This latest FP has added more questions surrounding the Emperor than it gave answers and a conclusion to the storyline. Mainly because Zildrog has basically mentioned how he consumed Nathema and where it goes from there on established lore.

It is well known that the Emperor consumed everything on Nathema with a ritual that was observed with Scourge. It implies that Scourge knew about in some part what the future events of the galaxy would hold. None the less, Zildrog mentions he destroyed everything on Nathema, possibly by the Gravestone with the Omnicannon. This breaks with established lore that Tenebrae lured many Sith to Nathema and performed a Dark side ritual and that Scourge saw it.

To me this suggests there is a direct connection between Zildrog and the Emperor, but what that connection is? It is unknown. One thing i am now more convinced about is that Tenebrae may have been another voice at a young age and the emperor had a hand in building Iokath years before that, the superweapon old gods. This amoungst other things would explain how he knew where the Eternal fleet was, how to use them, Zildrog and the game storyline providing an implication that the Emperor knew far more than any other being can learn.

When going through the newst FP on Nathema? There was this small tomb, you climb a set of winding stairs to get to it and the stairs on the other way out are broken. if you notice the architecture, it is a mix of old imperial design like that found in the DK temple and Zakuulan architecture in the old world city. This suggests that the people of Nathema might have been a mix of imperial and old world design, so it is possible the emperor may have attempted this idea once before Zakuul, perhaps a prototype for his new empire elsewhere in the galaxy he may have had planned. This would explain the Gravestone being at Nathema, it would explain why the emperor had everything destroyed there save for some old imperial elements.

There is now enough reasonable doubt in the lore to suggest that the lore the Imperials know could very well be a lie. The question is now, what was the point in the Imperials? If the Emperor had his own grand master plan for a greater power in the galaxy, then why keep pushing the Imperials? Some lore suggests the Emperor gave up on the Imperials shortly after the war with the Republic started but it bogged down into a stalemate. It would make even less sense if his new grand empire was to join them at some point and his old empire had managed with the help of the Republic to defeat the grand new empire.

Finally the Gravestone and how it was "scuttled" would need to be answered as well. There is now a direct connection between the ship and Zildrog. Gemini unit 16 could easily interface with Zildrog which ties up the old Imperial and old world design in a practical way, Zildrog is a very old machine and the Gemini units are a more recent addition, even so it suggested that the Emperor may have played a part in their design and construction through Iokath.

But getting back to the Gravestone: I suspect the Gravestone may have received a minor electrical feedback pulse that crippled the ship and it crashed on Zakuul and was left there, possibly by the Emperor purposely stopping Zildrog? or done on purpose by the Emperor through Zildrog for the day someone would find it? This implies the Emperor already knew what future events would come to pass and was confirmed in FE with Heskal and the Scion's trial that the Emperor already knew Heskal's fate. If that is true he may have seen his own demise, it suggests the Emperor may have had a contingency in place as it would be so out of step if the Empror had not planned it, which would seem impossible.

in any event, I wonder if these inconsistencies will be tied up. In order to get back into the Empire vs Republic again there would have to be stepping stones between the Nathaman Conspiracy and the next expac, i suppose these could be tied up then and there.

Actually the Emperor is still the Emperor, here's what Charles has to say on the matter.

He used an implement to do the killing for him as part of the ritual, just like he used his armies to do the killing for him in the Knight story. We merely revealed that first implement It wasn't involved in the same way past that.

https://twitter.com/Charles_Boyd/status/992389308618280962

Here's also one of his dev comments where he confirms it as well.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=9593256#edit9593256

He tell us at the start of Kotfe , that the Empire was a mean to an end . It was just a test playground and that Zaakul was his master piece .

even so it suggested that the Emperor may have played a part in their design and construction through Iokath.

I have my doubt on that though . I think he found the 'Old Tin can Gods' and locked them up . He may have study them though . The way they augument someone , maybe that's where he got his idea to augment himself and created a ritual .

Or if he had it before he met them , he could refined his rituals after meeting them .

in any event, I wonder if these inconsistencies will be tied up

Doubt it . I mean it would be nice , but considering....nah .

Actually the Emperor is still the Emperor, here's what Charles has to say on the matter.

 

https://twitter.com/Charles_Boyd/status/992389308618280962

 

Here's also one of his dev comments where he confirms it as well.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=9593256#edit9593256

good way of strengthening my case with the Emperor. He had other tools and he knews about them. But it doesn't answer if he had a hand in their creation or if he merely found them.

He tell us at the start of Kotfe , that the Empire was a mean to an end . It was just a test playground and that Zaakul was his master piece .

 

 

 

I have my doubt on that though . I think he found the 'Old Tin can Gods' and locked them up . He may have study them though . The way they augument someone , maybe that's where he got his idea to augment himself and created a ritual .

 

Or if he had it before he met them , he could refined his rituals after meeting them .

