Blaise Russel

The opening sequence with T3 crawling around the recently attacked, heavily damaged Ebon Hawk, trying to bring it back online so that it can limp to the safety of the Peragus installation. The confrontation with the Jedi Masters in the rebuilt Dantooine Academy. The pitfight duel between Mira and Hanharr. Fighting, and retreating from, an invincible Sion in the Korriban ruins. Mandalore striding through the flames on the Ravager. Leading the charge up the Sky Ramp in the Onderon civil war. Many moments involving Kreia manipulating the party - specifically, when Atton confronts Kreia after he has come clean with his past to the PC, and Kreia laughs in his face; Bao-Dur, warning Kreia not to lead the PC down the path of the Dark Side, falling to the floor when she brings up Malachor V; Kreia running rings (perhaps literally) around Disciple. I found plenty of things in KOTOR 2 that were memorable for me. In contrast, many of your choices of awesome moments in KOTOR 1 were things I found forgettable. Only the Revan revelation was any good, and that was because it was prefaced by a nice little cutscene putting all the pieces, all the hints together.

I've actually been trying to figure out who to take where for a 'perfect run' of KOTOR and KOTOR 2 as a LSF and (probably) a LSM respectively. First one's easy, but finding a place - an appropriate place - for all the KOTOR 2 NPCs is quite hard.

Sometimes there are no right choices. Sometimes all you can do is plough on ahead, because either way you go, a lot of people are going to die.

Bandon was kinda fun. Stupid git.

Hanharr was awesome. Much better than "I don't feel like talking" Zaalbar. Moody bugger.

I like that idea. 'S good. Not only does it make more sense, it also addresses a slight problem with the current TSL setup - namely, you never have to use G0T0. Every character apart from G0T0, HK-47 and Disciple *has* to be used at some point - they are either mandatory party members (Bao-Dur for Telos, Kreia for Onderon) or protagonists in their own solo sidequest (Atton versus the bounty hunter sisters, T3 in Vogga's warehouse). One way or another, they all get a moment in the spotlight, a quest where they get to do something cool, a 'Mandalore striding through the flames' sequence. Well, apart from G0T0, HK and Disciple. It would be nice if this could be addressed - especially since G0T0 suffers in particular for not having an area where he would actually be useful, like the droid planet. A sequence where he stalks the Remote, tracking it to three of the warships before cornering it in the final one would be very cool indeed.

