Part 40: Korriban: "All This Over a Helmet?"

Faced with an invincible Sith Lord who just heals himself back to full any time he gets hurt, Jedi Jesus has no choice but to beat a quick retreat.



Despite what Sion says, he doesn't actually follow us out the academy, so we're safe. We're done all 4 planets and we know where all the Jedi Masters are now, though some are more alive than others. Master Kavar on Onderon still has to get in contact with us, so while we're waiting for that, we can finish up some sidequests.



This update is like 75% cut content, and it's woven in and out of actual in-game stuff. The reason is that there's not enough influence gains total in the game for Mandalore, and you can't properly unlock his scenes.

To start off, Mandalore has a missing dialogue thread where he reiterates why he's traveling with the Exile.



"I want to have a word with you."
"What is it?"
"I wanted to make sure that we have some things clear. Right now we both seek the same goals, whatever our reasons may be."



"The Sith must be stopped. If they destroy the Jedi, the Republic will fall, and my people will be eradicated or enslaved. To survive, I'll help you, but as Mandalore, I have another duty - the unification of the clans."
"How do you plan on doing that?"
"After our defeat at Malachor, the survivors spread across the Outer Rim, many taking up work as mercenaries or worse."

This is just him pointing out he has his own agenda as well, and that he's not your lackey like the other crew members.



"But they cannot have fallen so far that they will not recognize a new Mandalore has been chosen, one who will restore our people to glory. I'll fight beside you, but I'm warning you - don't get in my way. I'm not asking for help, I'm just asking you to let me do this. Cross me, and I might have to reevaluate our arrangement."
"Is that a threat?"
"Of course it's a threat. Get in my way, it'll be something more. After the Sith are dealt with, you can turn your attention to us. Or maybe we can forge an alliance of our own. Our next need not be fought against your Republic."
"Consider what I've said."

I suspect the reason this was all cut out because it was slightly redundant - he repeated a lot of the same things he said when he first joined up on Dxun.



It sounds like know where we need to go then. Off to gather the Mandalorian clans!



First stop is Nar Shaddaa.



We saw a couple of Mandalorians hanging around the flophouse here earlier looking for work.





"Mandalore? But after Revan defeated Mandalore, no new one was chosen."



"Anyone could buy a helmet from a swoop track and make such a claim. And the last time Mandalore traveled in the company of non-Mandalorians, we were pledged to Exar Kun."

The Mandalorians of two generations past were allied with Ulic Qel-Droma, a Sith Lord apprenticed to Exar Kun. They ended up being defeated by the combined forces of the Republic and Onderon troops, and that particular Mandalore got eaten by a pack of wild Dxun animals. I actually don't know why they are so bitter about that, because I think they were depicted as fighting well during the Exar Kun wars; they just ended up getting overwhelmed.





"I heard rumors from Iziz about Mandalorian sightings on Dxun, so perhaps there is truth to what you say."



"Excuse us, we must gather the rest of our clan and deliver them the news."



There's no influence gain here with Mandalore, when there clearly should have been. I think they just totally forgot. This is being put back in the Restoration mod as far as I know.



The next and final stop is Dantooine.



Again, there was a bunch of Mandalorian mercenaries here earlier, though they didn't take part in the attack on Khoonda. They weren't particularly friendly before.





"Assemble the rest of your clan. You will return to Dxun. We must come together as we were before and prepare to fight a new war - a war that will return us to glory."



Having whoever finds the helmet become the new Mandalore is a terrible system of government. It's almost as bad as, I don't know, having a sword set in a stone. In fact, Revan realized the glaring flaw in this and exploited it, which we'll get into a bit later.

"I know all about your exploits, "Mandalore." We have fallen far in the past years, but even still, I will not stand idly while a usurper claims to be my leader."
"It is unfortunate that you feel that way. Perhaps I'll be able to change your mind."



