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#i want to play jedi fallen order again
weadapt · 10 months
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I think it’s interesting storytelling how in the beginning of the game Cal says the Sixth Sister’s name, Masana Tide, and reminds her of who she used to be—and it visibly distresses her because it hurts what was done to her and Cal isn’t wrong in what he’s saying. The shocking thing for me was the moment when Cal said “It’s time to set you free”. It was such a surreal feeling hearing Cal say that, those kinds of words, to know he decided it was time to strike her down; it’s understandable because she killed his entire crew, but for Cal to be the executioner in that way was scary to see coming after only experiencing the young kid he was in Fallen Order. Now you really get the feeling Cal has been through a lot, he’s grown as a man since Fallen Order and he’s calloused, not entirely in a bad way given he’d have to be to survive but still in a depressing way, as a result. I know overall and gameplay wise, Cal has killed a lot of people, it’s nothing new, but storytelling wise it’s a serious moment for Cal. It’s a moment you know is going to follow him the rest of the game for character development. After he kills her, it’s made clear by the music and by Cal’s body language that this isn’t a good thing coming from him. It isn’t a triumph. Even BD-1 knows and worries for Cal with his little “Boop…?” and Cal is only able to respond rather shakily, “Yeah… I’m okay”.
When he meets up with Bode and Bravo and they ask him what happened to the Inquisitor, he gives a simple, no emotion, “Dead”. The long pause of Bravo not saying anything in response to me says a lot; it feels like he isn’t used to Cal having a reaction like that.
Then we have Rayvis. Cal defeats him in battle and asks him to join in the fight against Dagan. He doesn’t want to kill Rayvis—“You don’t have to do this”. The oddly tragic part to me is that Rayvis has dreams of seeing Tanalorr again. If Dagan succeeds his dream will be realized, but he’s given up on the dream and wants a warrior’s death now. He wants to die, and in his mind, honorably, by Cal’s hands, and he’s going to force Cal to do it. But for Cal it’s another execution on his part. He pauses before he lifts his saber and kills Rayvis. It isn’t a triumph. Again we’re given a sudden swell of music to tell us the emotion behind the action of killing Rayvis. You can see it’s affected Cal badly. BD-1 seems to ask Cal the same question as before, “Boop…?” but this time Cal doesn’t acknowledge the question and just replies, “We should go”.
Killing Dagan hurts for Cal too. Dagan is a Jedi, someone who held onto the Order, who tied his entire identity to it and all of his goals are focused on restoring the Order and fighting to change the universe. Just like Cal in a way. Dagan is single-mindedly focused on the mission, so obsessively, he lost himself and the one he loved as a result. Cal understands and see the parallel of that kind of drive in his own mission against the Empire and it terrifies him. Dagan could’ve helped him fight the Empire but it became another tragic moment of having to kill a once fellow Jedi. This is another tragedy. Bode doesn’t care about Dagan being dead on the floor but Cal does. Cal has enough respect to place Dagan’s lightsaber on his chest. Cal pauses to reflect but Bode immediately gets back to getting the compass.
We have this interesting arch of reactions to killing his opponents. They were each killed for the mission. It was necessary. They each started the fight against him. No matter the reason though, it’s still very painful for Cal.
Cal is being pushed into this direction of forcing him to question his beliefs and who he is. His whole identity at this point has been tied to the Order, of being a Jedi, and it’s very clear by his conversations in Fallen Order that it really matters to who he is. By the end of Survivor, we have three fallen Jedi: Masana Tide, Dagan Gera, and Bode Akuna. So who is Cal Kestis? What will he become? Is he doomed to fall like they did? That’s what troubles him—“Let’s just say I don’t wanna end up like him [Dagan]”.
He’s afraid he’s going to lose himself.
The fear is almost realized when he’s about to kill another opponent. The one behind the murders of his friends and mentors. Cal’s been killing each of his main opponents up to the point at Nova Garon—this one will be no different. Except killing the man who sent Bode on the mission to infiltrate his team is different. Cal is on the edge of losing himself to the Dark Side. In Fallen Order he pleaded for Cere not to use the Dark Side because “She’s stronger than that”, “[she] still had a choice”. But Cal is failing to remember any of that for himself. He wants to kill because he’s angry, grieving, and in immense pain. Merrin has to bring him back—“This is not you!” There’s a question of whether or not Cal would’ve been able to stop himself if Merrin hadn’t been there though.
When we get to the final battle, Merrin is warning Cal of what’s likely going to happen but he ignores her for a while which prompts her to say, “Well? Say something!” He doesn’t want to acknowledge that Merrin is right and they’re likely going to have to kill Bode, and with that, taking Kata’s father away—a loss of family Cal and Merrin know too much about. So they both try and give Bode every chance to stop and turn away from what he’s done, despite how much Bode had hurt them. Sadly, Cal once again is forced into using the Dark Side to prevent Bode from killing Merrin. It was worth it. It was worth using it to save Merrin. He couldn’t let her be killed. He couldn’t see that happen before his eyes like he had with all of his friends and mentors.
After everything is over, there’s this sickly feeling left behind. Not simply because of Bode’s death, but because of the impact on Merrin realizing Kata has lost family just like she and Cal had, but also because of the impact the death of Bode has on Cal. And after Cal carries away Bode’s body, the music changes to an eerie, ominous, high pitch, minor key when we see Cal board the Mantis. The kind of change in music which lets the audience know there’s something seriously wrong. Things are different now. Cal’s different. And he knows it.
He’s lost in time watching the pyre, reflecting on everything that had happened but also on how grateful he is to Cere, but he knows the impact of her loss will continue to be with him for the rest of his life. Just like Jaro Tapal. Another guiding force in his life is gone. With Cere and Cordova gone, there is no longer any Jedi wisdom to seek out. He’s now alone in that way as a Jedi.
“I’m scared… I almost lost myself… I don’t know if I’m ready.”
Cal and the audience is left with the dreadful realization—
“I don’t know if I’m ready for what comes next”.
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cheriboms · 1 month
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my biggest qualm with jedi survivor is that i can no longer press down on the dpad to hear cal + bd1 saying hi to each other any time i want :(
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currentlyonstandbi · 6 months
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never gonna get sick of force pushing people off cliffs in this game am i
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ratbaby1566 · 10 months
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🐀🐀SPOILERS FOR JEDI SURVIVOR🐀🐀
Ok so I started playing survivor and I'm fucking loving it, like I could not have asked for a better sequel to my literal favourite game and it kinda makes me a little emotional but that's cause I'm a sappy bastard, anyway...
I got to the Rayvis boss fight
Immediately i knew it was going far too well for fighting a guy who looks like he fuck rancors with a high degree of success, got to the cutscene that happens when you completely deplete an enemies health bar and you win the fight, yeah? that's how it usually goes, right? WRONG. when this fucker came back with a full health bar and an updated move set I rolled around laughing hysterically for what i think was about ten minutes cause this motherfucker got two hits in and killed me immediately.
Now I'd like to say I'm good at video games, especially fallen order and is successor, but I have no idea how long it took me to beat Rayvis, i think I entered a fugue state after I lost the first time, the amount of time I got his health bar down 3 quarters of the way is a criminal offense. The last time I lost was because my friend walked in the room and kept asking me questions about what I was doing, at this point I was two hits a way from killing rayvis and on the verge of insanity.
Fortunately she fucked off (I love her very much but I simply cannot fight bosses when people are around and she specifically came in the room to bug me) and I won the fight in triumph and glory, I also didn't think we would kill rayvis the first time we fought him but I'm not exactly mad about it that fight was torturous.
Anyway, just thought I'd share, end of rant.
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i know i used to be like the number one Cal Kestis hater but over the past three years I have not only began to like him but now I think he might be on my dream blunt rotation
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bereft-of-frogs · 8 months
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hey can we talk about how Cere canonically composed the main score theme have we talked about this can we talk about this—
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jedimandalorian · 6 months
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Ahsoka Episode 6 “Far, Far Away”: The Story, the Symbolism, and the Score
Episode 6 of Ahsoka begins with the sound of distant purrgil calls as Ahsoka and Huyang travel through hyperspace, crossing the void between galaxies. During their discussion of the tales Huyang used to tell the Jedi younglings there is no music.
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I loved that Huyang said such an iconic line in this episode, reminding us that this is indeed a fairy tale, a children’s story.
The Title Card for Ahsoka appears, and then the episode title, “Far, far Away.”
We hear ominous music when Sabine is in the brig onboard the Eye of Sion. The window to her cell is shaped like an upside down triangle.
The sinister music continues during the scene with Baylan, Shin, and Morgan on the bridge. Morgan’s Theme (the Nightsister theme) is heard when the Eye of Sion exits hyperspace.
The line “Peridea is a graveyard” reminds us that this is indeed a “descent into the abyss” a stage of the hero’s journey which I have discussed on this blog before. Ominous music plays here.
The characters who are aligned with the dark side are on a quest for more power to dominate others. They have followed the Path to Peridea as a kind of path to perdition as I have mentioned in my previous metas. But Sabine, our heroine, is descending into the Underworld on a more noble quest. She hopes to find her beloved Ezra Bridger, echoing the story of Orpheus, the hero of Greek myth who descends into the Underworld to find his beloved Eurydice.
Morgan’s Theme continues when they board the shuttle and descend to the planet Peridea.
The landscape of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth is suggested by the giant statues and the Nightsister fortress, which resembles an evil version of Minas Tirith.