I disagree. I feel this is somewhat contrary to the Visas/Disciple speech you get after the confrontation in the Dantooine Academy. The Lost Jedi are the source of the Exile's Force power, be it as the objects of his leeching or more benignly as anchors, as power sources that he channels and stuff. This is all pretty much wishful thinking, by the by. Don't see much point in doing anything else. First off, let's pretend that the rest of the game is fixed. Let's pretend that you get to quiz Atton about his recent past as a smuggler-figure and how he got locked up on Peragus... let's pretend that Bao-Dur has a dialogue tree... let's pretend that quests aren't buggy, speech and text are synchronised properly and that the game is tougher than it normally is. Let's also say that Korriban is bigger and you get to run around Dreshae and meet Master Vash before Sion finally kills her Vader-style, that said Sith Lord shows up on Onderon during the civil war and gives you a message about the Sith Lord helping Vaklu and such, conveniently naming Darth Nihilus in the process... oh, and that Nar Shadaa doesn't force you to go meet the Exchange when you want to do more sidequests because the alternative is not having a lightsaber and fighting Zez Ell-Kai with your bare hands and feet... Let's pretend all that. Dantooine Everyone comes with you to the Academy and they form up outside the Academy. They provide wishes of good luck, lukewarm gestures of support, blatant demands - as appropriate for Influence, Alignment and general personality. For example, G0T0 would remind you in no uncertain terms not to do anything rash or with dangerous consequences, while Bao-Dur might suggest to you that you should keep a cool head, give 'em hell or just "Good luck, General." Kreia says nothing because she's coming inside with you. Cue the little scene with the tired Kreia, then the confrontation with the Council (or lack thereof). They die, you take a power nap. Cut back to outside. Atton should probably start getting restless. Suddenly everyone hushes. We see, top down view, Kreia strolling out of the Academy. Then we cut to a first-person viewpoint of one of the characters, which appears to show Kreia carrying the body of the Exile out of the Academy and laying it on the ground. Alternating between the two should highlight the fact that Kreia's using the Force to mess with everybody's head so that they believe the Exile is dead. Kreia either leaves with Handmaiden, convincing her that she must be taken to Atris, or meets up with a Handmaiden, having informed Atris of recent events and the death of the Council. She zooms off into the distance on some shuttle somewhere. There was a bit where the Exile was listening to the thoughts of everyone thinking he was dead on Nar Shadaa. It was cut, but it would work here. Exile wakes up, gains new power, returns to Ebon Hawk, SURPRISE! Exile is alive, party is shocked; Kreia has absconded, Exile is shocked. That said, it would be important to include a line for the Exile expressing absolutely no surprise whatsoever that Kreia was an evil manipulative Sith Lord and the Jedi formerly known as Darth Traya. Very Ascension. Exile heads to Telos. Telos Cutscene with Kreia and Atris. Cutscene where Exile explains to the rest of the crew that he has to confront Atris alone. It's, like, the will of the Force. If Exile is male, then a sequence where Handmaiden, waiting patiently in the dojo for Kreia and Atris to finish, feels uncomfortable in her old home and decides that something's up and that she should investigate. She heads out of the room, but is confronted by one of her Echani sisters, who have all been corrupted by Atris and her Sith holocrons and now thoroughly despise Handmaiden both for her weakness and her betrayal of their sisterhood (doubly so if she's been Jedified). Handmaiden must fight her sisters as she progresses towards the meeting chamber and Atris' quarters; they favour strike and retreat tactics, stealthing up to attack, then attempting to stun Handmaiden and running off to stealth again. Obviously, the hangar is sealed off completely so you can't see the Ebon Hawk or nuffin'. Eventually Handmaiden gets to the meeting hall (having either killed her sisters or locked them out; door seals behind her either way) and confronts Atris, as normal. Atris cheats and nukes Handmaiden, Exile arrives just in time and the scenario plays out as currently in the game. If Exile is female, it's much the same, but the Exile starts at the hangar and doesn't come to her own rescue for obvious reasons. It is revealed that Kreia has taken Atris' personal ship to Malachor V, where she awaits the Exile - however, Nihilus' Sith remnants have now arrived around Telos, making retreat impossible. The only way the Exile's going to get to Kreia is by defeating Nihilus and breaking through the Sith forces. (Of course, Tobin's resurrection by Kreia and command to tell Nihilus about Telos will have played out for a DS Exile, 'cause I never got it last time 'round. Also, after each encounter with a Jedi Master, a scene with Atris would have been played highlighting her misguided lust for and trust in knowledge, her draconian sense of justice and her jealousy of the Exile - because subtlety goes only so far.) Citadel Station Ebon Hawk docks somewhere on the station and is met by TSF forces, along with detachments from Onderon and Dantooine; Mandalore excuses himself from the combat on the station, as normal. This time, the Exile actually has to cross through a lot of the installation, under bombardment from the Sith fleet. You know, so it's like a proper invasion. An excellent opportunity for Sion to show up again - I'm thinking while the Exile and party are crossing through one of those funky enclosed bridge-corridor things between two modules; Sion appears on the outside, bangs menacingly on the glass, then, after the rest of the part runs into the next module and seals the door, smashes the window and pulls himself inside for a quick little confrontation with the Exile, who isn't dying 'cause of magic Jedi Breath Control (no need to highlight it, though). No fighting, but lots of mean words - and since Kreia's revealed herself to the Exile, Sion can afford to be a little more candid. He leaves after reminding the Exile of the futility of his fight or some such. (The impression one should be getting from Sion's appearance on Onderon and Telos is that although he's following Nihilus into battle, he's still moving independantly - he enjoys inflicting pain on others just as pain was once inflicted on him, and so is drawn to battle... just so happens Nihilus is behind it. Also, Sion's reluctance to fight could be mentioned later in the final battle with him as a reason why he sucks; refusing to fight in places not particularly strong in the Dark Side.) Eventually the Exile reaches the shuttlebays, gets Mandalore and Visas to join him and boards the Ravager. The cut Mandalore/Visas convo gets played, bombs are set, it is made explicit that Nihilus must die for the field sustaining the ship to fail and the bombs to destroy the Ravager. Malachor V Now that Nihilus is dead, the Exile must attend to Kreia. The crew gathers in the Ebon Hawk and the Exile explains the situation to everyone - Kreia being Darth Traya, the Exile's genocide of Mandalorians and Republic soldiers at Malachor at the behest of Revan, the echo that it caused and how it is spreading across the galaxy... one big plot synopsis clearing almost everything up once and for all. Then the Exile asks about people coming with him. Support is varied in nature and degree, more so by influence and alignment, although it's basically the same however you spin it. T3, HK and Hanharr are all loyal to you and will follow you wherever. Atton, your friend or love interest, naturally backs you unconditionally, as does your 'apprentice' of sorts Visas. Disciple and Handmaiden will also follow you for your own sake. Mira is happy to go along with you and comments on returning to her hunting roots. G0T0 is... concerned about the ramifications Kreia's plotting will have on the rest of the universe, and Mandalore wants shot of the old crone who thought to blackmail the leader of the Mandalorians - plus the woman who threatens the reconstruction of his people. The Ebon Hawk's course is set and the ship goes to hyperspace. Bao-Dur is... difficult. Although he voices his support for his General without fuss at the meeting, afterwards he and the Exile have a little one-on-one talk. He expresses his regret over what he did for you there and fear of returning to the place of slaughter (and his shame for his weakness if Dark Side). His stance of support remains the same, but he mutters something about fixing his mistake afterwards... Scene with Kreia arriving on Malachor and meeting with Sion, instructing him to prepare for the Exile. Ebon Hawk flies towards Malachor. Scene on board the Ebon Hawk showing everyone struggling with the ship as it enters the chaos of Malachor's atmosphere. Atton pilots, Handmaiden/Disciple stand protectively by the Exile, Visas meditates in the centre chamber, T3 runs about wiring things, Hanharr/Mira stalk about, agitated, Mandalore and G0T0 monitor the comms/security consoles, HK stands about threatening to shoot anybody who wavers, and Bao-Dur rushes in from the engine room to take up a position in the copilot's seat and manage the Hawk's systems from there. Lots of screams, shouting, "We're not going to make it!" "We're gonna make it!" "We are not going to make it!" dialogue, that sort of thing. Crash. Exile hits a wall pretty bad and blacks out. The Exile wakes up on the floor, woozy but otherwise unharmed. The Ebon Hawk is trapped between canyon walls and the only two people still on board are T3, who is severely damaged, and Bao-Dur, who is slumped in his chair, dead. The Remote has disappeared. T3 informs the Exile that the rest of the party got out and went looking for Kreia - apparently, they don't trust him to face Kreia and not fall due to the effects of the Force bond. Cut to everybody else (that's seven in total) tramping across Malachor. Atton's 'in the lead'. Hanharr/Mira are scouting for the party, taking them towards the 'big Sith base' - the Trayus Academy. G0T0 is not pleased at being brought along, but HK prods him with a gun and orders him to keep moving. Sion shows up in the middle distance. Little 'oh, bugger' moment for the party, then the Sith Lord charges them with a Guardian's Force Jump. Atton is cold****ed, Hanharr/Mira backhanded, Visas picked up and thrown off-screen, Handmaiden/Disciple flurried with punches then roundhoused. G0T0 flees, HK chases after him trying to bring him back, Mandalore sees the folly of challenging the Sith directly and backs away, firing all the while. Sion deflects with his saber, but doesn't give chase. Perhaps a sullen shake of