#edited to rearrange some stuff and clarify what the original post was

[wardensantoineandevka]

#I mean the poor guy had NO canon personality ( @sauntering-down on this post )

Actually!! While it’s true we know little of Kom’rk, it’s not true we know nothing. We actually know a lot more about him as an individual than generally believed, even from the few scenes he’s in.

To summarize first, Kom’rk, when we first meet him, gives a sense of one who fears the infrequency with which he sees his family has developed into them not caring enough about him to miss him. However, he deflects this with a joke, preventing it from getting too serious. While he seeks validation, it seems he doesn’t want to appear possibly needy or clingy, and when he does get doted on and fussed over, he acts as if it’s not a big deal. Generally, Kom’rk is either easily bored or feels the need to maintain an aloof, bored facade even among family.

At Kyrimorut, Ordo asks Kom’rk to help him with larger tasks, and Kom’rk readily helps him. Despite the fact it seems Kom’rk makes reports through Jaing, in person, Kom’rk is open, almost forward in expressing his concerns―even those that may be simple annoyances. Kom’rk also readily and quickly criticizes his brothers, most especially Ordo, firm but also kind as he does.

To place him in comparison with the other Nulls, he’s closest to Jaing, with whom he has an easy and joking rapport, and it seems he works best professionally with Jaing; this relationship is likely similar to the one Mereel and Ordo have. He has similar preferences and styles of socializing as Mereel, and he and Mereel seem to have similar tastes in what they look for in a social scene. His sense of humor seems most similar to Ordo’s. He’s one of the more extraverted Nulls.

So, very long quote by quote breakdown of what we know (or what I interpret) about Kom’rk and his relationship with some other characters, the latter of which I talk about more than intended, but how characters relate to others is also important.

After his brief appearance as a child, Kom’rk spends most the series as an unseen character, spoken of but never physically present. Much of what we learn first about him is about his significant relationships.

“Fierfek, son, Kom’rk and Jaing can track a flitnat across the galaxy and we can’t find a gang in our own backyard.” (Triple Zero)

“Only ones I haven’t met are Jaing and Kom’rk, and they’re still after Grievous.” (True Colors)

This is the first thing we learn about Kom’rk. It doesn’t establish overly much about Kom’rk’s personality, but it establishes where he is in the scheme of skills and operations the Nulls have. He’s a skilled tracker, and he’s assigned, with Jaing, to track Grievous. And it also establishes an important relationship: Jaing.

Unlike the other Nulls, the long-term assignment that Kom’rk and Jaing are given is a joint op. This is highly unusual, as the Nulls are essentially trained to work as solo operators. This doesn’t suggest anything to me about Kom’rk’s or Jaing’s abilities―they’re tracking Grievous, intensely high value target. Rather, it tells me that Kom’rk and Jaing must work especially well together professionally. And while the Nulls all get along and work well together, it takes a particular kind of rapport for two people to work very closely on a single mission over the course of years.

I’ll get back to this.

“Oh, he’s fine. He’s learning a few saucy tricks from my brother Kom’rk. Good man, Corr.” (True Colors)

“So [Corr] you’ve enjoyed a rich social education with Mereel and Kom’rk, have you?” (True Colors)

The second thing we learn about Kom’rk is he spends time with Corr, and he and Mereel have been influential in shaping Corr’s coming into his own with a marked self-confidence, extraversion, and easy sociability.

There’s no reason to doubt this―Kom’rk may have an assignment on Utapau, but there’s indication that Kom’rk doesn’t necessarily stay there all the time. (I’ll point it out later.)

Judging by the development in Corr, one can judge the difference as reflective of what Kom’rk is like as a person. And it suggests an extravert who enjoys a social scene and is easily sociable, who has similar styles and preferences of socializing as Mereel and likely enjoys similar social settings as Mereel does.

“I saw Kom’rk once, but he doesn’t seem as…” And that was as far as Darman got. (True Colors)

This is an incomplete thought, and there isn’t anything concrete to get from it, really. I just love it. Considering the two Nulls Darman is most familiar with are Ordo and Mereel, it’s safe to say that Kom’rk’s bearing and demeanor strikes Darman at a single glance as different enough from those two to make an impression such.

