his mother from Vaylin. Killing Revan doesn't accomplish anything, in fact, it would have destroyed the galaxy. Revan killed far more people than Arcann, and no I'm not talking about the Monstrosity of TOR Revan, I'm talking about the REAL Revan KOTOR Revan.

 

 

The DS choice of ruining that Senator's plan to join the empire with the Currier Droid is STUPID the guy is guilty of Treason. I stop him every time Democracy is so stupid at times.

[Nefla]

That's just it, isn't it? If you release a monster from its special cage with its own agenda and goals which are never going to be aligned with yours, and it at best you only known it for a few conversations? Ultimately you are responsible for releasing such a monstrosity on the galaxy, and any actions it takes will be as much you fault as its, because you chose to let it free without accounting for all the risks. Unforseen potential future actions are apart of consequences and your responsibility.

 

Foolishness and naivete are not the same as the dark side. I never said the choice didn't lead to bad consequences, I said your character isn't dark or evil to make it. In Mass Effect 2 on one of your missions you come upon an Asari mercenary who begs you to spare her life and tells you that she's new and has never killed anyone. The paragon choice is to let her go, the renegade choice is to kill her on the spot with no mercy. Later on you learn that she was lying and she was actually a murderer. Learning that after the fact does not change your character's motivation in the moment. The light or dark side of the force are not about being a good tactician or predicting outcomes, it's literally about your motivations and heart. I say again, the one with good, selfless, kind, merciful, etc...motivations is light side. The one with evil, selfish, cruel, etc...motivations is dark side regardless of what may happen as a consequence of their action later down the line. You can be good and foolish, or trusting, you can be evil and wise and skeptical. If you're still going to argue with me over this then you're either arguing something different than LS/DS choices and alignment or you just like to argue for argument's sake.

Edited November 19, 2018 by Nefla

[IoNonSoEVero]

Isn't there a mail from Lana after Voss where she said that he was spotted on Nar Shadda helping orphans or something like that ?

If he was doing things like that on his own, nothing says that he'd not do that kind of things with the Alliance.

And we don't know what every member of the Alliance are doing during their free time. For all we know Kaliyo could be bombing stuff here and there or Gault could be stealing money where it would be more needed.

 

If he lives, he gives you intel about the Eternal fleet and fights by your side first to protect Odessen and the Alliance, then to stop the Eternal fleet and finally to stop his father once and for all. He has probably helped save a fair amount of people by doing that.

Doesn't change the fact that he had killed a lot of people, but it's a start.

 

About my JK's reasonning about letting him live, it's simple, she considers that a dead person can't do anything to at least try to correct their wrongs, and having someone who can help her defeat Valkorion is a plus.

And he'll have to live with the weight of what he's done for the rest of his life.

 

 

And yeah i don't understand why a JK's flirting with Doc grants DS points when i don't remember a JC flirting with either Iresso or Nadia getting DS points for the same thing.

 

It's all apparently rumors - you also find out later that he was getting new implants and prosthetics on Nar Shaddaa that were really painful. Every member of the Alliance is working hard, so I'm not going to give him any extra applause for that, either.

 

I respect that other people let him live for all sorts of reasons, but IMHO it still shouldn't be a DS choice to take the other route because the game gives no options to jail him or make him face any other tangible, immediate consequences or punishment for his actions.

 

But as for the JK romances, I'm with you on that. It shouldn't be DS to do the flirts/etc. It's also DS to accept an offer of sisterhood from the Twi'lek matriarch, which doesn't make sense to me. The village has felt marginalized and mistreated by the Jedi and Republic, and showing some solidarity could be important to changing that, but making a friend or an honorary family member is all dark-sided apparently. :/

Edited November 19, 2018 by IoNonSoEVero

[casirabit]

Yeah some of the DS/LS choices don't make a lot of sense to me. For example as a sith inquisitor on Belsavis, the mother machine tells you she was enslaved and her children taken away and used for slaves and asks you to free her. Your character knows how it feels to be enslaved and the mother machine has been nothing but kind and helpful to you and yet freeing her is the DS option I guess because she goes on to kill those who enslaved her but she didn't tell you beforehand she was going to do that so why is it DS on your part? At least you're given the option after she tells you what she did to be like "wait you never said you were going to kill them!" Keeping her enslaved is the LS option Some other times is when it's weird and contradictory such as it being a DS option to kill Thorus but being a LS option to kill Paladius. There's also the fact that if you flirt with anyone (including your companion) as a Jedi Knight it's a DS option but if you do so as a Sith it's not (I feel like it wasn't as a Jedi Consular either at least with Felix Iresso but it's been a while). .