the head, then he signals for Sith Assassins to decloak and attend to the unconscious party members (Atton, Visas, Handmaiden/Disciple, Hanharr/Mira). Back to Exile, who runs across Malachor V killing Storm Beasts. I love the way those blighters die. He completes the first area. Now we do the Party Members Quests. Atton - Atton awakes within spitting distance of the Academy - although he doesn't have a great view of it as he's on a sublevel of cavey areas leading underneath the walls of the structure. Some emphasis on sneaking past large groups of Sith Assassins and ambushing lone patrolling guards for quick, silent kills, although a well-built intelligently-played Atton should be able to rampage through the area without too many difficulties. Atton sneaks past groups of guards in caves and to some stairs leading up into the heart of the Academy. Handmaiden/Disciple - Where Atton came from below, Handmaiden/Disciple come from above. They start on a precipice that connects with a battlement of the Academy; they make their way down, fighting through swarms of Sith Assassins until they reach a door into the central Academy building, covered thoroughly in Sith blood. Them, not the doors, that is. Mandalore/Hanharr - Mandalore's vexed that he got split up from everyone else and decides to make a beeline for the Ebon Hawk - only problem is, he doesn't know where it is, or where he is for that matter. So he runs and guns across the surface of Malachor V, avoiding getting pinned down by Storm Beasts as he searches for the Hawk. If the Exile was a Dark-Sider, he meets Hanharr along the way, whereupon it's more an exercise in combined arms. In the end, they don't find the Ebon Hawk, but they do find a cliff overlooking the main entrance to the Academy. They decide that the Exile'll be along in a moment and so settle down and wait. Mira - Mira awakes in a series of thin, winding canyons not very wide across with a small number of Sith Assassins wandering around, looking for her. She winds her way through the maze and ends up in a giant rocky arena, just like the normal game. Hanharr pops up, having been resurrected by Kreia, and duels with Mira. He is defeated, or dies, and Mira exits the arena and enters the Academy through a side entrance. Visas - Visas is around the back of the Academy, in a set of 'gardens' - mockeries of them, anyway, completely barren and twisted by Dark Side energies. She battles with groups of Dark Jedi Apprentices and one or two fully-fledged Dark Jedi. She eventually gets inside the Academy as well. All done. Back to Exile for second leg of Malachor's surface. Only difference: the cliff is no longer available. Or, well, it is, but it's not as much of a cliff. When the Exile gets to the area in front of the Academy, Mandalore (and Hanharr, if he's there) halloos from a big cliff, and tells the Exile that he'll wait there for him. Exile gets the opportunity to quiz Mandalore on abandoning him in the Ebon Hawk, and he explains the party's thinking - Kreia's weakness may be the Exile, but the Exile's weakness is Kreia. He couldn't be trusted to fight her and not suffer a Pyrrhic victory at best. Exile heads inside, cool scene with assassins included. Cut to cut cutscene (aha) of Atton, Visas, Handmaiden/Disciple and Mira, who have all met up at the Core, plotting how to take out Kreia. Kreia Force Crushes them all and they get taken away (again). Kreia should mention that they're all Force Sensitives and that's why they came to her at the Academy Core. Cut to the Remote, who follows in the Exile's footsteps as before, although some Storm Beasts should respawn 'cause it's boring otherwise. G0T0 ambushes as before and unlike before makes it clear that he's going to ensure Malachor survives as a counterbalance to Dantooine and Coruscant and the other Light Side worlds. Unfortunately, neither can act against the other because of the altered programming - G0T0 modified the Remote to be unable to attack him, while Bao-Dur introduced programs that prevented G0T0 from fully destroying the Remote. Cut to Kreia telling Sion to treat Exile with utmost respect and mentioning choice available to Exile - to sacrifice strength to save companions or just plow on ahead regardless. Exile rampages through the Academy. Stairs should exist in both the Crescent and Proving Grounds that lead to a dungeon area where the three/four companions are being held. Of course, this is because I don't know how it would have been handled originally, it may have been tied into the left/right decision itself... but I digress. A Force cage-type-thing surrounds the party members, and if the Exile dissipates it (at a significant personal cost - deduction of vitality and force points) then the party members are freed. Recriminations aside, they decide to split up again in their approach to Kreia and the Core. Exile completes these initial areas. Cue the cutscenes what we all know about already. Either Atton (Dark Side, I presume) tracks down and ambushes Disciple out of jealousy, Handmaiden (I think Dark Side as well) attacks Visas for similar reasons in a similar manner, or Atton (Light Side and perhaps Jedified) attacks Sion as part of his redemption for his past (and fails, of course) - a Dark Side Atton wouldn't sacrifice his life for the Exile, nor perhaps would a Scoundrel throw himself uselessly at a Sith Lord, although it'd add more angst to his later death. One of these should play, I think; no more. And only if the Exile freed the party members, of course. Exile continues on the final stretch to Sion and does battle with him. Then he can discover Atton, tortured to death in the next room. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Final room before Kreia, the (remaining) Lost Jedi assemble. Exile checks Influence to get them to actually join him for the confrontation (or fight alongside, even if not in the actual party and not actually controllable) - failure means they decide that it's best he goes ahead without them - baggage, his fight not theirs, that sort of thing. Cut away to the Remote and G0T0. HK shows up and, depending on whether you're Light or Dark, helps the Remote kill G0T0 and finish Bao-Dur's task or the G0T0 Remote and stop the Tech's plan. Then we return to the fight with Traya, which should be a little more substantial than before. First the big talk, then the Exile fights (with rescued party members) against Kreia and some Assassins (which is where the rescuing really pays off - more capable of defeating a group with a group), then a fight where Kreia stealths and sneak-attacks and shifts about invisibly (read: teleporting about, keeping the player off-guard), then a final straight-up battle of her saber against yours; her Force versus yours. Then she dies, with a final profession of love for you and your Forcelessness. The End A Light Side Exile sees the Ebon Hawk, repaired by T3, come down by the Academy Core and pick him up, along with the Lost Jedi (whether they're with the Exile or just released from the Force cage by Kreia's death), Mandalore, Hanharr (if Exile got him) and HK and escape from Malachor as the Academy disintegrates and the planet falls apart. The Ebon Hawk touches down on a nearby planet - somewhere lush and verdant and with a city somewhere, but away from the Hawk's landing spot. Everybody gathers in a convenient clearing; T3 and HK stand beside the Exile while everybody else stands in front of him. The Exile tells everyone that he has to go after Revan - for one thing, he has a tendency to create echoes that ripple outwards across the galaxy, like Malachor V, and only a return to 'exile' would prevent that. For another, Revan needs his help fighting the True Sith. Naturally, he can't bring anybody else with him. So he has to say goodbye. Mandalore is not fussed - he has a people to rebuild. Hanharr is freed of his lifedebt to Kreia and will return to his old life of waiting for death to claim him. Mira says it's been fun. Disciple comes clean with what he discovered about echoes on the Hawk (which was silenced by Kreia, I recall) and thanks the Exile on the behalf of the Republic. Handmaiden promises to always remember the Exile, or something like that. Visas thanks the Exile for giving her a life beyond Nihilus. Romanced characters (and Atton even if he wasn't romanced) step back for a moment while the others talk with the Exile. Exile then touches on the issue of the Lost Jedi. Regardless of whether they were Jedified or not, he informs them of their sensitivity to the Force and how they could be Jedi - real Jedi - with time. If one of them isn't a Jedi, they raise the question of training, and the Exile refers them to Visas as a temporary guide and/or (if Visas died on the Ravager) finding out for themselves. Holocrons still exist, and other Jedi - Jedi pretending to be something else, but still Jedi - may be out there. At the very least, learning it for themselves will teach them to use it wisely, and perhaps they can escape the mistakes of the previous Jedi Order. The Exile departs and we see him standing over a rough grave for Bao-Dur. He gives whatever response the player chooses, from sombre silence to praise for a loyal soldier to a profession of love for the Iridonian. Then moving on to the Ebon Hawk. Atton, if alive, joins the Exile then and attempts to banter his way into joining the Exile, but because ending on light banter is a fate only slightly worse than "Deet-deet reet deet-dwooo," "You said it, T3!" "AHAHAHAHA," the Exile forcefully tells him that he has to stay behind, despite being the best friend, the longest companion. He's a Force Sensitive, after all. If Atton died, then he gets a marker next to Bao-Dur's. If he got romanced, then there's a little weepy good-bye for him. If somebody else did, then the Exile dismisses him with a pat and goodbyes weepily with the other romantic interest. Then the Exile boards the Ebon Hawk, HK is shut down, T3 sorts out technical navigation stuff and the Hawk leaves for Revan's last destination, while the companions go fulfil their own destinies and the Jedi Order is reforged. Dark Side is similar. Malachor never falls, and instead the goodbyes take place there. Mandalore is the same as before; Hanharr is free but remains the Exile's utterly dominated slave; G0T0 expresses relief that the Exile will no longer be disrupting the Republic and goes to re-establish his position in the Exchange; Disciple may be dead, ditto Visas; surviving Force sensitives are commanded to form a new Sith Order on Malachor and take over the galaxy. Bao-Dur gets a grave 'cause Dark-Siders care too, although you don't have to; Atton and/or romance get sad goodbyes, then Exile, T3 and HK pack off in Ebon Hawk to find Revan, leaving the rest of the party to either found the new Sith Order or find their own transportation off the dead planet. Credits! Damn, that's way too much there.

