Part 20: Dantooine: The Life of a Mediocre Jedi

Goodbye Nar Shaddaa. You were long. And dark. And you had tons of cutscenes.

_{We'll probably be coming back at least once.}



According to Wookieepedia, Nar Shaddaa gets razed 4000 years later. We wasted all our time rescuing these idiots down there and they all eventually die anyway.



Time for another Kreia lesson while we're en route to Dantooine.



This one doesn't even make any sense the way it's left in the game. When Visas fought us on the Ebon Hawk, there was a cut sequence in there when she gets down to ½ health, where she was suppose to do this 'Force Blind' effect thing on you. Well, they couldn't get that to work, so it got left out, but this scene was left in.



"She has forced this upon you, but such crude methods are the markings of the Sith."
"Close your eyes."



"Close your eyes."

For all her faults, you can't say Kreia isn't patient.



"The welding of the droid as it goes about its work."





"Now stretch out."





Kreia should probably be strangling him right about now. He's gotta the most annoying student ever.

"Ignore distractions, and focus on my voice."



"Now listen deeper. Past her breathing, and listen."





"You are strong indeed.... what you heard were surface thoughts only, but it is something that masters have trained for for years and never learned."



"Because to listen to the thoughts of another is much like attempting to see the universe only with your eyes. It is equally limiting."
"Now leave me be. I must rest."

We now have the ability to start reading other people's minds occasionally.



And by other people, I mean our other crew members, which limits its usefulness.





Dantooine is one of 2 returning planets from the previous game. It use to be the site of a Jedi Academy before it got blown the hell up.



Thankfully Dantooine is the second shortest planet, after Korriban. We won't be stuck here for a month. Hopefully.



Remember we're here to look for this jerk:



Vrook was the only Jedi Master to make a return from KOTOR 1. His personality was a bit... acerbic.



We're immediately 'greeted' by this woman. She's the first of many rude people we'll find here.



"You're one of the salvagers right? Your ship looks banged up enough to be a part of that lot. But you look... different."





Well, the Ebon Hawk came second hand. Or fourth hand, or fifth, or whatever. It's a fixer-upper.

"But you're the boss, so your ship is in just great shape. You really don't look like a salvager, though."
"What are people doing in the Enclave?"
"Salvagers are stripping it of anything valuable. Mostly they're collecting trash the Jedi left behind. The Enclave was bombed during the war, so there's not much left."
"Those artifacts have tremendous value and could be dangerous in the wrong hands. This is something we should investigate."



There's a droid here on the landing pad that's wandering around in a circle. Usually this is because one leg is shorter than the other.





Complementing T3 here net us some influence with him. If he's not around, you need to have high Awareness to fix this droid.

"Yes, I see that the droid is malfunctioning. That's very observant of you, T3!"
"Beep bee beep!"
[Awareness] "You are damaged, droid. What happened to you?"
"My apologies. I have no recollection of the Sith invasion topic."
"Sith invasion?"













"You should keep your identity secret for the time being. Try to convince this fool you are not a Jedi."
"May I be of further service to you, Jedi?"



Time to take slightly more drastic measures.





"Why did you call me a Jedi?"
"My memory banks recognize you as a Jedi. You are among many Jedi who were trained in the Academy here at the Enclave, prior to its destruction during the Sith invasion. You are on the register as one of the Jedi who left the Enclave to fight in the Mandalorian Wars. My memory has no record of your return before now."







Oh hey, it's Vrook. We found him. Sort of.

The other Jedi Master, the Yoda-like guy, is Master Vandar. He was one of the teachers here in Dantooine as well.



Shh. I think he's talking about Jedi Jesus.



A lot of people miss out on this little hologram sequence. This was before Dantooine was destroyed when the Exile was still a Padawan here, so the hologram was probably 11 or 12 years old.



Hey now. That's a bit harsh.





Mediocre? Dark Side?

Wow, we barely arrived on this planet and Vrook is already being a giant asshole. Even if it's a hologram.



