Part 38: Korriban - Beating Up Little Old Ladies

So I got the Lego Star Wars game to play the co-op with my 9 year old cousin and I found out I was absolutely horrible at it. I kept dying like every 30 seconds; meanwhile he just blew through everything no problem. He also beat me at Wii Bowling earlier today. Should I just commit hara-kiri immediately and spare myself the shame?



Anyway, last update, Jesus hallucinated through the tomb of an ancient Sith Lord and learned a few things about himself. He also learned some things about Kreia too. This calls for a return to our beloved ship to talk things over.



There's a little missing scene where Mandalore boards the Ebon Hawk and is really amused that the Exile got a hold of the ship somehow.



"Nice ship you have here. Where did you get it?"
"It's hard to explain, actually. One thing happened after another, and we ended up with it."
"Ah, so it's like that. I guess it would be better if less questions were asked about it then."
"We requisitioned it from the clutches of a Sith warship."
"I see. Well, you were lucky to get it then. This is a fast ship, well made. I'll bet she'd have some stories to tell."



Unfortunately we have to keep more party members off each other's throats.



Bao-Dur and Mandalore fought on opposite sides during the war, but Bao-Dur has a harder time letting go of things, seeing as the Mandalorians kinda invaded his world and killed a bunch of his people.

"But you fought on the front lines. To a Mandalorian, there is honor in that."
"I could do without your Mandalorian honor. I saw the results of your "honor" - the absolute destruction your warriors brought."



"If I were you, I'd pick your words more carefully."



"I don't need compliments from a murderer. You fought for no cause other than to spread suffering and pain to the people you conquered."



"You did nothing but murder innocents."
"The Republic took us too lightly. We wanted to face the full force of their army. We had to goad them to fight."
"That's exactly what I'm talking about. If you ask me, you Mandalorians just got what you deserved at Malachor."
"Defeat is part of a warrior's life. We will recover, stronger than before."
"Doesn't it even bother you that your people were almost destroyed? Or do lives have no meaning to you?"





"That's enough. This conversation is over."





There's a companion scene to this when Bao-Dur approaches the Exile about bringing Mandalore aboard.

"General, what is it?"
"Are you okay, Bao-Dur?"
"I don't know how you do it. Aren't you bothered by him?"
"Him?"
"Mandalore. Traveling with him... It brings back too many memories. Don't worry about me, I won't cause any problems. But if Mandalore steps out of line, I'll put him out the airlock."
"I think you're overreacting."
"You're right. I'm just not used to the idea of fighting with Mandalorians."
"Mandalore's no threat to us."
"You're too trusting, General."

I'm not sure Bao-Dur is capable of shoving Mandalore out the airlock, but you never know.



It's probably time to calm Bao-Dur down a bit. We got just the ticket.





"I feel... calm. More in control. The anger is still there, but I can feel it drifting away. The last years of my life have been defined by it - the Mandalorians, Czerka and Revan. And above all else, myself, for Malachor."
"What about me, for giving the order?"
"Never, General. It had to be done."

They tried to give Bao-Dur a bit of that Anakin-esque "Rawr I'm angry and guilt-stricken and I could fall to the Dark Side any moment now" mentality, but somewhere along the way the ball got dropped, and it just doesn't seem to work. Or maybe it does. I don't know, you tell me.





"Even if I did it out of hatred of the Mandalorians?"
"You did it to save us, to protect us from death."



Conversations between the Exile and Bao-Dur are always a bit weird since they're war buddies and know each other from the past. Therefore it's not the typical dialog where the Exile asks the why/what/where, and then the other person answers with some blatant exposition. Instead, it's more akin to eavesdropping on two people having a quiet conversation in a restaurant, and then trying to discern what the heck they're talking about.

A side effect of that is that dialog ends up skirting around what really happened at Malachor V. We know that the Exile ordered Bao-Dur to do something terrible there, and it ended up defeating the Mandalorians, but as far exactly what happened? We don't know (yet).



"Maybe that's just the shield that I need to stay sane."
"You're too stubborn. There is no blood on your hands, just the blood your guilt forces you to imagine."
"Even if there isn't, I still feel like I need to do something, to make up for it."



Well, this is kinda abrupt.



"Then we have no time to waste."

There's a missing scene here where you see the Exile teach Bao-Dur, meditating, practicing lightsaber combat, deflecting bolts from Remote, etc. There was actually suppose to be one for each of the party members you train into a Jedi actually, but it probably got cut for time. There was a similar scene in KOTOR 1 with the whole Jedi training montage; I don't know why they didn't try to re-use the scripts from that.



And just like that, we have our last Jedi. I was reluctant to train Bao-Dur into a Jedi; as a Tech Specialist, he's got by far the most skill points of any character, and thus he makes a great crafting bitch. But as you can see:



He's got every skill more or less maxed, and at this point he can make any item in the game. There's no point in keeping the man down any longer.



Anyway, that's it for Bao-Dur and Mandalore for now. The real reason we came back to the Ebon Hawk was because of the little vision Jesus had in the cave:



We want to find out what was up with the whole creepy Sith outfit.



This dialogue path was opened up way way back, back on Telos and Citadel Station even. I've held it off till now, but you'll see why momentarily.



"Perhaps I am neither, and I hold both as what they are, pieces of a whole. Know that I am your teacher, and that is enough."



"What do you wish to hear? That I once believed in the code of the Jedi? That I felt the call of the Sith, that perhaps, once, I held the galaxy by its throat?"



We already know she trained Revan - but she used the plural. Sith Lords.



"If the past is as important as you claim, then I would hear yours."



And cut to a flashback of what happened with Kreia before she joined up with the Exile.



We don't know where this is yet, but it looks properly ominous.





Darth Sion.



And Darth Nihilus.













Nihilus has stripped her of the Force; she tries to reach for her saber but can't even grab it from a few feet away.









This was probably the single most violent scene in the game, and it goes on for quite a bit too. Yes, we've seen people get shot, stabbed, and literally disarmed, but somehow that falls under more cartoonish violence. Picking up a helpless old woman by the face, and punching and kneeing the crap out of her? That's bit more visceral, and it was probably the intended effect. It's another one of those moments when you realize KOTOR 2 isn't your typical Star Wars game.





Turns out her story wasn't all that different from the Jedi Exile's - just that it was from the other side of the fence.







It does explain why she's on board the Ebon Hawk though. Her story is the same as the Exile's, and she sees herself in him; her only purpose is to teach him so that he can succeed where she failed.

"In you all my hopes rest, for the future, for the Force."
"I need more than that, Kreia."





Just this once - I think we can trust her to tell the truth when the time comes.



With that out of the way, it's time to finish off Korriban. There's only one place left in this area - the old Sith Academy.



"It seems unlikely the Jedi Master we are looking for is within - I see no tracks, no disturbance of recent travel."
"You can expect more than these beasts within the Academy. Be prepared."







Cue ominous brass music.

Sion's character model is probably the most lovingly crafted one in the game. The latticework of scars, old lightsaber stab wounds, and skin that looks like the water damaged plaster wall in my basement. Yum.