Lit The Official StarWars.com Blog Thread - That's right, I went there

Daala isn't justified in existing.

 

I think this was the first reference to the Unification Wars outside of the ICS!

I think the EU is finally completed...

Did you also notice that the base destroyed in the 2nd Kaarenth Dissension adventure is the other faux-Death Star?

 

Yes, it's just perfect.

 

*Stares at his screen, completely dumbstruck.*
They did it. They actually did it. They found a way to make Ennix Devian into a cool and compelling villain...

 

I have to admit I have a soft spot for Devian since his scheme was something I came up with for an (awful) NJO fanfic after I saw Episode II in 2002.

 

It was also in one the WEG "classic adventure" collections (the one that was selections from the SWAJ). It was a mysterious Empire splinter-group that featured in two adventures and hasn't been followed up on until now.

 

It's also the name of Tarkin's wife. Delvardus' reputation as a womanizer might imply some very interesting things here...

We know that D'Asta didn't know about the plot, because his daughter took over for him during the conspiracy. So I'm not sure Baron D'Asta was ever a member of the IIRC. Though that just raises more questions, since she was replaced by a clone...and then killed in CE3...so...not sure if the original daughter knew about the sabotage of the clone stock.

 

Death Star III!!! Tao!!! That's two references to "Perfect Evil" in Abel's recent blog posts. Now I'd love a retcon that reconciles it's account of how Vader learned of the name of the rebel who blew up the Death Star with Marvel/Vader's Quest and Star Wood.

 

Okay, so after re-reading this masterpiece, I'll once again be subjecting you all to my notes and observations.

- On a side note, the link on the front page of the site has the word Blog just over Devian's mouth, and the letter B makes it look like Devian has bucky teeth. I'm nothing, if not easily amused.

- A nice explanation of why Delvardus, a Naval officer, bestows himself with an Army title and the repercussions it had amongst the rank and file.

- General Veers was described as passing into the services of various warlords post-Endor. It's nice to see a reference to that.

- Delvardus being lured into the Emperor's service with the promise of his love being saved has some nice parallels with the corruption of Anakin, and makes him a much more human, tragic figure. I'd always remembered Delvardus as "that total bad%$^# who tried to fashion his medals into a knife and stab Daala with his dying breath" so making him a more human character was a nice touch.

- I can't help but get the feeling that Delvardus' love being confined to a secret medcentre in a SSD was inspired by the fan theory about Isard being kept alive after her supposed death. Well played, sirs. Well played.

- The re-read of Harrsk's bio is pretty hilarious once you know the turn it's going to take. I can't help but imagine Pellaeon being beyond befuddled as Harrsk agrees with him one minute and rants and raves about his illegitimacy the next.

- When it said Harrsk survived his gassing, I was expecting him to be linked to one of the many attempts on Daala's life. I somehow did not see that coming...

- Nice to see the relationship between Treuten and Kosh firmly established. I'd always assumed that Kosh was just one of the warlord's relatives who fell in with the unified warlords after Daala gassed them, and tagged along with Pelly to the Remnant. I like this story much more.

- Piethet Brighteyes and the raiders of the Ryloth Ark?

- Words cannot describe how happy I am that the red VSD's of Crimson Command have finally been tied to the havod-hulled Star Destroyers mentioned during the Rawmat shortage in the Core. I've been calling for that connection for a long time, along with a few others, so to see that finally made canon.... I guess you could say I'm... tickled pink. YEAH!!!

- I remember Zakrinand Minus as being likened to Xim the Despot and was always curious about him. I'm glad to see what time period he comes from!

- I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Somehow, against all the odds, you actually made Devian cool. I feel like there's some kind of award I should be giving you...

- I'm intrigued by the reference to Vandron as "party leader". While it was probably just a vague term to denote his leadership of COMPNOR rather than anything specific, as someone inspired by the fantastic works of Publius, I can't help but hope it hints to a New Order Party.

- TAO! Between this and Hoar, Abel is seemingly on a mission to get the entire manga canonised. Surely it won't be long now until Leland has to come out and say the whole thing is canon...

- As soon as I saw the title Kaarenth Impaler, I just knew they were going to link it to the Dissension! That was a great reference.

- The Death Star III has finally been linked to the habitation spheres, in a way that's convincing and not awkwardly shoehorned in! Interesting to see them referred to as worldcraft. Does that make them the same as Hethrir's? I remember James McFadden mentioning that he had a solution of his own to the DSIII that he wanted to include in Convenient Daily Departures. Was that his idea, or did Abel and Dan come up with it independently?

