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Would Ken (Palpatine) made a better Darth Caedus?

Discussion in 'Literature' started by BROWNHORNET, Aug 5, 2008.

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  1. BROWNHORNET

    BROWNHORNET Jedi Youngling star 1

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    Dec 9, 2007
    After reading so many posts slamming Jacen as Darth Caedus (including my own), I wonder if it might've been better if they had made another character Caedus? And the most likely suspect IMO would be Ken. What do you all think? Would Ken have made a better Caedus? And if not him, would another character-Jaina perhaps, did a better job as Sith Lord?

    Sorry, no what-if threads.
     
  2. BobaMatt

    BobaMatt TFN EU Staff star 7 VIP

    Registered:
    Aug 19, 2002
    Jacen was the clear choice, and making it Ken Palpatine would be sort of antithetical to the idea that the sins of the father do not fall on the head of the child that was so integral to his position as a good guy character.

    Now, he might have been an interesting choice for the one to take Caedus down...
     
  3. Carnage04

    Carnage04 Jedi Knight star 5

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    Mar 8, 2005

    I don't think Ken Palpatine would have been a good choice. The grandson of the Emperor, whom Luke just happened to forget to keep tabs on, reappears after many years (In and out of Universe) and becomes a Sith Lord. I don't know. It just doesn't work for me.

    I don't think Jaina would have been a great choice either, unless you went all the way back and rewrote their characters from NJO. Jaina has been more the type to work on immediately practical skills like Piloting. Jacen had been exploring first his relationship with the force and later, different aspects of the force. While most people do not like Jacen's turn, it's a lot less of a leap than Jaina starting to be interested in Sith Knowledge. Jaina gained quite a bit of credibility in LoTF, IMO.
     
  4. dav305z

    dav305z Jedi Master star 1

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    Jan 31, 2005
    Jacen was not the first choice, Anakin (Solo) was. Lucas nixed his character, so Jacen was the next best option. If you go back and read earlier EU and the beginning of the NJO, you'll see that Anakin clearly was being groomed as the central character. Jacen on the other hand, was expendable simply because he has a twin, and a less important name.
     
  5. BobaMatt

    BobaMatt TFN EU Staff star 7 VIP

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    Aug 19, 2002
    There's no evidence to suggest Anakin was groomed to go dark at all. It's actually debatable that Jacen was being groomed to go dark in the NJO, though it's consistent.
     
  6. younghansolo

    younghansolo Jedi Grand Master star 3

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    Jun 2, 2002
    This is a story i would have loved especially with either Jacen playing the tahiri role or otherwise killed off early on as a total shock tactic. The thought that even the great Jacen Solo, saviour against the Vong could be caght off guard by the sith.
     
  7. Vrook_Lamar

    Vrook_Lamar Jedi Padawan star 4

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    May 12, 2008
    But they did the exact same "evil grandfather" thing with Jacen.

    Oh well.
     
  8. Charlemagne19

    Charlemagne19 Chosen One star 8

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    Jul 30, 2000
    FYI- James Luceno said he had no plans or knew of any to make Jacen dark.

    Space Station Liberty said so.

    I asked him.
     
  9. DarthAdamentum

    DarthAdamentum Jedi Youngling star 3

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    Jan 28, 2008
    Kyp Durron should've been Caedus...
     
  10. JaySkywalker01

    JaySkywalker01 Jedi Padawan star 4

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    Oct 25, 2005
    Force no! Kyp Durron should be the next great leader and hero of the Jedi! He walked on the Dark Side and resisted it; came back as a servant of the light. That's not a path he would ever take again. Now, had he been Caedus, at least he would have had more page time....

    In my own personal canon, Ken died shortly into the Vong War...no reason to ever see or mention him again.
     
  11. Ashandarei

    Ashandarei Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Oct 21, 2004
    Nah. Ken shouldn't have been Caedus. He should be an unimportant Jedi who gets mentions sometime in the future as maybe being instrumental in saving some planet or other but otherwise fades into the background.

    No one should have been Caedus. The Sith should have been left to incubate for Legacy, without making a member of the one family that should know firsthand how bad the Sith are be so collossally stupid as to become one.
     
  12. Rouge77

    Rouge77 Jedi Knight star 5

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    May 11, 2005
    No. More courage from the writers and editors would have made a better Darth Caedus. Now they went for a B-budget version of a Skywalker -class Sith Lord, when they could have made him a truly epic villain.
     
