Courage

True.

I am currently having a lot of fun playing Star Wars Squadrons, Vader Immortal (by far my favorite), and Tales from the Galaxy Edge on Oculus.

And, yes, I must confess to having spent my high school and university days playing X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, Star Wars: Rebellion, Syberia, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Shadow of the Comet, Shivers, The 7th Guest, and Grim Fandango (and, yes, you can find a pattern here).

But.

Like everything "accidental" in this account, I do not consider myself "a gamer".

Actually, I genuinely enjoy observing other people playing (@alex_fox1900) instead of actually doing the thing myself. A sort of a movie, if you want.

So, you can understand the happiness when, in recent years, I realized that some of the games' stories, are "watchable" on YouTube as complete "feature films". I sit there for 4 hours, pop-corns and all, and I fully enjoy a brand new Star Wars story.

This is how I discovered absolutely brilliant characters, as Cal Kestis, Greez Dritus, Merrin.

And Cere Junda.

Unfolding the Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order story, Cere became one of my favorite Star Wars characters, for her passion, understanding, ability to admit her flaws and face her regrets, while still pushing herself to do her best, without fear. When confronted and lost herself to the Dark Side, she rather decided to give up her Jedi path than succumb to that violence and evil.

Like, instead, Anakin did.

I found great value in her honesty, and I considered her choice similar to Leia's.

And I cannot even describe my emotion in watching her (swipe to the brief video in this post) confronting Darth Vader.

I mean.

DARTH VADER.

Facing her fear, her limited training, against probably the most powerful Force user around (ok, maybe debatable, but still).

And still doing it.

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.”

Franklin D. Roosevelt

[Maybe the Jedi Order should have that memo]

When I read that an entire Jedi: Fallen Order prequel comic book was scheduled to appear and feature mainly Cere, I was over the moon. Especially since I hoped for more confrontations and insights into her personality and her relationship with Eno Cordova and Trilla Suduri.

Although both the characters are present in this "Dark Temple" arc, I found myself a little disappointed about the story.

Cere is the passionate "I do before I think" type of padawan.

An Ahsoka in her 'Snips years', or Anakin... well, always.

Which is surely fun to read.

However, the story, the Master-Apprentice relation, the confrontations with the Jedi Order, the complex ethical situation, are truly nothing new.

Sure, what we experience here is a clear confirmation of the complex role of the Jedi in the galaxy (and the "Fallen Order" part is not cryptical), their "missions" in solving internal conflicts (not, necessarily, with the right to do so). Nevertheless, I felt that the whole theme was so fully exploited in the Clone Wars, that I did not need another episode here.

Ultimately, I found her too similar to Ahsoka in this young-herself tale.

Although there is undeniably a parallel between the two (both "not Jedi", both in search of the "Children of the Force"), they are unlike characters in adulthood, especially since how strong Cere is with the Dark Side. And I would rather dig deeper into the more complex, mature, and positive mentor that she became despite.