- Nice mention of COMPNOR serving as one of the factions during the Imperial Civil War, a hint at one of Schmong's descendents, and more intrigue relating to Kaine's death.

- Not only does Durrei's activities with the Dissension get addressed, but he's established as the lover of Arden Lyn and their capture by Palpatine is expanded on! Neat!

All in all, an amazing installment and I'm glad there's still at least one more left. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say Prentioch, Lankin and Drommel will probably show up next. Some coloured pictures of them, along with an explanation of what happened to Lankin would be awesome, but I'm hoping we get to see some more obscure warlords like Delurin. Either way, I can't wait to see what comes next!

 

That's because the end of his article reveals

Spoiler

his mind split into two personalities and the part that took over from the real Thoath (now dead) agreed with Pellaeon, while the irrational half didn't know about it.

Indeed.

 

No, it dates back to GATORW. I'm still waiting on confirmation that the Eriadu Valorums are a Quintad family.

As for the article, Night Hammer being named after Delvardus hitting his beloved mistress in the head with a space hammer is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. I kind of love it. I mean, the character came out of Darksaber, so I guess it's appropriate.

The profile on Harrsk is pretty fascinating, though his assumption of dual personalities raises several questions about how they actually manifested in public -- did anyone else think Thoath was still alive? Was Harrsk's split personality noticeable to his subordinates? Having a literal madman as a warlord certainly creates some intriguing possibilities.

I love the Teradoc piece, which really takes advantage of what initially seemed a throwaway relative to rationalize Teradoc's split territory by creating two warlords Teradoc without deconstructing the Teradoc we thought we knew too much. I quite like the running theme of role-model influence, too.

The Devian bit is inspired. Tons of retcons from all over building this crappy character into something interesting. I especially like his background as a Party/ISB/enforcer guy; it's nice not to have every warlord be an admiral. Also, has the long, twisting saga of Kaine's mysterious death finally come to an end with the revelation that Devian was behind it?

Great piece. Glad to see there's more coming.

 

Colonel Cronus has a first name!!

Federated Teradoc Union. Great stuff.

Nergon-14, baby!

 

I never really discussed that with Dan and Abel, so that's all theirs. But I actually would've come up with a similar solution. I didn't settle on who would've done it, but I did toy with the idea of someone making a fake DS based on that type of sphere. They went the extra mile by making it one of the ones in that very image! Great job, guys!

I have to admit, someone mentioned this article to me and so far all I've read is the Devian section.

One random comment I will make. One could at first glance consider the mention of the DS3 being a distraction for the Alliance of Free Planets an error since the battle should be set a couple of months after the New Republic was founded. But it only says Devian decided to modify it near the Alliance base. Maybe our heroes didn't notice it until a couple of months later.

 

Nice way of tying the Dissension in with one of the “bigger” Warlords, though now I am kind of wondering since the article series is set to continue, who is actually left to mention. Tavira, Daala (?), Drommel?

 

Why several months though? I remember Leland stating it in a blog entry, but nothing beyond that. Is there a line or other reference on the park ride that indicated several months after the Battle of Endor?

 

Maybe they can make up one or two. We don't really know whatever became of Jaxxon...

 

Warlord Ric Olie?

 

Not several, just a couple. I think that works based on Leland's semi-official date, which placed it 4.3 ABY. I interpret that to mean the Battle of Endor, plus three or four months. Though I left it more vague than that, just placing it during the war with the Tof, which I ended up extending past the formation of the New Republic in my Nagai-Tof article a while back. So, there is still some room to play with the exact date, I guess.

 

Yes, that "4.3" dating was definitely vague. I really liked the fact that the old WEG dating scheme was reintroduced on Holonet News and picked up later by Essential Atlas. Though its basically gone from 10-months to 12-months. I think you have to leave the ABY dates for people to follow along without doing the math, but using the other scheme to be more specific in-universe is a good idea.

 

Incidentally, the date for Star Tours wasn't completely dreamed up by Leland. The original ride has Threepio mentioning their time with the Ewoks in ROTJ, so it was always set after that movie. Then there was a Gamer article by Dan Wallace and others years later that didn't use the name "Star Tours" but made obvious references to a company offering trips to Endor in the months following ROTJ. Leland may have used one or both of those for his purposely vague date. (He added a "?" next to it.)