Possible spoilers ahead for KOTFE/KOTET.

I have seen how some companions have received rather lackluster returns and have seen around some great ideas people have had if a companion could have gotten an entire chapter to themselves to really shine. How would you have brought back you favorite companions?

Here's an example I had for Iresso.

We get rumors of a powerful holocron and weapon plans locked inside a man's head. We have to rescue Iresso whose been captured by Vaylin's forces on some backwater moon or planet. We can take Lana/Theron or Arcann if he's been saved. Throughout the chapter we learn through cut scenes that it's true and that they're trying to get the holocron data from Iresso's head which contains plans for a weapon that could help shift the war for whomever has it. In the end we can choose to,

LS: Save Iresso, permanently closing/losing the holocron's information so it can never be used/found again.

DS: Continue to test/torture him to try and gather the data/weapon plans for yourself which will kill him in the process.

Major plot point of KotET: "We need to go to Nathema to stop Vaylin."

Plot point from the Revan novel: "Nathema's location was hidden, but Lord Scourge knows where it is."

Endgame of KotET: "Destroy the Emperor, once and for all."

Lord Scourge's main motivation: "Stop the Emperor."

... yeah, seems like there was a bit of a missed opportunity there.

Since Kira's backstory is also so intimately tied to the Emperor, and she and Scourge worked together as companions of the Jedi Knight, I would have had them together in a "clenched-teeth teamwork" situation working against the Emperor, and the Alliance finds them to get Nathema's location.

Plot point of KOTFE/ET; the Alliance is supposed to be a blend of Light and Dark, Republic and Empire, Jedi and Sith, all working together towards the defeat of Arcann/Vaylin. (Even Satele Shan and the ghost of Darth Marr were in hiding together on Odessan, waiting for the Outlander's arrival...)

Companions: Kira (Child of the Emperor, but rejected him to be a Jedi, despite early training on Korriban), Jaesa (discovered the hypocrisy of parts of the Jedi Order and joined a Sith who she saw as more honest to learn from them, whether it's Light or Dark Jaesa…), Ashara (Jedi Padawan with a special ability who trained under a Sith with the same ability, but didn't necessarily become Sith herself)

Any one of those companions could have had a good quest where you had to recruit them as part of forging the Alliance together, getting Sith and Jedi to find common ground, maybe having to recover training materials from Tython and Korriban through Eternal Empire interdiction as part of it. Could have even included some NPCs discovering that, despite training as Jedi or Sith to start with, they're actually more capable of relating to the Code and ways of the other Order instead... End with Kira/Jaesa/Ashara (or even a combination thereof) thanking the player for helping to preserve the knowledge and teachings the Eternal Empire is trying to destroy and joining/rejoining them.

I would have waited and let them weave companions to whatever story was to come.

A lot of the Alliance alerts I had no issue with, they had some fun quests and good narrative. They could stay as they were if you ask me.

But a lot of the romance companions felt really heavy-handedly showed into the game to appease all the upset fans who lost their waifus/husbandos. And a lot of these reunions were really bland, short, had no quest or goal nor dialog to fill the void. You just went and picked them up after 5-7 years from their newly established life, and they apparently had no complaints nor life beyond you, and just drop everything for you unconditionally. I find it rather hard to believe that absolutely no-one formed new relationship or life of any kind in this time they might not want to immediately ditch because you told them to come back.

So... Rather than shove every X romance character into a quick kissy scene to get upset fans who lost their virtual waifus calm the f down, I would have kept my cool and keep writing the story. Even if it took time. A lot of time.

Because the ones they did write in the chapters themselves felt organic. They were nicely written. I especially enjoyed Aric and Kaliyo reunions, they really felt they had a life during all this and stayed true to their characters without immediately tossing whatever their mission was aside for you. They had formed relationships and life beyond that one cut-scene the alerts romances did, and I very much appreciated that detail.

Now, I don't think every companion should be important to whatever main plot is yet to come. But there is other ways of forming backstories and have people keep their life intact. Like put them on planets as part of planetary quests like in the vanilla game! Nowadays almost every new planets just turns into a daily questing area, I think we could benefit making more of these non-repeatable yet well animated quests for these companions to tell their story trough.

