Knights of the Old Republic: Convict's Dawn is a fan fiction novel written by user Jedi Master 76. Convict's Dawn was the first novel written in the Days of Dissidence Series; however, it is not the first story chronologically. Developed and written during the course of 2008, the story was first released on Star Wars Fanon in the summer of 2008. After several months on the wiki, the story was removed for an extensive rewrite. It was released in its third and final edition during the summer of 2009, one year after its original release.
Convict's Dawn is the first story detailing the life of the young Sith learner Raen Benax. Betrayed by the Sith after undertaking a crucial mission, Raen is exiled from his home on Alderaan and is forced to flee in search of asylum and new allies until he becomes strong enough to enact his vengeance against the Sith. During his travels, he meets Gaiel Remus, a Jedi Knight seeking answers surrounding the mysteries of the Jedi Civil War, and Ralina Venli, a smuggling captain indirectly working for the Jedi Order, among others, who shape the universe of the Days of Dissidence Series.
Author's summary
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, before the revenge of the Sith, the birth of the Empire, and the return of the Jedi there was a time of galactic turmoil, political unrest, and folding allegiances. The Sith Empire increased its influence throughout the galaxy while the Galactic Republic, the bastion of order and democracy, took its dying breath. The dark side grew stronger with each passing day, and the Jedi Order was forced to confront an enemy unlike any other: itself. The Knight of Alderaan, the Paladin of Evening, and the Vindictive Guardian are the epithets of those involved in our tale. Around these three shall our story be spun, and these three shall direct the fate of those around them, for good or ill.
Enter the era of the Knights of the Old Republic. Enter the days of dissidence...
The Mandalorian Wars have ended. In the years following the defeat of the Mandalorian clans, a new Sith Empire has risen, led by the famed war heroes Revan and Malak, and their forces beleaguer the already weakened Galactic Republic. War engulfs the galaxy yet again, leaving the Jedi Knights, guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, weakened in the face of an opponent determined to bring about their destruction. Even as the Republic and their Jedi allies flee to the Core Worlds to avoid complete annihilation in the frontier, a Republic force engages the Sith over the icy world of Polus, hoping to turn the tide of the war.
On the Core World of Alderaan, the Sith have been secretly growing in power. Once a Jedi sanctuary, the artisan world has become a training ground for the Sith Empire. Under the command of an enigmatic character known only as Preux, the Sith prepare for their most audacious and terrifying plan yet. Raen Benax, a Sith learner and the son of an enterprising businessman, begins a mission for his Sith teachers, not knowing that the mission will involve him in an intergalactic chess game where only the strongest will survive. Cast from his home, Raen ventures across the galaxy in search of refuge, and this young convict quickly learns that the Sith are not the only ones seeking his destruction...
Story
Appearances
In order of appearance and/or mentioning.
| Characters | Creatures | Droid models | Events | Locations |
| Organizations and titles | Sentient species | Vehicles and vessels | Weapons and technology | Miscellanea |
Characters
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Galactic Repubic
Sith Empire
Jedi Order
Tarisians
Other
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Locations
Vehicles and vessels
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Behind the scenes
Spoilers below.
Unlike the other novels in the Days of Dissidence Series, Convict's Dawn retained its title throughout each stage of development. Following its initial release, the story became the most comprehensively outlined and planned for of the entire tetralogy. In the third edition of Convict's Dawn, a few characters were added or named, and the writing was improved, but few plot details changed. Ultimately, the story has seen the most editions of all the stories in the series, with three official rewrites.
Polus was chosen to be the first world seen in the series because Jedi Master 76 took a liking to the planet while playing the video game Star Wars: Empire at War. Most of the second and third acts takes place on Taris and Dantooine, respectively, because of their importance to the first Knights of the Old Republic game. Both planets featured a plethora of characters as well, giving opportunities for cameos, homages, and interaction between the series' original characters and recognized canon characters.
The decision to base the Sith on Alderaan stemmed from a line in Knights of the Old Republic. During the course of the gameplay, the player character could tell Sith Admiral Saul Karath that the Jedi were "on Alderaan" (itself an homage to a line from A New Hope). Karath knows you're lying because Alderaan is known as a world of artisans and scholars; however, Jedi Master 76 took the idea further and decided to plant a Sith base there. The presence of a Sith base was cemented in Jedi Master 76's mind when he remembered that Ulic Qel-Droma had been born on Alderaan and fallen to the dark side less than fifty years before.
The Benax family's meeting with the Jedi Master Tor'chal was one of the earliest scenes imagined in the novel. Very little changed between any of the drafts or editions, eventually leading to the climatic lightsaber fight and Tor'chal's survival. The decision to keep the Jedi Master alive was made very late in the story's writing, so it could tie into Knight of Alderaan.
Ralina and her crew were included very late in the original writing. Ralina's name was not decided upon until the third edition; prior to the latest release, she was known as R'alina. Her crew's part in the novel is reminiscent of Han Solo and Chewbacca's roles in the original trilogy; however, care was taken so not too many parallels were drawn. Halendot was the only member of the crew created specifically for the rewrite; Delvin Cortes was originally supposed to die instead. The artificial intelligence known as "Jon" was inspired in part by HK-47 and in part by HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The character Jhosua and characters introduced with him were meant to be included in Convict's Dawn, but time restraints and pacing forced Jedi Master 76 to nix all relevant segments. His story was expanded and became the short story Vanguard of the Republic. The scenes involving the Hidden Beks, Neebs, and Taris Paramilitary were rewritten several times to achieve the desired quality; the Taris Paramilitary subplot had not featured prior to the third edition. Much of the Tarisian scenes drew inspiration from Knights of the Old Republic's campaign and the Mass Effect series. The creation of the Jedi Watchcircle was planned since the earliest ideas of the metastory, but they were originally intended to be introduced much later in the series.
Convict's Dawn draws heavily from Star Wars canon, particularly the Knights of the Old Republic metaseries and the original trilogy as a whole. Furthermore, inspiration for characters and events were drawn from the video games Fire Emblem, Tales of Symphonia, the Halo series, Mass Effect, and the books in the The Lord of the Rings series, Frankenstein, and A Tale of Two Cities. The title references both Raen's exile from Alderaan, his flight from those criminals that wish to pursue him, as well as being the name of an Alderaanian ship that plays a role in a revelation later in the series. The story's overarching themes revolve around self-reflection and the quest for identity.