From Revenge to Forgiveness
The resolution of the climactic encounter between Barriss Offee and the Inquisitor Lyn in "The Way Out" (Tales of the Empire 1.6) echoes the conclusion of the final duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Maul in "Twin Suns" (Rebels 3.20). In both cases, one of the combatants is a dark apprentice who wields a double-bladed red lightsaber, and at the end of the duel, the victor, after striking a killing blow, cradles his or her dying opponent. The parallel between these two scenes ties together a pattern that begins in The Clone Wars, revealing a progression from vengeance to mercy and forgiveness.
In "Witches of the Mist" (The Clone Wars 3.14), the dark apprentice Savage Opress, who wields a double-bladed red lightsaber, fails a task assigned to him by his master, Count Dooku. The furious Count punishes his hapless apprentice by electrocuting him with Force lightning. "Forgive me, my master," Savage pleads, but Dooku refuses: "That is not the way of the dark side."
This scene is echoed in "The Lawless" (The Clone Wars 5.16), at the end of the lightsaber duel between Savage, his brother Maul, and Maul's old master, Palpatine. After killing Savage, Palpatine begins to electrocute Maul with Force lightning, prompting the former apprentice to beg: "Mercy! Please! Please!" Palpatine's reply, which echoes Dooku's reply to Savage, is simple and chilling: "There is no mercy."
Later, in "Twin Suns," Maul confront his old nemesis Obi-Wan Kenobi. Obi-Wan defeats his opponent, dealing him a fatal blow – but unlike Dooku and Palpatine, he does not take this opportunity to wreak vengeance on the enemy who once killed his master. Instead, he gently cradles Maul's body as he dies. Though Obi-Wan extends mercy to Maul, Maul is set in the ways of the dark side. His last words express his undying desire for vengeance: "[The Chosen One] will avenge us."
In "The Way Out," the inquisitor Lyn – another dark apprentice who wields a double-bladed red lightsaber – attacks her former ally Barriss Offee. Barriss does not draw a lightsaber of her own, instead non-violently evading Lyn's blows while inviting her to change her ways. Ultimately, the unarmed Barriss allows Lyn to stab her and then says, in direct contrast to the words of Dooku and Palpatine, "I forgive you." Barriss does not respond to Lyn's violence with more violence. Instead, her self-sacrificial offering of forgiveness frees Lyn from the dark side.
The dark side denies the possibility of forgiveness, making revenge the only possible response to wrongs suffered. Practitioners of the dark side cannot extend forgiveness to each other; they can only receive it from their enemies. When they do, forgiveness is revealed to be the way out of the cycle of revenge.
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Characters: Barriss Offee / Count Dooku / Darth Maul / Lyn / Obi-Wan Kenobi / Palpatine / Savage Opress
Shows: The Clone Wars / Rebels / Tales of the Empire
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Concepts: forgiveness / revenge
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