KOTOR Playthrough Ideas

WARNING: the following contains heavy spoilers about KOTOR I and KOTOR II. Do not read it if you haven't played the games yet.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: these are rough ideas for KOTOR playthroughs that I may or may not ever do. Some are more build-related, some are more story-related. Some are KOTOR I specific, some are KOTOR II specific, and some carry across both games.

ANOTHER WARNING: you saw that there were going to be spoilers, right? If you haven't played the games, stop reading now.


=============

One of the playthroughs should do a "BBY" bit, where one character quotes a date to another in BBY, and confusion follows. Something like:

"When did that happen?"

"That was in 3951 BBY."

"Wait, what's BBY?"

"It stands for Before Battle of Yavin."

"Battle of ... what? What happened to the Galactic Standard Calendar?"

"Everybody just kind of dropped it and started using BBY. It's more convenient."

"But ... you're saying we're currently almost four thousand years before this Battle of Yavin, whatever it is?"

"That's right."

"And you don't find that odd?"
"No, it's really straightforward. All we really did was switch from using the founding of the Republic as the reference point to using the Battle of Yavin."
"But hasn't happened yet! How can you date something relative to an event that hasn't occurred? Am I the only person here who thinks that's nonsensical?"
"I can see why it'd be a little jarring, given that you're used to dating from the founding of the Republic. But you get used to it really quickly."
"It doesn't have anything to do with the founding of the Republic! Or with getting used to anything! It has to do with dating against something that hasn't happened yet! How do you even know this mythical battle is even going to happen? Or if so, when?"
"Wookieepedia, of course."
"Wookiee what? What do the Wookiees have to do with this?"
"Nothing really. Wookieepedia is just a portmanteau-style name for the crowdsourced galactic encyclopedia that everyone is using now. Pretty much all its dates are in BBY, and having to convert BBY to the old Galactic Standard Calendar got really tiresome. Like, imagine you were a fanfic author and every time you wanted to use a date in one of your stories, you had to stop and do the math to convert the BBY date from Wookieepedia into the Galactic Standard Calendar. You might get so annoyed that you wrote a whole conversation between your characters to explain why they were using BBY dates millennia before the Battle of Yavin, just to avoid having to look up the reference dates and do the arithmetic every time you wanted to mention a year."
"But ... how can ... why would ... oh, nevermind, just keep going."


Just a fanfic idea, not a playthrough idea, but here are a couple of things that feel (to me) like plot holes in the game that I could fill (credit to linkyoo on Reddit for this comment):


I generally go with the backstory that the Exile was really trusted by Revan, and that the Exile was really loyal to Revan. And often a Light Side Exile sees that loyalty has having been betrayed at Malachor V. What about a backstory where Revan didn't trust the Exile, or think that highly of them? And the Exile had similiar negative feelings about Revan? After all, the Jedi who died at Malachor V were those who would have sided with the Republic over Revan. Revan could have predicted the Exile's behavior at Malachor V, and known they'd give the order, because Revan was good at predicting people. But that doesn't necessarily mean Revan liked the Exile, considered them a close confidant, or wanted to keep them around.


Just a fanfic idea, not a playthrough idea, but what about a shortish one where Kreia and Kae are different people, and Kae isn't really dead. She could show up and confront Kreia, all pissed that Kreia is wandering around the galaxy implying that she (Kreia) is Kae. Among other things, they could argue about who is Revan's *real* teacher.

KOTOR I or KOTOR II: Make everyone hate each other. All the companions hate each other, the main character does not get along with any of the companions. I usually have everyone get along pretty well, so this would be my chance to have everyone be rude to each other. If I am too rude too quickly I'll lose a lot of the dialog tree, , so maybe try to string it along being as rude as possible without ending the conversations. However, I might not do all the companion quests (KOTOR I) or maximize influence (KOTOR II). Almost certainly no romance options.


KOTOR I: Use the Sith Armor glitch (put it on someone in the apartment when the main character talks to Gadon) to keep the Sith Armor. Then try to use propoganda to beat the Sith by wearing it everywhere and making choices that make the Sith look bad. Maybe even use one of the item duplication glitches (Yavin IV is easy) to make lots of copies and have everyone wear it.

Build possibilities:

Strength-based Scout/Consular

Scout/Guardian

Scoundrel/Guardian, to combine Sneak Attack with Force Jump and one-shot enemies. Force Jump is loads of fun.


