User blog:CaptainAlexioC/PG Proposal: Talwyn Apogee

So, this proposal has a catch to it. I’m not 100% certain with approving this character as Pure Good, and my original plan was to ask an admin to remove her from the category. After going through the story once more however, I can see that she may in fact belong, especially after my recent exposure to the Ratchet & Clank comic series. Because of my uncertainty, I decided to make this into a proposal to get a consensus and have this settled the proper way.

What's the work?

Ratchet & Clank is a video game franchise created and developed by Insomniac Games, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The first game was released in 2002, and has up to 14 titles as of today, with Rift Apart being the latest title, released in June. The game is a platformer and third-person shooter following the perspective primarily from the titular characters, who have protected multiple galaxies from threats.

Who is she? What has she done?

Talwyn Apogee first appears in Tools of Destruction, the sixth title, when Ratchet infiltrates her space station, in search of the lombax secret. Initially, she (along with her two warbots Cronk and Zephyr) is confrontational towards Ratchet, but the two quickly become allies after discovering he is a lombax. She briefly talks about her backstory of being separated from her father, Max Apogee, followed by telling Ratchet about an artifact stolen by space pirates. They head to the pirate base on Ardolis, where they recover the artifact, which reveals a hint that more information is on Rykan V. There, they would an ancient projector that revealed that the lombax secret is the Dimensionator, as well as a hint to its location. From here, Talwyn would temporarily split from the duo to search on Sargasso, but ended up captured and sent to Zordoom Prison. She was rescued, and split up to rescue Cronk and Zephyr successfully.

She would not appear again until Ratchet heads to Reepor to pursue Qwark, who stole the Dimensionator. Here, she, Cronk and Zephyr would fight Tachyon’s forces with Ratchet and Clank, and sticks by their side as he confronts Emperor Tachyon. They would be separated, and Talwyn would wait by Ratchet’s ship until he and Clank returned safely. Ratchet returns first, and comforts him, believing that Clank had disappeared or died. However, Clank soon returns, and the heroes immediately learn that Tachyon is headed to siege Meridian City. Ratchet and Clank head there, and Talwyn stays behind to re-attach Cronk’s head back to his body.

Finally, Talwyn and her warbots would fight Tachyon’s forces alongside Ratchet and Clank for the last time on Fastoon. They would accompany the duo all the way to the Court of Azimuth, where they confront Tachyon. After Ratchet fights Tachyon in another dimension and banishes him, she guides the heroes back to her space station, and witness Clank get taken away by the Zoni.

In Quest for Booty, she accompanies Ratchet in his pursuit to find Clank. Ratchet had learned of the Obsidian Eye, which would be crucial in finding Clank. The two head to Merdegraw, a planet riddled with space pirates, including their old enemies Rusty Pete and Romulus Slag. Together, they fight their way through space pirates and assisted the hoolefoids in defending their habitats from the pirates. In return, they were granted access to the Obsidian Eye, but learned that they needed to acquire the Fulcrum Star from Darkwater’s grave, located in the Morrow Caverns. Talwyn becomes trapped behind a door, separating her from Ratchet, and she is either rescued by him or finds her own way out, depending on the player’s choice.

Assuming she is saved, she assists Ratchet in a battle against pirates trying to invade Hoolefar Island. In any case, they later head to Darkwater Cove, and find the Fulcrum Star, which was unfortunately a trap, leading to Ratchet being separated from Talwyn once more. After Ratchet escapes the Lythoin Caves, she rescues Talwyn from imprisonment and the two confront Darkwater, who was sharing a body. Together, they defeat him in battle and Rusty Pete drops the Fulcrum Star, which Ratchet acquires, and they head back to Hoolefar Island to power the Obsidian Eye. They find Clank’s location and activity, learning that he is with Dr. Nefarious.

Although she would be absent in the next game, A Crack in Time, she made a return in the comic series, which is canon to the timeline. After Cronk and Zephyr rescue Ratchet and Clank from Zogg's imprisonment, they are taken back to the Apogee Space Station, where Ratchet is greeted with a warm embrace by Talwyn. She explains that she has offered her space station to be used as a command post to the Polaris Government, in response to Zogg’s theft of multiple planets. Talwyn also notes that there is a plan to launch a joint assault, before re-introducing Ratchet to an old friend. Together, they confront President Qwark on his alleged involvement in Zogg’s Helios Project.

Later, in a conversation with Ratchet, she speculates Zogg’s motives, while comforting Ratchet over the loss of Alister Azimuth, iterating the importance of friendships. Shortly after, they are informed by the Galactic Rangers that Artemis has moved his galaxy to an unknown location in the universe. Artemis transmits a voice message to the station, demanding that Ratchet or Clank turns themselves in or Veldin will be destroyed. Despite her and Sasha’s efforts to talk them out of it, they are unsuccessful, and Talwyn makes Ratchet promise to flee if Zogg breaks his word.

