What Is Bacta?
Image Source: Wookieepedia
Bacta is a critical substance for medical treatment in the galaxy far, far away. Crafted using plants and other components, bacta can heal many different types of wounds and has saved the lives of more than a few major characters in Star Wars history. Today on CultureSlate, we explore this critical material and its far-reaching impact.
Bacta is a warm, clear, gelatinous substance that promotes healing in the body. From the fixing of broken bones to the regrowth of fingernails to recovery from concussions, bacta can deal with it all. All of this is accomplished through the substance’s use of microbiotics. While there are small, localized methods of applying bacta, one of the other common methods is a full submersion in a tank of the substance. This method sometimes involves the use of drugs by doctors to ensure the sensation of submission doesn’t freak out the patient and the use of a breathing mask to give the patient oxygen while they remain submerged. This second detail is often necessary due to bacta tank submersion taking long periods, from days to sometimes weeks or longer.
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Image Source: Wookieepedia
The history of bacta is very intriguing in Star Wars because while canon and Legends have similar sources for where bacta originated, the timelines are completely different. In both versions of the lore, bacta is the product of two specific forms of bacteria combined with a fluid. Canon bacta adds the detail that a strain of barley is also involved, but they are still essentially the same. Both versions of bacta were also developed on the planet Thyferra by a species known as the Vratix, and both also hold the same main manufacturers, Zaltin Corp. and Xucphra Corp.
However, this is where the differences begin. Legends bacta was discovered millennia in the past and eventually displaced the healing substance called kolto harvested on Manaan. But in canon, bacta is a more recent discovery, coming to the forefront during the High Republic era. Efforts to grow the species of barley and other key plants used to create bacta are a major focus of the Galactic Republic. The world of Hetzal is noted as being involved in this effort, and bacta isn’t replacing kolto. Instead, it is replacing a substance called “juvan.” Kolto is still present in this era, though by the time of the Skywalker Saga, bacta has come to dominate the medical market.
Image Source: Wookieepedia
Our first key character to survive, thanks to bacta, was Dagan Gera. After losing his right arm in a violent quest to return to the world of Tanalorr after the Great Hyperspace Disaster and the Nihil attack on the Koboh system, Dagan was placed into a bacta tank and a state of stasis for a little over 200 years. Awakened during the reign of the Empire by Cal Kestis, Dagan is in excellent health and immediately begins his quest once again. His survival is a strong showcase for the power of bacta and the associated technologies of the Star Wars galaxy.
Image Source: Wookieepedia
Other instances of stunning survival from significant injuries thanks to the miracle of bacta can be found elsewhere in Star Wars. During the Clone Wars, Clone Captain Rex received a near-lethal wound on Saleucami, but the intervention of the medic Kix and a bacta patch saved Rex’s life. Later, Darth Vader would often remove his armor and sit in a bacta tank within his fortress to recover from ongoing issues caused by his brutal defeat on Mustafar years prior while probably healing himself of more recent battlefield injuries. Like father like son, Luke Skywalker eventually had to be submerged in a tank of bacta to recover from injuries he sustained while fighting a fearsome wampa in The Empire Strikes Back. This was also bacta’s onscreen introduction. Another notable live-action appearance by bacta was in The Book of Boba Fett, where Fett often uses such a tank, and the trance-like state it prompted gave the viewer flashbacks of his recent past.
Bacta is an essential tool in the arsenal of Star Wars political powers and the average citizen. Critical to heal from all sorts of injuries, be they caused by conflict or accidents, it is also intriguing to explore how bacta’s history differs between canon and Legends. Undoubtedly, this will make the exploration of the canon past as interesting as further examining the development of bacta over the decades following its discovery.
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Source(s): Wookieepedia
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