Nearing the end of a sequence of short pieces on the Knights of the Old Republic comics series, which ends Wednesday with #50, I hit the last round of reader questions about the entire series. I appreciate all the questions everyone sent — and while I wasn’t able to get to everything (including some questions that will be answered in #50), I do read everything. I do blog posts on every release, so going forward, feel free to drop in again.
Tyber asks: Is the ship from which the Taris Padawans launch into Rogue Moon’s asteroid field aboard a Baronial-class yacht? Its image on the two page image and before the interior of the passenger hold resemble what is stated in the Campaign Guide (without image), so can you put these sources finally together?
No, the Baronial-class yacht is Lucien’s vehicle from the last page of #21. We see the four other seats inside. The shuttle in #3 is clearly a larger vehicle, and I don’t know that we ever determined what it was.
The Revanchist asks: If Revan didn’t know anything about the Padawan Massacre, why would he tell Lucien: “You see that I was right now, don’t you? The truth is written in blood!”
Wrong blood. Remember Revan and Lucien’s last conversation on Taris was about the Mandalorians, and Revan trying to convince Lucien that the Mandalorians were the true threat in the galaxy. Lucien rejected his arguments — and the Mandalorians invaded in force. That’s the truth written in blood.
Lucien’s “not sure which truth you mean” indicated he still didn’t think the Mandalorians were anything but a sideshow to the real Sith threat hiding out there somewhere, possibly Zayne — a view he espoused to the Council immediately afterward. Lucien and Revan represent two competing camps, both trying to drag the Council in different directions; that’s what “Homecoming” largely depicts.
Anonymous asks: Q’anilia and Lucien seemed to be very close to each other. Were they in a relationship?
We showed a relationship, and we hear Haazen laughing about it in #32. Now, it’s not a particularly healthy relationship, but it is a relationship.
DangerousDraays asks: Does the balding, dark-skinned human male appearing with the other Covenant Jedi in the epilogue story pages of “Vindication” belong to a certain long-lived lineage from Tatooine who also lost family in the Sith War?
Not that I know of. Brian populated that scene.
Daniel asks: Are you planning any ways to tie Knight Errant in with Knights of the Old Republic? Might we see a descendent of Zayne or Jarael? A charismatic Snivvian with the surname Hierogryph?
Tying disparate parts of the continuity together isn’t what the series is all about — and it’s impossibly remote from KOTOR, anyway. You are closer in time to Alexander the Great than anyone in Knight Errant is to anyone in KOTOR!
Conrad asks: Were there any events that made you go “What was I thinking?” after the fact?
Well, I’ve said before I wish I’d left the name on Malak’s immigration records a mystery — it was probably enough that we understood that he felt no connection to the identity he was given (and thus more apt to select a new name for himself). I only ever intended for the tongue-twister to be out there briefly before we revealed it wasn’t his real name — but those few months before #31 were enough for it to wind up in a couple of reference works. A couple of years now after we’ve established his name was only ever Alek, the surname is still online as the main one at a few sites; hopefully they’ll all be properly revised. Hard to unring a bell with the Internet around!
Inquisitor Jerec asks: Do you have a favorite secondary character that came from the games?
I enjoyed writing Carth a lot — his scenes with Zayne had a really nice big-brother/kid-brother dynamic that we felt Zayne really needed at that point in the story. They certainly get along better than he does with your character from the game, light- or dark-side; Carth’s been dealt a number of tough breaks by then.
Sithspawn asks: What was Revan doing during the entire KotOR comics series?
We know he parted with Squint to investigate the Mandalorian full-scale war preparations he’d had a vision about on Onderon and Dxun — and obviously, he spent a lot of time on Cathar at the dig. There logically would have been time involved in organizing and running the movement, but that leaves a lot of 3963 for other activities.
Christopher Krycho asks: Are you planning to discuss what, exactly, the mysteries that Rohlan was digging for are?
Rohlan already told us in #8. He doesn’t understand why the Mandalorians took on the Republic, why they did it in an underhanded way, and why the entire face of the movement has changed under the current Mandalore. They’re big questions, easily the quest of a lifetime.
Nayayen asks: What is the type of ship that Alek escapes from Flashpoint on?
Some original creation of Dustin Weaver’s. It does not appear to be in the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide
Karl asks: If “Vector” hadn’t accelerated events toward “Vindication,” how long would it have taken to get to the climax of the fugitive arc?
It wouldn’t have been much different — there are post-Vindy capers that could have happened earlier, slightly modified, but I still wouldn’t have wanted to tear much into Jarael’s origin with Zayne’s quest still going.
Matt asks: Would you ever consider posting a few script pages from KotoR on your site?
Sorry, but I don’t release script pages. I do occasionally talk about the tools of writing here on the site.
Andrew asks: What species are the Crucible guards on Osadia and Volgax?
Brian depicted a lot of members of the Dashade species. There’s no significance to how many there are, other than they might have done the best at battling their way to the top.
Chani asks: There is a lot of speculation about whether Zayne and Jarael are in love or not (obviously as yet undeclared). Are they or aren’t they?
You’ll have to ask them!
Trudy asks: If you had to room with one of the characters from Knights, who would it be, and why?
Well, it wouldn’t be with the Moomo Brothers, I can tell you that!
That’s it. Thanks for writing, folks. The stories are obviously the important thing, but delving into the details is all part of the fun of comics.
Don’t forget to check in on our auction of a complete set of Knights of the Old Republic plus a copy of the out-of-print Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide for the role-playing game, partial proceeds going to The Hero Initiative.
Thanks for the answers, John! For an encyclopedic mind as I am they clarified a lot of stuff and put connections up we could just assume before. 🙂
Thanks for all the answers!
Although as a Classicist, I must point out that Alexander the Great died in 323 BC, 2333 years removed from now. Assuming that KotoR #50 ends in 3963 BBY, and that Knight Errant happens at some point in the time period 2100-2000 BBY, that would still be a gap of 1963 years at most between the two 😛
But I agree, rather too wide a gap for any story connections!
Thanks for the note — but as the press release says, Knight Errant is set a thousand years before Episode I, not two thousand years. So Alexander is well within the time frame! 🙂
Haha, yes – my mistake. For some reason my mind read the date quoted in the press release *entirely* wrong 😛 for someone with a degree in history I should have learnt by now not to skim read!
Ah, but you read real history. It's the pretend history that can be tricky! 🙂