#ancient Je’daii

[average-transdalorian]

The Force as a manifestation of faith

Or, my reasoning as to why the Sith and fallen Jedi are Like That when other Force cultures are perfectly fine when “Dark”

Aka: I had a really fun idea for a Mandalorian Force practice but it wouldn’t fit into the textual framework of the dichotomy of Light and Dark so now I gotta explain away a bunch of shit before I can actually get to my fun idea

So, what do I mean by a manifestation of faith?

Well, it seems to me that the Force works the way the user believes it works. ESB makes it VERY clear that the only limits of the Force are the ones perceived by the user; Luke thinks lifting his X-wing impossible, so he cannot lift it. Luke thinks that within the cave, he shall find a fight and a lesson, so when he dips into that Force nexus, he finds a fight and a lesson, exactly as he expected

On top of that, the modern Jedi and Sith believe that the Dark draws its power from suffering, and that it is addicting and heady, making you believe you can do anything and beat anybody, leaving you arrogant and full of hubris. And as far as we’ve seen, that’s exactly how it works for Sith and Fallen Jedi! They draw power from their suffering and the suffering of others, they are arrogant to a fault, and it is nigh-impossible to pull yourself out of the well of the Dark once you are within it because you always crave more

But it wasn’t always this way

The Jedi and Sith share the same framework for the Force because they were once one group that underwent a schism; I am speaking, of course, of the Je’daii of Tython. The Je’daii were a multispecies culture in Legends, which were brought to Tython by these ancient ships that had collected Force sensitives for… known reasons, I think? It has to do with the Celestials, and the Celestials are not my forte. Regardless, the Je’daii’s philosophy was that the Dark was pain, anger, fear, and power, and the Light was love, peace, joy, and knowledge, and that one should seek balance between the two aspects within oneself. These are the sources of the Light/Dark split we see in the modern Jedi and Sith (although it notably lacks the addictiveness and single-minded focus on power of the Sith philosophy), but the reason that the Je’daii sought to hold both equally in themselves has to do with a few really interesting aspects of Tython specifically! Tython had two moons: Ashla, which was bathed in light and Light alike, and Bogan, which was doused in Dark and dark alike, and Tython itself was neutral. If it ever strayed too far from that neutrality, cataclysmic Force Storms would sweep the surface, doing great and terrible damage to the cities and their inhabitants. So, the Je’daii sought to maintain Tython’s balance by maintaining their own balance. Any too far into one side of the Force would be sent to the other side’s moon to rebalance themself. However, they were eventually found by Xesh, a Force Hound of the Rakatan Infinite Empire. The Infinite Empire was already on a decline, and aren’t actually terribly relevant to the ensuing actions on Tython. Rather, Xesh brought with him a Forcesaber, the earliest form of lightsaber, which had no power pack, and was powered purely through the Dark side of the Force, because the Rakata were just Like That. Several Je’daii had been driven mad a few years prior by visions of a terrible army wielding blades of frozen fire, and they saw the Forcesaber as that blade. Thus, the Je’daii Order underwent a schisms; half sought the power of the Dark, and the other half sought the knowledge of the Light, and there were some big wars, and then Tython got pissy about all the imbalance and kicked everyone out. The Ashla Je’daii, having reformed to the Jedi, eventually settled on Ossus, and then Coruscant, while the Bogan Je’daii… kinda just disappeared? But don’t worry, there’s a second schism later where some Dark Jedi do fucked up super unethical experiments and get exiled for it, where the end up finding the Sith species

The Sith species were, for whatever reason, just about every single “savage native” stereotype rolled into one. They did slavery, they did sentient sacrifice, they had rigid and immovable castes, they had civil wars all over the place, they were unbearably cruel to one another, yadda yadda ya. They also had Force magicks and alchemy, and a belief that suffering begets power. They also made some tablets that you could argue were eldritch horrors, as the madness of the writers would drive the readers mad as well, even as they gained knowledge of superweapons and whatnot. Anyways, the Sith were actually pretty chill about all the death and suffering, until the Rakata swung around and told them “yeah that’s not the ultimate way of life actually,” which contributed to a little bit of a societal collapse. Anyways, the freshly exiled Dark Jedi showed up, went “oh hey, your magick and shit is neat. We’re taking it,” and then proved themselves to be superior in almost every regard to the “barely-civilized native species” (Jesus fuck that comic writer did NOT check their biases when writing about this, yikes. The wookiepedia section about this reads even worse). Anyways, the Dark Jedi eventually declared themselves the Dark Lords of the Sith, and synthesized the Jedi ideas of the Dark (power, fear, anger) with the Sith ideas of the Dark (magick, alchemy, through suffering I gain addictive power), and tada! We have the modern Sith philosophy we know and hate! Once the Sith Lords reemerged to the galaxy, the Jedi took their interpretation of the Dark as THE interpretation of the Dark, and continued to teach that that was how the Dark worked, that it would corrupt you and lead to you seeking power through suffering to satiate your addiction to power. It’s wild shit! But!

What about Darksiders that AREN’T descended from Jedi or Sith?

The most recent example of this seems to be the Coven on Brendok. Their abilities are thought of as Dark, but we see them exhibit none of the suffering-inducing tendencies of the Dark as the Jedi and Sith teach it. On top of that, they see the Force as more of a Thread which governs the Universe, and can be moved to create various effects. Mother Aniseya even uses this to create Osha and Mae, which seems to have been….. not too difficult, and produced two children with middling Force sensitivity, if perhaps a dyad. Compare that, then, to Plagueis in Legends expending huge amounts of power to manipulate the midichlorians in Shmi Skywalker to create a child that would be a supernova in the Force, and, well. It certainly looks like the Thread interpretation would lend itself to an easier task creating “weaker” children, whereas a Midichlorian-based interpretation would lend itself to a more difficult task creating a “stronger” child

On top of that, Mother Aniseya had no issues bypassing Torbin’s mental defenses in order to do…. Whatever it was she did to him. That’s not an ability in the Sith playbook, and again, would probably be perceived as easier if you see it as tugging on a Thread rather than using an energy field to bypass defenses within said energy field to mess with someone’s brain. But again, the “dark” abilities of the Coven have none of the side effects that the Dark has on fallen Jedi and Sith

In fact, there’s another sect of “dark” witches: the Nightsisters of Dathomir! The Jedi explicitly call their Magick “dark,” but Mother Talzin doesn’t seek power through suffering; instead, she acts to protect her people, no more, no less. That’s not the way the Dark interacts with those brought up on a Jedi’s interpretation

