Homebrew subclass D&D 5e : Oath of Truth - Paladin
I’ve been working on many homebrew subclasses for a while, and I wanted to do artwork for them. For the Oath of Truth, I wanted a half-elf that has both the codes of the holy knight and the investigator. That kind of handsome badassery that detectives have in the trope.
been obsessing over the song of pelinal whitestrake all day. I like drawing him as this amorphous blob of starlight and murderous intent who probably scares alessia a lot
There’s this notion that, in the Prequels, the Jedi Council failed Anakin, be it by not noticing his fall to the Dark Side or by not granting him the rank of master or “telling him to repress his fears on his first day”. And, like… no.
Lucas made it clear multiple times: the only person to blame for Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side is Anakin himself (and Palpatine, who manipulated him into making the choice he made).
So here’s a breakdown of Anakin’s relationship with the Council throughout the Prequels era. Complete with GIFs and quotes by Lucas.
Anakin & the Council in Episode I
A lot of people say that the Council berated Anakin for being afraid. Not true.
If you take into consideration the fact that Lucas has stated that Jedi are allowed to feel emotions, including love, then it becomes evident that Anakin being afraid wasn’t the problem.
Anakin refusing to admit he’s afraid was the problem. That’s what they were testing for. The whole time, the Jedi are basically telling Anakin:
“Look, we’re mind-reading wizards, we know you’re afraid, you’re thinking about your Mom, it’s normal… so when we ask ‘how are you feeling?’ the answer is…?”
… and Anakin consistently dodges the question and refuses to admit he’s scared.
And that’s not what a Jedi is supposed to do. A Jedi should embrace their fears, then overcome them. Being a Jedi means accepting, confronting and mastering your emotions, not repressing them.
Which is what the Jedi Council was trying to tell Anakin. It’s okay to be afraid, but you can’t keep it bottled up inside.
And keep in mind… they know that dealing with your emotions in a healthy way is a hard thing to do (especially for someone coming from a slave background, like Anakin), which is why they originally say “no” to him joining the Order.
They know Anakin would struggle to fit in the Jedi mold, they know that Qui-Gon did a very foolish thing by taking this 9-year-old away from his mother and then insisting to make him a Padawan right away, without even going through an adjustment period with the younglings.
“I think it is obvious that he [Qui-Gon] was wrong in Episode I and made a dangerous decision, but ultimately this decision may be correct. […] Anakin is the chosen one, and he did bring peace at last with his own sacrifice.” - Cut Magazine, 1999
“So here we’re having Qui-Gon wanting to skip the early training and jump right to taking him on as his Padawan learner, which is controversial, and ultimately, the source of much of the problems that develop later on.” - The Phantom Menace, Director’s Commentary, 1999
But they take a chance on Anakin and become his adoptive family.
DO YOU EVER THINK ABOUT THAT TIME THAT DARTH VADER WAS BUILDING HIS NEW LIGHTSABER AFTER HE LOST HIS TO OBI-WAN ON MUSTAFAR?
AND THAT HE MUST HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THE TIMES BEFORE HE’D BUILT A LIGHTSABER? THE ONES THAT HE BUILT UNDER OBI-WAN’S GUIDANCE? THAT THIS FIRST TIME BLEEDING A CRYSTAL IS SUCH AN ANTITHESIS TO THE FIRST TIME OBI-WAN WATCHED OVER HIM WHILE HE GOT HIS FIRST CRYSTAL ON ILUM?
AND THAT THE FORCE OR THE CRYSTAL WAS SCREAMING AT ANAKIN THE ENTIRE TIME HERE, TELLING HIM THAT HE COULD STILL CHOOSE DIFFERENTLY, HE COULD STILL SAVE SOMETHING OF THE SITUATION, EVEN A PART OF HIMSELF?
THAT HIS EYES WERE BLUE BECAUSE HE WAS FREE FROM THE TERRIBLE PULL OF THE DARK SIDE JUST LONG ENOUGH TO MAKE THIS A CLEAR-HEADED DECISION?
DO YOU EVER THINK ABOUT HOW MUCH IT HURTS THAT THERE ARE TWO OPTIONS HERE:
- THE FORCE IS TELLING HIM THAT HE STILL HAS OBI-WAN, HE CAN STILL GO FIND OBI-WAN AND BEG FOR HELP/FORGIVENESS/DEATH, AND THAT HE WOULD BE GRANTED IT?
- ANAKIN HIMSELF KNOWS THAT HE CAN STILL GO FIND OBI-WAN AND BEG FOR HELP/FORGIVENESS/DEATH, AND THAT HE WOULD BE GRANTED IT?
THAT THIS MOMENT REMINDS HIM OF OBI-WAN AND PART OF HIM KNOWS THAT HE WOULD HAVE A PATH BACK, HE IS BLUE-EYED IN THESE MOMENTS TO SHOW HIM THAT THE DARK SIDE DOESN’T HAVE TO BE ALL THERE IS.
AND HE SO CANNOT STAND WHAT HE HAS DONE, CANNOT FACE HIS ACTIONS, THAT ANAKIN SKYWALKER KNOWINGLY REJECTS IT?
NO MATTER HOW MUCH THE FORCE IS BEGGING AND PLEADING WITH HIM.
NO MATTER HOW MUCH SOME PART OF HIMSELF IS BEGGING AND PLEADING WITH HIM.
DO YOU EVER THINK ABOUT HOW SOME PART OF ANAKIN SKYWALKER WAS SCREAMING AT WHAT HE WAS DOING AND WANT TO CRY ABOUT IT?