KOTOR 1: never take any Jedi levels. Use one of the infinite XP glitches on Taris (probably repawning rakghouls) to get as far as I'm willing (wow, that would be tedious) or else use a cheat to grant XP, and then never level up as a Jedi. The game will require me to pick a Jedi class on Dantooine, but it won't require me to ever actually take any Jedi levels. This would mean that all leveling up would have to happen before I'm required to pick my Jedi class, because afterward that's the only thing I'll be able to level up as. Meaning I'd either be wildly over-leveled for the mid-game, or wildly under-level for the end game.

Betraying the Beks would help a little, because then you get XP from killing both the Vulkars and the Beks. That only gets you around a level's worth, though. So still very grindy without cheats. Do any rakghoul farming as low level as possible, because XP scales with level. So if it can be managed at level 2 with companion help, do it that way.
Here's someone who did something similar (although they only took the base class to 11): https://www.reddit.com/r/kotor/comments/rk3ibg/screw_218_try_119/


Han Solo Mode. Here's how someone on Reddit described it, but personally, I can't imagine Han NOT taking the Jedi princess (Bastila) with him too:

LS Scoundrel/Sentinel, blasters only, once you get Big Z he’s the only party member you’re allowed to use and he must be by your side whenever possible for the rest of the game

stats 10/16+2/10/14/12+3/14

Han basically only ever used a single pistol, but he was known to use a rifle and a vibroblade from time to time. If you want to be canon then no dual wielding but you can take your pick of weapons other than heavy weapons and lightsabers. (Try and stick to a single pistol most of the time, but Han was resourceful and to an extent used what he needed to.)

For force powers, I'd go with the persuasive ones and the buffs/heals. Obviously Han didn't use any force powers, but in this game you get them. I'd stick to light armor or robes (ETA: or just clothes, if you want to be really canon), but probably not any powers that are restricted by armor (so no offensive powers). Don't take Force Wave or any other debilitating powers if you want a challenge, because your Sneak Attack will make it too easy.

My thought: for roleplaying purposes, this build needs a *lot* of Scoundrel. I should repair every droid, do everything with computers I can (even just downloading schematics is worth some xp) and see how much Scoundrel I can get on Taris. Would this character (even being LS) betray the Hidden Beks? That route gives more XP, because you get to kill both gangs. This main character would probably have really low Wisdom, so maybe I could justify it. Could play it as LS-ish rather than full-on LS.

Mando run. You and Canderous running around in Mandalorian armour and the both of you have mandalorian weapons only. You cannot have another teammate for as long as possible. Bonus if both of you are using the mandalorian heavy repeater. You can buy one from the merchant on Tatooine. Focus on high dexterity and tank through the game.
Grayish run idea: karma embodied. Treat good people good and bad people bad. Isn't necessarily always right about who is who.

KOTOR 2 idea from https://www.reddit.com/user/alpha1812/ on reddit: Kotor 2 consular watchman with thorn's robe, the robes give force jump, so you literally have the best of all 3 class in 1 build. You can force jump into a crowd, force wave, then pick them one off one by one due to sneak attack. Then repeat wave/stasis as needed.


T3 mayhem. Once you get T3, you will mainly play as him. Never play as your character for as long as possible. See the world through the eyes of our favorite lovable Droid. You are free to play the game as usual, just only as T3.

Is there any sort of fanfic idea where I reactivate HK-47's assassination protocols? He's in KOTOR II so they'd have to be deactivated again. Or else he's playing a REALLY long game and using the Exile to get close to whatever his target is. Maybe I set him onto the HK-50s as his target? That'd make the TSLRCM part at the end with him more interesting. During KOTOR I, HK-47 says "some of his actuators were damaged by his former owner and cannot be repaired", when explaining when his assassination protocols can't be reactivated. (This former owner thought HK-47 was going to kill him, stabbed HK-47 with a "writing instrument", hit the actuator, and the shock killed the guy.) HK-47 says replacing the actuator would "require complete dismantlement of his chassis, a most involved procedure." But if I built him in the first place, maybe *I* could repair him...

