Who is the spy? (Battle Surgeons spoilers)

"Not in the Clone Wars it's not. There are always spies in the Clone Wars stories."

-Raven

The Mod has spoken, no one can argue with the Mod.

 

I think the title of this thread is a spoiler

Yeah, and there's a Jedi in the book! And an Ortolan! And some TREES!!!!!

Take that, you anti-spoiler fiend!

 

Well I haven't even picked up the book yet so I knew nothing about a spy

Besides there weren't spies in Shatterpoint or Rogue Planet or Shadow Hunter (an informant, not a spy)

 

Shatterpoint or Rogue Planet or Shadow Hunter

Mace's lightsaber/Palpatine, Palpatine/Tarkin/Blood Carver, and Palpatine/Maul.

There. Happy?

 

A large portion of the clues do lead to Klo Merit, especially the bit about the previous injustices to the race since that was specifically mentioned at the start of the novel.

If it weren't for that one quote above (which I'm not sure if is intentionally supposed to lead to the spy, could be another editing slip-up, or a generic reference considering the context of the sentance) I'd be positive it was Tolk since the Lorrdian's also faced a similar thing, and the spy POVs are indicative of the kind of position she'd be in.

And it's definitely not Den or the Ortollan as they were both on the other transport, and didn't find out until they landed, whereas the spy POV is while they're still in the air. And due to the various things that we learn during his POVs, it isn't Jos. Not from the various revelations that he has throughout the novel.

 

Id say its either Merit or Tolk. It'd be convienient for Jos if it was Tolk, too; this way he wont have to worry about all of that ekster stuff anymore.

 

At first I thought it was Phow Ji, and after Phow was ruined I thought it was Zan, but they killed him off too. So now I think it's Tolk or one of the other surgeons.

 

As I read I counted them out one by one.

Den was too late
Bleyd was on the Medstar and not the surface and then died.
I-5 was too late
Barriss is a Jedi and she arrived too late
Filba died.
Phow Ji died.
Zan died
The spy mentioned Jos in the third person. So unless he is a bit weird he is out.

That left Tolk and Klo Merit

I was thinking Tolk but I didn't remember the big desk reference. So My guess is Klo. Unless Tolk has a big desk for some strange reason.

 

Hi. I'm new to this forum, but I'm a fan of the book as well. And I know a little bit about how the medical heirarchy works.

If Tolk is head nurse of the unit (and I think it says somewhere in the book that she is), then it's not at all unusual for her to have a desk. So if you're discounting her in favor of Merit, that's not a good reason.

 

Hmm. Message didn't post under the pseudonym I'd set up. I think I may have inadvertantly revealed my true identity. Gosh-darn it. Now I'll have to kill you all.

I really didn't mean to do this. Now you're all going to be self-conscious. And I was learning so much in this and the other forums about what worked and what didn't in the book ...

 

BTW: the whole Stark vs Great thing? Thanks, we got that. It'll be changed in future printings.

Geez, we were only a few millennia off ...

 

Ha ha! You've been made!

But I must ask, if having a desk isn't good enough to rule Tolk out, will being a woman do? Or IS she a woman? Just how diabolically sneaky are you willing to be?

 

Or were those "he"'s in the book just to throw us off, or were they just because the editor didn't want you to keep saying "the spy" or "they?"

Are you allowed to answer me or not?

And as to learning what worked and what didn't, you could check out the review thread if you haven't already.

 

Those "he's" in the first few sentences of the spy's introduction were the result of an overzealous copyeditor, and don't think we weren't pretty durn annoyed about it. We were meticulous in making sure that all references to the spy are gender-neutral, just to keep all of you guessing. They'll be changed in later printings.

In the meantime, only I (well, and Steve, and our editors at Del Rey and the ranch; quite a lot, actually, when you come right down to it, but carry on) know the identity of the spy. Bwa-ha-ha-ha.

 

Mr. Reaves. You forgot the

 

How long to wait until later printings, do you think?

 

better yet, when is the next one coming out?

 

Jedi Healer will be out at the end of Sept. / beginning of Oct. As for when Battle Surgeons will be reprinted -- your guess is as good as mine, but obviously, the sooner the 1st printing sells out ...

The responses over on the reviews boards seem on the whole positive, which is pleasing, of course. But I can't help being a bit bemused by the people who've been complaining about the lack of action. A big gripe about DM was that there was too much action. Now there's not enough.

