Kyp Durron and the Sun Crusher

(SPOILERS)

Forgive me if I'm off my mark as I haven't read the books dealing with this issue, however I do have a question. If Kyp Durron used the Sun Crusher to destroy Carida's sun, killing untold numbers of people in the process, then why is he still a free man? I understand he was under the influence of the Dark Side, and I know Carida was loyal to the Empire, but was that not the case with Alderaan? I'm sure that had Wilhuff Tarkin survived the war he'd have been tried for war crimes and executed or imprisoned for it. So why is Kyp Durron given a free pass? This seems hypocritical to me. I can buy that he's genuinely remorseful for what he did, but that does not excuse him from punishment. If he's sorry and accepts responsibility for his actions then he should understand that he still needs to bear the punishment. Instead he's a fully credited Jedi of the New Republic/Galactic Alliance. I'm surprised no one has tried to take him out.

Er, I think you can take this to the thread that's directly below your at the moment.

 

Apologists, both fictional and non-fictional, want to see their favorite mass-murderer get off scot-free.

 

Forgive me if I'm off my mark as I haven't read the books dealing with this issue, however I do have a question. If Kyp Durron used the Sun Crusher to destroy Carida's sun, killing untold numbers of people in the process, then why is he still a free man?

Kevin J. Anderson's view on it is this.

1. Carida was inhabited by only 25 million people. Mostly Imperial soldiery and a very small indigenous population.

i.e. He didn't expect anyone to care about Imperials because they're scum.

2. That the New Republic works like a comic book government.

"Oh, Mind control! You're scott free, Superman! Nevermind the fact you helped conquer Earth."

3. Luke Skywalker offered him redemption so its taken

KJA's view is Darth Vader would also be around Scott Free afterwards because he recanted.

I don't agree with this take myself but I go with the authorial intent and WEG supplement's take on the matter. Carida was a military target that was inhabited primarilly by people who the galaxy is better off without. The tragedy of it is no greater than all those poor Lunch Ladies on the Death Star or the Contractors on the Death Star II.

Plus, it was Exar Kun who did it to Kyp Durron and thus whose guilty.

 

Hmm, I see. I figured something like that would be the explanation as I myself had to take a second look at things to see the conundrum. Personally, while I believe that Vader's turn to the light side was genuine I don't think it should have excused him from paying for his crimes, then again perhaps he already had or was doing so in his death. It all depends on what your views of "redemption" and "repentance" are. I feel that if someone is truly remorseful for what they have done that they should accept the price for it. If you wanted to get Technical, Tarkin had just as good a reason to destroy Alderaan. They were indeed conspiring against his government and the very battle station he was manning. That doesn't mean I don't think he was a murderer, but if he is then so is Kyp Durron. At least Tarkin wasn't acting strictly out of vengeance (well, I guess you could argue his reasons were petty as well)

I don't think we're meant to think quite so deeply about Star Wars, but I enjoy it from time to time anyway.

 

Yeah, well unfortunately Alderaan gets a reputation for more than it deserved. Bail Organa and probably his entire staff were Rebel sympathizers at the least and members of the Rebel Alliance at the least.

The rest of Alderaan was so hippie-ed out that they probably never saw a gun in their life.

 

Kevin J. Anderson's view on it is this.


Rubbish. That's "what charlemagne19's idea of Kevin J Anderson's view is", either post direct quotes from Anderson, or stop this absurd tendency to claim you can read his mind.

 

You talk a nice game without having any backup yourself.

I'd use quotes from theforce.net interview where he points out he already felt he'd redeemed Kyp but that's currently down.

There's also the sourcebook and the way it reads.

So, where's your take that KJA wanted Kyp Durron to be a soulless mass murderer?

 

Kyp Durron did surrender himself to the New Republic and did not resist or attempt to escape when we all know he well could have with the power at his command.

The New Republic turned him over to Luke.

So, Kyp Durron did present himself for punishment. It's not his fault he wasn't incarcerated or executed. He pulled no mind-tricking stunts to get out of it. He was willing to face an accounting for the actions he took while in the possession of Exar Kun.

Kyp Durron has never once, in any novel, said to anyone or even in POV anything along the lines of "It was all Exar Kun! He made me do it!" even though we, from an outside perspective, can clearly see that it was in fact Exar Kun. He's always taken full responsibility despite the fact that he is not 100 percent responsible.

The Jedi Order also more closely parallels Eastern thought and philosophy than the Western thought and philosophy that exacts an eye-for-an-eye, a crime-for-a-crime. The harm one does to another, in Eastern thought, harms oneself several times over that of the original harm. You are punished by your own harmful actions. Compassion should be felt for those trapped in that cycle of punishment and extended to help them break from it. If they break from it, find redemption, return to the Light Side, as it were, compassion dictates aiding their rehabilitation.

As a whole, the GFFA is a better place for having Jedi Master Kyp Durron alive than if he had been executed.