Knights of the Old Republic #1: Commencement, part 1 (of 6)

By that comment, I just took it to mean that nothing was really going to get much better, and that even after the Republic rebuilds after the dark age, it still won't get any higher than that.

 

Sounds roughly like where I was headed, too...Ching's a bright lad, and very likely won't totally succumb to the "Let's-Make-Everything-Look-Exactly-Like-The-Movies-Four-Thousand-Years-Too-Early-'Cause-We-Gotta-Appease-The-Canonist-Crowd" school of thought in his pencilling, and keep things on a balanced keel.

Having Zayne's appearance being Tales of the Jedi-antiquey enough is a step in the right direction; there's the EU-unwashed, yard-ape gamer bloc yet to please, but neither did the games themselves ever veer too greatly out of the original Gossett/Johnston/Carrasco milieu that us fanboys howled for blood.

Balancing the two will prove the trick.

(Then again, check out that Miraluka's lightsaber, along with the Togruta's...ornamented very old-skool Carrasco-esque, and hearkening back to the original Dark Horse series. Merging and bridging the "flashlight-head" look from the movies with the frilly adorning bedizenments of the earlier comics.)

 

Yes, that's a Feeorin . . . but even if I were to like Feeorin, which I'm not implying either way, would it be an Excellence curse based on presumptional Letoan facts? No one's buried on Sacorria's moon.

Is that Khil alien, with the tentacled mouth, the same as the Senate President Kun killed in Sith War?

 

He's a Ferroan, Wroonian, or whatever. I don't get why everyone (not just you, Leto) always goes CHISS! whenever a blue-tinted human shows up. There's a whole slew of blue human races, and Chiss are certainly the least common.



On the aesthetic side of things-- just my opinion, but I'd be thrilled if they'd just toss out the TOTJ swords 'n' sandals crap. The SW galaxy has been traveling the galaxy for twenty one thousand years; there's no reason at all aside from 'kewlness' for any of that garbage. For those who complain about the time gap, you're thinking in Earth terms. we've gone from sharp sticks to microchips in the same timespan that the republic has existed in, so obviously we're going to advance in leaps and bounds. The GFFA hit their technological ceiling thousands of years ago, and there's no reason for any sort of tech jump except in terms of military equipment during wartime. Even the tech turnover of the classic era goes to fast for logic-- of course they'd be using X-wings (with a couple of changes) for twenty five if not two hundred years after Endor. The US has been using the B-52 since the '50s and is projected to be using it through 2050-- that's a hundred year lifespan for a machine on a planet that's in a state of constant technological flux.

 

characters can change faces and names huh?.....

alright so whats everyone's bets

is this Zayne character later Darth Sion or Darth Nihilus?

hehe

 

Unfortunately, you really can't rule out much of any *single* thing from the category of Speculative Fiction. There is no technological ceiling, or floor, so only direct violations of the known laws of physics are forbidden. (Or, in Star Wars's case, allowed.) And there are damn few things that cannot be finessed so as not to directly contradict the known laws of physics.

At worst, you have to postulate the discovery of new laws of physics which simplify to the existing ones in all as-yet observed conditions -- and that has happened so often in the past that I would seriously doubt the technical competence of anyone who doesn't believe it could happen again.

But one can certainly look at the context in which a piece of speculative science or technology exists. If the author doesn't believe in the ideas he is putting forth, or doesn't care, or doesn't have a clue, the details of the presentation will conflict both with what we know to be "true," and with other details of the same work of fiction.

That it might be possible for a different presentation of the same idea -- of almost any idea -- to make all the pieces fit together and within the framework of known reality, simply illustrates the difference between science fiction and *space fantasy*.

Weapons technology has been among the human race's major art-forms for thousands of years; despite the current mania for guns with rectangular components, that look like cheese boxes stuck on handles, there is both room and justification for SkiFfy films to play with good-looking sidearms.

(Ever seen one of those Freedom Arms manganese-bronze .50 six-guns? Deep, rich gold color, perfectly balanced...you can twirl it like a pin-wheel, if you're strong enough to lift it. Or how about the Whitney "Wolverine," the .22 pistol from about forty years back that looked like it had come from sixty years in the future? A producer who was once in dire need of hand-props for an SF movie got the suggestion that he use some of those. Saved him a bundle...the problem was prying them loose from the actors so he could return them to the folks he'd rented them from.)

