After several years, I've finally pushed past the last Kerrals Jarvis quest in the Agent's storyline on Hutta and begun my last unfinished class story in earnest.
Even after creating another new Agent and reaching that same moral roadblock, I finally decided to bite the bullet and finish that quest. Still, that wasn't an easy thing to do.
(Spoilers after the break for the SWTOR storylines.....)
There are similar potential situations out there in other storylines, such as the Inquisitor's story on Alderaan, but there are several significant differences between the two. I suppose that you could make a generalization that the Agent's questline paints Jarvis as a decent guy whose two sons ran afoul of the Sith through no fault of their own, whereas the Inquisitor's Nomar Organa is revealed to be an ass who not only sees things in purely black and white* but at the very least deserves a kick in the crotch for his past behavior toward others.
It may seem strange to think of Jarvis as an innocent, particularly since he's Nemro the Hutt's Lieutenant, but in this case he is. Being an unwitting victim of mercurial Sith behavior highlights the problem confronting Imperial Intelligence as presented in the Prologue: they have to be Mr. Clean and fix the messes the Sith and the Military leave behind.
While I can appreciate the situation the Agent is in, that still doesn't make the choices any easier.
The thing that struck me the most about the Prologue and the beginnings of Chapter One was how many nods to spy stories there were: the potential for romancing NPCs to obtain critical data, the black and white presentation of Imperial Intelligence versus "the terrorists", and the surprising fallout at the end of the Prologue.**
And why have only a couple of references to the 60's era spy stories when you can have one more in the Agent's starship?
Do you see it?
Yes, it's a copy of the famous spyplane, the SR-71 Blackbird.***
Although the name of the starship, the X-70 Phantom, is another peculiar mashup of 60's era jets, the F-4 Phantom and the ill-fated XB-70 Valkyrie, the design is almost certainly Blackbird inspired.
When I see the X-70 take off and land, I expect to hear the Spy Hunter version of the Peter Gunn Theme playing in the background.
Hmm.... Maybe I should mute the soundtrack and see how that works...
*Yes, I tried the light side approach with Nomar, and he refused and attacked me. Just because, I suppose.
**I was also amused that the Dark Temple location where you stop the terrorist cell is the same location where you save one of your companions --Kira in my case-- in the finale of the Knight's story. I walked into the area and said "Ah! I know this place!" Since a mini-Red was in the vicinity, I'm glad I didn't say that too loud.
***I might have an advantage here because I live an hour's drive from the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH, and I've seen the aircraft there numerous times. I was in Dayton the day that particular SR-71 came in for a landing on its final flight, and there were crowds pulled off on the side of the highway watching it glide in.
EtA: Corrected a grammatical error.
Even after creating another new Agent and reaching that same moral roadblock, I finally decided to bite the bullet and finish that quest. Still, that wasn't an easy thing to do.
(Spoilers after the break for the SWTOR storylines.....)
There are similar potential situations out there in other storylines, such as the Inquisitor's story on Alderaan, but there are several significant differences between the two. I suppose that you could make a generalization that the Agent's questline paints Jarvis as a decent guy whose two sons ran afoul of the Sith through no fault of their own, whereas the Inquisitor's Nomar Organa is revealed to be an ass who not only sees things in purely black and white* but at the very least deserves a kick in the crotch for his past behavior toward others.
It may seem strange to think of Jarvis as an innocent, particularly since he's Nemro the Hutt's Lieutenant, but in this case he is. Being an unwitting victim of mercurial Sith behavior highlights the problem confronting Imperial Intelligence as presented in the Prologue: they have to be Mr. Clean and fix the messes the Sith and the Military leave behind.
While I can appreciate the situation the Agent is in, that still doesn't make the choices any easier.
***
The thing that struck me the most about the Prologue and the beginnings of Chapter One was how many nods to spy stories there were: the potential for romancing NPCs to obtain critical data, the black and white presentation of Imperial Intelligence versus "the terrorists", and the surprising fallout at the end of the Prologue.**
And why have only a couple of references to the 60's era spy stories when you can have one more in the Agent's starship?
 |
| From swtor.wikia.com |
 |
| From wikipedia. |
Yes, it's a copy of the famous spyplane, the SR-71 Blackbird.***
Although the name of the starship, the X-70 Phantom, is another peculiar mashup of 60's era jets, the F-4 Phantom and the ill-fated XB-70 Valkyrie, the design is almost certainly Blackbird inspired.
When I see the X-70 take off and land, I expect to hear the Spy Hunter version of the Peter Gunn Theme playing in the background.
Hmm.... Maybe I should mute the soundtrack and see how that works...
This is the version I know, not the later console version.
*Yes, I tried the light side approach with Nomar, and he refused and attacked me. Just because, I suppose.
**I was also amused that the Dark Temple location where you stop the terrorist cell is the same location where you save one of your companions --Kira in my case-- in the finale of the Knight's story. I walked into the area and said "Ah! I know this place!" Since a mini-Red was in the vicinity, I'm glad I didn't say that too loud.
***I might have an advantage here because I live an hour's drive from the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH, and I've seen the aircraft there numerous times. I was in Dayton the day that particular SR-71 came in for a landing on its final flight, and there were crowds pulled off on the side of the highway watching it glide in.
EtA: Corrected a grammatical error.
Now is probably a bad time to tell you, but you don't have to kill Jarvis. Of course, your Agent might feel that following orders to the letter is necessary...
ReplyDeleteOh, I let him escape, but it still wasn't a fun exchange.
ReplyDeleteNo, it's not.
ReplyDeleteI knew that the agent story drew a lot of inspiration from spy novels, but I had no idea about all those references wrapped up in the agent's ship alone. That's very cool!
ReplyDeleteYes, it is kind of cool. Even the music for the Agent is reminiscent of the 60's spy movies without relying upon a heavy brass presence.
Delete