Furthermore, we have Merrin; a powerful Nightsister with many abilities, who is kind, compassionate, and open-minded, and suffering from absolutely none of the mental corruption that the Sith and fallen Jedi see from touching the Dark. Are you noticing a pattern? Because I am! The Force, whatever it truly is, interacts with those sensitive to it the way they expect it to, for better or for worse. The Force is a manifestation of their faith

So what’s this rad Mandalorian Force tradition I came up with? I’m so glad you asked! I’d name it something like the “Kot be Shereshoy,” or “Strength of Passion.” However, shereshoy isn’t passion the way the Jedi and Sith think of it; Shereshoy is a lust for life, a desire to live each day to its fullest. Shereshoy is both “love fast die young hot girls do it well” and “fall a little bit in love with every aspect of your life every day”

Shereshoy is not a REQUIREMENT to be Mandalorian. However, it is culturally valued, not dissimilarly to how Mandalorians value constant change and growth. It makes sense to me that Mandalorians would interact with the Force through this desire to live a joyous life, this ideal world where everything can be beautiful, and you are full of love. Also, it could set up some interesting moments where someone defines the Sith’s Dark as “dar’shereshoy,” or “no-longer-a-lust-for-life,” a passion that’s been turned on its head and been used for pain rather than joy, and defines the Jedi’s Light as “nu’shereshoy,” or “not-a-lust-for-life,” a simple peace to their everyday existence. It would also support the Sith and Jedi both thinking that the Mandalorians would always ally with the Sith, because “passion is passion” (wrong!)

This post probably doesn’t make sense and misses a lot of things but WHATEVER I want the Mandalorians to have their own Force traditions that doesn’t fit within the Light/Dark dichotomy while still leaving that dichotomy intact for the Jedi and the Sith because the Sith don’t make sense without it really

[archivist-annemi]

Got my hands on a really battered old copy of Star Wars Insider 141 mainly because it contains a printing of Eruption, the oldest tale in the old Star Wars Legends canon. To clarify: chronologically the oldest. It was published in 2013, after Disney acquired Star Wars, but before the mouse started their own new canon.

I should note that it’s not necessary to find this copy of Insider if you want to read it, since the short story Eruption was also reprinted in Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void as well as being included in the audiobook. But it was only a few bucks and it has illustrations.

As much as I am an enjoyer of KotOR era Star Wars, I haven’t really forayed into this time period of Legends canon. Dawn of the Jedi (DotJ era?) takes place more than TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND years before the OT (specifically 25,793 BBY). That’s… a huge amount of time. Sure, on the grand, cosmic scale it’s just a blip, but on a human scale? 25000 years ago is considered pre-history in real life. That’s about the age of the oldest permanent human settlement we’ve found so far.

A long, long, very fuckin’ long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….

This little short story by John Ostrander showcases two ancient Jedi (or Je’daii as they were called at the time), Lanoree Brock and Hawk Ryo. The story is short and sweet and details the rescue of a hostage and the early work of Jedi as negotiators. It ends with Lanoree being recalled to Tython, the home planet of the Je’daii order, for a special mission. I assume this is the lead-in for Into the Void, which is next up on my reading list.

A little fun fact for you: Hawk Ryo (a blue Twi’lek man) is officially the first character and first Jedi mentioned in the Legends canon if you are reading chronologically. His name is the first word of the first sentence of the story.

[dougielombax]

Regarding my Star Wars OC Leon Vartanian.

I created him due to a lack of explicit queer rep in Star Wars.

That stuff is largely kept to the side in novels and comics.

Which bugs me.

Same for neurodivergent rep. Hence why he’s autistic like me.

He’s not exactly a self-insert though. Only partially.

As for his religion, I don’t have a name for it.

But it’s commonly referred to as the Cathar Order of the Great Light.

It’s an ancient Force religion which predates the Jedi by hundreds of thousands of years.

It was already ancient history before the first Jedi temples were built and before the earliest proto-Jedi sects such as the Je’Daii had formed.

Only Cathar can adhere to it and you can’t convert. One must be born into it (some real religions are like this such as the Druze or the Mandaeans). Hence why all it’s adherents are only Cathar or humans adopted by Cathar.

This stems from a long history of persecution from outside enemies such as the Rakatans (who the Cathar believe to be monstrous savages), the Sith, Zygerrians, the Mandalorians, and many others.

Their religion in question has a great deal of emphasis on knowledge, education, self improvement, environmentalism, selflessness, bravery, justice, collectivism, and altruism.

It also places a great deal of emphasis on ritual baptisms, prayer, and scrutiny and analysis of its own holy texts.

Their religion regards the Jedi as being well meaning, but also single-minded and dogmatically possessed, while it views the Sith as an abomination.

Many key figures in the Cathar religion also show up in some Jedi texts.

The Jedi name is even derived from the Old Cathar (Kedhari) term “Zhi-deikh”.

It had a HUGE influence on the Jedi religion but many Jedi are completely oblivious to this fact. The Jedi emphasis on justice is noticeably similar to that of the Cathar Order.

And many passages from the Jedi texts are said to have been taken directly from Cathar holy books and apocryphal texts.

Unlike the Jedi, adherents of the Cathar religion are allowed to marry and start families.

Cathar religious doctrine encourages adoption and rescue of orphans, particularly in turbulent times in turn with this allowance for starting families.

Hence why Cathar people believe in having two families. Your birth family and your found family.

I’ll add more to this where I can

[groguandthebadbatch]

My of my top favorite subjects to learn about in all of Star Wars!!!! What I would be!

[nerdyerror]

Ili-Raisa Aang (the mother of Obi-Wan Kenobi and scarer of Qui-Gon Jinn) Pictured age 60 (star wars: attack of the clones era)

The fandom apparently: Stewjon is space Scotland

Me: Stewjon is a mash-up of all human cultures (and several non-human ones), held together by the ancient religion of the Je’daii.

[jate-kara]

The idea of balance between light and dark is integral to the Jedi’s use of the Force. The ancient Je’daii conceptualized it as a state of equilibrium related to Tython’s moons: Ashla and Bogan.

A Je’daii needs darkness and light, shadow and illumination, because without the two there can be no balance. Veer to Bogan, and Ashla feels too constraining, too pure; edge toward Ashla, and Bogan becomes a monstrous myth. A Je’daii without balance between both is no Je’daii at all. He, or she, is simply lost.

