- Brian Borg
The interconnecting web of the Expanded Universe
Greetings everyone! Today I wanted to talk a little bit about my favorite aspect of the Expanded Universe, how interconnected it is.
We all know that continuity is at the heart of why so many fans enjoy the Star Wars Universe. When you can connect the dots between so many stories and almost recreate another reality, you really have something special. I wanted to share a bit more about one of my favorite moments involving this interconnected story.
How many of you are familiar with a character known as The Barsen'thor of the Jedi Order? What if I were to tell you that this character, born thousands of years before the events of the original trilogy, is actually part of a story involving fan-favorite Kyle Katarn and his apprentice Jaden Korr.
In 2003, there was a video game released in the Dark Forces series that followed the success of Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. The game was Star Wars: Jedi Academy. In it, you play as a player-created version of soon-to-be padawan learner, Jaden Korr. You start the game on final approach to the planet Yavin IV, where Luke Skywalker has recently started his Jedi Praxium. (Side comment, you get some awesome connection beyond the books in a cut scene with Luke early in the game, when he mentions other early Jedi Masters of the order, paring them off with new students.) As Jaden, you become apprentice to Kyle Katarn, the protagonist of the Dark Forces series prior to this point.
During the events of the game, you are tasked with hunting down a Dark Jedi cult that is stealing the force power from various areas around the galaxy, some quite familiar to anyone who has watched the movies, others references to other parts of the interconnected tapestry.
My favorite moment was on the planet Chandrila, where Jaden is tasked with stopping this dark side cult from stealing the power surrounding an ancient tomb. That tomb is unidentified by the game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd8y01STDMs
Fast forward to 2015, when Fantasy Flight Games' Star Wars roleplaying game (a tabletop game I have yet to try myself) released the Force and Destiny Core Rulebook. This book references the tomb you visit in 2003's Jedi Knight as belonging to that of the third "Barsen'thor". I was stunned when I learned this because at the time I was still enjoying playing my original character in Star Wars: The Old Republic, a Jedi Consular class character turned Jedi Shadow. During the course of the Jedi Consular's story (which I would highly recommend for anyone immersed in the lore of the Expanded Universe due to its bigname drops) you are named the Third Barsen'thor of the Jedi Order, a title granted to one who is seen as the warden of the order and a tile very rarely granted!
https://youtu.be/6HDD_V60QKw?t=62 Little did I know that as an up-and-coming Jedi under the watch of Kyle Katarn, I would visit the Tomb of a character I would create and play almost a decade later, the third Barsen'thor, Warden of the Jedi Order! This is the type of connection that just makes that galaxy far, far away feel so much more alive and is one of the reasons I love the Expanded Universe! What are some of your favorite moments connecting to different parts of this wonderful story we know and love? Do they come from books? From comics? A mix? Let us know in the comments below!
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