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Did Rise of Skywalker include an outright SWTOR reference? (SPOILERS ahead)

JettVega

By JettVega
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JettVega

JettVega

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Saw Rise of Skywalker last night and overall enjoyed it (the movie has some issues, but in the end, I liked it overall). While I know there are alot of opinions about the film, I really wanted to get a take from the SWTOR community on a potential reference to the game in the film.

 

I had joked with my husband sometime back that I would be delighted if Palpatine just admitted that he had gone by many names in other lives, including Vitiate, Tenebrae, and Valkorian. I didn't seriously expect that theory to have any traction, but after seeing the film, I have to say the correlations between Palpatine and Vitiate are astonishing... to the point I am wondering if someone on the writing team played KOTFE and KOTET or at least read the Revan novel.

 

The real Easter egg that stood out to me was that I could have sworn the First Order officers called one of the ships the Vitiate. I gaped when I heard it, but I could have misheard too. Did anyone else catch this? We know a KOTOR film, trilogy, or series is on the way, so this type of Easter egg could make sense. Whatever you thought of the film, just curious :). I will say playing the game and being familiar with that backstory gave the Palpatine arc so much more depth for me, despite some of the convoluted plot elements throughout the film. Am I crazy or did anyone else hear this? 😆

 

 

 

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JettVega

JettVega

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The plot thickens! Apparently, according to the Visual Dictionary for Rise of Skywalker, the sith cultists are divided into legions. One of these is called The Revan Legion, but there is a more subtle nod to The Old Republic story too: one of the legions is called the Tenebrous Legion. That's awfully close to Tenebrae... I am starting to think more and more there are some purposeful nods to the game 😁.
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SteveTheCynic

SteveTheCynic

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The plot thickens! Apparently, according to the Visual Dictionary for Rise of Skywalker, the sith cultists are divided into legions. One of these is called The Revan Legion, but there is a more subtle nod to The Old Republic story too: one of the legions is called the Tenebrous Legion. That's awfully close to Tenebrae... I am starting to think more and more there are some purposeful nods to the game 😁.

Tenebrous is also an unusual word in English meaning shadowy, but in a sinister sort of way.

 

EDIT: and it's also an actual character in canon and legends: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Tenebrous

Edited by SteveTheCynic
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SteveTheCynic

SteveTheCynic

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If this game was canon would it contradict any of the canon lore made so far?

It can't be canon because too many things are left to the player to choose, so there isn't one definitive version of the universe. What is the identity of the Outlander? Knight? Trooper? Imperial Agent?

 

What is the species, sex, hair colour, etc. of the Jedi Consular in the Consular story?

 

What does the Bounty Hunter do when he reaches the Republic Chancellor?

 

All of those questions and many others would require definitive answers if the game was incorporated in canon. To be sure, they could make reference to the time period of the game, but any information about specifics would have to be masked by "lost in the mists of time", which is beyond lame.

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adormitul

adormitul

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About the hair color, sex and appearance things they can be vague. Its like in the stories Jolee said we do not know the race, sex or appearance of the heroes he talked about. But they existed and did things. Is it really necessary to give an description more then the jedi knight, the agent or the bounty hunter did that?
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SteveTheCynic

SteveTheCynic

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About the hair color, sex and appearance things they can be vague. Its like in the stories Jolee said we do not know the race, sex or appearance of the heroes he talked about. But they existed and did things. Is it really necessary to give an description more then the jedi knight, the agent or the bounty hunter did that?

If you are talking about looking back after some time (centuries, I'd guess), kinda maybe, but it's still a bit lame if even the species isn't known.

 

But the identity of the Outlander (i.e. which of the eight Heroes is the Outlander) is still critically important. If the best that anyone can say in the histories is, "Er, someone rose to power after a battle with Zakuul," it's liable to sound even lamer than being unable to identify the species of the various winners of the battles on Corellia.

 

EDIT: the key point is that the period of the game cannot be "contemporary storytelling" canon, but only "distant historical background" canon.

