Work Text:
Q: I love Xanatos, but I don't remember him from the SW universe. Is he an original character?
A: Xanatos appears in the Jedi Apprentice books, available from Scholastic. In those books, he is Qui-Gon's first padawan, who turned to the Dark Side.
Q: What is the Seventh Wave? Does the title really mean something?
A: Yes, the title has significant meaning. The Seventh Wave was inspired by a song of the same name by Sting. The Seventh Wave, in the context of the novel, refers to an ancient Jedi prophecy.
Q: Could you please explain how old Xanatos was when the temple fell? And how old Obi-Wan is, and how old Xan was when they met?
A: Here is a timeline with the most important events. This should sort it out a bit. Please note that this is an AU, and so I have crunched the ages of the characters a bit. This was the rough timeline I’ve been working with, and it isn't meant to be spot-on accurate in the SW canon universe.
Everything dates from the year of Qui-Gon’s birth, which I called 000. At the time Seventh Wave begins, the presumption is that Qui-Gon is approx. 59, Obi-Wan is approx. 25, and Xanatos is approx. 31. (This is different than canon, particularly where Xanatos is concerned.)
Qui-Gon is born - 000
Xanatos is born - 029
Obi-Wan is born - 035
The Imperial Uprising (war with the Sith) begins - 036
Obi-Wan is bought from his mother and taken into hiding by the Jedi - 037
Qui-Gon takes Xan as his Padawan – 041 (this makes Xan about 12)
The Temple falls; Xan is captured by the Sith – 049 (Xan is about 20 and has been
Qui’s padawan for 8 years)
Xan is sold into actual slavery – 050
Anakin is born - 050
Obi-Wan begins his “apprenticeship” with the Sith – 050 (Obi is about 15)
Xan is bought by the Jedi, taken into hiding, debriefed and begins retraining - 051
Obi-Wan becomes Regent of Taganor – 055 (he is about 20; Anakin is about 5)
Xan is sold through the auspices of a Jedi-loyal slaver - 055
Obi-Wan and Xan meet when Xan joins the seraglio – 055 (Xan is 26, Obi is 20 or 21)
The events of Seventh Wave begin - 060
Q: I thought this was a Q/O story. Why'd you turn it into an O/X story?
A: From the beginning, this was intended to be an Obi-Wan/Xanatos love story; the purpose was to explore the ramifications of soul bonds, and to take a look at what happens when bonds form in addition to attachments that were forged of love, and how Obi-Wan would handle being bound to two men rather than a One True Pairing.
Q: Please explain your concept of time (cycles) as it relates to the passage of time in the novel.
A: Well. Uh. See, it's like this. A cycle is a term for a day. How long a day is might depend on what planet you're on. On board a ship that originates on Coruscant, a cycle would conform to one day and night on Coruscant. But on Taganor, a cycle could be much longer or shorter. I know it's confusing, but I didn't mean for it to be like days, hours, minutes. It's just...hey, it can be whatever you want it to be. I'm flexible. It’s one of those things I would change if I had this to do over. Adding to the confusion is my penchant for using terms like minutes and hours to describe the passage of time.
Q: I thought only one bond could exist between Jedi at any given time.
A: That is fanon of the highest order; I was one of the writers who helped create and perpetuate said fanon, back in 1999. The only canon evidence for this sort of thing that existed when I wrote Seventh Wave was the words of Yoda in TPM re taking only one apprentice, and certain tidbits in the first JA (Jedi Apprentice) book about how bonds are formed and how they exist. And that applies only to training bonds between master and apprentice. The whole "life bond" thing is purely TPM fanon, as far as I'm concerned, and I've used this story to subvert fanon intentionally.
Q: I can't remember which chapter has the prophecies. What are they again? What do they mean?
A: The prophecies are quoted in chapter 15, so technically they aren't part of the completed version of Seventh Wave. I've listed them below. I never really revealed what they mean, but you can infer from context, I think.