The characters encounter three Nightsisters, analogous to the Three Fates of Greek mythology, the Moirai. (Note the similarities between this word and the name of Ahsoka’s owl, Morai, a creature I predict that we will be seeing again soon.)
The three Fates were the personification of destiny in Greek mythology. The three sisters were known as Clotho (the spinner), Lachesis (the alotter), and Atropos (the unturnable, a metaphor for death). The end credits for this episode name these three Nightsisters as Klothow, Lakesis, and Aktropaw, clearly indicating the intended symbolism of these three characters. As George Lucas said back in the late nineties, “Well, when I did Star Wars I consciously set about to recreate myths and the — and the classic mythological motifs. And I wanted to use those motifs to deal with issues that existed today.” (From billmoyers.com) Lucas’ apprentice, Dave Filoni, has learned this lesson from the master himself.
The music is quieter in this scene, with sounds of low vibrations being heard. Morgan’s Theme continues when Sabine is imprisoned by the Nightsisters’ three orbs, which held her bound within a triangle made of red cords of energy.
Outside of the fortress three wolf-like creatures howl as ominous music plays. Choral music suggesting the mysticism of the fallen Jedi Order is heard as Baylan speaks of Peridea being a realm of “dreams and madness” from old “children’s stories come to life.” Once again, the viewer is reminded that we are being told a fairy tale, a myth. The musical score subtly teases the listener with three notes from Ahsoka’s Ronin theme in this scene.
Sabine is imprisoned inside the Nightsister fortress as the Chimaera arrives with the sound of ominous metallic rumbling. Thrawn’s flagship Star Destroyer was named after the female fire-breathing monster in Greek mythology which was part lion, part goat, and part dragon.
I am no Freudian, but the Chimaera’s open docking bay hovering over the phallic tower of the Nightsister fortress seems to be the most overtly sexual symbolism I have seen in Star Wars in a long time. However, I’m not here to discuss that visual metaphor.
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Organ music which anticipates but does not present Thrawn’s theme is heard as the Nighttroopers muster under Enoch’s command. These undead stormtroopers have cracked armor repaired with golden seams suggesting the Japanese art of kintsugi, as well as armor pieces bound with bands of red cloth. They are heard chanting “Thrawn! Thrawn!” as the Grand Admiral makes his dramatic entrance. For me this chant was reminiscent of how the orcs in Return of the King chanted “Grond! Grond!” when using their mighty battering ram against the walls of Minas Tirith. (You can do your own Freudian analysis of that scene. I’m not going there.) What was Grond?
“Grond, also known as the Wolf's Head, was a one hundred-foot long battering ram with a head in the shape of a ravening wolf, used in the arsenal of Sauron in the Third Age. Though named for Grond, Morgoth’s warhammer, it was created in the likeness of the Wolf of Angband, Carcharoth.”—from lotr.fandom.com
Creepy music accompanies the Nighttroopers as they transfer of cargo from the catacombs beneath the fortress. What is inside them? Dead Nightsisters, waiting to be revived by dark magic?
Thumps and low pitched sounds accompany Thrawn’s conversation with Baylan.
Thrawn speaks of Sabine’s desire to be reunited with her long-lost friend. (The word desire is a very intentional word choice, with the connotation that the connection between Sabine and Ezra has potential to be more than just friendship.)
Sabine: I’m sure he’s doing just fine.
Thrawn: You gambled the fate of your galaxy on that belief.
Sabine: You wouldn’t understand.
Thrawn: Perhaps not.
Evil does not understand love and loyalty. (See my previous post about the Path to Peridea.)
Enoch returns Sabine’s weapons to her, and she is provided with provisions and a wolf-like howler for a mount. He tells her to “die well” as she embarks on her “fool’s errand.”
The line about a “fool’s errand” calls to mind this scene from Tolkien’s novel, The Return of the King:
'Tell me,' he said, 'is there any hope? For Frodo, I mean; or at least mostly for Frodo.'
Gandalf put his hand on Pippin's head. 'There never was much hope,' he answered. 'Just a fool's hope, as I have been told…”
“A Fool’s Hope” was also the title of the penultimate episode of Star Wars Rebels final season.
Once again, Thrawn’s theme is only hinted at by the organ music at the end of the scene.
Sabine’s scanner is destroyed during her fight for her life with the red-armored bandits in the wastelands. Her life is saved by her Mandalorian armor and weapons, Ahsoka’s training, and Ezra’s lightsaber in this action sequence.
Baylan and Shin ride out on howlers. Nighttroopers load coffin-like cargo containers onto the Chimaera as uneasy music plays. Thrawn decides to dispatch only two squadrons of Nighttroopers. His disdain for Jedi, light or dark, is apparent: “It matters not whether Wren and Bridger are killed or stranded here. The same can be said for your two mercenaries.” Ominous music plays.
The scene with Sabine and the howler is accompanied by gentle music played upon wooden flutes. Sabine processes her abandonment issues and her complex feelings for Ezra in this scene by taking out her emotions on the howler. “You. You abandoned me. I should have known you are a coward.” She tries to make the howler stop following her, but the loyal animal comes back as soon as she walks away. “Okay. Fine,” she says. “I’ll give you another chance, but you better not bail on me this time.” The gentle flute music continues. A motif of ascending perfect fifths suggests Ezra’s Theme.
The howler stops to drink water and sniffs the air. The thing that Sabine and the audience assumes to be a rock is revealed to be a sentient little hermit-crab-like creature called a Noti. Gentle music plays when Sabine kneels, puts down her blaster, and extends her hand to the creature. The Noti recognizes the Rebel Alliance symbol (an evolution of her own Starbird design) on her pauldron. The creature has a medallion of his own, marked with a similar symbol.
“Do you know Ezra Bridger?” Sabine asks, touching her heart. “He’s my friend.”
Ominous music plays as Baylan and Shin discover the dead bandits. Once again choral music is heard when Baylan reminisces about the Jedi Order.
It is also revealed that the Nightsisters are fleeing from a power that is greater than their own.
Baylan and Shin see the red Bandits in the distance. “The enemy of our enemy is our friend,” says Baylan, “for now.”
Peaceful and noble sounding music is heard when Sabine sees the Noti encampment. She smiles at the mother Noti rocking her baby in a hammock.
With Sabine in the foreground, the camera pans to show a now adult, bearded Ezra Bridger wearing a red robe and leaning against the wall of his home. “I knew I could count on you,” he says as joyful music plays, music which features the piccolo, flute, and other woodwind instruments.
The closed captioning for this episode says that there is captivating music playing when Sabine and Ezra finally embrace. We hear a beautifully orchestrated rendition of Ezra’s Theme on the French horn with a new countermelody in the strings to heighten the emotional impact of this long-awaited scene.
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Ezra’s Theme is heard again when he says “Sabine, thanks for coming. I can’t wait to go home.”
When we return to where the Chimaera is docked with the Nightsister fortress, a suggestion of Thrawn’s Theme is heard at a quick tempo suggesting the urgency of the situation that is about to unfold. Ahsoka Tano is coming. “The thread of destiny demands it” is a line that further emphasizes the three Nightsisters playing the role of the three fates. We finally hear Thrawn’s Theme presented in an obvious way as the episode ends.
I have blogged about the magnificent end credits music in previous blog posts, so this time I am going to discuss something different: the alchemical symbolism in Ahsoka.
The central focus of alchemy was to transmute base metals into gold and create the elixir of life, as any aficionado of the lore of the philosopher’s stone knows. The process is a metaphor for the purification and transformation of the human soul to a state of perfection.
Three colors symbolize this process, black, white, and red.
First there is the nigredo (blackening) stage of the alchemist’s work, representing the breaking of the human spirit. This is where both Sabine and Ahsoka are at the beginning of the series.
Second is the albedo (whitening) stage, which involves washing away impurities or vices, and being ready to grow and learn again. This is most clearly illustrated by Ahsoka the Grey’s “death” and transformation into Ahsoka the White.
Third is the rubedo (reddening) stage, which is where we are in the story right now. It represents the purified and awakened spirit reaching its highest and purest form.
“The symbols used in alchemical writing and art to represent this red stage can include blood, a phoenix , a rose, a crowned king, or a figure wearing red clothes.”—Wikipedia.
The color red, of course, is symbolic of Nightsisters and their magic in this series, as well as symbolizing the red thread of fate.
Baylan Skoll’s line about having to “destroy in order to create” is an example of the alchemical concept of “solve et coagula” meaning to separate then join together. Nothing new can be built without destroying the old. Perhaps this is really telling us about the destruction and rebuilding of the Jedi Order.
In the completion of the rubedo stage there must be a union of sulphur and mercury, also known as the wedding of the Red King (the sun) and the White Queen (the moon). Sulphur represents the masculine principle, the soul, and the fire of life. (Remember Ezra’s red robe?) Mercury represents the feminine principle and the mind, flexible and changing. (Sabine is a clever young woman who lives inside her head, sometimes too much. Lately she’s been distracted by her heart.) Mercury also represents a state that can transcend death.
Is the much-discussed Ezra and Sabine hug the union of Sulphur and Mercury? Or should we expect something more than that?
Much has been written about Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati as the mythological wolves who chase the sun and the moon. This episode ends with the pair in pursuit of Ezra (sulphur, the Red King, the sun) and Sabine (mercury, the White Queen, the moon). When Skoll and Hati catch the sun and the moon, Ragnarok begins.
