@tiffanyroberts6460 you’re missing Bodes logic - the very fact that he himself could infiltrate their group means that their group is not safe, which is completely reasonable.
@tiffanyroberts6460 if he wasn’t around though who’s to say there wouldn’t be more spies? Plus hun being a Jedi has nothing to do with his deceit - he only uses the force when confronting Cal, which is after he’s betrayed everyone.
@tiffanyroberts6460 because if he didn’t Bode would murder him obviously lmaooo. He didn’t obviously use the force - in the game it’s very clear that he’s just a very good liar, which is shown via post game echoes.
@Tiffany Roberts If Bode used the force, Cal would be able to tell. Bode is not a plot hole, you just can't seem to understand that Bode wasn't a Jedi anymore until just after Dagan.
Something else I noticed relating to Bode’s betrayal: Following the final fight with Dagan, you can fly back to Pyloons saloon and talk with Bode. When prompted, he asks Cal what he was seeing during those force hallucinations. He also mentions that he was being tortured with visions of Kata dying over and over again. This likely played into this already heightened level of paranoia and desire to keep Kata safe at all cost.
I guess that does explain his irrationality. I am surprised that nobody in game mentioned that he had basically chosen total isolation for Kata. You know, try to appeal to him with his highest priority. His goal was understandable. But he took the absolute worst way through everything. Argue, lie, steal, sure, but why did he have to go scorched earth about it? If he had simply stolen the compass without killing anyone or bringing Vader in, I think that Kata would have talked him down eventually, since she was uncomfortable about the place and should be especially scared of being alone.
@@tvrkm6897 in a way, Cal kind of says something to that effect. I can’t remember where exactly but he says to Bode something like “you don’t want her to be safe only to be all alone” To which Bode responds with “yeah actually, I’d take that deal” He was definitely blinded by his desire to protect her but then after the hallucination fight, his paranoia shot up.
One leading causes of falling victim to dark side is after all fear. Not just the fear of death, but the fear of loss. This is one of the biggest reasons why Anakin did what he did. It also doesn't help that Bode's relationship with ISB wasn't at all peachy as one post game force echoes show: while Denvik at first just assinged Bode to find Cere, he later decided to change the mission to sent Bode deep undercover to start preparing operation to capture Cere. When Bode protests, Denvik says that "Deals change." He then tried to "sweeten the pot" by saying that if he does as told, he will tell which Inquisitor killed Bode's wife. Man really felt that walls were closing in and that he was on borrowed time.
When someone is obsessed, driven by fear, angry, and has been lying for a long time, they usually never make sense. Their actions become irrational, reckless, and harmful to their loved ones. That is exactly what happened to Bode and it was done so well.
Not to mention this is Star Wars...If a Force User thinks like and acts out with such emotions they fall to the Dark Side that further corrupts them until they're purely evil.
@@flamesofchaos13 To add to this, it seems that the Force can intensify any emotions that a Force-sensitive user is experiencing. Fear, Anger, Lust for power, etc., are things that require a lot of will to overcome and/or avoid. Cal's fear is what led him into learning Force Slow, which is considered a Dark Side power in Legends. Cal's anger then greatly improves his slow ability in the second game. Bode's fear made him a dangerous Force user as long as it was for the cause he believed in.
Also in jedi survivor when Cai Embraced his darkness he used force crush on the heavy locked doors, droids when you force pull them and almost force crush a guy in his anger.
@@deadspace6256 He was starting to fall however Merrin brought him back from the abyss so he never converted fully. He was a Light Sider at the end that simply flirts or temporarily taps into the Dark Side/Inner Darkness. Like Mace and Rey respectively. This is evidenced by Cal specifically wanting to spare Bodes life giving him every chance possible. If he fell to the Dark as well then he wouldn't offer peace. Cal is 95 - 99% Light 5 - 1% Dark. Who himself states he doesn't want to lose himself to the darkness. Then Cere's Ghost/Voice tells him how not to...Make sure Kata doesn't either.
I can't get around hating him for it. Sure, he is misguided as all hell, but that does fear and love to you. So the Jedi have a point with the whole "no attachement" thing even if I disagree with it.
@@Raz0rking his reasoning makes sense, but there were better things he could've done that he just deemed too risky. He deluded himself that he was keeping Kara safe, especially when he himself almost killed her. He's exactly why the jedi forbid attachment and exactly why they shouldn't have done so. Rather than being taught how to deal with and control his emotions, he was taught to hide from them.
@@Raz0rking its one of those things they realised and just cut off completely, love can be a jedis greatest strength but it can also be their greatest downfall, and it was a risk the jedi didnt want to take, and they are proved right again and again from people such as anakin and bode, the cons outweigh the pro's and as much as i and many people hate the jedi for it, they have pretty damn good reasoning for it
I had the Bode twist spoiled for me early as I was looking for something (my fault, these are the risks) and it was obvious in the way he acted as the story progressed he was uneasy. It wasn't bad writing. The story was pretty good overall.
I had it spoiled for me too but I didn’t believe it cuz I still couldn’t see it coming, or see a reason why. Maybe I’m just bad at picking up cues or something
When you listen to his force echoes, Bode was really imbalanced mentally, only thing that mattered was his daughter's safety, and he'd driven himself mad over it.
And his relationship with ISB was very tenuous. He originally accepted the assingment to find out where Cere is, but then Denvik decided to twist his arm and make him start to prepare an op for her capture. When Bode protested that was not what they previously agreed on, Denvik simply said that "deals change." Denvik offered Bode information about which one of the inquisitors killed his wife, but implications were clear: Denvik could lift his protection from Bode and Kata any time he decided that Bode had outlived his usefullness.
@@bkg5494why do you complain about the last 5-10% if you actually payed attention and followed it you understood bodes motives and the writing was amazing for this game I don’t see anything wrong with it. It’s 100x better than anything disneys made from the gawd awful sequels
@Tiffany Roberts his reasoning isn't stupid though. Cal wanted to do what dagon was planning to do, take the anchorites and create an army to fight the empire. It's why he says "somebody's gotta fight the empire, why not us". When dragon said he'd do this bode told him that that would make him an emperor as well. Bode doesn't want his daughter caught up in a war with the empire
@Tiffany Roberts anakin was obsessed with keeping padme alive, so much that the idea that she could be taken from him consumed him leading to every other major negative feeling. sound familiar? bode doesn’t fall far from that logic with his daughter
@Tiffany Roberts That’s not true. Anakin needed to calm down and had he done this he would have seen how irrational he was. Padme wasn’t going to die because he had a dream but his fear pushed him to do whatever was necessary in his mind. Bose didn’t see a future where Cal and Merrin could help him keep her safe if they opened Talanorr to the Anchorites. The more people they bring back, the bigger a risk especially when one of them could be a spy or otherwise. He simply believed that they should be on Talanorr in solitude and wait until it was perfectly safe before leaving again and that’s why he does everything he did. That irrational fear drives people to do things they think are helping but it really is doing the opposite
@Tiffany Roberts You sound entitled because you want the character a particular way. Anyway, whether the Jedi would save Padme or not is not why Anakin fell. Anakin was desperate and irrational. Padme also wasn't going to die by the looks of it. The moment Anakin wasn't given the rank of master he acted like a whiny brat. He needed to be a master and be on the council. Here's why, not only would it be the natural course as all council members are masters but he would be given access to knowledge that could possibly save Padme. So he was going to do whatever he thought was necessary to save his wife. Bode gave Cal many chances to side with him on having it just be their families but Cal in his heroic Jedi nature wanted to threaten that by giving it up to The Path. Bode got desperate and decided to do whatever he thought necessary to save his daughter. You're nitpicking because you disliked a character doing something realistic
The thing I actually hate is how the ly handled Cordova. I thought he was dead but he's not, that's great but then he does one thing and he dies. It seemed like they only brought him in so that Bode kills someone we are attached to. They could've at least had some missions with him where he trains Cal. Or something more just to give him a better reason to exist in the story.
This is super late but I kinda agreed until you realize Bode killed him because he was able to fix the compass. If you talk with Merrin later they do discuss making more compasses so Cordova isn't the only one who would be able to fix it but if Bode had had the only one no more copies and no one who has looked at it to be able to remake it. There was a lot of cool echoes in the puzzles with more Cordova info though for sure!
I definitely saw his betrayal coming, but his jedi identity really shocked me. I was also shocked that he killed Cordova, because i would have thought that in a room full of 4 force sensitives (3 jedi and a night sister), at least one would foresee his betrayal in time to save Cordova.
I was kind of suspicious of Bode straight from the get-go considering he was the newest member of cal's gang, we don't know how he managed to escape the empire when cal barely did, and there didn't seem to be much to him besides "I've gotta protect my daughter" when it's clear he's a big important character. That being said I was suspicious but still unsure until everything seemed so calm after dagan. And I was 100% shocked when he revealed he was a jedi!
@@Gamespud94 same here, I only figured that he would betray cal and the gang but his Jedi past totally surprised me. They did the twist really well by not showing his force powers right away, only right before you fight him
He's a force user too, trained in espionage since the clone wars, and in touch with the dark side on top of that. if anyone knows how to conceal their presence in the force then it's gotta be him.
I feel like there’s something more to Tanalorr…. Something that corrupted Dagan and Bode.Something they discovered? Or were unknowingly affected by it? Even Cal becomes darker the closer he gets to Tanalorr, becoming more obsessed. Why was the council hesitating about building a temple on the planet?
A lot feels off about tanalorr the planet was invaded while dagan was on it, one how did he get back off the planet seeing as when he got back he was going round to all compass locations to get back there (leading to Khri removing his arm and putting him in bacta because of his obsession but still leaving him with intrusions on how to get back which makes no sense considering she stopped him in the first place) why would he leave if as soon as he got out of there he was going to go back while also knowing the council wouldn’t support going back to the planet as they abandoned it, 2 the nihil that Invaded left no signs why did they invade, how did they invade as you need a compass, and where are they? Not even any remains of a fight on the planet. And third if you talk to Merrin on the planet after the game she tells you she senses the dark side of the force on the planet too
@@liamjones1630 you don’t need a compass to get there, you need to be able to navigate the Koboh abyss. If they had the coordinates like Cal did, they could’ve easily gotten there
I think it was pretty good writing, its not like he had no reason to betray cal and having lots of jedi being moved to a hidden planet will most likely get the imperial inteligence attention. And knowing the ISB they'd just send someone undercover into the hidden path to find where they are going and bode probably knew this from working with the ISB.
