Lore Update: Dantooine

Although Dantooine has not been officially announced as a planet in Star Wars: The Old Republic, we repeatedly see it crop up in the marketing: namely within the Threat of Peace webcomic. With the recent influx of planet reveals, we thought it would be a good idea to reevaluate other locations we may see in future updates. Since BioWare is known to give hints to unreleased content, we feel it is in the community's best interest to take a closer look at one of the first known planets of the Star Wars universe.


History

Like the majority of planets, Dantooine was subject to Rakata rule in the long forgotten history of the galaxy. It wasn't until the Old Sith Wars that the Galactic Republic began the colonization and new history of the planet. Although there was no military presence, the Jedi Order protected the settlers and, around 3,997 BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin), a Jedi training enclave was established by Master Vodo-Siosk Baas. Although Revan is the most famous one who fell to the Dark side, many Jedi who attended the enclave did the same.

Like many former Rakata planets, Dantooine contains several ancient structures. One housed the Star Map, which remained intact by the time of the Jedi Civil War. Revan used the Star Map to locate the great Rakatan artifact called the Star Forge, which allowed him to wage war against the Galactic Republic.



In 3,956 BBY, Revan returned to the enclave to undergo training in an attempt to redeem himself. Soon after Revan completed his training and left the planet, Darth Malak arrived to bombard the enclave and the Rakata ruins. This attack caused the settler farming community to decay; a contributing factor to this decline was the Republic's inability to provide assistance to the remote Dantooine. Until the collapse of the Sith Empire, Dantooine was occupied by the Sith, who executed almost all local leaders.

From 3,956 to 3,951 BBY, settlers began to rebuild their community by constructing the outpost of Khoonda. However, the planet was largely infested by mercenaries and salvagers who terrorized the settlers, while at the same time attempted to pillage the remaining Jedi relics.

In 3,951 BBY, the Republic nearly lost Dantooine to the Exchange, who tried to use Dantooine as an outpost. The Exchange attempted to force the settlers off-world, resulting in several skirmishes that eventually led to the Battle of Dantooine. It wasn't until the Jedi arrived and forced the Exchange off the planet that the Republic finally decided to defend Dantooine.

Shortly after, the Jedi enclave was rebuilt and even housed the Jedi Council until Darth Traya killed the council members. Interestingly enough, underneath the deserted Enclave was a hidden facility where Jedi ran cloning experiments.



According to the Threat of Peace comics, both the Sith and the Republic have military bases on Dantooine.This was the reason for the confrontation between Dar'nala, Satele, and the Sith lords Angral and Baras, as the republic commander on Dantooine refused to retreat. The comic ended with the Republic commander agreeing to leave, leaving the status of Dantooine unknown at the current time.

Speculation

Since Dantooine previously housed the Jedi enclave and the ruins are mainly still intact, it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that someone could still use the cloning facilities to run experiments. If true, then they could be added to bacta (or kolto) as a lore based justification for how players will be able to return to life after they are defeated in-game. This could be applied to the entire galaxy as it also wouldn't be unlikely that the Sith stole the available research information and copied or perhaps altered what was learned.

The intact Jedi enclave could also be refurbished and returned to use as a Jedi outpost or training ground. Or possibly the Sith took over to use the ruins as an outpost or training ground, as the dark side has caused numerous deaths to those who once inhabited these grounds.



Dantooine always seems to be a site of conflict between those in power and those trying to settle. As such, it would be safe to assume that the remaining settlers were left to their own devices after the Republic withdrew from non-essential worlds. Perhaps the settlers put together a militia in an attempt to protect themselves from the Sith, who may now control the world.

Nothing is completely set in stone when it comes to Dantooine and BioWare is known to surprise everyone with their attention to detail and story. If Dantooine is included as a playable planet for Star Wars: The Old Republic, it will definitely not be one that is easily forgotten. After all, those who played Knights of the Old Republic 1 and/or 2 already spent time on the planet, and their experiences and feelings will only help to shape the story that we all are apart of.

Sources
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Dantooine
http://www.swtor.com/media/webcomic/act3?comicpage=1

Comments

  • mikeamendola's avatar
    Spice Runner
    • Posts: 103
    #32 mikeamendola Posted 4/22/2010 9:15:42 PM
    No im not confusing it like I said WE have not seen what it looks like on foot in the movies. I know there was a base on yavin 4 and that is the only thing we have seen.

