[NRW] National Retcon Week 2008 (6-12th April)

Okay, here's one:

Darzu is a Sith title in the same vein as Darth with the difference, of course, being that it comes after one's chosen name.

I've pretty much always seen the "Darth Tradition" being its own subset of the Sith Order, with very specific beliefs and practices*... so why not have the "Darzu Tradition" as a competing cult within the Sith Order?

So, yeah, bring on more Darzus!

* Which Krayt's Sith do not adhere to, thus their being branded as heretics by Darths Nihilius, Bane and Andeddu. The One Sith, in my opinion, don't understand the significance of the Darth title. A'Sharad just assumes it's a title any Sith can claim, much like Bane does initially... the difference being that the latter actually went on to recieve instruction from a Darth.

 

Well, since other people are re-posting retcons they've mentioned elsewhere, I'll repost this one from my 12/6/07 1:00am post in the Galactic Cartography thread. It's nothing earth-shattering, just a way of cleaning up some of the glut of felinoid aliens of Star Wars:

 

Nice.

Hell, I'd be willing to condense a number of the different species into different breeds of one species, at the risk of making them too earthlike...or maybe they're all just descended from one feline race?

 

Unless Krayt is trying to claim legitimacy through it.

Where'd the Darzu retcon idea come from, anyway?

 

Anything that streamlines all the cats is cool with me.

...and whomever came up with the term "Catuman" should be killed.

 

Better that it's a slang term, then.

 

Or someone can retcon a place into existence called Catuma.

 

And now for an Ewoks retcon.

This is going to seem like fairly straightforward connections, but might as well set it up. There's an episode of the Ewoks television show called, Night of the Stranger. In it, a race of supernatural beings descend on Endor to attack the Ewoks. At the beginning of the episode, two moons of Endor pass across each other's orbits, there's a huge blast of light, and suddenly a huge rip opens in the sky. A purple meteor speeds through the passageway, eventually landing on Endor. From out of this pod-thingy comes a hovering monster of a creature, intent on claiming the Sunstar and punishing the Ewoks for banishing his race long ago, who apparently used the Sunstar to do it. To make a short story shorter, the Stranger is defeated by the Ewoks, who use the Sunstar to open up the tear in the sky and shoot all the terrible creatures back to where they came from.

Now the "question" remains, what's with the tear in space? How do these creatures know how to use the Sunstar? What in the world is up with the Ewoks television show? Now the most obvious idea behind this tear in space might be to use the Endor Gate, but it doesn't really look like a black hole, so I propose that this is a passage to Otherspace, the place between realspace and hyperspace where space is slightly warped and light shines less brightly. It is a galaxy of things strange and familiar...and deadly. During these strange creatures' attack on Endor, they briefly show the world to which they were banished. This other place is dim, it's eerie, and of course "light shines less brightly". It's also cool that Otherspace describes the entrance into this plane like this: "With a burst of bright darkness and a tear in the colored wall, Celestial was deposited into otherspace." Quite reminiscent of the tear above Endor in Night of the Stranger.

However, the way this entrance into otherspace actually happens is unclear, which is great for this fanon retcon. The Celestial in Otherspace enters by the occurrence of a hyperdrive malfunction. In Otherspace II, the Charon devise some sort of bio-engineered hyperdrive to punch through. Clearly the Force is at work here in some fashion. Regardless of the reason, the conditions need to be just right for entrance into Otherspace. You need luck (good or bad, whatever ), and you need some sort of powerful surge. For the Ewoks episode, the moons aligning over Endor give us the conditions, and the Force of the Sunstar is what rips open the portal into otherspace. For the bad guy's first entrance, the power was from his ship, rather than the Sunstar.