Oh, well. I'm doing three more books in the SW field; maybe I'll get the balance right in them.

 

Three more, you say, Michael? (Can I call you Michael? after all, it's my name too) So I guess you're the one doing the trilogy set right after E3?

And by E3, I mean the movie, not the video game convention.

 

Whoops.

 

I'm going to "metagame" for a moment:

The spy is Tolk.

Here's why: I-5 is clearly the "pet" character of the writers; this is not a bad thing. My buddies and I have a theory that Groundskeeper Willie is the pet character of Matt Groening on the Simpsons (simply because of all of the things that happen to him) and Willie's great fun, much like I-5.

But we know it's not the Sullustan or Barriss.
We know it's not the Hutt, the Sakkyan or the Neiji.
We *presume* it's not Jos or Zan -- more on this later.

This leaves only Merit and Tolk as suspects.

Now, Merit's empathy is just that: empathy; which means it MUST use the Force on some level as all metaphysical traits are Force-based in the GFFA. Barriss Offee, though still a Padawan, is a Padawan on the verge of Knighthood and is currently undergoing her Trials. One would assume that she would detect the swirling of the Dark Side around a fellow-Force user (as the spy is clearly shown as performing evil acts), whereas it's way more difficult to determine this in a non-Force user.

Here's where the metagaming comes in: Tolk is not an empath; she merely uses the Lorrdians' kinetic communication to read body language to gain information. Doing so would also allow her to most likely avoid mental and physical signals that could be picked up by Merit or Barriss. As a nurse, she may not be required for sessions with Merit in any case. And last, but not least, she will not be able to read I-5 when he plays his part as the hero at the end of the duology. Combined that with the Lorrdians perhaps holding a grudge with the Republic for not saving them sooner during the Kanz Disorders...

... and that is why Tolk is the spy.

On the other hand: I will not completely rule out Zan being the spy. We presume that Zan is dead because the text says so, but if Zan was a PERSONA of the actual spy the third-person POV of the spy thinking Zan is dead is clever subterfuge. If it was some sort of shapeshifting species like a Shi'do who might not necessarily be killed by a piece f shrapnel to the head (like a Zabrak would), feigning death would be the only way to go...

 

Now, Merit's empathy is just that: empathy; which means it MUST use the Force on some level as all metaphysical traits are Force-based in the GFFA.

That assumes that the authors and editors are aware of that. And that Merit's race isn't an exception.

 

That assumes that the authors and editors are aware of that. And that Merit's race isn't an exception.

True, but I give the authors credit.

 

It can't be Vaetes, he was referred to by the spy at one stage.

Although a changeling Tolk is possible, She seemed very emotional at the death of Zan, as opposed to the spy's very clinical appraisal. She could be a great actress, but it doesn't really wash with me.

Don't really know much about Klo Merit, although those counselling session would be an ideal place for a spy to pick up information about the people on the base.

Baloob the pubtender is a little too off the wall for my liking, I suppose you learn a lot in the cantina, but it's not really a position of authority.

How about the Head of security, Kohn Doil, as a candidate that hasn't been mentioned? You could achieve a lot in that position of authority on the base.

Of course it could be someone we've never heard of, which is why I'm making a bold statement.

The spy is Prince Xizor.



The appearance of the Surronian Conqueror, and it wasn't a throwaway description either, the ship that Guri uses is too much of a coincedence for me.

We know the Spy has liks to Black Sun - this could be how he worms his way into the hierachy. If so, bank on Kaird buying it in the next book and Xizor taking over his role. His role a sepratist would probably sit quite nicely with Palpatine too (in scret, of course).

Plus we already had a charcter from DM:SH, Mr Perry hasn't included one of his characters yet. Mr Reaves is just trying to throw us off the scent.

You heard it here first.

 

I'd say it's Klo Merit - at first, I thought it would be too obvious, but think of it:

1. We don't know much about his species - only that it is almost extinct. Perhaps that was Palpatine's doing, just like with the Caamasi because he thought mind-readers could get in his way somehow in his rise to power? Klo somehow got to know about that, and now he hates the Republic. After all, he could know that it was Palpy's doing, but not the reason behind it - Palpatine still represents the Republic, and so Klo works for the Separatists.

2. It could be that Klo's species has close ties to the Nediji, therefore the spy knows so much about them, even their "nest blessing".


On a side note: It's always a little strange for me to read the name "Klo" - did no one research what the word means in German before naming the poor guy like that??