Most combat (whether in wartime, or in an urban criminal activity scenario) occurs at quite short ranges. By "short," I mean compared with ranges typical of shooting-range distances. There are plenty of documented cases, for instance, of people blazing away at each other at a distance of ten feet and missing. There are stories from the American Civil War of men standing ten feet from an enemy, firing, missing, and then choosing to *reload*, rather than advance with bayonet.

To be sure, a pistol or a blaster rifle is of extremely limited value if the other guy has the "drop" on you, but there are plenty of cases in which one can see an obviously threatening situation develop, and draw the gun in time; there are also cases when one might be confronted by deadly force that is not a firearm -- e.g., a bludge

 

I figured you were kidding about the chiss, Leto, but you never can be too sure. Sorry for jumping on you like that.

Really looking foreward to this series. Here's hoping it at some point gives Revan a face and the Exile a name and a face.

Which makes me think... could our new jedi hero wind up being the exile?

 

Or Mission Vao...

 

Not a prob.

From what's been said (by Abel Peña and elsewhere), there's apparently some movement afoot within LFL to officially assign a female gender to the Exile, to balance out Revan being canonically male.

(That said, the Mission Vao hypothesis is looking likelier and likelier. )

Personally, I happen to dig the "Zayne = Darth Nihilus" theory, since we know Sion was trained by Kreia, and Zayne by Master Lucien...although it's possible Sion had more than one master over time, similar to Revan.

 

Someone care to explain this "Mission Vao" theory to me? It's not one I've heard batted around before reading this convo...

General comment: I do believe this may be the first comic series I ever follow regularly and buy TPB's of. *counts down till January* Somehow, this just has me extremely excited. I like the aesthetic of what they're doing, and I like the blend/merger between the TotJ look and the KotOR game look as far as tech goes.

- Keralys

 

Far as I can tell, it's only existed for a couple of posts. So you're getting in on the ground floor.

(Waiting for a "Mission Vao = Darth Traya" hypo to crop up, here.)

At least you'll be buying the individual issues, unlike someone else whose name rhymes with "Excellence."

 

What Leto said. Its completely original and involves sex changes, species changes, and a whole lot of weird stares. Hey, we've had a male Twi'lek turn into a female Human before, so why not the reverse?


Alternatively, Zayne could be Zaalbar aka "Big Z." Personally, I feel that works much better, both with first initials and hair colors.

 

Leto:

Wasn't the President in Sith War Netus?

 

The key question here is, *which* Netus?

I semi-jest, of course, but there's the infamous gaffe betwixt The Freedon Nadd Uprising and The Sith War wherein Netus looks quasi-humanoid in the former, then like a Pak'ma'ra in the latter, when he's (it's?) slain by Kun in front of the Senate.

Would be nice if this new series locks in a species for his kind (assuming that Jedi to be one and the same)...one of them rose to the Supreme-bloody-Chancellorhood of the Republic, after all.

 

He's obviously a Clawdite.

There, case closed!

 

Now that I think about, the weird asthetic of TOTJ isn't so bad. They have had this tech for a longer time, since the technology isn't improving that much and the cultures are not rooted in tradition-ships become works of art as well as weapons of war. After all, did not people of the past stylized armor and weapons without practical applications?

that being said, I hope that these new comics lean more torwards the game, even though the merger of both is apprecaited.

 

It may take a year to get my griffy hands on the TPB, but I can wait. I still have to get 3 CW TPBs in the interim.

 

That Feeorin Jedi looks like he could kick some serious ass.

And that Khil Jedi looks like an illithid.

 

I just noticed that in the opening titles of KOTOR, it mentions that Malak was "the last surviving apprentice of the Dark Lord Revan." I wonder/hope this comic gets into Revan's other apprentices.

 

So gamers shouldn?t assume that because a character isn?t familiar, he or she doesn?t have a role in existing or future games. It?s a busy time for the galaxy. Names can change. Faces, too!

 

So . . . true to the game, will we get the same face templates each time?

 

Never noticed this before. Doubt it was even meant to be canonical; likely a snippet of the storyline's earlier incarnation that somehow slipped through the rewriting process.

Still, though...not that I'd necessarily *mind* a twist like that...

 

That's what I thought, too. Especially given how these apprentices are never mentioned again, and the later backstory about Revan (especially from KOTOR II) seems to even go against this.

