What exactly is Jacen and Tenel Ka's relationship?

I don't read the books, I just get caught up through the starwars databank and the wikipedia. so what is their relationship exactly? Are they in love? Was it a one night stand? What?

 

Friends with benefits.

 

Originally, soul mates. Destined to be together.

Now... he's a wannabe Sith Lord and she's the Queen Mother. She also uses him to get a daughter.

*Sigh*

 

They're not really sure themselves, I think. They both want someone to hold onto, and each has always been the closest beat to the other's heart...

At the same time, both of them are trapped in situations where they feel they have ridiculous burdens of responsibility: in connection with this, Jacen is apparently unhinged, and Tenel Ka perhaps clinically depressed. Jacen has been trained to like being tied up and tortured, and Tenel Ka comes from a culture where men are regarded as chattel property.

Crazy - but it might just work.

- The Imperial Ewok

 

^ I can't top that.


But my ow decicred on the subject:

Jacen's got a stangload of (IMHO, BAD) adivce he wants to give out, but doesn't like recieving any. Tenel Ka's surrounded by enemies and holding an empire together with her bare hands, while trying to protect an infant. He seems to care about them, but he's so concerned about 'protecting' them he's acting far too much like his grandaddy shortly after hacking up some kids and making Sepratist frappe. Of the two parents, I daresay the kid's MUCH better off being raised by the paternal grandparents.

Where's the GFFA equvialant of Dr. Phil when we need him?

 

Shes his babies momma!

 

That just made my day!

 

You forget to mention that he used her to get his hands on the Hapan fleet.

 

**** Buddies.

 

Yeah, apparently they screw around when one or the other needs a fleet of warships. It seems that Jacen Solo is one expensive male prostitute.

 

They have both always had feelings for one another. But circumstance has always stood in the way of them having anything. Jacen slept with her because he genuinely cares for her, and he happened to get a baby in the process. Jacen was also going to get the fleet whether he slept with her or not. Sleeping with her wasn't a condition for getting the fleet. They both wanted it and the fleet was a pretense. They both have had a tremendous amount affection and respect for each other since the academy. They have been bonded ever since he lopped off her arm.

 

That in and of itself should prove that it's her destiny to become part of the Solo/Skywalker clan.

 

So that's how you win a girl's heart... Well, I'm off to sharpen my machete!

 

Jacen Solo is her really expensive Manwhore.. Tenel Ka is his Dominatrix

 

Circumstances like Danni Quee whom Jacen seemed much more romantically inclined to during the NJO..?

 

From the way the books described it I thought we were meant to assume they were at least somewhat "together" in The Unseen Queen. Admittedly though, a random one night stand and a rushed love confession hardly qualify as grand romance, and Jacen generally seems more concerned with "protecting" the baby then sparing many warmer feelings for her or her mother. The entire storyline would seem pretty pointless though, if they don't end up together.

Personally I think that they do love each other, they're just both too deeply entrenched in their own seperate worlds to do much about it at the moment. Now that they have a child together though, it could very well open the door for further reconnecting.

 

If the person you care for does not return the same affection what's wrong with you seeing someone else? Last I checked they weren't married. So you can only date or have feelings for one person in your lifetime?

 

I understand what you're saying but it's not like there's only two single women in the galaxy for Jacen to choose from.

Jacen and Tenel Ka kiss at the end of YJK, then approx a year later he meets Danni Quee and because that didn't really go anywhere in the NJO he decides he might as well go back to his childhood sweetheart.

Maybe it's just me but it seems a bit of a rushed romance for them to declare everlasting love after a one night stand that resulted in an illegitimate daughter. Think about how much they've been through since VP up until TJK and how much they must have changed as people, how can they know each other well enough anymore to rush into any kind of commitment without taking the time to get to know each other again?

Just my tuppence.

