I love that disturbing Kanata infanticide take. Great stuff 👀👀👀
Thank you~
I love Kanata a lot, which coexists with my belief that he's a very traumatized and sometimes not so great person XD I think often about the weird dynamics he has around family and relationships... His relationship with Madara, his nonrelationship with his mother who basically never even touched him before faking her own death and abandoning him, the strangeness between him and Konata, the inconsistent sense of what family means... UWU I just think that + postpartum would make him drown a child.
And even tho the cult is more defunct now and Kanata's not as in the tangled mess of it anymore... If that infant at all resembled him, he might stare down at it and see the long lineage of gods who bore his features, granting wishes and blessings and waiting for the day when they would be consumed, either metaphorically or literally. A heritage and birthright of suffering and isolation. He wouldn't wish that on others! Drowning it now would be a mercy, as Shizuka Gozen drowned her son to save him from a worse death at the hands of Minamoto no Yoritomo.
I've been fascinated with the Aztec god Xolotl recently.
Xolotl (pronunced Sho-lo-t followed by an L like sound that doesn't exist in the English language) was a Mesoamerican god associated with many things, including fire, lightning, disease, deformity, twins, the Mesoamerican ball game, death, dogs, the planet Venus as the evening star, twilight, shapeshifting, and monsters. Xolotl was the twin and sometimes companion of his more famous brother Quetzalcoatl. Xolotl was thought to guide the dead in their journey through the underworld, and to guide the sun through the underworld each night. Xolotl is usually depicted as either a dog anthro, a man with a dog head, or a dwarf skeletal jester. Xolotl is usually depicted missing eyes. Xolotl seems to have been feared by the Aztecs and especially hated by the Spanish, but I have a more favorable view.
Some of the most prominent myths about Xolotl involve the story of the fifth sun, or how the current world was made from the previous, destroyed one.
The first myth involves the recreation of humanity. The tales differ as to whether Quetzalcoatl was responsible, Xolotl was responsible, or if it was a collaborative effort. The humans of the fourth world were destroyed, and humanity had to be brought back. To this end Xolotl and/or Quetzalcoatl traveled to the Aztec underworld, Mictlan and met with its king, Mictlantecutli. The god(s) asked to gather the bones of the previous humans so they could be created anew. Mictlantecutli. Mictlantecutli gives them tests but later decides against letting them gather the bones. Xolotl and/or Quetzalcoatl fall into pit, breaking the bones in the process which is why people have different heights. The bones are later resurrected. The versions of this tale differ as to which god went to Mictlan and whether they did tests for Mictlantecutli or simply stole the bones.
In the second myth, the gods are sacrificing themselves in a fire to create a fifth sun for humanity because the previous one went out. They choose Nanahuatzin, a poor and humble god with syphilis and some relation to Xolotl to become the moon; and Tecciztecatl to become the sun because he is wealthy and strong. However, Tecciztecatl is unable to throw himself in the fire when the time comes, so Nanahuatzin becomes the sun instead. Tecciztecatl is sacrificed after and becomes the moon (and also the man on the moon), but has a rabbit thrown at his face which is one explanation for the rabbit people sometimes see.
Later, Xolotl is the last to be sacrificed to the new sun. In some versions this is because he was the executioner for the previous gods. However, in some tales he refuses to sacrifice himself. Xolotl begs and cries until his eyes literally fall out but this does nothing. Xolotl transforms to escape Ehecatl who has been executing other gods to make the sun move. Xolotl at first transforms into a corn plant with two stalks, then an Agave americana, and finally an Axolotl amphibian. But he was still caught in the end.
What I find most interesting about Xolotl is his relation to disability. Since deformities are among Xolotl's best known domains, he could be considered a god of disabilities as well. Xolotl is also a god of monsters, and it's worth mentioning that the Nahua word "Xolo" which his name is derived from and means monster, is used for both mythological monsters and those with physical abnormalities, much like the Latin word "Monstrum". (I think in literature analysis the themes of monsters as outcasts could be explored more) In many, perhaps even most historical (and unfortunately even modern) societies the attitude towards those with disabilities has been very negative. In the Aztec world twins were considered unnatural, and sometimes one of them would be murdered shortly after birth. Wikipedia mentions an speculation by Eduard Seler that resonates with me: that Xolotl represents the murdered twin who dwells in the underworld while Quetzalcoatl is the living one who is cherished in the world of light.
Another connection with Xolotl and disability is that he was sometimes depicted as a jester with dwarfism. It's relevant the jesters around the world were often disabled. European court jesters were known for having the freedom to criticize and mock royalty, and were sometimes selected from the intellectually disabled because they could not be held responsible for what they said. Additionally, the Spanish during the colonization of the Aztecs sent some Aztec jesters to Spain, who were described as humpbacks.
