[NRW] The Terror Of The Centrality (Joiner King SPOILERS)

After reading Joiner King last night, I think I can safely say that the Killiks were the ones who terrorized the Sharu into hiding millennia ago.

I know, I know, we say that everytime a new superenemy comes along (the Vong, the Vagaari, etc). But this time I think it's them.

How are the Sharu's ancient enemies described in Lando Calrissian And The Mindharp Of Sharu?

"But this is the gist: something pretty scary threatened the Sharu. Something that liked to eat hyperadvanced cultures but wouldn't bother with savages."

Sound familiar? The ancient Killiks wouldn't waste time melding with a weak species reduced to roasting lizards in the desert. But the Sharu would be a prize indeed. Hence the whole Mindharp gambit, a way of saving themselves and waiting out the Killiks.

Notice the Mindharp configuration, its shifting through dimensions that gives everyone headaches. If Lando could barely make sense of it, an insectoid with a different visual system would be utterly baffled. No Killik would be able to spring the Mindharp release early; and neither would any humanoid under Killik control.

Also note the Sharu's technological systems, with their size-changers and teleporters. The size-changers could either make an exoskeleton useless, or force its wearer crushed beneath the weight. And the teleporters would cut the Killiks off from any pheromone trail they'd left before, to help them keep their way.

OK, that's my submission.

 

interesting indeed.. the "eat cultures" might just mean assimilate them into the hive.