Of the six Nulls, [Mereel] was the one best able to deal with the demons the Kaminoans had forced on him. But the others—A’den, Kom’rk, Jaing, and Prudii—kept Skirata awake at night to varying degrees. And Ordo… (Order 66)

This is a quote I always pull for the Nulls. I work under the assumption that this isn’t randomly ordered. I always maintain that this is specifically the order from least to most concerned Kal is. Under this, we learn that Kal isn’t overly concerned about Kom’rk. To some degree? Yes. But Kal doesn’t believe Kom’rk needs as much concern as three other Nulls.

It is also, in my belief, a rough ordering of the Nulls from most extraverted to most introverted. (My thoughts on Kal’s association of extraversion with well-adjustment are for another time, even if not elaborating weakens my point here somewhat.) By this conceit, it confirms at this moment Kom’rk as one of the more extraverted Nulls.

Then the hatch opened and Kom’rk stuck his head into the compartment.

“So, nobody missed me,” he said. “I’m gone a year, and nobody baked a cake.”

“Kom’ika…” Skirata got up and embraced him with a crunch of armor plates. 

Ordo waited his turn. “Come on, get that bucket off and let’s take a look at you… shab, son, you’re looking thin.”

Kom’rk shrugged, clipping his helmet to his belt. His face did look drawn. (Order 66)

This is meeting adult Kom’rk for the first time. Obviously, of immense significance, despite its brevity.

Now, personally, I choose to understand that the first statement Kom’rk makes actually is of significance, and I choose to believe that, for a fleeting moment, it’s utterly sincere. (Why introduce a character with that if it doesn’t speak to some truth?) Kom’rk is afraid that he’s been gone so long, Kal and Ordo don’t care anymore and they don’t miss him.

But, that’s a weighty statement. One that yells a little too loudly for validation, and would even be needy and clingy. Solution: deflect and diffuse with a joke. Steer the conversation elsewhere before it gets too far down the road toward serious. (Mereel does this all the time, by the way.)

Kom’rk does get the validation he seeks. Kal immediately goes to hug him, and he is concerned about how thin Kom’rk looks. However, despite for a moment fearing he won’t get this reception, Kom’rk simply shrugs. He plays the concern off as if it isn’t of importance―or, he plays off the potential that he isn’t as well as he should be. Or, both.

“Grievous still comes and goes on Utapau, Kal’buir, and he gets visits from interesting allies we didn’t know he had. The Regent of Garis, in fact.”

“And there was I thinking he was in the Republic camp.”

Kom’rk handed Skirata a datachip. “A crumb to toss to Zey—here’s the voice traffic between the two of them, minus the locations, of course. We don’t want Windu or Kenobi charging in there and blowing it before we’ve milked the situation.” He lowered his voice. “And Grievous keeps asking Dooku what’s happened to all these gazillions of droids he was promised, poor old dear. I think he’s been set up.”

“Told you so,” Skirata said. “All propaganda. All osik.”

“Can I have a change of scene, then? It’s boring out there.” (Order 66)

I’d like to note the irreverence in Kom’rk’s tone when talking about Jedi, Grievous, and the assignment Kal gave him. (Compare: Ordo’s staunch acceptance of the lot Kal assigned him, despite deep dissatisfaction with it.)

[Jaing:] “He [Grievous] misses Utapau, obviously. I got a tip-off.”

[Ordo:] “You’re not there, then.”

“No, we’re just tidying up a few loose ends on the Rim.”

“Time we told Zey?”

“Yeah.” Jaing sounded tired. “There’s still something not right about this, but I’m past caring, and so is Kom’ika.” (Order 66)

Here, Kom’rk is indicated to not be at Utapau, instead managing other undisclosed tasks elsewhere.

To return to Kom’rk’s relationship with Jaing, this strikes me as Jaing makes Kom’rk’s sitreps on his behalf, or for the both of them. A little later, Ordo asks Jaing to relay his message to Kom’rk, suggesting to me that when Kom’rk is away, it is normal for Ordo to speak to him indirectly through Jaing.

This gives more of a weight to the possibility that Kom’rk fears Ordo and Kal are unconcerned about him, because he is more distant than the others, but it also speaks of a certain kind of dynamic: not only is Kom’rk rarely heard from directly for us the reader, but he is also rarely heard from directly for narrating characters like Ordo.

It is worth remembering here that of all the Nulls, Kom’rk is away from home base for the longest periods, at one time gone for a year.

Why Kom’rk may communicate indirectly through Jaing, if such is true, is unclear. Perhaps for efficiency. It is redundant to have both Jaing and Kom’rk report the same information. Perhaps it speaks to strain in his relationship with Kal.

Good time to talk about his relationship with Ordo.

