Here is the trivia for part 3 of the prologue. It's a lot of stuff. But hopefully you guys will read through it.
HOT Prologue Part 3 ~ The End of the Beginning
• The week following the arrival of Mace’s search team crashing on Trazibar, they all are caught up on all the information that the remaining survivors of Heartbreak had learned in part 2.
• The scene where Zachary and the members of The Ruthless Mercenaries are riding on horses picks up right after the events of episode 10 (Downfall) of TRM.
• This is also the beginning of Barst becoming more developed as a character, something that was started a little in TRM and will continue a lot throughout the course of HOT’s story.
• All of these characters will have larger roles throughout HOT.
• The Jedi and members of the SW universe are training with medieval weapons, since they feel they’ll be stuck on Trazibar for a while and will need to know how to use the world’s weapons.
• Ahsoka is the first person to see and recognize Cad Bane and Reik Turman. However, neither see her.
• It is implied that Bartholomew and Zachary have a long history with one another.
• Based off Zachary’s reaction to seeing Ahsoka, it shows that he hasn’t seen Bartholomew or heard anything from him for over the past two months.
• Reik is still poisoned from episode 9 (Assassin from the Dead) of TRM by Captain Falgo when he arrives at the base. Most of the poison is able to be removed from his body, but a little remains.
• While no longer brainwashed into trying to kill Barst and Bane, the bit of Vikro that remains inside him could possibly come back and cause Reik to turn on Barst and Bane again at any moment, or never occur.
• If Reik were to turn against Barst and Bane again, the process would cause him so much mental stress that it’s possible it could kill him. However, if not fatal, eventually he’d return to his normal state of mind. But this change from a normal to poisoned mindset could theoretically occur more than once if he survives each transition.
• During the first few days of their stay at Bartholomew’s base, Barst, Bane, and Reik are mostly isolated from the rest of the members, Ryaria and Zachary being the main ones they see.
• On the fourth day after arriving at the base, Barst, Bane, and Reik are brought by Zachary to a meeting with Bartholomew. It is there they finally learn about the base and Zachary’s whereabouts between when they escaped the Tower of Belafona in episode 7 (Breakout) of TRM and the stagecoach incident of episode 10 (Downfall) occurred leading up to where they are now.
• During the meeting between Bartholomew, Zachary, and The Ruthless Mercenaries, Barst recounts the events of the first three episodes of TRM, including telling about his past – at least a little bit that he also shared with Bane and Reik. This implies that Barst still has a lot more about his past that he doesn’t want to share yet, and Zachary is one of the few who knows of it (based on dialogue from TRM Ep. 7).
• Bane then tells about Reik and his adventures, beginning with the Republic cruiser Heartbreak crashing on Trazibar. It is then that Bartholomew realizes that they were also members of the group of off-worlders that Thorin had brought with him to the base roughly two months ago.
• When Zachary tells about his escape from the Tower of Belafona, it goes back to the events of Ep. 7 of TRM. This was originally a scene that was to be included in the episode, but I decided to leave it a mystery, have Zachary appear at the end of Ep. 10 of TRM as a surprise, and let his escape be told later on.
• As everything is told, all the events click together. It is shown that the group Bane and Reik had abandoned about two months ago arrived at the base Thorin spoke of. It’s also told that there is indeed a rebellion being formed and the members of Heartbreak are living at the base but not a part of it. Mace’s search party is also at the base.
• With all this information, Barst is able to tell that Bane/Reik have a much richer background than it sounded when they first met.
• When Barst yells about not wanting to join the rebels, this goes back to Ep. 3 of TRM where Barst tells how he never wants to join the rebels, despite also hating Razorg. He doesn’t share why he hates both sides so much except for the fact that Razorg spreads evil and the rebels make things worse (in simplest terms).
• There is more to Barst feeling this way than he lets on, but he won’t share anything. Instead, he just bottles it up inside him, leading to future issues.
• At the end of the meeting when just Zachary and Bartholomew are left, Zachary confirms that Barst has a much larger background than he wants to admit. It’s also shown that Zachary believes in the prophecy mentioned by a seer from the First Rebellion, stating that Bane and Reik fit into it. As for Barst, Zachary says he’s of much importance and will play a large role in events to come.
