Comics Tales of the Jedi

New canon established that a proto-saber was basically a heated and energized tuning fork/soldering iron:

"The proto-saber functioned differently from the lightsabers used by the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars. Instead of emitting a plasma blade, the proto-saber featured two physical prongs, which rose up from a crossguard. When activated, energy would surge up the prongs and form into a blade between them."

Neo-Canon's sword of Khashyun resembles the Sith swords of the EU btw.

 

They should have tied Sheev being alive in Dark Empire to Sith alchemy and dark-side spirits in TOTJ trying to reclaim their flesh.

 

I feel the most important part of the series is often overlooked: FINHEAD STONEBONE!

 

I look to Dawn of the Jedi for showing what are likely Sith Purebloods with Sek'nos Rath and his family. Dawn of the Jedi #0 laid out that Miarta Sek (Sek'nos's grandmother) was a "pureblood member of the Sith species." I am also under the impression that olden Sith need not have the dark red hued skin tone.

 

I have some real problems with the Dawn of the Jedi's depiction of the Sith species, it ignores many of the less human aspects of their design (like: lack of nose, no visible pupils or iris/eye-whites), there is also the artist (don’t remember her name) tendency to always draw female devaronians without their fur.

 

To be fair, the comics were inconsistent in their depiction of the Sith from the start. My previous reference to “pureblood” Sith was not so much in relation to the species as it was to the priest caste which was our first introduction to them. Both in Empire’s End and in Dark Lords of the Sith, what little we see of the Sith and their statuary shows them looking human.

The red Sith were not introduced until Golden Age, although we had seen the mutated Massassi before, who I’m guessing artists then “reverse-engineered” to get at our first depictions of the red Sith. But the Massassi were mutated by alchemy, so my impression is that in first stories the idea was that they were human or near-human, and that the question of “pureblood” related more to the idea of magic in bloodlines than it did to species.

Indeed, considering the publishing history, I suspect the idea of bloodline may have been introduced to connect the stories related to the royal family of Onderon, who were all descendants of Freedon Nadd and thus possessed any power that might be tied to blood. At the time, I believe Nadd’s origin was within the Sith Empire itself, rather than being an unrelated fallen Jedi. He left to conquer his own world because he could not be Dark Lord, so he took over Onderon and established a dynasty there.

 

I always felt there was a "joke" that was lost from the original GOLDEN AGE OF THE SITH comics to later adaptations of the story. I was originally going to post this on the headcanon thread but then I double-checked and it's NOT headcanon, it's just flat out canon but it was so subtle that apparently other authors missed it.

It's a nice commentary on the kind of racist (xenophobic?) assumptions of Star Wars writers and something that I think only John Jackson Miller actually managed to pick up for his LOST TRIBE OF THE SITH books. Basically, the contradiction everyone is bringing up about the Sith race and pure bloods is based around the fact that "Pure Blooded Sith Lord" means that they're HUMAN. The inferior Sith Blood that Naga Sadow talks about is the blood of the Massassi. The Massassi are the "real" Sith species.

That's because in Legends, the Massassi are a people that the "Pure Sith" (Human Dark Jedi) conquered and Naga Sadow is turning up his nose at the fact that Ludo Kressh ("Ludicrous") is the descendant of both their servant race as well as the original Dark Jedi.

Remember, in Star Wars, the racist monsters are the humans and the oppressed minorities are the aliens.

 

I agree with that idea of what the conflict represents in Golden Age, but the contradiction I referenced was specifically between Dark Lords and Golden Age. Every work afterward follows what was established in Golden Age, but that adds to what I’m beginning to suspect was missed along the way.

In the intro to Dark Lords we have the the following narration provided:

“Sadow was a member of an elite priesthood, of pure Sith blood, who were in rebellion against their rulers, the fallen Jedi who wore the title Dark Lords of the Sith.

The Dark Lords were powerful Jedi Knights who used the dark side of the Force to master the Sith people.

There could be but one Dark Lord at a time... This lineage was passed from one generation to the next.”​

Most of this stayed the same, but the part that was flipped for Golden Age and onwards was that Sadow went from being a member of the oppressed Sith bloodlines, as he was here, to being closer to the fallen Jedi.

The bigger thing that I think was missed as part of this switch is that Sadow and his allies were originally all human. Which means that the term “Sith people” referred to a culture and not to a species. For what it’s worth, this does match up with Lucas’s early-draft idea that the Sith Order was born when a fallen Jedi was exiled and taught the dark side to a clan of Sith pirates. This all adds to the idea of the Sith people being something closer to a warrior clan like the Mandalorians, who I think were based on the same concept (or at least Boba Fett was).

