I Had To Find A Picture Of This 2017 Article Again Because It's Just So Iconic.

By DC's anarchist cartoonist, Mike Flugennock 2017

Naked Sea Angels (Clione limacina) are small, free swimming snails. The shell has been lost and the foot has been modified into wing-like paddles for swimming.

(source)

The pool scene is awesome. But it’s also extremely painful.

Because on the one hand you have Gideon, who is very repressed, something we’re probably not expecting as an audience, because she is a brash, agressive, openly queer woman. There’s a weird expectation that girls are somehow more in touch with their feelings (this is dumb). But also we live in a heteronormative society, and it’s unusual for us to see out queer folks who haven’t had to actually think critically about their emotions and come to terms with with them. Which, Gideon has not done.

So she’s in this position where she does not think that Harrowhark is capable of feeling affection or love, and that the strongest emotion Harrow is capable of is hate. Gideon knows 100% for a fact that Harrow hates her, so that means she is important to Harrow.

Except that Harrow *is* apparently capable of love and affection. Which means that when she says that she doesn’t think about Gideon that often because there are things she cares about more, she’s not just saying it to get under Gideon’s skin. Which means that Gideon isn’t as important to Harrow as she thought she was. And this upsets her deeply for reasons she can’t fully explain or understand.

On the other hand you have Harrow, she just told her greatest secret, and received forgiveness, understanding, and genuine human comfort in return. So she looks at the world as though it is filled with egg-eating snakes and she is protecting an egg. So she makes Gideon promise to go home and do the thing her family has been tasked with for generations. We, as the audience, have only gotten like five scenes with Harrowhark fully aware of everything post pool-scene, and in two of them she is destroying herself so that Gideon can have even the smallest chance of life.

Because Gideon just had her heart broken into a thousand tiny shards and can’t even express why, meanwhile Harrow thinks they’re married now.

If they had just a few more hours to talk to each other afterwards I fully believe that they would have worked a lot of this shit out. I guess that’s the tragedy. Even in their moment of seeing each other clearly for the first time, they still don’t understand each other.

The Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic

Protectors of the Galactic Symbiosis

In The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon Jinn defines symbiosis as "life forms living together for mutual advantage." As George Lucas tells us, "we're all part of a symbiotic relationship, meaning, that we all help each other" and "we have to all be one in order to go forward." One of the key themes of Star Wars that we should notice, he says, is that "everything is interconnected" and just like Obi-Wan Kenobi insists, "what happens to one of you will affect the other." For this, we all need to help each other, so we can keep our world in balance.

As Lucas explains, this is exactly what the Galactic Republic, the galaxy-wide democracy is: a "symbiotic relationship," a "symbiotic circle" of 100 000 star systems. "I wanted to emphasize the point that the Republic was a democracy” Lucas tells us, and the Queens, Kings, Doges, Duchesses “are all elected officials” and their titles are “a designation of a ruler, like president.” During the thousand years while Republic was functioning, the galaxy, the whole ecosystem, which is life itself - the living Force, both light and dark - was in "balance."

The Jedi Knights are guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy; their job is "to convince both sides to resolve their differences and not to go to war" and who "try to convince people to get along." Thus, they are the guardians of symbiosis, shepherding the universe so they can all be one. And as a direct result, the allegiance of the Jedi Order is naturally to the Republic, to democracy and the Galactic Senate. The Jedi Order did not serve the Senate because of a political affinity of some kind, but because the unity of the galaxy in one gigantic democracy is the universal symbiosis realized, it is a galaxy governed by the principles of peace, freedom and justice, with the Jedi guarding these values. The Galactic Republic "prospered and grew under the wise rule of the Senate and the protection of the venerable Jedi Knights."

How much influence the Republic had over the Jedi?

It must be noted that the concept of the Jedi Order cannot be taken out of its mythological and fairy tale context. Although the Jedi Knights "serve the Senate," for it's the symbiotic group, through which the people of all the planets are existing in a larger symbiotic relationship, and for this, a Jedi's allegiance is "to the Republic, to democracy," the Jedi Order is a separate, independent power and authority next to the Galactic Senate and the Supreme Chancellor.

In George Lucas' myth, the Jedi Knights are the "gods," the "most moral of anybody in the galaxy," guarding peace and justice in the universe, watching over symbiosis, which is live in balance, having "the moral authority" to "keep the governments of all the planets in line, so that they don't do terrible things" and they're the "peacekeepers of the human world." They're "warrior-monks who keep peace in the universe without resorting to violence" have got the power "to send the whole force of the Republic, which is 100 000 systems, so if you don't behave they can bring you up in front of the Senate. They'll cut you off at the knees, politically."