Hey, it's one unarmed guy against Mandalore, a Jedi, and a Sith. I wonder how this'll turn out.





This is a minor snip compared to some other areas, but Mandalore was suppose to say:

"Stay out of this - this is *my* fight."

And then he fights that guy one on one.







And that's the last of the Mandalorian clans we have to gather. Again, no influence gains with Mandalore for doing that. Now in the real game, I think it would have just ended there, with no real resolution to this particular subplot. You can't really unlock the rest of Mandalore's story because there's not enough total influence points in the game to actually get that far.

Fortunately for you I'm just going to hack his influence to 100, you'll be able to see the rest of his scenes.





"Our spirit may have... faded, but it hasn't died. It will burn bright again - like a star in the heavens."
"Why haven't the clans come together earlier?"
"The end of the Mandalorian Wars was something new and unknown us. Revan fought us like a true warrior and defeated us on our own terms."

The games are fuzzy about how or where Revan killed the old Mandalore, but she did face him in a duel of some sort and executed him.



"It was a painful lesson. With Mandalore dead, our weapons taken, and our pride destroyed, many lost their way. But I will change that."
"I'd like to help you."
"I would appreciate your help. Many in the Republic look at the Mandalores as wild and violent kinrath. There are two types of people to Mandalorians. Allies and enemies. Right now we are allies. I don't want the Sith to destroy the Jedi. Now, after many years a new Mandalore has returned. We have a long tradition of honor in dealing with allies and those who provide us aid. It's a tradition that those we war against are quick to forget."

It's a reference to the old, old Mandalore, who was called Mandalore the Indomitable. He dueled Ulic Qel-Droma and lost, and afterwards pledged the Mandalorian clans to the Sith lords' service, just like how Mandalore pledges himself to Revan.









"When Revan executed Mandalore before our eyes, he cast Mandalore's helmet away, denied it to us."



"But without leadership and direction, the clans scattered... fell apart."

And therein laid the stupidity of the whole helmet thing. The leadership of the Mandalorians passed to whoever had the helmet; so Revan defeated the old Mandalore, then just stole the fucking helmet.

*yoink*



Without the helmet, the Mandalorians were too gripped by tradition to pick a new leader, and so they scattered to the four winds.

"While it wouldn't be unheard of for a new helmet to be created, it was determined to find the real thing. Claiming the helmet is the traditional way for a new Mandalore to be chosen. Even in defeat, we held on to our traditions."



For all their bloodthirstiness, the Mandalorians were plagued by the same sort of problems that the Jedi suffered from. The Jedi Order got split because of a disagreement over traditional; the Mandalorians disbanded over a missing helmet.

"Did you make a new helmet?"
"No, this is the helmet of the old Mandalore, the same one he wore in the Exar Kun war, and many wars before that."

Ew. Imagine the smell of head sweat inside that thing. The sweat of all the Mandalores before you.



"During the Jedi Civil War, I met and traveled with Revan."



"Eventually, he told me where he had taken the helmet. He set me upon this path."



"Where did Revan go?"
"I wanted to go with her. I respected her, knew that she could use my help where she was going."



This is the dialogue path we get if we set Revan to Light Side. I included the Dark Side Revan version further down.

"She didn't need you along, huh?"
"Revan insisted that she go alone. I had too much respect for her to pry too deeply."





"When I asked why she told me nothing, only that I should wait for her return and be ready for it."
"Ready for what?"



You'll never know... until KOTOR 3.

"We may need the clans to fight the Sith."
"I thought that Revan was a singular Jedi, but now there's you. With all our martial training, battles and ethics, even our greatest warriors are no match for you."

I knew there was a point to beating up all the Mandalorians back on Dxun.



So that's it right, that's the whole Mandalore story? Revan just ditched him and told him to gather his army to prepare for the return of the Sith?

Not quite.



Mandalore said he traveled with Revan - so did T3. He must have remembered something.