Plus he’s also one of those burn everything on my way out kind of guys. When he’s gone he’s gone and anybody who knows where he might be is gone with him
Nah man. He makes sense. Bringing the hidden path to the world means that Tanalorr will be a target. If you are wanting to hide from someone you don’t hide with their enemy.
I can see both sides. Cal wanted to save thousands of peoples lives and bring them all to the safe place where the empire couldn’t find them. Because I’m sure everyone’s lives were destroyed by the empire. But at the same time, I can see why bode didn’t like that. You never know. They could be working for the Empire and you wouldn’t know it. Now granted him killing Cordova was messed up. But deep down, Bode didn’t even wanna betray Cal or anyone. He was just scared. Afraid they his identity could possibly be exposed, if the hidden path came to Tanalorr.
@@gaget5455 The mission wasn’t even to hide from the empire but keep building the hidden path until they were strong enough to fight the empire. So even if they were or weren’t discovered, Cal’s intentions were to fight. So for Bode it was clearly a no go either way
@@gaget5455this is why it's such a strong story to me, there's almost no wrong side! Both sides have reasonable and understandable reasons for the stance they take. Bode, for all his flaws, is just a father trying to protect his daughter in a galaxy that will kill her to get to him. Cal has the wellbeing of thousands on his mind, as well as struggling to contain his anger over Bode's betrayal.
@@ConnorLinley wtf? Are you calling Bode "reasonable"? Have you played the same game? Understandable? - Yeah, partially. But reasonable? Seriously wtf?
@@ekaf1735 your daughter is being held hostage, to be killed if you do not comply. How far will you go to save her? How far is reasonable? Will you kill for her? Betray friends? My point is just that there is a reason behind his decisions.
The postgame also has a ton of Force Echoes that really go into Bode's motivations and thought processes throughout the game. There's also an Anchorite in the post-game who you can find who was willing to sell off sacred artifacts, too. It's like that old aphorism-- Three people can keep a secret if two of them are dead. He was willing to make a home for him and Cal's families, but not for a full on organization or settlement, especially one which is directly going up against _the empire_. Bode was able to call the Inquisitorius one night, and fucking _Vader_ showed up in the morning. That's how high-priority finding and destroying the Hidden Path is for the Empire. It's flawed, selfish, and would make Kata horribly maladjusted to boot, but it's an understandable extension of his protectiveness as a father figure. Especially as one who survived the Purge.
Add to that the fact that he is "opened to the Force" or however they phrase it. An ordinary person can be afraid, obsessed and make bad decisions, but a Force user feeling that way is also affected by Dark Side energies which are addictive and progressively intensify strong emotions, therefore making them more obsessive and more likely to have a dramatic outburst if they don't have the mental discipline to calm themselves.
I was suspicious of Bode at the beginning, less suspicious in the middle, and had the feeling of "I knew it" when the betrayal finally happened. Bode was definitely written to be an enemy that you grew to care about and would be hoping that he and Cal would be able to come to a peaceful resolution.
As Yoda once said "fear is the path to the dark side." He was afraid. He's a tragic figure, like Anakin. He couldn't let go of that which he feared to lose. It consumed him. Blinded him to the love of those around him. And he made a lot of poor choices because of it.
There are quite a few force echoes of Bode's telling how deep his treachery ran. From him practising a tone of voice to manipulate Cal into trusting him to him reporting to Denvik about a a future meeting with Cere to the one on Coruscent where he tells he had been actively working as the Empire's spy through out the Clone Wars and was 'most effective at disguising himself.' I often wonder though that if Denvik was the only one who knew Bode's true identity as a renegade foemer Jedi , why didnt he just kill Denvik? Even Kata seemed to be living with him in his Officer's Quarters.
It's easy to create a backup plan for such a scenario, information stored somewhere to be found after death for instance. Denvik dies and the information's out leaving Bode with nowhere to go, no way to protect his daughter.
I remember making a random guess to myself at the beginning that Bode would be a traitor, but I didn't think it would actually happen. Still a great twist. Plus, drom what ive seen, no one saw it coming that he was a jedi, even the ones who guessed he would betray Cal.
I did not know people thought this didn't make sense. To me, it makes perfect sense, hell, if I was in bode's position, I would've done it too. Maybe not as brutally, but still. Plus, he *really* tried to find any reason not to.
I agree with everything said here really, I could see Bode's reasoning even if I agree with the sentiment it doesn't excuse his actions. I'd like to add on for the people who have and probably will still say that his reasoning still doesn't make sense and he was acting irrationally especially when it came to his apparent plan to just live in complete seclusion with Kata....I think that's kind of the point? Fear makes you irrational.
I think that's the point. Those that fall to the dark side can't be reasoned with unless they want to. We see this in Ep 3 with Padmà tries to fry Anakin to run away with her. It’s only after years of following the dark side and seeing it never got him what he wants. As well as the emperor killing Luke and Luke calling out to his father that he turns back.
Anakin was groomed and gaslighted by arguably the most powerful sith lord in SW history beginning at the age of 9. Bode stole a red lightsaber from a corpse.
@BurgerKingGuy nah bruh you dumb? He survived order 66 and lost his wife, bro lost everything except his daughter. Plus he couldn't bare losing his child like Anakin couldn't bear losing Padme which clouded his judgment. So honestly it seems pretty reasonable why he'd fall to the dark side.
@@bkg5494 Bode was a Jedi from the Clone Wars era (a time of constant warfare when the Jedi were the most dogmatic and arrogant) sent to Republic Intelligence to be a Spy. Then the Republic turns into the Empire after a Jedi Purge he goes into hiding then falls in love then one day the hunters of the Jedi murder his wife seeking him out. Bode has suffered the betrayal of his government, the failure of his Order, the loss of the love of his life, then making an actual friendship with Cal despite his mission always being to betray him. This is all kinds of trauma that yes would easily corrupt someone into a paranoid and angry individual that can't be reasoned with. This would be utterly understandable WITHOUT the Force in play...But then add that in that Fear and Anger lead to the Dark Side and once you've tapped into it the consequences are immediate and it's quite difficult to reject.
There's no indication in the game through cutscenes, databank entrys or dialogue that would suggest that Bode was a darkside user. The only time he uses the force it's in a conventional manner. He went mad and was doing bad things, but there's no reason to think he fell to the Darkside. As far as I know you can be a fallen Jedi who's given into fear without actually tapping into the dark side of the Force.
I really loved this story cuz u can see where Bode is coming from. Throughout the game everyone is telling Cal to settle down on fighting against the empire. Then after defeating Dagan he wants to use Tanalor as a way to fight the empire with the hidden path (not knowing how much attention that will bring).
About halfway through the game, I started feeling like Bode was a bit under utilized. Then you defeat Dagan and it seemed weird that out of all the characters to have by your side in that moment, it would be the one you have the least connection to. Bode was after all just some new guy who had joined crew because he wanted to help find Tanalor. The scene when you're outside by the campfire is when I started getting the feeling that something bad was about to happen. Both major villains have been defeated and it only feels like we're two thirds of the way through the game. Bode says something about recording a bedtime story and that's when I knew he was going to betray us. We knew just little enough about him for him to be the catalyst of something bad happening. Then he pulls out the lightsaber and I was blown away. It was a big "holy crap" moment. Him betraying us was only really part of the twist, though I think it would have been a little more impactful if we had spent more time with him. The betrayal happens before your really get a chance to have any strong feelings about Bode as a character.
There’s one absolutely massive thing I haven’t heard people talk about, and I don’t think it’s an oversight or plot hole. How did the ‘outer rim marauders’ attack tanalorr in the high republic era. How did they get their entire fleet through the abyss? And where did they go. I believe they’re still a threat, maybe a Yuuzhan Vong level threat
I really didn't like his betrayal at first cause I love the way hes portrayed as a protagonist, but at the same time, his story ark was one hell of a twist.
I thought it was interesting that through his grief he began to view his daughter more like a ‘treasure’ and less like a person. He doesn’t care if they live a lonely secluded life, he just wants her safe in a secret place. The betrayal caught me by a huge surprise a loved it. I actually saw a spoiler saying he was a Jedi… so I was waiting for him or Cal to be in trouble and Bode reveal himself to save them but it was a complete 180! 😅 I’m glad I wasn’t spoiled too hard cuz I enjoyed the emotional rollercoaster. I was hoping they would have explained Cals healing a little more tho!!! Dude took a slash across the chest and a blaster bolt to the chest too! I was hoping he would talk to Cere about him using the DarkSide of hatred to heal himself but they never got that convo and he never really goes into it, just says “I almost lost myself” 🤷♂️ especially at the fire burning, the imagery was amazing!!! 💯💯💯💯💯💯 I wish the films had this quality of writing!!!!
What honestly annoys me about this "twist" is that even after learning of what happened to the Jedi on Tanalorr, he still thinks it would be safe for just him and his daughter!? There is absolutely no sense here at all. I genuinely think he should have convinced them all to go with him and then destroy the compass _on Tanalorr_ . There should always be a chance at redemption as well. You can't paint the Republic as villains when your protagonist also kills every foe he faces.
Cal asked himself the same question, however, we know that Bode was essentially Jedi CIA, a ghost who could “disappear” as he said he could due to the skills he learned. I’d imagine he was very good at his job and very good at suppressing his connection to the force.
There are some techniques to hide your "force silouhette" from other force users, and since he was a spy during CW, I think he learned one of them. Like, it's the same way how jedi couldn't sense Palpatine, just way smaller scale and probably Jedi's variant of this technique
Even the council with masters like Yoda and Windu couldn't sense Palpatine right next to them. Palpatine being WAY more connected to the force. Current Jedi just don't measure up to the Jedi of the High Republic.
the acting definitely out shined the writing in this game. Without paying attention to the eye movement and facial expressions, none of this would've made any sense. However, after watching you explain it and seeing your edits on the face of Bode, It definitely all makes sense now. Plus, this goes to show that acting can now play a huge role in video games!