The only other thing that needs to set this up, is that apparently the Charon have exterminated all other life within otherspace. At least that is the reason why they are found in a deep sleep during the scenario. They killed everything, and they're hibernating until their prophet reveals what the next step is. So this of course begs the question, how can our Ewok baddies have been in otherspace if the Charon are the only species there? Well this is of course where you have to do a little stretching. According to Otherspace, the Charon used a biological weapon known as the Death Mist which they used to "wage war on living star systems." Now this suggests to me that the Charon weren't all that efficient when attacking the other species in otherspace. It's possible that when they came to one planet, they let loose their biological poison, watched the planet die, and then moved on. Now according to the brief glimpse we get of the Ewok baddies' world in this other place, it's a barren wasteland. There seem to be bones on the ground, there's no vegetation, etc. However, the species itself, they seem

 

Gorgeous!

Let's expand it!

The Sith's presence on Endor is what accounts for all the funky species there, as the dark side warps and twists and does all sorts of gross things. Perhaps this is where the Ewoks first learned of the Force, and perhaps the Ewok shamans keep things in check?

 

I'll be stealing a bit from SillyDan here, but according to the GGs, Logray, the most powerful Ewok Shaman, goes cuckoo for cocoa puffs during the events of RotJ, eventually causing him to be banished from the tribe. Now this is of course a little weird when you take into account the cartoon and comics. Since in those stories, he's like the old grandpa figure who can do no wrong. So what caused this change? Well SD postulated that the banishment was really a total farce. Logray was actually going into hiding to protect the Sunstar. However, building off of this, I think there's a better (and more sinister) explanation for this.

Now Logray in the Ewoks TV show and comics is extremely powerful. Even without his staff, Logray does huge telekinetic feats. He creates this golden arm that retrieves some papers from his hut, he turns crystals into dust, etc. During his time on Endor, he's defeating other dark side users that are drawn to the Sunstar with ease. He's unbeatable and is some sort of Force God. Obviously the tendency is to downplay these powers, since when we see Logray in RotJ, he's no Luke Skywalker. He's scared along with the rest of them when he sees 3PO floating through the air. However, I'm suggesting that the Sunstar was stolen right before the Rebels came to Endor. Then we can pin all of Logray's amazing powers and abilities on the Sunstar. His age, his resiliency, his powers, all can be drawn back to the Sunstar as something that's keeping him alive. One Ring syndrome if you will.

However, when the Rebels come to Endor in RotJ, Logray has lost the Sunstar. How? Most likely, the Emperor had it stolen. If all these two-bit darksiders were drawn to it, surely Palpatine when he was in orbit above Endor would have sensed the power of such a thing. So in this version of events, when Logray is trying to put on a show for the Rebels and his fellow Ewoks, he fails utterly. It was the Sunstar which augmented his powers. He was never the equivalent of a Skywalker, and when Luke does such a task with ease, it puts them in awe. The absence of the Sunstar can also be tied to his descent into dementia. The Sunstar protected Logray from the dark nexus influence of the planet. Without it, he slowly becomes more and more aggressive which leads to his banishment. Perhaps after his banishment, he used his showmanship to get back into another tribe, the one we see in Marooned. Now as for what happened to the Sunstar, maybe it was destroyed on board the Death Star? Perhaps its destruction is what triggered the Endor Gate to suck the majority of the debris to Mon Calamari? Either that or one of Palpatine's minions that was sent to steal the artifact got away with it scott free.

 

Possibly, though - truthfully - my impression is that he just associates the word with "Dark Lord".

He is a legitimate Sith Lord, certainly, but until we can confirm he's recieved training from a Darth I'm going to think of him as a pretender to that specific title.

I was... *Uli coughs and blushes* uh, just fooling about, writing a fanon history surrounding the "Sith Empress" depicted in this guy's fanart: http://namesjames.deviantart.com/art/Sith-Empress-63797047 (which, in all honesty, remains to this day the best non-LFL designed Sith Lord I've ever seen. I'd really like to see her brought into canon, somehow.)

So, anyway, I had her placed as Belia Darzu's successor and I'd written "Darzu" for the third time when the "Dar" bit stuck out and I thought "Hmmmmmmm?"