As it was shown in the Star Wars Saga and the Clone Wars, the Jedi Council "will act as they deem necessary" even when they received direct requests from the Galactic Senate or the Chancellor, and has the power to refuse them, and even assign Senators to missions. "Republic business" and "internal Jedi business" were entirely separate from each other. The Jedi Order has an internal, tradition-based jurisdiction, independent and sealed from the courts of the Galactic Republic. While they're part of the Jedi Order, a Jedi Knight cannot be put on trial at the Republic's courts. The Council has the power to assign Knights to missions without requesting the consent of the Senate or the Chancellor, and the Chancellor did not interfere in Jedi affairs, nor the Jedi had to report to him. Obi-Wan reminds Anakin, "our allegiance is to the Senate, not to its leader."

Failing symbiosis and Jedi generals

As George Lucas explains, in Episode I, II and III, "the Senators have fallen out of the symbiotic circle" and the "symbiotic relationship had torn apart" because "they couldn't agree on anything because their interests became so divergent, so they couldn't get anything done as a Republic." Despite the laws of the Galactic Republic are prohibiting slavery in the entire galaxy, as Darth Sidious explains, "The Republic is not what it once was. The senate is full of greedy squabbling delegates There is no interest in the common good." The Jedi become unable to uphold peace in justice: just like Padmé Amidala expressed, "the Republic no longer functions" - in an uncaring galaxy, blindspots were formed, crime lords and slavers built their dominions on worlds like Tatooine. "The Republic doesn't exist out here", as Shmi said. All the Jedi could do is to hope for things to change for the better, that the Republic can be saved, that the balance of the Force, a symbiotic galaxy can be restored.

In Episode II, "Darth Sidious/Palpatine creates a war. It's all manufactured It's not real." The war "represents a failure to listen" and the Senate grants "emergency powers" to him, and with this "radical amendment" the Senate practically shuts down democracy to ensure its survival. Effectively a dictator, Palpatine commanded the usage of the clone army. "He enlisted the Jedi Knights as generals to command the Clone Army." The very existence of the clone army was unethical and amoral - war itself is -, causing further wounds on the principles that served as the foundations of the Republic. The Jedi Knights had to choose: "Are they going to stick with their moral rules and all be killed, which makes it irrelevant, or do they help save the Republic? They have good intentions, but they have been manipulated which was their downfall." Lucas explains, "The Jedi valiantly accepted their assignment, though never having served as military commanders, they were unaccustomed to the wages of war." He adds: "they’re now used as generals and they’re fighting in a war, and they’re doing something that they really weren’t meant to do. They’re being corrupted by this war, by being forced to be generals instead of peacemakers.”

As Lucas wrote, "As dedicated as the Separatists were in their resolve to create a new order to replace the failing Republic, the Jedi were equally determined to preserve the Republic and defeat the Sith, who they understood all too well were the masterminds of the Separatist movement. They still believed in the Republic, still deemed it a Republic worth saving."

"The Jedi rebellion"

However, as the Clone Wars rage on, the Senate votes more and more executive powers to the Chancellor, who gains control "over the Senate and the courts" and wants to interfere into Jedi affairs. Padmé and other Senators cannot help but wonder, "what if the democracy we thought we were serving no longer exists." The Jedi Order realized: the Galactic Republic is in grave danger. It's no longer a democracy, and the Chancellor uses his powers to gain more and more, and they suspect, he won't return them to the Senate when the war ends, but keep it and turns the Republic into something else.

They sense, "the dark side of the Force [designed around greed] surrounds the Chancellor" and they realize, "if he does not give up his emergency powers (...) then he should be removed from office." Under this scenario "the Jedi Council would have to take control of the Senate, in order to secure a peaceful transition." However, as Lucas says, "the nascent Rebellion and the Jedi didn't move fast enough." Palpatine is revealed to be a Sith Lord, and as Lucas says, the Sith "want to dominate the galaxy, to control everything."