ANOTHER IMPORTANT PEACE OF INFO! After the fight with Dagen Gera, if you talk to node on the ship Cal asks what bode saw in the hallucinations in the fight. Cal explains he’s saw the loss of his friends while Bode saw the death of Kata to the empire. I think Dagen made bodes fear even more intense thus making him irrational in his decision making. There was apparently more to the fight than just physical combat.
Honestly, I did not see the twist coming at all, and when it happened I felt genuinely betrayed. The fight felt really personal and I think the writing was great.
I think Bode is the prime example of how 'attachments' can be seen as a bad thing for Jedi even if it doesn't turn you into a youngling murdering psychopath like Anakin. My only complaint is that I think with the revelation of why Bode did what he did, Cal should REALLY take a second to evaluate on the possibility of the harm his own attachments could cause. Now granted it was near the end of game and maybe they just didn't want to address it or will do so in a later game but curious what this and Cal's touch with the darkside will result in.
I was suspicious of Bode for a long time because he wasn't getting much screen time and seemed.. detached and focused on himself. But the mission with Dagan gave me some trust in him. So the twist still caught me off guard.
It does make sense. When tannalor is given to the hidden path, it takes one slip up for the empire to begin investigating. And as an overprotective father, he can't risk even that.
especially since the empire is on Koboh I don't know how big of a presence it is but I can almost guarantee they are at least monitoring the comeing and goings of the system and it would be pretty suspicions if there was a sudden influx of people coming to the system and being ferried through the Koboh abyss.
I feel like since Bode was ISB and every time he became uncomfortable from Kal mentioning the Hidden Path that they were compromised and the Empire was simply letting them foster to basically find Jedi for them.
I loved the twist. But to be honest, I do find it odd that Cal, a Jedi who appears to specialize in psychometry and esper-like abilities, didn't sense the force within Bode.
in koboh there's a echo in that big broken down base where it shows that bode does start caring about cal saftey when there are split up but then he says that he needs to try and stay focus on the mission and that all of this is for kata safety
I think holding Dagan’s lightsaber clouded Bode’s judgement and turned his desire to keep Kata safe into an obsession. Just as Dagan was obsessed with Tanalorr.
If you go back to Bodes force echoes he was actually pretty ruthless to began with. He talks about being the best double agent in the clone wars and how after Cal's team all dies in the beginning he knows exactly 'what type of friend cal needs' to even using his love for Merrin to turn him. He literally just was whatever person he needed to be to protect Kata until he couldn't.
Im really not sure why people couldn't figure this out. People decided that their lack of ability to understand this was bad writing. Bode's reasoning is simple, cal wanted to bring the anchorites with him so that they could plan on preparing to fight the empire, just like dagon said he'd do with the raiders. Obviously bode doesn't want his daughter caught in a war, so he betrayed cal and the anchorites, he doesnt want a bunch of strangers risking his daughters life, with the chance they get found out. It's really not hard to understand this
Bode was with the empire for a while, he knew what he was up against. (If you cant beat em, join em). Once he found out about tanalorr, he wanted it for himself and his daughter without the jedi piggybacking him. Bode wanted to make sure that anywhere they went (tanalorr in this case), they would still have a good relationship with the empire, just in case they ever reached tanalorr. Cal would've just put a target on both of their backs as they would become traitors harboring jedi. That's my interpretation of it
keep a good relationship with the empire? Denvek audibly recognizes that Bode led Cal to the empire base so that he would kill Denvek, thereby cutting ties between Bode and the Empire.
No what Bode wants is he and Kata safe...Alone. No fighting the Empire nor submitting to it. He has the plan to flee and not look back. The part he's against Cal for is Cal wanting to fight the Empire and use Tanalorr as a refuge for Jedi and enemies of the Empire...Which will paint a big red target 🎯 over the planet. The Empire will do whatever it takes to get there and then massacre everyone. Then further Fear and Anger lead to the Dark Side...without question Bode fell to the Dark Side just like Gera.
You didn’t pay attention Bode joined the ISB because the inquisitorious was all over his ass and because the ISB and the inquisitorious hate each other they decided to keep it a secret in exchange that bode will be a spy, Bode had no other choice and once he learned about Tanalorr he wanted that he, Cal and kata will rest there for the rest of their lives but when Cal decides that he wants the hidden path of o go to Tanalorr as well he decided to betray them and go there alone so the empire will never be able to trace him
honestly I really liked how they made Bode and his motivation. They only thing I don't understand is how in the world he supposed to live alone on an empty planet? :D
Nice commentary. I really enjoyed game. Will say that in the beginning on Coruscant, Bode does say he is only interested in the money, so, that was the first suggestion Bode is not to be trusted. Bode is just a hired merc. Nothing more. So, Cal let his guard down and it cost him. The best part is the fact you find out Bode was just a spy and used Cal and the others the whole time. I was a little upset with the fact Cal can not use a Jet Pack or find any Jet Packs in the game.
On first playthrough, Bode's motivation really confused me. It wasn't until after that I found out that the initial plan wasn't suppoesd to include the Hidden Path. I, like many other people, just assumed that the Hidden Path would be included and made aware of Tanalorr. When they first learn about Tanalorr, they describe it as a means of a way to remain hidden from the Empire and all conflict in the galaxy. Their allies (Merrin, Cordova, Cere, etc.) are literally running a secret underground 'organization' that is entirely based on staying hidden and away from the Empire. Why wouldn't they extend the planet to them? Does a group of like 6 people really need an ENTIRE planet for themselves? Idk it was just what I thought the initial plan was so when Bode was really hung up about the Hidden Path using Tanalorr it just really confused me
I only saw Bode’s betrayal coming because he seemed too good to be true as an ally, which has been a recurring theme in most video games. It would’ve been more surprising if he didn’t betray Cal and stayed with him as an indispensable friend.
As soon as Bode mentioned he had a daughter, i foresaw 2 things. He was either gonna die at some point or he is going to be a traitor. So right from the beginning it was a little obvious to see where it was going. Also characters who are over friendly with the protagonist usually have something to hide
I side with Bode to be honest. Cal wanted to bring a group of people he literally knew ZERO about who is dangerous to be around to their only hope of a happy ending.
Hold on, BODE literally infiltrated Cals rebel cell which is connected to saw guerrera... Proving the empire can infiltrate anywhere. Bode knew they could infiltrate tanalor eventually, he was doing anything he could to ensure his daughter safety and hidden path tanalor did just that
I had no idea this was a problem, why would anyone possibly think there’s a story issue here. Having the hidden path use tanalorr would make it way more risky living there with people going in and out
I didn't even realize what Denvik said until now cus I was so angry with him like Cal was, I didn't even catch he said the Jedha operation was months away.
Consider how many of these people complaining don't have kids. Being a father fundamentally changes you. It's your child over literally everything and everybody else
I loved this game through and through, from start to finish. This game literally brought me to tears at certain points. And the way it left off on a somber yet loosely hopeful note really touched something deep in my soul. One thing that comes from all the arguments surrounding Bode in this story, as well as Cal's struggle with the Dark Side really reinforces how much I really do not like Star Wars nerds. They always seem to get it wrong, don't seem to ever understand fundamental how writing works, and misunderstand so many things about the galaxy far far away. This video, though i be a year late (i owned the game since about a month after release but only got to it literally a year later) this video immaculately cleared things up that i know people will still be arguing about years down the line. Hopefully Jedi 3 is as good if not better than it's predecessors.
i literally thought bode would be a twist villain on Coruscant but forgot about it by the time it happened also his pistols reminded me of the isb agents pistols from battlefront
The story was phenomenal idk why people are complaining about it I understood everything playing thru it I understood bodes motives and I think that’s y I love it so much cuz everything made sense and the writing was amazing
On Jedha before the assault Bode knew Cal was deadset on bringing the Hidden Path to Tanalorr. There waa no negotiating nor delaying. He suggested they go scout out Tanalorr so he could kill Cal there and keep the only means of getting there to himself.
Great video. Idk why i feel like Bode being an ISB spy was not something they had in mind at the beginning of the story, it feels more like something they added on the fly. Lets face it too, Bode was right, clearly we dont know what happens to Tanalorre yet but we know it is not around at the time of the death star. Yoda would certainly know of its existence
To add to this point eventually they will have to make more compasses and it would be a matter of time before the empire gets a hold of one. Tanalorr has already been invaded once by that happening.
I saw his betrayal so many miles away, that I googled if he is really gonna be a traitor or they just trollin me after I finished the very first mission on coruscant xD
This is exactly how I viewed Bodes thought process. The Empire is MASSIVE and once they learned about Tanalorr (If they didn't know about it already) the Emperor would continue to put Imperial lives at risk to get there no matter how many died, how many ships were lost etc.
I think it was a great story and made sense. I saw it coming but i didnt want it to happen so bad that when it did it still caught me off guard. Plus when it happened o thought it was at the end of the game and ingot caught off gaurd with the story going forward anf fleshing it out.. i think thats what made the story even better
Made sense to me, the more people that know about a secret the more of a risk it is. If Bode keeps it just him and Kata there is less risk, especially if they aren’t a risk to the empire. Hidden Path would be on the Empires radar. I think people need to think about the scenario before blaming bad writing, etc.
