Historian of Ossus

Little is known of the Historian of Ossus, besides his famed Commentaries, which survives largely intact.  His greatest work,

The Fragmentation of the Imperium, itself exists in fragments only.  Other historians have put forth the case that much of his writing draws from another great work, The Latter Onderon Dynasties, which has sadly perished.

He almost certainly lived around 550 ABY, and he is almost certainly a Jedi, or Jedi trained.  His sympathies lie with the side of the Light, against all forms of Darkness, although he is not quick to condemn politcal ruthlessness and underhandedness when practiced by his champions.

His early writings appear to have been compiled on Onderon, while his later, greater works were penned in the Great Library of Ossus, where he lived in exile, self-imposed exile, or simple retirement. Many of his sources appear to come from the Great Library, although certain information and stylistics bear a resemblence to works found in the library of the Jedi Temple on Haashimut.  If he was a Jedi, he certainly would have apprenticed as a diplomat.*

The Fragmentation, though, contains many hints that he was intimately familiar with the Onderon throne, and the records and chronologies of the Onderon Royal Houses, allowing him to write detailed accounts of events several hundred years removed from his own time. His ambivalence toward the throne he may well have served leads one to speculate that he may have been a disenchanted Jedi courtier, or perhaps even a Royal himself.

He maintains a studied distance from Revanant revisionists, using the more archaic descriptor "barbarian" in his narratives on the emergence of the Revenant; he retains the ancient Jedi prejudice towards the Sith.

Nor was he a supporter of the Republic, which he regards as a show at best, political theatre produced by powerful oligarchs working behind the scenes. His portrayals of the sufferings endured by the common people during the great wars and upheavals that came at the end of the Imperial Republic are heart wrenching; the end of galactic unity and the continuing decline in the population and level of civilization in the galaxy continue to this day.

Jedi critiques of The Historian highlight his lack of true commitment to Jedi ideals and his willingness to countenence political subterfuge, casting doubt that he was ever a full Jedi, or that he remained true to his Jedi vows, or was perhaps himself corrupted by his own proximity to the intricacies of Onderon Royal politics.

None of this detracts from his value to historians of our own time who seek to solve the puzzle of why galactic political unity failed so completely, with the subsequent descent into chaos and disorder.  As such, he continues as a preminent commentator on the end of a grand era.

"The Empire united, must divided.  The Empire united, must divide."

• There are other claims that The Historian was a member of the Potentium, though this is not strongly supported.