The Theme of Redepemtion *Spoiler*

[SilentScope001]

I notice something when playing KOTOR and TSL...something that I believe will be repeated over and over again in the KOTOR series, and that it might mean something. It is the theme of redepemtion, correcting a grevious fault...even if you are DS.

 

How come? The player is not just a random person...but is very important. In fact, the player was the cataylst for the events that spawn the game itself. During the game, the player figure this out, and then act to end these events, fixing the faults.

 

KOTOR: You are Revan. You saw the Mandalorian Wars and intervened with Malak and some other Jedi, leaving the Jedi Order to save the galaxy. In the process, you fell to the Dark Side, taking Malak and the other Jedi with you. You created a new Sith Empire and launched a war against the Republic, trying to take it over...starting the deadly Jedi Civil War. You converted many people to become followers of the Sith belief, including Malak.

 

Bastilla, holder of the Battle Medidation, led a task force to capture Revan, and thereby destroy the Sith Empire. Malak betrayed Revan, and injured him. Then the Jedi Order mindwiped Revan and gave him a new personality, placing him on the Endar Spire. You start off playing over there, with no knowledge of the above.

 

Once you learnt everything, you encounter Bastilla, falling to the Dark Side, and urging you to follow. If you choose the path of the Light, you board the Star Forge, convert Bastilla back to the Light, and kill off Malak, thereby redeeming yourself, destroying the very Empire you helped to create, and righting the wrongs.

 

If you choose the path of the Dark, you board the Star Forge, and kill off Malak, taking back your throne as Dark Lord of the Sith. Here too, you have fixed the events that spawned the game...that is, you got rid of Malak, who betrayed you. And, in TSL, you learn that Revan abandoned the Sith Empire anyway, destroying the very thing he has created after all.

 

TSL: You are a general, fighting at the Battle of Malachor V against a huge Mandalorian army. Under orders from Revan, you were told to activate the MSG...killing off most Mandalorains and the Jedi. The Force Bonds you had with all the Jedi made you feel lots of pain. You either had to die, or embrace the Dark Side...as Revan foreseen. However, you do not want to do either...and cut yourself off from the Force, creating a wound...

 

The horrors of that battle made Malachor V, already a place of evil, even more powerful. It was here that many Jedi converted to the DS and helped Revan during the Jedi Civil War, becoming Sith. But it is not just that...You were able to live by creating Force Bonds, drawing Force energies off others and becoming more powerful. The new Sith, led by the Sith Trimuitave, knew of this and took advantage of this...creating the Sith Assisans which killed many Jedi, as well as causing for the evil monsters known as Darth Sion and Darth Nihilus. Darth Nihlius' power itself is using Force Bonds to steal Force energies, consuming everything around him...

 

During the course of the game, you had to deal with the mistakes and the echoes that you have caused. Regardless of alignment, you save the galaxy by elimanting Darth Nihlius, the Lord of Hunger. If you are LS, you destroy Malachor V, ending the place of evil that you have made more powerful. If you are DS, you use Malachor V to create a new Sith Order, presumably to help out Revan as well as to teach others what Kreia believes in.

 

In both games, KOTOR and TSL, you have redeemed yourself if you choose the LS Path, after causing the very events that lead up to the game. If you are DS, you could possibly also redeem yourself, though you can make a better argument that you give into the very events that you have made, and truly fallen into darkness.

 

This sounds like a pretty effective storyline, but what does this mean? Any messages invovled? And what effects does this bode in K3? Could the PC be responsible for causing the True Sith invasion? Could he actually be a True Sith?

[Gavroche]

Redemption is not only in KotOR, that's a very often used idea in the Star Wars universe (redemption of Darth Vader, of this one, of that one...).

With the concept of Dark and Light sides, the "forgiving everything" mentality of the Jedi, and the notion of "Fate" ruled by the Force, redemption is of course always present.

 

That simply means (for K3) that the PC surely would have done something dirty by the past and would have the whole game to be forgiven... And he'll meet other DSer guys who'll get their redemption as well...

 

If K3 follows K2 like K2 follows K1, I guess the hero would have been responsible of maaany deaths during the True Sith wars (which will be just evocated). And he'd have to make sure that the survivor-avenger-full-of-hatred True Sith wouldn't conquer the galaxy, like this he'd get his redemption, even if he'd decide to be the new master of the True Sith (DS ending).

[Vaelastraz]

Like Gavroche said, the theme of redemption is common in starwars. I think it can be used for effective story lines, but I gets a bit annoying to me if it's overused.

[mimartin]

I agree with Gavoche and Vaelastraz, the theme of redemption is prevalent throughout the Star Wars story lines. It is not only seen in Darth Vader, but in charters like Hans Solo. A smuggler, whose only cause in life is taking care of his own self, becomes one of the heroes of the rebellion. It starts for selfish reasons (money and the girl), but it grows from friendship and love into something else. He is even willing to risk his on life in what seems a futile attempt to save Luke on Hoth.

 

This sounds like a pretty effective storyline, but what does this mean? Any messages invovled? And what effects does this bode in K3? Could the PC be responsible for causing the True Sith invasion? Could he actually be a True Sith?

 

I don’t know if the message is purposeful, but what I get out of Star Wars is hope. No one is beyond redemption and there is always hope. I believe and hope K3 will be more of the same. It could be the PC is responsible for some great tragedy or it could be he/she did nothing and just allowed it to happen. Either way there is a chance for redemption for his/her actions or inactions.

[Prime]

Personally, I think that redemption from the dark side happens entirely too often in the EU.