Me Whenever I See Posts About How Canon Is Shit And Can Be Discarded

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it will never not be funny that kallus spent one (1) night with zeb and decided to say fuck the empire so he could be gay in peace with his furry rebel boyfriend

Ezra's on first name basis

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?

There are many warriors, fools and children, Captain. The child in you can't see how things are, but how they can be. The fool denies his destiny, but it is the warrior you are who will create one. You are never one of these. In time, you become all of them.

This is the moment Kallus finally realizes that he's never going to catch the Spectres. And it's the moment that his redemption begins.

Every single episode Kallus is in this season he's met with failure after failure, and we witness his frustration grow every single time. He tries everything, has all of the odds in his favor countless times and yet every single time the rebels slip through his fingers.

And it all leads to this. This has to be it. He has the Spectres cornered against an exploded star cluster, they have no where to go, this time he's going to win. He has the laws of physics as his ally for force sake!

... but he still loses.

The rebels fly into the star cluster, completely unharmed. Meanwhile his Tie Fighters and light cruiser are being torn apart right in front of him.

I've seen so much talk about how Zeb sparing Kallus's life on Bahyrn was the prophesy of the Child saving the Warrior being fulfilled. I'm not arguing with that, because the prophesy was fulfilled time and time again in Rebels. But this was the first spark of the flame that saved Kallus.

This was the Child saving the Warrior for the first time.

Had this episode happened sooner than it did, I think Kallus would have continued to fly in after them and died - or at the very least gotten very close to it, with all of his men dead and him hanging on for dear life in a barely functioning escape pod.

He wouldn't have had the mounting pile of failures to humble him, wouldn't have had the miracles he'd witnessed the Spectres pull off as warnings to not take them lightly. When we first met Kallus he was an extremely prideful man (still is, even when he defects, but he gains some humility to balance it out), so certain of himself that he quite literally threw himself into danger numerous times with the expectation that he'd win, because he'd never been challenged like he had been with the Spectres. If he was still that same unchallenged man all would have been lost.

But Kallus lets them go, crawling away with a damaged but still mostly working ship after witnessing the laws and forces of nature itself bend to the rebels will.

And it destroys his pride, and his hope. He's been thoroughly devastated by his failures... though he is still in denial about why he's failing, and why he'll continue to fail. He still isn't seeing the bigger picture about the shortcomings of the Empire, he still doesn't think to ask the questions he should. Much like the Fool, in denial of what is destiny.

The next time we see Kallus is above Geonosis - with like 30 storm troopers, a handful of walkers, and... what? 3 tie fighters for an ambush against enemies that fought gravity and won?

He went into this knowing there wasn't a point. And the entire time his ambush party is distracting the rest of the Spectres he's fighting Zeb - and only Zeb. He follows him all the way into an escape pod, with the goal seemingly to take Zeb down with him, because he knows that he can't take them all. But if he can get one, the one who he's obsessed with the most, then it will be enough.

A very foolish plan, much befitting the Fool.

This plan inevitably fails, and Kallus is injured and stranded with his mortal enemy. Unable to fight anymore he submits himself to his failure, so certain that he's going to either be murdered by Zeb or freeze to death. He sits there, shivering and terrified, muttering about the monsters in the dark.

Much like a Child.

There are many warriors, fools and children. In time, you become all of them.

When Zeb spares Kallus's life, giving him the meteorite to keep warm, moving to fight the Bonzami alone, mending Kallus's hurt leg, taking his advice on how to get out of the cave, all before carrying him up the pillar and throwing him out of harms way - the child completely and undoubtedly saving the warrior - Kallus shoots the Bonzami instead of Zeb.

The Child saves the Warrior, and in turn the Warrior saves the Child. Time and time again. Kallus asks questions, he becomes fulcrum, he risks his life and safety over and over again to save Zeb and his family. And as Zeb found Lira San by saving Kallus, Kallus finds a home on Lira San by saving Zeb.

And it all started here.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again but it is absolutely an example of civilizational inadequacy that only deaf people know ASL

“oh we shouldn’t teach children this language, it will only come in handy if they [checks notes] ever have to talk in a situation where it’s noisy or they need to be quiet”

sure why not

I think it would be kind of funny if Kallus in his Imperial days was very aware that he's attractive. Then he joins the Rebellion and learns about the notion of being ✨humble✨ in addition to having his looks be way less relevant. The Rebellion doesn't have a dresscode and are nowhere near invasive enough to care about his facial hair or hairstyle. Overall, he doesn't have to apply as much effort to his looks and as such he sorta just... doesn't think about it as much. Until one day he's looking in the mirror and it hits him how different he looks. Way less put together - in the Empire they'd definitely refer to it as letting himself go. He still feels the same. Still feels attractive. But even so, there is this nagging feeling at the back of his mind telling him that he isn't. Not to others anyway. And it's not like it bothers him. Not really. It's just different. But it's not like it matters and he has got work to do. So he goes about his work knowing that he's no longer considered attractive. Except Kallus' idea of what's considered attractive has been heavily skewed by the Empire's standards. So while he's assuming he downgraded his looks to a solid Mid, every Rebel is having a moment of "wait, is Kallus not kinda very hot??"

Got cursed by thought goblins

Food-related thoughts, courtesy of chatter with @mystical-salamander:

Parts of Coruscant, especially in the extra-dense areas, don't have any cooking implements in the apartments besides a microwave and small fridge. (Hot plates are a fire hazard.) Instead of cooking for themselves, residents visit food vendors or buy microwave meals. Prepackaged snacks that don't require refrigeration are also common.

You know those 'microwave hacks' and 'MRE hacks' and 'prison food hacks?' That's the kind of "cooking" that Kallus knows.

In contrast, Zeb learned how to cook both at home and at school, and had an abundance of fresh food to work with. Lasan's dominant government put out standardized cookbooks of healthy, easy to make meals for the home ec classes. These standard meals often vary, changed to match regional tastes, in individual schools.

The Wookies, being close allies and intellectual partners with Lasan, have these cookbooks saved as part of their Lasani Remembrance Archives. Alderaan also made a habit of trying to preserve at-risk cultures, and had copies in their own archives.

There's a big part of the holonet devoted to saving old recipes and adapting them to new circumstances--the Lasani diaspora is just one of many peoples trying to cope with being away from 'home.'

Zeb looks for Lasani recipes and subsitutions for Lasani spices, of course, but he also searches for recipes from Ryloth, Mandalore, and--the hardest to find--the Jedi Temple. When a Spectre is feeling particularly down, Zeb will make them something from their home to cheer them up.