Chap One: Revan completes construction of HK-47. When does this happen? Is it before the end of the Mandalorian Wars? Maybe Revan isn't fully Dark yet? If before Malachor V, then Revan could talk to HK about what he's planning for Malachor, mention Meetra. Give a chance to explore how Revan felt about all that, and what he really had in mind. How much was a trap for his own people? Revan was clearly teetering before going to the Unknown Regions, as evidenced by following the Star Maps, delving into the Sith teachings from Korriban (and Malachor?) But how Dark did Revan get before encountering the True Sith, and how much of his fall was because of Vitiate vs his own decisions? I'm thinking pre-Unknown-Regions Revan was dark gray, but maybe not fully gone yet. Do I even bring the True Sith into this one? Is Kreia around for any of this? Meetra? Even if Meetra isn't there personally, they could talk via communicator.
Chap Two: Darth Revan and the HK-50s. Is HK-47 still around at this time? Did Revan build the HK-50s to supplant HK-47? Complement him? Maybe even for him? Or if he is gone, to replace him? Clearly the serve different purposes, with HK-47 being more long-term infiltration and single-target oriented, considering his work art, while the HK-50s, while still capable of subtlety (as evidenced by Peragus) take on wider-ranging tasks.

Chap Three: after KOTOR I. This is where Revan could reprogram HK-47 to go after the HK-50s. Maybe that's how HK-47 gets destroyed in this one? Would need at least a hint of how T3 found him, then. Is T3 involved? Does he also have a secret mission programmed by Revan that maybe even he doesn't know about?
Chap Four: after KOTOR II. Wrap up, what to do about the HK-50s already in the fleet. Maybe HK-47 goes after them individually. Do others take up the task? Subtlety required so they don't set off the proton charges? I'll have already done three chapters with lots of Revan in them, so he may be Sir-Not-Appearing-In-This-Chapter and we never solve (or even investigate) where he went in this fanfic. At most, unless I can come up with a better tie-in, the characters will do a "we'll go look for Revan after we finish this droid thing".

Does this fit with the established timelines? It gives me two chapters before KOTOR I, do I really want that? It would allow me to explore some of the early timeframes, but also makes them a little more speculative and a little less connected to the games.


Is there any interesting way to make Kreia the big bad of the whole thing? If she's Kae, then she was Revan's first (I think) teacher, and perhaps his most influential one. And she's responsible in a behind-the-scenes way for the Exile's exile. So she essentially formed both main characters, or at least was very influential in their paths. But she dies at the end of KOTOR II. So the fanfic would either be in-game focused and not bring people together after, or else it'd bring them together without the big bad. Unless I had her do a Palpatine and, by killing Kreia, the Exile becomes Kreia. Or becomes "all the Sith" or something like that. But I've already done Revan-in-Bastila's head, so that feels overdone. Could Kreia have been battling the True Sith, and in an "all paths lead to victory" ways, if the "deafen the galaxy to the Force" had worked, then Vitiate is crippled and she's won. Or if not, she's recreated the Exile in the way she wanted to, and pointed her at Revan in the Outer Regions. So they could go defeat the True Sith using Kreia's plan, without Kreia there. But then is Kreia really the villian? And maybe that ambiguity is very Kreia-ish and worth exploring? Not sure if there is anything there worth writing.


Could I do anything with Batu Rem (the guy in KOTOR II you are supposed to find but the quest is bugged and he is nonfindable)?

Darth Atris playthrough

Make Atris the real Big Bad of KOTOR 2. And maybe KOTOR I if I can work that out. That'd be kinda cool, as that could be the link between the two games - Atris pulling a Frank Palpatine and manipulating both Jedi and Sith. Heck, the whole True Sith thing could be a cover for Atris. It might be fun to do a fanfic series where they don't actually exist. Atris could do something to lure Revan off, to get Revan out of the way. Heck, she wrote the report he was reading in the Revan book that was part of why he left. That could have been completely planned.
I don't really like the Darth Atris name, because it implies she's a Sith and I think she sees herself as a new kind of Jedi, which (whether she realizes this or not) is Dark Jedi and not either Sith or Jedi. So I probably need a new name, but this will do for a placeholder. Also, some of this came from a Reddit comment I made and never reworded for this page, so it is a little weird out of the context of that post.

