Understanding Ritual of Nathema and Emperor's capability to perform Force Drain

A discussion about ground realities of the subject event took place in one of the threads and I noticed that some members are confused about what happened during this event. I feel inclined to address this confusion for all members of this community.

Reference thread: http://www.killermovies.com/forums/f86/t598621.html

This was a complex event that have been mentioned in multiple sources and multiple statements (some much more detailed then others). It is important to focus on all of the statements to understand what exactly happened during this event. Some members are taking wrong cues from select few statements and interpreting the event in wrong ways.

First, it is important to understand what a ritual is.

Ritual is just a meditative approach to perform a specific action or unleash a Force power. With this approach, a Force-user can fully concentrate on a specific action and perform it on a grand scale by gathering lot of power due to sheer magnitude of exertion involved. With gesture approach, it is not possible to unleash Force powers to greatest extent. Exertion is the key factor.

ANALOGY: a Force-user might fill a building with Force lightning using ritualistic approach, but he may not pull this off with a simple gesture. Their is difference in the level of exertion in both cases.

Rituals can be performed single-handedly as well as with combined might of several Force-users, no restriction in this matter.

EXAMPLE: Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious performed a ritual to alter the balance of the Force at cosmic level in favor of the dark side. This wasn't magic or something, they pulled this off by continuously meditating for some months with their combined might, they gathered lot of power in this manner to perform a specific act. It is obvious that these two Sith Lords could not have accomplished this mammoth objective with just gestures.

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Ritual of Nathema and its ground realities:

Now that the concept of ritual have been explained, it is important to understand what happened during the ritual of Nathema.

In the aftermath of Great Hyperspace War, Emperor Vitiate somehow managed to summon thousands of survivors (Sith) to his homeworld and convinced them that they could acquire great power if they would join hands with him to perform a specific action: a ritual that would supposedly grant them great power (false promise in reality).

He stayed there for a hundred years. When Marka Ragnos fell, Lord Vitiate did not join in the mad rush to claim his position. He was not part of the Great Hyperspace War against the Republic. When Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh fought for leadership of the Sith, he took no side. But in the aftermath of the war—after our defeat at the hands of the Republic and our flight to escape the massacre of our people by the Jedi—he emerged from his solitude to call a great council of all the Sith Lords who remained. He invited them to his palace on Nathema, built on the site of his childhood home, the place where he had killed his adopted father and tortured his mother to death. He invited them to participate in a ritual to unlock the full potential of the dark side; he promised they would unleash power beyond anything they had ever witnessed or imagined. (Darth Nyriss, Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan)

The red highlighted part is correct in the sense that the Sith did manage to unleash power beyond anything they had ever witnessed or imagined with their combined might during the ritual. But it is important to understand what this power is; this power is basically emission of raw dark side energy which engulfed the entire planet in the form of a nexus, the planet was temporarily transformed in to the largest nexus of the dark side the galaxy would ever see.

The ritual lasted ten days. Lord Vitiate orchestrated the sorcery and the planet Mediraas was consumed by the largest dark side nexus the galaxy would ever see. (Star Wars: The Old Republic: Encyclopedia)

Below is just a different interpretation of coverage of the nexus of the raw dark side energy:

But the ritual was not confined to the doomed Sith Lords. They were but the eye of the storm; the center of a vortex that spread across the entire planet. (Darth Nyriss, Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan).

Now, it is important to understand Emperor's actions during this ritual. Emperor was a participant in this ritual and joined hands with other Sith Lords to formulate the largest nexus of the dark side ever. However, it was he who benefitted from this development, no one else did. After the nexus of dark side was created, Emperor betrayed his allies. He initially telepathically subjugated them and then drained all of them, he pulled this off with his own abilities.