Besides sulphur and mercury, there is another element present at the rubedo stage of alchemical transformation: salt.
Ahsoka the White is coming.
Please reblog and comment on what you think of my musical and literary analysis of this episode of Ahsoka. I am looking forward to reading your replies.
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morkhan · 11 months
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Jedi Survivor impressed me so, so much. I loved Fallen Order, but I genuinely feel like Survivor was on another level. A few things I loved, full game spoilers ahead...
Cal genuinely feels so much older and more mature. It's incredible how much his interactions with the Mantis crew feel like a wayward adult son coming home again after a long time away.
Cal and Merrin's romance was beautifully built up and paid off, felt totally natural. Importantly for me, it required both of them to move the needle; Merrin to definitively make the first move and let Cal know she wants him, and Cal to finally acknowledge that he wants her too, that he isn't really a Jedi and that they weren't right about everything.
Cal using the Dark Side is portrayed as dangerous, but not inherently evil. The game does not vilify or punish Cal for using it, in fact, it does the opposite; it essentially says that it was necessary for Cal to embrace his darkness in order for him to survive. Importantly, it shows that even the darkness can be controlled; when Cal first uses it on Nova Garon, he nearly loses himself in it, but Merrin calls him back. When he uses it again on Tanalorr, he is in complete control of it, calmly using it to lift Bode off of him and partially disarming him before letting it subside. Merrin's final monologue to Kata in the ending says it all; your pain, your loss, it will always be a part of you. But it doesn't have to define you. Both Dagan and Bode let their pain and loss consume their entire lives, and it led directly to their respective ends.
When Cal kills Bode, he does so quietly and with no anger, and only after offering him multiple chances to surrender, all of which he rejected violently. Cal killed Bode not out of vengeance, but because it was clear that Bode was beyond reason. He was never going to stop. He was never going to accept any outcome other than the one that he had decided was best. And even then, Cal quietly takes a moment alone to mourn him, and respectfully gives him a Jedi funeral alongside his two mentors.
The entire final chapter is such a beautiful contrast to the first game's. Fallen Order had you storming Fortress Inquisitorious, fighting hoards of the game's hardest enemies and concluded with a bombastic escape sequence. The atmosphere was alternately oppressive, tense and exciting, full of mechanical reds and blacks. Tanalorr is the complete opposite; it is quiet and calm, an organic place of white rocks and blue plants. There are no enemies there other than Bode, a man whose paranoia has isolated him from everyone in his life, including the daughter he supposedly loves so much. When you find him, he is not even with her. When you beat him, there is no bombast. This is not a victory to be celebrated; it is a tragedy, one that you tried to avoid, but was seemingly inevitable.
"Ghost Star," the lullaby you hear Kata singing as you approach the final battle, is so stunningly beautiful and thematically appropriate that I am appalled there wasn't a full orchestral version of it playing over the credits.
So yeah, there's probably some other stuff I'll post about later, but man, Survivor really kinda blew me away.
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randomfandomblabdom · 9 months
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Fallen Order & Survivor Musical Themes
Has anyone done this yet? Here is a comprehensive list of all of the character themes/motifs found in the Jedi: Fallen Order and Survivor video games for anyone interested. I tried to give several examples of each and also included some of my own thoughts. You can listen to many or as few links as you want. If I missed anything please feel free to add on or let me know.
FALLEN ORDER CAL KESTIS - I'm giving Cal two separate sections because I'm pretty positive he now has two separate themes and in attempts to make it less confusing, I've decided to very creatively refer to them as Fallen Order Cal and Survivor Cal. I'm a genius, I know. Fallen Order Cal is consistently heard all over both games. It's his primary theme. It feels young and heroic and wide-eyed... Remember feeling like nothing could touch you when you were young? That's the sort of feeling I get from Fallen Order Cal. It's not happy per se but it's hope and optimism sprinkled with naive youthfulness and an undertone of solemnity. He's been through some serious shit but he's a kid, he's young. The grief and trauma are there for sure but they haven't encompassed him completely. There's still some hope behind those eyes, there's a healing journey to go on, and there's a chance to take on this Empire. It's only until Survivor that the theme starts feeling a little more grounded just like the transition from childhood to adulthood. Fallen Order Cal in Survivor feels a bit less magical, that youthful spirit has diminished, that hope has dwindled.
CAL KESTIS
THE PATH OF THE THREE SAGES
PEACEKEEPERS
A FRONTIER WELCOME
ABOVE THE CLOUDS
A STEP TOO FAR
SURVIVOR CAL KESTIS - So, I originally thought this was a minor key variation of a section of Cal's theme but I've since realized that it technically is a completely separate theme. That being said, thanks to @foxykatie425 in this insanely detailed reply to my frustrations regarding this theme that put what I was hearing into musical terms way out of my element in terms of explaining, I've realized that I may have been somewhat correct. I don't know if the two themes are actually connected, that would be a question for the composers but at the very least, it's definitely a secondary darker theme for Cal as it only ever plays in reference to him and I'd wager a guess that it's the main theme of Survivor as a whole. Compared to Fallen Order Cal, Survivor Cal feels drained, heavy, tired, burdened, and above all else, dark and foreboding. There is a genuine weight to this theme that just feels sinister. There is a hint of Fallen Order Cal there but as that post says, it almost feels like it's on the verge of falling apart. He's not the same man he was five years ago and the fact that this theme is the first thing you hear music-wise in the game and accompanies your very first view of him is an incredible way of subconsciously telling that to your audience right off the bat.
DARK TIMES
ABOVE THE CLOUDS - note: this theme and Fallen Order Cal switch back and forth constantly in this track and I find that so interesting.
NOVA GARON
NIGHTSISTER MERRIN - Merrin's theme is interesting to me because it doesn't sound anything like the type of music you might use to accompany a witch or magic user. It's not necessarily fantastical or whimsical or anything of the sort. In fact, it sounds more like something you might use for a superhero. It's a little bit timid or unsure or even afraid in Fallen Order but god damn has it built in confidence and strength once Survivor rolls around. The only time you hear that sort of timidness to it again is during the first kiss on Jedha which has such interesting implications for her being a nervous wreck in that moment. I also adore how it sounds as an action cue which you hear several times throughout Survivor. It sounds like it comes straight from the best MCU movies and yes, I do mean that as a compliment.
TO DATHOMIR
PEACEKEEPERS
MERRIN
THE WILL OF THE FORCE
TRIDENT
FLIGHT
CAL & MERRIN'S LOVE THEME - Look, I genuinely did not think they would actually go through with making Cal and Merrin canon, I honestly thought they'd chicken-shit out and I was certainly not expecting them to get any sort of love theme if they did but here we are... and we somehow got both. Cal and Merrin are canon and they got a love theme. Holy fucking shit. It just has all that warmth and sweetness of a friend-to-lovers romance too.
FIELDS OF DUSK - ORCHESTRAL VERSION
CAMPFIRE
A STEP TOO FAR
THE ABYSS
BD-1 - I said in my post regarding my thoughts on the Survivor score that these two video game scores are quite possibly the closest we've ever gotten to a John Williams sound from a composer(s) who is in fact, not John Williams. Not that every piece of Star Wars music has to sound like the big man himself, part of the reason The Mandalorian theme was so positively received was that it was such a different sound for Star Wars but I stand by what I said: this is the closest a composer has gotten to a John Williams sound and they have clearly done their research. Some people might not know this but R2 and 3PO have a very small motif heard throughout the films. It's not played very often and is sometimes not very noticeable but it's there and BD-1's motif is not only similar but definitely sounds like it exists within the same universe. I also love that droids are so often musically presented as very childlike, innocent, and mischievous. BD in particular has a very playful energy.
BD-1 AND THE BOGLINGS
MERRIN
THE WILL OF THE FORCE
TRILLA SUNDURI/SECOND SISTER - Trilla's theme legitimately activates my fight or flight response and when I say that, I mean mostly my flight response cause you won't find me messing with this shit. It's very much in lieu of the famous Psycho violins which were written to heighten your senses by emulating screams. I wish we got more of it cause it's intimidating as fuck and a piece of dark side art.
FIGHT AND FLIGHT
TRILLA
THE WILL OF THE FORCE
CERE JUNDA - Don't hate me but I haven't quite fallen in love with Cere's theme yet. That's not to say it's bad by any means, it's absolutely beautiful. It has such a deep melancholy vibe to it, like an inescapable sadness. It almost has a feeling of failure to me weirdly enough.
THE PATH OF THE THREE SAGES
DESERT RUINS
SIEGE
THE VISITOR
ENO CORDOVA - I've mentioned this before but again, for people who might not know: the music that is widely considered to be the main theme of Fallen Order - so much so it was primarily used during the recap at the beginning of Survivor - is Cordova's theme. It's such an interesting artistic choice because I think many people would've made it either Cal's theme or given the entire game its own theme in general. I listen to this one a lot honestly. It's so calming and safe feeling.
THE PATH OF THE THREE SAGES
FAILURE IS NOT THE END
ENO CORDOVA'S THEME
THE NARKIS ANCHORITES
BODE AKUNA - Yes, Bode does have a theme and you know what? It slaps. I really like it. It's very adventurous and feels quite friendly which is ironic as hell. It does get some heart-wrenching renditions nearer to the end of the game. It's the music that swells when he force-pushes Cal and everyone collectively shits themselves. Oh, it also has some dark renditions as well.