Bodes Betrayal was very weird to me, because I always had a strange feeling about him.. the way he asked questions, the way he reacted to some things.. I didn't saw his betrayal coming but was wishing for it actually, because it would be a better story.. then he actually did it and I was caught in a strange mix of feelings of satisfaction and drama and sadness. It was great
I could tell something was off with Bode all the way back on Coruscant when I first got to know him through his dialogue there. If you could somehow go back and watch me on my first playthrough, you see that several times I commented about how I didn't really trust him. For that reason, what I felt at his betrayal wasn't surprise, but more of a "why did I have to be right" feeling. However, I was ABSOLUTELY surprised by the fact that he was a Jedi; I didn't have the slightest inkling about that, so when I caught up with him after the speeder bike chase and he Force pushed Cal away, I was utterly shocked and had quite an animated reaction. As for whether the writing is good or bad, I don't think it's about whether I was able to see the twist coming or not (and even if it is, the fact that I still had no clue about half of it in spite of my mistrust of him could still be indicative of good writing; that is, perhaps the vague suspicions about Bode's loyalties that were surreptitiously seeded throughout the game were a smokescreen so the player is thinking about "can I really trust him" instead of "could he be a Jedi"), but it's actually about whether I can understand his actions. In my opinion, all of the best villains (in Star Wars or anything else) are the ones that you can understand their motivations. In Bode's case, even though I'm unable to have kids and am therefore not a parent, I still have a strong instinct to protect the people I love and I can definitely imagine that feeling would be even stronger if it was my own child, so I CAN understand why Bode was willing to do anything and everything he deemed necessary in order to keep Kata safe. I certainly think differently and would choose other means to achieve that (in particular, I would have opened up to Cal and explained everything since he understands what it is like to be a Jedi in exile), but the fact that I would have made different choices is irrelevant; I still understand why he made the choices he did. As a result, I still feel that a strong case can be made that this was quite well written.
I finished the game today and have been thinking about this back and forward with my gf. We do understand a lot of his actions whether or not we agree with them. And this video adds some extra context in one case..which is Bode being so terrified of the Empire's might and reach that he would not want to risk Tanalor being found thru the Hidden Path's activities. But does it make any sense at all to anyone to bring a child to a planet with NOBODY? We don't even see any fauna in it. Wtf was he gonna eat? 😂 what kind of life would that have been? And how could he use the force against his own daughter during that fight? Some of these actions were highly uncharacteristic. Straight up insane from a character that had shown himself to be smart and cunning. So I don't know. I'm torn. Does it make sense to betray the ISB? Hell yes. Does it make sense to betray Cal and the crew? I GUESS... with a lot of desperation..maybe.. but still makes more sense for him to ask his newfound family for help and understanding rather than feed them to Vader. Does it make sense to STILL fight Cal in Tanalor? Push his daughter out the way, and go insane with murderous intentions when he knows how strong Cal is? And how outnumbered he is? And after having seen how desolate Tanalor really is (and not impenetrable) What kind of protection is he providing his daughter by signing his own death certificate? At that last point my suspension of disbelief is on its last legs and I find it hard to see that ending as a viable decision from Bode's part. Felt more like the game had to end so they went with that. It leaves me conflicted. I like Bode and understand why he did what he did, and his desperation in doing it. All the way until that last fight. And it's also sad that Dagan and Rayvis' potentials as villains were completely wasted. You know how RDR2 has a clear, concise and satisfactory ending AND THEN adds a new epilogue chapter where you conclude the story's true ending? I feel like that's what should've happened here. Give Dagan and Rayvis a much more serious and prominent involvement. With more impact (they should've been the ones taking a life from the main group. Not Bode ffs) and THEN finished Bode's reveal and arc in the epilogue. With a bit more time and less desperation to tie in everything in a "big epic boss fight" that makes little to no sense.
I think that Bode and I both realized that if the empire finds out about tanalor they’re just going to throw dozens if not hundreds of pilots at the abyss until they find a way to navigate it or infiltrate the hidden path and take it out from the inside
I literally figured out that he’d betray cal when he left Bravo and Cal while escaping coruscant. If they had left that out, I would have been in the dark, but that’s exactly when I knew. I picked up that he was a Jedi because that’s how it would have to go. I just wish it was hidden better.
I honestly love the bode twist I just feel like him being a Jedi was out of left field but I think they needed the final boss to be a force user and Lightsaber wielder. I mean him being a spy is good but the jedi part seems more like poor righting
I definitely agree with Bode's fears that the empire will inevitably find Tanalorr once Cal sets up his whole base there (because let's be real it's totally gonna happen), but I still couldn't really understand why he didn't surrender after the fight. I guess it was his last ditch effort to kill Cal, but I feel like he should've known that he'd been beaten. He's so concerned about Kata's safety, but she's not any safer with him dead so I guess I didn't really understand his logic there 😅
So after thinking about this particular twist, I realize that I actually really like the idea, and what made it feel silly was the execution - specifically the timing of Bode revealing himself to be a former Jedi. I think it could have been more impactful if Bode had revealed his abilities during the second fight with Dagan Gara, and given both Cal and the audience time to process that reveal. Think about it: imagine that, after that second fight, Dagan and Cal clash some more and Dagan manages to overpower Cal. Before Dagan can finish him off though, Bode flies in and pushes Dagan away from Cal using the force. Cal is flabbergasted that another Jedi has survived the purge, and questions him. Over the remainder of the "compass arc," Bode could reveal what he revealed in the ISB base - that he was a former Republic spy, that he disappeared in the chaos of order 66, and that he fell in love and married an incredible woman who gave her life to save him from the Inquisitors. In response to this trauma, and to hide his abilities, Bode cut himself off from the force. This would directly parallel Cere from the first game. It would also explain why he's not regularly using his force powers in combat to help Cal, and why he carries only blasters instead of a saber. He and Cal could grow closer and even discuss rebuilding the Jedi order. After defeating Dagan for the third and final time, the game could proceed as normal, with Bode betraying the team, killing Cordova, and fleeing before dueling Cal with Dagan's saber. When Cal tracks Bode to the ISB base, instead of lore-dumping most of his story, Bode would simply reveal the missing piece of the puzzle - that he worked as a spy in exchange for protection from the inquisitors. That he only cares about protecting his daughter and that the rest of the galaxy can go to hell if it means that she is safe. This would make Cal's rage and his turn to the dark side even more impactful. Not only was he betrayed by a former friend, but by a former Jedi, by a former survivor. He let himself hope that the Jedi order could be rebuilt , and that hope resulted in the deaths of two Jedi masters he cared about. Plus, the devs could even add a force echo where Bode rehearses his cover story about cutting himself off from the force, and where he notes out loud that the similarity to Cere's story will be sure to deceive Cal.
Bode's betrayal makes sense but game is unnecessarily vague about the reason once they get there. Because ultimately it's missing: "I can't let you take Hidden Path to Tanalorr, because it will make it a target for an empire... and if we were able to get the compass why wouldnt Empire with their infinite resources be able to reach there too" or something. This is a very valid point to make but it's hidden deep in context, force echos after the game instead of making it very clear at one point or another.
I was completely fooled by Bode, the main reason being is that when I hear him speak, I hear Charles from RDR2 who was a G and cannot imagine him being a traitor
My biggest question is, how did Cal not sense Bode as a Jedi? He even mentions it after that betrayal. And moreover how did Cere and Cordova not sense him, or his possible decision to defect either?
We do understand why Bode did what he did. But how he did it is the problem. He sacrificed the lives of countless people to keep his daughter safe for a little while longer. It is evil no matter how you slice it. Heck, he almost killed her himself 3 times in his madness.
I think it's actually good writing once you recognise it as a STAR WARS story and recognise the struggles of being a Jedi: He was a Jedi controlled by his fear just like Anakin. He came close to hurting Kata because, just like Anakin with Padme, the fear of losing the people you love in the Jedi world can result in you being the one who hurts them. His fear was always that Cal's fight against the empire would bring them right to his doorstep and now that he has a way of getting away from the empire, he had to keep them from finding Tanalor at all costs, even if it meant forcing a life of solitude onto his daughter. He's not an idiot, he was just a man who's wife died, who's entire order died, and who had visions of the death of his only child forced upon him and this fear made him live in torment.
Let's talk about that other thing...
@tiffanyroberts6460 you’re missing Bodes logic - the very fact that he himself could infiltrate their group means that their group is not safe, which is completely reasonable.
@Tiffany Roberts that isn’t what a plot hole is…
@tiffanyroberts6460 if he wasn’t around though who’s to say there wouldn’t be more spies? Plus hun being a Jedi has nothing to do with his deceit - he only uses the force when confronting Cal, which is after he’s betrayed everyone.
@tiffanyroberts6460 because if he didn’t Bode would murder him obviously lmaooo. He didn’t obviously use the force - in the game it’s very clear that he’s just a very good liar, which is shown via post game echoes.
@Tiffany Roberts If Bode used the force, Cal would be able to tell. Bode is not a plot hole, you just can't seem to understand that Bode wasn't a Jedi anymore until just after Dagan.
Something else I noticed relating to Bode’s betrayal:
Following the final fight with Dagan, you can fly back to Pyloons saloon and talk with Bode. When prompted, he asks Cal what he was seeing during those force hallucinations. He also mentions that he was being tortured with visions of Kata dying over and over again. This likely played into this already heightened level of paranoia and desire to keep Kata safe at all cost.
I guess that does explain his irrationality. I am surprised that nobody in game mentioned that he had basically chosen total isolation for Kata. You know, try to appeal to him with his highest priority.
His goal was understandable. But he took the absolute worst way through everything. Argue, lie, steal, sure, but why did he have to go scorched earth about it? If he had simply stolen the compass without killing anyone or bringing Vader in, I think that Kata would have talked him down eventually, since she was uncomfortable about the place and should be especially scared of being alone.
@@tvrkm6897 in a way, Cal kind of says something to that effect. I can’t remember where exactly but he says to Bode something like “you don’t want her to be safe only to be all alone”
To which Bode responds with “yeah actually, I’d take that deal”
He was definitely blinded by his desire to protect her but then after the hallucination fight, his paranoia shot up.
@@Hamppdur dang. I'll look out for that on NG+
They Anakin’d his ass
One leading causes of falling victim to dark side is after all fear. Not just the fear of death, but the fear of loss. This is one of the biggest reasons why Anakin did what he did. It also doesn't help that Bode's relationship with ISB wasn't at all peachy as one post game force echoes show: while Denvik at first just assinged Bode to find Cere, he later decided to change the mission to sent Bode deep undercover to start preparing operation to capture Cere. When Bode protests, Denvik says that "Deals change." He then tried to "sweeten the pot" by saying that if he does as told, he will tell which Inquisitor killed Bode's wife.
