KMC Forums - Did Malachor V amp Nihilus to peform his TK feat?

Hello everyone,

I am going to be talking about Nihilus’s TK feat (again) and specifically the case of whether there was amping by Malachor V to perform this feat and the significance of this supposed amp.

I will begin by assuming that Nihilus was indeed amped by Malachor V to perform this feat. To begin with, let’s get some facts about the situation of Nihilus before this TK feat. Firstly, Nihilus performed this TK feat before he even drained a single planet. How do we know? Consider the following quote:

"The Ravager was hauled from the gravity well at Malachor V by its new master. He used it to escape imprisonment on Malachor V."

ŻStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: The Sith Lords

This means that Nihilus was stuck on Malachor V since pretty much the end of the Mandalorian wars. Since he hasn’t left Malachor V before his TK feat, this means that he was able to perform this feat before he even became much stronger from draining planets. Draining planets alone would have made Nihilus much more powerful. How do we know? Consider the following:

(Caution: the last quote was directed towards Meetra Surik but would apply to Nihilus as well)

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In the meantime, Darth Nihilus led his Sith forces from his flagship, the Ravager, drawing more and more power from worlds that he blasted into ruin.

-The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia

"As Nihilus greedy consumes entire planets life energies, the dark side macerates him even faster."

ŻStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide

"Nihilus powers grew so extreme that, for most beings, mere exposure to the Sith Lord would cause immediate and utterly mindless devotion."

ŻStar Wars Insider 88: Virtual Sith

“You, you are the darkness in which all life dies, my lord.All life, exists to feed your power, and my life, my life is yours.”

ŻVisas Marr (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: The Sith Lords)

"He's right. It's... all the deaths you've caused to get here. You feed on it, and you grow stronger. You're like Malachor... it's in you, it's what you are now."

- Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
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So clearly Nihilus performed this TK feat before he even became a lot more powerful from draining planets. Not just that, but despite Nihilus being amped by Malachor V (Assumption only), he still had to overcome the gravity wells and carry a 1200m cruiser (ignoring other fleet) and move the 1200m cruiser (the engines were destroyed). The gravity wells in their own right were very powerful and caused ships that came to close to Malachor V to crash and sink in. As such, we have a case in which a pre-prime Nihilus was able to perform this TK feat and overcome the gravity wells despite being potentially amped by Malachor V. One begins to question the significance [keyword for later; keep in mind] of this supposed amp to a prime Nihilus.

Throughout this whole discussion, I have been assuming that Nihilus was amped by Malachor V to perform his TK feat. However, how do we even know if that was actually the case? There are numerous sources describing his TK feat (I have provided some below for illustration) and not a single one of them describes or implies in anyway any amplification of power by Malachor V to Nihilus to perform this. Quite the contrary actually. Consider the last quote below. It is clearly stated that his showings on Malachor V is an illustration of his [Nihilus] power. If Nihilus was amped by Malachor V, then how would this be a measure of his power considering Malachor V would have played a huge role in this? If Nihilus was amped by Malachor V, then why would all the sources describing this feat neglect this and not mention or indicate it in anyway? The keyword significance I mentioned above comes into play. Even if we assume that Nihilus was amped by Malachor V (despite no sources mentioning this) it is clear that the amp was insignificant due to the fact that no sources mention it during his TK feat leading to the conclusion that it wasn’t significant enough or play a hule role in this leading to neglection. If Nihilus was significantly amped, then it wouldn’t make any sense for all the sources not to mention this huge role. Therefore, the amp was either insignificant to mention or did not in fact exist at all to Nihilus. Also, let’s not forget. This is all pre-prime Nihilus.

Illustrative quotes
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"The Ravager was hauled from the gravity well at Malachor V by its new master. He used it to escape imprisonment on Malachor V."

ŻStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: The Sith Lords

"This ship is from Malachor. This Sith Lord of yours bolsters his fleet with the ships from that world... he's nothing more than a scavenger..."

ŻCanderous Ordo (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: The Sith Lords)

Most Centurion-class battlecruisers are destroyed or captured by the end of the Jedi Civil War. However, during the Dark Wars, the Sith Lord Darth Nihilus managed to resurrect one of the crushed battlecruisers from Malachor V, turning the wreck of the Ravager into a spaceworthy ghost ship.

-Taken from the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide

"He tore it from the mass shadows of Malachor, along with his fleet, that is a measure of his power."

-Colonel Tobin, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords

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