Every man, woman, and child on Nathema died that day. Every beast, bird, and fish; all the insects and plants; every living being touched by the Force was consumed. When the ritual ended, Nathema was no longer a world. It was a husk sucked dry. Lord Vitiate sacrificed millions, stealing their life force to make himself immortal. Their deaths also made him stronger than any Sith who had come before, and he ceased to be known as Lord Vitiate. On that day, the Emperor was truly born. (Darth Nyriss, Star Wars: The Old Republic: Encyclopedia)

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Calling on the dark side, Lord Vitiate devoured them. He fed on their power, absorbing it into himself, utterly obliterating all traces of his victims. (Darth Nyriss, Star Wars: The Old Republic: Encyclopedia)

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Lord Vitiate takes command of the Sith Empire, now in shambles following the Great Hyperspace War. He executes the Sith Council and consumes the life force of thousands of Sith Lords in a terrifying ritual that extends his life and vastly increases his capacity as a practitioner of the Force. (Star Wars: The Old Republic: Encyclopedia)

IMPORTANT: Since Emperor was a participant in this ritual, it is likely that he tapped in to the nexus of the dark side energy encompassing his homeworld to pull off Force Drain on planetary scale, but this is still his own action, he betrayed his allies. Power gathered from ritual was not Force Drain in any way or form, it was raw dark side energy.

Please, keep in mind that Emperor Vitiate was a supremely powerful Force-user even prior to augmentation he experienced from his actions during the ritual:

The child who will come to be known as the Sith Emperor is born. Black-eyed, heartless, and supremely strong in the dark side of the Force, the boy seizes control of his homeworld by the age of 13 and earns the title Lord Vitiate. He amasses an army of Sith followers and turns his back on Imperial politics to hone his skills in the dark side. (Star Wars: The Old Republic: Encyclopedia)

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Below are simply neutral interpretations of the aforementioned development, the Force Drain aspect, they do not contradict other revelations.

The Sith Emperor, history's most powerful dark side master, performed a ritual of incredible scope to consume the life energy of every being on his homeworld. (Star Wars: The Old Republic: Encyclopedia)

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When the ritual ended, Lord Vitiate emerged as the only survivor. The pain, energy, and suffering of every living entity on the planet fueled his power and would prolong his life for centuries. The lifeless planet of Mediraas became a void in the Force and was erased from history. From that moment forward, the world would forever be known as Nathema, birthplace of the one and only Sith Emperor. (Star Wars: The Old Republic: Encyclopedia)

The highlighted aspect did not happen automatically, Emperor Vitiate performed this action as apparent from 3 aforementioned (additional) revelations. The ritual wasn't a sentient being or something which granted Emperor greater power and immortality on silver plate. Sorry, Nephthys, you are utterly wrong about this matter, the codex entry that you have cited have been retconned by newer sources such as Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan and Star Wars: The Old Republic: Encyclopedia. Learn to connect the dots instead of accusing me of not paying attention.

Emperor's capability with Force Drain:

Now, that the ground realities of the Nathema event have been established, it is important to determine Emperor Vitiate's potential in the use of Force Drain.

After the event of Nathema, Emperor Vitiate became more powerful then he ever had been.

The pain, energy, and suffering of every living entity on the planet fueled his power and would prolong his life for centuries. (Star Wars: The Old Republic: Encyclopedia)

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Lord Vitiate sacrificed millions, stealing their life force to make himself immortal. Their deaths also made him stronger than any Sith who had come before, and he ceased to be known as Lord Vitiate. On that day, the Emperor was truly born. (Darth Nyriss, Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan)

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He executes the Sith Council and consumes the life force of thousands of Sith Lords in a terrifying ritual that extends his life and vastly increases his capacity as a practitioner of the Force. Lord Vitiate declares himself Emperor of the Sith. Under his sovereign rule, the Empire retreats into deep space to rebuild its strength and prepare for vengeance.

Notice something? Once again different interpretations of growth in power of Emperor Vitiate but all convey the same message: Emperor became more powerful then ever before and his capacity to manipulate the Force increased accordingly.

The aforementioned development suggests that Emperor could perform Force Drain on a greater scale accordingly, this time without tapping into a nexus of dark side energy.

It is important to understand that Emperor Vitiate continuously increased in power throughout his life, even after the ritual of Nathema. How? Because he single-handedly and simultaneously continued to steal life-forces of many individuals to fuel his power:

Servants of the Hand share their Master's longevity, living untouched by age for centuries under his command. Color=Red]In return, the Emperor draws on his servant's strength in the Force and body to feed his ever-increasing power,[/Color] leaving the servants withered and frail. (Star Wars: The Old Republic: Encyclopedia)

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Burial place, prison, and reliquary, the Dark Temple was built on the orders of the Emperor to seal away powerful artifacts and the Emperor's enemies, both alive and dead. The temple became a nexus of dark side energy as the Emperor performed rituals within, drawing strength and knowledge from his captives.