I do appreciate what Golden Age and subsequent works have done with the Sith species. Especially what they’ve done to make them seem not all evil, since that’s a bit problematic. But I do think it may have strayed from what Lucas envisions for the Sith, which for a while it seemed like the ST would parallel with the Knights of Ren. And I suspect, with anticipation, we might be getting this in the Nihil from the High Republic era. I do like the idea of a multi-species clan being culturally associated with the dark side even while many of its members are not Force sensitive.

 

I wish they wrote it so that Exar Kun was the first Dark Lord of the Sith and so that he’s discovering the Sith species/civilization that disappeared before the formation of the Republic 25,000 years ago rather than discovering an existing group of fallen Jedi that disappeared 1000 years before his time.

 

I don't mind Exar as the Sith 'preserver' after all because of him the Sith will never die. Kinda wish they had done more with that.

 

I wish they made the Sith species the pre-Republic rulers of the galaxy from far beyond Korriban, with Korriban just being a hint at what they’re capable of.

 

Imagine the tiny GFFA is actually much larger than current known space maps assume and including satelite galaxies and other outlier far and wide worlds and civilisations that far out consider the entire known galaxy "the Core worlds" only... makes one wonder what the ancient pre-Republic rulers did rule and how far and wide the spread went before the Unknown Regions cutoff and Republican rebirth.

 

I still think that the downfall of the pre-Kun Sith should have been longer ago. 5000 BBY-4000 BBY isn’t that long when you’re talking about 25,000 years. It would have been better if he was “preserving” something from further back.

 

Oh yes I think the Sith should be MUCH older.

while I know it isn't really Tales of the Jedi, though they do call it that in the epic legends collection https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Wars_Legends_Epic_Collection:_Tales_of_the_Jedi_Vol._1

but I think the force hounds should have been called Sith and that is the origin of the order.

 

@Sauron_18 The first reference to the Sith civilization species that I know of is when Aleema and Satal Keto are in the museum in The Freedon Nadd Uprising #1 of 2.

The narration says, “Outlawed for their evil practices, the Sith civilization long ago vanished into obscurity. The end of the Sith people also marked the disappearance of of their Dark Lords.”

Aleema says, “Amazing! It says Jedi Knights who turned to the Dark Side became rulers of the Sith. They began a lineage passing the throne from one generation to the next.” Looking at a statue, Satal says, “I’d like to be like him... wouldn’t you?”

 

I just read these!! Always wanted to find them but only just managed - I'm kind of reading them out of order, but I really loved Redemption.

 

Not possible given the Sith species and called as such are on Tython with one member being a prominent Jedi. So the word Sith predates Tython and was not evil-connected yet. Force Hounds if using the term later on, why would they? And if using it concurrent to the Sith species and said Sith Jedi, how did the evil Forceuser Sith and the peaceful Sith species civilstiation sharing a name originate way before Tython and the Rakata and split ways into both meanings?

For that to work the Sith need to be either a species that once spread to the stars and saw some fall to the Dark Side, or the species adopted the name after their "gods" which may be quite human and rendered mere legends already at the time the Tho Yor collected them and they identified as Sith as their mysterious Destructor Gods had been perhaps. Then the Sith term would come from Darksiders indeed way before the Rakata!

 

I think that the detail that was focused on when creating the Sith Species we see in Golden Age is the "of pure Sith Blood" part, which, even though it was flipped so Sadow is indeed related to the Dark Jedi (as his backstory was change),it sort of reads as though the Sith "blood" has some unique qualities to it, as if it were a distinct "race" or lineage of sorts.

Of course this doesn't discard it referring to them being humans, and this "pure Sith Blood" simply being direct blood relation to the natives without any Dark Jedi blood, not necessarily that the Pure Sith were a species on it's own right, but i can definetly see why Kevin J. Anderson and the others working on the concepts of this series decided to use the mention of a "Pure Sith Blood" as the basis for the change from "Sith People" to "Sith Species".

 

I think it's kinda a interesting discussion on the bad guy side of being able to track down one's lineage. Even if their isn't really a "Sith Speicies"

Like for example the Rule of Two Line for example Palpatine could trace back his Sith "Heritage" or "Teachings" or whatever all the way back to Bane since Plagueis was trained by Tenebrous who was trained by etc etc etc Zannah to Bane.

