Sometimes I Remember I Have Cool Mutuals And Im Like Oh Fuck Im Making A Fool Of Myself. And Then I Continue

I genuinely think it's so important to understand that the Onderon Lasat's and in extension Saw Gerrara's actions towards Kallus' first unit really weren't particularly cruel or heinous. As much as I can enjoy the ANGSTY potential of dialing it up, I do see a tendency to interpret the angstier version as canon. And while I don't necessarily think there's anything wrong with having differing interpretations of canon, I do still want to share my own opinion on it, 'cause I do think it holds some interesting political implications and it also tells us a great deal about how the Empire further indoctrinated its soldiers through the tragedy of war. It also gives us an interesting insight into Kallus' character.

This is really just me rambling though, so I put it under the cut :)

So, first, what do we know about the incident on Onderon?

"I remember my first unit. The boys and I were deployed to Onderon to bring peace and security to a troubled world. We were on a routine patrol and ran into one of your rebel friends, a Lasat mercenary who worked for Saw Gerrera. I was lucky, knocked out by the first blast. I came to, but found I couldn't move. And then I saw him, the Lasat, calmly walk through smoke and fire to finish my unit off, one by one. The injured never had a chance. Always wondered why he let me live."

Script source

Now, what stands out from this incident as particularly heinous would be the killing of the wounded, as this irl + in SW is usually regarded as a war crime or at least morally wrong.

Here's the thing though... Long before Kallus' run-in with the Onderon Rebellion the Empire had already far overstepped these boundaries themselves by ordering the killing of republic fighters on Onderon, including civilians, children and the elderly.

While the methodic, indiscriminate killing of Imperials is far more extreme than what we see from the Ghost Crew and their other allies, it is not a unique incident. In fact, the method is modelled after the Empire themselves. Saw Gerrera's whole point is to play by the Empire's rules. And while you could argue it cruel to target blindly, with no regard for the actions and beliefs of the individual, this is again the Empire's own rules.

What I think is so interesting is that in a way, Kallus and the Onderon Lasat are created to mirror each other. The Onderon Lasat was a Mercenary. He was paid to be there. He was doing his job. It was nothing personal.

Yet Kallus views it as such, as evident by him wondering why the mercenary let him live, implying some level of personal intention. One which most likely wasn't there. It was just another job to him. He most likely didn't even know Kallus was still alive.

He isn't described to have been sadistic or even cruel. He's described to have been calm - which is really the most chilling. He's not taking out his personal hatred or even getting some sadistic enjoyment. He's merely finishing a task. As normal and casual like doing paperwork. Because just like Kallus, his job involves ridding the world of rot. They just happen to disagree on who the rotten apples are. Same methods, same motivation. They're not so different.

The thing is, the Onderon Lasat is no more of a monster than Kallus is. Kallus is someone else's Onderon Lasat. To someone else, he's the guy who calmly, apathetically killed off their team, friends, family, as if it was just another chore on his list.

The only difference is that a mercenary is defined as working for the highest bidder regardless of personal ethics/politics, while Kallus was motivated by his ideals. But in that regard, wasn't the mercenary's actions even less personal?

This also goes for Saw and Kallus btw. They're on opposing sides, but in a way they really aren't so different. They're willing to use and hurt people to reach their goal, both motivated by what they believe to be the greater good. They're both playing by the same rules until Kallus defects and finally takes a stand against said rules. I think Kallus' apparent dislike for Saw and his methods in season 4 isn't due to his own experience, but moreso because Saw is holding up a mirror to who Kallus used to be. A man so torn up by war that he's willing to do everything in his power to bring his enemy down. All in a misplaced, desperate attempt to find peace. To heal. To be safe. To save everyone.

I just think it's very interesting to think about. 'Cause Kallus' story from Onderon does make Zeb empathize with him, but not due to it being an exceptionally awful thing Kallus went through, but because Kallus' story is a mirror to Zeb's story from Lasan.

"I fought to the end. We held the palace. And then there was a bomb. And when I woke up, it was all just gone."

Script source

When Zeb hears Kallus' story, he realizes they've both experienced the horror of war. Up until this point, Kallus has seemed to thrive in bringing the face of death and destruction. It's hard to imagine him being the one on the receiving end. It's hard to imagine he even knows or cares what it feels like.

Realizing that Kallus is just another man broken by war, just like himself, definitely makes Zeb understand Kallus better. It doesn't justify his behavior, but it explains it.

The way Kallus views the incident on Onderon also gives us a good insight into how the Empire would operate. For one, Kallus talks about Saw as if he's a personal friend of Zeb, purely due to them both being Rebels, despite the fact that they're part of different cells with very different goals and ideals. Just like how Kallus to some extent viewed Lasat as the same, he views all Rebels as the same.

