Continuing where Endnotes for Droids and the Force Part 1 left off, this entry wraps up the myriad references across the Expanded Universe included in Droids, Technology and the Force: A Clash of Phenomena, published in the online supplement to Star Wars Insider #81. Hope you have as much fun learning about them as I had writing about them!

These notes were originally posted at the Droids and the Force discussion thread at TheForce.net, in an abridged and slightly less complete form.


Section 2: New Advances

This section introduces a number of Imperial mad scientists. Borborygamous [sic] Gog and his "Essence Stealer" on the Nespis VII space station appear in Galaxy of Fear #5: Ghost of the Jedi (1997, Bantam). Gog's study of Ssi-ruuvi "entechment" technology and the battle droid ships the aliens use is new information but refers to The Truce at Bakura (1993, Bantam), while soul-snares were employed by the mysterious Order of the Terrible Glare, seen briefly in the story "Blind Fury" in the UK Star Wars Weekly #159. This story was reprinted in Devilworlds #1 (1996, Dark Horse Comics).

In the curious paragraph examining the relationship between Mandalorian Iron, introduced in Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith #2 (Dark Horse Comics, 1994), and the Force, I attached this pseudo-scientific footnote for the Lucasfilm editors:

"I thought it important to distinguish Mandalorian iron from 'normal irons' because of the intended or unintended parallels between Star Wars's "the Force" and the "magnetic force" of our own galaxy. The very fact that iron, a powerful attractant to magnets in our world, has been [loosely] associated with the Force in [this] way, as well as the Force's association with "electron rays" (insofar as the Jedi in The Phantom Menace could not use their lightsabers or the Force to penetrate the red electron walls that blocked their path in the movie's final duel), and the obvious "magnetic" quality of magnetism that so resembles the Force-power telekinesis, suggests to me that there is a parallel [between magnetism and the Force] that may be further elaborated upon, but [which] could be complicated by the concept that Mandalorian iron is in effect working in the opposite sense [in Star Wars] that iron would [work] in relation to magnetism in our galaxy."

The scientist Umak Leth and his Universal Energy Cage were introduced in the comic Dark Empire #2 (1992, Dark Horse Comics). While the cage appeared as part of the story, Leth himself only appeared by name in an essay included in the backpages of the comic. The Dark Empire Sourcebook (1993, West End Games) and the first edition of the Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology (1997, Del Rey) elaborated specifics on the containment unit. Reference to Mandalorian Iron and Ingoian scatrium used in the cage's superconductors is new. Scatrium is the precious metal found on the planet Ingo from "Droids: The Adventures of Artoo-Detoo and See-Threepio" in Dungeon #111/Polyhedron #170 (2004, Paizo Publishing) which was based on the animated TV program by the same name (1985, Nelvana), and conclusively links the Ingoian race first mentioned in the Shadows of the Empire Sourcebook (1997, West End Games) to the planet Ingo. That might seem a foregone conclusion to most, but continuity is a slippery thing. Sometimes it's these little things that count.

Force Detectors first appeared in the novel Jedi Search (1994, Bantam). Their connection to the Force-obsessed scientist Jenna Zan Arbor from Jedi Apprentice: The Evil Experiment (2001, Scholastic) is new. Lord Cronal's implementation of the "Science of Darkness" in his contribution to these devices is a direct reference to and quote from the Dark Empire Sourcebook (1993, West End Games), linking Cronal to Palpatine's Dark Side Adepts on the world Byss and to the Emperor's plans to establish a Dark Side Theocracy. These tenuous connections were later confirmed in "Outcasts and Megalomaniacs Welcome," part six of the Dark Forces Saga roleplaying game articles (2005, Wizards.com). Cronal himself first appeared in the Gamemaster Screen for Second Edition adventure hook, "Monster Maker" (1992, West End Games), while his alter ego Blackhole debuted in newspapers in the Star Wars comics strip storyline Gambler's World (1978, L.A. Times Syndicate). The Circarpousian thaissen crystals Cronal uses in the Force Detectors are first mentioned in The Power of the Jedi Sourcebook (2002, Wizards of the Coast).

The use of Force detectors by the Dark Jedi Brakiss for his Shadow Academy refers to the events of Young Jedi Knights: The Lost Ones (1995, Berkley/Boulevard), while Jedi Master Kyp Durron's use of a Force Detector in finding his apprentice Miko Reglia is new information.

The reluctant Imperial scientist Nasdra Magrody and his implantation of the subelectronic converter into Irek Ismaren are from Children of the Jedi (1996, Bantam), though his Arkanian origin and the names of his academic texts are new. Meanwhile, Ismaren's transformation into a "mechanical monster himself" occurs in New Jedi Order: Enemy Lines II -- Rebel Stand (2002, Del Rey).

Though they were first named in the Dark Empire Sourcebook (1993, West End Games), the robotic TIE/Ds are from Dark Empire #3 (1992, Dark Horse Comics), while the Shadow Droids are first seen in the pages of Dark Empire II #1 (1994, Dark Horse Comics). The marriage of Ssi-ruuvi entechment procedures to established cyber pilots systems, from Han Solo and the Lost Legacy (1980, Del Rey), is new, as is the potential for the fighters to fall into the traumatic reflex "cyberostasis," a concept introduced in Han Solo at Stars' End (1979, Del Rey).

The reference to the death-seeking Charon cultists alludes to the rpg books Otherspace (1989, West End Games) and Otherspace II: Invasion (1989, West End Games). Charon, of course, is also the name of the mythical boatman that gives passage to the dead across the River Styx in Greek/Roman mythology, not to mention the name of the planet Pluto's most well-known moon in our own solar system.

