Mandalorian vs. Jedi/Sith

Lately among my Star Wars friends there seems to be this divide. On one side there's the Force users whether they consider themselves a Jedi or a Sith, and on the other side there's Mandalorians. I think it's pretty clear where I stand in this divide, and it's rather nice knowing that the Mandalorian side is growing so much. However, because of this divide I think it's easy for people to think one is better than the other; especially when the topic turns to the ethics of the Jedi which is, I think, a touchy subject since the Jedi are meant to be the 'good guys'. But every time Jedi raising kids away from their families and possibly taking those kids in not so nice ways comes up that 'good guy' title gets a little murky. It also gets murky when the idea of Jedi essentially using a slave army to fight the war is mentioned. Because of the murky waters and many opinions I thought I'd go ahead and jot down my own thoughts on the subject.

Gears of War 3 opening

Someone on theforcebook.com posted this video. I know it has nothing to do with Star Wars, but we're all nerds, and I know that I was really excited to see it! I love that Karen Traviss is now involved with the game, as well as the books. What's more is that it reminded me I picked up "Coalition's End" at my local Borders 'going out of business' sale and need to get on reading "Anvil Gate" as well before the game come out! Well, actually, I have until December because that's when my Star Wars Xbox 360 is coming in and my current Xbox doesn't work so I have to wait anyway. If anyone else has any good videos or thoughts on the books (without too many spoilers since I haven't read them yet!) feel free to share in the comments!

Mandalorians: Identity and Language

In five millennia, the Mandalorians fought with and against a thousand armies on a thousand worlds. They learned to speak as many languages and absorbed weapons technology and tactics from every war. And yet, despite the overwhelming influence of alien cultures, and the absence of a true homeworld and even species, their own language not only survived but changed little, their way of life and their philosophy remained untouched, and their ideals and sense of family, of identity, of nation were only strengthened. Armor does not make a Mandalorian. The armor is simply a manifestation of an impenetrable, unassailable heart.


- Mandalorians: Identity and Language, published by the Galactic Institute of Anthropology

Star Wars: Republic Commando Triple Zero
Karen Traviss

Gears Oath

I shall remain vigilant and unyielding in my pursuit of the enemies of the Coalition.

I will defend and maintain the Order of Life as it was proclaimed by the Allfathers of the Coalition in the Octus Canon.

I will forsake the life I had before so I may perform my duty as long as I am needed.

Steadfast, I shall hold my place in the machine and acknowledge my place in the Coalition.

I am a Gear.

(Oath of the Coalition, Sworn by all Recruits)

Gears of War: Aspho Fields

Karen Traviss

Baltan Carid

What’s a hut’uun? A coward. Physical coward, moral coward, any kind of scum without the spine to stand their ground or do the right thing. We don’t have a word for hero. Being prepared to die for family and friends, or what you hold dear, is a basic requirement for a Mando, so it’s not worth a separate word. It’s only cowards we had to find a special word for.

- Baltan Carid

Star Wars: Legacy of the Force- Revelation

Karen Traviss

These quotes speak for themselves so I'll keep my commentary to a minimum. This one is one of my favorites, though.

Mandalorians

Mandalorians are surprisingly unconcerned with biological lineage. Their definition of offspring or parent is more by relationship than birth: adoption is extremely common, and it’s not unusual for soldiers to take war orphans as their sons or daughters if they impress them with their aggression and tenacity. They also seem tolerant of marital infidelity during long separations, as long as any child resulting from it is raised by them. Mandalorians define themselves by culture and behavior alone. It is an affinity with key expressions of this culture- loyalty, strong self-identity, emphasis on physical endurance and discipline- that causes some ethnic groups such as those of Concord Dawn in particular to gravitate toward Mandalorian communities, thereby reinforcing a common set of genes derived from a wide range of populations. The instinct to be a protective parent is especially dominant. They have accidentally bred for a family-oriented warrior population, and continue to reinforce it by absorbing like-minded individuals and groups.