If it were meant to end, the Emperor himself should of torn it down in an Imperial civil war and used agents of chaos to keep them fighting each other and the Republic lording over the factions. But oddly enough he did nothing about it, it suggests he could still have use for the imperials in one of his plans.

The Emperor is a canny old being, he always had many short term plans like pieces on a board, even if some of them were disrupted, he always had others that advanced his longer term goals. But he was excellent at manipulating people around him, he always had a plan within a plan and it was always to advance his own cause.

A being like that who had unlocked so many secrets, doors and weapons that many beings can't even comprehend, all locked way in other vaults on various world. Potentially he could of had hundreds of small term plans leading to long term goals.

With that stated, the Emperor knew about the old gods and i was always suspcious when the mission to Iokath showed a dead individual on a throne. Billions of dead all over Iokath. But the recent FP only deepened that suspicion that the Emperor was involved in Iokath at some point previously. Thanks to the above confirmation from Flameyol, he had other tools at his disposal.

There is just too much room for interpritation there in what the Emperor could of done on Iokath. An example: He helped build the original machines, so they would be used as tools to feed the emperor through the force, they went to each world and killed millions as a sacrifice.

he Emperor himself should of torn it down in an Imperial civil war and used agents of chaos to keep them fighting each other and the Republic lording over the factions. But oddly enough he did nothing about it, it suggests he could still have use for the imperials in one of his plans.

He didn't do it cose he didn't need to . The repb and Emp were at each others troath even when Arcann invaded .

Add to that , if he did something about it..it would have revealed Zaakul way early . The way I see it , he lured us to follow him all the way to Zaakul and leave everything behind . Then you only have 'the outlander showed up and the consequences after that ' .

The Empire had no use for him . Most of the Sith are busy fighting for powers or the repb or both . Those who are in charge , most of them are also too busy . The rise of Malgus and then Marr leaving the battelfield . Really , he has Zaakul and apparently that is better then both Empire and repb put together .

His aim at the start of Kotfe was to convince you to forget the repb and Empire and accept Zaakul as your new home , world..or whatever you wanna call it .

He didn't do it cose he didn't need to . The repb and Emp were at each others troath even when Arcann invaded .

 

Add to that , if he did something about it..it would have revealed Zaakul way early . The way I see it , he lured us to follow him all the way to Zaakul and leave everything behind . Then you only have 'the outlander showed up and the consequences after that ' .

 

The Empire had no use for him . Most of the Sith are busy fighting for powers or the repb or both . Those who are in charge , most of them are also too busy . The rise of Malgus and then Marr leaving the battelfield . Really , he has Zaakul and apparently that is better then both Empire and repb put together .

 

His aim at the start of Kotfe was to convince you to forget the repb and Empire and accept Zaakul as your new home , world..or whatever you wanna call it .

If the eternal empire hadn't invaded, the Republic and Empire wouldn't had any clue where to start. The emperor can't be tracked down by the force alone, only that he can be sensed in the force and know he is still out there somewhere. Zakuul dropped the ball here by invading and before this the Empire and Republic had no idea that there was another empire out there, let alone how strong it is.

There wouldn't of been any early invasion without some direction to take.

I'll put the wall of text in spoiler

I think that a young Tenebrae might've found Zildrog, Nyriss says he had the reputation of a Scholar so I'm assuming he went through shenanigans similar to SI during their class story. He finds Zildrog And uses it to kill all life on Nathema, with that it creates a disturbance in the force which allows him to start his ritual to consume the very force, he tries to rebuild the Empire for his own purpose but unfortunately the Sith are too flawed, even as their Emperor some still challenge him. He eventually finds Zakuul and molds it's culture so that he is seen not only as an Emperor and a God by the common rabble but by the force-sensitives themselves, the Knights of Zakuul are a genius idea because they get rewarded by being loyal to an ideal, that ideal being serving the Emperor. In the codex entries we get the information that Tenebrae used The Scions visions to locate The Eternal Fleet, it's memory code locked away left to drift in Wild Space, so I don't think Tenebrae knew about Iokath or the other Six Gods, unless they retcon him being in 5113 BBY there's no possible way he was alive before Iokath's civil war ended with their creators being exterminated(Codex or dialogue I don't remember it that well now said something about three thousand years or something, that would put the war around the same time as the creation or the early days of the first Sith Empire so Tenebrae couldn't have been there)

Doesn't say that Tenebrae was another voice of the emperor at a young age. it also doesn't say he knew in advance exactly what the device is and how to use it. Again going back to how easily the emperor can manipulate people; he could of pretended he knew little and gradually reveal he knew all along.. only for it to be too late for everyone else.

