The Old Republic: Speculation the First: Holocrons

I (like 1.5 million other folks apparently) signed up to beta Star Wars: The Old Republic about a year ago. But I am impatient. And obsessive. And in my obsessive impatience I may or may not have signed up four or five times since then just in case it didn’t work the first time, or in case they didn’t get my registration. Just in case they didn’t understand how much I wanted it….

My partner also signed up for beta and he got an invite to test all long weekend. So in obsessive behavior typical of me, I checked my email every thirty seconds for a few days willing my invite to materialize. It didn’t. The weekend has come and gone and my invitation never showed up. Apparently my love of Bioware is unreciprocated.  Or at least a little unbalanced.

In any case before I was informed of my partner’s great luck I had decided to do something SWTOR related to help alleviate the building tension caused by my impatience for the game release. And since someone somewhere had once mentioned the possibility that holocrons hidden around the worlds would contain mystical secrets (stat bonuses and the like) I decided to start there. Here then, is a speculative list of holocrons in SWTOR compiled by an obsessive Bioware fangirl who just happens to have a replica lightsaber on her fireplace mantle. Here goes:

Dark Side:

Most of the following Sith holocrons would have been on Korriban originally but following the Jedi Civil War many Sith Artifacts were sought out and destroyed. And remember that according to KOTOR 2, Jedi Master Atris collected several Sith holocrons and brought them to her Academy on Telos. So I guess there could be random holocrons scattered throughout a (hopefully) reconstructed Telos.

1.       The Dark Holocron was recovered from Naga Sadow’s fleet after his defeat at the Battle of Koros Major while retreating to Yavin 4. Many accounts suggest that it is the first Sith holocron to be captured by the Jedi – so, you know, canonically relevant. It was kept in the Holocron Chamber of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

2.       Adas’s Holocron was created by a King of Korriban during the reign of the Sith (species). Adas was a master of Sith magic and united several warring nations into an empire under his rule. King Adas was aided in the creation of his holocron by Rakata from the Infinite Empire (c. 27,700 BBY) before killing them for plotting against his people. His holocron was lost during the Great Hyperspace War on Ashas Ree where Freedon Nadd found it and used its knowledge to conquer Onderon. Following the defeat of the Onderon Naddists the Jedi stored the holocron on the planet Kodai.

3.       The Telos IV Holocron was crafted by the Sith sometime before the Golden Age and was traditionally held by Sith Lords. Each owner generally added their knowledge to the Holocron and as a result, several notable Star Wars universe characters including Ajunta Pall, Naga Sadow, Darth Bane, Darth Revan and Darth Sidious have made contributions. Not only notable because of its prominence in Lore, several quest related characters from KOTOR/KOTOR II had a hand in this holocron’s maintenance and it would make sense to include it in SWTOR.

4.       Revan’s Holocron was constructed during the Jedi Civil War in order to pass on what he believed to be information vital to fully developing Dark Side talents. Following Revan’s redemption after the Jedi Civil War, the holocron was left hidden in the Temple of the Ancients on Rakata Prime. Again, no idea if, where or how you would find it in game.

5.       Darth Nihilus’s Holocron has little history attached to it and there is nothing particularly notable about this holocron except that it was created by one of the villains of KOTOR II. No idea where it might be though.

6.       Darth Andeddu’s Holocron was found by Freedon Nadd on Korriban shortly after he fell to the dark side. His tomb was originally on Onderon but Arca Jeth moved it to a nearby moon, Dxun to prevent the dark energies from effecting the population of Onderon. Exar Kun and Revan both breeched the tomb on Dxun so the holocrons could be anywhere now.

7.       Dathka Graush's Holocron was created by a Sith Lord of the same name who was skilled in the use of Sith Alchemy and ruled most of Korriban approximately 7000 BBY. He was entombed there and his holocron, sword and amulet remain at his side.

8.       Freedon Nadd's Holocron was created by Freedon Nadd, Dark Lord of the Sith and first king of Onderon sometime after he conquered the Onderonians, this holocron was in Nadd’s tomb for some time but it may have found its way off of Dxun after Exar Kun and Revan breached the tomb’s defenses. According to canon however, it stayed in a locked room inside the tomb until Darth Bane removed it in 1000 BBY.  

9.       Tulak Hord's Holocron was a Sith holocron that Dark Lord Tulak Hord created to pass on his technique of lightsaber combat. In KOTOR there is a quest line that involves seeking out the holocron in order to advance Revan’s infiltration of the Sith Academy.  Whether this quest is completed or not shouldn’t change the fact that this holocron would end up in the hands of the Academy’s headmaster and kept somewhere prominent in the Sith Academy on Korriban.

10.    XoXaan's Holocron was created by the Sith Lord XoXaan. XoXaan was one of the Dark Jedi exiled from the Republic after their defeat in the Hundred-Year Darkness. Her holocron was lost in the Tombs of Korriban.

Light Side:

There seemed to be significantly less Light Side Holocrons of note. This doesn’t concern me as many of the Sith holocrons would have been taken by the Jedi during the Sith Artifact purge or possibly created by redeemed Sith turned Jedi – so they would be accessible to Republic players. Many if not most Jedi holocrons were housed in the Temple on Coruscant. Prior to the sacking of Coruscant the local temple had a ‘Holocron Chamber’ in one of the towers – specifically the Tower of First Knowledge - where ancient holocrons protecting coveted secrets were housed and studied. There are also many possibilities for unknown/previously unheard of holocrons on Tython, the original, ancient seat of the council. Some known holocrons would have been abandoned on Tython when the first Jedi Council left the planet.

1.       Arca Jeth’s Holocron was created by Ood Bnar and passed down Jedi to Jedi until it came into the possession of Arca Jeth. This holocron was lost on Arkania and not recovered until the New Republic era. The web comics released in anticipation of the release of SWTOR involve Jeth and his apprentices so it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to find this holocron included - somewhere.

2.       Sar Agorn’s Holocron is one of the older holocrons in the galaxy. Sar Agorn was an early sentient non-humanoid Jedi Master whose personality was preserved in his holocron so that his knowledge and understanding of Jedi traditions and history could be passed on.  One of the only surviving artifacts of this era, Sar Agorn’s holocron contained much information about the earliest Jedi on Tython, which is the starting planet in SWTOR if you play a Jedi.

3.       The Tedryn Holocron is also known as Vodo-Siosk Baas’s Holocron or the Jedi Holocron. Little is known about this object other than the fact that it was created over 4000 years before the Battle of Yevin by the Jedi Master Tedryn. It is known that the histories of Freedon Nadd, Exar Kun, Ulic-Qel Droma and Naga Sadow are included on the holocron as well as information about the Great Hyperspace War. Vodo-Siosk Baas held the holocron around 3997 BBY and he spent most of his time between Ossus and Dantooine, which as far as I know aren’t playable environments in SWTOR as things stand – but you never know.

4.       The Great Holocron contains one of the most extensive collections of Force related instruction in the known universe.  Amidst this incredible amount of information are lessons from numerous Masters throughout Galactic history including Sar Argorn, Arca Jeth, Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda as well as Vima Sunrider’s tale of Ulic-Qel Droma’s redemption and Deesra Luur Jada’s observations of Revan.

So that’s it. Like I said, far more Dark Side holocrons of note for the time period. And this list could be all sound and fury. I write this with no actual, confirmed or in any way official information from the devs. I don’t know if these specific holocrons are going to be included.  I don’t even know if stat boosting holocrons are in the final version of the game. This is all speculation folks.But at a minimum it was a nice foray into the long and convoluted history of the Star Wars Universe. Hopefully it will be the first of several SWTOR posts between now and launch.