Playing KOTOR: The Big Reveal

So I thought that I had two pieces of the star map left to find but apparently there's nothing on Yavin IV except an almost empty space station... at least for the moment.

What's more important is that the next time I came out of hyperspace after Kashyyyk, I was captured by a Sith ship! I was quite engrossed by my companions' frantic discussion of an escape plan while the Ebon Hawk was slowly being pulled in by the tractor beam. You get to choose which of your companions you want to be the "dedicated rescuer" - and I'm really curious how that part goes differently based on your choices.

Personally I opted for Mission because she has a history of surviving on her own in tight spots. So instructed, she bit and kicked the Sith upon her capture, causing her to get put into solitary confinement while my character, Bastila and Carth were off to the torture chambers - oh yeah, did I forget to mention that our captor was Carth's old mentor, the one who betrayed both him and the Republic? You undergo some pretty harsh treatment at his hands and are told that Malak has found out about the Jedi enclave on Dantooine and wiped it out. Ouch.

Anyway, I thought it was very neat how you then get to play your rescuer - Mission in my case - as they put their plan in action. She steals a guard's key card early on and can therefore free herself easily but only has her undies on her. In a nearby crate I then found a stealth field generator, which was handy as Mission has the stealth ability. I never used it beforehand because it wasn't obvious to me how it worked, but a lack of any other abilities to distract me helped me find the right option quite quickly. Then stealthy Mission got to sneak around the ship, looted everything and freed her friends!

After a quick detour to the bridge where you deactivate the tractor beam and kill the traitor (involving a somewhat annoying and in my opinion unnecessary mini space walk), you are about to escape... when Darth Malak appears! And this is where the big spoiler happens. If you don't want any spoilers, why are you even reading this? Either way, you have been warned one last time!

As it turns out... you are Revan. Dun dun DUNNN. Yes, the big, bad fallen Jedi that everyone's been talking about with awe in their voices throughout the entire game... is you. I had been spoiled for this plot twist some time ago but still enjoyed seeing how it all played out. For example it was fascinating to see how the dialogue had been written in such a way to sound natural but at the same time avoid the use of any gendered pronouns when talking about Revan (though I caught Canderous' voice actor at least taking liberties with the script a couple of times and saying "he" when the text said Revan, which was obviously inaccurate in my case since I'm playing a female character).

Likewise, when the game allows you to ask questions about Revan on Dantooine, you are never allowed to bring up the question of his/her ultimate fate: Captured? Killed? But at the time that didn't seem too important.

Anyway, the story goes that Bastila and her strike team were sent to confront Revan, but before they could even get her (in my case), Malak decided to betray his former master and fired on the ship, causing Revan to get severely injured. The Jedi manage to save her but her memory is wiped. Placed under a new identity as a soldier under Bastila's command, the hope was that just enough of your old identity would remain that you would eventually remember something about the star forge, leading the Republic there and thereby providing it with the edge it needed to overcome the threat of the Sith Empire.

Malak stuns your two companions and duels you one on one, until Bastila manages to break out of her trance and distracts Malak so you and Carth can escape with the rest. There is another one of those space battles like the one that gave me so much trouble after Taris, but through frantic tablet tapping and what I can only assume was a minor miracle I managed to scrape by with a sliver of health left on the very first attempt.

All your companions are (understandably) quite stunned by the revelation that you are Revan and it's interesting to see their different reactions. Carth for example is immediately suspicious again, while Mission and Zaalbar stand staunchly by your side. HK even has the droid equivalent of a sudden epiphany, with his memory suddenly fully restored as he realises that Revan was the one who built him and that he couldn't be happier to be back with his original master. It's kind of interesting because while you might want to distance yourself from your past as Revan if you are playing light side like I am, people like Canderous and Juhani revere you precisely because you were Revan, making you toe a somewhat awkward line.

Either way, there's one star map fragment to left to find, and then Bastila will need rescuing again I guess. Onwards!