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Continuity & Analysis

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - The Disappeared - Part I (2014) [S6E8]
Without darkness there cannot be light.
"Mystery on Bardotta! An oasis of peace during the Clone Wars, the galaxy-wide conflict
now threatens the ancient ways of the Bardottan people. With their spiritual
leaders mysteriously vanishing, the foundations of order in its system are near
collapse. In desperation, the Queen of Bardotta has called upon the Republic
Senate with a puzzling request - to help save her people from certain doom..."
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - The Disappeared - Part II (2014) [S6E9]
Wisdom is born in fools as well as wise men.
"Lost! Queen Julia of the planet Bardotta has been abducted. If Representative Jar Jar Binks and
Jedi Master Mace Windu cannot find the missing queen in three rotations, a sinister prophecy
will be fulfilled. The bloodthirsty Frangawl Cult will take over the Bardottan government,
and its planetary system will be overwhelmed with chaos, death and destruction..."




CONTINUITY
These two episodes form a single storyline about Bardotta. The chronological order of episodes is as given by Lucasfilm, and follows their
release order. The planet Bardotta, and the moon of Zardossa Stix are seen for the first time. Three worlds are seen in these episodes:


- Bardotta is a neutral system, which is understandable as they are peaceloving, primarily isolationist, and have a historical distrust of the Jedi. Palpatine
tells her the Senate is always happy to assist the neutral systems in a time of war, which is both him playing the part of a humanitarian, and a diplomatic
way of pointing out that the Republic's resources are stretched fighting a galactic war that planets like Bardotta aren't contributing to. Bardotta is part
of the Republic by custom and law, but likely had just as little to do with the Republic as possible even before the Clone Wars.
Main Article: The Galactic Republic and the Neutral Systems

- The entire Jedi Council meets in person on Coruscant, with only Adi Gallia's seat vacant. It is not known if Stass Allie has yet been appointed to
replace her, and is therefore too occupied to attend. Oppo Rancisis, often seen to be absent from Council meetings lately, is present here.


- The Dagoyan Masters connect to the Force passively, using the Force for knowledge and understanding, rather than manipulating the world around them.
As Force scientists, their passive interaction with the Force is used to sense "intuition, knowledge, the harmony of the universe", and by not actively
involving their personal will in the Force, they avoid the issue of choosing between the light side and the dark side of the Force.

- Long ago, Force-sensitive Bardottans were inducted into the Jedi Order. The Dagoyan Order labeled the Jedi kidnappers, since their world has their own native
religion of Force wielders, which would be depleted by the Jedi. As a result, the Bardottans don't trust the Jedi, who aren't usually welcome on Bardotta.

- Jar Jar is an old lover of Queen Julia of Bardotta, one who she is pleased to reassociate with, and the only person in the Republic she truly trusts.

- Bardotta is an inhabited planet located in the Shasos Sector, in the Colonies region of the Core. It is cool and moist, featuring oceans, mountains, and forests.
It is the homeworld of the Bardottans, a reptile-like species which are advanced but typically insular. Supplementary material suggests it also has
below-average gravity, and is somewhat distant from its star for a habitable world.


- The Bardottan government is a monarchy and a theocracy, with a Queen as head of state, and a ruling body known as the Bahk-tov Council, made up of
Force-sensitive masters of the Dagoyan Order. The head of the Bahk-tov Council, and possibly the Dagoyan Order itself, is known as the High Seneschal,
who in this time period is Peteen. Bardottan leaders are chosen by virtue of enlightenment, qualifications, and likely seniority.

- Jedi mind tricks don't work on members of the Dagoyan Order, which shouldn't be surprising as they are Force wielders and concentration experts.

- The Frangawl Clan is another Bardottan religion which worships Malmourral, the ancient Bardottan demon of war. They apparently ruled Bardotta with
an iron hand for most of its early history. They were warriors, and oppressive, but were also a spiritual people like most Bardottans seem to be.

- The Frangawl use a kind of Force dust, casting a magick spell which renders someone invisible. They also use a similar Force powder to capture the energy
of the living Force removed from a being. This material may be in some way similar to the spirit ichor on Dathomir which the Nightsisters utilize.


- The ancient shrine of the Frangawl cult is located beneath the Dagoyan Temple on Bardotta. This is what is known as a 'purification of suppression', something
often done in Earth history, as well as by the Jedi, who have constructed Jedi temples on top of the remains of Sith temples in many locations in the galaxy
throughout history. The shrine is designed to perform ritual Force sacrifices to Malmourral, in which the victims are killed by draining them of the living Force
and their energy is preserved in Force powder, which can be preserved when placed in a containment vessel.

- If the containment sphere has absorbed enough of the living Force, Mace says he will be able to sense its location. This is likely due to how concentrated this
Force energy is, since the same total amount of living Force energy would be in the location before and after the sacrifices.

- Zardossa Stix is a dry planetary moon located relatively near to Bardotta, but in a different starsystem. There is at least one city with a spaceport. The population
is very cosmopolitan, although regional species like the Gossams are more prevalent. The Bardottans must have a strong historical connection to this world,
as the Temple of Malmourral located on the planet likely dates to a much earlier age. The planet which Zardossa Stix orbits, which is not named in these
episodes or yet in supplementary material, has at least one other moon, which appears to be similar in size to Zardossa Stix itself.


- Mace focuses, and with only a bit of patience is able to locate the Queen's position in the city. This may be partly because she is Force sensitive, as are some of
those she is with. This may also be partly because of how powerful Mace is, and how knowledgeable he is in using the Force. He could also be once again aided
by the containment vessel, which holds a concentration of living Force energy. Ordinarily, this vision wouldn't be so easy or come so quickly.