ABOVE THE CLOUDS
A STEP TOO FAR
BROTHERS
THROUGH DARKNESS
RAYVIS - As far as I can tell, Rayvis does not have a set theme but he is usually accompanied by high-playing strings and his boss fight music is the best example of that. I actually don't think a lot of Rayvis moments ended up on the score soundtrack which... how dare they.
WARRIORS CODE
DAGAN GERA - I thought Dagan didn't have a theme for the longest time but it turns out he actually does have a tiny motif that I do wish had been more thoroughly realized in the score because it's so menacing and I absolutely love it. It's most prominently heard during his last confrontation with Cal. He is also usually accompanied by low-playing horns. Not always but usually.
RELEASE ME
TO THE RESCUE
GRAND OCULUS
KATA AKUNA - I'm going to rant about this one for a second, okay? I have spent the last few weeks wondering what the hell the melody that plays throughout the track Through Darkness is. I was sitting here plucking out melodies on a piano app (cause I don't own a keyboard) and was like, "Okay, it's not Cal's theme, it's not Bode's theme, it's not Merrin's theme... what the hell is that series of notes??" Yes, I'm aware that not every note has to mean something but these just felt like they did. It's played at such an emotional point in the game and for two scores that already work heavily around themes and motifs and musical ideas, it didn't make sense to me that this little series of notes would mean nothing, especially at such a poignant moment. Funnily enough, it only just occurred to me while making this post that it's fucking Kata's theme. At least I think it is. Well, motif. It's not a fully developed theme but it definitely has the makings of one. That's not even me making a wild guess either, these notes appear in other places in the story that feature Kata.
NOVA GARON
THE ABYSS
THROUGH DARKNESS
GHOST STAR - I'm adding this for fun because I think it's gorgeous and I love it but it leads me to ask: why has there been no official release of Ghost Star? With or without vocals? This is a genuine question. It does not appear on the Cantina album nor is there even a snippet of its melody on the score album. It makes me wonder if the song was maybe added later into production? Trust me, I love the orchestral cover that has been going around and people are obviously seeking it out cause the track has gained thousands of streams in the months since the game was released. It was at 10k the last time I looked on Spotify and it's currently at 24k as of writing this. I'm just genuinely surprised EA/Respawn or hell, even Lucasfilm hasn't capitalized off that.
GHOST STAR
GHOST STAR W/ VOCALS
Thank you most sincerely if you made it all the way here :)
I liked this. I should do this for more scores lol.
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antianakin · 3 months
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I just got the chance to watch a full playthrough of Jedi: Survivor (I haven’t the funds to be able to play it myself 😭), and IDK if it’s just me but there were two things that bugged me. The first one being just how casual Cal seemed to be about killing his enemies— obviously he killed mooks in the first game, but in this game heads were rolling left and right, seemingly without a care in the world.
And that brings me to the second thing; I’m not certain it was just this guy’s playthrough or not, but it bugged me that the Dark Side was not only used as a significant power up, but seemed necessary to complete the final boss fight of the game without insta-dying. Obviously the Dark Side can feel like it’s more powerful in the moment, but the way the game seemed to passively encourage you to use it without consequence. Again, I haven’t played it, so I don’t know that for certain, but it certainly looks that way.
What are your thoughts on the matter?
I think the important thing to remember about Cal's story is that it's a video game and video games, by necessity, are going to be told a different way than the usual narrative. Cal is always going to have to kill a lot of enemies without it being that big of a deal because that's how these kinds of video games WORK. He's going to murder basically every stormtrooper and Imperial officer he comes across because that's the mechanics of the game. But we see that he offers the Ninth Sister mercy initially, he doesn't WANT to kill her, he only does so because she begs him to and it's more merciful to kill her than leave her alive. It's not cold-blooded murder. Same with Bode, he doesn't WANT to kill Bode and he TRIES to get Bode to stop so that he doesn't have to, but Bode refuses and Cal has to defend himself.
If you want to try to look at a more in-narrative reason for why Cal kills a little more often, Cal is a Jedi in a time when it's a death sentence to be a Jedi and the support he has is incredibly minimal. NORMALLY, Jedi wouldn't kill this much, but Cal is openly a Jedi and openly fighting the Empire to the point that his face is displayed really prominently on wanted posters in the middle of Coruscant. He's a huge target and he's trying to take down a galactic Empire. That's not something you can do peacefully and it takes everything he has just to survive. He's not living in a time of peace nor does he have the support of a major organization like the Republic to back him up the way he was supposed to, so he can't necessarily get away with being more merciful here. So yeah, he's more willing to kill stormtroopers and Imperial officers when necessary on a mission (and it's OFTEN necessary). While I don't think that necessarily indicates bad writing or anything, I DO think that it makes sense that Cal, as someone who's been doing this for five years now, isn't holding back very much.
Also, the storyline in this game is all about Cal having to struggle with his own darkness. In Fallen Order it was more about Cal figuring out what it means to be a Jedi, he's going around helping people a lot and seeing how other people are fighting against the Empire. In Survivor, he's been Knighted already and he's been out there fighting for five years. Everyone he cared about has wandered off to do their own thing and he has to build up a new crew that are almost all immediately killed off, starting Cal's struggle with darkness and feeling abandoned and losing his hope. He's confident now, and he is slowly losing more and more of the things he started to rely on, and that comfort with killing evolves into his more literal struggle with the dark side and having to let go of his own anger and fear and pain. He CAN'T use darkness to kill, he can't kill out of anger. And that's exactly what he does. It's hard, he nearly loses it, but he's able to hold himself back just enough to keep himself from completely falling. So while I think it's UNDERSTANDABLE that Cal, as a Jedi openly fighting against the Empire during this time period, would be more willing to kill people than show mercy in order to complete a mission, it's also part of the overall story being told about Cal in this game.
For the final battle, you DO have to use the dark side power-up thing in the fight, but the fight itself is just game mechanics, the CUT SCENES are the important story bits. Cal wins that fight WITHOUT killing Bode, he makes a whole speech about letting go, and then he turns away and when he DOES kill Bode, it's not with the power-up, it's not out of anger, it's just basic self defense. It's not entirely unlike Obi-Wan vs Maul in TPM where Obi-Wan IS sort-of reacting out of anger and a desire for vengeance earlier on but has to let that go BEFORE he kills Maul. Luke COULD kill Vader out of anger, we see how close he gets, but he ultimately chooses not to because he recognizes he shouldn't. Cal's fight with Bode is following in those same footsteps narratively. He DOES pull on darkness during the fight, but he's ultimately able to let go and doesn't KILL Bode with that darkness at all. It's a pretty basic Jedi storyline we've seen a few times before.
When dealing with video games that are telling the story, it's very important to separate the video game mechanics from the actual story. Quite often, the story itself isn't told through the regular gameplay and the gameplay can even contradict the story we're being told. For example, if you keep playing Survivor after the final battle with Bode, you can STILL USE THE DARK SIDE POWER UP even though Cal has NARRATIVELY moved away from that darkness already and would theoretically not actually be using it anymore at all and certainly not in like... regular little battles against the local wildlife. You can also obviously utilize it that way between the moment you DO get the power-up and the final battle, even though Merrin has already talked about how dangerous it is and asked Cal not to use it. The power-up in game mechanics is JUST a power-up, it has no character impact at all to use it. It's just another tool in your arsenal until you get to the cut scenes. What the dialogue is telling us is almost directly contradicted by how the gameplay works.
Hopefully this helps you a little. I like the characters and the story enough that I'm willing to sort-of work with what they give me to create a narrative that fits the way I want it to. I think there's a good story in Survivor about the impact of being a survivor of a genocide and having to fight against the people who want you dead for YEARS. I generally like the way that's handled and the messages being sent in this story. I think there's areas that are a little awkward and moments I like slightly less, but overall I really enjoyed it.
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See It Through
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pairing: cal kestis x gn!reader
summary: with thoughts of past rules plaguing his mind, cal starts to question whether he’s doing the right thing.
warnings: cal questioning his relationship with reader, established relationship, a little angst?, mostly just fluff, reader reassuring cal, talk of order 66, mentions of the jedi code
word count: 631
friendly reminder that comments and reblogs are just as (if not more than) important as likes!
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“Do you ever think this is wrong?”
You rolled over, cheek resting against his shoulder as you questioned, “This?”
His adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, his head just barely moving into a nod before his eyes finally landed on you.
“Us,” he clarified, his eyes straying once again as he couldn’t bare to look you in the eye as he questioned everything you had.
It was silent for a moment as you allowed him to collect his thoughts. Then, he spoke again, “I mean- We’re both Jedi and the code… the code says this is wrong. ‘There is no emotion. There is peace. There is no passion, there is serenity.’”
With a sigh, you sat up. This was far too heavy a conversation for pillow talk. “The code said a lot of things, it doesn’t mean it was always right.”
“But what if we’re just playing into the hands of the dark side?”
You looked at Cal as he too sat up beside you, his brows tense as his thoughts ran rampant.
“What if the code was wrong? Nothing good can ever come from suppressing your feelings, trust me. What if it’s part of the reason the order fell? An absence of emotion only gives rise to the darkness, Cal.”
Your explanation was sound but he still wasn’t convinced. More than anything, he was still afraid of the darkness consuming him.
“I’m still having those dreams… The nightmares…”
You placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and admitted, “I know. You talk in your sleep sometimes but that’s not you, Cal. You’re stronger than that, you won’t become an inquisitor.”