Speaking of Lasat, I do wanna talk about how Kallus' interactions with Lasat slowly broke his narrow-minded perception of them. 'Cause the first Lasat gave him the impression that they were violent and without honor or ideals binding them. They'd do anything for personal gain.

Then on Lasan he faces a honor guardsman who fights with honor, even yielding to Kallus and facing defeat with the same honor.

Then finally, he meets Zeb. Zeb who originally reminds him way more of the mercenary than the guardsman he faced. Zeb who seemingly is nothing but a brute, taking his anger out on any imperial who might cross his path. Except he's wrong. Upon being faced with an injured enemy - an enemy who he knows to be deserving of his wrath - he still chooses to follow his morals, not wanting to win through unfair means. He's not needlessly cruel, nor is he the brainless muscles Kallus initially mistook him for. He's smart. Perceptive. Empathetic. He's loyal to his friends and to his honor, rather facing death than the destiny the Empire would grant him. He's perhaps even too smart, as he starts to ask the questions Kallus never dared to. Still, he's not being cruel. He's being honest. He's being honorable.

Zeb is everything Kallus had tried to convince himself Lasats can't be. 'cause if Zeb is all of those things... If Lasat are all those things... Then what does that make the Empire? What does that say of Kallus?

Here, take these

I'm sick of internet negativity, so let's combat it: reblog this and saying something nice/pay a compliment to the prev in the tags.

Listen, as much as Zeb was wise and honorable in Honorable ones, I think that viewing him as the sane and collected one out of Kallus and him is a huge misrepresentation of his character. Don't get me wrong, I love me some level headed, calm, honorable Zeb. BUT

The guy was in his late thirties, beefing with a 14 year old and LOSING!! And it kept going as they got older! Not only that, he managed to have deeply mutual beef with Chopper despite understanding ZERO binary. He simply assessed that Chopper's tone was bitchy enough to warrant beef! If someone annoys him enough, he will be ready to fight them on it! Does not matter who it is.

Like he is level headed, calm and honorable when he's dealing with levelheaded, calm and honorable people - most of the time. But he's also constantly ready to switch that out for angry, bitchy and petty at the turn of a dime, if provoked! Which wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't for the fact that he... Has a bit of a short fuse. Like the guy does have anger issues.

Idk I definitely don't feel like Kallus would purposely provoke him much, but unintentionally? I could totally see Kallus stumbling and managing to push all of Zeb's metaphorical buttons. They just sorta clash in some ways, especially at first. And Kallus is on his best behavior, or at least trying to be - but isn't that fucking annoying?! You're trying to beef with a guy and he can't even give you the time of day for that?! Zeb was peeved and now he's pissed!

Idk I just really want more stuff with Zeb and his anger issues, idk I think it adds a nice flavor to their dynamic. Like yes he took pity on Kallus on Bahryn, but also Kallus laughed at him for falling on his ass and Zeb hit him with the raw ass line "how would you like some more broken bones?"

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what i want for kalluzeb in the mandalorian and grogu

hi i'm mentally ill over kalluzeb and here are some scenes i'd pitch in the writer's room of the mandalorian and grogu

OPTION ONE:

we don't see/hear kallus but when zeb meets grogu he says something like

zeb: what'd you say to your wife to let you adopt that thing?

din: i don't have a wife. why, do you want to convince your wife?

zeb: yeahhhhhhh....... my wifeeeeeeeee........

OPTION TWO:

can be either we only hear him (david o kallus please) or we hear him and see him (still want david o but i'm happy with anyone) over call with zeb and it can be something like

zeb: yeah, a mandalorian. and he's got this little green baby

kallus: i really hope you aren't getting any ideas

OPTION THREE:

can be used with either of the first two ideas or on it's own but i want zeb to drop that his ship is called the glimmer. his ass cannot fit into a normal x wing anyways so it's only fair

OPTION FOUR:

cancel the movie and have it just be three hours of kalluzeb married bickering on lira san

Rb with photo evidence because im not crazy i swear

Like... i am 99% sure that Kanan and Ezras models are not built like this 😭

I feel like we as a society need to step back and take a moment to point out that Kallus' eyelashes are lowkey mad luscious

ESPECIALLY FOR A BLONDE GUY

Like what animator making his character model was like "hmmm i just feel like he's missing something..... OH! I KNOW; wet n wild impact black waterproof mascara 😌"

Forget about torturing your blorbos, putting them through the ringer. I'm putting my blorbo in perfectly ordinary, pleasant situations. Their tortured personality will cause them anguish anyway, making an absolutely mundane scene into the most dramatic, agony filled affair as though the world is ending and it's all their fault

I feel like Kallus is the type of guy to accidentally walk in on Zeb making out with him guy and feel utterly sick with disgust. Upon which he immediately panics that he might be homophobic, but actually he's just experiencing jealousy for the first time zgxgx