 

No, I never received any DS points when I flirted and eventually married Felix but the romance part was a bit different than that of Doc (not that I don't like Doc)

[Nefla]

No, I never received any DS points when I flirted and eventually married Felix but the romance part was a bit different than that of Doc (not that I don't like Doc)

I would never flirt with Doc so I have no idea about that but I have male JKs who romanced Kira and/or had a fling with the matriarch's daughter on Tython and all of that got me DS points. Glad to see I wasn't remembering wrong about not getting DS points with Felix though

[MikeCobalt]

My Extremely LS Jedi Sentinel *Killed "The Voice" at the end of his Jedi Class story, not even a moments thought. he's (Vitiate) killed millions, brought wars and all the secondary issues associated with. It may be a DS choice but what if I hadn't? what would have happened? (This is before Valkorian and how he differentiates from what was at the finale of the Jedi story), or continued. Vader Killed Sidious, Mace *Should've killed Sidious before that. DS Choice or not it is the thing to do in the end.

 

Reinhard Heydrich (aka the Blonde Beast) was a high ranking official of the axis and killed outright, should they have tried to drag him to justice or just stopped it? Stop those types, now. Its worth a few DS points to Finish the horrid.

[Goreshaga]

It's all apparently rumors - you also find out later that he was getting new implants and prosthetics on Nar Shaddaa that were really painful. Every member of the Alliance is working hard, so I'm not going to give him any extra applause for that, either.

 

I respect that other people let him live for all sorts of reasons, but IMHO it still shouldn't be a DS choice to take the other route because the game gives no options to jail him or make him face any other tangible, immediate consequences or punishment for his actions.

 

But as for the JK romances, I'm with you on that. It shouldn't be DS to do the flirts/etc. It's also DS to accept an offer of sisterhood from the Twi'lek matriarch, which doesn't make sense to me. The village has felt marginalized and mistreated by the Jedi and Republic, and showing some solidarity could be important to changing that, but making a friend or an honorary family member is all dark-sided apparently. :/

It's been a while so i don't really remember but isn't the part about implants and prostetics only if you killed Senya on Voss ?

Yes it's not worth more praise than what any other member of the Alliance is doing, but he's still doing his part.

 

Hm, i think it's a DS choice mainly because the game considers it as a decision motivated by revenge.

You kill him and then what ? Will it bring back the people he killed or will it make the pain go away for everyone who lost people they loved ?

If he's alive he can at least try to do something to atone and help them, they may never forgive him and that's their right, but at least he can try.

 

I may be a bit biased, because i liked him as a character since the trailer for KOTFE, and spend the entirety of KOTFE hoping that they're would be a way to redeem him, so i was really happy when i got that opportunity during KOTET. And it was really fitting with my JK who redeemed Bengel, turned Praven into a Jedi, redeemed all of her fellow Jedi who fell under Vitiate's influence and even tried to redeem Vitiate (well she has clearly given up on the last one by the time of KOTFE).

I can understand the frustration when a choice does not really fit with our character though. The choices with Dramath were not that great, i wish there was a neutral option of promising to free him once he helped us take care of Valkorion instead of "sure, you're free, even if your help could be really needed" or "nope, you're my slave !", or if we could've tried a bit harder to redeem Vaylin.

 

Yes the one with the Twi'lek is a bit weird, the game considers that accepting that means you are attached to her, while it could only be a way to link the Jedi Order as a whole with the Twi'leks.