    My point that we have not seen an extensive amount of the planet, and have not explored it, so it would be a great addition. For some reason ur just looking for a reason to argue when all I was stating is I would like to see Yavin 4 in the game.
  • r2d2arm's avatar
    Dark Lord
    • Posts: 440
    #33 r2d2arm Posted 4/23/2010 8:54:44 PM
    Didn't mean to argue with you, but when I see some incorrect Star Wars facts, I can't help correcting them. I could see Yavin IV being a nice instance type moon, but other than the temples, not much going on really.
  • SithPippin's avatar
    Nerf Herder
    • Posts: 20
    #34 SithPippin Posted 4/27/2010 5:00:51 PM
    "Read the comments before you reply." "Im not one of those people who read all the books and play every game ever made so forgive me. "

    You are making blind statements and then getting mad at others for correcting you? If you haven't played them all then why would you make such a statement about Yavin 4 not being in any game? It was in SWG and you got to travel everywhere.
  • FaerieFyre's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 94
    #39 FaerieFyre Posted 3/15/2011 3:17:55 PM
    Yea... I think we're in the same boat. Personally, I was prepared to educate the OP on how much/little we've seen of Yavin IV. Frankly, I could really care less about going to the planet because I don't care about it that much.

    However... there is a Sith tomb on the planet and there's some Massassi temples strewn about the jungle. Perhaps, it will be something like Taral V, where the world is an instanced Flashpoint (or even a RAID!), but not an exploration point?
  • shadowfyre's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 79
    #20 shadowfyre Posted 4/21/2010 6:54:05 AM
    Yavin 4 is popping up everywhere, i'd be very surprised if it wasn't in the game.
  • Zoid's avatar
    Dark Councilor
    • Posts: 656
    #23 Zoid Posted 4/21/2010 1:33:34 PM
    In my opinion, Dantooine would feel nice and be a small carryover from Kotor, since it would be the only planet in common with all the games.
  • heybarn's avatar
    Spice Runner
    • Posts: 240
    #17 heybarn Posted 4/21/2010 5:06:32 AM
    12 planets thus far - so what ones are next and how many in total do you think we're in for peops???
  • Xavier's avatar
    Dark Councilor
    • Posts: 504
    #25 Xavier Posted 4/21/2010 3:17:00 PM
    If the speculation is correct and we end up with 16 planets, I would think that Dantooine, Bothawui and Geonosis all have an excellent chance at being included due to the amount of times they have been mentioned in the comics and timelines. As for the 16th planet, there are a lot of good ones Ziost, Ilum, Mon Calamari (Dac), Corellia, and moons like Yavin IV and Nar Shadaa. Also, BioWare has already shown it's penchant for a picking some obscure planets.

    Assuming there are only 16 planets, one thing for sure, some really good ones will be left out.

    C'est la vie I guess. Expansions anyone?
  • darthuser1166's avatar
    Nerf Herder
    • Posts: 4
    #16 darthuser1166 Posted 4/21/2010 5:06:19 AM
    LOL you just made me re-install Kotor 1 . BLAST YOU! hmm not sure i like your idea of how people come back to life... but better than any i can come up with . GJ Thnx !
  • kiddrr003's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 74
    #15 kiddrr003 Posted 4/21/2010 5:06:01 AM
    Great speculation once again all. I think you have probably hit the nail on the head with this being one of the planets, and yes probably independent would be my guess as well.
  • darthuser567's avatar
    Spice Runner
    • Posts: 133
    #14 darthuser567 Posted 4/21/2010 1:28:15 AM
    Long overdue for Dantoonine! I'm not surprised when they released this planet. Good, nonetheless.
  • Drenarb's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #12 Drenarb Posted 4/21/2010 1:23:38 AM
    You would think Dantooine almost has to be in game. I mean, tons of stuff happens on Dantooine during this time period, so there's lots of content to work with there.
  • traejin's avatar
    Nerf Herder
    • Posts: 7
    #11 traejin Posted 4/21/2010 1:12:21 AM
    Good article!
  • Shempanzy's avatar
    Gamorrean Thug
    • Posts: 56
    #6 Shempanzy Posted 4/21/2010 12:06:26 AM
    just saying "cool story bro" got detected as spam, lol, so here's a couple more words. Cool Story Bro
  • darthuser120's avatar
    Spice Runner
    • Posts: 165
    #7 darthuser120 Posted 4/21/2010 12:17:26 AM
    Proper trolling would make use of "Cool speculation article Zenkei aka "Bro". Just saying "Cool story bro" is restricted to conventions and proxy jawas, every other way is considered spam.
  • To post a comment, please login or register a new account.