I mean, it's not a particularly imaginative retcon or anything, I just think it'd give the NSW era a little more flavour. Also, anything that would hint at/confirm that the "Darth Tradition" was more than taking the title and involved some specific practices/knowledge/ritual would make me very, very happy.

 

Good point. When he left XoXaan, he was still A'sharad Hett.

Though it may be less of a question of what Krayt considers Sithly and more what the galaxy at large, at this point in time, considers Sithly.

It's about as close to the supposed Rakatan origin words as "Darth" is.

Me too, so let's work on that, and we'll start by this quote from Kas'im:

"The Darth title was more than just a symbol of power; it was a claim of supremacy. It was used by those Dark Lords who have sought to enforce their will on the other Masters. It was a challenge?a warning to bow down or be destroyed."

Oooh, and this one from Darth Bane:

"Someone here once told me that the Darth title was no longer used because it promoted rivalry among the Sith. It gave the Jedi an easy target. It was easier just to abandon the custom. To have all the Sith Masters use the same title of Dark Lord. But I know the truth, Qordis. I know why none of you claims the that name for yourself. Fear. You're cowards. None of the Brotherhood is worthy of the Darth title. Least of all you."

Sick-nasty. So basically, the Darths run stuff, and they probably scare the bejeezus out of the other Dark Lords. The implication is that the title carries with it more than just a new name, but a true authority. It may also explain why Hett takes the Darth title, and then proceeds to share it with his entire Order. So basically, we can assume that the Darth title carries with it certain responsibilities and certain secret knowledge, but we can't really say what for certain. Yet.

So let's make some guesses:

With few exceptions, it's mostly Darths who we see getting tattoos and other body modifications. I like to believe that most Darths are required to go through some sort of ritual tattooing. This isn't merely aesthetic, but seems to have a lot to do with pain and dedication. It's worth noting that a good many of the Darths that we don't know for sure had any tattooing done were forced through some sort of intensely painful trauma - Darth Vader's Mustafar experience, Darth Sion's and Darth Nihilus' continued existences, Darth Sidious disfigurement, Darth Bane's orbalisk adventure - that may suffice in the place of the tattoos. Darth Krayt's Sith get tattoos as a matter of course - and then his higher ups seem to have to go through the Embrace of Pain also. Hardcore.

I imagine the Rule of Two was not created by Darth Bane in a complete philosophical vacuum. Given that we're told that claiming the Darth title is a claim of supremacy over the other Sith, I imagine the idea of supremacy, of power and the craving thereof, of the strong being replaced by the even stronger...all comes from the Darths.

Here's an interesting idea: it's speculated - IU, which means it's pretty much canon - that the title is derived from the Rakata lang

 

I've always liked the idea that Adas was the first Darth, and he was given the title by the Rakata. As for how it gets used later, I had the idea that it eventually became part of the Malachor V tradition; so Revan takes it, passes it onto his apprentices, and later the Triumvirate takes it. And Bane and Rivan of course take it from Revan (and Ruin could have taken it from a number of things; Revan, a holocron from Malachor, pick one).

If we want to take this further, perhaps Krayt learned of its original usage from XoXaan. "Emperor" and "triumph over death" suit him well.

Also, just to correct a common misconception, per Evil Never Dies the Rakata never had control over Korriban.

 

Notwithstanding, they had a presence there.

 

Indeed. I just spend enough time removing "Infinite Empire" from the Korriban affiliation box on Wookieepedia.

 

True enough, but I would include Krayt among the galaxy at large.

I don't think Krayt realises or even believes that he's in a different Sith denomination to the Darths, he just thinks "Darth" is a title any old Sith has the right to if they're powerful enough.

He's like... a Methodist Christian using Catholic titles, whose confused when the Popes of Christmas Past consider him a pretender. Krayt, though a true "Christian/Sith", can't be the "Pope/Darth" because he's not a "Catholic/Darth Traditionalist".