- Mandalorians: Identity and Its Influence on Genome published by the Galactic Institute of Anthropology

Star Wars: Republic Commando Triple Zero

Karen Traviss

Vode An

Kote!

Kandosii sa ka’rta, Vode an.
Coruscanta a’den mhi, Vode an.
Bal kote, darasuum kote,
Jorso’ran kando a tome.
Sa kyr’am Nau tracyn kad, Vode an.

[Bass Vocals]
Motir ca’tra nau tracinya.
Gra’tua cuun hett su dralshy’a.
Aruetyc runi solus cet o’r.

Twitter Conversation

I'm starting to think I spend altogether too much time on Twitter lately. I used to simply use it to 'follow' the people that I liked, such as the Official Star Wars account, Green Day, Matt Nix, Jeff Eastin, Daniel Logan and a few others. Lately, though, I've been using it to collect 'friends' who also like Star Wars. That seemed all well and good for a while, but I think I'm starting to notice that 140 characters is really not enough to get the proper point across to another person. Some people are skilled at it. I'm not. (As I'm sure some of my lengthier posts have proven)

Republic Commando: Order 66

*Note: I wrote this two years ago with the release of Karen Traviss' Republic Commando: Order 66

The other day I hit the halfway point in ORDER 66 and I stopped reading for a moment to marvel at how carefully crafted the book was. Any Star Wars fan who pays half-attention to what’s going on in the SW universe (because I know there are a few ‘fans’ out there who’ve only seen EpIII once or twice or even not at all) has seen Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and sat in that movie theater (or home) and seen that scrolling text go by and thought “holy frak, this is it, the beginning of the end”. When EpIII was first coming out everyone was all uppity about theories about the movie and what was going to happen and how. To me what mattered was that it was over; and I don’t mean the end of all Star Wars movies, because I KNEW George wouldn’t leave us hanging for very long, and anyway there were always the books to keep me going. No, I knew that the Jedi had to be killed, and I knew that Palpatine had to declare himself Emperor, and of course I knew that Obi-Wan and Anakin would have some great face-off and Anakin wasn’t going to be in one piece by the end of it (no pun intended… well, maybe a small one…). However, it was entirely different to sit in that movie theater (at midnight surrounded by a bunch of other crazy nutters who still had to go to work and school the next day) and see the scrolling text start and hit that point in the movie when Palpatine is talking to Anakin and finally reveals he’s a Sith… I don’t know about anyone else but I was sitting there wanting to scream and cry all at the same time. Because at that point it was nearly over. There was nothing anyone could do to change anything because, well, we were watching history. Everything that was going to go wrong already had, we have the Original Trilogy to prove that.

Star Wars: Contingency Orders

Order 66: In the event of Jedi officers acting against the interests of the Republic, and after receiving specifc orders verified as coming directly from the Supreme Commander (Chancellor), GAR commanders will remove those officers by lethal force, and command of the GAR will revert to the Supreme Commander (Chancellor) until a new command structure is established.

- Contigency Orders for the Grand Army of the Republic: Order Initiation, Orders 1 Through 150, GAR document CO(CL) 50-95

Star Wars: Republic Commando- Order 66

Karen Traviss

Gears of War books

I'm relatively new to the Gearsverse and the reason for that is because for one thing I'm not that good at first person shooters like Gears of War or Halo and secondly I don't always have the amount of time I'd like to devote to a game that extensive. I received Gears of War 2 for my birthday about two years ago but played for about an hour before getting annoyed and giving up. When I heard on Karen Traviss' website, though, that she was going to be writing the Gears of War books I knew I had to start reading them. I decided to go back and really put in some serious effort to play the game I had, even if that meant using an online guide from ign.com to help me.

It did.