The dark side is accessed by channeling volatile emotions (fear, grief, rage). In relation to balance, it is ultimately the intention that matters. If the end result is meant to be destructive, then you have strayed too far toward the dark; conversely, if the end result is meant to be constructive, then you are at a point of equilibrium: you are accessing the dark side, but only by its academic definition. You do not fall into the chasm; you do not sink into the depths. You are in balance.

Mace Windu exemplifies this. He practices the Vaapad variant of lightsaber Form VII, but cautions others against doing the same, since the form relies on channeling the fury of the duelists and requires great discipline to do so successfully. In this case, he is embracing his own inner darkness, as well as feeding on the chaos of his opponent. He does not reject these feelings; he channels them constructively.

He is as a Jedi should be: in balance - light with dark, volatility with control.

[riajade01]

Six Sentence Whenever

@starrypawz tagged me over the weekend - thank you!

I don’t have any actual writing done yet for the next chapter, but I’ve been doing some worldbuilding re: the ancient Je’daii and how I want to adapt their history and philosophy for Reduced to Ash.

So, in canon, the Je’daii began when eight pyramid ships called to Force sensitive beings and ferried them through the galaxy to Tython, where a ninth ship waited. They settled Tython and devoted themselves to keeping a balance between light and dark side, and they were successful for a good 10,000 years. Canon has it that they didn’t really stray from Tython, but I’ve decided to add to the lore. 

I’ve decided there are nine world, including Tython, that have some sort of special resonance with the Force. Two are absolutely seething with the dark or light side (Korriban and Tython, respectively), three with light side “wells” (Tatooine - the warrior visits one while searching for Jaesa - Ossus, and Illum), three with dark side “wells” (Ziost, Nathema, and Honoghr) and one that is sort of a both/none situation: Myrkr. The planet itself seethes with the entire living Force, which is why vornskrs and other native fauna hunt using the Force, and why ysalimir and other prey animals have evolved traits to help hide them from it. For the indigenous life, the planet seethes in the Force. For visiting Force users, it is completely devoid (thanks to the ysalimir).

This is why later Force users gravitated toward certain worlds, even if they weren’t aware of the Force well per se. The Je’daii visited these planets and established enclaves, so there’s more archaeology out there for people to find.

What does this have to do with the overall story? Well, I want to expose Mara to the Je’daii code (she found part of an etching in Kittat on Illum), and I’m thinking that Vitiate needs to do something to these nine worlds in order to accomplish his sHoCkInGlY eViL pLaN. (Which is part of why he noms noms on Ziost.)

[levitatingbiscuits]

what about codywan treasure hunters as a little prompt?

Cody often complained, when sufficiently smashed, that his husband was going to get them both killed one of these days. 

(He ended up complaining to his husband about his husband more often than not, considering the level of inebriation required for Cody to complain about anything. Then he’d have to sleep alone when his husband showed his remorse by exiling himself from their bed/tent/shared sleeping bag like some sort of penitent monk. Cody wished they could just have makeup sex like a normal couple.)

Obi-Wan, quite possibly, was going to get them killed today.

“You just had to touch it, didn’t you?!” Cody yelled, dodging a hail of poison darts and leaping neatly over a trip wire.

“It’s an ancient Je’daii holocron, darling, I couldn’t just leave it!” Obi-Wan replied with a rakish grin, artifact in one hand and Cody’s in the other. He gracefully sidestepped a pit trap filled with spikes.

“YES YOU COULD HAVE,” Cody bellowed, manfully resisting the urge to kiss his smug smile off his stupid face.

“And let Ventress find it first and sell it to the highest bidder? No thank you! One of these is equivalent to an entire library! All that knowledge, lost forever to some ignorant trillionaire who’ll use it as a curiosity rather than a treasure trove of historical knowledge? I can’t ethically allow that to happen!”

“All right, all right, cyar’ika, point taken!” Cody replied, pulling Obi-Wan down to avoid the pendulum blade that had nearly cleaved his skull in two. His husband, of course, barely noticed.

“And that blasted Vos helps her do it!” he continued ranting, as if the four of them didn’t regularly go on double dates. “You have no idea how lucky I am to have you now, Cody, the only good thing that reprobate ever did for me was introduce us.”

Kriff, and now he was giving him the eyes, half-soulful and half-coquettish. Cody determinedly digested his butterflies. They’d been married for years, those little bastards should have been long gone by now. 

Instead he still felt like he had the first time he met noted academic and famed archaeologist Dr. Kenobi. Vos had been Kenobi’s companion for remote expeditions, but the pair of them just goaded each other into more and more extreme feats of daring until Vos had ended up breaking an ankle and a few ribs when he’d fallen halfway down a mountain. Obi-Wan had insisted on continuing his work even with the wrist he’d broken catching Vos before he tumbled off a cliff, so Vos had gotten into contact with Cody, because survivalists and guides tended to run in the same circles. Cody took one look at the man with a nasty scrape on the side of his head and his arm in a cast cooing over a parasitic worm and was instantly smitten.

“Put the holocron away, at least. We still need to rappel down the temple wall.”

Obi-Wan actually pouted, the ridiculous man, but gently placed it in his bag while Cody jumped from tile to tile in the giant mosaic they had found earlier, careful to keep to the same order as when they’d come in so that they wouldn’t trigger yet more traps.

Soon they were climbing back down the sheer walls of the massive ruins. They must have been even more awe-inspiring during their prime; Cody could make out crumbling statues and carvings in the walls themselves, though he couldn’t recognize what they were meant to represent. His husband might have more luck, but Cody wasn’t going to let him spend the rest of the day in climbing gear clinging to a rock face with the ground a thousand feet below no matter how he tried to talk him into it.

They had only just touched the ground when they were on each other, kissing fiercely in celebration of their continued survival and success. Adrenalin always made Obi-Wan passionate, but Cody would never complain. He really had no leg to stand on. He just groaned deep in his throat when Obi-Wan pushed him against the temple wall and hauled him closer, one hand buried in his sweaty copper hair and the other pressed against the small of his back.

“Professor Kenobi?!” someone squeaked.

“Obi-Wan, are you really gonna make out with your husband now? You’ll traumatize the intern!” someone else said, mock-scandalized.

