Quinlan Vos - Virgin Jedi?
On the Dark Horse boards, people assume that Quinlan Vos has a sexual relationship with Khaleen Hentz. This may be inferred from some of the issues in which they appear. Even though there’s obviously sexual tension between them, I’m not sure that they’ve actually done it.
I’m basing this on a certain panel in Republic #63, which unfortunately, isn’t part of the preview on the Web site. Anyhow, it occurs when Khaleen wakes Quin from a meditative nightmare. The characters are facing each other, but their faces aren’t shown. Instead, all that’s depicted are her boobs and his unlit lightsaber in his hand, pointed at her chest. How phallic is that?
The next panel shows only his eyes–he’s glaring at her. Then a picture of her face telling him why she disturbed his meditation.
Finally, there’s a picture that shows both characters fully, with Quin re-attaching his lightsaber onto his belt. In this panel, a rattled Khaleen says, “You were about a heartbeat from putting your lightsaber through me!” His answer? “No, I wasn’t.”
Everything but, perhaps? And if he had put his lightsaber through her, would it symbolize the physical act, the result of which kills Khaleen? I’ll have to think about the implications there.
Anyway, my question is, if they have had sex, wouldn’t Quin have been a virgin? I mean, he was raised in the Temple and all, and peer pressure, if any existed within, would probably have been on things such as lightsaber combat or something. More than likely, he didn’t have to cope with “normal” pressure that “normal” teens confront: drinking, sex, stuff like that.
And yet, some of the forum members think he’s a player. Personally, for Quin, I prefer the term “playa.” “Player” sounds too…well, clean-cut. Or something. And let me tell you, when he first appears as his bad undercover self in Republic #49, he is most definitely a P-I-M-P. Look at him on the cover (cover artist - Ryan Benjamin):
If this ain’t a Jedi gangsta, I don’t know what is. Holla!
Anyhow, perhaps people think he’s a sex machine because he doesn’t “look” like a virgin. But then, what does a virgin look like? A Jedi virgin? Obi-Wan? :d Hmm…
Star Wars
Oh the questions, I never thought about it that way-although for my age I am pretty innocent-damn disney movies.
I don’t know whether they had sex or not but I doubt highly that Quinlan is (Look at him!) but the references are very strong in volume 4, for me that is one of the saddest parts of the Quinlan/Khaleen story because he tells her that maybe he wants her gone.
August 21, 2004 11:05 am
The sexual tension is, to a certain degree, explicitly portrayed in the issues that comprise volume 4. But the question remains, is she his first? That is, if they’ve done it.
August 21, 2004 5:47 pm
maybe that’s why it’s put across so strongly, that they haven’t done so they’ll keep the tension ratched up enough
August 21, 2004 6:35 pm
Right. If they haven’t done it, the tension is increased, which keeps readers on the edge of their seats.
However, if or when they do it, I think it would be cathartic for Khaleen, but I’m not sure what it would mean for Quin, if anything. It wouldn’t mean that he loves her, and maybe it would be just another DS act. The result of such a union could only devastate Khaleen, I think.
August 21, 2004 8:33 pm
Accoring to Jan, and I agree Khaleen finds some sort of stability in Quinlan and if they made love then Khaleen may take that as a sign of stability however if it’s just sex then their relationship may break. If you notice neither of them say they love each other. Quinlan tells her that if she loves him she’ll go and Tholme tells her she loves him but it’s never said, all we get is that kiss.
It’s really bad cause I want them to work out but I have a feeling it’s gonna implode pretty badly.
August 22, 2004 10:40 am
Interesting thoughts. I wanted to comment on my thinking behind the panels mentioned in issue 63. Certainly, all that can be read into this–however, there is more.
I tried the panel with the saber pointing at Khaleen’s chest several different ways. Full figures, CU with saber at her throat. None of those was satisfactory. I felt like including their faces distanced the reader from any immediate danger. Faces let us know it’s someone else in danger–not ourselves. Taking away the faces objectifies the characters for the viewer–their identities become an abstraction. They could be anyone. And putting the focus on a saber a hair’s breath away from somene’s heart makes us draw a breath. It takes us to the moment. It’s dangerous. I wanted the viewer to feel like the saber could be pointed at them.
I thought about the other implications, but the final image worked on so many other levels that I felt it had to stay as it was.
As for the rest. The level of Khaleen and Quin’s relationship is really up to the reader to decide. Jedi are not allowed marrige or attachments, but they are not celibate. Interesting too–do Jedi padawans have to deal with some of the issues of growing up that ‘normal’ kids have to deal with? Part of becoming a Jedi is learning to set the world aside and learning to focus on the moment. I would think exposing padawans to the realities of the world would have to be part of their training.
August 22, 2004 11:27 pm
I don’t want to spoil Jedi apprentice for anyone but when Obi Wan was sent to Agri corps he knew almost nothing about the way the universe worked. He trusted that everyone was good and that evil could always be vanquished. I would like to see a female jedi on pms with a lightsaber
Maybe they get the standard lecture about the birds and the bees and the temple and it is up to the master how much else they learn.
August 23, 2004 4:23 am
I agree that the panel works on many different levels for the reader, such as being able to identify with the characters, as well, as in a voyeuristic way. The pain/pleasure of what is insinuated did make me gasp, and these binary opposites are related to sex. This is why, I think, the reader can identify with Khaleen. Well, maybe female readers. I wonder if males can identify with her, or just Quin? Personally, I find it difficult to identify with Quin, at least in this situation.
As an aside, the panel that made me seriously gasp and made my jaw drop, was the one in Star Wars?Jedi: Count Dooku, when Quin suddenly seizes Khaleen and kisses her. For one thing, I so did not expect it, but also because I could identify with Khaleen. But again, not Quin.
———-
I would think that part of the Jedi students? education would include a lecture on the birds and the bees, and puberty. Just like in seventh grade health class. :p
But I agree that, to a certain extent, the students are pretty sheltered before they become Padawans and go on official missions.
*** possible spoiler***
In Jude Watson?s Legacy of the Jedi
, the students go on a?oh, what do they call that?the recreational type?treasure hunt(?). The students are very familiar with Coruscant, at least the areas near the Temple. So I would think that they?re allowed some freedom to explore the city on their own, but I know that in other SW literature, of which I can?t think of an example at the moment, some of the Jedi reflect on their safety and shelter from the outside world in the Temple.
August 23, 2004 10:37 am
Good point, I felt it strange when Quinlan kissed Khaleen cause she was saying it didn’t matter if she died cause she was a gutter rat then boom, kissage abounds. I liked it cause it proved that Quinlan cared whether she lived or died.
I was looking at the picture and if you look Quinlan is doing all the holding, her hand in around his waist and the other flung behind her so it was obviously a shock to her.
It gave me hope that he actually cared and that he loved her, not just cause he could use her.
August 24, 2004 7:20 am
Yeah, the fact that he kisses her at that moment shows that he does, at least, care–more so than the one in #54 where he kisses her on the cheek before leaping from the speeder. And like you said, she’s definitely shocked by this act–when I first saw it, I was pretty shocked myself!
August 25, 2004 8:42 am