Man really felt that walls were closing in and that he was on borrowed time.
When someone is obsessed, driven by fear, angry, and has been lying for a long time, they usually never make sense. Their actions become irrational, reckless, and harmful to their loved ones. That is exactly what happened to Bode and it was done so well.
Not to mention this is Star Wars...If a Force User thinks like and acts out with such emotions they fall to the Dark Side that further corrupts them until they're purely evil.
@@flamesofchaos13 To add to this, it seems that the Force can intensify any emotions that a Force-sensitive user is experiencing. Fear, Anger, Lust for power, etc., are things that require a lot of will to overcome and/or avoid.
Cal's fear is what led him into learning Force Slow, which is considered a Dark Side power in Legends. Cal's anger then greatly improves his slow ability in the second game.
Bode's fear made him a dangerous Force user as long as it was for the cause he believed in.
Also in jedi survivor when Cai Embraced his darkness he used force crush on the heavy locked doors, droids when you force pull them and almost force crush a guy in his anger.
@@deadspace6256 He was starting to fall however Merrin brought him back from the abyss so he never converted fully. He was a Light Sider at the end that simply flirts or temporarily taps into the Dark Side/Inner Darkness. Like Mace and Rey respectively.
This is evidenced by Cal specifically wanting to spare Bodes life giving him every chance possible. If he fell to the Dark as well then he wouldn't offer peace.
Cal is 95 - 99% Light 5 - 1% Dark. Who himself states he doesn't want to lose himself to the darkness. Then Cere's Ghost/Voice tells him how not to...Make sure Kata doesn't either.
@@deadspace6256 Although Force Crush isn't inherently a Dark Side power. Obi-wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker used it on droids before.
I honestly love how they did Bode. I fully understand his reasoning, and still absolutely hate him for it. That's how you do a villain
It’s a such a good villain 😭 I loved him then hated him so much it was a beautiful story🥹
I can't get around hating him for it. Sure, he is misguided as all hell, but that does fear and love to you. So the Jedi have a point with the whole "no attachement" thing even if I disagree with it.
@@Raz0rking his reasoning makes sense, but there were better things he could've done that he just deemed too risky. He deluded himself that he was keeping Kara safe, especially when he himself almost killed her. He's exactly why the jedi forbid attachment and exactly why they shouldn't have done so. Rather than being taught how to deal with and control his emotions, he was taught to hide from them.
@@jacobcenter7374 His mind got extra fucked by Dagan in the last fight. He shows Bode constant visions of his daughter dying
@@Raz0rking its one of those things they realised and just cut off completely, love can be a jedis greatest strength but it can also be their greatest downfall, and it was a risk the jedi didnt want to take, and they are proved right again and again from people such as anakin and bode, the cons outweigh the pro's and as much as i and many people hate the jedi for it, they have pretty damn good reasoning for it
I had the Bode twist spoiled for me early as I was looking for something (my fault, these are the risks) and it was obvious in the way he acted as the story progressed he was uneasy. It wasn't bad writing. The story was pretty good overall.
It's a double twist the game clearly makes you feel suspicious about him the real surprise is he's a force user
I had it spoiled for me too but I didn’t believe it cuz I still couldn’t see it coming, or see a reason why. Maybe I’m just bad at picking up cues or something
I had it spoiled but I wasn’t spoilt that he was a force user and that was amazing seeing him use the force
When you listen to his force echoes, Bode was really imbalanced mentally, only thing that mattered was his daughter's safety, and he'd driven himself mad over it.
And his relationship with ISB was very tenuous. He originally accepted the assingment to find out where Cere is, but then Denvik decided to twist his arm and make him start to prepare an op for her capture. When Bode protested that was not what they previously agreed on, Denvik simply said that "deals change." Denvik offered Bode information about which one of the inquisitors killed his wife, but implications were clear: Denvik could lift his protection from Bode and Kata any time he decided that Bode had outlived his usefullness.
This is what I’ve been saying! Bode was with cal 100% until cal mentioned tanalor being a haven for the hidden path.
which is a bummer because Bode only got to Tanalor because of the Jedi who are apart of the hidden path...
The story was great imo
To each their own
i thought it was great until the last 5-10%. still gonna replay more than once but woof…
I definitely beg to differ, if this is great story telling then the standards have fallen.
@@bkg5494why do you complain about the last 5-10% if you actually payed attention and followed it you understood bodes motives and the writing was amazing for this game I don’t see anything wrong with it. It’s 100x better than anything disneys made from the gawd awful sequels
@@Tate_THGit fell on the ground after Disney ruined everything bro that story telling us dogshit compared to this
Have we all forgot how the dark side works? Does nobody remember how anakin acted when he fell to the darkside?
Yeah it definitely amplifies emotions and impulsivity
@Tiffany Roberts his reasoning isn't stupid though. Cal wanted to do what dagon was planning to do, take the anchorites and create an army to fight the empire. It's why he says "somebody's gotta fight the empire, why not us". When dragon said he'd do this bode told him that that would make him an emperor as well. Bode doesn't want his daughter caught up in a war with the empire
@Tiffany Roberts anakin was obsessed with keeping padme alive, so much that the idea that she could be taken from him consumed him leading to every other major negative feeling. sound familiar? bode doesn’t fall far from that logic with his daughter
@Tiffany Roberts That’s not true. Anakin needed to calm down and had he done this he would have seen how irrational he was. Padme wasn’t going to die because he had a dream but his fear pushed him to do whatever was necessary in his mind. Bose didn’t see a future where Cal and Merrin could help him keep her safe if they opened Talanorr to the Anchorites. The more people they bring back, the bigger a risk especially when one of them could be a spy or otherwise. He simply believed that they should be on Talanorr in solitude and wait until it was perfectly safe before leaving again and that’s why he does everything he did. That irrational fear drives people to do things they think are helping but it really is doing the opposite
@Tiffany Roberts You sound entitled because you want the character a particular way. Anyway, whether the Jedi would save Padme or not is not why Anakin fell. Anakin was desperate and irrational. Padme also wasn't going to die by the looks of it. The moment Anakin wasn't given the rank of master he acted like a whiny brat. He needed to be a master and be on the council. Here's why, not only would it be the natural course as all council members are masters but he would be given access to knowledge that could possibly save Padme. So he was going to do whatever he thought was necessary to save his wife. Bode gave Cal many chances to side with him on having it just be their families but Cal in his heroic Jedi nature wanted to threaten that by giving it up to The Path. Bode got desperate and decided to do whatever he thought necessary to save his daughter. You're nitpicking because you disliked a character doing something realistic
The thing I actually hate is how the ly handled Cordova.
I thought he was dead but he's not, that's great but then he does one thing and he dies.
It seemed like they only brought him in so that Bode kills someone we are attached to. They could've at least had some missions with him where he trains Cal. Or something more just to give him a better reason to exist in the story.
Agreed. One of the wisest remaining Jedi in the galaxy and you barely get to interact with him.
If you go to jeddha A lot you actually get a lot of dialogue with him
I think completing the side quest on Jedha where you have to do the ball puzzles will shed a lot more light on Cordova's role in the gane.
Exactly!! His appearance was the biggest wtf moment of the game for me
But why did they finish him off so fast and this way...
This is super late but I kinda agreed until you realize Bode killed him because he was able to fix the compass. If you talk with Merrin later they do discuss making more compasses so Cordova isn't the only one who would be able to fix it but if Bode had had the only one no more copies and no one who has looked at it to be able to remake it. There was a lot of cool echoes in the puzzles with more Cordova info though for sure!
I definitely saw his betrayal coming, but his jedi identity really shocked me. I was also shocked that he killed Cordova, because i would have thought that in a room full of 4 force sensitives (3 jedi and a night sister), at least one would foresee his betrayal in time to save Cordova.
Or at least use the force to grab bode instead of watching him run away
Somehwere halfway through the game my hindbrain told me something was odd about him. But damn, how the gist went up was a massive curveball.
I was kind of suspicious of Bode straight from the get-go considering he was the newest member of cal's gang, we don't know how he managed to escape the empire when cal barely did, and there didn't seem to be much to him besides "I've gotta protect my daughter" when it's clear he's a big important character. That being said I was suspicious but still unsure until everything seemed so calm after dagan. And I was 100% shocked when he revealed he was a jedi!
@@Gamespud94 same here, I only figured that he would betray cal and the gang but his Jedi past totally surprised me. They did the twist really well by not showing his force powers right away, only right before you fight him
He's a force user too, trained in espionage since the clone wars, and in touch with the dark side on top of that. if anyone knows how to conceal their presence in the force then it's gotta be him.
I feel like there’s something more to Tanalorr…. Something that corrupted Dagan and Bode.Something they discovered? Or were unknowingly affected by it? Even Cal becomes darker the closer he gets to Tanalorr, becoming more obsessed. Why was the council hesitating about building a temple on the planet?
Lol goofy
A lot feels off about tanalorr the planet was invaded while dagan was on it, one how did he get back off the planet seeing as when he got back he was going round to all compass locations to get back there (leading to Khri removing his arm and putting him in bacta because of his obsession but still leaving him with intrusions on how to get back which makes no sense considering she stopped him in the first place) why would he leave if as soon as he got out of there he was going to go back while also knowing the council wouldn’t support going back to the planet as they abandoned it, 2 the nihil that Invaded left no signs why did they invade, how did they invade as you need a compass, and where are they? Not even any remains of a fight on the planet. And third if you talk to Merrin on the planet after the game she tells you she senses the dark side of the force on the planet too
@@ZeusXBG bruh bro's got a point
Bode wasn’t corrupted by anything. He wasn’t willing to compromise and neither was Cal, simple as that.
@@liamjones1630 you don’t need a compass to get there, you need to be able to navigate the Koboh abyss. If they had the coordinates like Cal did, they could’ve easily gotten there
I think it was pretty good writing, its not like he had no reason to betray cal and having lots of jedi being moved to a hidden planet will most likely get the imperial inteligence attention. And knowing the ISB they'd just send someone undercover into the hidden path to find where they are going and bode probably knew this from working with the ISB.