Obi-Wan broke the kiss, flexing his fingers against Cody’s hips. Cody groaned for a very different reason than before and turned to shoot a glare at Skywalker, Obi-Wan’s annoying pet grad student, who just smirked unrepentantly. The little shit had stopped being intimidated by him ever since he befriended Cody’s brother Rex, who worked as a holovid stuntman but whose true passion was razzing Cody for all he was worth. Behind him hovered Tano, the undergrad unfortunate enough to have Skywalker as a mentor. She was also friends with Rex, though fortunately her mortification over seeing her favorite professor ravishing his husband trumped her shit-stirring tendencies, at least for now.

“Did you find the holocron?” Skywalker was asking.

“We’re not amateurs,” Cody said, voice low and rough. Tano stifled a nervous giggle.

“Great! Dean Palpatine will be thrilled. If you give it to him he said he’ll have it restored on his own dime!”

“I don’t want this to vanish into his private collection like all the other artifacts I haven’t had a chance to examine,” Obi-Wan said tartly, and Cody smothered a snicker at Skywalker’s offended expression. “I find these artifacts to study them, not sell them. It belongs in a museum! Now if you’ll excuse us, I want to visit the river to take a bath. Cody?”

“It’ll be freezing this time of year,” Cody pointed out, but when Obi-Wan set out, leaving a moody Skywalker and a blushing Tano behind, he was right at his husband’s side. Just like always.

[theeurebellion]

Though the THo Yor Arrival was often considered the starting point of Galactic history, there were other civilizations that existed in the galaxy for thousands of years. The three biggest were the Pwa, Celestials and Columni.

The Columni were among the earliest interspace travelers. They visited many worlds and studied them but could not find a world that was advanced enough for them and had the right gravity for their odd forms-huge heads with four-part brains and tiny, atrophied limbs. They eventually retreated closer to home, but some continued to survive until the modern era, as Han Solo was familiar with them.

The ancient Celestials built Centerpoint Station in 100,000bby to help imprison Abeloth. They used its power to put in place systems like Corellia’s and Voltar, complete with repulsors that could move the entire planet they were embedded in. They built the Maw black hole cluster, Hapes cluster, Kathol Rift and possibly established the hyperspace disturbance at the end of the galaxy that imprisoned a creature called Mnggal-Mnggal that took over sentients and used them like zombies. It once claimed to have witnessed them. The Columni retreated in fear of them. They made contact with the Killiks, Rakata, Gree and Kwa who acted as servant races. The Sharu burrowed underground, made large plastic pyramids and tried to drain their intellect in fear of the Celestials.

No one knows what happened to the Celestials but the Ones had a connection with them. The Rakata revolted with stolen Kwa technology and some think the hyperspace disturbance was actually a barrier against the Rakata. Still, they broke through and waged war. Abeloth may also have played a role, according to the Killiks. Centerpoint Station was used to move black holes and create a rift that imprisoned Abeloth. The Celestials may have escaped through their barrier or even to another dimension, no one is sure. They were thought to have driven the Killks from Alderaan when they tried to take another world.

The Kwa created the Infinity Gates that allowed instant travel between locations. They encountered the Rakata and gave them technology that the Rakata later used to revolt and conquer the galaxy. The Kwa retreated to Dathomir to guard the Infinity Gates and devolved into the Kwi, whose elders retained some memory of their ancient power but most of the rest did not.

The Kwa also ran into the Gree, another ancient empire. The Gree were one of the oldest civilizations In the galaxy. They came into contact with the Kwa and the war raged all the way til 27,000 bby before the Rakata pushed them both back.

Abeloth escaped during the war they had later with a large saurian species. The Gree retreated and isolated themselves, though they survived til the modern era. They were pretty unknown by the founding of the Je’daii order some 36,000 years bby though.

It’s also known that the Taung-Zhell war over Coruscant happened in this ancient period, with the Taungs being driven offworld to eventually restyle themselves as the Mandlorians.

[naylor]

eris: oh, i thought darth vader was the emperor lol how comes he’s not the biggest bad of the movie?

me, a fucking idiot: okay so basically it all began in 36,000 BBY when some ancient civilisation started observing the duality of the Force in this planet called tython and decided to create the je’daii order and created nine temples... 

[aion-rsa]

Star Wars: Alien Races That Changed the Galaxy

https://ift.tt/3eNUoaa

Star Wars is the story of a massive galaxy and the thousands of alien races that inhabit it. More importantly, it’s an epic tale of how these different civilizations come together to live as a galactic community, and the many struggles it often takes to get there.

Like any real-world society, many of the alien races in Star Wars have deep histories that cover everything from their origins and traditions to how they discovered spaceflight and their contributions to the galactic annals. Thanks to the Expanded Universe of books and comics that have spent the last 40 years going way beyond what you’ll ever see on screen, we know all about how the Chiss settled one of the most dangerous corners of space as well as how the Jedi and the Sith were born. We know about many of the earliest races to explore the galaxy, and we’ve learned quite a bit about the massive empire that preceded the one in the movies by millennia.

The point is that the Star Wars universe contains a lot of history, especially when you dig back through the Legends stories that are no longer canon but offer a wide breadth of information on events that predate the eras in which the movies and TV series are set. And now canon stories like The High Republic series are doing the same for the modern Disney continuity.

Stream your Star Wars favorites right here!

Through these stories, we’ve learned of the many alien civilizations that have shaped galactic history, whether through conquest, scientific discovery, interstellar exploration, or some smaller action that still led to a massive sea change in the galaxy. Here are a few of these civilizations that you should know…

Gree, Kwa, and Tythans

The Gree are so ancient that they predate known history in both Legends and Disney canon. Even the most authoritative Gree scholars didn’t know the full scope of their civilization’s history, but we do know that these six-tentacled cephalopods were one of the first alien races to develop a form of hyperspace technology and explore the stars. While the Gree settled many planets and built an empire, they most famously discovered Tython, a once-hidden planet strong in the Force that would become the birthplace of the Jedi Order.

While the Gree had long abandoned the planet (and the known galaxy) by the time the pilgrims who would become the Jedi arrived on their massive pyramid-shaped arks known as the Tho Yor, they weren’t the only ancient civilization to live on Tython before the days of the Jedi. Next came the Kwa, who were actually contemporaries of the Gree. They were best known for having built the Infinity Gates, a network of structures that allowed them to travel from one point in the galaxy to the other instantaneously — a far more advanced method of interstellar travel than even hyperspace.