From Master Dev Ariy-Arya's Interpretations of Ancient Wisdom, Volume Six:
Master Sedet's strange and convoluted prophecies leave us with little certainty as to the substance of his visions. He issued his divinations while deep in the throes of meditation, yet could offer little clarification once he rose from his state of trance. Three of his prophecies are known to be true in hindsight, though a complete understanding of events in relation to their foretelling did not become available until after the events described came to pass. Deciphering these word puzzles has been the study of lifetimes for hundreds of scholars.
One such prophecy has recently been reinterpreted as the imminent fall of the Order. In ominous verse, Master Sedet has left his veiled warning to the modern age:
From the deeper world, in the time of Darkness
The invisible shall come,
The unseen power swelling in the World
Rising in cities, in lands,
Across the stars,
Over borders, across frontiers,
Nothing shall withstand its reach.
The symbols of fear shall be seen
In every corner and crossing,
Anger and greed, hatred and destruction,
The assassin at hand.
From the deeper world, in the time of Darkness,
The invisible shall come.
At the still point of destruction,
In the center of fury,
In every living thing,
The wave shall rise.
Twice in bondage, thrice in thrall,
One wave of blood, one of death, one of silence,
One of solitude, one of hope, one of renewal.
From the empire of the invisible, in the time of Darkness,
The invisible shall come,
Three for the seventh wave.
From the Adar Book of Prophecy, Getren Version, Chapter V, Section The Last:
A new age shall dawn; war shall come upon the Order. Seven years shall there be of struggle; seven years shall there be of death; seven years shall there be of despair; seven years shall there be of redemption.
One shall come, Chosen among all others, to restore balance between Light and Darkness. One among many, grown into purpose. By the light shall ye know the Chosen among his people; by the vagaries of fate shall ye know his purpose. Seek not, for ye shall not find him. He shall be revealed to you when the time of the Destroyer is come.
From the Adar Book of Prophecy, Getren Version, Chapter V, Section The Last:
Obeying not the prohibitions, the Destroyer will come, spreading Darkness two by two across the stars. One master shall there be, and one apprentice; yet, the Darkness heeds not the ancient wisdom. Worlds shall fall before the strength of the Dark Side. Two by two they rise unseen, invisible, in the midst of order; three by three shall they be conquered.
Q: How come there were no women in the harem?
A: There are women in the harem, as was noted in the chapter where Obi-Wan recalls choosing some of his slaves. However, I was writing about Obi-Wan's preferences; as stated in the novel, they are for men, not women. This is an AU of the SW universe, and the SW universe has a notable lack of females in prominent roles, unfortunately. I put them in Jedi roles where I could. There are days where I’ve thought it’s a sort of “everyone is gay” novel, to be honest.
Q: Is Maul a Sith or not?
A: Not. In Seventh Wave, it was made rather clear that Maul was not trained by the Sith. He has strong capabilities with the Force, but he did not have sufficient ability to be apprenticed. Instead he became the head of Anakin's security force. I left it ambiguous as to how he came to know the weapons techniques he knows, but obviously as the head of a world leader's security force, he would be up on some of these things. Being an ambitious toady, Maul would be looking for the best way to advance his status, and if that way is through pledging service to the Sith, that's what he chose.
Q: Is Ket'al Solo Han Solo's (fill in the blank)?
A: Yes, he is kin to Han Solo. I wasn't specific, so he could be anyone - uncle, cousin, father, whatever floats your boat. To make him Han’s father would violate canon set forth in the books, so I was deliberately vague.
Q: Who is Valorum?
A: He came into Obi-Wan's service when Obi-Wan went to Taganor. He has long been an ally of the Jedi and was assigned to Obi-Wan by them in order to be an ally in hiding there. He has a pedigree of service to the Old Republic and to the Empire; he’s well-connected. That’s all background stuff.
Q: Was there something that made you want to write Xanatos and Obi-Wan together?
A: The image of Xanatos as a harem-slave popped into my head when I heard the song “True Love” by Robert Palmer on the radio one day. IDK.