“Is it going to burn properly?” Kom’rk asked. “Do you want some accelerant on the pyre?”

Ordo thought that was a good idea, and wondered how it could be done discreetly. (Order 66)

When Ordo and Kom’rk had herded the whole clan into the karyai... (501st)

While I may suggest that there’s possibly strain in his relationship with Kal, I hesitate to suggest such with Ordo. (Full disclosure: Ordo is my favorite.)

I say this because when Ordo needs two large tasks done, one of which is a delicate and emotionally charged matter, Ordo asks Kom’rk for help, and Kom’rk gives it. While one may chalk it up to necessity, the sincerity with which Kom’rk helps Ordo with the pyre speaks to me otherwise.

“They’ve completely overhauled the system overnight, Ord’ika.” Kom’rk took back the ’pad. “Data, comms, everything. We can’t get in. We can’t take stuff out. We can’t talk or listen at will. We can’t spy.”

It was the first time Ordo could recall when he and his brothers had not been able to get at anything they wanted. [...] “It’s more an annoyance,” Ordo said at last. [...] “None of this is beyond you or me to bypass, and Mereel or Jaing can crack this over a cup of caf.”

“I’m sure we can, but we’re starting over. The whole system’s changed. We’ve been used to being on the inside, exploiting opportunities, but if we want to keep that level of access, we’re going to have to start working harder.”

“Apart from extracting our brothers, why is this urgent?”

Kom’rk shrugged. “Just in case.”

And we hate being shut out. Ordo and his brothers were used to being in control. “We still can’t comm Darman or Niner, then?”

“No, and we can’t even get a medical sitrep on Niner. Or find out where Darman is. Because it’s the Imperial Army now.” (Order 66)

Ruu left, taking her plate with her, and Kom’rk raised an eyebrow at Ordo.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, ner vod, but you lack sensitivity. Poor woman didn’t go looking for Kal’buir. We abducted her.”

“She knows the score.”

“So you’re happy now.”

“Less tense, let’s say.” (501st)

Despite my saying Kom’rk appears distant over comms, in person with Ordo, he is almost forward. He is open with his concerns and has no issue quickly and concisely stating them, even if they’re ultimately simply annoyances rather than urgent matters.

I don’t interpret forwardness as a sign of strain―Kom’rk comes across firm, but not unkind. As someone with multiple siblings, I can say this tone is common, especially when sincerely and without malice trying to help a sibling address a flaw they have.

Frankly, as I see it, it is suggested that Kom’rk’s relationship with Ordo is a direct, open, and straightforward one. Also, is it possible that the deflection he displays earlier is for Kal, rather than Ordo? (Full disclosure: I do not like Kal and am heavily biased against him.)

Additionally, though the inability to hack into the military mainframe is relevant to the situation with Niner and Darman, Kom’rk’s concerns over it are not framed that way. Kom’rk is mostly concerned they have no access and his frustration of being shut out. He also appears aware Ordo may not consider this urgent―Ordo does not―but that doesn’t stop him from mentioning it. While it’s one part thoroughness, one part some relevance to a problem they have, I also think it’s two parts feeling able to express even minor concerns to Ordo.

“Son, you know how many times we’ve pulled that stunt?” Skirata asked.

“Yes. You know how many times it’s worked?” [said Prudii.]

Kom’rk inspected his fingernails. “Well, that’s another problem they’ve brought upon themselves—it’s not like they can take our DNA to prove who we are. Or stick us in a lineup. (501st)

I just wanted to point out behavior indicative of boredom. This is the second time. So, at this point, I’d feel safe assuming Kom’rk is either easily bored or feels the need to maintain a bored, aloof facade, even around family. (I’d also note both are around Kal, and he doesn’t exhibit this when not around Kal, your mileage may vary due to the small number of instances.)

Kom’rk had claimed a corner [of the workshop Jaing set up] to himself and was hunched over a 2-D holochart, tapping numbers into a datapad, completely absorbed in the calculation.

“Who’d have thought it, Bard’ika?” Jaing said, not looking up from the screen in front of him. “Saucy old di’kut, showing up like that. Moral of the story—always go back and check for a pulse.”

“Ordo’s never going to live that down,” Kom’rk muttered. “Ha… ha…” (501st)

Again, support for works well professionally with Jaing.

Also since everyone and their pet strill is probably ribbing Ordo in absentia about how he was wrong about Maze shooting Zey, especially Ordo who is always right and whose entire reputation rides on his being right, perhaps Kom’rk is tired of this topic already. A drawn out laugh like that is often flat-toned: “[mocking tone] Ordo’s never going to live that one down. [unamused] Ha... ha...”