But much of this Kwa technology and knowledge had been lost to time when the Force-sensitive pilgrims representing many of the galaxy’s species arrived on the planet and formed the Je’daii Order, the precursor to the religious faction of protectors we know today. These people are also referred to as the local Tythans, an ancient civilization that studied and learned to wield the Force, both the light and dark sides…

Rakata

During the time of the Gree and Kwa, there was also the vicious warrior race known as the Rakata, a primitive cannibalistic society that would one day escape their home world of Lehon and conquer the rest of the galaxy to form the Infinite Empire. Originally discovered by the Kwa, the Rakata learned about the ways of the Force from the more advanced species and quickly embraced the dark side. They created Force-powered hyperdrives and captured Force-sensitive slaves to power their ships, and when they turned on the Kwa in order to take the Infinity Gates for themselves, the Kwa were forced to destroy the network. Ultimately, the Rakata wiped out most of the Kwa, and what was left of that once-advanced civilization eventually devolved into a species of creatures known as the Kwi.

Needless to say, the Rakata were known for two things: their immense cruelty and the massive empire that connected over 500 planets. At the height of their power, the Rakata developed many other Force-powered technology, including the Star Forge, a space station that fed on the dark side and the energy of a nearby star to create an endless supply of battleships and weapons for their war machine.

But like all empires, the Infinite Empire eventually fell. Millennia of wars with other races, in-fighting, and a mysterious plague that cut them off from the Force left the Rakata broken and virtually extinct. The few Rakata that remained centuries later no longer even knew how to power their own technology.

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Sith

The original Sith that existed tens of thousands of years before Palpatine hailed from the planet Korriban (known as Moraband in the new canon) and were very different to the Sith Lords you know from the movies. In fact, the ancient Sith were a unique species of humanoids with red skin and facial tentacles with their own culture and traditions. But they do have one thing in common with the villains of the Skywalker Saga: they worshiped and practiced the dark side of the Force.

The Sith species eventually interbred with a faction of Human Dark Jedi outcasts who had left the known galaxy after a long, bloody war with their light side-worshiping counterparts (a story for another time). It was during this period that the Sith people amassed a great empire of their own and fought many wars against the Republic and the Jedi.

But more long-lasting than their ancient empire — long dead by the time of the movies — are their traditions, religious belief in the dark side, and the many artifacts and teachings they left behind for the Palpatine’s order of Sith to discover and use to conquer the galaxy. Sith holocrons scattered across space contained many great secrets about the Force, while tombs located on Korriban were home to the histories of many of the greatest Dark Lords of the Sith, including one worshipped by the Sith Eternal in The Rise of Skywalker. Without this ancient species, there would be no Sith as we know them today.

Mandalorians

Thousands of years before Boba Fett, the Clone Wars, and the Great Purge, the Mandalorians were known as fierce invaders and conquerors, a race that valued a good fight over all else. Both Legends and Disney canon tell stories of Mandalorian Crusaders who left Mandalore on a campaign of conquest that stretched all the way from the Outer Rim to the Inner Rim of the galaxy. Along the way, they fought great wars against the Jedi and the Republic.

While Disney canon has only alluded to a long conflict with the Jedi, the Legends continuity went into much more detail about the Mandalorian Wars, a 16-year conflict that left countless dead, at least one planet completely shattered, and led to the rise of a new Sith Empire that further devastated the Republic. It was during the aftermath of the Mandalorian Wars that many Jedi also broke away from the Order, turned to the dark side, and joined the Sith, sparking a Jedi Civil War that itself would lead to the near-extermination of the Jedi.

In essence, the Mandalorians’ initial salvo against the galaxy and its protectors escalated into a massive conflict beyond even what this warrior race could have ever imagined, and their legacy is in part immortalized by the role they played in ushering in a key moment in Jedi and Sith history.

Chiss

The blue-skinned and red-eyed Chiss are a mystery to most. In fact, besides the infamous Grand Admiral Thrawn, few Chiss have ever operated in the known galaxy, preferring to instead rule their empire in the uncharted, difficult-to-navigate, and dangerous region of space known as the Unknown Regions (where the Sith planet Exegol from The Rise of Skywalker was also located). Republic historians knew very little about the origin of the Chiss or how they formed their hidden empire, but one theory suggests they evolved from a forgotten group of human colonists who traveled into the Unknown Regions and never returned.

But while most Chiss preferred to keep to themselves on their home planet of Csilla, and the Chiss Ascendancy largely remained neutral in most galactic conflicts, Thrawn changed all that, bringing Chiss brilliance and strategy to the forefront of the Galactic Civil War. Legends introduces Thrawn as the new leader of what’s left of the Empire after Return of the Jedi, while Disney canon introduces him much earlier as a Grand Admiral operating at the height of Imperial power before the Original Trilogy. Regardless of the entry point, this master military tactician left an indelible mark on the galaxy, securing his people’s place in history, even as the Chiss as a civilization continue to confound scholars.

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Kaminoans

Although we didn’t actually get to see this era of Star Wars until 25 years after A New Hope, the Clone Wars have been a key part of the history of the galaxy far, far away since the very beginning. In fact, a brief mention of the Clone Wars in the first movie was one of the first signs that there was a big, epic history beyond the scope of the story being told. Obi-Wan describes the Clone Wars as the stuff of legend to a young, impressionable Luke, a time when the Jedi were at the height of their power. Of course, the Prequel Trilogy painted a much bleaker picture.

Regardless of the point of view, few would argue that the Kaminoans played a pivotal role in the Clone Wars, not only as the creators of the clones themselves but as the civilization that pretty much single-handedly turned the tide of war and set the stage for the Empire’s rise to power and the near-extinction of the Jedi. Before the Kaminoans delivered its massive clone army, the Republic had no army of the scale needed to fight the Separatist forces threatening to dismantle the galactic government. But by the time Palpatine was ready to unleash his ultimate plan at the end of the Clone Wars, he had the endlessly renewable fighting force he needed to do whatever he pleased. And thus, a largely benevolent alien civilization’s dark legacy was solidified.

Geonosians

The future Emperor and Dark Lord of the Sith didn’t just have designs for a grand army that he’d one day turn against a weakened Jedi Order, he also wanted to build the ultimate superweapon with which to control the rest of the galaxy. When it came time to begin construction of the dreaded Death Star, Palpatine turned to the industrious Geonosians, an insectoid species with the ingenuity needed for such a massive undertaking.

Geonosis will always be known as the planet where the Clone Wars began, but it was also the site of one of the most consequential military achievements in Star Wars history, as Geonosians set out to not only design the plans for the deadly space station but build it in the planet’s orbit. But their efforts were not rewarded. Not only did the Geonosians suffer terrible casualties for their part in the opening battle of the Clone Wars, but once the Emperor had no more use for them after the war, he ordered his forces to poison the planet with gas that effectively sterilized and killed the entire Geonosian population. The goal of this monstrous genocide? To keep the Death Star a secret until the time was right.