Malak was closer to a tragic hero, of sorts - something hinted at in the final conversation between him and Revan on the Star Forge, fleshed out a little in KOTOR 2 and something I only really latched on to with a fan picture of the young Revan and Malak befriending the Exile at the Academy. Seems to me that Malak was a poor bastard that followed his best friend (possibly even the object of his affections, his school crush, Ms. Revan?) to war and into the Dark Side, but never actually discovered the ulterior motive behind Revan's fall and just ended up wallowing in death and destruction; in a sense, he is but another victim of Revan and Kreia's machinations, rather than a power in his own right.

Again, Chuckles: stuff like Force Sight, reliance on skills and 'listening' through the Force aren't basic. Because, you know, Revan, Bastila, Juhani and Jolee were all fully trained in these basic abilities - and more! And Kreia and the Exile (and Visas, in one case) aren't the only ones we ever see that are trained in these BASIC and OBVIOUS techniques, no? I don't see it as unfair to assume that if the sole source we have - the game - says that these Force abilities are new to the Exile, a fully-trained Jedi, then that's because they're obscure Force abilities that aren't normally taught to Padawans, due to ignorance or... other reasons. Bear in mind also that Kreia's one-time job was historian and librarian of the Jedi, and performed a stint as a Sith Lord at an academy for the Ancient Sith, and as such would have access to forgotten and unused techniques that a standard Jedi from the Dantooine Academy might not know. As I said, the three components was an allowance for players who didn't want to run all over the galaxy looking for tiny little lenses and power cells and casings and rubbish like that. As was the whole question of 'how to build a lightsaber'. Consider also that the Exile is constructing his lightsaber in different conditions with limited resources to the Academy, which has everything he could possibly require for making a lightsaber - including means of ensuring quality control of the materials, which is something that a Tech Specialist like Bao-Dur can do and indeed comes up in dialogue, too. Sez you. Screw continuity; canon is the stone that gets in the way of the sculpture. People can only disagree with you because they're slavishly devoted to protecting the honour and reputation of a computer game? Piss off. Just a thought: how many times does a Jedi have to assemble, dis-assemble and re-assemble his lightsaber over the course of his life?