After reaquainting myself with the controls I set out with my trusty guide to beat Gears of War 2. I decided on playing on the easiest difficulty since I have no interest in paying Microsoft an extra $10 a month to play online so I didn't care if I got to be any good or not. I just wanted to play through the story. Which I managed in about three days last summer. I found that once I got into the swing of the game I only used the guide when I had died a few times and wanted suggestions on how to do something differently, or when I got lost and needed to remember where to go and what to do. Once I beat the game I decided I could safely go and read the books. I have yet to bother getting my hands on the first game. Since I've only just started on the books I'm not sure whether I'll regret that decision or not.

I'm starting with Aspho Fields which, as far as I can tell, takes place after the first game but before the second game. If I'm wrong on that someone feel free to correct me. But if I'm right it's cool with me, I haven't hit anything from the first game that I should know about that is hindering my reading. So far the book has held to what I'm used to from Karen Traviss. Nitty gritty ugly war stuff that, unless you've been in war or know someone who has, you might not think of. Lack of supplies, lack of food, hostile environments and what's it's like to rely 100% on the person next to you to watch your back and keep you alive. She makes it seem terrifying and yet sometimes I feel as though she would be one hell of a military recruiter. Not to mention how real she makes the characters. They all have their fears, their worries and especially in the case of Dom, their hopes and dreams.

As I finish the book and make my way on to the other ones (which are fortunately available at my library now) I'll continue to share my thoughts on the books, and I'll try not to drool over Karen Traviss' writing too much.

What I'm Reading: Wess'har series

While most of the dorky and nerdy things that I do are relating to movies or tv shows, I have recently expanded into 'real' sci-fi books. Note that I'm not counting all the Star Wars books I've read as 'real' sci-fi books since they are only in existence thanks to George Lucas' movies. I, as usual, have a roundabout way that I got introduced to these books. It was (surprise) due to Star Wars. The books I'm reading are the Wess'har series written by my personal favorite, Karen Traviss. And, in case it is not well known, Karen Traviss is my favorite because she wrote the Star Wars: Republic Commando series and a number of the Legacy of the Force books, and a Clone Wars novel or two. Thanks to my love of those Star Wars books I decided to branch out into her other stories and start the Wess'har series.

Mandalorian Fathers

Jusik recalled a comment Kal’buir had made a couple of years ago. He couldn’t remember what had led to it, but it had moved him deeply, and every so often it surfaced in his memory: Bard’ika, if you ever want a father, then you have one in me. Yes, Jusik often wanted a father. He’d been handed over to the Jedi long before he was old enough to have any memory of his own. But he was now part of a culture where fathers and fatherhood mattered- not lineage of bloodline, but the long and infinite duty to a youngster who depended on you. He badly wanted to be part of this family, a real part, formal and permanent.

“Kal’buir,” Jusik said, “have you got room for another son?”

Skirata looked baffled for a few seconds, then smiled and held out his hand to grasp Jusik’s arm, Mando-style, hand to elbow. “Ni kry’tayl gai sa’ad, Bard’ika. I recognize you as my child.”

Mandalorian adoption was fast and permanent, a few words to recognize someone as child and heir regardless of their age. Given the emotional weight behind it, the oath seemed almost inadequate.

“Buir,” Jusik said. Father. Everyone called Skirata Kal’buir, a mark of affectionate respect, but the word was now changed forever for Jusik, because it was suddenly real and literal. He was finally someone’s son; someone with a name, someone he knew and cared about. For a man with no past, that sudden sense of completion was heady and unexpected.

- Republic Commando: 501st

Karen Traviss

I took this directly from the last Republic Commando book because it was one of the scenes from it that will stay with me forever. It’s just another scene that shows how important fathers are in general, but even more so to Mandalorians. It’s the reason why Kal Skirata is my favorite Mandalorian.

I hope it doesn’t cheapen the impact of this post, but for anyone out there who wants to talk about Mandalorians, check out and join this message board: http://mandoade.proboards.com

I used the term Mando’ade because it means Children of Mandalore in the Mandalorian language, Mando’a.

Also, I took this post directly from another blog I had, located here at Echo Base.