Unlike the title suggests, I now think that Cal is no Jedi.

Say hi to Pal Kestis for me

Whew, Infantry, your post never cease to get the gears spinning. It’s an interesting concept that you highlighted about us, as the players having no other choice but to take the dark path. It’s certainly a major departure from other story based Star Wars games like TFUl and TFUll where you get to choose which path you take in the final climatic moment. This leads me to believe that Cal’s character might be one of those who starts out idealistic and heroic but becomes more morally gray and darker as this era continues to affect him. It’s important to keep in mind that Cal’s training was largely incomplete by the time he lost Jaro Tapal. His journey to become a Jedi Knight has been very unorthodox and the era of the Dark Times sadly encourages the few remaining Jedi to do very unjedi like things. Reading the Dark Times comics has shown me how Jedi were forced to commit cold blooded murder to protect fellow Jedi survivors or save their own lives.

Cal has been trying to fight back against the Empire with the limited resources and allies that he has but as we saw at the beginning of the game, he’s beginning to feel like a hamster on a wheel. He fights and he succeeds in mounting small hit and run attacks against the Empire but he loses people that he considers friends. Then he discovers Tanalorr, the first sign of a real positive change, a real positive future for those suffering from the empire. Then Bode throws a huge monkey wrench in said hope by revealing himself to be a dark side, backstabbing, toxic nerf herder (whew I had to let that out 😅). Imo, Cal reached a point where he simply said “Enough. Enough with the betrayals, enough with the setbacks, enough with holding back”. Does this mindset make what he did right? Nope, but Cal has expressed his frustrations with being on a rollercoaster with no end in sight.

Throughout his journey we’ve seen his frustration with betrayal, the empire’s grip on the galaxy, and the loss of his loved ones. My best guess is the game wants us, as the players to understand and feel the position that Cal is in. To be backed into a corner, to be so emotionally drained that you just want to end the ordeal in the quickest way possible. He doesn’t go full on red-yellow eyes dark side but you can tell something dies in him along with Bode. If you could hear something cracking in someone’s spirit, I think that’s what Cal went through in the “embrace the darkness” moment. The light in his soul is truly beginning to crack, and his future has never been more uncertain. I hope what I said makes some kind of sense 😂. Anyway, this was a very enlightening read Infantry. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and feelings with us.

I think games should offer the player a variary of choices while playing the game (not having to use the dark side power every time on enemies) and shouldn't force them to play a game exactly the way they want. Player freedom is important in games and that's what a lot of Star Wars games lack.

Ok this post got me thinking about existential problems (maybe i shouldn't reply at 9am) so i can give you an explanation to only 2 things you said.

1. The fact that Cal can control with the dark side will definitely be an issue for the third game, which I think will come out given how this one ended. Also, I'd like to play a Gray Jedi.

2. The fact that a character has no flaws makes him a bit boring character, after all think about it, would you rather see a movie about a person who takes a plane, the flight is fine, and gets where it had to come, Or would you rather see a movie about a plane crash and how to survive on a desert island? When characters do everything right, they don't appeal to the public, that's why all the characters make mistakes that the audience doesn't like, and then fix it and show what the audience actually wants to see (I'm going on too long but....It doesn't matter 💀). Take for example the movie Rocky 2, Rocky is a successful boxer, but he wants to stop for fear of getting hurt, now, you'd rather see a movie about an unemployed man than do jobs where he cracks his back, or a successful boxer and his fights? the point is this.

Returning to Cal, the fact of not being able to choose whether to embrace the darkness or not, just serves to make it clear that in the future Cal will have some little problems

May the Force be with you

@November sixteenth

You’re more than welcome to say hi, yourself, you know!

————————————————————

@Swatteam123

I see where you’re coming from, and I appreciate it. I guess it was just the way it was worded for me: “embrace.” The use of that word, rather than “use” or another implied to me that Cal had already thought about giving himself to his darker self, and I also took it as a move to disconnect himself from all the guilt he had. I can’t remember what made me conclude that, but there it just feels like more of a conscious choice this time around. Wait, I remember now. I guess it was mainly how he isn’t really following the foundational Jedi teachings anymore, he’s fully fine with getting together with Merrin, and using a blaster. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t really have any problem with either in particular, even though his attachment does get the better of him with Cere. It’s just that Embrace the Darkness moment was his moment of saying, I’m done being confined by the Jedi way, and imma do my own thing, you know? I think it freed him and his conscious.

Swat, m’boy you are absolutely right. He was done with the bodetrayal (never going to not love saying that) and his friend’s deaths, not to mention his own, which we know would have gone caput had he not channeled his emotions in that moment. It was a good reminder that brought me back to reality a bit, lol. I also like how you related the Bode-ster’s betrayal to order 66, which I never thought about before. Betrayal does seem to follow Kestis, and I wonder if that will somehow continue in the third installment. I guess we’ll just have to see, but I was sad that Cal wasn’t as wholesome anymore. I don’t find as much enjoyment when I know that what I am helping a character do is wrong, especially when they don’t fully realize it like the homie Pal Kestis, who I guess really isn’t much of a Pal anymore. Just hope he doesn’t break little Kata’s heart for a second time; she has been through enough, lol.

Thank you for sharing, Swat. You’re a good guy, and I’m glad you enjoyed.

All Glory to God!

————————————————————-

@Padawan Jedi 66

I absolutely agree with you; stories that have more internal conflict and mistakes are more interesting to us, but that is exactly what doesn’t make sense. What I’m saying is that, why should fictional conflict and internal turmoil appeal to us more than peace and soundness? Why should be “enjoy” Cal’s fall to the Dark side rather than not. I’m not saying that it is wrong, because that is what stories are made of: problems. You can’t really have one without a problem to solve, whether it be getting groceries or getting ambushed on your way over there. In the case of Jedi: Survivor, however, I found it difficult to feel like I was the one in control and was forced to embrace darkness when it is partially presented as escaping the toxicity of the Jedi’s rhetoric thereby freeing Cal’s conscious to accept the dark along with the light, and that is something that is personal to me as some may know from my Anakin analysis. It just didn’t sit right with me. If it had been a movie, I would have been somewhat distressed by Cal’s choice, but once you tied that choice to my choice, I feel responsible, and I guess I didn’t like that responsibility too much, lol.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope that explained things a bit better, Padawan!

MTFBWY

^Ok now I understand what you meant, I've never read your analysis of Anakin, but I know that I too would not like to embrace the darkness.

@Infantry31st Really appreciate your thoughts and your kind words as always. I definitely understand your hang up with this aspect of Cal’s journey. It’s very easy to put yourself in the shoes of the character you’re playing in games like this. It’s one of the reasons I really love the force unleashed games for giving players the option of choosing the light or the dark side. I’m very curious to see where he’ll go though. Abandoning the no-attachment rule doesn’t really mean Cal’s more susceptible to the dark side imo. I’ve seen several Jedi in Luke’s EU Order, including Luke himself, maintain their connection to the light while having attachments to others. For Cal, he’s a victim of the times he’s living in. From the very beginning Cal has struggled with his feelings, and his losses. His losses have continued to pile up and it’s slowly suffocating him. It’s almost like Bode’s hatred gave rise to Cal’s hatred.