In my final KOTOR 2 conversation with Atris, her dialog tree includes: - at the gathering on Katarr, the Council had a vision. It showed me on Onderon, Dantooine, and Duxn. The interpreted it as me being at the center of events that would ... I guess destroy the galaxy? She wasn't completely clear. - behind the vision was an "echo", the same echo that Atris felt when they exiled me in the first place. However, Kreia talks to Atris before I get there (and Kreia scampers off to Malacor V). In the Kreia/Atris conversation, Kreia tells Atris that Kreia was at my exile, and it was Kreia who got Atris to exile me. So maybe the echo they felt was Kreia and not me at all? Dunno, anyway, Atris thought I was responsible for the echo. - Atris says she's not really Atris anymore, and hasn't been for a long time. Never takes another name, though - admits she got the Jedi to gather on Katarr, as an attempt to draw out the Sith. Claims she didn't realize how powerful they were. But also seemed to think the Jedi got what they deserved. - says something to the effect that Jedi are Sith and Sith are Jedi and they all need to be wiped out for her to start her own new Jedi Order. - admission that she leaked information that drew me back from exile, for the purposes of either killing me (if I was Sith) or using me to draw out the Sith (if I was not) - As part of the Kreia/Atris conversation, Kreia says a lot about Atris falling, and needing to admit it. But Atris says a lot less. So Atris could have been playing coy, if Kreia thinking and saying all this was part of Atris' plan all along. Really, Atris says almost everything I need her to for this fanfic. I just need to make her responsible for KOTOR I as well as KOTOR II, and add the bits where Atris was actually manipulating Kreia instead of the other way around.
This chapter, it'd probably start on Malachor V, right before Kreia dies, and Atris is revealed. This is rougly based on the following Reddit post that I made:

I can imagine an ending where you can't kill Atris on Telos. Then right as you're about to whack Kreia, Atris walks in from the side door with a Palpatinesque "Good, good, your hate has made you strong. Now strike her down and take your rightful place at my side! Together we will save the galaxy from itself. My Jedi Order will never die!"

Okay, that's derivative and cheesy, let's not do that. But I do feel like, with other changes to the game, there could be an ending where Atris was manipulating the manipulator all along, for purposes of eliminating both the (misguided, too late to save) Jedi and the (equally blasphemous) Sith, in order to stamp the galaxy with her own brand of crazy. While Kreia thought she was in control of all this stuff, she was really just getting played. It'd take fairly substantial changes for it to make sense, though.

Actually, my head canon for my Exile (Light or Dark) is generally that they have Kreia figured out pretty early, and they're just playing her in order to (Light) get her to lead the Exile to her apprentices before finally ridding the galaxy of her, or (Dark) learn everything they can from her, then take her place. So what I'm suggesting for Atris isn't too far off from what my Exile is usually after.


Vague idea to link the Rakatan Infinite Empire and the True Sith Empire, maybe with the Rakatans being the inspiration of the Sith. And maybe even that somewhere in the galaxy there are still Force-sensitive Rakata left, maybe that isolated themselves from the plague that destroyed the Infinite Empire. They could even be pulling the strings behind the True Sith Empire. Could they have done some genetic manipulation that helped create Vitiate? Anyway, this could be what Revan and Meetra get into after KOTOR II. This isn't quite as far-fetched as it sounds, there are several connections:

So, it sounds like the chronology goes like this:

  1. Kwa find Rakata and elevate them
  2. Rakata found the Infinite Empire and encounter Sith species (and King Adas)
  3. The Sith species make their first bitty Empire
  4. A lot of time passes. Like, tens of thousands.
  5. The Hundred Year Darkness happens and the Exiles find Korriban
  6. The Exiles get Adas' holocron
  7. Ajunta Pall, leader of the Exiles, becomes first Dark Lord of the Sith
  8. Exiles establish the next, much bigger Sith Empire, and a lot of time passes. Maybe over a thousand years?
  9. Sith Empire under Naga Sadow attack the Republic in the Great Hyperspace War
  10. Sith lose, Vitiate takes over, hundreds of years pass
  11. Freedon Nadd finds the holocron and later dies, hundres more years pass
  12. Exar Kun is trained by Nadd's spirit

Not sure how much of that would matter for a story.

Now, how much of his teachings did Adas get from himself and how much was from Rakatan influence? And how much did his holocron affect those who later encountered it? Maybe that's explored in various Legends material, but if so I haven't read it. He at least got holocron technology from them, though. The holocron has its own Wookieepedia entry: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Holocron_of_King_Adas?so=search Whatever it said, it was apparently important enough that Palpatine was after it at one point, although he apparently never got it.

