Luke...you poor deluded master

"You don't know my students. You don't know how impulsive and reckless they are. Don't judge them all by Jacen. Kyp Durron killed millions. And this was your responsibility. The situation was complex. I was paralyzed, and Kyp was under the control of...."

"- You mean to say that it was not your responsibility. "

"I could have been more aware of the situation. There's so much I could have done"

"- So it is your responsibility."

" The next time it will be! The next time one of my students is swept away on a dark whirlwind and catastrophe results, it will be my fault!"

" Of course it would not be your fault. You are a Jedi Master, not a nursemaid! "

-Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master of the New Republic, and Vergere, Jedi Knight of the Old Republic

Those Tassels and Their Meaning!!!

Let's interpret the tassels:

He will remake himself

Jacen has already done this in a sence by going on his Force journey

He will ruin those who deny justice

Ben even says that's what Jedi do. Jacen will ruin those who stand in the way of what he considers justice

He will choose the fate of the weak

Vergere told him to be the gardener and choose the weds and the flowers.

He will be drawn from peace into conflict or his life will be balanced between peace and conflict

This was the Sith specific tassel that only Jacen could read. I prefer the balanced level of this as I think Jacen's Sithliness might be a little different from what we expect...


He will choose how he will be loved

Meaning he will have a messed up relationship with his family, possibly Tenel Ka (if she doesn't die) and definately Allana

He will win and break his chains

OK, pretty much this has happened. He doesn't follow the dogmatic view of the Force

He will shed his skin and choose a new skin

This will be when he is "outed" ???

He will strengthen himself through sacrifice

Hmmmm...perhaps in "Sacrifice"

He will crawl through his cloak

He will slowly emerge as a public Sith

He will know brotherhood

Others will join him. No more rule of two. A new Order? Who would support him? I really don't know.

He will make a pet

He will create something? Is that what Yoda was...a Sith creation? LOL!


He will strengthen himself through pain

Already happened!!!

I found this and it's funny...I did not write it...I just like it...

Strange Meeting

They were in some state that wasn't quite southern and wasn't quite midwest, probably northern Kentucky or southern West Virginia by this time, just passing through. But at the full-service gas station a toothless attendant had started telling Sam all about a meteorite crash and the poltergeist (he said "powddargahst," but by now Sam was an expert in translating yokel) that had taken up residence in the area. Apparently things had been just rising up and floating away for a week or more, and people who tried to follow the objects tended to forget what they were doing very quickly.

And so they were still here, two nights later, in a crappy little town in northern Kentucky (or southern West Virginia) with one barely decent bar. And Sam had decided that it was a good time to go powddargahst-hunting. Telekinesis reminded him of Max, of his own newfound skill at mentally rearranging the furniture. Maybe they'd find something of importance out here.

They headed out to inspect the meteor crash site. The woods were so quiet that birdsong echoed. Dean crept up next to Sam and informed him that if they heard so much as a note of "Dueling Banjos," he was going to kill him. Or just trip him and leave him for the rednecks.

They'd been walking for more than an hour when they came upon a long patch of downed trees; further ahead, it turned into a jumbled mess of trees and plowed earth, like a giant had been skipping stones over dry land. In a clearing to the right, there was a glimmer of firelight.

Sam nodded his head in the direction of the thickest underbrush and the two of them took cover behind it, guns held ready. They cut a wide circle through the woods, bringing them much closer to the firelight. They stopped in a crouch only a few yards away from what looked like a makeshift campsite. There was a dark shape sitting beside it, facing away from them.

And abruptly, the shape spoke. "Why don't you gentlemen come out?"

Sam and Dean exchanged surprised glances, then shrugged and stood up, guns aimed in the direction of the voice. The shape unfolded into a lanky figure, then turned around slowly.

He was completely human, wearing a black jumpsuit that looked kind of like a fighter-pilot outfit. Dean was pleased to note that he was himself a couple of inches taller than the guy in front of them. He was even more pleased to note that the guy appeared to be unarmed. "You the one controlling this poltergeist?" he demanded, shifting his aim.

