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 Tho Yor; when they were first discovered and their connection to the creation of the Jedi.
Video Transcript
Cold Open
In the earliest days of the galaxy—long before the Republic, before the Jedi, and even before the first lightsabers were ever forged—eight mysterious black pyramids appeared among the stars.
They called out to the Force-sensitive of a hundred worlds, inviting them to board and abandon everything they knew. These ships would gather the first philosophers of the Force and carry them through uncharted space to a single world: Tython.
These were the Tho Yor—enigmatic starships whose purpose and origin remain one of the greatest mysteries in all of Star Wars history.
Intro
Welcome back, travelers of the Force, to another exploration of Star Wars Legends lore.
Today, we journey to the beginning of the beginning—to a time nearly 37,000 years before the Battle of Yavin, when the first beings to sense the Force were drawn together by immense, pyramid-shaped ships known as the Tho Yor.
These vessels were no ordinary constructs. They defied gravity, resisted decay, and possessed intelligence—or perhaps will—far beyond the understanding of those who entered them.
In this episode, we’ll uncover the origin, journey, and enduring mystery of the Tho Yor, and how these great ships gave rise to the Je’daii Order, the ancient precursor to the Jedi themselves.
Discussion
The Discovery on Ando Prime
Our story begins on Ando Prime, a frozen world of glacial valleys and snow-capped peaks.
There, high in the Andobi Mountains, a monastic order known as the Dai Bendu discovered an immense, octahedral relic buried in ice—a structure that radiated a deep, resonant hum within the Force.
The monks called it Tho Yor, meaning “Divine Mountain,” and for over a thousand years, they meditated beside it, waiting for its secrets to be revealed. Then, around 36,453 BBY, the Tho Yor awakened.
It spoke—not in words, but through the Force—and invited the monks inside. Once aboard, the Tho Yor rose from the surface of Ando Prime and ascended into the stars.
The Great Gathering
That single Tho Yor was not alone.
Across the galaxy, seven other Tho Yor awoke from slumber in places as diverse as the ocean world of Manaan, the forests of Kashyyyk, the mist-filled valleys of Dathomir, and the burning deserts of Ryloth.
Each ship had long been a subject of myth and curiosity to the species who discovered them—the Selkath, the Wookiees, the Dathomiri shamans, and the Twi’lek philosophers.
When the Tho Yor opened their doors, they did so with a beckoning presence in the Force, calling scholars, warriors, and mystics alike to leave their worlds behind.
In total, eight Tho Yor crisscrossed the galaxy, gathering the Force-sensitive from countless species—Humans, Sith, Iktotchi, Devaronians, Miraluka, Zabrak, Cathar, Noghri, and many more—united not by creed or power, but by curiosity and destiny.
Arrival at Tython
The journey of the Tho Yor led them into one of the most treacherous regions of the galaxy—the Deep Core, a place of black holes and warped space-time.
Yet, guided by the Force itself, the ships converged upon a single star system of eleven uninhabited worlds.
There, on a lush jungle planet orbiting a great orange sun, they found a ninth, colossal Tho Yor—larger than any of the others—hovering above a monolithic tower.
As the eight ships arrived, the planet reacted violently: storms of lightning, tremors, and surges of raw Force energy raged across its surface. This was Tython, a world in perfect balance between the light and the dark sides of the Force.
The passengers of the Tho Yor felt the energy coursing through the planet and through themselves, binding them as one people. The ships then descended, scattering across Tython’s continents and depositing their passengers in eight separate locations—each destined to become a Je’daii temple.
Birth of the Je’daii Order
On Tython, the newcomers built great settlements around their resting Tho Yor.
Over centuries, these sites became sacred centers of learning, each temple devoted to a different aspect of the Force—Kaleth, the Temple of Knowledge; Bodhi, the Temple of the Arts; Stav Kesh, dedicated to martial skill; Mahara Kesh, for healing; and Anil Kesh, devoted to understanding balance within the Force.
The largest of all, the Tho Yor that had waited above the monolith, remained at Akar Kesh, the Temple of Balance, serving as the spiritual heart of the Je’daii Order.
From these beginnings, the Je’daii Code emerged—a belief in harmony between light and dark, between passion and serenity.
The Tho Yor themselves became both relics and teachers—silent witnesses to the Je’daii’s growth, their floating forms constant reminders of the Force’s mysterious design.
Secrets of the Force Wars
Millennia later, as conflict erupted between followers of the light and dark during the Force Wars, the Je’daii discovered that the Tho Yor were not merely transports—they were weapons.
Using knowledge unlocked through the ancient Kwa Holocron, Je’daii Tasha Ryo learned that the Tho Yor could channel immense Force energy, unleashing destructive beams of light capable of obliterating Rakatan warships from the Infinite Empire.
Even more astounding, symbols etched into the Tho Yor’s hulls held the key to crossing the Chaos Wall—a maddening Force barrier guarding the Prime Gate, an artifact of unknown origin.
Who built the Tho Yor and for what ultimate purpose remains uncertain, though the Kwa civilization and perhaps even entities older still may have been involved.
Outro
And so the Tho Yor stand as monuments to the galaxy’s forgotten past—massive, silent pyramids linking the birth of the Je’daii to the mysteries of the cosmos itself.
They were arks, temples, and weapons—each a bridge between the physical and the spiritual, the known and the unknowable.
From their voyages came the Je’daii, and from the Je’daii came the Jedi.
To study the Tho Yor is to gaze into the heart of the Force itself—a reminder that even the oldest myths have roots deeper than we can imagine.
And that is all the time we have today to explore the Tho Yor and their legacy on Tython.
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Until The Infernal Brotherhood convenes again, my fellow Scruffy Looking Nerf Herders—May the Force Be With You.