Jacen Solo and the Force: or why Jacen became JINO and why he's still really Jacen

Okay, here I go.

I recently read Katana_Geldar's essay on Jacen and the two Vergeres. And it got me thinking. (This account is my current belief, and if goes as saying that Jacen's characterizations and actions changed totally from the NJO to Dark Nest.)

How irreconcilable is Jacen's character before and after Dark Nest? When did JINO appear? What IU explanation can we find for JINO's actions and characterizations?

For me, these questions can all be answered by pointing to one event: the events on Coruscant during The Unifying Force.

For a moment all the cosmic tumblers had clicked into place, and light and dark sides became something that he could balance within himself, without having to remain, without having to remain on one side or the other. The consciousness that was Jacen Solo was strewn across the vast spectrum of life energy. He had passed beyond choice and consequence, good and evil, light and dark, life and death.

He had purged his mind of all pride and evil intent and had entered a moment of unadulterated bliss, where he seemed to have unlocked the very secrets of existence. He knew that he would never again be able to reach this exalted state, and at once that he would spend the rest of his life trying.

-The Unifying Force

From then on, Jacen was a changed man. He had seen all he needed to know of the Force, basically Life, the Universe and Everything. For that crystalline moment, Jacen saw what was right with the Galaxy and what was wrong, and he removed what was wrong.

But that insanely clear moment of clarity, of omniscience was gone, and after this he could no longer see what he needed to. To me, this was where Jacen changed. He had to fix what was wrong with the Galaxy. Jacen had truly become the Gardener, and he saw the weed he had to remove to change the Galaxy for better. He had seen how to do it. But things changed and got out of hand in his five year sojourn out in the other sides of the Galaxy. In his journeys, he came across the Mind Walkers, and also the Aing-Tii. So first off we'll go to the Aing-Tii. With the Aing-Tii, he learned of the ability to Flow Walk. A power that gave him somewhat being able to see into the future. With this he could control the outcome of events by looking into the future, and had somewhat an ability to become what he had. Now we're gonna get into Spoiler territory, so if you didn't yet read Abyss or don't want to know what happens, turn back now.

What Jacen saw in the the Pool of Knowledge(I think that's what he looked in, correct me if I'm wrong) we don't know. I think it's either Luke or Ben. But whatever.

Anyway, he saw someone in the Pool that deeply disturbed him and caused him to return to the Galaxy at large. Let's for a second couple this to Jacen's being upset about not being able to see for sure what's right and what's wrong. He saw something bad on the Throne of Balance. He had to stop it.

So Jacen returns to the galaxy, and finds the Killiks in an almost state of war with the Chiss, and acts. At this point, he's decided that he's the gardener. Even if he can't see as clearly as he would like, but thinks he might as well be able to do just as good. Even if you disagree with Jacen's actions in Dark Nest, you have to agree that his actions paired with everyone else's actions stopped a full scale, blow everything up war. So he did good there. A little.

Now we go to Legacy of the Force. He's confronted by Lumiya's views on the Force, how he uses it, and a revelation about Vergere. She's a Sith. Didn't see that one coming. If Vergere was a Sith, then surely I should be one? Plus, this will lead to powers that might lead me back to my omniscience in TUF.

At this point, Jacen believes he is the savior or the Galaxy. It's up to him to stop the Second Galactic Civil War, stop Luke(IMO) from becoming the worst Sith Lord in imagination. So, Jacen must become something that would repulse his Uncle from becoming a Sith, that would keep Uncle Luke in the light no matter what. From this point on, it's all Darth Caedus. But he dies a

 

There is one thing you are leaving out of the equation: Jacen's humility. Some of the most powerful things in the NJo come on from meeting a threat not as an enemy, but as a friend. This doesn't happen with JINO's arrogance.

EDIT:

 

My major criticism of Jacen is that he always (from the very beginning of NJO onward) felt himself more important in the grand scheme of things than he really was. The only time I felt he was as important, if not moreso, than the rest of the characters was at the end of the Vong War. And even then, he still wasn't nearly as important as Luke.

 

The Yuuzhan Vong weren't the enemy. The leader of the Yuuzhan Vong was. Onimi ultimately was the enemy. But saying that mislead extra-galactic warriors and angry Corellians are the same isn't right. Not all enemies can be treated as friends. Jacen's method of humility for an enemy works; but it works for the Yuuzhan Vong. Other methods are used for other problems, and Jacen's change in TUF and subsequently in his 5-year journey explain why he wouldn't use this method and also his different feelings on the Force as of the Dark Nest.