Anyway, the idea goes that the Rakatans came up with dark teachings really early, and passed them to Adas, who was probably pretty dark himself but didn't have all these ideas formed yet. So the Rakata ideas kind of bump the Sith (the actual Sith race before their genetics were corrupted by the Exiles) along both the technological and Dark Side paths. And Adas records key elements of these teachings. Then tens of thousands of years later, the Exiles show up and, encountering Adas' holocron, combine their own Dark Jedi teachings with the Rakatan Dark Side ideas from the holocron. These teachings are then integrated into what KOTOR II calls the 'true Sith' by the time Vitiate is born. So there's a thread all the way from the Rakata to Vitiate.

If I add anything about Rakata still left around, that'd be completely my own invention, which is good fanfic territory. The Rakata apparently had stasis technology (https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Infinite_Empire#Era_of_conquest) so it could be Rakata in stasis for tens of thousands of years. Or it could be a hidden, separated sect that has lived somewhere secret all this time. They could be the secret power brokers behind Vitiate. Or Vitiate could be in control of them. All sorts of options.


Student-redeems-the-master playthrough

After a very Light Side playthrough, Revan finds out who he/she (I think this idea would work for either gender) is on the Leviathan and gets super disillusioned. Goes way Dark. Dark Side ending. Kills as many of the party members as possible. Maybe kills Bastila in the fanfic.

Meetra shows back up (how?) and (post-KOTOR II) finds and redeems Revan.

Not sure how to handle all the inconsistencies. KOTOR II explicitly says Revan disappeared, but in this one Revan finishes off on the Star Forge. Maybe Kreia's wrong and Revan didn't leave to scout some threat with the intention of countering it. Maybe Revan went to join with it, or recruit it. And Bastila shows up in KOTOR II, at least in T3's holo and in at least some cases in person on Telos (for the dialog with Carth). If I can't find a way around that, maybe Revan tries to kill her, leaves her for dead but she survives, or something.

This one might be a little shorter and less complicated than some of the others. Could be less about the companions and the fate of the galaxy, and more about just Revan and Meetra. Meetra might talk to Carth and/or Bastila, but they could just be side characters. Even if Atton comes along as pilot, he could (for whatever reason, maybe even just Meetra saying she needs to do this alone) just stay on the ship. I guess Revan could kill (or try to kill, he's resiliant) Atton too, maybe?

I've toyed with the idea of a Revan/Meetra romance fanfic. Would that fit into this one anywhere? Or would it feel like an out-of-place add-on and I should save that for later. Could have one where Revan and Meetra are a couple, and go deal with the True Sith together.

Somebody on Reddit said this in a thread about how KOTOR 2 made Revan sound too overpowered.
I think something we ought to understand is that Kreia is not a reliable narrator. She is a master manipulator and tells you only what she wants you to hear. The fact that you're allowed to see/sense her presence and talk to her more than the other crew is a symbol of your privilege as her student, but Revan is her masterpiece.

A good amount of what she says would be truth within Obsidian's lore, but she's also a pretty talented liar - one that can even make truth into a lie of itself. The Lord of Betrayal, even. But importantly, she lets her pride slip through the cracks of her façade a fuck ton. When talking about a former alias of her, Arren Kae, listen to how she speaks of herself. When talking about her time as Darth Traya, pre-Indignities, listen to the pride in which she describes her accomplishments. When talking about her favorite apprentice, both as Arren Kae & Revan and Darth Traya & Darth Revan, she is prideful of her accomplishments. She will talk up Revan to the moon and back because of her pride, and it's up to us - the player - to determine how much of it is truth to fit our own headcanon.

My reasoning for it is this:

Think about where Kreia is in life when she discovers the Exile. She is shunned by the Jedi (carries a massive chip on her shoulder because how they viewed her), her greatest success either A. returned to the Jedi or B. abandoned her and the other Sith to a Civil War amongst themselves, and while she had the galaxy by her throat has the tar beaten out of her (+ some really disturbing implications from Sion) and is stripped of her power. She is at rock bottom on Peragus and for all her pride, she needed the Exile more than they needed her. She saw an opportunity to make a weapon to get revenge on not only the Jedi, but the Sith warlords that cast her out of her own faction. The Exile is in a very fragile state (and may even still admire Revan - depending on dialogue choices), so as a mixture of pride and manipulation Kreia will build this massive legend of a near-godlike conqueror, master of the force and blade, tactical genius etc. so she can point back to the Exile and say "See, Exile, I made that. That can be you, you need me."
I really like how that positions Kreia, and that perspective might be useful in fanfic that explores the relationship between the Exile and Kreia. Also, the Exile remembers Revan as the successful leader from the Mandalorian Wars, and now Kreia has pumped Revan up even further. What would happen if the Exile then met back up with post-KOTOR II Revan and it turned out he wasn't all that. Maybe that he hadn't actually gone after the True Sith but was basically hiding in a cave or something because he was broken/terrified/disheartened/whatever. Then the Exile has to basically fix Revan so they can do do (whatever, face the True Sith, fix the galaxy somewhere, etc.). This would almost make the Exile the main character of the fanfic and Revan an interesting exploration of PTSD and the aftereffects of betrayal, but not a Force Demigod. At least until the end after getting fixed, which the Exile should mostly get credit for anyway.