Compared to another Sith who just started because he learned from a Holocron or something so his "Sith line" goes only back a decade or something idk.

Just something interesting i thought of.

 

True, it's shown many times that the Sith have knowledge of their "Lineage" and use it as a way to justify their place in a way, Sidious has the Banite line, Vitiate/Acina's Sith Empire has the lineage from the original Sith People, Sadow has his Dark Jedi heritage, Sith are always looking at their roots as what justifies their rule, be it blood related, or via Sith Training lineages, they do this way more than the Jedi.

Even Darth Krayt, who is famous for breaking from many Sith traditions, does this in honoring Xoxaan with a statue, as if being trained by one of the original Dark Lords was what gave him legitimacy as a Sith:

It's interesting how the Sith put so much weight in their lineages and predecessors, considering they have a fundamentally individualistic worldview.

 

Well bad guys in these types of fiction always put emphasis in their bloodlines and lineage compared to the hero's.

In a weird way the hero's are more indivudalistc than the Sith ;p

I love how in the Plagueis book Plagueis says that despite their being other Dark Force Wielder out their they are of the Bane Line so that that makes them the best lol

 

They're some of my all-time favorite SW stories. I love the characters, the aesthetics, just how primitive and different, yet just familiar enough the old comics are. They're just so cool-looking!

Also, Empress Teta>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>so many other characters, especially politicians. Hell, she might be one of the most reasonable rulers we get in Star Wars.

And finally, yes. Redemption is one of the best SW tales I've read. Ulic Qel-Droma's journey after being stripped of the Force, him and Vima and finding his way. Just all of it is SO good. I love these comics so damned much.

 

I think that is why they care about linage. They as individuals are special, so those who came them must also be special. They (the current ones) are special/better because those who came before were special, it's rather circular thinking.

 

Indeed the designs and aesthetic do a great job in conveying the message that this is an ancient time, a primordial tale or legend that the Jedi have, the dialogue is also like that, in many ways it feels as though it is structured as if this were the GFFA's "Iliad" and "Odyssey" given the text preceding the Golden Age arc beginning with "Thousands of years before the birth of Luke Skywalker" as if it's told from Tionne or someone else's retelling, conveying how important the figures of Ulic Qel-Droma, Nomi Sunrider and Exar Kun were to Jedi History.

Something i also think does a great job in selling this aspect of the comic series is the heavy use of narration, which always accompanies the art with exaggerated and mythical descriptions of the battles, emotions, etc. i know many new readers don't like the narration in this series, and it's okay since older comics are not for everyone, but having read plenty of DC comics from the 60's-80's timeframe, i can definetly say that the use of narration in Tales of the Jedi mops the floor with even some of the best of them, i think the narration, instead of feeling like a giant blob of text that takes the attention away from the art and is hard to read, in fact enhances the art and the story, as it should do, it is part of the legend that is being told to us, it gives it more of a feel that this are grand, epic events about larger than life figures.

Yes! She is everything Empress Acina fans claim she is.

I honestly think that Ulic is the absolute best "fall and redemption" arc we ever got in Star Wars, but especially his redemption, yes, even better than Anakin Skywalker, Ben Solo, Ventress, Revan, etc. Ulic was the absolute best, they gave him such pathos and genuine emotion, a redemption that focused on him facing the consequences of his actions and finally being at peace after suffering on his own for so long for his past deeds, and his relationship with Vima, beautiful, it makes me wish the people behind KOTOR weren't forced into making Bastila a Shan instead of a Sunrider, so we might have had more stories about Vima and her future, but alas, the stupid lawsuit for the Sunrider name made that impossible.

Even though i hold Legacy as my favorite series overall, i think Redemption is the best individual arc from a Star Wars comic book.

Then again, Sith Philosophy is rooted in circular thinking.

 

Ulic Quel Droma's fall and redemption arc sound so similiar to the original ST plan for Kylo Ren, seduced to the Dark Side back when he had a sibling sister still in Rey as in Art of TFA concept art. Makes me wonder how much of Lucas ST plans that never were back then got recycled to ancient Jedi Tales kinda as well when they milked him for story ideas.

Also, as @Irredeemable Fanboy noted, Vima Sunrider and the Redemption comic are a true gem indeed. The best redemption ever for him, along with a realistic end and the complexity of the case of people not forgiving, still hunting him regardless and the beautiful emotional impact with him, Vima and Nomi.