Star Wars: The Old Republic – Revan may be considered Legends material now by Disney, but this is by far my favorite Star Wars book. With the approach of Game Update 5.9 to SWTOR, I would like to remind you of this masterpiece and tell you why you MUST read it!
This blog post contains a few very minor spoilers about the Revan novel. Nothing to be scared of, I promise :)
In 2010 and 2011, before the release of Star Wars: The Old Republic, a series of novels were published to keep the fans’ interest up and rising about the upcoming MMO game. There were four in total with a few short stories and three comic book series on the side. The third novel was called simply “Revan” and was written by Drew Karpyshyn. It was released in 2011 and told the story of a redeemed Revan, who had recently returned back to the Light Side and after escaping the Emperor’s grasp with the help of his companions, friends and the Jedi Order’s combined efforts.
Revan, as most of you probably know, is one of the most beloved characters in the Old Republic era – main protagonist of Bioware’s very own Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic video game (KOTOR), released in 2003. If you have not played it, you may miss some small details about him, but the novel explains pretty well most of the main events in Revan’s past and despite being quite short and easy to read, it reminds the reader of pretty much everything they need to know about this character. So, in the end, you will not feel lost, even if you have never played KOTOR.
I bought the book immediately as it was released back in 2011 and completed it in nearly one go. Yes, it’s really that short. Not long ago I noticed that Amazon is offering a bundle of all four novels in a digital format for a very decent price and thought I’d pick it up as well and go through the stories one more time. Now I have years of experience with SWTOR stories and the whole EU in general and I can understand some things even better than I did before.
Why am I writing this, you wonder? It’s not a review of the book, because I don’t believe I’m capable of writing such a thing. Game Update 5.9 for SWTOR is approaching (releasing on 1st of May) and the new story will take us (back) to Nathema – the birth place of Vitiate.
“Nathema? I’ve never heard of it.”
“Once it went by another name, but that name has long been forgotten… just like the planet itself. The Emperor erased Nathema from the history books and the astrogation charts to hide all evidence of his crimes.” – Scourge and Darth Nyriss
Nathema has a very unique and unfortunate story. We (the players) visit it once during the Knights of the Eternal Throne story campaign. Now a different story will take us back. The events that we have witnessed on it and will witness in 5.9 probably wont have a direct connection to the Sith Ritual that was performed by Vitiate – the same ritual that consumed all life and The Force on the whole planet, leaving it an empty silent wasteland. However, I always like to know the background of the places I visit. And there is no better place to learn about Nathema, its history and events, than the Revan novel. There you will get to see the planet long after the Emperor has performed his ritual, but also long before the events described in KOTET. The planet is described very well from the point of view of two different characters – a Sith and a Jedi.
It’s not just Nathema, though. Do you remember the sith companion for the Jedi Knight – Scourge? Do you want to know his story and why and how he came to be the character he is in SWTOR? And, of course, Revan. The legendary fallen Jedi knight, turned to the Dark Side by Vitiate, then redeemed and “cleansed” by the Jedi Order. Revan’s tale continues in SWTOR, which is roughly 300 years after the events of the novel. If you have completed the mini story arc on the Republic side that takes you Through Taral V and later to the Maelstrom Prison Flashpoints, you would remember freeing Revan in the end and learning of his efforts to stop the Sith Emperor from invading the Republic.
Now, if you have reached this final paragraph of the what I would like a “blog post”, there’s nothing left for me but to strongly recommend, no… URGE you to pick up the Revan novel and read it. Whether you have read it in 2011 or never, you will not regret doing that now.
About Nathema (from Wookieepedia)
Nathema, originally known as Medriaas, was a fertile agriworld located in the Nathema system of the Outer Rim Territories’ Chorlian sector during the time of the Sith Empire. The planet’s Sith ruler, Lord Dramath, was deposed in 5103 BBY by his own illegitimate son Tenebrae at the age of ten, and the child received the title of Lord Vitiate and rulership of Medriaas from the reigning Dark Lord of the Sith, Marka Ragnos. Renaming the planet Nathema, Vitiate kept his world isolated from the power plays of his fellow Sith over the next century, and his isolation spared Nathema from the Great Hyperspace War in 5000 BBY. The following year, Vitiate summoned the eight thousand remaining Sith Lords to Nathema in order to save the crumbling Sith Empire, but the powerful Vitiate dominated their minds instead and proceeded to use their strength in a complex ritual of Sith magic that granted him immortality while stripping the Force from the entire planet.
About Revan (from Wookieepedia)
Revan—renowned as the Revanchist, honored as the Revan, reviled as Revan the Butcher, dreaded as the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Revan, and praised as the Prodigal Knight—was a Human male who played pivotal roles as both Jedi and Sith in the Mandalorian Wars, Jedi Civil War, and Great Galactic War.
Believed to have been born in the Outer Rim Territories around the year 3994 BBY, the man later known as Revan was found by the Jedi Order at an early age and became apprenticed to the Jedi Master Kreia. The Padawan had an insatiable hunger for knowledge and learned everything she knew, then studied under a number of other Masters, quickly becoming the Jedi’s most promising pupil. Alongside his friend Alek, he became a Jedi Knight and a vocal and charismatic critic of the Order’s inactivity in the ongoing Mandalorian Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders. In defiance of the Jedi Council, the Knight took upon the name Revan and started the Revanchist movement to combat the Mandalorian threat as the Republic Military’s Supreme Commander.
Revan and his forces gradually pushed back the Mandalorians, saving countless worlds at the price of devastating moral compromises and the embrace of dark side practices. On Dxun, Revan sacrificed thousands of lives to uproot the Mandalorian headquarters. The conflict climaxed over Malachor V, where Revan defeated the Mandalorian leader Mandalore the Ultimate in single-combat and ordered the activation of a superweapon, known as the Mass Shadow Generator, destroying both armies and the planet itself but winning the war in the process.
With the Mandalorians defeated, the galaxy hailed Revan and his partner Alek, now known as Malak, as the greatest of heroes. However, the two vanished into the Unknown Regions, investigating a mysterious Sith influence behind the war. They discovered a hidden Sith Empire and had their minds warped by the Sith Emperor Vitiate. The newly anointed Darth Revan and Darth Malak were sent out as the Emperor’s servants to find the Star Forge, a mystical automated shipyard capable of producing an infinite armada, to escalate the Sith’s plans for invasion. However, the pair broke free from Vitiate’s mental control and used the Star Forge for themselves, creating their own Sith Empire and a fleet of warships. Revan and Malak, intent on unifying the galaxy so that they could destroy the Emperor and the hidden Sith threat, returned to the galaxy as conquerors and waged war against the Jedi and the Republic in the resultant Jedi Civil War.