Also a side point someone else mentioned was that Revan and Kreia are similar in that they both manipulate people and events, but that Revan tended to just do the thing for the sake of the thing, sometimes not even sticking around to see how it went, while Kreia needs a lot of validation and for everyone to see that she's right.


Soldier run. Play a Solider/Guardian. Take Carth and Canderous as much as possible. Very few Force powers, very few skills, just lots of grittiness. Might finally be the run where I don't have enough medpacks.

Not really a playthrough idea, but is there some fanfic idea where Trask is a projection of Revan's fractured mind? And if he is, that means Revan cleared the entire Endar Spire on his own. What else was Revan actually doing solo thinking that it was his companions helping, when in fact the companions either didn't exist or weren't anything like what he was imagining?

Who or what else might also be Revan imagining things?



What is Revan isn't really Revan? What if that is the identity (and maybe even name?) of the Mandalorian shaman who died trying to stop the Mandalorian slaughter of the Cathar, and she possessed the Jedi we know as Revan via the mask? Or at least, became some sort of composite being with that Jedi? That'd explain why Revan never took off the mask - it would be like removing part of his/her identity, a part that very much doesn't want to be removed. Could explain why nobody much remembers Revan from before, he was a rebellious Jedi with some success but not galaxy-changing. Then it is actually the shaman (or the combo of the two) that is the legend we know as Revan. Which means that in KOTOR 1 you're actually playing as the Jedi, not as whatever "Revan" is in this context, because you don't have the mask. But Bastila has it, and you might get it back later, and then stuff might happen...
A twist would be that the Mandalorian wasn't try to save the Cathar because she was oh so sweet and nice and just wanted to protect innocents. What if she had a darker motive, like wanting to enslave them, or experiment on them, or somesuch (does the comic allow for this?) Then the Mandalorian (and thus her spirit, or her spirit's influence on Revan, or whatever) could be Dark Side, but Revan him/herself could be naturally Light Side, setting up a conflict the character battles throughout the game, and which could be resovled in a fanfic.
Is there any way Meetra could get the mask and get possessed in KOTOR II? So you're playing as the same (posessing) person in both, even though you're playing as two different possessed people? That'd make the Kreia conversations about Revan hillarious, because Kreia would be talking about Revan, to Revan.
https://www.reddit.com/user/Bic_The_Jawa_Agent/ said this:

Trask is a sith, he leaked the Endar Spires location and Darth Bandon was there to pick him up. He knows everything about Carth but Carth doesn’t even mention Trask. Trask is the Kreia of Kotor 1 and arguably far more dangerous, the chameleon Sith Lord. When you see that Sith and Jedi in the beginning, he holds back so she can’t read his intentions and he knew that if they fought long enough an explosion would kill them both, it was a sacrifice he was willing to make.

The real question is if Trask is working for Valkorian or if he’s working against him

Also, somebody else posted this: https://www.reddit.com/r/KOTORmemes/comments/xbq34r/trask_was_the_real_puppet_master/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
I WROTE THIS CONVERSATION FOR THE TEVANO STORY, THEN REWROTE IT. I REALLY, REALLY LIKE IT, BUT IT SOUNDS MORE LIKE SOMETHING A GREY LIGHT-SIDE-BUT-OPPOSED-TO-JEDI-RULES MAIN CHARCTER WOULD SAY. IN SHOULD KEEP IT AND USE IT SOMEWHERE ELSE IN A DIFFERENT STORY. THIS MAIN CHARACTER BREAKS BASTILA BY ASKING IF SHE LOVES HER MOTHER. HE STRIKES AT THE VERY HEART OF BASTILA'S TRUST IN THE JEDI PHILOSOPHY USING BASTILA'S WEAKEST EMOTIONAL POINT, IN A WAY THAT SHE CAN'T OPPOSE OR DENY. THIS IS A REVAN THAT COULD HAVE PERSUADED JEDI TO DEFY THE COUNCIL AND FOLLOW HIM. BUT THAT'S NOT THE MAIN CHARACTER I'M WRITING FOR THIS STORY. I DID USE PARTS OF THIS FOR THE TEVANO STORY, BUT AT A CERTAIN POINT THE CONVERSATIONS DIVERGE.

