Western barrier

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This article is about the barrier that divides the Unknown Regions from the rest of the galaxy. You may be looking for the circumferential hyperspace barrier that surrounds the galaxy.
"It once extended across the entire galaxy, dividing it in two, but is now decaying and gradually retreating toward the Core."
―Dr. Insmot Bowen[1]
The chain of hyperspace anomalies prevented exploration of Unknown Regions

The chain of hyperspace anomalies prevented exploration of Unknown Regions

The western barrier, also known as the western anomalies,[1] the hyperspace tangle,[2] or just the tangle,[3] was a chain of hyperspace anomalies that bisected the galaxy west of the Deep Core and prevented exploration of the Unknown Regions for millennia. It formed the midline of the circumferential hyperspace barrier that enveloped the galaxy in a shell of hyperspace turbulence.[4] Though the barrier was believed to have once spanned the length of the galaxy, it had frayed and decayed over millennia in its gradual retreat back towards the galactic core.[1]

Description

"General, when you were a child did you ever have a spinning top? One with a string?"
"It’s been a while, Doctor, but I’m familiar with the concept."
"Imagine that our galaxy is a child’s top, and what we call the circumferential barrier is a collection of countless whorls and eddies spinning around it too quickly to safely traverse at faster-than-light speeds. I believe the Celestials spun up that barrier by tapping the energies of the galactic center. The western barrier, essentially, is what’s left of the string."
―Dr. Insmot Bowen and General Arhul Kurumenga[1]

Like the circumferential hyperspace barrier, the western barrier was believed by the Pre-Republic specialists, including Dr. Insmot Bowen of the Obroan Institute for Archaeology, to be constructed by the Celestials. Speculation holds that the Celestials had crafted the hyperspace anomalies that bisected the galaxy during the Rakatan revolt in order to contain the Rakata,[1] with the help of their servants, the Gree, the Kwa, and the Killiks.[5] Others believed that the barrier was of natural origins thanks to the "hyperspatial gravitic ripples"[4] or that it have been created by the Celestials as a defensive measure against Mnggal-Mnggal and its infectious intentions, separating Celestial projects in the eastern disk near Corellia, Kessel and other sites.[3]

Despite its reputation as the hyperspace equivalent of a jagged-edged reef, the anomaly line was demonstrably permeable[4]—for instance, Corellian traders had been in contact with the Chiss for many years before their "re-discovery",[6] the planet Ilum was reachable by Force-sensitive navigators,[4] the Rakata homeworld of Lehon was also reached by a Republic naval task force at the climax of the Jedi Civil War[7] and subsequently made a protected historical site by the Republic. Additionally, frontier spaceport worlds in the known galaxy, like Terminus, were known to be visited frequently by transports and traders from the Unknown Regions.[4]

History

The hyperspace travel to other galaxies was long thought impossible due to circumferential hyperspace barrier. In 27 BBY, Jedi Master Jorus C'baoth believed that the Jedi could use the Force to smooth this zone of turbulence and allow the vessel to pass. He demonstrated this technique on the briarpatch border of the Unknown Regions, and then recommended that eighteen Jedi, including himself, be included in the Outbound Flight Project.[8]

In 1 BBY, a debriefing on Coruscant, held by Dr. Insmot Bowen of the Obroan Institute for Archaeology and attended by General Arhul Kurumenga of the Imperial Department of Military Research, Admiral Conan Antonio Motti of the Imperial Navy, and Master of Imperial Projects Bevel Lemelisk discussed the possible origins of the western barrier.[1]

Behind the scenes

"The hyperspace anomaly was in fact something that I helped create during the development of the original Star Wars galaxy maps in the late 1990s. Even at that time, the existence of an Unknown Regions within the galactic disc was established as a given. Trying to establish an internal logic for why an Unknown Regions would exist at all, I hit on hyperspace and the truism that traveling through it ain't like dusting crops. While hyperspace disturbances are generally tied to real-world objects and their mass shadows, that doesn't mean they always need to be - we're talking about an alternate dimension after all - and appealing to the enigma of hyperspatial physics helped establish three things: (1) why there was an Unknown Regions, (2) why the galaxy had "superhighways," and (3) why nobody had traveled outside the galaxy and made a start at establishing a multi-galaxy civilization. (No, the satellite galaxies don't count.)"
―Daniel Wallace[9]

Daniel Wallace, one of the authors of The Unknown Regions sourcebook, hinted that the hyperspace boundary was created by the Celestials in order to protect themselves from the Mnggal-Mnggal.[10]

Appearances

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 StarWars.com Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare Author's Cut — The Celestials on StarWars.com (article) (backup link)
  2. ↑ Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Unknown Regions
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 The Essential Atlas
  5. ↑ The Essential Guide to Warfare
  6. ↑ Outbound Flight
  7. ↑ Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
  8. ↑ The New Essential Chronology
  9. ↑ Blogger-Logo Daniel Wallace's Geekosity — Endnotes for Star Wars: The Essential Atlas (part 2 of 5) on Blogspot (backup link)
  10. ↑ Blogger-Logo Daniel Wallace's Geekosity — Endnotes for Star Wars: The Unknown Regions on Blogspot (backup link)

External links