Hiding in Plain Sight
This dissection operates under the assumption that the Threat of Peace is littered with game information. The basis for this assumption comes from Rob Chestney's post on the official forum back in October of 2009:
I always love it when you guys pick up on stuff in the comic. I try to sneak in as many game content hints as I can. At least that way, whatever you may feel about the art or the story, there's still something there to make it worth reading.
He continued to directly reference the following image
Issue 9, Page 2 - Click to Enlarge
Rob pointed out that these particular panels include a weapon called a 'supercharged Imperial vibroblade' and that the character wielding it is a 'would-be assassin'. Just a few short weeks later BioWare and LucasArts unveiled the Imperial Agent and during our trip to San Francisco we learned that the foreshadowing in Threat of Peace was right on the money. So lets see what other facts might be hidden in plain sight.
Act 1
Issue 2, Page 2 - Click to Enlarge
Here we see a series of different models used for the Sith Trooper from the Threat of Peace, concept art, and Kotor 1 and 2. The multiple armor styles could imply a different type of soldier, such as a Sith Commando or Elite Trooper, or it could simply be armor design changing over time. Either way, we continue to see a consistency in the design philosophy for the troopers in the Star Wars Universe.
Issue 6, Page 3 - Click to Enlarge
Lord Baras refuses greater power within the Sith order despite obvious ambitions. He probably has an ulterior motive for staying below the radar of the Dark Council and other Sith lords, showing a possible connection to the calculated, steady deception associated with many Sith characters in Star Wars.
Issue 7, Page 2 - Click to Enlarge
Infighting seems to be common and perhaps encouraged by the Sith in order to strengthen their ranks by weeding out the weak. Betrayal and infighting could be themes of the Sith story arcs, possibly linked directly to your moral alignment to the dark, neutral or light side.
Issue 8, Page 2 - Click to Enlarge
Satele has sympathy for Sith droid, while Dar'nala has none. This shows Dar'nala's lack of many traditional Jedi beliefs. This could be the difference between the light side and dark side Jedi paths.
Issue 8, Page 3 - Click to Enlarge
Here we see the Sith manipulating criminal underground on Nar Shaadaa, this could be part of Bounty Hunter or Imperial Agent storyline, or possibly both. The timeline video talking about the Imperial Agent and the Mandalorians do a great deal to enforce this possibility.
Issue 9, Page 3 - Click to Enlarge
Although we have skipped many known abilities, here we see a new one. The Sith use shock net to restrain Dar'nala, potentially showing an ability for Imperial Agent or Bounty Hunter.
Act 2
Issue 1, Page 1 - Click to Enlarge
Act two begins with characters on Balmorra. The war here appears to be protracted, with Republic forces losing at this point. This setting, coupled with the holonet page on Balmorra, sets up storyline for Balmorra as a player-versus-player independent planet after the Treaty of Coruscant.
Issue 2, Page 1 - Click to Enlarge
In this image, the Senate betrays Rodia and potentially other Republic planets to the Sith in the Treaty of Coruscant. The effects of this will almost certainly be reflected as conflict in the story of players for both factions, with entire worlds angry at being abandoned and spiteful towards their new overlords.
Issue 2, Page 3 - Click to Enlarge
The Senate's refusal to rebuild the Jedi Temple foreshadows their move to Tython. This also suggests that players may encounter missions on Coruscant that task them to visit the remains of the once mighty building.
Issue 3, Page 2 - Click to Enlarge
On this page we see Braden (the same Braden seen in the developer walkthrough) escape from the Sith in, what appears to be, a selfless act by Dar'nala. However Braden's escape is most likely staged as it is later revealed to be Dar'nala's plot to frame Lord Baras for the attack on Satele's ship. Dar'nala wants to restart the war, as she hates the Sith and wants the Republic to eradicate the Empire. By framing Lord Baras, who was the architect of the Treaty of Coruscant, she hopes to reignite the Republic's fear of the Sith and break any hopes of peace. In addition to the plot of the story, this plan is steeped in the dark side, showing how a Jedi can be both dark side and remain a member of the Republic.
Issue 6, Page 2 - Click to Enlarge
Fortris's eagerness to fight the Sith is shown above, making him a prime candidate to later be manipulated by Dar'nala. In another interesting twist this part of the story could be showing a Jedi converting another Jedi to the dark side.