He nodded as he let your words sink in but the code still rang through his mind, echoing through every corner.
“Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force.”
He hummed in question, brows furrowing once again as his eyes landed on you. Those were the words of the code but they were different, not as he’d ever heard them before.
“After the fall, I fled. I was in hiding for years but I never gave up on the Jedi, on everything I had been taught. I travelled in search of knowledge. That is how the code used to be, years ago. We were never supposed to ignore or suppress our feelings. To find true balance with the force you have to feel your emotions and learn how to navigate through them, both the good and the bad.”
He hummed again, finally allowing your words to break through. “Control. Balance is about finding control.”
“Yes. Us… We’re not wrong, Cal. As long as we are in control of our emotions, we won’t fall into darkness. Besides, how can this be bad? What we have is good. Love is always a good thing.”
With a smile, his head hit the pillow again and he welcomed you into his arms as you lay back down beside him. “I love you too, you know?”
You closed your eyes, thanking yourself for the moment of quiet before Cal would inevitably drag you back into trouble again. “I know.”
The order had fallen but, by learning from the past, the two of you would build it up again. You’d make it better, reembrace the old teachings but move forward. There was a long road ahead and an empire to topple, but together you’d see it through.
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foxykatie425 · 5 months
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No one asked, but here are my hopes for a third and final Jedi game…
Things I want:
• A reason for the characters not to be involved in the OT. My prediction is that Cal will be forced to destroy the compass to keep the colony on Tanalorr safe from the Empire, leaving them stranded with no way out of the Abyss, but having a small but thriving settlement with everything they need to survive. And then some day, after the Empire falls, some other Jedi (whether it be Luke, Ahsoka, Ezra, whoever!) will have to go on a mission to reach them and reconnect them with the galaxy.
• Kata training with the Force. Most likely she’ll be trained by Cal as a Jedi, but there’s a chance Merrin could also be teaching her some Nightsister magick. I’m looking forward to Kata being a fully fleshed out character.
• Declarations of love. I guess technically we got a little of that in Survivor, but both of them have yet to actually use the L-word! And I think we’d all scream at an “I love you” “I know” moment!
Things I don’t want:
• A Merrical baby. As much as it would make my shipper heart happy, there are two reasons I don’t want this. Firstly, introducing another kid would take the attention (and by that I mean the audience’s attention) away from Kata, who has yet to really have her time to shine. And secondly, it would probably contribute to the next thing in this list I don’t want…
• Threats on his family pushing Cal to the dark side. At least in a super blatant way. I’m fine with Cal struggling with the dark side, and given the way Survivor ended I’d say it’s almost necessary. (Although, I can’t see him falling completely, that would not be a very satisfying ending to his arc.) What I don’t want is Cal dabbling in the darkness in the name of protecting his family. First of all, let’s not prove the Jedi Order right! Second of all, we’ve had that story in Star Wars before! More than once! Of course, that was one of the big reasons for Anakin’s fall, but we even had that in Survivor with Bode! And while comparisons between Cal and Bode might seem poetic, they would be a lot more poetic if Bode was still alive. Obviously everything that happened still affects Cal, but from a storytelling perspective, you can’t really expect the audience to draw parallels between two characters if one never appears on screen. Case in point: Cal and Trilla shared a lot of interesting parallels in Fallen Order, but Trilla is only mentioned in Survivor once, and it’s in passing. But if Cal started doing unscrupulous things to protect his family, he would very quickly be reminded of Bode and stop himself from making the same mistakes. (Besides, lest we forget, Merrin doesn’t need protecting!)
• Cal dying. (And not just because I want him and Merrin to have the first true happily ever after in Star Wars.) It’s always the looming threat in anything set before the OT, especially with Jedi. I mean, never mind Yoda’s declaration to Luke in ROTJ that “the last of the Jedi will you be” because that’s already been proven false in pretty much every way; I’m fine with assuming that, believe it or not, Yoda may not have known everything! However, Cal has made himself a pretty high-profile Jedi in the eyes of the Empire, and one would logically assume that if he was around during the OT, Luke would have sought him out. Thus we once again run into the question of “doomed prequelitis.” Rogue One played this trope completely straight. Rebels mostly did not, but notably the two major Jedi characters were both removed from the equation. One in the form of death, and the other in the form of semi-voluntary intergalactic exile! (Of course there’s the loose thread that is Ahsoka, but there are lots of plausible ways to keep her out of the OT, so we’ll save that discussion for another day.) My point is the status quo that is established at the end of Survivor would not keep Cal and company off of Luke’s radar. They are still involved with the Hidden Path, which presumably would have ties with the larger Rebellion, and they would surely keep doing that as long as they are able. However, killing off Cal would be the easy way out in terms of storytelling. Even if his death was some kind of heroic sacrifice, it would once again be a story we have already seen many times in Star Wars. It would be lazy, repetitive writing, and with the time capsule that is Tanalorr, it does not need to be that way. All we need is a reason that they can’t leave Tanalorr and a reason no one can go in after them. Hence why I think the last compass will be destroyed!
Obviously these are just some overarching ideas for what I think the third game should look like and have little to do with gameplay or any kind of specific plot. I’ll leave that to Respawn! 😉
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namjoon-koya · 1 year
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Chapter One: A new hope.
Summary: You grew up on Mandalore with your adoptive parent, you accepted the creed and lived the way as a Mandalorian as your buir taught you. Until the Great Purged happened that night you witnessed your entire home being destroyed, your buir laid down their life to save yours. You managed to get away from Mandalore and you wandered alone for a few years until you met Cere and Greez, Cere told you her plan about rebuilding the jedi order and taking down the empire. You wanted to avenge your family, your home so you agreed to help them. The last thing you expected was to fall for a jedi and follow him wherever he went.
Pairing: Cal Kestis X Mandalorian fem!reader. (I won’t be using Y/N as I will be mostly using you or she/her pronouns.)
Word count: 4.7k
Author notes: I’ve played through Jedi: The Fallen Order and wanted to write a series for it, hope you guys enjoy it! This series will follow the gameplay (with a few different dialogues so the whole reader fits in)
Warnings: violence, language, mentions of injuries.
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You took the rag that was on the table and began to clean your blaster, you looked over at Greez who was currently cooking dinner for you and Cere. Greez would always cook whenever a big job was coming up, you assumed it was to calm his nerves about going headfirst into a fight with the empire. You couldn’t blame him though the empire has destroyed everything they deemed a threat to their empire, you still remember those di’kut coming to Mandalore and murdering anyone in their sight.
“Buir! We must go!” you shout as you go to grab their arm, even while you were never allowed to remove your helmet. Your Buir knew you were afraid; they couldn’t blame you though you were still only a foundling. “You have to be brave now adiik, you must run and get away from Mandalore.” “What about you?” Your buir didn’t answer you instead they gently bumped their forehead against yours, “This is the way.”
“Hey kid!” Greez’s voice was quick to snap you out of your memory “Yes Greez?” You said as you went back to cleaning your blaster, “I’ll leave your plate here so you can eat later.” You nodded; you never took off your helmet even after Mandalore. Even when you met Cere and Greez you told them it was part of your creed and it was the one thing that you were still able to hold onto, Cere understood and thankfully so did Greez. “We’re approaching Bracca.” You heard Cere’s voice from the cockpit, you place your blaster in your holster and move over to where Cere was.
“Remember we’re here to find a Jedi named Cal Kestis” She said informing Greez and you, “and what makes you so sure he’s special?” You asked Cere she gives you a small smile “You do believe in hope, right?” She asked, you were glad for your helmet because she would’ve seen the doubt on your face when she asked you that. You haven’t believed in hope ever since the Great Purge on Mandalore, you didn’t want to get your hopes up only to lose it again like you did when you were alone. As you were lost in your thoughts you heard a loud sound erupt from outside.
You quickly look out the window and noticed a few empire starfighters “Shit! Cere they must’ve found him!” You shout, “Look there!” Cere shouts, you look and see a starfighter getting ready to blast at someone, Greez was quick to shoot at the starfighter you rush to the opening of the ship and press the door open “Hey what are you doing?!” Greez shouts, you decide to ignore him. As the ship door opens you saw him quickly look over at you, “keep moving!” You shout at him.
“And who are you?” You roll your eyes, was this really the time to be asking that? “Just keep moving forward! We’ll find a place to get you on the ship!” He only nodded and Greez pulled away quickly, “another starfighter is after us!” He shouts as he flies the Mantis away quickly, you place your hand on the wall to keep you from falling.
“Shit! They shot the train! Get ready to help Cal!” Cere shouts, you nod. Greez positions the Mantis and you watch as Cal comes sliding down the train, you hold your hand out “You have to jump!” You shout and Cal did what you said, but he was barely able to grab onto the edge of the platform. “Hold on!” You shout as you try sliding towards Cal as he’s about to reach for your hand a sudden blast hits the mantis, “Fuck!” You shout as Cal’s hand slips making him fall. “Cere he’s falling!” You shout “Greez try following him!” Greez nodded and tried following Cal, shit you didn’t think he would survive a fall like that. You’d be surprised if he did “He’ll be fine, relax.” You heard Cere say from the cockpit, even with your helmet on Cere often could read your emotions.