Hands, by virtue of their immortality, offered endless supply of energy to Emperor Vitiate to grow his power.

By the time of era of Revan, it is implied that Emperor Vitiate could perform Force Drain on planetary-scale single-handedly, should he try:

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"Nathema was just the beginning," Scourge agreed. "He will destroy world after world, his power and madness growing in concert until he alone is left, Emperor over an empty and lifeless galaxy."

Meetra stared at the two in horror.

"You've been to Nathema," Scourge said. "You felt the Void. You know what the Emperor is capable of."

"She understands," Revan said, reading her expression more accurately than Scourge. "That's not it."

"He's quarantined Dromund Kaas," Meetra said, trying to lead them to the same conclusion. "What if he’s preparing to do the same thing here that he did on Nathema?”

Scourge hadn't considered that possibility, and it chilled him to his core.

"Is that possible?" he asked. "Nyriss told me the ritual on Nathema took days, if not weeks. And the Emperor had to trick hundreds of other powerful Sith into working with him so he could draw on their power."

"He's stronger now," Revan said. "But even if it's possible, I don't think he'll go that far. At least not yet. He is too patient, too careful. Dromund Kaas is the heart of his Empire and the seat of his power. He has too many valuable resources here to throw it all away. But once he is ready, there will be nothing left to stop him from launching his invasion of the Republic."

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From (Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan)

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CONCLUSION:

In the nutshell, Emperor Vitiate is a master of Force Drain talents. He tapped in to the nexus of the dark side energy formulated during a ritual performed on his homeworld to consume entire biota of his homeworld to fuel his power and acquire a condition to extend his life (corporeal immortality). But his power progression did not stop here; he continued to grow in power throughout the span of his existence because he continued to fuel his power by draining many individuals simultaneously. Eventually, he likely approached Darth Nihilus's level talent in this respect due to continuous growth in power.

Fellow members should be careful at evaluating information, they should concentrate on the full picture instead of picking and choosing among tidbits of information to further their agenda.

This thread should serve as a reference point for all debates in this forum concerning actions and capabilities of Emperor Vitiate in the future. I will spread the word in other forums as well.

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@DarthAnt66

Your attitude was shocking in the referred thread, you are among those members that I have personally respected in this forum. You accused me of insulting others in 'every' post during the discussion in the referenced thread which is simply not true, others have explicitly insulted me as well but you didn't warn them. You singled me out in the thread to take away the liberty from me to have a debate in that thread because some members didn't like the points that I raised. My friend, this type of behavior have consequences. Never in my life I have shied away from a debate or ignored any member just because of disagreements, but you have gone a bit too far. I have decided to ignore you at full capacity from no-onwards. What you did is worse then insulting. Whether you apologize or quote me 100 times, you are not going to get any response from me from now onwards. And if you bother me too much, I will put you on ignore and this would be really unfortunate since I do not believe at putting someone on ignore. I am sorry, it is over between us, thanks to actions of some members who motivated you to act against me and your lack of judgment. Let this be a lesson for you, next time you do injustice to someone, think about the consequences of your actions. I can cope with insults but I will not compromise on my rights and dignity.

And if any other member ever tries to repeat the aforementioned mistake, I will have a serious discussion with the entire Administration of KMC about the tendency of fellow members to impose unjustified restrictions on other members in debates in their threads. I understand imposing restrictions on trolling, I understand having rules for topic, but I don't understand imposing restriction on the right to participate in the debate.

Here are the rules for my thread:

1. No trolling
2. No insulting
3. Every member have the right to post in this thread including those whom I have had disagreements with.
4. DarthAnt66, don't expect any response from me to you from now onwards.

IMPORTANT: If somebody felt hurt by my responses in the other thread, I sincerely apologize for error of judgment on my part, this was not my intention. Peace to all, proper in life.

Originally posted by S_W_LeGenD
It is important to understand that Emperor Vitiate continuously increased in power throughout his life, even after the ritual of Nathema. How? Because he single-handedly and simultaneously continued to steal life-forces of many individuals to fuel his power:

Servants of the Hand share their Master's longevity, living untouched by age for centuries under his command. Color=Red]In return, the Emperor draws on his servant's strength in the Force and body to feed his ever-increasing power,[/Color] leaving the servants withered and frail. (Star Wars: The Old Republic: Encyclopedia)

Servants of the Hand share their Master's longevity, living untouched by age for centuries under his command. In return, the Emperor draws on his servant's strength in the Force and body to feed his ever-increasing power, leaving the servants withered and frail. (Star Wars: The Old Republic: Encyclopedia)

So if I'm reading this correctly, Vitiate can't use giga-drain.