Plus he’s also one of those burn everything on my way out kind of guys. When he’s gone he’s gone and anybody who knows where he might be is gone with him
Nah man. He makes sense. Bringing the hidden path to the world means that Tanalorr will be a target. If you are wanting to hide from someone you don’t hide with their enemy.
I can see both sides. Cal wanted to save thousands of peoples lives and bring them all to the safe place where the empire couldn’t find them. Because I’m sure everyone’s lives were destroyed by the empire. But at the same time, I can see why bode didn’t like that. You never know. They could be working for the Empire and you wouldn’t know it. Now granted him killing Cordova was messed up. But deep down, Bode didn’t even wanna betray Cal or anyone. He was just scared. Afraid they his identity could possibly be exposed, if the hidden path came to Tanalorr.
@@gaget5455 The mission wasn’t even to hide from the empire but keep building the hidden path until they were strong enough to fight the empire. So even if they were or weren’t discovered, Cal’s intentions were to fight. So for Bode it was clearly a no go either way
@@gaget5455this is why it's such a strong story to me, there's almost no wrong side! Both sides have reasonable and understandable reasons for the stance they take. Bode, for all his flaws, is just a father trying to protect his daughter in a galaxy that will kill her to get to him. Cal has the wellbeing of thousands on his mind, as well as struggling to contain his anger over Bode's betrayal.
@@ConnorLinley wtf? Are you calling Bode "reasonable"? Have you played the same game? Understandable? - Yeah, partially. But reasonable? Seriously wtf?
@@ekaf1735 your daughter is being held hostage, to be killed if you do not comply. How far will you go to save her? How far is reasonable? Will you kill for her? Betray friends?
My point is just that there is a reason behind his decisions.
The postgame also has a ton of Force Echoes that really go into Bode's motivations and thought processes throughout the game. There's also an Anchorite in the post-game who you can find who was willing to sell off sacred artifacts, too.
It's like that old aphorism-- Three people can keep a secret if two of them are dead. He was willing to make a home for him and Cal's families, but not for a full on organization or settlement, especially one which is directly going up against _the empire_. Bode was able to call the Inquisitorius one night, and fucking _Vader_ showed up in the morning. That's how high-priority finding and destroying the Hidden Path is for the Empire.
It's flawed, selfish, and would make Kata horribly maladjusted to boot, but it's an understandable extension of his protectiveness as a father figure. Especially as one who survived the Purge.
Add to that the fact that he is "opened to the Force" or however they phrase it. An ordinary person can be afraid, obsessed and make bad decisions, but a Force user feeling that way is also affected by Dark Side energies which are addictive and progressively intensify strong emotions, therefore making them more obsessive and more likely to have a dramatic outburst if they don't have the mental discipline to calm themselves.
I was suspicious of Bode at the beginning, less suspicious in the middle, and had the feeling of "I knew it" when the betrayal finally happened. Bode was definitely written to be an enemy that you grew to care about and would be hoping that he and Cal would be able to come to a peaceful resolution.
As Yoda once said "fear is the path to the dark side." He was afraid. He's a tragic figure, like Anakin. He couldn't let go of that which he feared to lose. It consumed him. Blinded him to the love of those around him. And he made a lot of poor choices because of it.
There are quite a few force echoes of Bode's telling how deep his treachery ran. From him practising a tone of voice to manipulate Cal into trusting him to him reporting to Denvik about a a future meeting with Cere to the one on Coruscent where he tells he had been actively working as the Empire's spy through out the Clone Wars and was 'most effective at disguising himself.'
I often wonder though that if Denvik was the only one who knew Bode's true identity as a renegade foemer Jedi , why didnt he just kill Denvik? Even Kata seemed to be living with him in his Officer's Quarters.
It's easy to create a backup plan for such a scenario, information stored somewhere to be found after death for instance. Denvik dies and the information's out leaving Bode with nowhere to go, no way to protect his daughter.
😲😲
I remember making a random guess to myself at the beginning that Bode would be a traitor, but I didn't think it would actually happen. Still a great twist. Plus, drom what ive seen, no one saw it coming that he was a jedi, even the ones who guessed he would betray Cal.
I did not know people thought this didn't make sense. To me, it makes perfect sense, hell, if I was in bode's position, I would've done it too. Maybe not as brutally, but still. Plus, he *really* tried to find any reason not to.
He tried everything but talking to Cal about how he felt. And look at the results. The path to hell is paved with good intentions.
I agree with everything said here really, I could see Bode's reasoning even if I agree with the sentiment it doesn't excuse his actions.
I'd like to add on for the people who have and probably will still say that his reasoning still doesn't make sense and he was acting irrationally especially when it came to his apparent plan to just live in complete seclusion with Kata....I think that's kind of the point? Fear makes you irrational.
I think that's the point. Those that fall to the dark side can't be reasoned with unless they want to. We see this in Ep 3 with Padmà tries to fry Anakin to run away with her. It’s only after years of following the dark side and seeing it never got him what he wants. As well as the emperor killing Luke and Luke calling out to his father that he turns back.
Anakin was groomed and gaslighted by arguably the most powerful sith lord in SW history beginning at the age of 9.
Bode stole a red lightsaber from a corpse.
@BurgerKingGuy nah bruh you dumb? He survived order 66 and lost his wife, bro lost everything except his daughter. Plus he couldn't bare losing his child like Anakin couldn't bear losing Padme which clouded his judgment. So honestly it seems pretty reasonable why he'd fall to the dark side.
Cal gets resoned with while using the dark side when he tries to kill the isb guy
@@bkg5494 Bode was a Jedi from the Clone Wars era (a time of constant warfare when the Jedi were the most dogmatic and arrogant) sent to Republic Intelligence to be a Spy. Then the Republic turns into the Empire after a Jedi Purge he goes into hiding then falls in love then one day the hunters of the Jedi murder his wife seeking him out.
Bode has suffered the betrayal of his government, the failure of his Order, the loss of the love of his life, then making an actual friendship with Cal despite his mission always being to betray him.
This is all kinds of trauma that yes would easily corrupt someone into a paranoid and angry individual that can't be reasoned with. This would be utterly understandable WITHOUT the Force in play...But then add that in that Fear and Anger lead to the Dark Side and once you've tapped into it the consequences are immediate and it's quite difficult to reject.
There's no indication in the game through cutscenes, databank entrys or dialogue that would suggest that Bode was a darkside user. The only time he uses the force it's in a conventional manner. He went mad and was doing bad things, but there's no reason to think he fell to the Darkside. As far as I know you can be a fallen Jedi who's given into fear without actually tapping into the dark side of the Force.
I really loved this story cuz u can see where Bode is coming from. Throughout the game everyone is telling Cal to settle down on fighting against the empire. Then after defeating Dagan he wants to use Tanalor as a way to fight the empire with the hidden path (not knowing how much attention that will bring).
About halfway through the game, I started feeling like Bode was a bit under utilized. Then you defeat Dagan and it seemed weird that out of all the characters to have by your side in that moment, it would be the one you have the least connection to. Bode was after all just some new guy who had joined crew because he wanted to help find Tanalor. The scene when you're outside by the campfire is when I started getting the feeling that something bad was about to happen. Both major villains have been defeated and it only feels like we're two thirds of the way through the game. Bode says something about recording a bedtime story and that's when I knew he was going to betray us. We knew just little enough about him for him to be the catalyst of something bad happening. Then he pulls out the lightsaber and I was blown away. It was a big "holy crap" moment. Him betraying us was only really part of the twist, though I think it would have been a little more impactful if we had spent more time with him. The betrayal happens before your really get a chance to have any strong feelings about Bode as a character.
There’s one absolutely massive thing I haven’t heard people talk about, and I don’t think it’s an oversight or plot hole. How did the ‘outer rim marauders’ attack tanalorr in the high republic era. How did they get their entire fleet through the abyss? And where did they go. I believe they’re still a threat, maybe a Yuuzhan Vong level threat
This is explained in the high republic comics.
I really didn't like his betrayal at first cause I love the way hes portrayed as a protagonist, but at the same time, his story ark was one hell of a twist.
I thought it was absolutely brilliant writing. There was phenomenal nuance to the character in writing and performance.
I thought it was interesting that through his grief he began to view his daughter more like a ‘treasure’ and less like a person. He doesn’t care if they live a lonely secluded life, he just wants her safe in a secret place.
The betrayal caught me by a huge surprise a loved it. I actually saw a spoiler saying he was a Jedi… so I was waiting for him or Cal to be in trouble and Bode reveal himself to save them but it was a complete 180! 😅 I’m glad I wasn’t spoiled too hard cuz I enjoyed the emotional rollercoaster. I was hoping they would have explained Cals healing a little more tho!!! Dude took a slash across the chest and a blaster bolt to the chest too! I was hoping he would talk to Cere about him using the DarkSide of hatred to heal himself but they never got that convo and he never really goes into it, just says “I almost lost myself” 🤷♂️ especially at the fire burning, the imagery was amazing!!! 💯💯💯💯💯💯 I wish the films had this quality of writing!!!!
On point
The guy that plays Bode will always be Charles Smith for me.
What honestly annoys me about this "twist" is that even after learning of what happened to the Jedi on Tanalorr, he still thinks it would be safe for just him and his daughter!?
There is absolutely no sense here at all. I genuinely think he should have convinced them all to go with him and then destroy the compass _on Tanalorr_ . There should always be a chance at redemption as well. You can't paint the Republic as villains when your protagonist also kills every foe he faces.
I mean cal didn’t exactly sense out taron malicos
One thing I don’t get is why couldn’t Cal, Cere or Cordova sense Bode’s connection to the force
Cal asked himself the same question, however, we know that Bode was essentially Jedi CIA, a ghost who could “disappear” as he said he could due to the skills he learned. I’d imagine he was very good at his job and very good at suppressing his connection to the force.
I feel like it was because Bode was doing it for the love of his daughter, it wasn't a pure dark side evil that Jedi can sense
The dark side of the force is a pathway to abilities some consider to be unnatural...
