Dissecting Legacy #5: Darth Krayt's Sith Troopers

Krayt took the most potentially powerful One Sith as children, cybernetically enhanced them, and conditioned them to have unquestionable loyalty to him.



The Sith Troopers claim that they are "linked through the dark side" with Krayt and that his will is their will. 




After Krayt dies, the Sith Troopers all move to commit suicide, seemingly attacking Jedi and Sith alike. K'Kruhk says they "appear to have gone mad!" 



However, to deploy them in battle, Krayt orders Nihl to order them to attack rather than telepathically order the Sith Troopers directly.



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Let's explore some long-standing Sith Trooper proposals:

Darth Krayt telepathically dominated the Sith Troopers. 

They were culled from birth to be loyal to Krayt. It does not follow that they wouldn't willingly embrace or even help facilitate a Force link with Krayt. 

There was a period of time where Krayt was not telepathically connected with the Sith Troopers, but then within a short period of Krayt managed to do so.

This argument is based on a line from Legacy #18:



(1) The Sith Troopers could still be linked to Krayt by the Force, just not open to his mind, which is a far more intrusive connection (that I dispute even existing later). 

(2) The context is that this is a line by Krayt revealing his backstory to Cade with other One Sith present. The Sith Troopers are a private project. Krayt did not want anyone to know about his Sith Troopers until they were finished. He obviously would never say anything acknowledging their existence. 

(3) The Sith Troopers could constitute Krayt's "closest servants" given they have "unquestionable obedience" to Krayt anyway.

(4) Under Lucasfilm Licensing's official rules, Krayt's statement cannot comment on the Sith Troopers as the line predates their creation and introduction. Even in-universe statements are subject to publication dates. 

Darth Krayt at least has a telepathic connection with the Sith Troopers.

This is unfounded speculation. And it even has counter-evidence. Again, Krayt orders Nihl to order the Sith Troopers to attack; Krayt doesn't just tell the Sith Troopers directly. Perhaps Nihl didn't need to give them the order but just wanted to say it, perhaps Krayt was very lazy that day, etc. But it's still a point against.

The fact is you can be linked to someone through the Force without that link being materially significant, let alone strong enough to facilitate telepathic communication or power transfers. This is true for the overwhelming majority of Force links. It's called a Force bond -- which vary in intensity, but only the strongest show the level of effects being promoted here. You can't just assume that Krayt's links with them are among the strongest links. (Recall that Yoda is said to be linked through the Force with all his former pupils, which is effectively the entire Jedi Order. But Yoda is never shown to be able to spontaneously talk to or empower Jedi from across the galaxy.)

The Sith Troopers going "mad" after Krayt dies shows how deeply Force linked they are.

The Sith Troopers wanting to wreck havoc and join Krayt in death is consistent with their sole purpose being to serve Krayt. Loyal to their master to the end, they rally to join Krayt in death. You can find this level of devotion even in real life without need of Force hijinks. It need not be unnecessarily complicated. 

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And so to give an alternative proposal about Krayt's Sith Troopers:

They are taken from birth by Krayt to serve him. They indeed serve him. Anything Krayt wills, they will. They are linked to Krayt by way of the Force, but this link (demonstrably) isn't strong enough for Krayt to commune with them directly. And their conditioned-from-birth loyalty is such they are determined to join Krayt in death. 

I consider this far more reasonable than suggestions that Krayt is pouring vast amounts of his power into controlling everything the Sith Troopers do. That's never said and never implied. It's a fan-fiction theory whipped up with the hope that no one would ever bother to just read the comic.

Interesting. So they are the Star Wars take on Tolkien's Nazgûl.