- A Human of the Ming Po tribe, seen on Carlac, is a beast master on Zardossa Stix who is in some way associated with the Frangawl Clan. Evidently, while
they are a relatively simple people with a minimum of technology, they aren't limited to the planet Carlac, or have access to star travel, or both. Their
first appearance in 'A Friend in Need' (S4E14), left some question about this, which still isn't answered, as other races like the Talz and the Aleena are
seen off of their homeworlds in this time period and in the future, and are presumed not to maintain their own spaceships.


Why is there a repulsorlift railway track, or 'rail speeder', that only leads from this city to the Temple of Malmourral?
How often do they come and go to this temple? Why bother with the track, instead of using free moving repulsorcraft,
if it only goes to one place? Is this temple visited by others of the city? It doesn't seem likely anyone outside of their
religion would care about an old temple to an obscure deity of the Bardottans. Are they regularly maintaining this
track and using it to visit the temple, or is this equipment just sitting here most of the time doing nothing and
left unguarded? Why has no one has bothered to steal the unattended cars and sell them off for parts? Perhaps
the Frangawl are very active on this planet, and go there to pray even when they don't have sacrifices, or perhaps
this planet is their primary base these days. Regardless, why build this when they could just hover or fly there?


- Frangawl masters who are Force-sensitive apparently also have visions through the Force, which is likely where this prophecy came from in the first place.
More recent visions have informed them that Mace with lose to Mother Talzin and a new dark side order will arise, which obviously isn't what happens.
Prophetic visions from the Force therefore aren't always accurate, unless there is some other factor involved which causes this flawed vision.

- Temple of Malmourral on Zardossa Stix is an artificial high-place, constructed at this location to harness the energies of this starsystem for use in their
rituals involving Force sacrifices. A tower placed at an optimum position near the temple holds up a mechanism of lenses designed to focus the energy
of this system's star, which provides a natural, non-technological way to provide the energy needed for their sacrifices.


- Although it is daytime at this part of the planet, and the star is in clear view, it is visibly dark due to the heavy presence of the dark side, either from Mother Talzin,
the sphere containing the living Force, or some combination of their dark energy and the site of Temple of Malmourral. When the sphere is destroyed, the sky
becomes properly illuminated, as it was day but appeared to be night, and Talzin looses cohesion and vanishes in the wind.

- Mother Talzin, and likely other shamans of the witches of Dathomir, are not natural Force weilders, instead gaining their power from spirit ichor, a concentrated
form of the energy of the living Force, which appears as a glowing green mist. The Frangawl use spirit ichor-like powders to access the Force as well, which may
be connected. This is the first and only instance of a Nightsister utilizing the green-colored spirit ichor while not on the planet Dathomir. It is unclear if any
Dathomir witch advanced enough in the Force could do the same, or if Mother Talzin is so powerful with the magick that she is able to do this.

- The stone guardians are giant droids with powerful energy projection weapons which appear to be stone monoliths when inactive. According to legendary
material, the Jedi historically used such guardian droids to defend their temples and sacred locations when left unguarded by Jedi.

- This situation leads to a new beginning for the Bardottans and the Jedi, one where the Bardottans are open to the possibility that the Jedi can be trustworthy,
helpful, and can interact with the Bardottans respectfully, without trying to steal their children. Although this Jedi Order will fall within the year, it is unlikely
either order was totally destroyed by the Sith and the Empire, so this relationship may still be of value at some point in the future.

ANALYSIS
The disappearances of the Dagoyan Masters are the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy of the Frangawl Clan, an old Bardottan religion. The remaining
Dagoyan Masters have seen that if they aren't returned darkness will envelope the galaxy. High Seneschal Peteen is displeased a Jedi was brought into
the matter, which at first seems to be standard Bardottan distrust, but is in reality because he himself is a member of the Frangawl Clan, and is
orchestrating these abductions. While the prophecy is indeed being fulfilled, it is being done so by someone who knows of the prophecy and wishes to
see it come to pass. Mace senses a disturbance in the Force, since the dark applications of the Force which are being unnaturally employed are causing
ripples in the connection between beings, not to mention the growing potential of their plans succeeding in bringing a great darkness to the galaxy.
They are capturing the Force-sensitive Dagoyan Masters to drain them of the living Force, gathering an extraordinary concentration of energy from
those with great strength in the Force. As they have the means to capture this energy, it can theoretically be transferred to another being.

The Frangawl are in fact being aided by an outside power, Mother Talzin of the Nightsisters. She is not merely seeking the means to rebuild her clan of
the Nightsisters, who were exterminated by Grievous' army, although that is likely still one of her goals. Her new priority seems to be taking advantage
of an opportunity to become a major player in the galaxy, by becoming one of the most powerful Force wielders, if not the most powerful. Her powers
in the Force were never derived from her natural ability with the Force, which is presumably minimal, so she has already gained great power in the Force
through artificial means. Adding the energy of these Force-sensitive masters would bring her to an unprecedented level of power. Fortunately, Queen
Julia and the Dagoyan Masters were wise enough to contact the Republic, as this is exactly the kind of situation where a Jedi is needed, as Talzin is far
too powerful for regular authorities to handle. Mace duels with Mother Talzin, who uses the spirit ichor to manifest an enchanted blade. She tells Mace
that her magick is too powerful for him, which Mace derides as only an illusion. While true, it is a powerful illusion, but not too powerful for Mace to
handle. With Jar Jar's help, Talzin's plans are defeated, and her quest for great power leads to a downfall she could have otherwise avoided.


FURTHER ANALYSIS
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