Why not? Where does this leeched Force go, if not to the Exile's personal Force reservoir? Ditto for Nihilus. The "Death of the Force" refers to being free of the destiny-controlling semi-sentient all-pervading Force - Kreia's hope, Kreia's goal - rather than actually destroying the Force. Nihilus was going to do that, but only because he'd end up consuming all life and then dying of starvation himself, leaving no life for there to be a Force of, for and from. Not really. From Malachor V to waking up on Peragus with Kreia, the Exile never uses the Force. What, you think every Jedi knows every technique of the Force? And that Revan would say "Why yes, Exile, you are an excellent tactician and leader, but because you don't have Force Sight then YOU CAN'T BE ON MY TEAM"? I doubt it was as easy as that. You could mass-produce these highly-advanced pieces of technological equipment (laser swords! swords made out of light!) if they were 'just' three pre-built components. No, I think that they reduced the complexity of the task considerably because actually assembling a lightsaber out of tiny little bits yourself would be insanely boring. And you'd have to be some kind of idiot savant to be able to remember everything entailed in assembling your own lightsaber (once, many years ago). In truth, I find your claim a little dubious, although honestly speaking it's not really relevant. And I'm not a Star Wars buff, so maybe it is that ridiculously simple... This is not bearing in mind that the Exile is probably actively forgetting memories of being a Jedi, partly because he is not longer a member of the Order and also because of the whole Malachor V thing.