“I see him, get the door ready.” Greez says, when you look out the window you see Cal fighting against an inquisitor. You knew it was the second sister you rushed towards the door and open it; you see Cal on the ground rubbing his head “Get on!” You shout getting his attention, Cal was quick to get on his feet and limp his way over to the Mantis. That’s when you saw her the second sister with her red lightsaber glowing, she tilts her head to the side as she stares at you. “Funny I thought Mandalorians were extinct, I guess the empire didn’t wipe all of you out.” You didn’t say anything, instead you pushed Cal inside and pulled out your blaster and began to shoot at her.
She managed to dodge it and even use her lightsaber to deflect them back to you, you weren’t worried about it hitting you. Your armor protected you well enough, but when you saw her running towards the Mantis you knew she wanted to strike you down with her lightsaber. You press a button to get the door to close “Cere, Greez! We have to leave now!” You shout, as she gets close the door finally closes protecting you from her lightsaber. You and Cal rush to the front and see the second sister jump on the ship, she tried getting control of the ship. The mantis starts to spin around you hold onto anything, so you didn’t end up falling. Cere was quick to help Greez get control back on the ship making the second sister fall off from the mantis, Greez quickly sent the four of you into hyperspace and away from Bracca.
You let out a sigh of relief as you go sit down, “okay, shut that thing off and grab a seat.” You hear Greez say from the cockpit, Cal shut off his lightsaber “thanks for the help, but who are you people?” Cal asked as he and Cere joined you, “My name is Cere Junda, and this is my captain Greez Dritus.” Cal looked over at you waiting for you to introduce yourself, you crossed your arms and only stared at him back. Cere cleared her throat “She’s a close friend of mine, she’s a Mandalorian.” Cere said and Cal only managed a small nod “Who was that back there?” he asked Cere, “An imperial inquisitor she’s a force user hunting down Jedi survivors and now that she knows who you are, she will not stop until she destroys you.”
“How do you know so much?” Cal asked, “And why’d you help me?” Cere stared at Greez and you “We track imperial communications; we heard the inquisitors were heading to Bracca so we made our move.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s the bounty on Jedi these days anyway?” Cal said as he crossed his arms, “Hey di’kut you’re allowed to leave anytime nobody is stopping you.” You said to him, Cere and Greez risked their lives to save him and that’s the thanks he has for them? You didn’t want to listen to their conversation anymore, you decided to get up and leave to your room. As you close the door you finally take off your helmet Maker you were exhausted from today, you lay in your bed and slowly began to close your eyes.
“Adiik?” You open your eyes and see your buir near the door “Buir? You’re home late.” You said rubbing your eyes, they nod “I was in a meeting with the others, we were discussing the ceremony for you to accept the creed.” Your buir saw the way your eyes light up in excitement, they chuckled “are you excited?” “Yup! That way I can finally go with you to different planets! I want to see different parts of the galaxy.” You didn’t know that the incoming days would be the last with your buir, you wished that the both of you weren’t on Mandalore when the Great Purge happened.
You suddenly woke up when you heard a soft knock at your door, you quickly put on your helmet and walked over to your door to open it. When you did you saw Cal standing there, he awkwardly rubbed the back on his neck “Cere is calling for us.” “I’ll be there.” Cal continues to stand there, before you could ask him what’s wrong, he quickly apologizes to you “Listen, I’m sorry about before… I was just being caution.” You sighed “Cal don’t worry about it I understand, trust me Mandalorian beskar goes for a high price too.” He smiles “we should get going before Cere becomes inpatient.”
You follow Cal out and see Cere standing near the hologram “You two are finally up.” She said looking at Cal and you, you already knew she smiling at the sight of seeing you and Cal getting along. “We’ll be landing in Bogano, I’m sure you remember it right?” she asked you “Oh how could I forget the adorable bonglings.” You say to Cere, “You thought those things were cute?” Greez asked, “Hey don’t be jealous just because one of them let me touch it while they kept running away from you.” You teased Greez grumbles and Cere just chuckles, as Greez lands the ship you follow Cere and Cal outside.
“A Jedi I knew discovered this place before the Purge, you won’t find it on any maps.” Cere explained. “The empire doesn’t know this place exist?” “No.” “So what’s the plan...We hide out here?” Cal asked. “We’re done hiding Cal. See that structure over there?” She pointed towards a direction where it seemed to be a tall tower, “I believe that vault holds the key to rebuilding the Jedi order, but it requires someone strong in the force to pass its test.” Cere said to Cal, “and since you’re not a Jedi anymore that’s why you need me.” “I know you don’t trust me and I’m not really sure I trust you, but we have a common enemy and a common cause I’ll share more of plan after you reach the Vault, but until then there’s someone here, I think you should meet.” Cere begins to walk towards the Mantis “May the force be with you both.” When Cere said that you quickly looked over at her, she wanted you to go with Cal? Before you could even ask her, she was already inside the Mantis, “Guess we’re looking for a Jedi then?” he asked you.
You could only tilt your head “I’m assuming so, but I can’t entire the vault with you.” Cal only nods “Then I hope you can keep up.” He teases. You rolled your eyes as you start following him, you noticed a few bonglings jumping from one hole to another. “Have you been here before?” he asked, “Yeah, but I’ve never ventured far it was only Cere.” You hear Cal hum in response, as you follow Cal he comes to a stop “This looks like a safe space to meditate.” You didn’t respond you watched as he sits down on the ground and closes his eyes, you made sure to remain quite as you didn’t want to disturb him.
Suddenly though you heard a small noise coming from somewhere, you placed your hand on your blaster getting ready to protect Cal until a small droid jumped down in front of you almost startling you a bit. “Maker you scared me little guy.” You said taking your hand away from your blaster and placing it on your hip, the small droid beeped again and looked at Cal. He was still meditating “he’s a little busy just give him a few minutes.” You say to the little droid he places himself in front of Cal patiently waiting for him, you hear Cal suddenly let out a sigh before looking down at the droid in front of him “Hey, BD-1 I’m Cal.” BD-1 responses back to him, “uhm yeah I’m okay, we’re just looking for someone.” BD-1 beeps again “No, not you. We’re searching for a Jedi or something like that.” Suddenly BD-1 jumps in excitement almost like BD-1 is telling you both to follow.
“Hold on, you know the Jedi? What do you know?” BD-1 doesn’t explain instead telling you both to follow again “wait! Hold on.” You watch as BD-1 slices a platform allowing a small bridge to pull out making it easier for Cal and you to climb the vines “maybe BD-1 could lead us to the vault?” You asked as you follow Cal “Hopefully it would make it easier to get there.” You hummed in agreement, as the both of you follow BD you noticed BD going into a cave-like home. You suddenly saw a creature attacking one of the bonglings BD quickly rushed to save it, but the creature only ended up attacking BD in the process. “Hold on BD-1, I’m coming.” Cal says as he lets go out the pole and rushing the creature with his lightsaber.
As Cal took care of the creatures you picked up BD-1 and examined him “Shit Cal?” “What’s up?” you showed Cal the damage that happened to BD-1, “That was pretty brave of you to protect the bongling.” Cal said to BD-1, BD sadly beeped back at Cal “wait I think I can fix him.” You tilt your head as you follow Cal, he uses the force to slow down a giant fan-like object. As you follow Cal inside you see a workbench, “Here give me BD.” You gently pass BD to Cal and that’s when Cal gets to work on fixing BD’s leg, “okay how’s that?” BD jumps on one leg to the other to test it out, he beeps happily at Cal before beeping at you.
“Nice job.” You said nudging gently at Cal’s shoulder. “Hm, I didn’t expect to get a compliment from a Mandalorian.” Cal said smirking at you. “Don’t get used to it.” As you and Cal start to find your way out of the cave you saw an area that looked like it leads outside, “Oh hey you found a way out.” Cal took out his lightsaber and was getting ready to cut the wires away, you barely noticed that it was electrocuted “Wait Cal!” it was too late to warn him, Cal flies backwards as his lightsaber connects with the wires. “Dank farrik!” you rush to Cal and gently help him sit up “I’m alright.” Cal said letting out a painful groan “No you’re not, Cal that could’ve killed you.” You’re not sure what you could give Cal for his pain, you forgot to bring your bacta.
You heard BD-1 let out a beep as he rushed to your side and Cal’s suddenly BD-1 popped something out “a healing stim?’ BD beeped happily “Nice BD.” You gently patted his head, Cal used the stim “that’s better, thanks little droid.” Cal said as he starts getting up “Okay, let’s try this again.” Cal goes to cut the wires again until he felt a tug on his leg, “Cal it looks like someone’s attached to you.” You said gently nudging his side “okay then, hop on board.” Cal said placing BD on his shoulders, “so how’d you get here?” Cal asked BD, BD responded “Don’t remember? I’ve never known a forgetful droid.” BD responded back “Well I can’t argue with that.”
As you followed Cal out you noticed at times, he would spot an area and hold out his hand, it confused you was there something that you didn’t, “Cal?” “Yeah?” “Do you see something I don’t?” You asked, Cal came to stop. “I can feel the force, it’s almost like an echo if that makes sense. It’s almost like I can read someone’s stories and emotions through it.” You titled your head “Can every Jedi do that?” You asked, “I’m not sure, I think it’s rare I was just born with it I guess.” You hum.