Edited by SteveTheCynic
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JettVega

JettVega

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Saw the film again today, and we both heard the reference again-- it is shortly after the necklace gets ripped off, when Kylo Ren is giving orders in the hallway... We both heard him use the word Vitiate as if in reference to a specific ship or unit. I don't think it's plausible to make the whole game canon (granted, they could make The Outlander canon the same way they did with Revan and The Exile), but it would be fairly straightforward to make Vitiate canon since he is in Revan's story (and Revan definitely is canon now as of this film and the Last Jedi).
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Pietrastor

Pietrastor

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It's JJ Abrams so it's quite likely lots of stuff was literally taken from KOTFEET. I mean, obviously Mass Effect was heavily inspired by Star Trek among other sources, but the 2009 Star Trek reboot directed by JJ took a ton from Mass Effect in turn. It was obvious and JJ is a self-proclaimed gamer but since video games ain't much respected in Hollywood (and among general public and press) no would ever question him if an influence came from a video game. Edited by Pietrastor
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  • 2 weeks later...
phalczen

phalczen

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So, I just saw the movie yesterday for the first time.

 

I don't recall a Vitiate reference, but I could have missed it.

 

I had seen this topic at the top of this sub-forum days ago, but didn't read it until just now. Because I had a hint there might be a SWTOR reference, in every scene on Exegol with statues of ancient Sith, I was intently studying them for a statue of Darth Revan. I didn't see one.

 

I do think I saw a shot of a ship that looked like our in-game Jedi Consular/Knight Corvette during the final battle over Exegol.

 

As far as Abrams being a gamer, or paying respect to the EU, I call BS actually. First of all, he could have called the darn things Sith Holocrons instead of Sith Wayfinders and they would have had the same effect and be consistent with canon. Secondly, and most importantly, why would he not use the name Moriband or Korriban!?!? Yoda visits the Sith Homeworld in the Clone Wars season 6, and is tested by several Sith spirits, so why did they suddenly move to Exegol? I was willing to excuse the Ach-To thing from Force Awakens, since Tython is never specifically named in canon. But once Clone Wars established Moriband/Korriban as the Sith Homeworld, it should have been consistent.

 

It was reported by Charlie from Emergency Awesome that the Lucasfilm Story Group was NOT involved in the writing or production of this film, and this is an example. At least he could have talked to Dave Filoni

 

Including a Dejarik game in progress as a "homage to fans" does not excuse this oversight. I'd rather they never mention Dejarik again instead of create a whole new planet retconning everything about sith or jedi lore for a SECOND time in the trilogy.

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  • 4 weeks later...
kirorx

kirorx

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So, I just saw the movie yesterday for the first time.

 

I don't recall a Vitiate reference, but I could have missed it.

 

I had seen this topic at the top of this sub-forum days ago, but didn't read it until just now. Because I had a hint there might be a SWTOR reference, in every scene on Exegol with statues of ancient Sith, I was intently studying them for a statue of Darth Revan. I didn't see one.

 

I do think I saw a shot of a ship that looked like our in-game Jedi Consular/Knight Corvette during the final battle over Exegol.

 

As far as Abrams being a gamer, or paying respect to the EU, I call BS actually. First of all, he could have called the darn things Sith Holocrons instead of Sith Wayfinders and they would have had the same effect and be consistent with canon. Secondly, and most importantly, why would he not use the name Moriband or Korriban!?!? Yoda visits the Sith Homeworld in the Clone Wars season 6, and is tested by several Sith spirits, so why did they suddenly move to Exegol? I was willing to excuse the Ach-To thing from Force Awakens, since Tython is never specifically named in canon. But once Clone Wars established Moriband/Korriban as the Sith Homeworld, it should have been consistent.

 

It was reported by Charlie from Emergency Awesome that the Lucasfilm Story Group was NOT involved in the writing or production of this film, and this is an example. At least he could have talked to Dave Filoni

 

Including a Dejarik game in progress as a "homage to fans" does not excuse this oversight. I'd rather they never mention Dejarik again instead of create a whole new planet retconning everything about sith or jedi lore for a SECOND time in the trilogy.

 

Those things drive me crazy, they are just such an easy way to appease fans. I thought the same thing when they went to a casino planet. I mean, really. They couldnt have just went to Nar Shadda, instead of that other casino harry potter planet. This is the same for Ach-to, just call it thython and move on.

 

Hollywood acts like pleasing starwars fans is this complex issue, but its pretty simple. Just spoon feed us stuff from the games and EU we grew up on.

 

At least the mandalorian seems to understand what we want to see.

Edited by kirorx
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