Did you miss the whole 'wound in the Force' thing? The Exile did more than just stop listening to the Force; it's not as if the connection to the Force is still there in him and he's just ignoring it. It's not like deciding not to read for ten years and then changing your mind come the eleventh. That's just ignoring your eyes. He actually cut himself off from the Force, and not just metaphorically. He undid his Force connection, made himself 'Forceless' like normal people - and even then, he went further than that. He's a wound in the Force because of what he did to himself at Malachor V in order to survive all the death and destruction. It's gone, and he can't get it back precisely because it isn't an arm, or an eye, but something mental, spiritual, transcendental - and you can't get replacements for that. The Exile only starts using the Force again when he's around Force-sensitive people - Kreia, Atton, Bao-Dur and the rest. Even then, he's not using his Force as such, but leeching/channeling it through his companions. He never relearns it. Compare and contrast to Kreia - she was cut off from the Force, but retained a connection. She couldn't access it, but it was there. The Exile doesn't even have that. He's like Nihilus, remember? Because you could build a complicated piece of machinery once in your youth and then reconstruct it ten years later, from scratch and using only your memory for reference without any help whatsoever?

Did you not, like, read anything I wrote? No, seriously. I mean, what? Revan takes back his title of Dark Lord of the Sith? Really? Bugger me, I never picked up on that! Come on, dude. It finishes with Revan halfway through conquering the galaxy. 'S all in flux, man. Undecided. Unfinished. Would you stop using that damn word all the time? It really irritates me.