So far, I only got my Consular to Outlander status (which suits her very well):

Qyzen: Okay, I dug the fact that he took over Kephess's crew. I also dug the idea that he wants you to hunt World Bosses and other big nasties to prove your worth. But what I would have really liked to add? The Scorekeeper religion states that a hunter's Score is forfeit if captured alive, and that amends must be made, which was a big part of Qyzen's arc. I would have made it come full circle by having the consular have the option of telling Qyzen "I was captured alive, and failed in my duties as Herald. I must make amends to the Scorekeeper." And maybe some additional dialogue for one of the new party members, like Lana, to be a bit boggled ("You don't actually BELIEVE in that alien religion, do you?") Okay, maybe a bit headcanon-ish, as my Consular kinda came around to Qyzen's ideas. If the Scorekeeper is the aspect of The Force that Qyzen honors, and that aspect chooses the Consular, who is Consular to argue?

Tharan and Holiday: I am so waiting for these two, as Tharan was such a great foil to my Consular. And the end of Tharan's arc had an interesting possibility. Holiday, with full sentience, is no longer as slavishly devoted. It might be interesting if the two had a falling out. I figure that Tharan, being nowhere near as jaded and shallow as he likes to pretend he is, decides to do something brilliant, crazy, and borderline unethical to hit back against Valkorian's forces. I could see him cooking up a Force-nullifying device of some kind, given that he's observed enough of the Consular and Master Syo to give him a few ideas. Maybe Holiday got annoyed with how much he was working and left, becoming a virtual ghost on the Holonet. And, depending on how the Outlander plays their cards, they can get Tharan (and his great toy to use, which would count as a permanent buff), Holiday (and all the information she can access, which might give a bonus to Companion influence), or both of them.

Zenith: Seeing as Balmorra got screwed over AGAIN, judging by Ty Corden's appearance, he's probably back on his bug-infested dump of a planet, sniping Zakuul and Imperials. I can see an Imperial Outlander as either not being able to get him at all, or having a very difficult time of it, given how much Mr. Attitude and a Sniper Rifle hates their guts.

Felix: The single cutscene rescue was sweet, but a bit lackluster. Some mad scientist (the one who turned Vaylin into a rabid mutt) experimenting on him due to the time bomb in his head? Great idea, but that should have been a full blown smash and grab of that laboratory. I do like having the LS/DS choice to spare him or take the data and kill the man. I can also see a couple options - if Jorgan's alive, have him being the party member along for the ride and taking a massive blow to any affection points if you take the DS option, and a major boost for the LS one. If Jorgan isn't alive, then maybe a companion that approves of the DS option and loses affection for the LS.

Nadia: Was a little disappointed that she wasn't in a team-up with Ashara, as they would probably have a lot in common. Before Ashara returned, my guess is that the two would be renegade Force users (Nadia would probably have issues with the Jedi for writing off the Consular, wouldn't be happy with Suresh steamrolling the Rift Alliance, and would also be upset if she knew the Republic wrote off Felix) searching for their masters, wandering the galaxy and doing what they felt was right while trying to find a third option.

Well, I would never have said forget the long game and just wrap it up.

I would've tried to get more than one back at a time, considering a lot of the chapters look like they could've gone that route one way or the other.

For instance, give Kaliyo a partner in her anarchy.

I would never have made them only obtainable for their original class though, since they didn't do that for some. That's just lame.

Personally, my preference would have been to see as many companions as possible return in the main storyline chapters, as we saw with Kaliyo, Jorgan, Vette and several others. If they got the same treatment as those characters, I would have been more than content. They don't all need to have SCORPIO-esque importance.

Truth be told, if the various rumors and hints are to be believed, that was once the intention of the SWTOR's story team. It would have been perfect for me, primarily playing for RP and for Story, for the Devs to have extended the Zakuul storyline over many more chapters, be it monthly releases or expansion bundles. However, I get that this is still an MMO that has to accommodate PvP and PvE, and continuing to focus resources on the Zakuul chapters for another year would have delayed those elements even longer. So I understand why we didn't see many returning companions in the main story beyond Fallen Empire.

That said, it is kind of a shame how companions are returning in the present. The recent "Reunion" missions are an unfortunate necessity, as much of the vocal community has been waiting for specific companions for a long time, and delaying their returns until the next new story might have caused further content. Still, if I had my way, I would wait to reintroduce those characters until story arises that they can actually shine, instead of bending to player pressure and rushing reunions out that could be potentially meaningful.