• The storyline with Captain Falgo and Count Dooku picks up from part 1 of the prologue with them arriving at the Tower of Belafona, the location Falgo said he’d lead them to.
• The main room is still a mess from the events of TRM Ep. 7 after the fight between the orcs of Belafona, Silver Fang, and The Ruthless Mercenaries.
• Dooku attempts a mind trick on Falgo, but either due to Trazibar prohibiting the use of the Force or Falgo being able to resist, it didn’t work.
• As Falgo describes the mercenaries, Dooku realizes that they are Cad Bane and Reik Turman from his own galaxy. He doesn’t recognize Barst, but that’s since he’s from Trazibar.
• The reason Dooku knows Falgo is describing Reik and not some other Geonosian is that before Heartbreak took off for Kathaba back in SOT, Sidious made Dooku aware of those on the cruiser, since some of them were traitors to the Republic working for Dooku. Reik was the only Geonosian, so that’s how he knew.
• Something else mentioned is that Reik helped the Separatists with a mission prior to the events of SOT. I jokingly said this could’ve been included in TCW if not for it’s premature end.
• Between pics 140-155, you can see scenes playing out in the background with the orcs trying to fix up the main room of the Tower of Belafona. They were meant to be comedic hidden Easter Eggs. One of them is a table being dropped on an orc while carrying it. The orc then pushes the table off of him and shoves the orc that dropped it on him to the ground. He then picks up the table and throws it down on the orc. The other was an orc carrying a barrel. He drops it and somehow gets stuck inside it. Then he’s running around with it on top of him, the other orcs either chasing after him to help, or running away from him to avoid being hit. The orcs eventually get run over.
• Falgo decides to tell Dooku about Zachary and he believes the mercenaries are with him. Together, Falgo and Dooku agree to search for Zachary, an unnamed captive to Falgo, as well as the mercenaries so Falgo can retrieve a lost prisoner as well as get revenge on the mercenaries for causing him so much trouble.
• At the end of the Dooku/Falgo scene, Falgo gives orders to an orc to watch over them, saying he doesn’t fully trust them yet. This is good for him, since Dooku is willing to betray Captain Falgo and his orcs if he needs to.
• The legion of orcs on a mission were ones that Razorg sent out to investigate trouble in the South at the end of SOT. They are just now arriving after two months of travel due to complications along the way.
• Commander Rathbone was the main antagonist for SOT. He was an orc commander that had pursued the members of Heartbreak as they made their way towards Thorin’s base. In the end, Commander Rathbone faced off against the Heartbreak members along with Thorin, Fili, Kili, and Balin, and lost. All had died or fled.
• The orc legion Razorg sent to investigate the disappearance of Commander Rathbone stumbles upon the remains of this skirmish roughly two months after it occurred.
• Among the dead orcs, they also find dead clones, some of which had died while opposing Rathbone and his orcs.
• Although they don’t know it, the orc legion Razorg sent out that discovered the remains of Commander Rathbone and his forces just stumbled upon some of the off-worlders that are hiding with the rebels, finally setting off a chain of events that will continue to grow throughout the story of HOT.
• Gandalf, Saruman, and Elrond are discussing whether or not the characters from the SW universe will change their mind and join their rebellion, when Radagast, Dwalin, and Bofur come running towards them. They bring the news of orcs nearby (the very same orcs that Razorg sent out and just discovered what remained of Commander Rathbone and his forces).
• Dwalin and Bofur had gone missing in SOT after being separated from Thorin, Fili, and Kili, as well as Balin. They then found Radagast, who’d been roaming around, and came with him back to the rebel base.
• When Radagast is getting confused over the news he brings, Saruman mutters, “mushrooms”, which is a reference to Saruman in AUJ when he says to Gandalf that mushrooms have messed with Radagast’s mind.
• The rebels think that despite orcs being nearby and possibly waiting for reinforcements (which they are), they aren’t in immediate danger. But Gandalf realizes that they found Commander Rathbone and his orcs and the orcs searching could link anything from the site that he still lay to them.
• With this news, the base members realize that they are possibly close to being discovered and need to prepare in case the enemy finds them.
• The disappearance of Commander Rathbone and the finding of some dead clone bodies makes the rebels at Bartholomew’s base have to act sooner than they wanted.
• Lord Ottaratop is one of, if not, the highest ranked servants of Razorg.