"Tell me about the invasion."
"Approximately five years ago, the Dark Jedi Malak and his Sith fleet assaulted Dantooine. The surprise of the initial orbital bombardments prevented any resistance from the surface. The attack destroyed much of the Jedi Enclave, leaving only the sublevel partially intact. The Sith attack also concentrated heavily on some obscure ruins to the south, but the reason for this is unknown."

That was basically the brief history of what happened to Dantooine since KOTOR 1. The 'obscure ruins' to the south he's talking about... that was area that housed the Star Forge map, which Malak and Revan found. Malak made sure to destroy that as well, so another loose end tied up. No more Star Forge map, which means no more Star Forge.







People here really don't like Jedi any more, so we're just going to keep low and not tell anyone. However, if you have your lightsaber equipped then people will know right away. Another advantage to using guns!





Yeah, there's tons of Jedi around. They're everywhere. They could even be hiding in your bushes. Lock your doors at night.



Jedi are also notoriously easy to capture. You just need to dig a deep pit in the forest, cover it with leaves.



Then you need a piece of cheese. On a string.





This is the leader of this particular backwater ranching community.





Hah.

We've been avoiding trying to reveal ourselves as Jedi, and here Jesus just goes out and announces it to her. This wasn't intentional; it was suppose to be "Hi, I'm <FirstName>", but since our Exile is named 'Jedi Jesus'...

"Depending on you business here, the pleasure may be mutual. But you didn't answer my question. Is that ship yours?"
"That ship is one of the fastest in the galaxy."
"I meant no disrespect at all. It is in fact a remarkable vessel."

She's actually a pretty nice woman, which is rare here.



"Don't tell me you want to collect the bounty?"
"Of course not, I'm trying to stabilize an entire planet. An Exchange bounty, no matter how abundant, is little use in that endeavor. But if a Jedi were here, that would best be kept secret."
"Get to the point."
"My point is that the previous owner of that ship was a very... influential Jedi. And Jedi are not as admired here as they once were. Right or wrong, our settlers blame the Jedi and their hidden Enclave for their suffering. I remember the old Jedi Masters and the considerable help they lent to Dantooine. I still maintain... discreet... connections with Jedi. I suppose your arrival here is no coincidence."

There's a funny dialogue here if the Exile is evil, since being Dark Side causes scary grey veins to start popping out of your face.

"I feel I must step carefully here. You are not like other Jedi I have known. You seem darker somehow."
"You would change your appearance too, if you were being hunted across the galaxy!"

"My friend... Let's just call him Vrook. We've known each other for many years. And our continued friendship could create many problems in the current political climate."





[Success] "We need the skills of a Jedi more than ever. He was helping investigate Azkul and his mercenaries, but he had his own errand to run in the Enclave. Jedi business of some sort. He went into the sublevel, which isn't without its dangers. And he hasn't returned."
"I'm starting to fear the worst. Would you be willing to go to the ruins of the Enclave to look for him?"
"I will make it my first priority."

Sounds like we have our mission then. If Vrook is still inside the Jedi Enclave then it shouldn't be hard to find him.







Did you know the term 'Jedi Civil War' was made up by Obsidian? It never actually appeared in KOTOR 1, even though that's when the conflict actually took palce. However, this game harps a lot on the fact that Sith and Jedi are different parts of the same religion/philosophy, so they went with 'Civil War' to denote the war between Revan/Malak and the rest of the Order. It's kinda like how the first World War was called the Great War during its time.



There's various other idiots around the administration building here.



Actually we just skipped the lineup and walked right in.

"Khoonda is like a droid without its power cell - useless. We have problems all over, and the most you can get out of the Administrator is a pat on the back. I'm sick of all their excuses and empty words. I need justice now."





"What am I supposed to do? Salvagers keep trespassing on my land and stealing my farming equipment. They grab anything they can get a hold of."
"The salvagers stole your equipment?"





"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"If you could go to the salvager camp and convince the salvager Jorran to return my modulator, I would be very grateful. I'm not rich, but I have some souvenirs from the war I could give you."



This is another dude hanging around the Administration building. He doesn't have a sidequest; he's just a dink.





What's this guy's problem?



We'll be seeing him later.