This is what I find most interesting about Xolotl, that he is a reflection or shadow of society. Historically Xolotl was often considered a sinister god, but when society is itself sinister who is to be believed? My view of Xolotl is more favorable. The god of the disabled is feared because the disabled are hated. Xolotl is the outcast, who is hated and feared yet has done no wrong. Xolotl is the murdered twin, who looks upon the world of light and life, from a place of darkness, the world he was not given, never had the right to enjoy. He is the god who is looked upon with disgust due to his role in hardship, yet is the only one who stays with you through that hardship the entire time. Xolotl is the disabled child, who is called a child of shame and hidden away in some institution to be forgotten by their more privileged relatives. Xolotl is viewed with contempt, but his domains are just as necessary to the universe's function as any of the more handsome gods. The janitor, who is viewed with contempt and disgust yet whose works are vital for society.
The "evil twin" Xolotl, misunderstood twin and hound of Quetzalcoatl who lives in the world's shadow, watching the world of life and guarding the light of the sun through the underworld.
Today in "appreciating awful characters" (and Tolkien):
Gimilkhad...? Gimilzor? Argh. Anyway, Tar-Palantir's dad. He invented religious persecution and was generally awful. And discussing his marriage would require doubling the number of warning tags on this post. Ugh.
But
He really hated that he couldn't make his younger son the heir (because council or some other thing would not let him, iirc? Or people would revolt if he broke the law? Númenor feels like a quite democratic monarchy now that I think of it). In many other settings (ASoIaF, but probably real world too) a king in this situation would go for a certain obvious solution.
He did not.
I know it's "Tolkien didn't want to write it", but still, can we appreciate it of him? One non-awful thing about that guy.
Legitimately curious - what would you say would be a suitable punishment/rehabilitation plan for Anakin? Because yeah, throwing him out in disgrace wouldn't help anybody, but a massacre isn't exactly the kind of thing one can make amends for.
Different anon:
one thing I feel like people disregard about Anakin's slaughter of the Tuskens coming to light is that the Jedi would make //him// do reparations. like that would be part of his rehabilitation. the biggest issue I have is not that he doesn't face any consequences for his actions, it's that he faces no accountability. anakin himself making reparations forces him to take responsibility, to reckon with the consequences of his actions head-on, to learn from it. that's his prerogative as the perpetrator, to make amends. that's just my two cents on the matter
So, the Tuskens situation is kind of hard to work with because it's a complicated one:
It took place outside of Republic Territory, and thus outside of official Jedi jurisdiction.
There is not an official way to serve justice, because the local government is Hutts, and they don't care what happens in the Wastes.
The other form of justice is what settlements like Anchorhead mete out amongst each other, which isn't going to work here because they view Anakin's actions as justified; Anakin killed several dozen Tuskens in response to the deaths of almost thirty settlers (Shmi, along with over two dozen of the people who went out to try and save her). Tatooine settler justice cannot be involved, because they do not view this as something that was done in error or maliciousness.
This specific point is why, if Anakin had killed only the active combatants of the Tusken tribe in question, the Jedi may have reasonably assigned him to some extensive therapy and not actual reparations, as the situation had been one where dozens of people were dying for no reason, and he was removing a repeated threat from the board due to the fact that there are no jails willing to hold a Tusken; the Hutts wouldn't care to jail them, and the settlers wouldn't be able to fight off the tribe coming to rescue their own. Playing judge jury and executioner would still be wrong, but a contextual argument of "they have killed dozens of people and have demonstrated an interest in continuing to do so" would hold some weight in his defense of his actions.
Unfortunately for everyone, Anakin killed noncombatants, and more specifically he killed kids, so he doesn't have any kind of rational excuse here. Like. Boy. You killed babies. That will never be defensible.
There is no way to serve reparations directly to the tribe/clan he harmed, as they are all now dead.
The Jedi don't know if the nearest related Tusken tribe is going to demand Anakin's death for what he did, because like... death penalty is a lot but also. He. Killed babies.
Anakin still insists that what he did prevented the tribe from doing more of the same, and that they were little better than animals.
Depending on when we have a reveal happen, and why, the war is still going on, and they can't just get rid of one of their most effective field generals.
Depending on when we have a reveal happen, and why, he has infant twins that need him.
For the ease of plot, we'll go with either the war didn't happen, or the war is over.
I think that the best way to address this is by dipping into Legends and grabbing A'Sharad Hett.
So, obviously the first step is to have Anakin attend some... very extensive therapy that, at some point, forces him to recognize the inherent sanctity of life and the true atrocity of his actions. Step one is to feel remorse, and it might take Anakin a very long time to do that.
Once he does feel remorse, we move to step two. This is where Knight Hett comes in.