Seeing as Jaing finds this whole thing funny, Kom’rk who doesn’t appear to find it funny at all, serves counterpoint. Likely speaks to at least a concern for how Ordo is taking it, or an empathy for how Ordo will not find this funny himself at all. Kom’rk is either tired of an overplayed joke making fun of Ordo at Ordos expense or isn’t a fan of making fun of Ordo for something Ordo cannot also laugh about. Probably speaks to Kom’rk’s sensibilities or again overall relationship with Ordo.

“Still, it’s hard to cap someone who’s just standing there looking pathetic, even when you know you’ll regret it one day if you don’t.”

“I’ll do it,” Kom’rk said. “Nothing personal. Just necessary.”

“Or we could use them to our advantage.” Jaing tapped his finger on the pile of flimsi. “Because one day, the Empire’s going to really tick us off, and we’ll need the skills of some saber-jockeys who owe us.”

Kom’rk laughed. “They’ve owed a lot of people for a long time. Don’t see much of them repaying their debts.” (501st)

“Of course, if we know where they’re holed up, we could just wipe out the rest of them now,” Kom’rk said. “Or even do a deal with the Empire. But I don’t trust any of them.” (501st)

Pragmatic. Cynical. Negative about the Jedi.

Yes, traits that are said to be shared among all the Nulls to varying degrees, but it’s nice to actually see them.

“Let’s not be too hasty. We know where their bolt-holes are, and with a little ingenuity we can track their movements. They step out of line—the Empire gets a treasure map with here be Jedi on it.”

Kom’rk laughed again. “That boy’s sick.”

“You got that location yet?” Jaing asked. “Chop-chop. Get a move on.”

“In a minute. It’s looking like the Plawal Rift.” (501st)

Again, more support for his rapport with Jaing. And this exchange demonstrates a different energy and tone he has with Ordo. Where he is much more straightforward in his exchanges with Ordo, he has more jest and hard edges for Jaing. It’s a balanced push and pull, and almost a series of little playful jabs.

Now, I’ve talked already a lot about Kom’rk and Jaing, but here, in this moment, is where I feel most that their relationship is similar to the one Mereel and Ordo have, that very balanced counterpoint and deep, unspoken understanding. Just as much as one better understands both Ordo and Mereel as individuals through their relationship, I think it’s possible to have the same with Jaing and Kom’rk.

“Ordo thinks I’m going soft on my old associates,” Jusik said. “I can’t blame him.”

“Are you?” [said Kom’rk.]

“Do you think I am?”

“Nah. Do you want me to shoot you if you are?”

Kom’rk had that kind of deadpan humor. But humor had its serious purpose in life.

“Yes,” Jusik said, half-meaning it. “Make it before I do any real damage.”

Jaing just looked up at Kom’rk, the slightest pause as if it wasn’t funny.

“You got it, ner vod,” Kom’rk said, and went back to his holochart. (501st)

This again speaks to an understanding of Kom’rk that Jaing has that other people may not, or at least that’s how I read Jaing’s hesitation while Jusik is still trying to figure out how serious Kom’rk really is.

Also, Kom’rk’s sense of humor, laid out in exposition. Much like Ordo, he’s dry―though even more dry than even Ordo is, it seems. But it does say a lot about him that agreeing to shoot his adoptive brother is conceivably something he’d say as a joke. Or, maybe it suggests something about his opinion of Jusik.

And that’s everything we know about Kom’rk, and what we can possibly glean it all. Social, dry witted, distant. But close with his brothers, most especially Jaing, likely Mereel, and readily but kindly criticizing Ordo. Possibly worries about how much his family actually cares, but masks it under jokes to not come across as needy. Both open and distant when it comes to communicating, depending on context. It’s true we have very little proper scenes with him, and be clearly is the least developed of the six Nulls, but we actually know a lot more about him and what he’s like than generally believed.

[kaiowut99]

A Disclosed Past - The Duel Profiler VS the Black Rose Witch

Everybody who’s still following or curious about this project listen!