"I beg your pardon?" He looked maddeningly relaxed, considering two larger men had two very well-cared-for guns pointed in his face.

"There's a poltergeist hanging around the town, making things move, knocking out lights. Is it you?" Sam asked.

The man flicked his eyes from one man to the other. "I don't know what a poltergeist is, but I'm not one, nor am I controlling one, and if you two don't get those pop-guns out of my face right now, you're going to find them in your mouths."

Dean cocked his shotgun; the noise rang loud in the silent clearing. "That's not really convincing."

Sam, ever the diplomat--he really would have made a good lawyer--took a less offensive stand. "So if it's not a poltergeist, what is it?" he asked. "Are you a telekinetic?"

"I'm a Jedi," he snapped.

Dean chuckled and adjusted his aim. "Yeah, right. 'S that a lightsaber in your pocket, or are you just happy to see--"

Suddenly their guns were yanked out of their hands. There was a crackling, hissing sound, and then there was a beam of purple light pointing at Dean's chin.

"Holy shit," Dean said.

Sam stood gaping, apparently stunned, but the guy--the Jedi--shot him a sharp glance. "Don't even think about it, Sammy," he said.

Sam started. "How did you--"

"Jedi," he repeated impatiently.

"Right, right."

Dean was still staring warily at the tip of the lightsaber blade. It was very close to his face, which made him go slightly cross-eyed. "Uh, hey, college boy? Why don't you give me a hand with some of that weaselly lawyer-speak you were learning. Defuse the situation? Get the lightsaber out of my face?"

"Yeah, um...dude? Jedi Master...sir? Please don't kill my brother. We're not...bounty hunters or Sith Lords or anything. We swear."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Thanks, man, that was brilliant."

The Jedi eyed them both one more time, then shut down the lightsaber and returned it to his belt. "If you were dangerous, I'd have sensed it. You're remarkably difficult to distract, though; I've been keeping the locals away for a week." He paused for a second, apparently sizing them up, then held out his hand. "Jedi Master Kyp Durron."

"Nice to meet you. We're--"

"Sam and Dean Winchester."

Dean rolled his eyes again. "Yeah," he sighed, but his handshake was more or less friendly. "So no offense, but what the hell are you doing here?"

"I crashed. Got winged by a gravitic anomaly and lost all my nav systems. I sent a message back to base and they've dispatched a cruiser to pick me up." He sighed. "Jaina's never going to let me live this down."

"So you've been stealing supplies using telek--using the Force," Sam finished. "Right?"

Kyp shrugged. "Man has to eat. I ran out of rations a few days ago, and had to turn to the, uh, kindness of strangers. My turn. What are you two doing out here?"

"We thought--" Sam began. "We thought you could help us. But I--we were expecting something else."

"Sorry, the guru-stuff is Skywalker's business. And I'm not looking for an apprentice."
Sam just stared at him at the mention of Skywalker--God, what a nerd--so Dean picked up the slack. "Hey, maybe you're a Jedi, Sammy," Dean smirked. "But if we find out that Hayden Christiansen is your dad, I'm totally killing you."

"If Hayden Christiansen is my father? I'll totally let you."

Dean turned back to Kyp. "Hey, speaking of killing people, can we have our guns back?"

"Will you keep them out of my face?"

"Yeah," Dean admitted grudgingly.

Kyp gestured with his hand, and the two guns floated gently off the ground and into their hands. They took them with a nod of thanks.

"Well," Dean said. "Sorry about the whole ambush thing. No hard feelings?"

"I'm not going to stab you when you turn your backs," Kyp promised with a lopsided grin. "That wouldn't be sporting."

Not quite reassured by this, they turned to go. It was getting cold, and a clammy fog was rolling up from the valley. Dean hesitated, then turned back. "It's damn cold out here. Want to go for a drink?"

Kyp grinned, dousing the fire with another sharp hand gesture. "Find us a nice, weak-minded barkeep and I'll keep us in drinks all night."