“That’s neat.” “Is it?” “You can connect to someone’s story; I think that’s neat.” You said to him, “I thought you told me not to get used to getting compliments from you.” You were about to make a remark at him back, until you saw how close you two were getting to the vault. “Here I think we just have to zipline down.” Cal said, you nodded in agreement “I’ll go first.” You waited your turn as Cal zipped line down to a cliff, you followed after. As you got to the cliff BD let out a few chirps, “I don’t think we can go that way BD.” Cal said to him, “I think I can get to that cliff using my jetpack, but I’m not sure if I would be able to carry you.” You told Cal.
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll find my way up there. I’ll meet you there?” You were hesitating about it, Cere told you both to stick together, but Cal did have a lightsaber and BD with him. “Okay be careful.” You told him “Are you starting to warm up to me? I feel safer now being on good terms with a Mandalorian.” Cal teased again “CAL!” You got ready to punch his shoulder, but Cal quickly jumped down dodging your attack. You sighed as you flew onto the edge of the cliff, as you slowly walked towards the vault you realized it didn’t have an opening.
“How the heck is Cal going to get inside?” You mumbled. You decided to take off your helmet, Cal wasn’t here, and you were positive nobody was here besides you guys. The wind felt nice and so did the sun against your skin, as you looked out you started to realize how peaceful Bogano was besides the creatures who resided on Bogano. Maybe that’s why cordova decided to live here? You wondered what you would’ve been doing now if the empire didn’t take over, would you have traveled the universe to different planets or stayed on Mandalore? You heard a sudden noise and quickly you put on your helmet, that’s when you saw Cal and BD. “Hey! How’d it go?’ you asked as BD and Cal jogged up to you, “I… actually reconnected with the force.”
“Cal, what do you mean?” You three made your way to the vault as Cal started to explain to you what he meant, “after the purge and… the death of my master I lost my connection with the force, so I forgot a few of my training. Somehow, I was able to reconnect to the force and I picked up a trick.” Before you could ask what, he remembered the three of you were finally at the top of the vault. Cal placed his hand on what seemed to be a gold-like wall, you watched as he closed his eyes almost like he was focusing on it. Suddenly you saw the wall slide up, both you and Cal looked at each other.
“I should probably stay out here.” You told him, he only nodded “Be careful in there.” “You too.” You watched as Cal disappear inside the vault, as you patiently wait for Cal you noticed something moving in the water in front of the vault. You decided to go see what it was, you knew there were creatures on Bogano. Yet you haven’t encountered much of them or had to shoot at one, as you got closer a large creature emerged from the water and it did not look friendly at all. “Shit!” you shouted as you dodged out of the way as the creature tried attacking you, what in the maker was it?! You said to yourself as you focused on not getting crushed by that thing.
You took out your blaster and began to shoot at it, you’re not sure how many times you would have to continue to attack it before it finally left you alone. As you tried dodging its attack again it was able to graze your leg, you let out a painful grunt. You heard someone running behind you, it was Cal he quickly turned on his lightsaber and attacked the creature. “Are you alright?” he asked as he stood in front of you guarding you in case the creature tried attacking you again, “I’m fine, it was just able to graze my leg a bit.” You said as you stood up, “I can still fight if that’s what you’re asking.” You pointed your blaster at the creature and that’s when you two began to attack it, thankfully with Cal at your side the fight didn’t last too long.
“Do you need a stim?” Cal asked as he turned off his lightsaber, you notice his eyes scan down to your leg. “I have bacta back at my room, I’ll be fine. What did you find out?” You asked as you place your blaster away, “There’s a holocron that contains the future for force-sensitive children.” When Cal told you that you could see the way his eyes light up in happiness “Cal, that’s great.” You said as you both made the journey back to the Mantis, once arriving back you saw Cere outside waiting.
“You passed the test.” “So, you knew about BD-1?” “C’mon board, we’ll take inside.”
You and Cal made your way inside the Mantis, once inside BD-1 jumped off Cal’s shoulder “Oh, BD-1 this is Greez. Hey, Greez.” Cal said, BD-1 quickly jumped on the sofa “what is that?” BD-1 chirped “Get off my sofa! Get… Get off my sofa! Go! Get outta there, Get out!” Greez said as he chased BD-1. BD-1 quickly took cover on your shoulder instead of Cal’s, almost like he was telling Greez that he has a Mandalorian to protect him. “That’s BD-1.” Cal said look over at you both, “He’s with us.”
“I don’t care who’s he with. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get oil stains out of potolli-weave fabric?” “Not really.” Cal said as he walked away from Greez and stood near you and BD-1, “Oh, I hope you found something better out there than this droid.” Greez complained, “Oh calm down greez he did.” Cere said.
“Tell us Cal.” “The vault was built by an ancient civilization called the Zeffo, A Jedi named Eno Cordova hide something inside of it.” “What did he hide inside?” Cere asked. “A holocron from the archives, it contains a list of force-sensitive children.” “The next generation of Jedi. I knew it! Ah Cordova you old fool.”
“You knew him?” Cal asked, “Yes, a long time ago. I was his apprentice. Cordova was a loner, that little droid and I are probably the only ones that know about Bogona.” Cere said. “Hold on, wait a minute, wait a minute. A holo-what?” Greez asked. “A holocron, it stores information, but only accessible to Jedi. Hang on I think I have one around here.” Cere said as she left to go grab it, the four you follow behind. Cere holds what seems to be a small box, she hands it to Cal “Use the force.” As Cal focuses on it, the box begins to open.
“This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen…”
The box closes ending the message, “with that list of force-sensitives, we could rebuild the Jedi Order and defeat the empire.” “Okay no problem. Let’s get it.” Greez says as he starts walking towards the cockpit, “Expect the holocron is hidden deep inside the Vault and to get it we have to follow Cordova’s path, he mentioned something about the planet Dathomir and a Zeffo homeworld.” Cal explained “Alright, well where are we going? I’m just asking, ‘cause I was thinking of maybe making some food.” Greez said.
“Look, before we do anything. I need to know something.” Cal sat as he looked over at Cere “How come you’re no longer a Jedi?” You watched as Cere casted her eyes down “I had an experience that… changed my perspective, So I cut myself off from the force.”
“But you still want to rebuild the order?”
“I believe that rebuilding the order is the best chance we have against the Empire, what do you believe?” Cere asked Cal, you saw he hesitated to answer before saying “I believe I can’t keep hiding from the Empire. So, I really don’t have a choice.” “Cal as long as you’re alive you will always have a choice, are you with us?” Cere asked, Cal looked over at you then to BD-1 who was still perched on your shoulder. “We’re in.” he said as BD-1 chirped happily “Dathomir or Zeffo? It’s your choice.” Cal walked over to the Holotable and picked Zeffo for the next destination “Hey kid, what happened to your leg?” Greez asked, shit you forgot all about that “some creature, I’m going to go clean it up.” You say as you leave to your room, you placed BD-1 down on your bed. You go to take off your helmet until you realize BD was with you, but… it wouldn’t count right? He’s not a living thing technically. BD-1 beeped curiously, you slowly take off your helmet and place it down on your bed, you watch as BD-1 starts scanning it.
“Do you have a thing for studying things?” you asked, and BD-1 chirped, “I’ll take that as a yes.” You say as you find the bacta and start cleaning your leg, “Maker I didn’t realize that it got me that badly.” You say to BD, you heard a knock on your door “Busy come again later.” “It’s Cal is BD with you?” he asked from the other side of the door, you picked up your helmet and put it back on before opening the door for Cal.
“Sorry I couldn’t find BD anywhere.” “No worries he was just watching me try to clean up my leg, apparently he likes scanning things.” “I’ve noticed.” Cal said as he walked inside your room, “Hey I can help put the bacta on your leg.” He said as he starts kneeling to where your leg was “Don’t worry I can do it.” For some reason though Cal didn’t get up instead he held his hand out waiting for you to hand him the bacta, “Cal… you’re so stubborn.” You said as you handed him the bacta, Cal is careful to extend your leg a bit towards him. He starts to gently clean at the wound, as Cal was focused on your leg, he didn’t notice you staring at him.
Usually whenever you got an injury you never really allowed someone to help you, but why did you allow Cal to help you? Maybe it was because he insisted on helping you while others would allow you to do it yourself? Who knows you decided to look over at BD who was staring at Cal, “done.” You heard Cal say, “nice work on the bandages.” You said as you lifted your leg onto your bed “I think I did a pretty good job.” “You did, thanks for helping me.” You say to him, “you’re going to rest for a bit?” he asked.
“Yeah, the trip to Bogona tired me a bit.” Cal nodded “I’ll let you know when we get to Zeffo.” “Thanks Cal.” You heard your door open and the close, you made sure to lock it before removing your helmet and placing it on your workbench. Your eyes start to slowly close and you start to dream of your childhood on Mandalore.