Act 3
Issue 4, Page 1 - Click to Enlarge
As we alluded to, Dar'nala executes her plan, influencing the minds of others. This could potentially be an ability for the Jedi Consular, maybe even linked to her moral alignment. Such an ability could be a form of CC, allowing them to briefly turn an opponent, boosting their damage while under the Consular's sway. This would be a different way to handle CC from the traditional stun/root.
Issue 5, Page 3 - Click to Enlarge
Dar'nala uses 'force thrus' like ability to slam Baras into a wall, as per force slam (Jedi Consular Ability). It is possible this is simply another example of force push, seen many times in the comic, however the intensity and angle may be telling a different story.
We also felt it is worth noting that the Dantooine Crystal caves and Ruins of the Jedi enclave are both reappearing locations from KOTOR. This sets up the possibility for Dantooine to be another reappearing planet, as per Taris and Tatooine.
Issue 6, Page 3 - Click to Enlarge
Lieutenant Tavus uses a grenade to throw Angral back, similar to known grenade launcher ability. In addition to showing an ability in action, this panel seems designed to show readers that heroic Troopers will be able to stand up to even the most powerful Sith force users.
Issue 8, Page 3 - Click to Enlarge
Satele's reference to other heroes sets up Angral, Baras, and Satele as potential major characters within TOR's story. Satele, Angral, and Baras could all appear as main quest givers, or even opponents. Additionally, this could be a direct call to arms for gamers looking to play The Old Republic; suggesting that you will be the hero 'in time'.
Issue 8, Page 3 - Click to Enlarge
Angral and Baras are no longer working together. This opens up the possibility of further conflict in future comics, or the game. This could also be showing a difference between dark and light Sith much in the same way that Satele and Dar'nala represent light and dark Jedi respectively.
Much like the Holonet pages, the Threat of Peace webcomic is a treasure trove of information for anyone willing to take the time to look for it. Only time will tell how much of this speculation ends up being correct, but the fact remains that the marketing departments for BioWare and LucasArts love to give us facts without actually telling us. Either way, we here at Darth Hater plan to keep a close eye on Threat of Peace in the coming months to see what else we might discover.
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Posted 2/24/2010 12:32:30 AM- View User Profile
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Posted 2/19/2010 6:24:23 PM- View User Profile
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Posted 2/19/2010 4:57:02 AMPlus, there are numerous story boards with Dar'Nala, Tavus, Satele, Angral and Baras all talking to each other. Personally, I've always thought/hoped cross faction comms would be in the game and yes, I do realize I may be grasping at straws here.
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Posted 2/21/2010 3:11:55 PMIt would be fool hardy and really wiered on BW part to make a StarWars mmo where republic and emperials could not communicate.
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Posted 2/19/2010 1:03:40 AM- View User Profile
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Posted 2/18/2010 10:02:59 PMI'd be interested to see what kind of crazy lore they could make up for a planet like Hoth.... or Dagobah.
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Posted 2/18/2010 10:11:13 PMHe favored retraining Revan after amnesia took hold. Also, we've never seen a dark side member of Yoda's species, would be a cool twist.
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Posted 2/18/2010 10:05:35 PM- View User Profile
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Posted 2/18/2010 8:17:33 PM- View User Profile
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Posted 2/18/2010 4:20:19 PMIm totally amazed how yu manage to keep find all the exciting stuff you do when it seems there is totally nothing left to discuss :)
Again - awesome!
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Posted 2/18/2010 4:08:35 PMI really enjoyed this and to echo the thoughts of a few others, I would love to see Dantooine in TOR as well.
Nice job!
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Posted 2/18/2010 3:45:46 PMGreat dissection again guys, you make the wait much
more enjoyable :-)
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Posted 2/18/2010 10:11:25 AMThis inspired me to go through the timeline videos and take a screenshot of every piece of artwork. It's surprising how much art is in those videos that is seen no where else.
Here's a link if anyone wants to download the zip: http://www.dukleth.com/downloads/timeline.zip
Hmmmm... I can haz dissection? ;)
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Posted 2/18/2010 5:01:24 AM- View User Profile
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Posted 2/18/2010 4:55:36 AM