Section 3: The Shard

The Shard(s) were introduced in the roleplaying source article "Alien Encounters: The Shards" in Star Wars Adventure Journal #15 (1997, West End Games), which reveals their origin and first contact with the Old Republic. The prejudice they faced in the Empire is new information.

Section 4: The Iron Knights

The name and race of the Iron Knights' unorthodox Jedi Master, the Sunesi alien Aqinos, is new information not originally specified in the Star Wars Missions book in which this character first appeared, The Monsters of Dweem (1998, Scholastic). However, most of the information about Aqinos and his Iron Knights, including their symbiosis with the Shards, is revealed here for the first time. Taking a clue from author Kathy Tyers' practice of naming Sunesi after famous historical figures in the Star Wars Adventure Journal #10 story "Only Droids Thank the Maker" (1996, West End Games), I chose the name Aqinos as an homage to the theologian Saint Thomas Aquinas due to the overt parallels between the Sunesi religion and Christianity.

The Iron Knights tend to take names after Jedi lightsaber crystals, following their ancestor Ilum's example. Hence, the name of the Iron Knight named Luxum, after a dark side focusing crystal from the video game Knights of the Old Republic (2002, LucasArts).
The initial generation of Iron Knights also took the bodies of deactivated Juggernaut War Droids. These droids were first referenced in the equipment stats of the darksider Arden Lyn in "The Emperor's Pawns" in Star Wars Gamer #5 (2001, Wizards of the Coast): Arden's robotic arm was taken from a Juggernaut. Iron Knights also took the bodies of FLTCH-series droids, which appeared in the first Star Wars ongoing storyarc, Prelude to Rebellion (1999, Dark Horse Comics), and the bodies of Uulshos Justice Droids, which appear in the roleplaying game book Wanted by Cracken (1993, West End Games).

Aqinos was a Jedi instructor aboard Djinn Altis' Ch'unthor Academy. According to Darksaber (1995, Bantam), Atlis was the master of the Jedi Knight Callista Ming, who is Luke's love interest for a time. This connection helps explain how Callista could've known any clues to share with Luke pertaining to the Iron Knights' whereabouts.

The base on Dweem where Aqinos trained the Iron Knights was used during the conflict known as the Hundred-Year Darkness. This event was first mentioned in the comic Dark Lords of the Sith #3 (1994, Dark Horse Comics). The New Essential Chronology (2005, Del Rey) recently revealed that this war, which occurred 7,000 years before the events of A New Hope, resulted in the exile of the dark Jedi who would eventually conquer the peoples known as the Sith and thus become the first "Dark Lords of the Sith."

The idea of assassin droids banding together to hunt Yuuzhan Vong was a theme originally slated to be explored in the New Jedi Order series (1999-2003, Del Rey), but was dropped. It was resurrected here and tied in with the Iron Knights.

Section 5: Conclusions

The potential Force-sensitivity (or robotic delusions) of the bounty hunter 4-LOM were first suggested in the short story "Of Possible Futures," in Tales of the Bounty Hunters (1996, Bantam). Jaled Dur, Aqinos' master, was a Jedi from Gamemaster Screen for Second Edition (1992, West End Games). This Jedi Master was famed for creating the Heart of the Universe, a gem with awesome though unspecified powers. Finally, another Jedi Master, Ferleen Snee, and his experience with Muntuur Stones was originally documented in Galaxy Guide 9: Fragments From the Rim (1993, West End Games).

Postscript: A final word on the article's in-universe author and its out-of-universe "translator." Tam Azur-Jamin is a Jedi Knight introduced in New Jedi Order: Balance Point (2000, Del Rey). He is the son of the Jedi Daye Azur-Jamin and Tinian Iatt from the story "Only Droids Serve the Maker" in Star Wars Adventure Journal #10 (1996, West End Games). According to New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force, Tam's father disappears during the Yuuzhan Vong Invasion. This loss of his father, who was a cyborg, was to me the psychological motivation for Tam to "write" this treatise on the controversial relationship between droids, technology and the Force-in order for him to get some closure, defend his father from traditional attacks against cyborgs, and to have him contribute something to the galaxy beyond his presumed death. Ironically, Daye is found alive in the adventure hook "Jedi Search" in "Unsung Heroes of the Light," part two of the Dark Forces Saga (2005, Wizards.com) and seems to in fact have fallen prey to exactly what his son attempted to exonerate him from, susceptibility to the dark side of the Force. Of course, that revelation is chronologically in the future, and Tam doesn't know it at the time he writes his treatise.

As for the attributed translator, fans have asked that since "Abel G. Peņa" is listed as the translator, does that mean Abel G. Peņa is now a character in the Star Wars universe? It's probably best to let this one go. First, I should mention that this playful attribution has a precedent. Several of Random House's children's books that came out during the prequels, such as I Am A Pilot (1999, Random House), I Am A Droid (1999, Random House), I Am A Jedi Apprentice (2002, Random House), and I Am A Bounty Hunter (2002, Random House) all are supposedly authored by the character each focuses on (Anakin, C-3PO, or Boba Fett). But if you look closely at the credits, you'll see that these stories are written "As Told To..." a particular out-of-universe author, either Marc Cerasini or Kerry Milliron. It's a slippery slope to interpret these obviously playful attributions as canonizing some real authors into the fictional Star Wars universe. It's good for a chuckle, though. ~ Abel G. Peņa

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