KOTOR I Companion Analysis: Jolee Bindo

Jolee Bindo has the most naturally flowing range, and perhaps the best monastic voice of any Jedi, in all of the Star Wars franchise. It is one thing to speak of destiny, or threat. But to speak of failure, to embrace the natural environment- such things are not simply alluded to. For an individual who speaks of grey, Jolee’s genuine contemplation, not political nature represents the best ideals of the Jedi.

Humour and irascibility also go a long way, and this is considering a cast with Canderous’s dark humour and the hilarity of HK-47.

"I'm old, dammit. I'm allowed to be enigmatic when I want to be!"

The power of a great voice adds much to good dialogue; ACTOR shows his ability to make a role his own with his famous role as Tartarus in Halo 2, an incredibly different individual bearing the same voice.

It is not the Republic, the Force, or a Counsil that moves Jolee. His parables, while very clear at the end, bear an element of tragedy. It is sacrificial, self-aware, and meets a good balance KOTOR often misses with its companions; to build a mystery that sometimes goes unanswered.  There are no questions remaining about Jolee’s life by the end of his quest. Nowhere else for his story to go. It is not cut too soon, but brilliantly contained within a single story, something as unusual as his grey sense of the Force is to the story of Star Wars

In the focus on cycles and nostalgia, Jolee Bindo will never be revisited. This is a benefit, given how like Tatooine’s backstory purely within this story, it is something that can and does stand entirely on its own.

"Love doesn't lead to the dark side. Passion can lead to rage and fear, and can be controlled... but passion is not the same thing as love. Controlling your passions while being in love... that's what they should teach you to beware. But love itself will save you... not condemn you."

Jolee’s philosophy, and Jolee’s character would add something for the wider Star Wars universe in what was called a “Grey Jedi”, adding in-universe speculation of moral relativism, or what we call ‘grey morality’ affecting the magic of the Force so closely tied to an individual’s emotional state and mental equilibrium.

The discussion of the grey, also tied to the moral choices and question of redemption within Knights of the Old Republic’s story act as a precursor and starting point for KOTOR II, and it is unlikely that the story would work so well without building upon the stepping stone placed with this character. There’s a step from the morality of the films to the second game, and 1 is that step.

The three parables Jolee says to the Player Character as part of companion development draw in those interested in stories like little else, the delivery and creativity making it one of the better breadcrumbs fed to the player. The option to respond to the third, asking as slyly and sarcastically as Bindo whether the stories are warnings and tests for the player themselves gives this companion loyalty/bonding mini-plot wider relevance. It’s funny and about as engaging as Canderous’s war stories, although in this case it becomes clear that of the two elder recluses Jolee is actually less self-focused and has already decided to essentially throw away his agency for duty. His wisdom, born of life and experience makes him a true Jedi, which is why the deliberate choice to make him wear the robes of an acolyte and his cantankerous nature are such good decisions. Jolee is the spirit of the Jedi teachings, wedded to a wise living only earned by experience. He is the person you find in the pub, the autodidact in the library, or someone you overhear engaging in a really interesting conversation on the bus or train. One of the people who appears in life to give really intelligent advice exactly as you needed to hear it.

Jolee’s talk of grey, his willingness to be more understanding of a non-binary morality is part of whom he is, in his decades of building strength and meditation after suffering, war and intrigue rushing him likely when he was very young and not more than thirty. Half his life possibly was given to contemplation, smoothing his humour into the man he is. But, it is very important to note that whom Jolee was ceases to be important as soon as he joins the party. Even more than companions like Mission or Carth, Jolee is for the Republic and against Revan. And less because of government, but because from the jungles of Kashykk, while it seems dark, the reality is the old man chose from the start to be a possible sacrifice to delay or avert what you might become. He speaks of grey in the sense of the universe and people being complicated, but befitting a story with two endings, two options he comes firmly into one side. He needs to make a decision; and Jolee’s decision is ultimately the moral one.

Jolee’s personal plot being tied to the political machinations of an old solider he served with are also fascinating, the young man he was having made mistakes that he interestingly feels Jolee was wrongfully forgiven for. Jolee does not forgive himself, has accepted the need to deceive, to question one’s morality and have an altogether less naïve or hopeful attitude towards ‘human nature.’ The idea of people causing disappointment and betrayal is built upon with Mission’s companion quest, with the corporate evils and slavery themes present within this game’s sequel, and in a genuinely distressing manner, for the player who may choose to betray his friends the quest they were given. While murky in their past, whether ‘grey’ or not, someone needs to make a yes or no choice given the real time to fight, and Jolee would rather try to kill you than blindly follow as other RPGs might expect to tie agency purely to the protagonist.

Cowardice is a key component of his backstory, but facing his trauma and prominent bravery characterise his actions in the game, where they matter most in a time of great significance. It’s refreshing for a sage-like character to have a backstory where they were never technically knighted, and have no real claims to accolades or patronage. Bindo is a person found very deep in a strange place, quite close to one of the major breadcrumbs of the plot’s twist.

All of Jolee’s story, self-contained (for better and for worse) here is about acting upon regret and being of service to the wider world. A likeable character for his humour, for his amusing and self-aware irritability, Jolee does not run and puts up an impressive fight. In his past, love was his undoing, and he found no peace from the commitments that his order and his wife added to his life. Peace is not really the point on a galaxy spanning quest either, but he comes to fight quite willingly against others of wildly different morals and backgrounds for a greater cause, without much of his feelings ever being expressed. Jolee is a great companion because he is such a refreshing notion of the wise teacher, the wisdom being accrued solely through life experience, and no teaching being present at all, besides encouraging a straightforward ask of who do you want to be, why, and what good will it do you getting what you claim to want?

References:

Knights of the Old Republic. BioWare. 2003.

Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Obsidian Entertainment. 2004.