For those unfamiliar, A'Sharad Hett is a human Jedi Master who was raised Tusken. His mother was a human that had been adopted into the tribe, and his father was a Jedi Master that left the Order to marry her and have A'Sharad. His father trained him until his death, and at fifteen, he was found by Master Ki-Adi Mundi. As A'Sharad had already been trained as a Jedi for most of his life by his father, the age limit did not apply to him as it did to most of the children that join, and he was taken on as Ki-Adi's padawan.
The thing is that... A'Sharad finds out about the Tusken Massacre in canon (Legends), and he doesn't tell anyone. He doesn't try to hurt Anakin or anything, but tells him that these actions are his burden to carry, and he must endeavor to do better. He could have reported him, and it may have even gotten him expelled from the order, but he didn't. Due to this, we can read into A'Sharad putting a greater emphasis on repentance than on punishment.
Once Anakin has gotten to the point where he can recognize that what he did was a massive fucking problem and qualifies as an atrocity, we reach the question of reparations. How do you engage in reparations when the people you hurt are all dead? How do you engage in helping a people when all the ways in which they struggle are due to a system, a cartel, that you cannot hope to fight against yourself, and couldn't even when it was for your own sake and that of your loved ones, let alone for strangers?
I would suggest finding the tribe or clan most closely tied to the one that he killed, with the caveat that they don't want to kill him in revenge. With A'Sharad as interlocutor, we find out what they would want from Anakin as his contribution to make up for their loss (not that anything could ever make up for what he did). In pursuit of that, they have him live with and contribute to that tribe's way of life for a year, under the supervision of A'Sharad Hett (who also is there to make sure Anakin is more of a help than a hindrance). He would not necessarily live as one of them, but he would work and sleep and eat and all such things until he had come to understand them, at least a little, and contributed in a way that could count as some way of trying to make up for what he's done.
A year seems like a little, and tbh it's a length of time chosen with the idea that:
The Tuskens still on-planet probably don't want him there any longer, but just giving them raw materials (namely water) isn't going to cut it. They don't need him.
Seeing as they don't actually need him, Anakin and the Jedi all know that he can help more people if he is not on Tatooine, but rather being put into places where his skills can be put to the greatest use. Whether that is as a Jedi or as a civilian is dependent on the third point, which is
If the twins are alive, then Anakin... kind of needs to get back? To his babies? And his wife? Unless Padme is dead, in which case Luke and Leia have spent the first years of their life with Owen and Beru, in easy driving distance for Anakin to see them at least once a week.
It's not a perfect solution by any measure, nothing ever could be (because, again, baby murder), but I think this is a form of reparation and repentance that would work for the Jedi's general philosophy, for the limitations of the systems they are working within (both Republic and Hutt), and what the people most directly affected by Anakin's actions would actually want out of him.
I feel like I’m the skysisters au anakin would be at least partially tapped into the hive mind. Like before he knows about them it’s the random compulsion to do something random, but once he does know he’s more integrated into it. Also I’ve been thinking of the post-Kamino hive mind as being like a mental group chat. Yes I know this isn’t how force bonds work. No I don’t care.
Sort of! He's not really integrated into it, but he can, as you said 'tap into it.'
He's been his own person for longer than these girls have existed. They developed a hive mind because cloning a Jedi is risky fucking business for a number of reasons.
(If I were to write this out as a fic, I'd include a dark undertone about how only one in three Anakin clones were strong enough in the Force to train, and the rest were... well, nobody's really sure what happened to the rest of them, and the one-in-three thing was still significantly more successful than historical records indicate is usual.)
But the hive mind/loss of sense of self thing is a known risk, which is what the Jedi explain when the Fett clones question why they're so much more uncomfortable about one of their own being cloned.
So the hive mind exists because:
Force Sensitivity makes them able to read people anyway.
You know how twins with Force Sensitivity tend to be more powerful in tandem, and more in tune with each other than the average Jedi? Clones are that but More.
Since they're clones of Anakin, the ones that were Force Sensitive were extra powerful, which exacerbated the first two points.
They spend literally all their time together, and all their training overlaps, so they're always 'in range' and have developed minimal divergent experiences.
Anakin himself is... not like that. He was not in range for most of their lives, and is still out of range more often than not. He's had a lot of his own experiences, none of which are connected to Kamino. Without that shared experience of how they grew up, his brain doesn't slip into the same network they have, just sort of... pings off of it. He can communicate, and mental speech to his clones is ten times easier than it is with literally anyone else, even Obi-Wan, but he's not really part of it. He can't reach them over nearly as far a distance, etc.
Like there's room to argue about Padme's perception of the Tuskens as sapient beings based on the information provided by the Lars family and Anakin himself. There's room to argue about whether Anakin himself is in denial and leaning on learned racism/speciesism to retroactively justify his actions. There is room to argue about the in-universe perspectives.
But just coming out and saying "He didn't kill babies, because the Tuskens aren't human" is just. How. How did you get to that point.