As you've noticed, most of the people we've come across so far on Dantooine have been huge pricks. However, if we had mentioned that Jesus was a Jedi, it would have been much worse. These people are still very bitter over the fact that Malak bombed the planet due to the Jedi Enclave here.



This camp of mercenaries are on the way to the ruins.



Since the dust cleared from Malak's bombing, there's three major factions in Dantooine. The settlers, the salvagers, and these mercenaries. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense from the local economical standpoint, I know. How can a bunch of ragged settlers and salvagers afford to hire these mercenaries?



"I heard you've been making trouble for the settlers."



You know what else is weak? That beard. Egads.







"What do you think about the Administrator?"
"She's got spirit. But she seems to focus most of her effort on trying to get us off this planet. Terena has to learn that we aren't moving."







Okay, Jesus is getting a little sick of getting pushed around. It's annoying to have to take it all lying down, but for this guy we have the option to push back.



Time to lay down the law.



So he was Sith. Even better.





Jesus crush puny minds.







Dark Side yes, but the guy was being a jerk. He deserved it. Jesus taught him a lesson in... humility. Or something. That's in the Bible, right?



We cut away to Atris at Telos.

She's lost in thought in her little pretend Jedi Council chamber.





"The freighter... it is important. And I thought the droid was as well. But I was wrong."



It's not a coincidence that she's just staring at that rock in the centre of the chamber during most of this scene. If you remember, the Exile jammed his lightsaber into the same place in Coruscant when he left the Order. Atris has the whole creepy obsessive Oedipal thing going on with the Exile.

"Then perhaps you will need to have faith that your sister will change her mind, remember her oath, and return to us... with the answers we seek."
"I hope so, mistress. But there has been no word of her since she departed with the other four on the freighter."





Come to think of it, if Kreia was a former Jedi herself, Atris should have recognized her, no?

"Old woman?"
"Yes, mistress."
"I... do not recall seeing her."
"Mistress, she was secured for much of the time the exile was here. At other times you were meditating, and we did not wish to disturb you."



This is her 'uhm... what?' look.

It doesn't seem like it, but Atris is suppose to be a major character in the game. She's even on the box art. She doesn't join the Exile's party, so they have to cut away to her every now and again to develop her arc and give her screentime.



Her arc being a total and complete mental breakdown.



"I... sometimes feel as if things are collapsing... all around us. It is just at the edge of perceptions, waiting. I fear... I fear things will collapse before our enemies reveal themselves."
"Yes... mistress."



So how did she totally zone out Kreia's visit? I think we know who to ask.





They could be around the age, though it's hard to tell. Kreia is a bit more... wrinkly. Atris looks like she had plenty of time to do some meditating and deep skin exfoliating.



"What do you mean?"
"Because Atris' path is one I walked long ago, and it is a chapter of my life that has been read and closed. She has taken the first steps, I think - we shall see. Surely you felt the righteous anger, the spoken judgments, the lack of forgiveness."
"You walked her path?"



I totally forgot to mention this when we were at Atris' pad on Telos, but judging from the conversations with her Handmaidens, you were suppose to be able to convince them to let you to see Atris' Jedi artifacts. Atris had gathered a bunch of holocrons and other crap from throughout the galaxy to her, hoping to rebuild the Jedi Order at Telos. I can't find anything else to go on besides that, but it might have made for a cool sequence ala the sensory stones from Planescape.









Uhm, I think that's a 'yes'.

"If the council cast you out, how come Atris and none of the Jedi Masters mentioned you?"
"Ignorance... and perhaps they do not remember, or care. It is of no consequence to me, or to them."



No, really?









Some people point to this line as the sign that she never in fact really lies to you; that she'd rather tell half-truths to manipulate you. But it's ignoring one thing...



...the fact that Kreia is the one telling you this!

It's an old conundrum: if someone says, "I'm not lying", do you believe them?



See? Even Kreia agrees.



We've finally reached the Dantooine Jedi Academy. It's probably seen better days. We haven't reached the planet blowing-up capabilities of the Death Star yet during this era, so it's not totally leveled; the basement of the place is still accessible.

Next update we'll go inside to find Vrook, and maybe ask him about the Jesus's mediocrity.