Bothans

While the Geonosians were key to the Death Star’s design and construction, crafty Bothan played a pivotal role in ending the space station’s reign of terror once and for all. You likely remember Mon Mothma’s words in Return of the Jedi: “Many Bothans died to bring us this information.” It’s a solemn moment that barely scratches the surface of one of the most consequential espionage operations ever conducted.

Known for their cunning and elite spy network, the Bothans worked tirelessly to secure the location of the second Death Star project. These spies also discovered that the Emperor planned to visit the station, presenting the perfect moment for the Rebellion to strike at the very heart of the Empire. The result of Bothan sacrifice was a killing blow to the tyrannical government and the death of the Emperor.

Yuuzhan Vong

One of the most controversial races ever introduced to Star Wars, the Yuuzhan Vong came from outside the known galaxy and played the role of classic alien invaders hellbent on conquering all planets in their path. They were known for their bio-organic weaponry, armor, technology, and vessels as well as for being largely impervious to the Force, making them the ultimate foe for Luke Skywalker’s New Jedi Order in the Legends continuity.

The Yuuzhan Vong waged a war on the New Republic that not only led to the death of Chewbacca and Anakin Solo, the youngest son of Han and Leia but to the dismantling of the galactic government itself. Everything the Rebellion had fought so hard for during the Galactic Civil War was shattered. Whether you like them or not, the Yuuzhan Vong took down the New Republic in Legends canon more than a decade before we even knew what the First Order was.

Let us know in the comments if you think we missed anyone and we may add them to the list!

The post Star Wars: Alien Races That Changed the Galaxy appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[lonewolfel]

Zakuulan Mythology

Recently I have been facinated with Zakuulan mythology especially their gods. I noticed a flaw that the mythology has. I will not be talking about the droid versions of these gods and their implication. This is because I’m just focusing on the myths not the reason for their creation. You can see glimpses of what is important to a society based off of their myths.

Their gods: Izax, Scyva, Tyth, Aivela, Esne, and Nahut are all aspects of the darker parts of humanity: destruction, sorrow, war, passion (in the Star Wars universe), envy, and shadow. Their can be two reasons for this darkness in the gods; one Zakuulans are warriors or two a harsh climate or region. Perhaps the ancient Zakuulans were warriors, but that doesn’t explain why they still believe in those gods. Now the swamps are a harsh climate, but that changed into the glimmering city. So I don’t feel like that is the case. 

To be clear Zakuulans still believe in these gods they are just no longer worshiped. This is due to the fact Valkorion is believed to have destroyed them. 

The closest real world examples of their mythology are Norse and Egyptian mythology. Norse because of the destruction and darkness of their gods and Egyptian because they worshipped their leaders like gods. The Norse are known as warriors and saw a warriors death as the only desirable death. The Egyptians are the closest to the Zakuulans that we interact with, Though it isn’t always the case. As they honored their gods and pharaohs by giving them the fruit of their labors and spent most of their time preparing for the after life. 

Clearly you cannot just look at real world examples. So I’m going to look at other mythologies from Star Wars. The ones I have done a lot of research on are Mirilukan, Mirialan, Mandalorian, Je’daii, Jedi, and Sith. The closest myth to the Zakuulans is the Mandalorian with Kad Ha'rangir the destroyer god. Even then this comparison isn’t perfect. The Mandalorians honor Kad Ha'rangir through battle.

The writers included the myth to show the differance between the rest of galaxy and Zakuul and to represent the Eternal Family. Mythology’s job is to represent the people that created them. Perhaps it did represent the ancient Zakuulans, but certainly not the Zakuulans to meet. While no longer worshipped by the people the people still believe in these myths. These myths could be removed from the game and not a lot would change the only thing that would is really the operations. If the writers changed the Zakuulan gods nothing about Zakuul would change because the myths have no affect on the culture. That itself is the failure of the myths.

[violasarecool]

Riaksu Vyr (she), Gingeno (he), Jalaila Sindal (she/they/he)

with the ruins of 9 temples on tython, i like to imagine that swtor-era jedi trace the paths of the ancient je’daii in pilgrimages to each ruin. maybe it’s overly optimistic to imagine there’s much left at all, but i couldnt shake the image of baby jedi stumbling across carvings of ancient moving meditation forms, and following along

(gingeno belongs to @guingamor​, the other two are mine)

[ewokofknowledge]

History of the Jedi

here we go

Contrary to popular belief, the Jedi didn’t start with Yoda, the Old Republic and the Jedi Council as a portion of the population believe. (Below are approximate dates)

Start date: Force is chilling out.

Before Kwa- Celestials

100,000 BBY- Kwa

Slightly after Kwa- Rakata

(some events from the above groups were happening at the same time)

36,000 BBY- Je’daii Order

10,000 BBY- Jedi Order or the Holy Order of the Jedi Knights

Luke’s Order (or as some say the New Order)

End Date: There really isn’t one.

Before the Order

Celestials are a starting point, well they’re going to be my starting point. They were also known as the architects. The Ones from Mortis (Father, Daughter and Son) were said to be related to the Celestials. The Celestials though could restructure and form new matter through the force. They are known in the galaxy for creating the Corellian System, Vulter System, Hapes Cluster, Maw Cluster, and the Kathol Rift. Centerpoint station, or the tractorbeam that could pulll planets around was also created by them. All races were considered slaves to the celestials, since there isn’t much information on this species we don’t know if this was voluntary or involuntary at the begining. They were called Client races so its a little iffy. It was said that the Celestials were higher force guided events in the galaxy. Eventually the Rakata uprised against the celestials after stealing the Kwa’s technology killing them. Some say that Abeloth or the Bringer of Choas may have caused there demise.

The force is the begining of all users no matter what form they take. The Kwa were a species from Dathomir. They created infinity gates that allowed them to transport interstellerly to other places. Star temples were created around teh gates to protect them from unwanted visitors. The gates were inspired by the Celestials. The ones are supposedly related to the celestials. The Celestials though could restructure and form new matter through the force. They are known in the galaxy for creating the Corellian System, Vulter System, Hapes Cluster, Maw Cluster, and the Kathol Rift. The Kwa eventually used a gate to go to Lehon, the home of the Rakata. They sensed the Rakata were strong with the force and trained them or tried to. The Rakata turned on the Kwa and went to war. Eventually the Kwa, defeated would retreat back to Dathomir or Tython. The ones who returned to Dathomir physically devovled into the Kwi. (Think of blue from Jurassic World.) They were also known as the Blue Desert/Mountain People.

