We're getting close to the end of chapter 1! Our Jedi fixer is basically tracking down and killing mentally ill Jedi Masters because he's fallen to the dark side and the Council's pretending that they haven't noticed. Your main quest-giver, Syo Bakarn has sent you, your sidekicks and your hot, hot spaceship off to the planet of Alderaan.
Yeah, that Alderaan.
I was always curious about what Alderaan was really like. All we ever see of the planet in the original trilogy is a pretty epic explosion. Thus, Bioware had a lot of freedom in creating Alderaan however they wished. What we get is fairly interesting:
- Alderaan is neutral: This world left the Republic when the war broke out. Both the Republic and the Empire are trying to coax Alderaan to their respective sides
- Alderaan has intrigue: Caught up in a civil war, the various noble houses who rule this planet are all plotting against each other.
- Alderaan has mountains: The designers decided to go with a high altitude theme. It works with the courtly/feudal/fairy-tale motif with all these pretty people living in pretty castles on sugar-coated mountain-tops. It's a ski resort, basically. Planet Whistler.
The planet quest is about helping the Republic back their favourite team, the Organas, in their bid for the throne. You basically do everything for them that they cannot do for themselves and get them closer to winning their civil war. This one involves helping them in heir fight against House Thul (backed by the Empire) and House Ulgo (a wildcard who cause problems for both the Organas and the Thuls). Another factor in this world's situation is it's indigenous species, the Killicks described wryly by one NPC as genoshians "with more leg".
I have to say while I liked Alderaan, I didn't like the Alderaanians. I felt like I was dealing with a bunch of self-absorbed, good-looking aristocrats who were kind of getting off on their own drama. On other worlds, there was a sense that choosing one side or another of the Galactic conflict might have consequences. Here, the various nobles are thinking locally and being oblivious globally. There's also the awkwardness of knowing this sorry planet's future. I mean, Tatooine is more or less the same now as it will be millennia later when Luke Skywalker comes of age. But we all know that that same year, poor Leia Organa will watch helplessly as Alderaan goes BOOM! It adds a level of hopelessness to all the work you're doing here.
But you're not just here to interfere in local politics. There's a crazy Jedi Master to cut down! She's a sort of diplomat who's organizing a summit of the various Alderaanian houses. Unlike the other afflicted Masters, this one's doing a better job of covering up just how off-track she is. You spend most of your time on Alderaan trying to get into the summit. Each house can only send one representative to this exclusive event. Your target is already representing Organa so you have to help a small-time noble house rise to enough prominence to be invited to the summit and then represent them yourself. Then you can kill her (Dark side) or heal her (Light side).
We're getting close to the end of the Jedi Consular's last chapter. In addition to wrapping up the plot, my next post in this series will include a review of the Chapter 1 story-line as a whole.
I have to say while I liked Alderaan, I didn't like the Alderaanians. I felt like I was dealing with a bunch of self-absorbed, good-looking aristocrats who were kind of getting off on their own drama. On other worlds, there was a sense that choosing one side or another of the Galactic conflict might have consequences. Here, the various nobles are thinking locally and being oblivious globally. There's also the awkwardness of knowing this sorry planet's future. I mean, Tatooine is more or less the same now as it will be millennia later when Luke Skywalker comes of age. But we all know that that same year, poor Leia Organa will watch helplessly as Alderaan goes BOOM! It adds a level of hopelessness to all the work you're doing here.
But you're not just here to interfere in local politics. There's a crazy Jedi Master to cut down! She's a sort of diplomat who's organizing a summit of the various Alderaanian houses. Unlike the other afflicted Masters, this one's doing a better job of covering up just how off-track she is. You spend most of your time on Alderaan trying to get into the summit. Each house can only send one representative to this exclusive event. Your target is already representing Organa so you have to help a small-time noble house rise to enough prominence to be invited to the summit and then represent them yourself. Then you can kill her (Dark side) or heal her (Light side).
We're getting close to the end of the Jedi Consular's last chapter. In addition to wrapping up the plot, my next post in this series will include a review of the Chapter 1 story-line as a whole.
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