Gotcha.

Originally posted by ares834
So if I'm reading this correctly, Vitiate can't use giga-drain.

Gotcha.

Based on my predictions, this is going to be another thread where LeGenD acts as if he's made some monumentous breakthrough that will prove Vitiate is the best, but in reality he will just be shit down and proven wrong.

Originally posted by Emperordmb
Based on my predictions, this is going to be another thread where LeGenD acts as if he's made some monument pis breakthrough that will prove Vitiate is the best, but in reality he will just be shit down and proven wrong.

If that was not your intent, then I apologize.

You can see how one could jump to that conclusion when your threads like this have either been you trying to discredit the Ones (the accepted best) and/or you trying to increase the public's view on Vitiate, and calling the view that the Ones to be the best "propaganda."

Again if that is not your intent, then I apologize, but this does call into question whether or not you have ulterior motives with this/these threads.

Still not equal to Nihilus.

The Book of Sith proves that much at least.

Originally posted by Emperordmb
If that was not your intent, then I apologize.

You can see how one could jump to that conclusion when your threads like this have either been you trying to discredit the Ones (the accepted best) and/or you trying to increase the public's view on Vitiate, and calling the view that the Ones to be the best "propaganda."

Again if that is not your intent, then I apologize, but this does call into question whether or not you have ulterior motives with this/these threads.

This thread was intended to address some misconceptions about Emperor's actions and capabilities. I understand that BioWare did a shitty job at explaining some aspects of Emperor's actions and performances. It is their responsibility to provide detailed and comprehensive information about this matter instead of providing hints and details in various statements and leave the matter to the readers to figure out the ground realities by connecting the dots.

It still puzzles me that why Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan was such a half-hearted piece of work. It is like as if Mr. Drew was not willing to write this novel but was forced to. Utter waste of a golden opportunity. Mr. Drew should release an "updated and expanded" edition of the novel. 😂

Originally posted by Selenial
Still not equal to Nihilus.

The Book of Sith proves that much at least.

It's still my understanding that he drains everything through the ritual.

Originally posted by Emperordmb
It's still my understanding that he drains everything through the ritual.

Is that you finally conceding that Vitiate used the ritual to drain everything and that he couldn't accomplish that feat on his own power?

The ritual itself was what consumed the planet. Vitiate consumed everything as a direct result of the ritual. But if you don't believe me LeGenD, believe the quotes you have posted yourself:

Originally posted by S_W_LeGenD
He executes the Sith Council and consumes the life force of thousands of Sith Lords in a terrifying ritual that extends his life and vastly increases his capacity as a practitioner of the Force.

There they conducted a ritual that extended the Emperor's life at the cost of the lives of more than eight thousand Sith Lords.

performed a ritual of incredible scope to consume the life energy of every being on his homeworld.

When the ritual ended, Lord Vitiate emerged as the only survivor.

But the ritual was not confined to the doomed Sith Lords. They were but the eye of the storm; the center of a vortex that spread across the entire planet. Every man, woman, and child on Nathema died that day. Every beast, bird, and fish; all the insects and plants; every living being touched by the Force was consumed. When the ritual ended, Nathema was no longer a world. It was a husk sucked dry.

@Emperordmb

I have provided full information, I don't need to focus on specific quotes only. Three statements reveal that Emperor Vitiate performed the act of Force Drain on his own accord, he may have tapped in to the nexus of the dark side created over his homeworld to augment his performance and consume all biota on planetary scale. This is the only valid explanation. More importantly, Emperor got better afterwards so his capability should not be in doubt.

Originally posted by Nephthys
Is that you finally conceding that Vitiate used the ritual to drain everything and that he couldn't accomplish that feat on his own power?

Emperor augmented his performance by tapping in to the nexus of the dark side created over his homeworld. He improved afterwards so case is closed.

All the evidence suggests Vitiate used the ritual directly to drain Nathema.

Interesting.

He doesn't like you anymore.