Just like Lucas says, democracy dies "with cheers." The Senate is ready to "give away" democracy to "the Devil" and they celebrate him when he proclaims himself to their Emperor, ordering the army to slaughter "the gods." Padmé announces: "So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause." It would be important to notice that despite the scenes elaborating the political reality were deleted from Episode III, it is clear that the Galactic Empire did not have a name yet, but the Republic was no more. The "Jedi rebellion" was an attempt to take down the tyrant who used the pretence of democracy to destroy symbiosis, to destroy balance and to finish the creation of his Empire. Although Palpatine laments, the Jedi has no trust in the Senate, the Republic or democracy, one must realize that Sidious's reasoning is that democratic principles should allow and legitimize their own destruction and condone dictatorship. This logic resulted the fall of the Roman Republic, the French First Republic and the Weimar Republic in our real world. "Democratic vote against democracy" does not exist: that's called coup.

In conclusion

For decades, popular belief held that the political aspect of George Lucas' second trilogy is tedious - however, it's surprisingly clear, despite it still remains mythological, philosophical and PG13. As George Lucas tells us, "we're all part of a symbiotic relationship, meaning, that we all help each other" and "we have to all be one in order to go forward." In order to do that, we shall work just like one huge democracy, realizing this symbiotic circle, so the Force, made up of the life of all living things, is in balance, interconnectedness is is recognized and respected. This is the state of being that is under the guidance and protection who are "regular people like the rest of us," but ones who dedicate their lives to "make sure everyone is protected, to bring peace." Their role in the democratic government is a mythological one that cannot be compared to real world branches of power, since it is the pillar of morality, constituted by of "the gods," who are sage monks, also happened to be very good warriors, serving as "ultimate father figures" and "intergalactic therapists". And "if you don't work in the ecosystem that you're in, then when you pull yourself out, it collapses. And if you keep doing selfish things, pretty soon, the whole thing will collapse as well." And this leads to the birth of a world ruled by "the Devil," who, and all his minions actually "are people who are very self-centered and selfish.

The intended end of the Saga, the end of the Third Trilogy is, as George Lucas planned and intended, is that the Republic and the Jedi Order is restored.

Sources

(Please note: I used no Disney or Legends Star Wars materials, (save for the one Shatterpoint foreword) since I only interested in George Lucas' Canon)

Star Wars Saga and Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Star Wars Archives 1977-1983

Star Wars Archives 1999-2005

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace "Prime of the Jedi" featurette

George Lucas' foreword for Shatterpoint by Matthew Stower

Interviews with George Lucas 1 2 3 4 5

YOU KNOW WHAT BOTHERS ME

when fantasy books describe the cloth of Quant Farmpeople’s clothing as “homespun” or “rough homespun”

“homespun” as opposed to what??? EVERYTHING WAS SPUN AT HOME

they didn’t have fucking spinning factories, your pseudo-medieval farmwife is lucky if she has a fucking spinning wheel, otherwise she’s spinning every single thread her family wears on a drop spindle NO ONE ELSE WAS DOING THE SPINNING unless you go out of your way to establish a certain baseline of industrialization in your fake medieval fantasy land.

and “rough”??? lol just because it’s farm clothes? bitch cloth was valuable as fuck because of the labor involved ain’t no self-respecting woman gonna waste fiber and ALL THAT FUCKING TIME spinning shitty yarn to weave into shitty cloth she’s gonna make GOOD QUALITY SHIT for her family, and considering that women were doing fiber prep/spinning/weaving for like 80% of their waking time up until very recently in world history, literally every woman has the skills necessary to produce some TERRIFYINGLY GOOD QUALITY THREADS

come to think of it i’ve never read a fantasy novel that talks about textile production at all??? like it’s even worse than the “where are all the farms” problem like where are people getting the cloth if no one’s doing the spinning and weaving??? kmart???

i'm so used to there just being random unidentified bones laying around everywhere in these damn books that it finally occurred to me, just now, to wonder where the bones on new rho came from. y'know, the bones palamedes always tried to teach nona necromancy on.

they're his.

palamedes, who always loved teaching, living on borrowed time in a body that's not his own. palamedes, mentoring, teaching- parenting, by sixth standards, mind you. and that boy is sixth, through and through.

and the entire point of teaching nona necromancy in the first place was to try and determine if nona is, well, nonagesimus, right? so it has to be bones, it can't not be bones. bones are, like, her whole thing.

but they're not in the nine houses, anymore. things are different, on new rho.

they burn bones here. dig up the cemeteries. a society terrified of zombies will evolve to dispose of its dead differently.

the only bones he has access to now are his own. (camilla wouldn't let anyone take them- skull or hand, doesn't matter. they're still him, and she doesn't let go, remember? it's her one thing.)

palamedes woke up every morning wearing someone else's body to then gently place the shrapnel of his own in the cupped palms of a girl who's the closest thing he'll ever have to a daughter and try to teach her- how did the angel put it, again? normal school, as much as possible, for as long as possible.