 

Completely agreed with barabel_humour. I've never liked Jacen very much at all, but Denning made me hate him as I haven't truly hated him since Balance Point. I'm sick of characters getting so blatantly shoehorned into the situations Del Rey wants them to be in. Jacen and Danni had much more chemistry in the Force Heretic trilogy, then that went down the 'fresher in TUF and now he's sleeping with the Star Wars equivalent of his middle-school crush and they're declaring undying love for each other that's always existed since the day they met. Has Denning/Del Rey even studied how teenagers behave? Have they even considered what a ridiculous situation that makes, and how out of character the one-night stand was for both characters? Did somebody forget about Danni Quee? And what about Jag and Jaina? TUF's last scene with them together at the end of the book concluded with them "kissing passionately while the snow continued to fall", and by TJK, she's broken up with Jag and is practically canoodling with Zekk, but then tells Jag she still loves him in TSW before apparently going "back" to hating him. What's going on here? What was Kre'fey's motivation for being so stuck onto ar'krai after accepting Nas Choka's surrender and Cal Omas's decision to allow the Vong to rebuild a more peaceful society in the Unknown Regions under Zonama Sekot's guard that he got himself kicked out of the Supreme Commander position? Why is Mara Jade Skywalker suddenly acting like the Emperor's Hand again in all aspects but fealty to Palpatine? Why is Jacen suddenly behaving so irrationally? Why hasn't Zekk gotten over the fact that Jaina has moved on as of more than a decade before TJK? Why is Tahiri acting like a schizophrenic weirdo all of the sudden, when she had sorted her problems out as long ago as The Final Prophecy? Why are the Chiss suddenly accepting torture as reasonable when they've been stiff-lipped, but noble people up until now? Why is Leia supporting the Killiks when they're so obviously turning into a new Empire?

Stupid.

If LotF doesn't shape up, I'm not going to buy any more post-RotJ EU.

 

Help us, Aaron Allston, you're our only hope.

I am a fan of the Jacen/Tenel Ka relationshsip, and have been since I started reading the YJK novels at age nine. But how Denning developed it inspired no warm fuzzies, or fangirlish glee, only a deep sense of "WTF?" It was just so out of character for all involved.

They seem to have some sort of relationship worked out from the whole "I would never play with you" scene, but it is an unhealthy one to say the least. Poor Allana, that child is going to need such therapy.

As for Jacen, well:
"Now, I ain't sayin' he a golddigger..."

 

Yes you will.

 

Well of course we will but we still have to make these sweeping idle threats. What's most likely is that if I don't like what Denning does with LotF I'll just avoid his EU work in future. However, I have complete faith in Allston and Traviss.

 

Heh. After TUF I bought only the ROTS novelization, the movie ticket and the DVD. But those were planned purchases since the beginning. I also bought the first two DN novels, but I'm not too sure on the third. If I do get TSW, though, that's it. I'm done. This... isn't the SW I knew before. It's devolved horrendously.

Tenel Ka and Jacen should've been soulmates and 'together forever'. He should've been more mature, but still have a sense of humor and be empathetic. She should've been serious with a snarky sense of humor and warrior kick-butt skills. Instead...

*Shrugs* No, no more.

 

Kudzu: What's going on here?

People are, as a rule, inconsistent?

Why is Mara Jade Skywalker suddenly acting like the Emperor's Hand again in all aspects but fealty to Palpatine?

A very good question... bear it in mind, I think....

Why is Jacen suddenly behaving so irrationally?

Not all variations of klin zha kinta are as blatant as the game of Risk aboard the seedship...?

Why is Tahiri acting like a schizophrenic weirdo all of the sudden, when she had sorted her problems out as long ago as The Final Prophecy?

Well, the readers know this, and Tahiri knows this, but that doesn't mean anyone else knows...

Why are the Chiss suddenly accepting torture as reasonable when they've been stiff-lipped, but noble people up until now?

Metanarrative commentary? Or, because you can get people to do what you want them to by faking torture sessions?

Why is Leia supporting the Killiks when they're so obviously turning into a new Empire?

She always was a sucker for that "I'm talking utter rubbish, but I'm optimistically hoping that you'll love me anyway" schtick of Han's...?

- The Imperial Ewok

 

No, I won't. I'll buy pre-RotJ EU and maybe post-RotJ games, but no post-RotJ books. I don't buy the comics anyway.