Dean grinned back and almost slung an arm over the Jedi Master's shoulder. "I think I know just the place."

Some quiz said MY lightsaber color was purple!

Kind of silly since the two most prominent Jedi with purple lightbabers are the most likely TO be fighting in the conflict.

Crazed Speculation

This one is crazy:

What if Nelani was Kyp Durron's daughter? I mean she just came from no where and was recently knighted. So she'd be around 20.

Perhaps Kyp only recently discovered she belonged to him. Now he finds out she is killed.

What will he do?

This would work in Bloodlines, might drive his character motivations some and certainly fits in with the "he was meant to suffer theme...."

OMG I just re-read my dream. I forgot that I had said in the dream..".you could give him someone and then kill them off!" That fits with Nelani.

I just stumbled over someone's musings, but they made sense and finally allowed me to understand why Corran does not like Kyp:

Corran believes essentially that the Dark Side is just like any other criminal mindset. It effects only those who are already messed up in the head to some degree. As a police officer, there are just "good" and "bad people" to a certain extent.

So he would think that Kyp had a criminal mind which caused him to desire vengence and would make him always be corruptable.

Review of Betrayal

Aaron Allston wirtes books you can enjoy. He does not write literature, nor will reading his books increase your vocabualary. However, you will laugh and you will have moments of extreme joy while reading Betrayal. This book satisfies on many levels.

Our basic plot is the disillusionment of Corellia with the GA. Corellia prepares to defect from the alliance and the alliance offers a counter strike. At the brink of war, families are suddenly forced to decide their own personal alliances. Of course this is a problem for Wedge, whose daughter is in the GA military. Han, whose family is Jedi and somehow sworn to the GA. Corran, who previously was practically married to the GA, now has a huge decision ahead of him also.

Allston moves fluidly through the story. There aren't many characters or locations and that keeps things easy to follow. Of course Jacen and Ben travel to Lorrd where they meet with Brisha Syo (who is Lumiya). Lumiya has a nice chat with Jacen and he fully accepts what he already was becoming...a Sith. If we go through the stages...we have denial before we have acceotance. Jacen's motivations will compel readers to follow the series through to the end.

Characterizations are interesting: The strongest is Han. He reflects on his choices, his duty, his family. He has fabulous inteactions with others, both humor and sadness. I think we are poised to have some really sad interaction with Jacen down the line. You get the feeling that Han was just starting to get Jacen and then the kid turns Sithly. Poor guy...surrounded by Force-sensitives, father-in-law was a Sith; now his son.

Ben has been written very cool, strong, precocious, but still 13. Ben Skywalker may slowly but surely become the same character Anakin Solo was in the first couple NJO books. He watches Jacen and feels for him in the Force. I can't wait to see how he discovers what Jacen is up to. I thnk he'll follow a dark path for awhile and then escape (hopefully to Sekot) and return a Scion of light.

Luke was most annoying. He is the GRANDMASTER DICTAOR. He meets with Omas, no other Jedi. No other masters are mentioned. He tells everyone what to do. He clears the missions. There are a few scenes where is strength is awesome and I like them, but too often he was boss man. Jaina wants to run who investigates the tassel by Luke and Jacen responds: "Let's not. He's been second guessing a lot of my instincts lately...even though he keeps telling me to trust them. " Jaina lets it go, but that is the essence of Jacen.

Jacen our dark and lovely who can stop blaster fire with his bare hand, who sees the future (so he thinks), who is all cold inside (according to Ben).

Satisfaction level: 9/10 Writing ability: 8/10 (humor and references save it)

Just a dumb rant

I am reading all the forums on the Betrayal book. while most of the comments are sensible the dumbest ones have to do with how absolutely infantile some people see the issues. I think a lot of people suffer from Yoda Syndrome. I absolutely hate the sanctamoneous green troll! He (read: Lucas) tried to make the complications of life into a few simple words. Well life isn't simple or black and white and that is what makes the new book a cut above. And yes what makes people say: "It lost the spirit of the moview". Well yeah and it should. Lucas is a twit. He once said he madethe movies for the "kiddies". Well that expalins Jar Jar Binks and all the other stupid shit he layers in.