There are some techniques to hide your "force silouhette" from other force users, and since he was a spy during CW, I think he learned one of them. Like, it's the same way how jedi couldn't sense Palpatine, just way smaller scale and probably Jedi's variant of this technique
Even the council with masters like Yoda and Windu couldn't sense Palpatine right next to them. Palpatine being WAY more connected to the force. Current Jedi just don't measure up to the Jedi of the High Republic.
I actually loved this story and the scene at the end with the score that was playing was unreal
the acting definitely out shined the writing in this game. Without paying attention to the eye movement and facial expressions, none of this would've made any sense. However, after watching you explain it and seeing your edits on the face of Bode, It definitely all makes sense now. Plus, this goes to show that acting can now play a huge role in video games!
After spending much time with Charles in RDR2, I was very upset with Bode's betrayal.
ANOTHER IMPORTANT PEACE OF INFO! After the fight with Dagen Gera, if you talk to node on the ship Cal asks what bode saw in the hallucinations in the fight. Cal explains he’s saw the loss of his friends while Bode saw the death of Kata to the empire. I think Dagen made bodes fear even more intense thus making him irrational in his decision making. There was apparently more to the fight than just physical combat.
Someone send this to Charlie. Dude was MALDING over this 😂
Honestly, I did not see the twist coming at all, and when it happened I felt genuinely betrayed. The fight felt really personal and I think the writing was great.
I was like noo why cordova bruh
I think Bode is the prime example of how 'attachments' can be seen as a bad thing for Jedi even if it doesn't turn you into a youngling murdering psychopath like Anakin. My only complaint is that I think with the revelation of why Bode did what he did, Cal should REALLY take a second to evaluate on the possibility of the harm his own attachments could cause. Now granted it was near the end of game and maybe they just didn't want to address it or will do so in a later game but curious what this and Cal's touch with the darkside will result in.
So third game is either cal letting go of his attachments (merrin and kata die) or cal himself dying to save them or sth lol
I was suspicious of Bode for a long time because he wasn't getting much screen time and seemed.. detached and focused on himself. But the mission with Dagan gave me some trust in him. So the twist still caught me off guard.
It does make sense. When tannalor is given to the hidden path, it takes one slip up for the empire to begin investigating. And as an overprotective father, he can't risk even that.
especially since the empire is on Koboh I don't know how big of a presence it is but I can almost guarantee they are at least monitoring the comeing and goings of the system and it would be pretty suspicions if there was a sudden influx of people coming to the system and being ferried through the Koboh abyss.
Man, imagine because of Cal's abilities he is low key haunted by a force ghost or two in the next game of Bode pressuring Cal to take care of Kata
Lol
I feel like since Bode was ISB and every time he became uncomfortable from Kal mentioning the Hidden Path that they were compromised and the Empire was simply letting them foster to basically find Jedi for them.
I loved the twist. But to be honest, I do find it odd that Cal, a Jedi who appears to specialize in psychometry and esper-like abilities, didn't sense the force within Bode.
in koboh there's a echo in that big broken down base where it shows that bode does start caring about cal saftey when there are split up but then he says that he needs to try and stay focus on the mission and that all of this is for kata safety
I think holding Dagan’s lightsaber clouded Bode’s judgement and turned his desire to keep Kata safe into an obsession. Just as Dagan was obsessed with Tanalorr.
In the last fight Dagan made bode see constant visions of his daughter dying that will mess your mind up
If you go back to Bodes force echoes he was actually pretty ruthless to began with. He talks about being the best double agent in the clone wars and how after Cal's team all dies in the beginning he knows exactly 'what type of friend cal needs' to even using his love for Merrin to turn him. He literally just was whatever person he needed to be to protect Kata until he couldn't.
Man thanks for the video and thanks for not spoiling things in the thumbnail! Amazing job!
Im really not sure why people couldn't figure this out. People decided that their lack of ability to understand this was bad writing. Bode's reasoning is simple, cal wanted to bring the anchorites with him so that they could plan on preparing to fight the empire, just like dagon said he'd do with the raiders. Obviously bode doesn't want his daughter caught in a war, so he betrayed cal and the anchorites, he doesnt want a bunch of strangers risking his daughters life, with the chance they get found out. It's really not hard to understand this
I just wish that the Databank entries would let us hear the original audio again instead of just some text paraphrasing the event.
Same, that would be a good addition to the game
I always interpreted it as him not wanting Kata be involved with the force, knowing that the hidden path and Cal would result in just that.
Bode was with the empire for a while, he knew what he was up against. (If you cant beat em, join em). Once he found out about tanalorr, he wanted it for himself and his daughter without the jedi piggybacking him. Bode wanted to make sure that anywhere they went (tanalorr in this case), they would still have a good relationship with the empire, just in case they ever reached tanalorr. Cal would've just put a target on both of their backs as they would become traitors harboring jedi. That's my interpretation of it
keep a good relationship with the empire? Denvek audibly recognizes that Bode led Cal to the empire base so that he would kill Denvek, thereby cutting ties between Bode and the Empire.
No what Bode wants is he and Kata safe...Alone. No fighting the Empire nor submitting to it. He has the plan to flee and not look back. The part he's against Cal for is Cal wanting to fight the Empire and use Tanalorr as a refuge for Jedi and enemies of the Empire...Which will paint a big red target 🎯 over the planet. The Empire will do whatever it takes to get there and then massacre everyone.
Then further Fear and Anger lead to the Dark Side...without question Bode fell to the Dark Side just like Gera.
You didn’t pay attention
Bode joined the ISB because the inquisitorious was all over his ass and because the ISB and the inquisitorious hate each other they decided to keep it a secret in exchange that bode will be a spy, Bode had no other choice and once he learned about Tanalorr he wanted that he, Cal and kata will rest there for the rest of their lives but when Cal decides that he wants the hidden path of o go to Tanalorr as well he decided to betray them and go there alone so the empire will never be able to trace him
I don't see why he had to kill Eno cordova he already had the compass all he had to do was just run
honestly I really liked how they made Bode and his motivation. They only thing I don't understand is how in the world he supposed to live alone on an empty planet? :D
Nice commentary. I really enjoyed game. Will say that in the beginning on Coruscant, Bode does say he is only interested in the money, so, that was the first suggestion Bode is not to be trusted. Bode is just a hired merc. Nothing more. So, Cal let his guard down and it cost him. The best part is the fact you find out Bode was just a spy and used Cal and the others the whole time.
I was a little upset with the fact Cal can not use a Jet Pack or find any Jet Packs in the game.
Dude the moment he mentioned he had family in the first mission I knew he was gonna betray Cal
On first playthrough, Bode's motivation really confused me. It wasn't until after that I found out that the initial plan wasn't suppoesd to include the Hidden Path. I, like many other people, just assumed that the Hidden Path would be included and made aware of Tanalorr. When they first learn about Tanalorr, they describe it as a means of a way to remain hidden from the Empire and all conflict in the galaxy. Their allies (Merrin, Cordova, Cere, etc.) are literally running a secret underground 'organization' that is entirely based on staying hidden and away from the Empire. Why wouldn't they extend the planet to them? Does a group of like 6 people really need an ENTIRE planet for themselves? Idk it was just what I thought the initial plan was so when Bode was really hung up about the Hidden Path using Tanalorr it just really confused me
I only saw Bode’s betrayal coming because he seemed too good to be true as an ally, which has been a recurring theme in most video games. It would’ve been more surprising if he didn’t betray Cal and stayed with him as an indispensable friend.
I really feel like after Jeada the story falls off and all the stakes really disappear.
Same, for me the high republic story was the best thing
As soon as Bode mentioned he had a daughter, i foresaw 2 things. He was either gonna die at some point or he is going to be a traitor. So right from the beginning it was a little obvious to see where it was going. Also characters who are over friendly with the protagonist usually have something to hide
I side with Bode to be honest. Cal wanted to bring a group of people he literally knew ZERO about who is dangerous to be around to their only hope of a happy ending.
Going back to previous locations after you finish the game you get more background on bode via echos
Hold on, BODE literally infiltrated Cals rebel cell which is connected to saw guerrera... Proving the empire can infiltrate anywhere. Bode knew they could infiltrate tanalor eventually, he was doing anything he could to ensure his daughter safety and hidden path tanalor did just that
I had no idea this was a problem, why would anyone possibly think there’s a story issue here. Having the hidden path use tanalorr would make it way more risky living there with people going in and out
I didn't even realize what Denvik said until now cus I was so angry with him like Cal was, I didn't even catch he said the Jedha operation was months away.
Consider how many of these people complaining don't have kids. Being a father fundamentally changes you. It's your child over literally everything and everybody else
I loved this game through and through, from start to finish. This game literally brought me to tears at certain points. And the way it left off on a somber yet loosely hopeful note really touched something deep in my soul.
One thing that comes from all the arguments surrounding Bode in this story, as well as Cal's struggle with the Dark Side really reinforces how much I really do not like Star Wars nerds. They always seem to get it wrong, don't seem to ever understand fundamental how writing works, and misunderstand so many things about the galaxy far far away.
This video, though i be a year late (i owned the game since about a month after release but only got to it literally a year later) this video immaculately cleared things up that i know people will still be arguing about years down the line.
Hopefully Jedi 3 is as good if not better than it's predecessors.
i literally thought bode would be a twist villain on Coruscant but forgot about it by the time it happened
also his pistols reminded me of the isb agents pistols from battlefront
The story was phenomenal idk why people are complaining about it I understood everything playing thru it I understood bodes motives and I think that’s y I love it so much cuz everything made sense and the writing was amazing
When he survived at the beginning, I was like 'His name is Bode, this doesn't Bode well'...
OH LOOK. HIS NAME WAS A HINT.
On Jedha before the assault Bode knew Cal was deadset on bringing the Hidden Path to Tanalorr. There waa no negotiating nor delaying. He suggested they go scout out Tanalorr so he could kill Cal there and keep the only means of getting there to himself.
Great video. Idk why i feel like Bode being an ISB spy was not something they had in mind at the beginning of the story, it feels more like something they added on the fly. Lets face it too, Bode was right, clearly we dont know what happens to Tanalorre yet but we know it is not around at the time of the death star. Yoda would certainly know of its existence
😮😮
I also think the fact that you can still openly explore back and forth at the end of the story is a good indicator that tanalorr isnt gonna work out
I honestly thought bode was gonna die
I didn’t think he was gonna turn into a traitor
To add to this point eventually they will have to make more compasses and it would be a matter of time before the empire gets a hold of one. Tanalorr has already been invaded once by that happening.