But the most disturbing about the flirts (i don't know about Kira as i've not tried that romance) is that for the JK it gives DS points when it does not for the JC.

And honnestly the JC-Nadia one was really creepy, especially since i ended up with no choice simply because my JC is a sweet guy who tried to be kind to her after she lost her father and i ended up locked in that romance without wanting to, because at some point i was left with 3 [flirt] options that locked the romance for good and it was too late to change my previous interactions with her. Well i'm replaying him right now, so this time he'll just be completely clueless about social interactions and be a jerk with her.

[JakRoanin]

my main thought on sparing arcann is, yes, he deserves death.

 

But at the same time his death is just a single moment that does nothing more to make up for what he's done. All his victims would be just as dead as they were before.

 

His victims didn't deserve to die. Life isn't about what we deserve; its about what we do.

 

Letting him spend the rest of his life atoning for his actions under your supervision; even if he only saves one more life that would have died if you'd executed him; is a galaxy better off than it would have been otherwise.

 

If he turns out to be a danger down the road, sure, kill him because he's a threat to others then. Killing him when he's not a threat and might do some good before he dies is just making the galaxy darker than it needed to be because you prioritize punishing past deeds over what can be done to help others now and in the future.

 

Yes, that's not how things work in the real world, but we don't have something like the force, cleansing rituals and space wizards who can discern force's intent in the real world either.

 

In the case of murder i see it like this. A life was taken. A life is owed in return. A life, not a death. My preferred penalty would be for the murderer to spend a lifetime making restitution to the victim or their family (a dead murderer doesn't feed their victim's kids... But making them work to supply them with the food, clothing and shelter their victim would have provided were they alive will.

 

amen!

[IoNonSoEVero]

It's been a while so i don't really remember but isn't the part about implants and prostetics only if you killed Senya on Voss ?

Yes it's not worth more praise than what any other member of the Alliance is doing, but he's still doing his part.

 

Hm, i think it's a DS choice mainly because the game considers it as a decision motivated by revenge.

You kill him and then what ? Will it bring back the people he killed or will it make the pain go away for everyone who lost people they loved ?

If he's alive he can at least try to do something to atone and help them, they may never forgive him and that's their right, but at least he can try.

 

I wouldn't know - I never keep him or Senya alive. I think that if the game did give the third option, as I said, some of my characters would take it, would send him to jail in the hopes he could eventually do something to help.

 

But for me, the way they framed it, with no tangible punishment and an obligation to take him into the Alliance, doesn't sit right with me. Even my Light V took the DS points and killed him.

 

More neutral options are a good thing, I think. The example you gave with Dramath is a good one. The Sith Inquisitor is allowed to bargain with the ghosts and agree to free them after they've helped, and it's a shame that it couldn't have been posed to Dramath, too. Asked the right way he might have been really eager to help actively take down Valkorion, but instead your only choices are to let him go or have that "will remember your cruelty" flash across the screen.

 

I have not played through the class story with a male JC but I can see how that relationship with Nadia could make someone feel uncomfortable. She's 22 but she comes across as very sheltered and naive, and there's the teacher-student relationship. I don't think I could play through that romance myself. I'm hoping that the 5.10 SGR will be less uncomfortable since she's no longer the JC's student, is much older now and hopefully has emotionally grown up.

Edited November 20, 2018 by IoNonSoEVero

[Goreshaga]

I wouldn't know - I never keep him or Senya alive. I think that if the game did give the third option, as I said, some of my characters would take it, would send him to jail in the hopes he could eventually do something to help.

 

But for me, the way they framed it, with no tangible punishment and an obligation to take him into the Alliance, doesn't sit right with me. Even my Light V took the DS points and killed him.

 

More neutral options are a good thing, I think. The example you gave with Dramath is a good one. The Sith Inquisitor is allowed to bargain with the ghosts and agree to free them after they've helped, and it's a shame that it couldn't have been posed to Dramath, too. Asked the right way he might have been really eager to help actively take down Valkorion, but instead your only choices are to let him go or have that "will remember your cruelty" flash across the screen.

