User:Nick2253/Treatise on Ryloth

This Treatise on Ryloth serves as a way to philosophically and mathematically reconcile a tide-locked Ryloth and a day-night cycle Ryloth. As the author, my bias is towards a tide-locked Ryloth, therefore I've taken certain liberal interpretations with various facts in order to maximize the tide-locked nature of Ryloth. Where appropriate, I've taken advantage of the lack of information regarding Ryloth's sun and moons by assigning them certain physical parameters in order to protect existing cannon.

In order to clarify any possible misunderstandings, I am in no way a representative of LucasFilm or do I have any capacity to speak on behalf of the cannon. My goal here is to provide a number of possible solutions that preserve the tide-locked status of Ryloth such that cannon-empowered authors or representatives may reconcile the differences between the various sources of Star Wars lore.

Background
Since its earliest mentions in the Expanded Universe, Ryloth has been a tide-locked planet. This condition made life on Ryloth hard, and has inherently defined the life and culture of the resident Twi'leks. For most of their existence, the Twi'leks were restricted to the narrow temperate band between the scorching Bright Lands on the sun-ward side and the frozen Nightlands on the dark side. However, because of the extreme differences between the two sides of the planet, the temperate band was frequently beset with massive heat storms carried on ferocious winds. The heat storms made the surface unbearable, driving the Twi'leks into their subterranean cities.

For more than a decade, fans of Star Wars have been using said tide-locked Ryloth in RPGs, video games, and fannon. However, in 2009, the Clone Wars four-part episode arc concerning the Battle of Ryloth completely changed the continuity of that planet. Ryloth was shown with a day-night cycle, above ground cities, and vegetation clearly visible across the surface (albeit in small pockets). Initially, fans (and even the Keeper of the Holocron himself) called out LucasFilm on the continuity errors shown in the TV show, and implored the company to correct it for DVD/Blu-RAY release. Only a few months later, however, the Essential Atlas canonized the non-tide-locked Ryloth, giving it a 30-standard-hour day and a 305-standard-day year.

Assumptions
In this treatise, certain facts are assumed in order to maximize compliance with all sources. In the case of two or more irreconcilable facts between various sources, certain facts have been more liberally interpreted. In the case where this is not possible, newer facts will yield to older facts. Depending on the various proposed solutions, some facts may or may not be accepted.

Trivial Solutions
The following solutions I consider trivially resolve the problem of the tide-locked Ryloth. The solutions are less than ideal because they all rely on one or more individuals severely screwing up their facts, or more generally, these solutions take a lot of liberties in twisting or re-interpreting the (seemingly) immutable facts surrounding the planet. Many fans cling to one or more of these theories, but

The Two Ryloths Theory
The Ryloth shown in TCW is not the same Ryloth from the expanded universe.

While this would solve the tide-locked problem, and it does have some merit, it creates a whole new set of problems on its own. In support, TCW makes clear that without supplies from Toydaria, Ryloth will surely fail. A quick glance at a galactic map will tell you that Toydaria is actually quite a ways away from Ryloth. It could be, in fact, that the Twi'lek established a colony, which they also called Ryloth (which I will refer to as Ryloth II), on some other world closer to Hutt Space. However, upon a more detailed look, Toydaria may actually have been the closest planet to Ryloth by which the Republic could get it supplies.

Ryloth was in fact very close to the Separatist worlds of Geonosis and Ando, and examination of the Corellian Run--which Ryloth ended--shows that at least four systems between Ryloth and the core were controlled by Separatists (Geonosis, Ando, Falleen, Druckenwell, and probably others, though I stopped looking at that point). In this case, it is very likely that only a handful of supply routes would actually be available for use by the Republic, and probably none of those would allow supply from the core. The closest Republic sympathizing worlds were probably Naboo and Kamino, but both were under nearly constant siege from the Separatists, so their supply situation would be just as desperate.

Using the galactic map, the following planets are at or within the same range of Ryloth at Toydaria (give or take a little). After researching the planets, I realized that Toydaria was indeed the most opportune planet for resupply.
 * Tatooine - Other than being a pro-Separatist world, its ability to supply anything of consequence to Ryloth would be severely limited since its a dessert world.
 * Roon - Though lush and prosperous, as well as connected to Ryloth by the Death Wind Corridor, it was fairly isolated, and given the difficulty of getting to it, it was likely that the Republic would not have considered it a viable supply source.
 * Pzob - Populated by feuding Gammoreans.
 * Melida/Daan

The Moon Theory

 * The Ryloth shown in TCW is actually a moon of Ryloth (The Moon Theory). (Since this theory does actually have some merit, I'm discussing it in a separate section below).