Join The Infernal Brotherhood of the Scruffy Looking, Nerf Herders as they explore Star Wars lore via their own personal Holocron. This episode will focus on the Force Wars.
Transcript
Cold Open
Before the Jedi… before the Republic… before lightsabers carved their mark across the galaxy, there was Tython—cradle of the Je’daii, and the first battleground where light and darkness drew their lines in the sand.
For ten brutal years, the world that birthed Force philosophy became the forge of its greatest conflict. A war sparked by visions, fueled by ancient invaders, and ended by betrayal, devastation, and exile.
This is the story of the Force Wars—the first clash between the Ashla and the Bogan.
Intro
Welcome back to the Infernal Brotherhood of the Scruffy-Looking Nerf Herders, and to another entry in our ongoing deep-dive into the ancient history of the Force.
Today, we explore an event that predates the Galactic Republic by more than seven centuries—the catastrophic conflict known as The Force Wars, when the Je’daii were split between light and dark, and when the very surface of Tython trembled beneath the consequences.
Discussion
I. Prelude – The Vision That Broke the Balance
The roots of the Force Wars stretch back to the aftermath of the Despot War, around 25,800 BBY.
Je’daii Master Daegen Lok, already controversial for his unorthodox thinking, descended into the Chasm below the temple of Anil Kesh. There, alongside Hawk Ryo, he received a devastating Force vision:
An army of dark warriors, bearing blades of frozen fire, marching across Ska Gora—led by a figure with a single red eye.
Lok believed the vision to be a warning of an imminent invasion. The Je’daii Council believed it was the product of madness.
Lok was exiled to the moon Bogan, where for seven years in lonely obsession he carved murals depicting the very weapons and warriors from his vision—seeds of the war to come.
II. The Rakata Return – Invasion of the Tython System
Around 25,793 BBY, Lok’s prophecy began to unfold.
The Rakata Infinite Empire, already in decline, launched an invasion of the Tython system under the command of Predor Skal’nas. His goal: the Infinity Gate, rumored to exist on Tython, a relic that could restore Rakatan dominance over the Force.
The Rakata swept through the system—capturing the gas giants Obri and Mawr, overrunning Fury Station, and unleashing Flesh Raider armies on Tython itself.
But the Je’daii Order rallied. Against all tradition, they forged Forcesabers—primitive, dangerous predecessors to the lightsaber, empowered by the dark side and derived from Rakatan technology.
And in desperate irony, the Council recalled Daegen Lok, the man they had banished, to lead their forces in the war he foresaw.
III. The Ten-Year War – Light vs. Darkness Begins
As fighting spread from Tython to Ska Gora, Je’daii Master Rajivari assumed command of the united Je’daii and Settled Worlds forces.
The war was long and brutal. The Je’daii fought with metal swords enhanced through the Force, Forcesabers, and their mastery of both Ashla and Bogan.
Eventually, Skal’nas fell. With their leader dead, the Rakata fractured, turning against one another as their invasion collapsed. Many fled the system, leaving behind a vast and brutal legacy of slaves.
The Je’daii declared victory. But peace was not waiting for them.
IV. War of Light and Darkness – Je’daii Against Je’daii
Though the Rakatan threat was gone, Tython was no longer united.
Two philosophies crystallized: The Ashla Je’daii, pursuing harmony and nowledge—precursors to the Jedi. The Bogan Je’daii, seeking power and mastery through the darker currents of the Force.
The first true Force schism erupted. At its center: Rajivari, once a hero of the war, now a defector consumed by the Bogan.
Fortifying himself in ancient Kaleth, Rajivari and his followers waged a final stand. They fought to the last—defeated, but leaving a wound in Je’daii unity that would echo for millennia.
V. Aftermath – The Fall of Tython
In 25,783 BBY, only a decade after the Force Wars had ended, Tython paid the ultimate price.
A planet-wide cataclysm devastated its biosphere, rendering the world uninhabitable.
The surviving Ashla Je’daii fled the Tython system entirely, wandering the Rim before eventually settling on Ossus, where they would take their final steps toward becoming the Jedi Order.
Travel to Tython was eventually banned by the young Galactic Republic. And though the Jedi occasionally returned, the world would not be resettled until the Cold War era, after its rediscovery by Satele Shan.
Even during the Galactic Civil War, legends persisted: rumors of a secret temple hidden somewhere on the world, storing the Order’s lost treasures.
Outro
And that brings us to the end of the first true war between light and darkness—a conflict that shaped the Je’daii, forged the earliest Force philosophies, and set the stage for everything that would follow in the millennia to come.
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Until The Infernal Brotherhood convenes again, my fellow scruffy-looking Nerf Herders —
May the Force be with you.