I want the story of choices, family, redemption, sacrifice, love, honor. I want the thoughts of people and I want action that drives the plot, not just there to be eye candy. And I want Jacen to be a Sith and not come back to the light and dammit! Yes, it is possible to be stronger than Luke Skywalker!

More Musings on Evil

WWJD ? What Will Jacen Do?

He doesn't want to kill Luke. He wants power to keep peace and thinks power will not corrupt him. He is much like Exar Kun seeking knowledge in all directions.

In response to a question regarding his strength versus Luke's :

"No just educated in different directions."

Jacen rests after killing Jedi Nelani, which if he believed in the darkside, would have been his turning point.

Dark Lord of the Sith?

Is this the face of Jacen Solo?

He is described as handsome: "his lean, brooding, and handsome looks."

Isn't it more fun to have a handsome Sith than some masked weezing dude, or the Tatooed Darth Maul or crumbling Sideous?

I mean, it's like Dracula. The whole allure is that there is underlying sensuality that compels you to this evil even though you know you should not!

My collection of possible foreshadowing in Betrayal

Here are strange foreshadowing quotes:

p.27: Han: “They say the force can have a profound effect on people who don’t want to believe the truth.” Luke replies: “No, they don’t”.

They were joking about Jaina, but think how that applies to Luke, his vision, and Jacen.

p.30 Han: “Next thing you know, we’ll have Jedi walking the government halls on Corellia and telling us what to do.”

Well, could Jacen defect to the Corellians ?

p. 34 Mara: “Do you have a favorite prosthetics manufacturer? I can preorder you one.” She is joking with Jacen regarding why all the “kids” have smart mouths and who they inherited them from.

Hmmmm…need I say more.

p. 117 Luke thinks: “Sometimes he bitterly regretted the oaths and traditions that bound the Jedi Order to the Galactic Alliance.”

First off, I am confused. When did the Jedi take an oath to the GA? Sure they feel tradition bound and duty bound to serve democracy, but an actual political entity? Wasn’t that the whole argument in the DNT? So does that mean that Luke, as grandmaster, has decided to tell the Jedi they must support the GA?

I put this in foreshadowing for two reasons. One, Luke “regrets” this…will he end up turning his back on the GA? Two, what do the other masters think of this? Do they agree with him?

p. 326 Lumiya states about Ben:

"He's not yet strong enough to face a Sith." Ben replies: "I'll just resist al temptation."

Will Ben grow older and face Jacen? I think so. Will he resist temptation? Most of the time, but he'll follow darkness before the dawn!

My first reaction to Betrayal

Here's a break in all things Kyp. Betrayal has NO Kyp, which is a bit hard to swallow, but I think he will show up in the other books. I think there is still unresolved relationship between the GA and the Jedi. So far the new book ties into the previous books only by allowing that Jaina and Zekk continue to work together (but are only hinted at romantically), and that Jacen continues his Sithly behavior. Nothing else from the other series is really dealved into.

So where do we go now?

Jacen Solo is a Sith.

I mean he’s only a little more a Sith than he was in Dark Nest. In those books he lied continuously to get what he needed, he believed the ends justified the means, he once stated power unused is power wasted (which was thought by Darth Maul in some book). Yes, Jacen attacked T’aa Chume, but she was evil and tried to kill his daughter. That act of revenge could be somewhat justified by a modern Jedi. Jacen mind wiped Ben also. Lastly Jacen agreed and admired Anakin Skywalker after his Darkside turn! So one might say Jacen was already a Sith.
In Betrayal Jacen acts the same way, but by the end he openly accepts Lumiya’s tutoring and he kills Nelani in cold blood. So at the end of Betrayal there is nothing to doubt or debate: Jacen Solo is a Sith! And that is way more cooler than being some Darkside dabbler.