When and why did Eralei's eyes change?
firstly i want to apologize for taking so long to answer this, itās kind of a turning point for her character and i wanted to make sure i explained it right. also, iām sorry for the wall of text :ā)
the dark side means something a little different for Eralei than many Sith, i think. itās not so much her actions as how she feels about herself, within her heart. this corruption didnāt come delving into dark rituals or from use (or overuse) of the Force. it was the eventual breakdown of who she really is. she was so afraid of becoming something terrible that she became consumed by that fear; and since her very first days at the Academy, fear has largely been the biggest driving force behind her power. fear of what others may do to her, yes, but also fear of what she might do, herself.
from the moment she was freed from carbonite and caught up to reality, the reality of everything that happened in those five years, how much sheād lost, how much sheād had taken from herāsomething deep inside began to crack, and some old wounds she thought sheād healed started to unravel. not only had she physically come face to face with the being she hated and feared more than anything else in the galaxy, she had to deal with him twisting his way inside her headā¦. again.
(in case youāre not familiar, i decided to change up the whole Emperorās Wrath thing. think of it as not so much service asā¦ possession. like Ziost, but more insidious. she didnāt learn the truth of what was happening to her until Yavin 4. but thatās a whole different post for another day.)
Eralei thought she was free. after how hard she fought the first time to get Vitiate out of her head, she never could have imagined it happening again. on top of that, she now had an entirely new problem. her need for vengeance against Vitiate--whatever name and face he wore--translated into vengeance against Arcann, and just like with his father before him, it began to consume her. this time, at least, her adversary was corporeal. this time, victory felt like it could actually be within her reach.
and then the battle of Voss happened.
she lost so much that day. one of her most trusted allies--i am not revealing who, just yet--was cut down by Arcann himself, right before her eyes, and she failed to stop it. and then, Senyaā¦
Senya, who refused to stand down, who refused to give up on her son to her dying breath...the devoted mother Eralei wishes she could have had. Eralei had never, ever been so torn in her life. but ultimately, that all-encompassing need for vengeance was stronger. Senyaās death by her hand was the final crack before it all shattered to pieces. as she gently laid Senyaās body down inside that temple and stood to finish what sheād started, that was the moment her eyes matched the Voss sky as it burned.
Eraleiās fall wasnāt some great and terrible event. there was no murderous rampage, no explosive outburst, no utter loss of control. it was subtle, internal; a culmination of everything that had happened in her life from the day she received those traditional Sith tattoos up to this very moment. it was, more than anything, a realization...a realization of who, and what, sheād become. of what she was capable of. of how far she was willing to go.
corruption is inevitable, young acolyte Eralei feared. to become Sith is to become a monster. there is no other way.
a self-fulfilling prophecy, really.