 

I have not played through the class story with a male JC but I can see how that relationship with Nadia could make someone feel uncomfortable. She's 22 but she comes across as very sheltered and naive, and there's the teacher-student relationship. I don't think I could play through that romance myself. I'm hoping that the 5.10 SGR will be less uncomfortable since she's no longer the JC's student, is much older now and hopefully has emotionally grown up.

I took the DS points on my JK with Dramath because, even if she's LS it's somehow a bit stupid to get rid of someone who can help you defeat the big baddy of the Galaxy, and yeah i'm pretty sure he would've been up to help take down the son who killed him (seems like a family thing btw).

But i really don't like how it plays out, the way she talks to him and that sentence about cruelty

 

I think it'll probably be better for the reasons you listed. It'll clearly plays out differently and i don't think it'll play out as either you're taking advantage of her or she forces hersel onto you.

I really don't like the master-student romances and all 4 male FU have that... And this is why my JC and SI are still single

[JakRoanin]

Who is Dramamath?

[LordVitalus]

Who is Dramamath?

 

Vitiate's daddy.

[JakRoanin]

Forgot his name. I free him because it makes no difference really.

[Katpoohtoo]

Also, why is it a DS choice to tell Tazonthe Ghon ( old twilek from Kalikori village) you killed a lot of Flesh Raiders and avenged his father's death when you actually did what you said you've done? It makes no sense.

 

Absolutely. Consider the quotas that SWTOR asks for: “kill 20 Exchange members” “kill 40 sandpeople” Kill a quota of Flesh Raiders, etc. The game forces us to kill or be killed and then gives us darkside points for simply admitting that we killed. I realize that NPCs are programmed to react to your character as part of the gaming process, but it gets kind of ridiculous when they have no way to recognize you as an enemy, but they scream and attack. My characters don’t always wear (but they do own) Jedi-ish or Sithy-type outfits. Depending on their mission, they might wear ordinary (but stylish) type clothing and blend in to look like a farmer on Tatooine or a resident in the Corellian sector on Nar Shaddaa, but the NPC’s see your character and scream and shoot. You have to defend yourself and then you get DARK side points for speaking the truth.

[Katpoohtoo]

And it's still not your decision to make. You would still be killing him out of revenge which is still dark side.

 

It's not about "revenge". It's about getting rid of a jerk.

[Katpoohtoo]

And it's still not your decision to make. You would still be killing him out of revenge which is still dark side.

 

So we slaughter countless NPCs without thought, mostly because they automatically start screaming and shooting at us when they detect our presence, and we fulfill mission quotas to kill a certain number of NPCs even when they’re not aware of our presence until we attack, but suddenly, when it comes to a murderer of millions, we’re supposed to be concerned that he should go to trial even when the game makes it clear he’s not going to go through trial? I don’t indiscriminately kill everybody. I have so far always chosen to keep “King” Ulgo alive for trial and made other choices that would hopefully benefit the greater good further down the road (unless I’m playing one of my stupid darkside characters) and I get tired of having to get into a battle every few feet or kill the same blokes that I already killed before (which is why I like to play stealth characters that allows me to get around that problem). But I see no merit in allowing an UNREPENTANT mass-murder to walk, knowing that there is no trial waiting for him and knowing that he’d continue his murderous agenda. The only thing the game allows us is to trust the words of two people; the murderer who acknowledges his crimes and does not see anything wrong with what he did and Elara Dorne who has already shown to have integrity.