(but hey, in a roundabout way, at least it's a chance for him to touch camilla again, right? nevermind that she's not there to feel any of it because he's in the driver's seat, that he can only stay for fifteen minutes at a time. it's atoms that belong to camilla touching atoms that used to belong to him, and that's close enough. he'll take what he can get, these days- if she can be their flesh, he can be the end. so what if holding his own bones is a mindfuck? so what if looking at them makes him nauseous? surely he can suck it up and deal with it for fifteen minutes. it's the least he can do— his poor camilla was the one who had to scrape the bloody pulp of them off the floors of canaan house.)

(speaking of, here's a fun fact: we actually only see nona practicing with the bones one time, on-page. camilla's final line in that scene, before palamedes takes over, is none other than: 'keep going. there are some bones left.' ow!)

remember, too, that the only part of dulcinea, the real dulcinea, that palamedes ever physically touched, was her tooth- the one that ianthe gave him, pulled from the ashes cytherea burnt her down to. he only ever touched dulcie once, and it wasn't until after she was already gone, but that doesn't matter- it still happened, and you can't take loved away.

in this same roundabout, bittersweet, by-proxy sort of way, palamedes has been physically touched by nona, too: the atoms she currently occupies, touching atoms that he used to occupy, and never will again.

the main interaction we've seen between palamedes and his mother took place back on the sixth, with her acting as mentor and him as pupil: the two of them studying a set of hand bones, juno encouraging him every step of the way.

we know that harrowhark's "most vivid memory of her mother was of her hands guiding harrow's over an inexpertly rendered portion of skull, her fingers encircling the fat baby bracelets of harrow's wrists, tightening this cuff to indicate correct technique."

they're still small for a nineteen year old, but the wrists are bigger, in this new set of memories nona's making. and it's not an inexpertly rendered portion of skull anymore- it's a hand, now, albeit one crafted from [a piece of skull reassembled (painstakingly—passionately—laboriously reassembled) from fragments, manually, and not by a bone magician, from the skull of someone who, soon after death or symptomatically during, had exploded.] and the identity and origin of these bones is no mystery at all. they belong to palamedes, and he's consented to their use for this purpose, and that matters.

but the details are just set dressing, really. the foundation of the memory is the same.

palamedes and his mother, juno and her son.

harrow and her mother; pelleamena and her daughter.

nona and her father-mother-teacher; palamedes and his daughter.

the potters

i think that the "i do not control the ____" memes are generally tame and do not lend enough credence to the genuine absurdity of the original line that is

good christ someone give this bitch a hug

my favorite louis trait is his eye for the future.

I can't get enough of how visionary he is.

this is a man who can look at his surroundings, no matter how dodgy or hopless they may look like, and see opportunity. See the upcoming change. See the potential. And he BELIEVES in that potential, fully, betting on it, believing in it, investing in it. And he's always RIGHT.

"My business could be bigger and just as successful if my girls co-optly own the whorehouse". And it works.

"Yesterday I saw a girl in an old, five year old dress, putting on a new lipstick". And he decides to believe in Paris.

"I'm not an artist, but I know what's good. I'm going to invest in little-known art and real estate, then re-sell it". And he becomes a millionaire doing that.

"This little nervous dude who's interviewing me is kind of an idiot, but I can see that he has potential. I'm going to give him a lifeline and the sheer will to keep working". And he changes Daniel's life.

He's such a hopeful person with an unwavering, profoundly generous kind of intuition. He doesnt HAVE to give back to his employees. He doesnt HAVE TO save Daniel. He sees things nobody else sees. He loves to see things grow.

To call him the first vampire capitalist is fair, but he's so much more than that...to me he's the first vampire since Lestat in the 1700s to be like: this life could be more than we're allowing it to be.

And people call him arrogant and too much because he's black, obviously, but he's SUCH an unflinching innovator and he sees SO MUCH. What arrogance? He's always looking at something beyond himself! Always looking forward! It's an instinct he had while alive, and now he has the time, the respect and the means to MAKE IT REAL.

I really love Louis so much. The first hopeful vampire.