Still, I have hope. There are still several great companions in the queue who can return in ways that will allow them to shine in the story. Kira, Scourge, Khem, Jaesa, Zenith, and others. And in addition to that, there remains the possibility of giving a greater story presence to the reunited companions. A keen eye might note that characters like Andronikos, Corso, Akaavi, Iresso, and the other recently returned companions may have "Reject" options, though none came with a "Kill" option, even when it felt extremely appropriate (*cough* Ashara *cough*). That said, it seems the SWTOR Team is reserving the right to tie these characters into the main story at some point, and that is A-Okay with me!

Major plot point of KotET: "We need to go to Nathema to stop Vaylin."

Plot point from the Revan novel: "Nathema's location was hidden, but Lord Scourge knows where it is."

 

Endgame of KotET: "Destroy the Emperor, once and for all."

Lord Scourge's main motivation: "Stop the Emperor."

 

... yeah, seems like there was a bit of a missed opportunity there.

 

Since Kira's backstory is also so intimately tied to the Emperor, and she and Scourge worked together as companions of the Jedi Knight, I would have had them together in a "clenched-teeth teamwork" situation working against the Emperor, and the Alliance finds them to get Nathema's location.

Also at the end of the Jedi Knight story Scourge says he will stay with you until he is sure the Emperor is no more. Well, the emperor is gone so hopefully they come up with a good reason for Scourge to stay around. He said he will never be anything but Sith and I don't see him willingly want to follow the republic or a LS jedi anymore. I guess we will see what interesting (if any) story they come up with concerning him. But I do agree with you that bringing them in for Nathema would have been ideal. I also think they should have brought Ilresso in at that time for us to rescue from there.

Here's an example I had for Iresso.

We get rumors of a powerful holocron and weapon plans locked inside a man's head. We have to rescue Iresso whose been captured by Vaylin's forces on some backwater moon or planet. We can take Lana/Theron or Arcann if he's been saved. Throughout the chapter we learn through cut scenes that it's true and that they're trying to get the holocron data from Iresso's head which contains plans for a weapon that could help shift the war for whomever has it. In the end we can choose to,

LS: Save Iresso, permanently closing/losing the holocron's information so it can never be used/found again.

DS: Continue to test/torture him to try and gather the data/weapon plans for yourself which will kill him in the process.

Felix: The single cutscene rescue was sweet, but a bit lackluster. Some mad scientist (the one who turned Vaylin into a rabid mutt) experimenting on him due to the time bomb in his head? Great idea, but that should have been a full blown smash and grab of that laboratory. I do like having the LS/DS choice to spare him or take the data and kill the man. I can also see a couple options - if Jorgan's alive, have him being the party member along for the ride and taking a massive blow to any affection points if you take the DS option, and a major boost for the LS one. If Jorgan isn't alive, then maybe a companion that approves of the DS option and loses affection for the LS.

I am a bit late replying to this, but I have three strands of thought for how Iresso's return could have been handled, some not entirely dissimilar to what has already been posted in this thread.

1. KotET Chapter Return: Nathema - I imagine Felix was originally supposed to link in with this plot, given the two strong connected strands of Jarak (who had both Felix and Vaylin tortured) and the secrets of ancient holocrons (the one in Felix's head and the one housing Dramath). If his return was made available to everyone, then how we handle Felix might have some knock-on effects for our use of the Dramath holocron later. (Or maybe, on some paths, the Dramath holocron wouldn't be used at all - something different would replace it?)
   
2. Existing alliance alert return story, except the consular goes on an active mission to save Felix. If available, Jorgan and/or Qyzen take part. I have written a lot of personal speculation about this in my free time, but it's so verbose and scattered that it would take me a while to condense. Ideally the mission would include three paths: diplomatic, stealth/infiltration, and the old classic "boot down the door, fight everything" approach.
   
3. Felix remains a prisoner up to the Nathema Conspiracy; his remote prison world is one of the places where Vinn and Theron take refuge (or he was on Nathema all along); his fate is incorporated into the resolution of the Traitor storyline. For non-consular players, some other still-missing companions could be incorporated instead. Scourge, Kira, and Jaesa seem like they'd have particular promise here.

I stayed up too late writing a short Felix rescue fanfic but I mean to reply again to this topic with... some kind of succinct speculation. For now my musings are too long even if I hide them in spoiler tags...