Video of Bastila and her mother, for context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1UoP__hqSc
"I'm glad we have a moment to talk," Tevano said. "We haven't had a break since Tatooine, and I've been wanting to ask how you're feeling about your mother now."

Bastila immediately stiffened. "That business is concluded," she said coolly.

"No it isn't," Tevano said. "Because, everythng else aside, she's your mother. Maybe I'm out of line, but you don't have anyone else out here to talk to. And I think you still need to talk about it."

"What I do or don't need isn't your concern," Bastila retorted. "Just because we're on the same mission and joined by a Force Bond doesn't make you my mentor or my therapist."

"No, it doesn't," Tevano said. "But it could make me your friend. If you'd let it."

"I-" Bastila prepared to unleash another sharp reply, then stopped herself. "You're right. I'm being defensive again. It's just ... Jedi aren't supposed to have attachments. Clearly my feelings concerning my mother aren't yet completely resolved."

"You seemed to end on good terms," Tevano said. "You even said that brought you peace. But that didn't last, did it?"

"You're very perceptive," Bastila said, carefully controlling her tone and expression. A terrible thought had just occurred to her. If Tevano could discern these private feelings she had tried to suppress, what else he might become aware of? Was he simply interpreting her moods, or was he able to read some of her thoughts through the Force Bond? What would happen if he learned through her that he was Revan? She pushed that worry aside for the moment. The worst thing she could do would be to think about that now, while her emotions were already poorly controlled. Better, she decided, to keep the conversation focused on her mother. "No, it didn't. My last conversation with her was the best we'd had in many years. Maybe ever. But since then..." she trailed off, unsure how to continue.

"At some level, you're still angry with her, aren't you?" Tevano said. "And you're feeling guilty at being angry with her, when she's ill."

"That's it exactly," Bastila said. "As embarrassing as it is to admit, I'm still having trouble letting go of old wounds. I thought I had moved past this, but those feelings continue to resurface. I should be better, both as a daughter and as a Jedi."

"I know that the Jedi training I received was very abbreviated," Tevano said. "I understand that means Master Zhar necessarily skipped a lot of things. I don't pretend to be an expert in all this. But it seems to me that denying the natural emotions that accompany being human isn't healthy."

"There is no emotion, there is peace," Bastila said, reciting the Jedi Code.

"Maybe," Tevano said. "Maybe there are Jedi that works for. If so, I'm not there yet. I love the Republic. I feel incredible loyalty to it, to you, to the rest of our companions on this mission. I'm angry at Malak, Bandon, and the rest of the Sith for the destruction they've caused. I'm afraid we'll fail, they'll win, the Republic will fall, and uncountable trillions of innocents will suffer. I feel an intense drive to not let that happen. Maybe those emotions are wrong. Maybe, as I've been told, they'll lead me to the Dark Side. I hope not. I just know that pretending I'm not feeling them won't do me or anyone else any good. Instead, I'm using them as fuel to keep myself moving forward, no matter how difficult this may become."
"I understand emotional control is challenging," Bastila said. "Clearly, I struggle with it myself, but-"
"Do you love your mother?" Tevano interrupted.

"Do I-" Bastila began. "I- I mean- I-"

"If you say 'yes', you feel like you're betrying the Jedi by having an emotional attachment. But if you say 'no', you feel like you're betraying your mother," Tevano said. "This is what I'm talking about. It should be hard to say that you love your mother. All your differences aside, there's no more natural feeling. But the Jedi teachings, or at least the way in which they're taught, keep you from being able to say that. Do you really think that's right?"


There's a KOTOR 2 mod that lets you play with Bastila's appearance: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1144989479. So do a KOTOR 2 playthrough where (for some reason I'd have to invent) the Exile is dead or can't be found or whatever and Bastila poses as the Exile (again, for reason I'd have to invent) to defeat the Triumverate.

What about a playthrough where Revan and the Exile are on opposite sides, one Dark and the other Light, and in the fanfic they fight?