• Murtagro, the city he rules over, is one of the largest on Trazibar.
• The tournament briefly described in Lord Ottaratop’s thoughts that had to do with testing brains in order to become the lord of the city will be elaborated upon in my next series.
• Lord Ottaratop will be the smartest “villain” out of anything I’ve done so far. This is shown by when he begins to (correctly) believe that rebels and off-worlders are involved. He also knows of the prophecy Bartholomew mentioned in part 2 of the prologue.
• Lord Suglaram, another servant of Razorg, is one of the other most powerful/influential persons under Razorg that will be shown later.
• The name Lord Ottaratop was inspired by spelling Potato backwards and then adding a couple other letter in to make the name seem more complex and cooler (it personally reminds me a little of the dinosaur name, Triceratops
).
• As for the name Suglaram, I did the same thing with Ottaratop, except I spelled Malgus backwards and added some letters. I’m so creative.
• All the pictures with Barst sitting alone (219-261) recount what is known of Barst and his past as well as letting you know how he feels about certain things. It was meant to connect you more with Barst and hopefully appreciate him more as a character besides just being a ruthless killer in TRM.
• Bane and Reik stay even after Barst tries to get them to leave him alone, showing how close they’ve become since first meeting.
• When Bane explodes at Barst, it shows how he feels towards him. He says how he wants to help Barst, but can’t since Barst doesn’t say anything for Bane or Reik to even attempt to do so. It shows just how secretive Barst is being and how Bane and Reik feel about it (Bane being the more vocal of the two).
• Bane then ends his yelling by saying he wants to be a friend of Barst, but finds it difficult when he hardly knows him.
• Zachary, the only other person to know about Barst’s past, tells Barst that he needs to inform Bane and Reik of more facts surrounding his past. He says that doing so will preserve their close relationship. If Barst doesn’t share anything, he may soon not be liked by Bane or Reik.
• While hearing this and processing everything Bane had just said to him, Barst mentally decides that he’ll escape the rebel base soon, believing that he no longer is wanted by Bane and Reik.
• As Razorg ponders all the news he’s received about Commander Rathbone being dead, the bodies of dead clones, and the work of possible rebels, Razorg believes that this is the beginning of the prophecy that Bartholomew mentioned in part 2, just as Lord Ottaratop and members of the rebel base have thought.
• Razorg even references “destroyed contraptions in the West of Trazibar”, which would be the destroyed Republic cruiser Heartbreak and possibly Dooku’s ship as well.
• Because Razorg believes this is the work of the prophecy Bartholomew mentioned, he wanted Lord Ottaratop, one of his highest ranked servants, the deal with it personally. He also wants any and all rebels found killed, save a few to be brought back as hostages for information purposes.
• Razorg still believes that Zachary is a prisoner to Captain Falgo, although he’s actually escaped and with the rebels now. Since Razorg wants Zachary, one of the last people on Trazibar that’s a danger to Razorg, brought to him soon, it only makes Falgo’s mission to recapture him even more urgent if he wants to maintain his position under the Emperor of Trazibar.
• When Lord Ottaratop examines the dead clones, he thinks they all look identical (like exact copies), which, ironically, they all nearly all.
• When Lord Ottaratop discovers a blaster at the site of where Commander Rathbone and his troops were slaughtered, he tests it out on an orc to make sure that it’s indeed a weapon. Once confirmed, he orders for the dead’s wounds to be checked to see if they’re the same type of injuries or not. He receives mixed results: some come from blasters and others from bows and swords. This confirms that the rebels and off-worlders are working together, since Lord Ottaratop doubts the white armored men (clones) would use such weapons.
• Keeping the blaster for later use, he searches for where these rebels and off-worlders could be, soon discovering their base. He then decides to wait and observe it for a bit, wanting to watch what things were like there and when the best time to attack it would be.
• Lord Ottaratop then decides to attack the base at night after a few days of observing the patterns of it. It will occur late at night/early morning in the cover of a storm. Since it won’t be expected, he plans to do a full out ambush with almost all of his forces, save fifty or so just in case something unexpected occurs. Nonetheless, it appears like an easy victory for him.
• Black and white photos make their first appearance in the second half of part 3 of the prologue. This was to make the story seem more realistic.