  13. Zvonko

    Zvonko Jedi Youngling

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    Nov 17, 2007
    Palpatine would make a bigger threat to the galaxy, but I don't think Caedus would supposed to be a long-term threat.
     
  14. Master_Keralys

    Master_Keralys VIP star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Oct 8, 2003
    Ken Palpatine would not have been a bigger threat to the galaxy. Powerful in his own right? Maybe. Powerful like a scion of the Skywalker family, with the fame and respect of having helped end the Yuuzhan Vong war? Not a chance. "Better villainy" is relative, and the main thing that would have made Caedus a "better villain" is more consistency between books, most particularly with his acting all the way through like he did in Betrayal and Invincible and, to a lesser extent, Sacrifice.

    - Keralys
     
  15. BobaMatt

    BobaMatt TFN EU Staff star 7 VIP

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    Aug 19, 2002
    No. Jacen had an evil grandfather, and because of his flaws went dark. The generational gap gives him some leeway, and frankly since he's a major character with a lot of development it seems less predestined.

    What's more, we all know how Vader turned out in the end, further diminishing it...
     
  16. NelanisGhost

    NelanisGhost Jedi Youngling star 4

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    Jun 24, 2006
    There is no KEN Palpatine. Never was. It was some weird bad nightmare we all woke up from.
     
  17. rumsmuggler

    rumsmuggler Chosen One star 7

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    Aug 31, 2000
    lol

    canon is canon..
     
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  18. jSarek

    jSarek VIP star 4 VIP

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    Feb 18, 2005
    You're right. There is only a Ken. Like his (kind-of) grandfather, he has no last name.

    I doubt that's what you were getting at, though.
     
  19. GoA

    GoA Jedi Youngling star 2

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    Dec 7, 2007
    Head. Nail. Hit.
     
  20. Jeff_Ferguson

    Jeff_Ferguson Force Ghost star 5

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    May 15, 2006
    There's actually a pile of evidence to suggest that Jacen was not groomed to go dark during NJO.

    but I am very keen to know whether Traitor was written with the prospect of an ultimate fall in mind...

    No, we weren't thinking that far ahead. We basically gave Matt a very loose leash for Traitor and he hit it out of the park. I know, mixed metaphor. But it's Sunday morning and all.....

    Link provided here.

    Similarly, it's been confirmed at least twice that it was Troy Denning who had the idea to turn Jacen dark, based on his character development in Dark Nest. Source 1 and Source 2.

    I'd actually call that proof, rather than just evidence... it's also strong evidence that Vergere was not originally intended to be a Sith. Heck, the creative team behind the NJO were all behind her Force Philosophy until they all reneged in time for LOTF.
     
  21. Sniper_Wolf

    Sniper_Wolf Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Nov 26, 2002
    Ken Palpatine is a better everything.
     
  22. Rouge77

    Rouge77 Jedi Knight star 5

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    May 11, 2005
    In fact, Troy Denning had the idea to to turn Jacen dark based on his character development in NJO. Denning thought that the logical continuation of TUF Jacen was a Sith Lord. This has been said multiple times before. So DN was already written based on the idea that Jacen would go dark, it wasn't the seed but the roots of the debacle and waste of character that was LotF.

    What comes to Vergere, they seem to have kept both options open when it comes to her during NJO.
     
  23. QuentinGeorge

    QuentinGeorge Jedi Grand Master star 5

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    Dec 12, 2003
    Ken is all sorts of awesome, but having him as the LOTF villain would be even more random and nonsensical than Jacen Skywalker. ;)
     
  24. Carnage04

    Carnage04 Jedi Knight star 5

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    Mar 8, 2005
    Agreed. Kyp did some serious damage on his little dark side jaunt. It was bad enough that he should have been sentenced to either life in prison or death. To have him redeemed and be a free man only to fall again later would have opened the floodgates on flip-flopping characters, which would eventually turn out to be Jedi vs. Sith WWF style. "TAHIRI HAS JUST HIT BEN IN BACK WITH A STEEL CHAIR! After all they've been through! Ben redeemed Tahiri, Tahiri redeemed Ben. They were friends but Tahiri has Betrayed him! All boo Tahiri!"

    I'm afraid your personal canon about this Ken guy doesn't work for me. He couldn't have died in the Vong War in my personal canon, because I pretend he never existed. ;)

     
  25. DarthAdamentum

    DarthAdamentum Jedi Youngling star 3

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    Jan 28, 2008
    so tahiri then would've made a better caedus?
     
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