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Louk's Bad Batch rewatch part 24!!
my internet has it out for me personally I swear 🙃
The Bad Batch 2x04
Omega vs Wrecker 🥰 "now you owe me 2 cartons of mantell mix" they're adorable
Hunter and Echo on their door dash mission lol
when Hunter and Echo are away Tech is the designated dad hehe
Tech dramatic sigh count: 4921
Omega and Wrecker are so happy to see the riot racing 😁😁
"you wanna challenge TAY0? Tech: sure why not
"spectacled spectator" 😂
Ciddarin scaleback now I know what to put on the wanted poster
Tech and Wrecker stepping up to protect Omega 👌
TECH'S HEAD TILT IM- 😘😘😘
Millegi giving me jedi fallen order flashbacks 👀
Jet Venim is a cool name actually
"Safa Toma Speedway is not liable for any injury, death or disintegration" Tech Wrecker and Omega: 😳😳😳 y'all I had to take a photo of Tech's face so excuse the phone pic lmao
"whats wrong with the left tunnel?" it's a surprise tool that will help us later
TAY0 crashes, Tech "this speeder is in bad shape" = "where there's a farm, there's usually a farmer" 💀
Tech and Wrecker slowly reaching for their weapons 👌
Omega is the mediator 🙌
"they're gonna hurt cid if we do nothing" GOOD
Wrecker taught her to gamble 💕
TAY0 "😯 where are my arms and legs" bro Wrecker's got them chill
Techs so done 💀 his face when TAY0 tries to tell him how to fix him lmaooooo
THANK YOU TECH !! Cid is a problematic pattern
bro Millegi is right I'd be trusting him 🙌
"I might surprise you" kriff off Cid
Tech is smarter than this droid 100%
oop wipeout 🤭
Wrecker ready to thrash the driver 😂
Tech 🤔
YES TECH MY FAV RACER 💕
I'm cheering for him 🥳
lmao is this race televised on other planets ??? can you imagine like Cody or someone just watching the race and seeing Tech like that Leo DiCaprio meme 💀
THIS SOUNDTRACKS SLAPS 🤟
The Kiner siblings went so hard fr 👑
Tech: "Its called strategy" Wrecker: 'its called losing" bro 😂😂
sometimes I play this soundtrack in my car and it feels like I go faster lmao (don't speed 👀)
"I need more speed" iconic 👑
WRECKER WAVING WHEN HE SEES HIMSELF OF THE SCREEN HE'S SO 🥺🤲💕
"the speeder can't make that jump" Tech really said challenge accepted
Phee is so right he has such pretty eyes I'm smooching the animators again 😘
WRECKER AND OMEGA CHEERING 🥰💕
"I thought you were a goner" BUT HE'S NOT SEE FORESHADOWING 👀
TECH'S SALUTE- IM DECEASED 💕💕💕💕💕
"I'll make it up to ya" I am infuriated 😡
"watch your backs" yo take his advice he has nothing to gain from lying to you
THE ARMS AROUND EACH OTHER 🤲🥺💕
ayyy our boy is gonna become a professional mario kart player living happily ever after on pabu am I right
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breakfastteatime · 7 months
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What do you think the actual in-universe mechanics are for Cal interacting with echoes? Fandom is big on him being struck by accidental echoes all the time, and that's great for plot or angst purposes, but I don't read it that way; honestly, I can't see him staying sane if so. With the rare exceptions like Trilla's lightsaber, it seems to be an active choice on his part. My tenative headcanon is that (at least as a trained adult) Cal has to be actively open to/using the Force to read an echo from something (which he was when he was using it to summon Trilla's lightsaber) and otherwise, it's similar to game mechanics, that he can sense from a distance that something has an echo, and choose to interact with it. I like how you've balanced logic and fantasy world in your storoes so I'm wondering what your take on it is.
Thank you for asking about this! I will try to break down my thoughts as coherently as possible. I admit my interpretation has developed over the *checks notes* fifteen months since I first played Fallen Order.
This got lengthy so under the cut we goooooo!
Firstly, the headcanon that goes around about Cal not picking up echoes if he wears gloves does not work for me because you literally see him picking up echoes with his gloved hand in Fallen Order. He uses both hands to do this. Okay, PHEW, got that off my chest.
Alright, moving on!
Personally, I always try to separate videogame mechanics and storytelling because as a game, the echoes function the way finding documents would in another game (e.g. all the files you find in games like Control or Resident Evil, or the voice recordings in Bioshock). Whenever they are being included as a gameplay element, the player literally sees them as glowing blue light, and you have to interact with the item for Cal to pull out the echo. So yes, I agree that to some extent he has control over what he does and does not experience. I like to think Master Tapal taught him some self-control. You know - resist temptation, Cal!!!
However, when echoes are included as a storytelling element, there isn't always a light (e.g. the hallikset doesn't have anything until Cal touches it and it flashes, Trilla's lightsaber has nothing, the bacta tank in Survivor). These tend to be the more all-consuming ones (again - because it's a storytelling element so we're gonna get a cutscene).
We also see Cal pull his own echo out of a dream, and arguably the flashbacks in Fallen Order are examples of him doing this too... The flashbacks in both games (although more so in Fallen Order) are where gameplay and storytelling come together beautifully... but that's for another day!
So, how do I marry gameplay and storytelling? My interpretation is this: some echoes are so huge and so powerful that they just spill out of the Force from Cal's perspective. He can then choose to either interact with them or leave them. Others are equally powerful but catch him off-guard for whatever reason (he's distracted, he's tired, it's surrounded by 'brighter' echoes, or it just doesn't glow... I will find a plot device!). I also feel like the Force has this element of benign will, so if the Force wants Cal to see something, he's going to see it because the Force doesn't care about individuals. It's the Force! It doesn't conform to human behaviour.
As for how he would stay sane if almost everything he ever touches has some kind of echo on it, I come at it from a perspective of 'Jedi are as used to their abilities as I am with breathing'. If Cal does pick up stuff from everything (which I don't believe because not everything is being held while something of great importance happens!), he just processes it because he's a natural-born Force-sensitive, and he's used to it. The Jedi trained him on how to focus, how to let some things pass right through him, and how to reflect upon the echoes that won't go quietly. In other words - he gets better with age and practice, however sometimes psychometry still gets the better of him (a bit like how my lungs can breathe, but asthma makes that harder at times).
I also find it fascinating how Cal has clearly developed his ability between games. In Survivor, we see him holding onto himself more frequently (he follows Dagan in his dream/memory, we see him watching the moment Santari fights him... he then turns an echo against Dagan which I freaking LOVE... interestingly, he doesn't hold onto himself in the memory he picks up from Zee, suggesting that he hasn't quite perfected this yet.) Oh, and then we have the fractured echoes which I'm still kicking around as a 'how do I take this definitely a gameplay thing and make it a storytelling thing'.
The character development in these games is just fantastic, and going back and playing Fallen Order after a couple of Survivor playthroughs just makes it even clearer (and not because I keep forgetting teenaged Cal can't do a bunch of things).
I love to play around with echoes because they're just such a fun concept. Except more stories about them in the future!
I really hope my logic makes sense here! Thanks for the Ask ^_^
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ospreyeamon · 6 months
Text
jaric kaedan: designated jerk
Jaric Kaedan is the designated jerk of the cold war era Jedi Council. When there is a mean or aggressive thing the writers want a member of the Council to say, Master Kaedan is nearly always the one to say it. However, I would argue that a lot of the mean things Kaedan says are mean things which needed to be said by someone.
For example, his questioning of Kira Carsen’s loyalty after it is revealed she is a Child of the Emperor is pertinent given the context. That someone who was accepted into the Order as an adult after attempting to steal the hyperdrive of a ship which just happened to belong to a member of the Jedi Council, whose position as that Council Member’s Padawan granted her close access to the Council, has been concealing her origins as a Sith acolyte is suspicious. During Act One the Jedi uncover a Sith sleeper agent, Tarnis, embedded deeply in Republic military research. In Consular Act Three, the potential infiltration of the Jedi Order by the Children of the Emperor is proven to be something Kaedan was absolutely correct to be concerned about. The Council would be remiss in its duty of protection towards the other members of the Order if they didn’t investigate the possibility of Kira being a plant. Arguably, they’d also be failing Kira by not consolidating the evidence proving her innocence because Kira might need that evidence if her status as a Child of the Emperor leaks again in the future.
Kaedan’s cynicism about the prospects of Tol Braga’s plan bring peace with the Empire is entirely reasonable. The risks of undertaking the mission go beyond the risk to the members of the strike team. If the Jedi abduct or assassinate the Sith Emperor it will trigger a second great galactic war – a war the republic military has been preparing for but may not be ready to begin. Even if Tol Braga succeeds in turning the Emperor to the Light, the wider Empire would be unlikely accept the commands of a Jedi Emperor, either dismissing the “redemption” as lies or mind control, or denouncing the ruler they are already becoming disillusioned with as a traitor.
His concerns about Jomar Chul’s vision are also valid. Even if the Hero of Tython is unwaveringly loyal to the Order and would never willingly draw on the Dark-Side of the Force, the Jedi Council should be aware that Jedi can be forced into falling under torture. The vision is an ill omen at the outset of an already poorly considered mission.
This gives me the impression that Jaric Kaedan’s role as the designated jerk is something which exists in-universe – that he has fallen into a dynamic with the rest of the Jedi Council where he feels he must voice the cynical and callous opinions because most of the time nobody else is willing to. If the points aren’t raised the quality of the Council’s discussions will suffer, the quality of the Council’s decisions will suffer. None of them particularly want to tell Bela Kiwiiks she might have welcomed a mole into the Order or tell Tol Braga his pet emperor redemption project is stupid. So long as Jaric Kaedan is always willing to be the bad cop then then the other members of the Council are free to play the good cop, or the mediator, or the supplier of wise proverbs.
Which is, moving further into headcanon, part of the reason why Kaedan is such a grumpy jerk. He knows he’s slipped into this trap and resents it. He shouldn’t have to always be the one bringing these things up. He shouldn’t have to worry that nobody else will if he’s not there. And the habit of imagining and voicing cynical takes, once established, is difficult to break.
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