#kotor spoilers

[m3rricat]

I reblogged a Knights of the Old Republic post last week sometime, and ever since I've been thinking about how much that game means to me. I was a young teen when it came out and it was my first RPG. (if you don't want to be majorly spoiled, stop reading!)

So it was a lot of fun, and I grew up on Star Wars and all that so playing a Jedi was like, the stuff of dreams. And I managed to play it without getting spoiled for Thee Twist. That is, I had no idea up until the big reveal that you (yes, you!) are the shadowy Revan, the Jedi-turned-Sith-Lord, the former master of the current big bad.

And I was legit dumbfounded. You mean... me? This woman character I created? She was a terrifyingly powerful Sith Lord who betrayed the Republic and nearly ruled the galaxy? She wasn't, like, the Dark Lord's girlfriend? You mean nothing about her character or relevance to the plot has anything to do with her being a romantic partner (or a mother?) She's not there to be sexy at all?

Because you see, back then we were only at the cusp of having more female protags in nerdy media. And as a nerd since birth practically, I was falling hard into the not-like-other-girls bullshit, because in most all the media I revered, women were shoved into specific roles, and it affected me. But KOTOR did legit cut against that for me, and for all its flaws it has stayed with me and still very much affects the kinds of stories I want to tell.

[clevermird]

Review: The Old Republic: Revan by Drew Karpyshyn

I remember that back when this book was released, it was pretty controversial in the Star Wars fandom. Reading it now, I see why. 

The Old Republic: Revan follows two storylines: the first is that of former Sith Lord turned Jedi hero Revan who, years after the events of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, begins having strange dreams about a dead planet and sets out with Canderous Ordo to figure out what happened to him during the years that he can’t remember. Meanwhile, in an empire hidden in the Unknown Regions, Sith Lord Scourge investigates a series of murder attempts on a high-ranked Sith and begins to learn the truth about the man who sits on the throne.

The first thing that needs to be said about this book is that, while it makes a token effort to be accessible to Star Wars fans who aren’t familiar with the KOTOR games, it really assumes that readers have played at least the first one – characters and their relationships are given perfunctory introductions, important backstory is glossed over, and the story will generally have little impact if you don’t already know and care about this particular sub-era of the Star Wars universe. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing (it is a sequel/spinoff, after all), but it’s worth noting. 

With that being said, Drew Karpyshyn is an excellent writer. Even when little was happening in the story, his prose kept me engaged and the book was very easy to read. While the main cast is somewhat limited by what was established in the games (Revan, in particular, suffers from the bland “everyman” issues that result when writers are trying to adapt an RPG protagonist whose story is designed to be as flexible for player choice as possible), many of the new minor characters introduced are well-drawn and interesting for the amount of screen time they get. The fight scenes are fun and there’s a cool setpiece or two. 

It’s probably not much of a spoiler to say that the two storylines eventually converge. Around that point, we get a reveal that casts several major events from the KOTOR games in a new light and provides an explanation to some mysteries left unsolved in those games. I really was not a fan of this reveal. In my opinion, it cheapens several characters’ choices and makes one of the most interesting moral questions of the games moot. I also was not a fan of the ending, which I feel treats one of my favorite characters from the games poorly by denying them a resolution to their character arc in favor of turning them into support for Revan’s story. 

My overall thoughts on this book are hard to summarize, but I’d say that it’s a well-written, engaging book that falls apart more the longer I think about it. A must-read for Star Wars expanded universe completionists or for those desperate to know what happened after KOTOR, but confusing for those not familiar with the games and an ultimately unsatisfying addition to the universe. 

Rating: 6/10

[partial-bouquet]

(Post Revan Reveal)

Ebon Hawke Crew: wow! You’re Darth Revan!

Fia Caste: please don’t deadname me.

(Encountering Malak again on Star Forge)

Malak: ah Revan you’re weak for still choosing the light side

Fia Caste: okay i expected this from you but you’re still a dick

[goatsorcery]

i played a dark side run for my first kotor playthrough, and at first the fact that you kill most of your companions was really shocking to me, but the more i think about it the more it makes sense in terms of story. the only companions you aren't forced to kill are the droids (one of whom revan built themself or at least had before the memory wipe) and the other is canderous who admires revan and fully accepts that you are revan when it's revealed.

the rest of the companions are all convinced that the player character has changed, that they really are their fake persona. the only way a dark side revan can truly separate themself from the false self the jedi council created for them is to kill everyone who still sees them as the fake persona

i also romanced carth for the playthrough, and his personal story line of betrayal fit in so beautifully and it was genuinely devastating how he could not accept that the person he knew and fell in love with was really revan

game mechanics also adds to the story here; there is something so uniquely emotional whenever a game has you entering combat with people who have been the player character's friends up to that point: juhani and jolee on top of the temple; mission and zaalbar on the beach; and carth on the star forge

ill never stop thinking about this game

[yukirandom]

I saw a tweet (jokingly) saying we'll play as Solas and I would really love that. Playing as his agent, being manipulated by him or something.

We haven't had a plot like KOTOR or Jade Empire in a long while, please I need peak Bioware.

[avinox]

He knows he's Revan

[fulokis]

Has this been done before?

[attackradish]

I’M DARTH REVAN?!?!