• As Barst is outside the rebel base and spots the attack Lord Ottaratop is about to launch on the base, Barst is split with what to do. He unsure whether or not to warn the base members, run away, etc. He feels bad for leaving the rebels behind after all they helped him with, as well as Bane and Reik, even though they weren’t on the friendliest of terms at the moment. Plus he doesn’t want to leave Zachary behind, since he saved his life in TRM Ep. 10. The other part of him just wants to run away and be done with the rebels.
• During the pre-battle speech by Bartholomew, the SW characters at the base finally decide that they’ll join the rebels, at least at the current time.
• Bartholomew and Peter have a quick exchange before the battle begins, showing how despite being the leader of the rebels, Bartholomew is scared of losing Peter, since he’s the only family he has left (and vice versa).
• The lightsabers glowing in the black and white pics was another effect added for making it seem more realistic. It took quite a bit of time, so I limited the amount of pictures of the battle that had lightsabers in them.
• Lord Ottaratop is surprised the rebels are putting up such a fight, especially since he thought no one would notice him coming along with the inside help he had, which hints at traitors among the rebels.
• Because of the rebels putting up more resistance than anticipated, Ottaratop and his backups now enter the fight.
• Barst is shown the have stuck around to fight. He tries to think of it as fighting for himself, rather than with the rebels, claiming that it’s just coincidence they both need to oppose the same side (Ottaratop’s forces).
• Zachary is the first to notice Lord Ottaratop coming with more troops; however, the enemy forces are so large, that only Oliver, Fili, and he go to engage him and his forces.
• Lord Ottaratop wants to kill Zachary, but he has no idea how important he is to Razorg.
• Zachary uses a spell when first encountering Lord Ottaratop, reminding everyone that he can still use some magic.
• The quote used by Storm in pic 601 – “Bring out the flamethrowers!” – is a rip-off to Mundi’s similar quote in TCW S2 Geonosian arc.
• Lord Ottaratop thinks that the fact of “the old man” – Zachary – using a spell on him might make him important, but he has bigger problems, so he pushes the thought aside. Little does he know, Zachary is actually very important.
• Lord Ottaratop notices how his forces are now shockingly losing, so he orders for hostages to now be kept as he goes to at least kill the man he thinks is the leader of the rebels, judging by his demeanor. His suspicions are correct, since Bartholomew is the leader.
• Utilizing the gun he found and tested on the orc a few days back, Lord Ottaratop aims it at Bartholomew, ready to kill him.
• Peter decides to rashly jump in front of the shot to save his uncle, but Zachary utters a spell, pushing him backwards. Tony Stark instead takes the bullet, having accidentally stepped into the line of fire.
• Ottaratop fires again, but another magic command by Zachary makes him miss. Ottaratop then quickly turns and fires the blaster at Zachary, taking the seer to the ground with the shot.
• Ottaratop is impressed that Zachary has used more spells on him and interred so much, so he asks again who he is, but gets no answer, so decides to kill him with the blaster.
• Lord Ottaratop gets word that his soldiers have captured a handful of rebels as hostages, so he gives them orders to retreat, since the fight is a lost cause now.
• Before he can kill Zachary, Barst tackles Ottaratop and forces him to retreat after a swift brawl. After doing this, Barst says that now he’s even with Zachary. He saved Zachary’s life just then, just as Zachary did for Barst at the end of TRM Ep. 10 when a poisoned Reik was about to kill him.
• The battle lasts for a total of 197 pictures (455-652), making it possibly my longest and most realistic/best executed one to date (debatable in length with TRM Ep. 10).
• Now that the battle is over and the rebels managed to stop the enemy from killing them all, the wounded are being tended to, while others search for anyone else who may still be alive and in need of assistance.
• The scene where Thorin interrogates the dying orc vaguely resembles that of Legolas asking questions of the orc that was there to witness the “death” of Aragorn in The Two Towers.
• At the very end of part 3, the orc utters a final word that allows Thorin to realize how the enemy was able to orchestrate such an attack. The first syllable was “trai”. The second syllable that only Thorin head was “tors”, and putting together the two words forms “traitors” (which was hopefully obvious
). Because of this, Thorin now believes there are traitors among him, which also hints at Lord Ottaratop’s mention of “inside help” earlier in part 3.