But like you said, if the comics took the chance to delve into this particular plot hole, I'd be the last to complain.

 

I also feel that Zayne may be a character we know; though thats probobly just from the timeframe and is the sort of thing pulled in the past.

Though i cant help but remember what Visas said when i asked her what she saw under Nihi's mask...

"Just a man..."

For some reason that just rings true for Zayne from the 'Modest Skill' line and 'ammounting to a simple Knight'

What could be more diffrent than being a Sith who wiped out so many Planets and Jedi?

I dunno, Zayne = Nihilous just fits. And that worries me.

I dont want him to be, i like my Hero's the STAY Hero's when they arnt Anakin Skywalker.

But i cant help but suspect it...

The Exile is also a possibility...

Actually i wonder about Revan to be honest, hehe, but thats only because he looks a lot like a younger Long-Haired-Head that you could choose for Revan.

 

There is no way in hell that Zayne is Revan.

Revan:
Pros:
-Unusually powerful in the Force. Abnormally high, but not approaching Chosen One levels.
-Unparalleled tactical and strategic genius. Best the Order has ever seen. Can literally win a war by himself.
-Brilliant with his way with words, and had excellent leadership skills. Got a third of the fleet of the republic to defect with him.
-Brilliant lightsaber duelist, especially against other Jedi. KOTOR flashback verifies that he can and has taken on multiple Jedi Knights at once and win. Prowess against blaster fire, melee, and droids unconfirmed, but presumably extremely high.
-Mechanical design genius. Produced unit HK-47, an assassin droid with such prowess it was able to kill untold numbers of Jedi. Obviously was able to decipher the Star Forge and Star Maps, and get the former completely operational in a very short period of time.
-Linguistic genius. Has been confirmed to be able to speak at least six different alien languages on top of Galatic Basic. Twilek, Wookie, Manaan (even an ancient dialect of such), Jawa, Duros, and several other languages (possibly, and likely, Mandalorian as well.) Can also rapidly learn languages as well, either using his own brain or via the Force. About the only language he's failed to learn is the Sand People (though that may have been more because he didn't care.)
-War veteran. First of the Mandalorian Wars and then the Jedi Civil War, both of which he was responsible for winning. Has killed untold numbers of Mandalorians, Jedi, and other races. Personally killed both Mandalore and the leader of the Echani. (+Against humans. ++Against Jedi.)
-Talented racer. In KOTOR, there is mention that Revan broke several speed records on various planets.
Cons:
-Uh...
-Probably not a good pilot (made Carth do all the flying.) (! Being a talented racer, this department is rather questionable)
-Probably not very good with a blaster (how many Jedi are?)
-Err, he has this little problem with remembering who he is...

That is, adding all of that, Is what Makes Revan that Good. There is no way in hell that the best the Jedi order has to offer in the time period could be stationed in Taris. That Zayne guy not only is said that is unusually weak in the preview.

Revan, In my opinion, Is even better than Kun. Maybe not in the power department, Where I could agree he loses (and kun in my opinion was so ridiculously overpowered that it wasn't even funny, come on, stronger than Anakin? the chosen one that what was supposed to be the "Force itself personified"??), Revan would kick Kun's ass given equal resources. (And I count Ulic and the mandalore clans as resources) Give Revan Ulic instead of the borderline Moronic and coward Malak, and the Republic would have lost.

and Revan did not need to do some darkside ritual to go where he wanted. but give Revan Kun's resources, and you got some unstoppable man. The only sith lord I could compare Revan to is Palpatine himself. And Revan does not want to destroy the Jedi, he wants to convert them to his way of seeing things. And he was succeding. Even the republic agreed it was only matter of months that Revan crushed the republic. (and that was while Revan tried to capture the republic industrial centers practically intact!!)

Until disaster struck Revan. It took the combined effect of having been ambushed with a superior force using the battle meditation,being distracted because his ship was being borded by Several Jedi, and the treachery of his apprentice, that was too scared to face him himself, that shoot Revan's vessel in an effort of getting rid of him. And it didn't stop him. Revan could have deal with most of that,but not all. Slowed him? yes, but it not stopped him.

Could that guy in the comics be Revan? A charismatic leader?,a brilliant strategist? tatical Genius? one of the strongest knights the order has ever seen? NO.