"Dee... dee-deet. Deet."
"Once?"
"Deet."
"Why doesn't he recognize you?"
"Dee-dee-dee-deet, breet, deet. Breet-deet."



This is the in-game explanation of why Mandalore never says anything about HK-47 and T3, even though those are the other returning characters from KOTOR 1. He just doesn't pay attention to droids, much like Kreia.

"Breet-deet."





"Can you tell me what happened to Canderous?"
"Bee-dreeedeet, deet, redeet... reep. Dee-deet."

So the first one to reveal Mandalore's real name - Canderous - is T3. Canderous Ordo was one of the party members in KOTOR 1; Revan found him working as a mercenary on Taris and brought him along for the ride. He looked like this:



Er, wait.



There we are.



"Dee-reet. Deet, dee-deet. Reee-deet, deet."
"His master?"
"Deet... deet."
"And your Master. But why?"



At this point T3 was suppose to show a hologram, ala:



It was the recording of the last moments between Revan and Canderous, when Revan told him to gather the clans. There was a model created for Mandalore sans helmet, revealing his real face, and I suspect it would have been used at this point:



You wouldn't have been able to hear what was said, you just watch the faces of T3 and the Exile watching the hologram. Like a reaction shot, if you will.

"Is that all there is?"
"Dee. Deet."
"I don't understand. It sounded like Revan needed Canderous. Why did you show me this?"
"Deeet. Deeeeet."
"And so Canderous left, and returned to the Dxun moon, and started to gather his clan."

That's the sanitary Light Side Revan version. If you set Revan to Dark Side, it wouldn't have been such a friendly parting between the two of them:



"After defeating Malak, Revan made the decision that she would travel to the Unknown Regions. She was searching for something. I wanted to go with her. I respected her, knew that she could use my help where she was going. But Revan refused, saying that she must travel alone."
"What does that have to do with the clans?"
"When I offered to go with her... she laughed. Then, she attacked me. Revan, at her full power, was more than a match for me. The battle was over quickly - and then she made sure I couldn't follow her, even if I wanted to. She left me there, a broken wreck on the Outer Rim. I vowed that I would never bend knee to another. Any alliances I entered in to would be ones where I was an equal."
"Was Revan usually that erratic?"
"I'm not sure Revan knew herself. But at that moment, I think she had a reason. When she returns, though, I will be ready for her. With the full might of the Mandalorian clans at my back. No... she said nothing else."

And then when you talk to T3 about it, he confirms Mandalore's version of events.



"Yes, I want to see the holorecord."

T3 flicks on the hologram of Canderous and Revan, and this time the Exile has a horrified expression on his face as he watches. I imagine it would have been a scene of Revan kicking the shit out of Canderous.

"Switch it off. I don't want to see anymore."
"She broke him."
"Dee. Deet."
"I don't understand. It sounded like Revan needed Canderous."
"Dee-reet, deet."
[Wisdom] "Revan wasn't trying to kill Canderous... she was trying to break him. But why?"
"Deet? Dee-reet, reet - beee-reet."
"And so Canderous left, and returned to the Dxun moon, and started to gather his clan."

There's one more missing scene for Mandalore on the Ebon Hawk; after unlocking all his influence stuff, he would have had another confrontation with Bao-Dur.





"We fell into your trap at Malachor and we paid the price. We were eager to destroy the Republic fleet and defeat Revan. So we committed all of our forces to Malachor, sealing our doom. Even then, we might have won the day. The tide of battle was turning when the Republic finally set off their trap."





Bao-Dur can't believe Mandalore is reveling his own people's destruction and complementing him on it.

"It is as much your triumph as our failure. We learned a lesson and we paid the price for our mistake. I hold no grudge against you for what you did. It is the Mandalorian way to respect strength."



We're getting to the beginning of the end now, and from here on out it's going to be a non-stop ride of cut content. Hopefully the people who haven't played the game before will be able to follow along.