 

I don't know who Jacen saw on that throne, but if it was Luke, he not only thought he had to carry the mantle of the dark lord against Luke, but it would require Ben do so as well. Remember this from Sacrifice:

-----Sacrifice-----
Jacen took a breath and stepped two strides sideways. He was now looking into the mirror set into the bulkhead of his day cabin again; crystal clear, sharp, merciless. He gazed at an image of all-encompassing black. He knew what people said behind his back: that he was trying to emulate Vader.

So? I'm proud of my grandfather, but not blind to the weaknesses that brought him down.

But that was wounded pride speaking. I have to be beyond that now. He had to be beyond fear of small consciences and even beyond the hatred that would make Ben Skywalker a strong, worthy, and terrifying successor to the title of Dark Lord. But that would be years in the future. Now was the time for a man who'd once been Jacen Solo to shoulder that responsibility for the galaxy's sake.

Jacen took off the helmet, looked into his own eyes, and didn't flinch.

"Caedus," he said. "My name is Darth Caedus."
----------------------

Whoever he thought it might be, it was evidently a long term gig.

 

Maybe he was already corrupted and twisted by this point. Or gone Sith crazy he forgot the whole reason he returned to the galaxy?

 

That's what I always figured it was. He was just yet another example of there being no such thing as a "benevolent Sith". That path will invariably lead to corruption every single time. There is a Dark Side, and it is evil.

 

If he was just crazy by then and forgot his purpose, then I don't understand what he was looking all smug about in FOTJ. Moreover, Jacen's relatives have a lot of explaining to do when it comes to their behavior, imo. Did Jacen even get a funeral? The Skywalker/Solo's reaction to Jacen in LOTF has left me bemused and it can matter because it can play a big role in influencing our ultimate view of him.

 

Wasn't JINO the expression invented to point out the differences between YJK and NJO Jacen?

Anyway, I think it's a difficult topic, because you honestly only have two ways of resolving it, and only one involves still "believing" in the continuity afterwards. If you do want to continue reading the story, you have to accept that was has happened is the inevitable path that the characters took, the "logical conclusion". And even if FOTJ is dancing limbo to invent some more background on the issue you will still end up with the official story as of LFL, even if it directly contradicts information from LOTF.

If you have decided that you do not question the way of the continuity, is it really important to fill in the logic gaps presented by the story?

 

The problem with this is that it is not yet known

JINO is completely untrue if it is complaining about how Jacen's charactor changed from the end of the NJO to DN simply for the fact that we dont know what he did between then during his 5 year trip

that is what changed him as a person

i would imagine that is what will be explained in FotJ

the whole point seems to be that something happened to Jacen or he did something to change himself during his 5 year journey to the point where he would fall to the dark side
we dont know what that is yet, so we cant say that his charactorization is wrong

all we can say is that we dont like who he was in DN and LotF
I think it makes pretty good sense for his charactor even without needing some mysterious something or other to have broken him further
But i can see how others think Jacen from the NJO would never fall

 

That's what I figured Luke and Ben's journey was ultimately for.

And a quick side question: What in the world does "JINO" stand for? I for the life of me can't figure it out, and haven't seen anything that really says it.

 

JINO means "Jacen In Name Only." It was originally coined by, I think, Striker who claimed that the difference in personality and characterization between YJK Jacen and NJO Jacen was so striking that it was hardly the same person anymore--hence, in name only.

Now, interestingly enough, DN/LotF Jacen is so different from NJO Jacen that we can now think of him as JINOINO!

 

You know this was always one of my two pet theories trying desperately to reconcile Legacy of the Farce [sic].
(Obligatory Traitor Praise - make your own up here)
He knew he'd always be looking for it, why shouldn't it drive him mad?
Also, in Inferno it said in his Visions of the FutureTM (a familiar phrase) that he often saw eternity in his visions. Not once. Not sometimes. Often. Eternity's got to mess with someone's head, a la the Master in Doctor Who.

We didn't need Fate of the Jedi (I can't think of an equivalent bad joke pun for this one) to explain it. If it has to be, and it's too late now, at least give us motivations that already existed. But haven't already been contradicted. (Vergere non Sith est, Jacen was broken, but it's a long time after winning the war by his own initiative that he went mad because of it, Jacen did it all for his daughter do not cut the Space Mustard).