Valkorion was a warrior in Zakuulan history, he was hollowed out by the emperor. The emperor is nebulous, incopereal with no known body or form of his own. How can you put an age to something like that? This is the problem i have with the way Charles put Zildrog out there, Tenebrae wouldn't know where to look for Iolath, the Gravestone or Zildrog, not on his own and not with what little of the galaxy was known at the time, not unless he got special help and even then he would need to stud the device and learned how to operate it. Hence going back to the link between the Emperor and Zildrog.

Tenebrae couldn't of done all that stuff in history by himself, it seemed very unlikely a single leader on one world he never left would be able to find exactly what he needed. That by itself makes no sense because how was he able to pin point exactly what he was looking for and bring it back? research it, study how the device operates, learn the controls work, how the ai programming works and so on. He would of needed secrecy so that means only a small team and there would of been no telling how long it would of taken. There can only be one option, tenebrae wasn't the emperor, but another voice and one who could provide insights in a way that accelerated the research of the device decades in advance without giving anything away he knew all along.

Yes, it doesn't say how he found Zildrog, how he learned how to use Zildrog, it's a lack of lore for sure but that doesn't mean you get to throw around Tenebrae not being the original. Tenebrae is Tenebrae, he isn't a voice, he was a young upstart Sith Lord with lots of ambition who've managed to become Emperor twice, can someday they retcon this? Maybe, but there's nothing to indicate Tenebrae is a voice, it is just as unlikely as that silly theory that Tulak Hord was Tenebrae.

oh, no. i didn't mean to put you on the defensive having to be the one to come up with proof in a counter action. right now i'm just showing what my current thought regarding the situation and you have more or less reached the same situation. there is very little detail on the Emperor and Tenebrae in general. I was just thinking of what could fit it all together because there is a lot in the air about the Emperor.

oh, no. i didn't mean to put you on the defensive having to be the one to come up with proof in a counter action. right now i'm just showing what my current thought regarding the situation and you have more or less reached the same situation. there is very little detail on the Emperor and Tenebrae in general. I was just thinking of what could fit it all together because there is a lot in the air about the Emperor.

Oh my bad then, well I don't think the Emperor and Tenebrae are 2 different people. I'll put my thoughts into how things went on spoilers

Overall his story is amazing but we really need to know what's what and when it happened.

I think Vitiate used the same ritual as Exar Kun on Yavin? But Kun didn't turn the planet into lifeless form, so maybe he got some help. He did consume Ziost on his own, but that was when he became so powerful.

We don't know what happened at Ziost, or if another massive weapon was employed. There was already a planet-scale trap in place, the electrical current we were planning to use to stun all the residents, maybe Vitiate used it to kill every living thing on the planet.

We do know that the original Sith-draining ritual that took place 1000 years ago involved Zildrog, so maybe Vitiate does need some external means to decimate life on a planetary scale. IMO, I prefer it that way, more plotter, less overpowered demigod, and therefore, more plausibly defeated by the Outlander.

Also, Valkorion does confirm that he was born a Sith, though he didn't consider himself one at the time of his death. Whether Vitiate was actually born Tenebrae or predated him and just jumped into Tenebrae's body ala Tulak Hord and Zash, we'll never know.

I think Vitiate used the same ritual as Exar Kun on Yavin? But Kun didn't turn the planet into lifeless form, so maybe he got some help. He did consume Ziost on his own, but that was when he became so powerful.

On Ziost I believe he killed enough people until enough of a disturbance in the force allowed him to consume all the life on the planet, remember there he isn't on physical form. On Nathema it seems he used Zildrog to create the same effect with the world-wide bloodshed on Ziost, which he also attempted to do in the JK story with Belsavis and such, so he consumed the force, after his death it seems the force came back so it's possible, I think to assume whatever ritual continue feeding him long after the deed.

Also, Valkorion does confirm that he was born a Sith, though he didn't consider himself one at the time of his death. Whether Vitiate was actually born Tenebrae or predated him and just jumped into Tenebrae's body ala Tulak Hord and Zash, we'll never know.

Honesty unless they're planning a massive retcon I think we can conclude that Tenebrae was born as such, the question is how much of Nyriss's tale is true and such and how his early life was like. The novel hints at the idea Dramath wasn't aware of his son until he started conquering the southern hemisphere where as in KOTET Dramath says that Tenebrae's mother should've drowned him, making him aware of his child.

On Ziost I believe he killed enough people until enough of a disturbance in the force allowed him to consume all the life on the planet, remember there he isn't on physical form. On Nathema it seems he used Zildrog to create the same effect with the world-wide bloodshed on Ziost, which he also attempted to do in the JK story with Belsavis and such, so he consumed the force, after his death it seems the force came back so it's possible, I think to assume whatever ritual continue feeding him long after the deed.

So Ziost might recover as well.

So Ziost might recover as well.

I believe it just becomes a lifeless wasteland afterwards, in legends at least, I could be wrong and I believe that a terraformation is possible provided someone clears the Monoliths and manages to find a way to have life thrive there.