BASTILLA WIPED MY MEMORY?!?! MY MASTERING THE FORCE IN THREE WEEKS MAKES SENSE?!?!??! WHAT???? THE TWIST!!! OUGH I LOVE THIS

[harbinger99]

KOTOR Community I need your help 🙏

I am not good at literary analysis, so I implore you to finish my work for me. Because I KNOW there is something so significant about the fact that the player creates their Revan at the start of KOTOR 1. Seemingly making the player’s first act in the game becoming an accomplice in the horrible thing the Jedi council did to Revan. Like there’s gotta be something to that, right?

[arkannis]

I physically must know your opinion on Bastila. Also Malak. They are EVERYTHING to me and I need to know what you think of them

ogmsorrylateanswer

I feel like I need a 2nd playthrough of KOTOR to fully understand both of these characters, but I remember being really fond of Bastila during my time and always kept her in my party wherever I went!! And when she fell to the dark side , the convo that comes after you defeat her in battle just breaks my heart . like wtf i am not going to kill you !!! there is hope for you!!! ..

i wish she was romanceable as femrevan because the extra (?) convo you have with her during the postfight is so whshwbwhhhejfkf

tl;dr i am a sucker for jedi women who are extremely strong in the force.

As for Malak, I'm not so sure but the fact that him and Revan were friends before all this shit happened literally has my gears turning . i dont know in WHAT way but THEY ARE TURNING

[holly-bearie]

thinkin about the force. and the crewmates as apprentices. a lot.

[thanes-krios]

What it is about kind male video game companions that male gamers absolutely HATE?

I've seen it happen with Dragon Age's Alistair, Mass Effect's Kaidan, and even lowkey KOTOR's Carth Onasi (emphasis on kind, not necessarily nice, cause dude had a bit of an attitude in the beginnning). Now I'm seeing it with Gale of Waterdeep from Baldur's Gate 3.

Men hate him! Admittedly, many women seem to also hate Gale (Though from what I'm observing, it seems to be because his romance is bugged in a way that doesn't recognize when you've rejected him, so to many it comes off as not taking no for an answer -- but that's the fault of the game, not the character). The other reason I'm seeing from women is that he supposedly doesn't respect boundaries, citing his relationship with Mystra, but... were yall listening to him at all?

1. This goddess took interest in him as a *child* prodigy, became his mentor, and then his lover??? That's sus as hell.

2. It's not like he and Mystra had personal boundaries set specifically for their relationship, and he decided to cross them, it was that Mystra has general magical limitations for magic users in general, and Gale thought he would be an exception because she treated him as special, and because his reasons for pushing his magical limitations were to restore a part of her she'd lost. I've also seen people say he downplays that as a simple mistake made in his youth, but from the actual conversation with him, it's very clear he regrets that so?? I don't get it. (maybe I'm misremembering or missing more of the story, I'm only at the beginning of Act 2)

But this post is a reaction-rant to seeing too many male creators on tiktok hate on Gale so badly it's becoming obnoxious. And their reasons are so weak, yet fuel hatred so strong. They just find him so annoying, and I guess to each their own, but I don't get why, and I don't get why men always seem to find those kinds of emotionally available, kind for the sake of being kind, male characters annoying.

[birues]

Do not blame the Exile, you betrayed yourself.

[revanisadumbass]

Vernestra Rwoh's role in The Acolyte makes sense on a storytelling level, though. Here is a Jedi that represents the High Republic at their best: honest, responsible, talented.

To have her, at the era's end, have the weight of leadership bend her that far? It's the tragedy that the High Republic was always leading to. Good people trying their best in a galaxy that will never truly understand why they try, only to find that being good is complicated.

The mistakes repeat. Lies. Cover-ups. Because to tell the truth, to take responsibility, would damn more than just Sol. It has taken just a hundred years of rapid progress for the Republic to decide the Jedi might be more trouble than they're worth. Backed into a political corner, Vern plays the game. Takes the gamble, hopes desperately that this sacrifice will ensure the survival of the only family and home she's ever truly known.

[itsthegirlinthebowtie]

hi hello I am spontaneously combusting after that ahsoka premiere it was everything I ever wanted. sabine was perfect. hera was perfect. ahsoka was perfect. chopper was perfect. the loth cats? perfect. david tennant being back as huyang and having a predominate role in the show, not just in the sidelines? perfect. seeing the phantom in a space battle in live action? perfect. the way ezra touched the back of his neck in the hologram like he always did in animation? perfect. sabine having ezra’s lightsaber? perfect. sabine living in ezra’s old communications tower home? crying. going to the corellia shipyard? perfect. the mention of an HK droid????? fucking perfect. the thing the empire remnants are building being called the eye of sion? flawless. morgan being a dathomir witch? screaming. the inquisitor being back with that helicopter lightsaber move?? iconic. I need to stop listing everything I loved about this premiere because this post will never end. I cannot wait for the next episode I have so many theories can’t wait to see how this pans out.

[gil-estel]

maybe it's just because the hyperspace ring is called the "eye of sion" and the show keeps referencing thrawn's "exile", but I almost feel like baylan is being set up as a kreia/darth traya figure??

now tell me that this doesn't sound like a man who has decided that the force is The Problem™ and needs to be destroyed at the source