 

It is, but Luke and Ben should be doing so in light of Jacen's experiences since Anakin's death. Or am I the only one who sees the differences in Jacen's characterization throughout the latter half of the NJO? LOTF called upon these experiences in Betrayal and heavily so at Jacen's first meeting with Lumiya. His journey may have influenced him (and it seems the throne vision did) but Lumiya was pulling key phrases and terms right out of his Traitor and onward thoughts/experiences and that is what appeared to gain his interest - obsessively so.

 

*Waves* Yup, that was me and my reason for it. And I'll stand by it until the day I die.

 

i agree completely
LotF should have been giving us flashbacks of Jacen's journey throughout the series to show what ultimately broke him to the point where he would do anything like he did

if they wanted Jacen to ultimately die at the end, giving us flashbacks would have made his fall that much more tragic, as we would have seen how he was really just a broken person (a la Anakin Skywalker)
and in Invincible we could have seen what that one big thing was that was the straw that broke the camel's (Jacen's) back

we could have actually had sympathy for his actions as maybe we would have at least understood why he thought the galaxy was that hopeless that he had to become a Sith

 

Well I wouldn't have sympathy with his atrocious actions no matter what they revealed - but perhaps more for his state of mind. In the end, the way that they played it, he ended up with my sympathy anyway - and probably for all the wrong reasons. I liked Mara a lot and even more for Luke's sake, but I can only look to the writing as serving to make me want Jacen to come out the victor of their battle. I wasn't too fond of Jaina OR Jacen, but again, the writing made me want him to come out the victor in their battle too. It makes no sense because the idea is that you are supposed to want the bad guy taken out (Tootles Palpatine), or if you are a villain hound, at least understand the need for them to be callously taken down at all costs (ala, Long Live Darth Vader, Thrawn and Xixor - but in the end they had to go). When I try to get on board with either of those ideas in terms of Jacen, I feel hypocritical and have "bad feeling" about it.

 

I haven't read LOTF for awhile, but this is what I was thinking as I read about Jacen's change to Caedus.

This was a result of Jacen's captivity, and Vergere bears a huge amount of responsibility, despite the fact that I don't think she is Sith (Force Ghost after death = Not Sith or No Longer Sith, as far as I'm concerned). The seeds of Caedus are planted the moment that Jacen begines to "eat the white." (If you haven't read TRAITOR, you should.) Jacen learns not only to endure pain, but to thrive on it.

Years later, when Lumiya is trying to convince Jacen that there is a way to maintain one's moral center as a Sith Lord, she talks of sacrifice, and how a Sith's pain can temper a Sith's passion. Jacen is extremely impressed with this argument, and comes to believe that it is true. And, what's more, that it is desirable. Jacen has become fascinated by pain. DOOM.

Basically I see Jacen as a masochist, addicted to an increasingly self-destructive course designed to cause himself more and more emotional pain. Whatever other reasons FoTJ poses for the change I see as rationalizations and self-deception more than anything. He wanted to hurt himself, whether to recapture some perverse sensation from his captivity, or due to some unresolved survivor's guilt since Anakin's death, or because he has been just so NUMB since his transcendental moment at the end of The Unifying Force, or for whatever reason. And like any addiction, it escalates. Kill Nelani because you don't want to have to kill Luke. But soon you find that you will have to kill Luke because you don't want to have to kill Tenel Ka. Kill Tenel Ka because you don't want to kill Allana. Soon you have to kill Allana too. Why? Because it will be emotional agony to do so, and Jacen needs that hit, baby.

 

That could work, but Jacen/Caedus being motivated by feeding his addition to pain would not be a noble goal and assuming Spirit Head Mara in Abyss was truthful, his goal was a noble one - and not just in part according to what was said.

 

We can explain Jacen/JINO until we're blue in the face, but he's unconvincing as a villain for the simple reason that Del Rey went out of their way to put him as a hero in the NJO. We spent a lot of time in Jacen's head, much more than a lot of other characters (particularly villains) and got to know him quick well to the point where a lot of people started liking him a lot for finding a third option for ending the Yuuzzhan Vong War.

And then Del Rey decides to make him a villain.

Look, Jacen is not Heath Ledger's Joker, he's not even Anakin Skywalker. We knew him, a lot of us liked him. And these would go against him very strongly if they had tried to make his established character fit into a villain mould as-is. The problem is they didn't. They got a new Jacen and put him into an old mould supposedly made by his grandfather. And we still spent a lot of time in his head while he was rationalising what he was doing to us as readers.

