#tahl

"I came back to make sure you two weren't killing each other," Clee said. "I remember how you used to scrap at the Temple."

"We are Jedi Knights now," Qui-Gon said. "We don't scrap."

Tahl smiled. "We argue, and then I win."

*

I started work on this on Ash Wednesday of last year, intending it to be a fun little project that would be done by Easter. Fortunately for me, I never said which Easter... and nearly 90k later, it's done by Easter!

Which means I finally get to take the goddamn Dooku photo off my phone lockscreen (it's been there this whole time to remind me that he may be a monster but he is charming and competent and people do like him) and put THIS GLORIOUS THING on instead!!!

* For the purposes of this poll, both Legends and Disney qualify as canon.

** Eminent domain

Don't give away the answer before the poll ends! I'll reblog with an explanation once it's done.

I love Jedi families

A lot of fans will describe the relationship as an attachment, as something that regularly fucks Qui-Gon up because of how strongly he feels about her. People will talk about how that's why he leaves Obi-Wan behind on Melida/Daan, because he's so attached to Tahl that he prioritizes her over Obi-Wan.

And while Qui-Gon IS very emotional during the arc where she dies at the end, and does make several more reckless choices as a result of that, it's not QUITE as bad as many fans seem to remember it being.

For one, even WITHIN that arc where Tahl dies and Qui-Gon struggles with his fear for her as he tries to reach her in time, he does stop TWICE to help someone else along the way. I don't remember the exact details or timeline, but I believe he stops first to help some strangers in trouble at Obi-Wan's behest, and he stops a second time when Obi-Wan gets injured in a fight and can't keep going without more rest. You could make a SOLID ARGUMENT that Tahl would have lived if Qui-Gon had prioritized her both times, since she would've then presumably spent less time in the torture chamber which would've allowed her to heal better once she was removed.

And there's no way Qui-Gon doesn't have that in mind, we KNOW he's seen a few visions of what's happening to her and desperately wants to get to her in time, but he STOPS ANYWAY. He doesn't even necessarily HAVE to stay with Obi-Wan when Obi-Wan gets injured, Obi-Wan could stay with their new friends on his own while Qui-Gon continues by himself, but as his Padawan, Obi-Wan's wellbeing is his responsibility, so he stays. So even at his most emotional over Tahl, we see how Qui-Gon is able to mostly fight it back and remain rational and balanced.

He does start to lose it a little more AFTER she dies, but even then he IS able to be pulled back (and while it's implied that he sort-of feels Tahl's spirit or something maybe telling him not to go too far, Qui-Gon thinks that it's OBI-WAN in the moment and specifically pulls back because of that).

What's interesting, though, is that this is the SECOND time Tahl has been tortured nearly to death. The first is in Melida/Daan and his reactions here are not NEARLY so emotional. He clearly does want to save her and does prioritize staying with her while Obi-Wan keeps running off places, the desperation we see him struggling with in the later arc simply isn't there. When we do get into his head, he seems to be mostly worried about Obi-Wan and wanting to ensure Obi-Wan makes it back to the ship in time. And of course, the moment that undoes him has exactly nothing to do with Tahl at all (although he is WELL within his rights to prioritize her in this moment, she's the one who is actively dying and needs immediately medical attention that no one on this planet can or is willing to provide). It's his attachment to XANATOS that fucks him up, when Obi-Wan's actions remind him of Xanatos' betrayal.

And you can make some headcanons here, obviously, to help make the connections a little more. Like that the stress over Tahl on Melida/Daan makes his struggle regarding his relationships with Xanatos and Obi-Wan even more difficult. Or that nearly losing Tahl once made him more inclined to get fucked up about it the second time. From an out-of-universe perspective, it does feel like Watson introduced the friendship and then decided later on to use Qui-Gon's relationship to Tahl as a way to parallel Anakin and his relationship to Padme, which makes some of his earlier actions seem a little unusually tame in comparison because she simply hadn't added in this aspect of their dynamic yet.

except somehow, Qui-Gon Jinn has missed this memo

when the man publicly lays into the child at the Initiate's Lightsaber exhibition for 'being too aggressive' and 'focusing on nothing of importance in favor of perfecting his lightsaber technique', Tahl is only the first of many Masters to privately pull him aside and try to smack some sense into him