I've posted some of these elsewhere but they're on topic so I'll repeat here.

I would not have gone on the rampage of killing every single companion that we have now. I would have included some opportunities to turn down some of these companions, but on the caveat that they would remain FULLY in the story for anyone who kept them.

Asylum chapters:

- Bring back Andronikos, Corso. Pirates in a shadow port; what could be more perfect?

Disavowed:

- Have Elara Dorne working with Aric Jorgan. Why not, they're both Havoc Squad!

Profit and Plunder: - Make this the Vette/Risha reunion that was missed, and have them working as a duo, with Gault.

Mandalore's Revenge: - Add Akaavi Spar, who found her way back to the Mandalorians.

Lady of Sorrows - I would have found a way to work Firebrand into this chapter instead of giving Kaliyo her own. I think people could have stood that more than spending a whole chapter with Kaliyo.

Firebrand chapter - I would have used this for a Talos Drelik chapter on Yavin 4 instead, and possibly found a way to return Khem Val here. We have a very knowledgeable Sith archaeologist who worked with a Dark Councillor who had ghosts in their head. It's not as though that would have been useful expertise in the KOTET story arc. *facepalm* So I would have made Talos Drelik main story.

By the end of KOTFE that would have given the player these main story companions:

Risha

Vette

Akaavi

Corso

Torian

Andronikos

Kaliyo

SCORPIO

Gault

Elara Dorne

Aric Jorgan

Talos Drelik

Khem Val

In the Star Fortress missions I would have used class story companions for at least some of these instead of new ones. If the PC and companion were from the same class, you could get them back without completing the Star Fortress veteran mode, and would get more content with them.

Alderaan- Vector

Nar Shaddaa - Mako or Zenith

Tatooine - Andronikos if he was not on Asylum

Voss - Ashara

KOTET

Chapter 1 - Ashara, if she was not in a SF mission

Chapter 2 - Quinn.

Chapter 6 - Another opening for Risha here, to pose as a socialite at Vaylin's party and get them in that way

Chapter 7 - Felix. No reason he shouldn't have been in Nathema and it would have made the chapter even more compelling

That would not have returned every single companion but it would have meant that between the main story, SF and existing Alliance Alerts, the only missing companions would have been:

Sith Warrior: Jaesa LS/DS

Jedi Consular: Nadia, Tharan

Jedi Knight: Scourge, Kira, Doc

And the only missing LIs would have been:

Jedi Knight - Doc; Kira

Sith Warrior - DS Jaesa

Jedi Consular - Nadia

And those could have all been set up for a post-KOTET story involving destroying the end of the Emperor's power base and Zildrog.

Uhhh ... I would have gone with chapter returns instead of these two minute cut scenes.

I.E.

Quinn, Peirce, Dorna & Rusk - I would have brought these characters back in a chapter that had both the Empire and Republic loosely working together to bring down a Zakuul target.

Kira, Jaesa, Nadia, Guss & Ashara - These four I would of had working together in their own resistance cell. Not sure what Jaesa would be like ... maybe somewhere in the middle while easily influenced by both LS & DS choices.

Zenith - Something to do with defending Balmorra from the Eternal Empire. Balmorra Star Fortress?

Doc, Tharan & Lokin - Science / Medical stuff.

Temple - Something to do with the Eternal Empire interacting with the Chiss.

Risha - Queen of her own world, seeking to ally with the Alliance.

Mako, Broonmark, Tweek & Akaavi - Something to do with bounty hunting.

HK-51, C2-N2, 2V-R8 & M1-4X - Uhhh maybe a chapter about the droids infiltrating Zakuul?

Vector - Maybe a chapter about the Eternal Empire battling the Killiks?

Blizz & Yuun - Uhhh ... something related to technology or salvage from Zakuul?

Talos & Khem Val / Zash - Something about finding Sith / Jedi artifacts

Lord Scourge - On his own quest tracking down what he believes to be the Emperor?

Felix - Something about him being tortured by some Zakuulan after the Holocron in his head.

Corso, Andronikos & Skadge - Something with a Pirate / Smuggler theme?

Qyzen - Maybe something to do with uniting the Trandoshan against the Eternal Empire?

Then ...

Vaylin - Betraying Senya & Arcann during the Chapter 8 fight.

--- I don't know about the rest.