Wow Peter Quill has the worst luck when it comes to having a dad. People will know him as a planet-sized Ego maniac and a glory seeking sociopath. Wait, why’s J’son being a jerk to the Earthlings in Infinity anyway? He had a swing with one and even had a son with her. Alright time to up the neuro-scope and have the ink pixels fly into a theory.
Welcome to Comic Theory a segment that discusses why things are in comic books for reasons nobody really bothered to. Today the focus will be J’son of Spartax. What is it with alien names having apostrophes in them, is it really that out of this world?
Quick History of J’son
Sorry got off topic; J’son is the father of Peter Quill a.k.a. Star-Lord in the Marvel comics and TV shows. He was the ruler of the Spartoi empire, neighboring the Shi’ar of X-Men fame. But unlike what TV says, J’son wasn’t always a royal pain; he used to be idealistic and open minded in his debut. In fact, James Gunn didn’t want J’son in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies; he says it would’ve made the movie too much like Star Wars. Whoa, whoa, hang on! J’son was never a whiny hotshot, just someone who got under the skin of a bunch of bureaucrats; which Anakin Skywalker actually did too… Man, if people aren’t going to remove the Clone Wars; I would’ve liked it if they at least remade it into something watchable.
Okay well the Star Wars similarities aren’t going to end there.
The Early Light Days
Before J’son became the conniving bigot he is now; in his younger days he is quite idealistic and duty bound in wanting to create a better future for Spartax. Unfortunately, the bureaucracy of the Council of Ministers rejects him and want him out of the picture. They eventually got their excuse when J’son is framed for assisting an assassination attempt on the Shi’ar Empress; costing the young prince any chance for the throne and banishing him.
The Dark Gap
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| It’s not all in here. |
A couple of decades later though, he became a ruthless dictator. He is willing to go behind the backs of his allies in the Galactic Council during Infinity; and even attempts to sell Earth out. He even proves to have been rather specist; calling Earth a backwater planet despite being the home of his lover and son. He is even willing to enslave an entire planet of refugees to mine Vibranium for his empire; while leaving the refugees to die in their attempts. Not to mention how he manipulates an alliance against Earth after exploiting the number of intergalactic events that came to it.
To that end J’son pulls a few tricks to get his son Peter Quill to Spartax. First by making Earth an off-limits zone. Later he tries to coerce Star-Lord to his cause by attempting to kill off the Guardians of the Galaxy. Fortunately, his plans are foiled and is forced off the throne after his crimes are exposed. He later becomes a crime lord way before being brought back home by his daughter Victoria; probably to question him in custody.
Closing the Gap on J’son
But what causes the idealist prince to turn into such a monster? The comics never really went into detail about it; maybe they will someday. Doesn’t mean we can’t theorize about it. It’ll be fun to be proven right or wrong.
Now to figure how and why J’son went the dark side of a villain; we have to look at something that is never brought up in the comics. Why he was allowed to come back to Spartax after being banished or even managed to get his throne back? Ignoring the retcons anyway…
Fan-Fic Time!
J’son is an honor-bound if skirt chasing soldier who is loyal to his home world. J’son unlike the hotheaded whiny brat that was Anakin Skywalker had to have been commanded to fight for Spartax. He was probably busy trying to drown his sorrows in a pub somewhere. Might’ve even knocked up Victoria’s mother while he was at it.
J’son’s dad, Eson, likely exposes a loophole by having his son fight in a war for the Spartoi Empire’s benefit. J’son was still outside the empire’s territory so it should have been okay. After the battles with the Ariguans, it seems that J’son is given a pardon for his past transgressions. Maybe Eson proves that J’son had nothing to do with the assassination attempt.
Conflict’s Rising Action
With J’son back in sight, the royal council faces an old itch that won’t go away. Now here’s where I think the prequel trilogy should’ve gone in Star Wars. The ministers acting like the Trade Federation are smuggling goods and wealth by making a few deals behind the scenes. They are even taking advantage of the war J’son fights in. J’son’s ideals however get in the way of their plans; hence why they want him gone.
One of the contracts could be something like life trafficking; originally it is a means to bring slaves into the empire for work. But with the war ending and to hide the council’s tracks; they would have to change tactics and instead have the migrants brought in under better looking means, complete with benefits. This allows the migrants to be above the law and having the ministers hire them to cover their corruption.
J’son while home would feel pretty isolated, seeing that he is still unwelcome by his father’s court. During this time, J’son would try to earn the respect of others as a soldier and pilot. But even this isn’t enough. J’son meanwhile sees the refugees publicly mugging a person and with immunity since it can look like a misunderstanding. With the guards not wanting to ruin their reputation, the thug has legal reigns to do so. J’son, understanding this however subtly knocks out the offender. The would be victim might even be J’son’s ally in this case (hopefully not a Jar-Jar Binks character).
Climatic Actions
J’son would come across the council’s schemes afterwards; all the while acting like a proper soldier to gain the respects of people to an extent. But not being fools, the council would broker a deal with the Badoon. With Emperor Eson nearing the end of his life, and his usefulness to the council; they decide to wipe out the royal bloodline in order to become independent and hide from their war crimes. The Badoon would go out and kill anyone who had a past relationship with J’son, including Peter and Victoria’s moms. When J’son’s ally tries to warn him, he/she dies from a stray shot.
However with the Badoon causing such an uproar; J’son acts quickly to preserve order. Often by taking migrants away from their crime rinks on the excuse of keeping them safe. Eventually, J’son finds his fallen ally with his family symbol marked as a means of killing off his line. Furious that his ally proves to be worthless, J’son storms off.
When the Badoon spoke to the council over comms; J’son holds them at gunpoint with the knowledge that Meredith is dead and possibly her son. With no apparent evidence though, the council is safe. However guards that J’son forces to chase after him also witness this confession. With the council’s treachery, Eson crowns J’son as the new emperor and J’son kills the council members.
The Start of Darkness
With the throne, a new council loyal to him, and Eson dying; J’son speds years cleaning up the old council’s messes. But he grows more and more corrupt with every drastic measure. One would might even include having the non-Spartoi as a lower labor class; with a new culture of complete servitude to the empire as seen in the Guardians of the Galaxy animated series. And with no one to tell him otherwise; J’son became so despotic he even views any world that is not in a league like his own as scum.
Special Reminder
Now this is more of a wide berth; social commentary about subjects like the Migrant Crisis are rejected by the politically correct culture of the Western World. I’m just saying something that would’ve made the Star Wars prequel trilogy into better movies; just using Guardians of the Galaxy as a base. Why would Marvel take an idea from some random guy who works on a blog while fanboying out?
So remember the ink’s not dry yet. Remember to like, share, comment, and look between the panels.