The Rakata were a cannabalistic evil race that didn’t want anything to do with the light. They relied on the dark side and turned on the Kwa, creating their Infinite Empire which was the first real govenrment. You may not have heard their name before but you surely know of Star Forge. It’s the biggest shipyard created by the Rakata in 30,000 BBY. It channeled the dark side and produced ships and weapons for the empire. This structure was built the only way everything else was built, through slave labor. The Rakata used the force as a hyperdrive to travel. Using this technology they reached over 500 planets that held force sensitives. (Hyperdrives weren’t invented yet, this was a precursor to the hyperdrive.) We wouldn’t see a man made one untill 25, 053 BBY. By 25,200 BBY the Rakata Empire was no more, they broke out in civil war causing their own demise. What’s worse is, they began to lose their force connection from a mutation during a plauge that killed almost all of the species itself. The Rakata that were left returned to Lehon where they broke out into another civil war, killing almost everyone. Those left alive spilt into various tribes and devolved mentally, retreating underground. They could no longer use their own technology because of their past reliance on the force. One tribe called the Elders remained intact and on the surface. They wanted to cleanse their history by destroying the Star Forge. They also no longer had the force but with the timely arrived of Revan they thought they could destroy it. This was 3959 BBY For many years it wasn’t destroyed and Revan used it to basically start the Jedi Civil War. Once Revan was redeemed he allowd the Galactic Republic to destroy the Forge.

The Rakata is always remembered for their military and technology feats. Planetary archaelogy and xenoanthropology professors were fascinated with the species because they changed the galaxy. Only a few groups survived and many ruins where they once held dominion.

Other species at this time: Celestials, Sith, Duros, Killiks, Sharu, Hutts, Columi, Taung, and Humans. Note: The Sith here aren’t what we know them today. They were a species from Korriban. They did have a predisposition to the dark side of the force and eventually an empire before being ruled by Dark Lords aka how we know them now.

Old Order

I think the best starting point here is Tython.The force was always there and many species including the Gree, Kwa and the Rakata vistied the planet. The Tho Yor, a class of 9 triangluar shaped ships brought various species to the planet. These ships came from Ando Prime, Manaan, Kashyyyk, Dathomir and Ryloth. There is no indication who sent the ships. All the species that migrated to Tython established the Je’daii Order. They based their teaching on balance from Tython’s two moon Bogan and Ashla. Eventually Tython itself became unsafe for non force users and the people known as the Tythans spread other worlds of the Tython system.

They also established a code of conduct The code was: There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no fear, there is power. I am the heart of the Force. I am the revealing fire of light. I am the mystery of darkness. In balance with chaos and harmony, Immortal in the Force.  

Each ship sat at a different region of Tython and around them the different species built temples.

Regions:

Thry in the silent desert- Qigong Kesh- Temple of Advanced Force Skills

Masara- Bodhi- Temple of Arts

Kato Zakar- Stav Kesh- Temple of Martial Arts

Deep Ocean- Mahara Kesh- Temple of Healing

Talss in a Chasm- Anil Kesh- Temple of Science

East in the volcano top forges- Vur Tepe- Temple of Matallurgy, Tool and Weapon Construction- The first lightsaber dubbed the ‘first blade’ was made here but lore is very hush hush on it. We know the weapon master made it. Before this time they use metal sabers with no crystals.

South- Kaleth- Temple of Knowlege

Location unknown at this time- Padawan Kesh- for the children too young to become padawans.

Tower Monolith- Akar Kesh- Temple of Balance

There was peace for 10,000 years. In the year 25, 805 BBY The Despot Wars waged by powerful Queen Hadiya from the world of Shikaakwa to conquer the entire Tython System began. Fortunately for the Tythons, they had a sleeper agent who killed the Queen and the war ened quickly but not before there were a hundred thousand Tython casualities and a million casualties from the Despot Army, with many lost and thousands injured, tensions remained on the higher end for near a decade. Twelve years later they faced the Rakata Empire and shortly after that The Force Wars or the First Great Schism began (around 25,783 BBY.) Master Daegen Lok, the samae sleeper agent that killed Hadiya fell to the dark side after having a vision of war. The Je’daii Council exiled him but his followers didn’t agree with the with the decsison and turned against them. The force war lasted ten years and the light side prevailed. Light side and dark side users were pitted agaisnt each other. A holocron from the Kwa told the Je’daii how to weaponize the ships against the Rakata Empire Flesh raiders who are a subspecies of the Rakata inhabited the planet. They were abandodned after the Force Wars. A temple was erected near the fallen Kaleth temple and was the base for the Jedi for many years. In 25, 783 BBY there was a clataclysm that destroyed the Tython biosphere and the Ashla or light Jedi fled to Ossus 730 and established the Jedi Order or the new order, and Bogan or dark Jedi fled to the rim.

New Order

The Jedi as we know it today started on Ahch-to by the Prime Jedi. Not much is known about this Prime Jedi other than he had a cool title. In TLJ we see a mosaic on the floor of Ahch-to’s temple or tower of the Prime. The picture resembles what could be the Zeffo from Jedi Fallen Order. Ahch-to isn’t the only place the new Jedi Order stayed.Tython, Ilum, Ledeve, Vrogas Vas, Jedha, Ossus, Dantooine, Ashas Ree, Coruscant, Lothal, Devaron, and Yavin IV were home to other temples. Tython, Coruscant, Ossus and Jedha were are considered as the starting place but it was decided Ahch-to would house the first temple. Fun fact: Many Jedi temples were built on ancient Sith shrines to show that they were being cleansed of the dark side.The Jedi Order was based off of the Je’daii Order. Ilum became utilized by the Jedi so padawans could find their crystals to complete their lightsabers in a ceremony called The Gathering. (I would like to point out that Ilum is no more because it became Star Killer base. I see a lot of people talking about how Rey went to Ilum to find a crystal for her new lightsaber. Well it was turned into the First Order base, then blew up so...)