Now, now, be fair. There was a 'good and final' ending to Revan's story, it's just that TSL rewrote it, expanded on it by deciding that there was more to Revan's fall than mere lust for power. Even then, the fundamental results of the final choice - Light Side Revan or Dark Side Revan - remained. And the only real problem is the Dark Side ending (at least, so I believe) and that's really because it's a pretty craptastic ending in itself. Where's the equilibrium, man? All you do is swap Malak for Revan - the war still continues, the Star Forge still remains, the chaos and uncertainty is still moping around, messing everything up. I don't know - maybe it was supposed to mean you actually take over the entire galaxy by killing Dodonna, but that's just implausible and too much for a tiny little cutscene. 'Cause, like, Light Side is easy. Revan saves the day, but afterwards realises that there's a bigger threat out there, and goes off to stop it. There's no incongruity because the only thing left hanging is the main plot thread. With a Darksider, however, Revan forgets he's currently in the middle of annihilating the Republic, abandons the Star Forge and disappears into the middle distance. It jars because the ending bites, not necessarily because Revan has become a dead horse all of a sudden. There's still blood in that stone, damnit. But I guess I don't see the open-endings the way you do, Mr. Rollseyes. Perhaps, maybe, I don't know, I see the choice as a personal, do-I-take-advantage-of-second-chance-or-slip-back-into-Sith-Lord decision that merely has the consequences of saving the Republic or resurrecting Darth Revan. I don't see it as deciding to either destroy the Forge or lead the Sith and never, ever, ever being able to do anything but that for the next five years, not even when something more important comes up. Ever. At all. Ever. Anyway, I'd rather not have Revan's story continued on forever, nor the Exile's. However, once the story has begun, it really ought to end, and KOTOR 3 is the answer. 'Twould be bad form to cut this overrarching 'True Sith' plotline two-thirds of the way through, see. Indeed, it's bad enough that TSL's ending is sub-par, no need to screw the entire pooch, damnit. I can understand the point (my own example would be Deus Ex and Deus Ex: Invisible War, which attempted to combine all three endings to the original and failed miserably, although it was a terrible game regardless) but don't agree that it necessarily applies to KOTOR (beyond the obvious fact that KOTOR was designed as a one-shot, not the first in a trilogy).

Yes. Or, alternatively, no. In truth, I was pointing out that there is a third way between ending a trilogy with a title to go and obliterating several people's experiences of KOTOR 1 and 2 by creating an 'official' game Revan and Exile. Specifically: it's quite easy to get around problems of gender and alignment, because those things can be hidden and they don't completely define a person. Cloaking them in a mixture of heavy clothing and ambiguous plot details is one way; another is for them to die. Or... an idea with which I'm currently toying is that they die like Obi-Wan does. Only through, like, dissolving into the Force can they aid the young protagonist of KOTOR 3 and thus defeat the super Sith Empire. That 'un was sparked by musings on these boards, I recall.

Hello. I don't understand this agonising over the presence of multiple variations of Revan and the Exile. I mean... it's not as if men and women, light-siders and dark-siders always choose different options; one chooses red, then the other chooses blue. Ultimately the gender and alignment of Revan and the Exile are parts of their character, not their characters being parts of Masculinity or the Dark Side. Technical issues provide a stronger position for dropping the Revan line... 'S not that hard. If Bio managed to have flashbacks of an ambiguous Revan that allowed for male and female versions, then KOTOR3 can have a similarly ambiguous Revan in a robe, hood and mask. It would be quite appropriate, really, if KOTOR3 continues along lines of moral, narrative ambiguity. Assuming you show him at all, of course. The need for a walking, talking Revan can be disappeared quite easily. "Oh no, Revan's dead!" Or, failing that, has ascended to some kind of magical Force-spirit or whatever. Ditto the Exile, although he'd need a costume change to match Revan's new MYSTARY summer look. Regardless, if presented with a situation where doing something in a direct, unsubtle manner results in plot development chaos, then instead of getting into a tizz or chucking the idea altogether, find another way of doing it. If Revan and the Exile are ambiguous, then don't fight it - use it! Face and gender unknown? Robe and mask. Voiceless? No dialogue. Undecided morality? Use motivations that aren't restricted to one particular side of the Force. Yes, very whacky. Nergh.