As the fleet of the Galactic Rangers approach Zogg’s warship, Talwyn begins to worry that Ratchet hasn’t communicated back as scheduled. Ratchet and Clank are taken prisoner, but launch a distraction which allows them to escape from the grasp of Zogg. He then initiates communication with Talwyn and Sasha, who begin to fight Zogg’s fleet with the assistance of the Galactic Rangers. Eventually, Ratchet finds the Surinox Shard, which they needed to restore the teleported planets to their original places. He stays for longer than planned in order to prevent Veldin from freezing over, against his promise with Talwyn. He is ambushed by Zogg, who foils their plan at moving Veldin as he prepares to kill Ratchet, but Talwyn crash lands into the warship, saving him. This buys time for Ratchet to grab the Shard and escape on a pod, but Talwyn is captured and believed to be gone.

In her prison cell, she is met by Zogg, who provokes Talwyn over her father Max Apogee. Here, he claims to have known Max, and questions her loyalty towards him, as he taunts her over seemingly being abandoned. Zogg announces he has sent his fleet to kill Ratchet and Clank, who have landed on a frozen Veldin. Later on, she is greeted by Vorn, who explains to her that Zogg hasn’t always been insane and initially wanted to keep people safe. Wanting to get away from Zogg, he sets Talwyn free, and the two are confronted by Zogg personally, but successfully escape on a pod. At the same time, General Glahm launched missiles at his warship, leading Ratchet to believe she was killed in the explosion.

The escape pod would crash into the Apogee Space Station, where the other heroes currently were, and it is revealed that Zogg was also in the pod. He holds Talwyn hostage, who pleads for Ratchet to just shoot him anyway. As Ratchet hesitates, Zogg unleashes an army of Zurkons onto the station, forcing the heroes to fight them. While Talwyn breaks from Zogg’s grasp, he flees, and Ratchet, Talwyn and Vorn take the aqueduct as a shortcut to stop him escaping. She is present as Vorn tries to reason with his former boss, who is although unmoved, buys time for Ratchet to hit the shard with negative energy. This opens a rift that sucks Zogg into an alternate dimension, putting an end to his tyranny.

By the events of Into the Nexus, she is now a captain in the Polaris Defense Force. At the time, Vendra and Neftin Prog were an unresolved threat, and Talwyn informs the press that Neftin’s location was unknown. As Ratchet and Clank are on the Nebulox Seven Prison Ship to escort an imprisoned Vendra Prog to the Vartax Detention Center, Talwyn contacts the duo, requesting not to wake Vendra Prog without Cronk and Zephyr in their presence.

After Vendra Prog is recaptured by her brother Neftin, Talwyn transmits another call to Ratchet and Clank, who have crash landed on planet Yerek. She learns that Cronk and Zephyr were killed, to her grief. She pleads for the duo to come back to Meridian City, for their safety, but Ratchet decides that the Prog twins must be stopped, promising to stay in contact.

In response to the Nethers becoming released into their dimension, Talwyn orders that the Polaris Defence Force declare a state of emergency. She would then assist Ratchet in finding the Dimensionator, located at the Intergalactic Museum of History. After Mr. Eye and the Nethers are sent back to the Netherverse, she is present at the museum, and her romance with Ratchet would sway his ambition to find the lombaxes, decided to stay in their current dimension.

Corrupting Factors

She initially sees Ratchet and Clank as an enemy upon first meeting, holding them at gunpoint and forcing them to leave. I do not consider this corrupting given that the duo was technically trespassing on her space station, and she quickly allies herself with them anyway. Shortly after they form an alliance, she tends to be sassy at times, sarcastically saying “Okay genius” to Ratchet when he offers to look at an artifact she was holding. Even if this is considered a corrupting quality, she drops the sassiness after Tools of Destruction, at least in a way that can be interpreted as rude. Any other moments of anger she shows is justified, such as confronting Zogg, which doesn’t cross the line into corrupting as far as I can tell.

Admirable Standard

Admittedly, her screen time in the video games isn’t anything remarkably admirable. She mainly accompanies Ratchet in their quests, fighting alongside him and occasionally provides emotional support. It is her presence in the comic series where she possibly stands out. Here, she proves to be very selfless. She offers her space station to be used as a base for the Polaris Government, which put it at great risk from the threat of Zogg, despite being her home, and indeed leads to it becoming wrecked.

More importantly, she largely risks her life to save Ratchet from being killed by Zogg, through crashing into the warship. This was crucial in buying time for Ratchet to steal the Surinox Shard, which would temporarily halt his plans to teleport more planets to his galaxy, and escape. It reflects her love for Ratchet, and that she saw a greater good above herself, which was galactic safety. She shares this selflessness with Clank to some degree, but her increased physical capability in comparison means that Clank would not have likely been able to accomplish this on his own, possibly allowing Talwyn to stand out uniquely.

Final Verdict

I personally remain undecided, but I am hopeful that I have laid out the information as concisely and unbiased as possible for voters to form their opinion. I do ask that voters try to be as honest as possible. Thank you.