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Ethics, Tuesday

"Today, we would like to confront you with a somewhat more mythical ethical scenario," Obi-Wan said. He had his hands tucked into the sleeves of his robes, but looked to be somewhat in good spirits. "Which circumstances have delayed a few too many times..."

Like through invasions and ancient Jedi Masters.

Details!

"But it's much less traumatizing than the droid babies," Anakin promised, which, admittedly wasn't that high a bar to clear. "There's a story from this planet called The Lady or the Tiger that I believe many of you might have already heard about, in a mythical land where trial by combat was still a thing."

He shrugged. "Obi-Wan and I have been to a similar planet. It was Obi-Wan's fault."

Keep telling yourself that about Geonosis, Anakin.

"Excuse me?" Obi-Wan said sharply. "I rather distinctly remember the situation surrounding Geonosis going rather differently." Beat. "It is Geonosis you're referring to, isn't it?"

Look, they'd been to a lot of planets. Some of which utilized trial by combat.

Anakin nodded, smirking slightly. "With the...space tiger." Easier than explaining a nexu. "Anyway, in the story, a princess has taken up a relationship with a commoner and her father finds out, which is never how you want these particular stories to go. He proposes a trial by combat: if the man is innocent, the door he opens will lead to a beautiful lady--not the princess--who he will immediately be married to. If he opens the second, he gets a grisly and public death by tiger."

"The man is understandably in quite a state," Obi-Wan said, "so he looks up to meet the gaze of his former lover. Perhaps she can tell him which door to choose? She then grants him an answer with a gesture of her hand."

He smiled faintly at the class.

"This is where the story itself ends," he said. "The question that remains is: which answer did the princess give the commoner?"

"Take a moment to read the story," Anakin said, "because this isn't exactly a fluffy forgiving princess, and then give us your opinion about what the princess did, and then what you would do."

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As a fluffy, forgiving princess.

Ronan Lynch

Garik Loran

Barry Ween

Minako Aino

Cosette Fauchelevent

Alana

Andros

Alex Mack

Kathy Li

Kaylin Neya

Celia Bowen

Soren Bearstar

Carmilla Karnstein

Elsa of Arendelle

Karina Lyle

Well, that's one kind of justice system...

Okay, so the method of trial-by-combat was a little strange, Soren would admit, but the concept itself wasn't too far from that of the holmgang, so he wasn't terribly phased by it.

The tiger or the lady?

"I have no idea," Alana admitted. "Maybe the tiger. Maybe she was really angry at him for getting them caught. If her dad's killing her boyfriend, I bet the princess doesn't have a happy home life right then either."

"So you believe she would take it out on the commoner?" Obi-Wan asked. "How would you feel about that?"

"I think the tiger," Kathy admitted. "At least, based on what the story tells us about the princess. She's fierce, she's spoiled, she hates the chosen maiden and is jealous of her. That's a very potent emotional combination right there. We don't hear about how she fought with her father or begged him for mercy or whatever. It might have been different if she'd made the decision right then, when she was looking at him, rather than over several nights of bad dreams."

Obi-Wan tilted his head thoughtfully. "Why do you think so?" he asked lightly. "That her decision might have been different."

"Well, there she is, face-to-face with him," Kathy said. "I think that it might be harder for her to consign him to an immediate and grisly death if she was looking right at him while she made that decision." She shrugged. "I mean, if she'd the type to look him in the eyes and think, 'No, I can't let him belong to someone else,' then I figure she's probably the type of person to come to that conclusion anyway. But most people, looking at a former lover, wouldn't have the presence of mind to deceive them into choosing death."

Maybe that was naive, but come on! How cruel would you have to be to make that decision!

"Supposing the former lover does not know them well enough to assume deceit," Obi-Wan said, looking faintly amused at the notion.

"Why should he?" Kathy asked. "Has he ever seen her spited or jealous of something? I don't know how much of a relationship they had with all the sneaking around, but if he's seen how she behaves when she doesn't get her way before, then he might have a better idea of how she'll behave now. But the story sounds like he really trusts her. Maybe he's besotted. It's really easy to only believe the best of someone if you think you're in love with them."

You really didn't need to tell Obi-Wan that much.

But he didn't linger on that thought. "Sometimes people surprise you," he said, "and relationships can last long enough to transcend besotted, with time. But yes; I believe it is also likely she sent him to his death."

"And, uhh, in case it needed saying, I would have sent him to the lady," Kathy added, since that was also part of the assignment. "And I think if the princess had bothered thinking long-term about this, she probably would have done the same. Not just because it's the right thing to do, but because it's the smart thing to do."

"And why do you believe it is the smart thing to do?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Because they can still be together if he's alive," Kathy said. "He's about to be married to a strange woman he doesn't know, so it's not like he has any loyalty to her. They might have to wait a few months, let him show the world a happy bridegroom, but with some time, they might be able to rekindle their affair. It's not foolproof and it's definitely not very nice, but then, neither is feeding him to a tiger. At least this way, everybody lives."

"She probably chose the tiger," Soren said, after giving it some thought. "At least, if she came from a world that was anything like mine. Most of the people who would find themselves involved in any capacity in a trial by combat situation are dedicated to gods that aren't terribly forgiving. As for myself- if it were someone I loved, I think I would make the choice that would harm them the least, even if it would hurt us both in other ways." His answer a few years ago might have been different, but Astrid's sacrifice as well as Baldur's presence in his life (two things which were, not coincidentally, rather connected) had profoundly changed how he thought about such things.

"Even if the result were that you be miserable, while the other would not?" Obi-Wan asked.

Carmilla snorted. "The tiger," she said. "If she's going to be miserable, he's not going to be happy."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "And you could not consider a scenario where she might relent?"

Who will never agree about Geonosis.

Did Dathomir count as trial by combat?

Well, it hadn't been their trial by combat...

Now Obi-Wan was mired in memories. Sigh.

They'd agree that Padme was a freaking badass, but that's about it.

Anakin was drinking coffee and trying not to wonder too much about what was going on in Obi-Wan's head.

NOW GO HOME AND RETHINK YOUR LIFE!

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Ethics, Tuesday

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