#arkous

[swtorpadawan]

awkward moment-by anarmonia on DeviantArt

(The original post seems to have been tumblr-purged for some reason. Apologies for the low-res.)

[swtorpadawan]

Welcome to the Good Ship "Darkous" !

I know several people already “ship” Colonel Darok and Darth Arkous from the Forged Alliance expansion, including @chaoticspacefam​ @tearblossom​ @inkspot-fox​ @chivalin​ @transcendencism​ and @darthsiha​ .

Their interactions on Manaan and Rakata were surprisingly in-synch, far more than the other Revanites fighting alongside former enemies. Its not a stretch to read something more into their relationship.

Anarmonia of DeviantArt also made a couple of amazing pieces: This one and this one .

To that end, I am now dubbing this ship... the "Darkous!"

You're welcome. 🥳

[swtorpadawan]

In practice, Darth Marr, his counterpart as the Councilor of the Sphere of Military Defense, had taken advantage of the Emperor’s absence and the turnover the Council had experienced the last few years, consolidating a significant power base for himself. Arkous, and many other Councilors, were finding it increasingly difficult to act on their own authority without consulting him.

Indeed, some had even dared to whisper that Marr would eventually attempt to lay claim to the dark throne for himself.

Marr is a symbol of everything wrong with the Dark Council. Arkous privately reflected.

Tagging anyone who wants in!

[swtorpadawan]

Arkous on the Dark Council

[swtorpadawan]

Lana Beniko : Case Study (Part 3) When our Mentors Betray Us

Part 1 : On the Force Part 2 : Lana Beniko is Intimidating

I've touched before on Lana's reaction to Darth Arkous' betrayal. Having played through "Forged Alliances" two more times recently, I started to consider the subject more deeply. 

Lana is part of a culture - the Sith - where people accept that mentors - Masters - and their students - Apprentices - are eventually going to come into conflict. This is a recurring theme throughout Sith history, culminating in the Rule of Two, where they rebuilt the order around that principle.

But - she nevertheless seems rather hurt when Arkous 1) Doesn't trust her with details and particulars of the attack on Tython. 2) Didn't try to bring her into the Revanites - not that she would have probably taken the offer - but she would have been intrigued to know that the Emperor was a monster. 3) He cuts ties with her entirely after Manaan.

When the extent of his betrayal is revealed, she is a bit despondent. Because she can't trust Arkous, she's convinced she can't trust anyone in the Empire. That's very telling.  

Even then, she still expresses deep respect for his abilities.

Arkous actually sends her a message after Manaan. Her reaction is very informative.

When you finally confront Arkous on Rakata Prime, he is typically dismissive. Particularly of Lana.  

Then he dies. You can tell by the tone of voice she doesn't just regret the loss of the information Arkous and Darok could have provided. She regrets that he's dead as well.

What happens afterwards couldn't help.

I suspect she cared far more about this relationship than one would expect. She even talks about it years later in her ambient dialogue.

Clearly, she still thinks of him. He had a major impact on her life and development.

Regardless of how it ended, what she learned from serving him will always be a part of her.

[swtorpadawan]

“Our intelligence apparatus has been somewhat… disorganized since the dissolution of Imperial Intelligence, my lord.” Her disapproval of the present state of affairs was obvious. Academically, Arkous was forced to agree. Whatever its faults might have been, the absence of the Empire’s Intelligence service had left a major gap in their capabilities, forcing them to rely more and more on the private networks of individual Sith.

Then again, that same ‘gap’ had allowed a Sith Lord like Arkous to engage in his own machinations unimpeded.

“But our current analysis is that direct Republic involvement is unlikely.” Beniko continued. “Such an operation would require the involvement of too many assets to have gone completely unnoticed. I believe our remaining operatives would have reported on it.”

Tagging - @blueburds @fleeting-sanity @tishinada @tiredassmage @anchanted-one @monocytogenes