I feel blasphemous, now.

Yes, I think Kas'im is almost certainly implying that the Darth title isn't just something you take if you're a very powerful Sith but that it means you're actively ascribing to a certain outlook.

This outlook: "I am better than everyone else and perfectly happy to prove it."

Still, we're assuming that Kas'im, or even the majority of the NSW Sith, knew what the title was really about... and perhaps they didn't. Maybe most of the Sith following Ruin who took the "Darth" title took it in the same vein as I think Krayt did?

Krayt certainly seems to qualify as a master who "claimed supremacy" and enforced "his will on the other masters". I mean, he's told them: "We are One Sith, and we don't betray each other" and they've accepted it. He clearly has true authority... or appears to.

Honestly, at that point, I'm not sure Bane understands the true significance of the Darth title and I think he may be taking it in a Krayt-like fashion. Of course, I can't know that for certain (and a lot of this is rooted in my own ideas of what "the Darth Tradition" actually is). Maybe he is aware of the "Darth Tradition" by that point and has come to realise that none of the modern Sith ascribe to it in their cowardice?

Well, the Darths will inevitably try to run stuff (and most probably succeed)... but yes, I imagine they do, on the whole, scare the bejeezus out of the other Dark Lords.

Hmm, I agree that the title carries more with it than just a new name, but I think what it carries is something more than just "true authority".

I still think it's more likely that Krayt believes it's the Sith standard by this point.

I certainly think we can assume those things, but not from Kas'im and Bane's quotations (at least not standalone). My belief in a "secret Darth Knowledge/Philosophy" stems almost entirely from the fact that XoXaan was more than willing to train Krayt, whereas -

 

the rakatan elders specifically bid Revan retrieve data vital to their midi-chlorian manipulation experiments

Was it mentioned in the KOTOR game that the Rakatans were experimenting in midichlorian manipulation, or was this stated in another source?

 

In game.

Well, okay, they were talking about splicing genes and stuff to "re-create Force sensitivity"... so I just made the connection. It probably wasn't *direct* midi manipulation but it could have been.

Hey, who knows, maybe their wacko, Plagueis style experiments are what did them in as a race?

In other news, Trip just suggested: XoXaan Darzu.

I like. It makes Darth Krayt rather ironic.

 

My retcon? Well, I know Ulicus has suggested that Revan was the son of Ulic and Nomi, due to Jolee's mentions of Revan reminding him of Nomi, and the fact that he inherits the Qel-Droma robes, and other things I'm sure he knows better than I. The timeline lines up perfectly, too, with Redemption taking place thirty years before KOTOR, where Revan is approximately thirty. However, having just read Redemption today, there's absolutely no time there for Nomi and Ulic to get busy. However, that's not the only way for Revan to be descended from Nomi and Ulic . . .









For those of you who need it spelled out, There Is Another Sunrider. One who had a really strange fascination with Ulic. And who had plenty of time.


So, do I win Most Disturbing Retcon?

 

That makes the original plan for Bastila to be Vima (and hence Revan's love interest) oh-so more disturbing....

 

Doesn't it though?

 

Dude.







Is that why attachments were banned....

How very Young and the Darthless

 

Taking Havac's theory even further, we can now connect two other people into the family...Sedriss, who German Factfiles claims is a descendant of Ulic, and Vima-Da-Boda....

Is Qaga Lok the eventual product of that "ottegan warlord" and Vima-Da-Boda's daughter?


Hmmm....

To Whit:

[image=http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/c/c7/Ulic_Qel-Droma.JPG] + [image=http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/2/21/Vima_Training.jpg] = [image=http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/4/4e/Revanludotomb.jpg] + [image=http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/4/47/Bastilaphotoshoot2.jpg] -----> [image=http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/f/fc/VimaDaBoda.jpg] --------> [image=http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/8/89/Sedriss.jpg]

You can all hate me later.

 

Dear Lord....

 

Oh.My.God. It all makes SENSE, now.