Thread:MPK/@comment-3528596-20160705200206/@comment-29301-20160706003027

Looking back on it, the reason I reject the Kriea-Is-Kae theory has more to do with storytelling than with the various pieces of evidence that have been brought forward (many of which I admit can seem compelling - though some, such as the screenshot pointing out that Kreia and Handmaiden have the same hair color, are quite silly). I reject the theory because if it is true, then it is an alien presence in the narrative. It's just sort of there standing awkwardly in the background, doing nothing, having no pay-off because none of the actual characters ever figure it out or have it revealed to them. If Kreia was going to be Arren Kae, then it should have actually come up at some point.

Nor does it seem to give us any insight into any of her actions during the game. The awkwardness is compounded if you play the Exile as a man, which case you have Kreia treating her own daughter with the exact same distance and callousness as she does everyone else in the party. Not that that couldn't have worked with, say, the idea being that she hates or has mentally disowned Brianna because she's a living reminder of Kreia's own indiscretions and failures in the past. But again, none of that actually appears in the story. If things were to be rewritten so that this extra identity of Kreia's actually meant something to the plot, then I wouldn't be as opposed to it.

All that said, thank you for reading. As I wrote elsewhere, though, the essays to come - whatever they be - will hopefully not be just about KotOR anymore.