Okay, excuse me if I don't clap my hands in exhiliration.

And now, given what I am hearing of Fate of the Jedi (which I am really not reading this time, I could not give a bantha's left foot about it), there something funny going on.

Fee fie foe fum I smell a retcon. As much as I am interested in how it will turn out, there's really nothing more to add.

Del Rey put themselves into this mess for our $$$, let them handle it.

And where is Ex when you need him. It's times like this I really miss him

 

Or, he THOUGHT he did.

This bit, I do agree with, though...

I'm just not convinced he was sane in the first place.

It doesn't happen with the end of TUF, either...

Yes, sometimes it's necessary to just shoot the kriffer, throw the Sith down the big hole in the floor, or have the mad Jedi Master brought down by a couple or hungry vornskrs... but such moments are necessary, human actions... to suggest that this is the best that the most inspired Jedi can achieve...

... makes me think there's something wrong with Jedi, generally...

A very valid criticism. I think they were trying to tap into an idea of heroism, but (as I've explained before), they separated Jacen's quest and sense of the horizon from any clear connection with others (this is a problem even in Traitor), and that was his flaw that turned him int a Sith.

It's more that Jacen's repressed by his Jedi/NR upbringing, or at worse that he failed to develop his social skills, than that he lacks human empathy - that's really the thing that makes him poignant and human...

Are you saying Jacen used humility on the demented Shaper Initiate...? There's still a serious doubt in my mind whether he was atcually the real leader at all... but that's for another thread.

Oh... whoah!!!

You, sir or madam, get a kriffing Golden Ewok?...

That is a good catch!!!!!

And it also removes one obvious option for who Jacen saw...

- The Imperial Ewok

 

Here is a major problem. Jacen didn't return to the galaxy after the pool vision. The beginning of Dark Nest has Jacen studying with the Fallanssi(sp?) when he receives the 'call' from Raynar. That is when he returns to the galaxy.

 

Jacen didn´t return, because he needed to learn more in order to be able to defeat the Dark Man. If he saw who was on the throne and thought he needed Ben with him and could not face him alone, then it is very likely he wanted to know every trick and skill there is. Maybe that is why he ventured to the Nightsisters, too, and learned Bloodtrail etc. while not dark himself, learning dark skills just in case he needs more than the light side to defeat the Dark Man.

Or if he saw himself as Dark Man and NOT Luke, he might have tried to learn everything he could about the Force to NOT turn into the Dark Man.

He might have kept himself separated from the Galaxy and his family and friends because he did not want to hurt them, or to loose them and then turn dark because of losses of loved ones. Kinda fleeing from Fate, yet the call of Raynar pulled him back and he had the choice: Enter the Swarm War and prevent it at the risk of becoming the Dark Man/hurting loved ones, or staying in selfimposed exile and seeing the galaxy fall into darkness without him. So he returned and took Ben as Padawan, a precaution so that he had someone with him always to check on him if he shows signs of turning and to warn him. Someone who he'll teach everything he knows to defeat him if needed.

Yet once again Fate didn´t happen as Jacen had hoped. With the next civil war emerging and Lumiya and the Sith back in play Jacen once again had to choose and act, to decide if he lost loved ones or acted himself at the risk of becoming the Dark Man. And again he acted and this time, HE WAS the DARK MAN. His Fall had begun and the deeper he went undercover into the Sith.. the more he lost himself in the Dark Side and forgot how he started that journey. HE went mad to a certain degree. And Ben or all his other failsafes malfunctioned. He had lost.. himself, the galaxy and his loved ones. He just had one thing left to do... choose and act, decide... will he try to end war forever with all at his disposal as a Sith, even if it cost him his loved ones or try to save his loved ones at all costs and possibly loose the galaxy to war and the Sith. In the end both would have been a hard fate for him and his loved ones, so he choose the galaxy altruistically and acted. But in his final moments he had a moment of clarity while duelling Jaina... the galaxy will always be bantha poodoo about peace... that's why they need Jedi and military and police, laws, etc. and so he tried to save his last loved ones: Allana and Tenel Ka calling out to them... before Jaina pierced his heart, the last piece of Jacen Solo within Darth Caedus.. burning it away with the Sword of the Jedi. Kinda ironic...

 

I would have much rathered something along these lines
Too bad Jacen didnt go in thinking he was undercover into the Sith
He was all for it, thinking he was above being corrupted

 

Damnation=Masochist Heaven?