Clearing up Raynar Thul...

Ok, I've read all three Dark Nest books, so please forgive me if this sounds like a dumb question, as I have reread and stuff. Raynar Thul, as we know it, was absorbed to the Will, sharing the mind of it and the other nest. It was stated the nest took on his personality and such as well. My question is was Raynar Thul really the one to blame for all these actions UnuThul did througgout the Dark Nest Trilogy? I mean, it was stated he was no longer the same person he was since he had the Will in him. As UnuThul stated, "Raynar Thul died in the crash"(or something like that).

Isn't this actually true since the Colony and Will took over his mind, controlling his actions and thoughts. Yes, there was a meager amount of Raynar left, as Luke sensed, but really, wasn't the enemy really his controllers making him do these acts? Therefore, it really wasn't Raynar Thul who was doing all this, but the colony who had control over him, right? Or am I missing an important concept that deals with joining and such?

 

*DN SPOILERS*


As I understand it, and I could be wrong, the very problem with the Killik expansion was because Raynar's a good guy. His intellect was able to order their actions so that they weren't dying so quickly, but because they breed so prolifically, the problem rapidly became overpopulation. What Raynar had done to the Killiks, while good for them, was essentially unnatural

The real issue was Lomi Plo, yeah, that whole conscious/unconscious thing. But I think even without the Dark Nest, Killik expansion would have ended badly. Raynar's compassion for them was admirable, but looking beyond the welfare of the Killiks, it seems best for them to be left to their natural cycles.

So in an attempt to answer your question, everything UnuThul did that didn't involve unprovoked attacks was indeed, I think, driven by Raynar's remaining instincts. Everything that involved Chiss dying and all that was Lomi Plo's doing, yes, but even without her, I do believe Raynar/UnuThul needed to be stopped. Like Jacen said, they wouldn't have looked forward to it, but it would have been necessary for the "greater good."

 

the way i took it was that the reason of the nests expansioin issues was because raynars willl had made the nest value individual life. much like ^^ said.

 

Ok, that seemed to clear things up, but what about Raynar holding Luke and Han in prison trying to make them Joiners? I imagine this was Raynar's doing entirely and his goal was to make them Joiners so they wouldn't interfere anymore?

 

I don't remember it that well, but the way you put it, I could buy Raynar's justification if Lomi wasn't involved. For the sake of the Killiks, with whom his mind had become so tied to, I guess Han and Luke had to be taken out of the picture. At this point I think it is tough to figure out where Raynar ends and UnuThul begins, but I think that if Raynar hadn't been in there somewhere, the Killiks would've just killed Han and Luke.

 

Lomi Plo was controlling Raynar (if you don't beleive me read the final fight scene in TSW to see) without Lomi he's a good guy