After the Force Wars the ways of the Je’daii through teachings of balance were abandoned. The Ashla Je’daii became known as the Jedi and the Bogan became known as the Sith. The Galactic Republic or the Old Republic came together with the help of the Jedi. There was peace for a long time but as always it would come to an end. Jedi Masters Cala Brin, Garon Jard, Rajivari and Ters Sendon are the ones who basically founded and ran the new order. They thought it was their duty to assist those in need and defeat dark side users. Rajivari and his followers eventually turned to the Bogan ways. During the Hundred-Year Darkness or the Second Great Schism the Sith were established. The Jedi and the Sith fought each other but the Jedi were backed by the Republic and Sith dwindled. The remaining Sith went to Korriban and Ajunta Pall became the first Dark Lord. The new temple was moved to Coruscant. This happened 5000 years BBY. The Jedi of this time fought to maintain peace and freedom. The Jedi seemed to have many conflicts with Mandalore. They attcked them quite a bit. I think their main goal was to go after the Darksaber as it was a mandalorian Jedi who constructed it. After this the Jedi-Sith War (2000 BBY) came about. Basically this was the Sith making their stand and coming back. They wanted control. This war lasted 1000 years. The sith were once again defeated and Farfalla who was the highest ranking Jedi to survive gave Galactic leadership to the people. Unkown to the Jedi and the Republic, the man once known as Dessel or as we know him Darth Bane, survived. He created the Rule of Two. I think with the Rebuilding of the temple on Coruscant we finally arrive to what we see in the Prequel Trilogy.

This was the new code:

There is no emotion; there is peace. There is no ignorance; there is knowledge. There is no passion; there is serenity. There is no chaos; there is harmony. There is no death; there is the Force.

The Jedi were responsible for maintaining law and order, usually through mediating conflicts to bring about peaceful solutions. When this didn’t work Aggressive Negotiaions, (ty Padme for giving us the lingo!) were used. The Jedi were also responsible for various rival factions and planets as well as serving as a type of interplanetary law enforcement. They pursued wanted and dangerous criminals, pirates, and smugglers on missions. At the temple there were various stages the Jedi followed.

Jedi Initiate (Youngling,"Jedi Hopeful") a Force-sensitive child. At a very young age, children were removed from their families and assigned to the Jedi Temple for training.

Jedi Padawan – an apprentice who began serious training under a single Jedi Knight or Jedi Master. In order to graduate to Padawan status, an Initiate was required to be chosen by a Knight or Master and taken as their sole pupil. If a youngling was not chosen to be a Padawan by 13 years of age, the youngling was placed into another, lesser role in the Jedi Service Corps, or they could choose to leave the Order. Depending on where the student's talents lay, this might be the Agricultural Corps, the Medical Corps, or the Exploration Corps. Padawans who were of a haired species typically wore a long braid of hair behind their right ear. When a Padawan was elevated to Knighthood the braid was cut during the knighting ceremony.

Jedi Knight – a disciplined Padawan could become a fully trained Jedi once they completed the trials. The known trials were, but weren't limited to: the Trial of Flesh, the Trial of Courage, the Trial of Skill and the Trial of Self (also known as facing the mirror, cough rey in TLJ cough.)

Jedi Master – a Jedi Knight who showed great understanding of the Force and managed to instruct a Padawan and train them successfully to the level of a Jedi Knight. This title could also be achieved through the performance of extraordinary deeds.

Counsellor  – A very few Jedi were invited to serve on the Jedi Council, the governing body of the Order. The Council was made up exclusively of wise, experienced Masters. The only Jedi Knight to be appointed to the High Council, Anakin Skywalker, was appointed by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, although he was not granted the rank of Master simply because of this. The Council was made up of 12 masters, five of them with life terms and two of them designated as "senior", four as long-term, and three short-term.

Grand Master – The highest rank of the Jedi Order was that of Grand Master. Yoda was once the Grand Master, as was Luke Skywalker following the Swarm War.

Enter the clone wars. I don’t think I need to talk about them since we know about it. The end obvisously is Order 66 and the rise of the Empire became real. The Return of the Jedi started with Luke as we know from the films. He was hailed as the ‘last of the Jedi’.

Then there is Luke’s order which we don’t have a lot of info on at the moment other than he started teaching force sensitives  and Ben wrecked everything lol. In legends Ben is actually Luke’s and doesn’t go dark side and lives while Leia and Han’s twins Jacen and Jaina and their youngest Ani trained with Ben. Jacen falls to the dark side and becomeds Darth Caedus. Jaina remained a Jedi and Ani sadly died. How many Jedi are there currently? Well Rey for sure. Finn looked like he had something going on at the end of the sequel trilogy. Cal may still be kicking. And there’s broom boy.

[heartoftheforce]

Form (VII) VIII, Ani’Bendu

Known to Revan as the seventh form, Ani’Bendu or “Total / Complete Balance,” this was the saber style the legendary figure went to painstaking lengths to craft to perfection. The name is actually a combination of two words from differing languages: Ani being the Mandalorian word for “Total” or “Complete,” and the word Bendu being the ancient Je’daii concept for being in balance between the light and dark side of the Force. However, the rest of the galaxy might consider this form as the eighth--assuming they know of its existence at all, especially after the First Jedi Purge. Because the Jedi Council, in their infinite wisdom, concluded that the tenets paramount to Revan’s style cut too perilously close to the Sith intensity of combat ability.  So, in addition to several other factors, they modified and simplified the form to produce the more well-known seventh style, Juyo.  The basis of Ani’Bendu can be summarized as the trinity between saber swordsmanship, hand-to-hand prowess and dynamic Force usage. It follows a logical assumption that a weapon is only as lethal as the one who wields it, positing thus that the wielder’s greatest weapon must be an extension of their own body. And to make something into an extension of one’s self, the wielder must be capable of being a potent weapon in their own right with naught but their wits and bare hands. This principle extends as much to the lightsaber and Force as any conceivable weapon someone could get their hands on. However, any teachings regarding the application of this style to weapons beyond the saber, body and Force seem to have been lost or destroyed.

[jate-kara]

Jedi with actual swords - would normal swords deflect blaster bolts? Dunno. So let's make them out of beskar! (yes yes, there's the whole mandalorians and jedi messy relationship so beskar might be hard to come by but STILL.)

Lanoree Brock’s sword was made from some kind of durasteel and was capable of both absorbing and deflecting blaster bolts, so it may be reasonable to assume that at least some non-beskar swords had those capabilities. This sword was made in the era of the ancient Jedi (the Je’daii), though, so it’s also possible that swords forged during the Galactic Republic era were made differently (different kind of durasteel or different forging process, maybe?).

I’m by no means an expert on sword making, though, so if someone who knows more than me wants to chime in with their thoughts, they’re more than welcome to!