I knew from the beginning something was up with him, but I didn't think it would go that far...
I saw his betrayal so many miles away, that I googled if he is really gonna be a traitor or they just trollin me after I finished the very first mission on coruscant xD
Whenever I hear Bode, I hear Charles from RDR2
This is exactly how I viewed Bodes thought process. The Empire is MASSIVE and once they learned about Tanalorr (If they didn't know about it already) the Emperor would continue to put Imperial lives at risk to get there no matter how many died, how many ships were lost etc.
I think it was a great story and made sense. I saw it coming but i didnt want it to happen so bad that when it did it still caught me off guard. Plus when it happened o thought it was at the end of the game and ingot caught off gaurd with the story going forward anf fleshing it out.. i think thats what made the story even better
Made sense to me, the more people that know about a secret the more of a risk it is. If Bode keeps it just him and Kata there is less risk, especially if they aren’t a risk to the empire. Hidden Path would be on the Empires radar. I think people need to think about the scenario before blaming bad writing, etc.
Bodes Betrayal was very weird to me, because I always had a strange feeling about him.. the way he asked questions, the way he reacted to some things.. I didn't saw his betrayal coming but was wishing for it actually, because it would be a better story.. then he actually did it and I was caught in a strange mix of feelings of satisfaction and drama and sadness. It was great
I could tell something was off with Bode all the way back on Coruscant when I first got to know him through his dialogue there. If you could somehow go back and watch me on my first playthrough, you see that several times I commented about how I didn't really trust him. For that reason, what I felt at his betrayal wasn't surprise, but more of a "why did I have to be right" feeling. However, I was ABSOLUTELY surprised by the fact that he was a Jedi; I didn't have the slightest inkling about that, so when I caught up with him after the speeder bike chase and he Force pushed Cal away, I was utterly shocked and had quite an animated reaction. As for whether the writing is good or bad, I don't think it's about whether I was able to see the twist coming or not (and even if it is, the fact that I still had no clue about half of it in spite of my mistrust of him could still be indicative of good writing; that is, perhaps the vague suspicions about Bode's loyalties that were surreptitiously seeded throughout the game were a smokescreen so the player is thinking about "can I really trust him" instead of "could he be a Jedi"), but it's actually about whether I can understand his actions. In my opinion, all of the best villains (in Star Wars or anything else) are the ones that you can understand their motivations. In Bode's case, even though I'm unable to have kids and am therefore not a parent, I still have a strong instinct to protect the people I love and I can definitely imagine that feeling would be even stronger if it was my own child, so I CAN understand why Bode was willing to do anything and everything he deemed necessary in order to keep Kata safe. I certainly think differently and would choose other means to achieve that (in particular, I would have opened up to Cal and explained everything since he understands what it is like to be a Jedi in exile), but the fact that I would have made different choices is irrelevant; I still understand why he made the choices he did. As a result, I still feel that a strong case can be made that this was quite well written.
Story was great and if you can’t see bode’s angle then you’re smooth brained
I finished the game today and have been thinking about this back and forward with my gf. We do understand a lot of his actions whether or not we agree with them. And this video adds some extra context in one case..which is Bode being so terrified of the Empire's might and reach that he would not want to risk Tanalor being found thru the Hidden Path's activities.
But does it make any sense at all to anyone to bring a child to a planet with NOBODY? We don't even see any fauna in it. Wtf was he gonna eat? 😂 what kind of life would that have been? And how could he use the force against his own daughter during that fight?
Some of these actions were highly uncharacteristic. Straight up insane from a character that had shown himself to be smart and cunning. So I don't know. I'm torn.
Does it make sense to betray the ISB? Hell yes.
Does it make sense to betray Cal and the crew? I GUESS... with a lot of desperation..maybe.. but still makes more sense for him to ask his newfound family for help and understanding rather than feed them to Vader.
Does it make sense to STILL fight Cal in Tanalor? Push his daughter out the way, and go insane with murderous intentions when he knows how strong Cal is? And how outnumbered he is? And after having seen how desolate Tanalor really is (and not impenetrable)
What kind of protection is he providing his daughter by signing his own death certificate?
At that last point my suspension of disbelief is on its last legs and I find it hard to see that ending as a viable decision from Bode's part. Felt more like the game had to end so they went with that.
It leaves me conflicted. I like Bode and understand why he did what he did, and his desperation in doing it. All the way until that last fight.
And it's also sad that Dagan and Rayvis' potentials as villains were completely wasted.
You know how RDR2 has a clear, concise and satisfactory ending AND THEN adds a new epilogue chapter where you conclude the story's true ending? I feel like that's what should've happened here. Give Dagan and Rayvis a much more serious and prominent involvement. With more impact (they should've been the ones taking a life from the main group. Not Bode ffs) and THEN finished Bode's reveal and arc in the epilogue. With a bit more time and less desperation to tie in everything in a "big epic boss fight" that makes little to no sense.
I think that Bode and I both realized that if the empire finds out about tanalor they’re just going to throw dozens if not hundreds of pilots at the abyss until they find a way to navigate it or infiltrate the hidden path and take it out from the inside
I wish I never got spoiled by his betrayal although I never got spoiled by him being a force user
I for one did not see it coming and it wrecked my spirit 😭 I didn't think the writing was terrible. I was just in shock as it all played out lol
I literally figured out that he’d betray cal when he left Bravo and Cal while escaping coruscant. If they had left that out, I would have been in the dark, but that’s exactly when I knew. I picked up that he was a Jedi because that’s how it would have to go.
I just wish it was hidden better.
I honestly love the bode twist I just feel like him being a Jedi was out of left field but I think they needed the final boss to be a force user and Lightsaber wielder. I mean him being a spy is good but the jedi part seems more like poor righting
I definitely agree with Bode's fears that the empire will inevitably find Tanalorr once Cal sets up his whole base there (because let's be real it's totally gonna happen), but I still couldn't really understand why he didn't surrender after the fight. I guess it was his last ditch effort to kill Cal, but I feel like he should've known that he'd been beaten. He's so concerned about Kata's safety, but she's not any safer with him dead so I guess I didn't really understand his logic there 😅
So after thinking about this particular twist, I realize that I actually really like the idea, and what made it feel silly was the execution - specifically the timing of Bode revealing himself to be a former Jedi. I think it could have been more impactful if Bode had revealed his abilities during the second fight with Dagan Gara, and given both Cal and the audience time to process that reveal.
Think about it: imagine that, after that second fight, Dagan and Cal clash some more and Dagan manages to overpower Cal. Before Dagan can finish him off though, Bode flies in and pushes Dagan away from Cal using the force. Cal is flabbergasted that another Jedi has survived the purge, and questions him. Over the remainder of the "compass arc," Bode could reveal what he revealed in the ISB base - that he was a former Republic spy, that he disappeared in the chaos of order 66, and that he fell in love and married an incredible woman who gave her life to save him from the Inquisitors. In response to this trauma, and to hide his abilities, Bode cut himself off from the force. This would directly parallel Cere from the first game. It would also explain why he's not regularly using his force powers in combat to help Cal, and why he carries only blasters instead of a saber. He and Cal could grow closer and even discuss rebuilding the Jedi order.
After defeating Dagan for the third and final time, the game could proceed as normal, with Bode betraying the team, killing Cordova, and fleeing before dueling Cal with Dagan's saber. When Cal tracks Bode to the ISB base, instead of lore-dumping most of his story, Bode would simply reveal the missing piece of the puzzle - that he worked as a spy in exchange for protection from the inquisitors. That he only cares about protecting his daughter and that the rest of the galaxy can go to hell if it means that she is safe. This would make Cal's rage and his turn to the dark side even more impactful. Not only was he betrayed by a former friend, but by a former Jedi, by a former survivor. He let himself hope that the Jedi order could be rebuilt , and that hope resulted in the deaths of two Jedi masters he cared about.
Plus, the devs could even add a force echo where Bode rehearses his cover story about cutting himself off from the force, and where he notes out loud that the similarity to Cere's story will be sure to deceive Cal.
Bode's betrayal makes sense but game is unnecessarily vague about the reason once they get there. Because ultimately it's missing: "I can't let you take Hidden Path to Tanalorr, because it will make it a target for an empire... and if we were able to get the compass why wouldnt Empire with their infinite resources be able to reach there too" or something. This is a very valid point to make but it's hidden deep in context, force echos after the game instead of making it very clear at one point or another.
It was set up in the first mission when he brought up Kata out of the blue
I’m pretty sure the Empire will find tanalorr and find a way through the abyss
I beat the game twice and I love him as a bad guy, and I never thought his motive didn't make sense
I was completely fooled by Bode, the main reason being is that when I hear him speak, I hear Charles from RDR2 who was a G and cannot imagine him being a traitor
My biggest question is, how did Cal not sense Bode as a Jedi? He even mentions it after that betrayal. And moreover how did Cere and Cordova not sense him, or his possible decision to defect either?
it became clear to me something was up after defeating dagan
i think without being a parent of the experience of something similar alot of people just wont understand it
We do understand why Bode did what he did. But how he did it is the problem. He sacrificed the lives of countless people to keep his daughter safe for a little while longer. It is evil no matter how you slice it. Heck, he almost killed her himself 3 times in his madness.
I think it's actually good writing once you recognise it as a STAR WARS story and recognise the struggles of being a Jedi:
He was a Jedi controlled by his fear just like Anakin. He came close to hurting Kata because, just like Anakin with Padme, the fear of losing the people you love in the Jedi world can result in you being the one who hurts them. His fear was always that Cal's fight against the empire would bring them right to his doorstep and now that he has a way of getting away from the empire, he had to keep them from finding Tanalor at all costs, even if it meant forcing a life of solitude onto his daughter. He's not an idiot, he was just a man who's wife died, who's entire order died, and who had visions of the death of his only child forced upon him and this fear made him live in torment.