As for my “stupid darkside characters” comment, I’m not saying that all darkside characters are stupid. Most of my darkside characters are intelligent and would be considered “gray”, making both lightside and darkside choices depending on ethics and consequences and are not totally brainwashed by their training. However, I do have a couple of darkside idiots who make darkside choices that are downright evil and would actually set the Empire back and fuel rebellious anger. Mindless cruelty, fear and anger weakens the Empire and constant war to keep citizens in line depletes resources, but some Sith embrace the stupidity simply because they revel in having power over people. That idiot Sith apprentice son of the good Major Bessiker reminds me of that kind of Sith. In fact, that particular Sith apprentice always reminds me of Second Lieutenants in the military (I was in the Air Force in the 80’s). The STUPIDEST rank of people in the military who come out of OTS with privileges but no brains. No experience at administration or battlefield whatsoever, but they’re better than everybody else and their attitude stinks. That Sith apprentice had no respect for his loving and proud father simply because his dad didn’t have Force powers. It sickens me to have to keep that little jerk alive for the sake of his dad, and if I kill the apprentice, his dad knows that I did it no matter what and then I’m forced to kill the dad. Ugh. Anyway, a couple of my Sith are like that only because it allows me to see what would happen if I made all evil choices. Sometimes I as a player find the choice hard on the stomach but I keep reminding myself that that character is a darkside idiot and he needs to stay an idiot.

[cmcougar]

There are a few that stick out to me. As Nefia just said the dark side choice by the Inquisitor to Ashaa, the mother machine was odd. Surely it would have been a light side choice to free her? Not that I'm complaining ... that thing is god as far as I'm concerned and it thinks it owes me a favour. I want to cash in on that favour!

 

"You're beyond redemption" ... My shadow spent the best part of her career as a Jedi saving those being influenced by the dark side ... yet when she gets to Vaylin she doesn't even bother to try. Where was my magic box?!

 

 

I liken freeing the mother machine in this game to freeing the rachni queen in Mass Effect 1. Most of you comrades and the council as well think you're completely daft for doing it, but in the end, she helps you win the war.

[IoNonSoEVero]

Given the rationale for making freeing the Mother Machine a DS choice (ie, the potential for harm), I really felt the alignment for the SCORPIO choice was backward.

 

The Mother Machine is quietly sitting in her alcove on Belsavis and just wants freedom to create and avoid being forced to do things- but it's DS to help her.

 

SCORPIO proves to be extremely dangerous in the IA story, KOTFE and KOTET, and she plays almost everyone in the game to get her way - but it's LS to let her merge with a planet with extremely dangerous weapons and technology that has been known to kill billions of organics. Yeah, that's safe, sure thing.

Edited November 28, 2018 by IoNonSoEVero

[SiegePro]

The Mother Machine in the SI vanilla story vs. Scorpio in ET I think is a case of different authors with different standards.

 

The Sith Inquisitor (and Warrior and Agent) vanilla story generally applied a “best interests of the Empire” or “best of bad options” as light choices where both choices would be darkside by Jedi, Trooper and probably Smuggler standards.

 

A prime example would be the mission with the escaped slaves where the lightside option is to kill them all with a poison that is painless while the dark option is to use the poison the Sith Lord wants which will cause immense pain before finally killing them.

 

At that point in the class stories (since planet = point in time in vanilla even if you come back and do it when your class story is over) you are either an apprentice, a lower tier intelligence agent or some no-name bounty hunter. You simply do not have the level of influence you’d need to be able to actually save the slaves at that point. The most merciful thing you can do for them is take the mission to ensure they die painlessly instead of having some psychopath inflict the painful death option on them.

 

Thus, for that mission, kill them painlessly is the light-side option even though it would be absolutely a dark option for any of the Pubside characters. The Impside setting is so messed up that ‘least bad’ is the most good that is possible.

 

Once we get to the “one story for all” point (i.e. Shadow of Revan on) though not only were the writers different, but the light/dark choices defaulted to more generic good/evil ones because they had to cover the range from Pubside light to Impside dark.

 

That said, in the case of the Mother Machine one thing to remember is that she didn’t just want to be free to create new life forms. She also intended to genocide the entire Rakata species, even though the vast majority of those still alive had nothing to do with imprisoning her. Heck, those on Rakata Prime were probably close to a thousand generations removed from anyone who actually made the decision to imprison her, but the Mother Machine wanted to wipe them out anyway. That could definitely be seen as a reason that releasing her is dark.

 

Scorpio by contrast wants to merge with Iokath and promises to never bother anyone else in the galaxy again. You choosing to trust Scorpio to keep her word might seem nieve in the moment, but is the lightside thing to do (and Scorpio does keep her word if you take that option).