Phew, managed to get this guy all nice and done! In case this is the first you’re hearing about my mini-project here:

So, the official Spanish YGO channel on YouTube flubbed a few uploads of the 5D’s dub such that they ended up uploading a few episodes of the English dub instead of the Latin American dub (21-29)–but with none of 4Kids’s background music! Which meant that I could swoop in and re-insert the original Japanese soundtrack (which I did by matching each track to how it was looped in the episode), but I wanted to do more by also tweaking the dub itself so that not only was it matching the original footage, but the dialogue was more in line with the original dialogue timing-wise (since I couldn’t salvage much of what they changed).  Hence, the “dubbed uncut” gimmick here.

Check out the masterpost of episodes I’ve done here!

Check out this episode’s WIP videos! WIP #1     WIP #2     WIP #3

So, this was another interesting one to work with--I think overall this episode’s dub definitely benefits from having the Japanese music at *all*, but getting the dialogue a bit more in line with the Japanese script was the more "fun” task here.  A few parts were essentially done by just throwing in the Japanese version’s dialogue-less audio to eliminate some of the extra fluff, and others were more about rearranging or recycling certain lines (some from 23 or 24 when I needed something for Aki) to eliminate some more fluff or make my matching the JP script flow better.  I also fixed an error that bugged me from Tanner about the Black Rose being down to her last few “ATK” points; I ran a line of his from episode 7 through PhonicMind.com to remove the music and splice in “Life” there (I actually did that with much of the second half of that ep so I’ll probably try to do the JP OST thing there too~) For the bits that I felt were just too far edited by 4Kids that I couldn’t do much with them, I thought I’d slip in subs for the Japanese version of the scenes so you get the original context in there; that’ll just be for this hardsub, as you’ll have softsubs to work with when I post this for download over on NAC.  You can see it in action in this preview here.  Also going ahead and translating the “Today’s Best Card” and title cards along with the OP/EN going forward, lol.

Like 21, 22′s dueling dialogue was handled about as well as you’d expect at this point in the dub (though I clarified Koda’s line about Akiza losing “half [Black Rose Dragon’s] ATK [in damage] when he uses Mind Monster), but I did modify things on Akiza’s end where I could to tone down her dramatic flair and have her give the same kind of coolly energy Aki does, using some of her Duel Links lines to that end (like her “Battle!” line), recycling some lines (”Hope you don’t mind but ladies first!”->”The first move is mine! [from 23] I draw!” and also some lines from 23 to lead into her backstory flashback), or shortening some of her other lines.  I also stitched together a line to lead into recreating her Synchro chant for Black Rose [may sound a bit off, but I really didn’t like her fluff there]; I essentially did that bit from the ground-up like I did that undubbed footage in 26, redoing the SFX, queuing her Duel Links chant properly, and throwing in her “Black Binding Bloom!!” over BRD’s zero-ATK effect (see preview link above).  Came out really well, if I say so myself. :P

Unfortunately, I couldn’t edit out too much of Koda’s dialogue since he’s not in Duel Links yet and this is his only appearance, though I did tweak his thoughts about his defenses against BRD a bit by recycling an earlier line you likely forgot about by that point, maybe.  And I also recreated how I handled the beginning of 23 when I first started this project, switching to his Japanese scream for a sec or two as he’s hit by Rose Curse’s damage to edit out Akiza’s horrible dialogue at the end (and the same tweaks to Tanner’s and Yusei’s dialogue).

Music-wise, recreating the OST was fun; this episode uses some of my faves like Mind Games, Showdown, and Izayoi Battle so it’s fun to work with those.  Dragon (playing over the BRD scene) seems to never play at its Sound Duel album speed in these episodes, though... The whole song’s sped up by 1s in this episode (in 26, it was a sec or two faster), so that was kind of a pain to sync up to the Japanese version, but the end result is neat.  Maybe I’ll do a side video or two with the dub’s actual dialogue and just the OST to see what folks think of it.  Also added back a ton of SFX because for some reason they’re really low/hard to hear in this musicless audio 4K uploaded, and I did tweak a few lines a bit so I could take out some of the pointless SFX 4Kids added.

Overall, happy with how this came out, but if anyone has any input (like “UGH I HATE THE JP DIALOGUE SUBS”), feel free to share! With this done now, I’ll work my way back onto GX and get stuff ready to knock the Seven Stars arc off my finalizing list; thinking I’ll aim to get 47-49 done together, or at least prep stuff for all three and then get them done, but I’d like to get 48 and 49 out simultaneously again like I did the Amnael duel.  I’ll be revisiting my handling of 5D’s 23 for this project to update it for how I decided to do these as of 25, and also for the Duel Links audio and wanting to throw in the Synchro chants again in 24.  Stay tuned!