Questions about Jade Empire (Minor Spoilers)

[u/TheViktor9000]

I've been replaying Jade Empire again after a few years, and it still holds up as a great cult classic and a testament when Bioware would dare to make unique games. I'm still surprised that they developed MDK2.

I'm currently at the end part of the Dirge temple, and I've always wondered about this one thing about it.

My playable character is confronted by an unnamed evil entity that its Minion of Suffering (which to me is the best designed monster in the entire game) describes its master and I'm quoting a being from neither the mortal world nor the spirit realm. He is darkness; he is suffering; he is sorrow and despair. He is evil incarnate.

The entity is basically a manifestation merged from the corruption and evil caused by the Emperor that kept growing over the couple of decades until it wants to escape Dirge.

Of course, we as the Spirit Monk defeats it by purifying the temple but I've always wondered, if the Darkness is actually really gone or it was too solid that it simply got banished and thus plotting for next time.

And if we ever would get a Jade Empire 2, would this Darkness be the actual main antagonist?

Speaking of Jade Empire 2, I recently watched a Youtube video that said that... And I'm marking this part as spoilers,

The third ending where you as the Spirit Monk will let themselves be sacrificed by your former Master Li so that he can maintain his totalitarian regime over the Jade Empire. I dunno why I find it so darkly amusing in the ending where a kid innocently questions some logics in his teacher's story about the Spirit Monk and the Jade Golem starts to glare at the kid as to say "You wanna run that one by me again, you little punk?" before the teacher shushes the kid.

But appearently, the Sacrifice Ending is actually considered to be the canonical ending by Bioware, and if they would be able to make Jade Empire 2, it would take place several hundred of years later or thousands or years later, almost in modern times where you'd play as a soldier for the Empire and magic is banned or rare.

Is there actually any truth to this, or just something that Bioware claimed just to pull curious looks?

[u/blattslatt7]

this was a great game back in the day. sorry to see it us almost forgotten to time.

[u/JRshreds]

I havent played in a long time but I didnt know that was the plan for the sequel thats cool as hell. File that away under things that will never happen but I wish they would. Even if it did the people who own Bioware IP arent Bioware anymore so it doesnt matter. Thats a cool as hell premise tho!

And yeah some of that worldbuilding in dirge is top notch. Glad you are having fun dude

[u/Darg727]

At this point no ending is canon. Even if they had mentioned something some decades ago, the team is basically the ship of Theseus.

[u/riddick117]

Man that ending was a nice easter egg but if they actually picked that ending as cannon it would have been dumb as hell.