MASTER of the SUN

Real Name: Apparently Ragnar

Identity/Class: Uncertain (apparently an Ariguan with paranormal and/or technologically derived powers (see comments))

Occupation: Apparently a former scientist, would-be protector of the universe's races

Affiliations: Ship, Starlord; possibly Jason of Sparta;
    speculated to be possibly the leader of the Stars of the Universe

Enemies: Ariguans

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Master of the Solar System; "God"

Base of Operations: Currently unrevealed (allegedly deceased); formerly the planet R'Ralmis and other, possibly associated and/or orbital bases

First Appearance: Marvel Preview#4 (January, 1976)

Abilities: Undefined. He can apparently open warps in space, rearrange matter, and grant powers to others. The full extent of his abilities is undefined, as are his limitations

History:
(Marvel Spotlight II#6 (fb) - BTS) - According to the Ariguans, Ragnar was allegedly the Ariguans' greatest scientist until he had abused his privileges and interfered with their war because he disagreed with it. Since then, Ragnar, as the Master of the Sun, had apparently used his renegade science to elude them for a long time through trickery and disguise.

(Marvel Preview#15 (fb)) - After the destruction of the sentient star that would become "Ship," the Master of the Sun brought her consciousness and energy form to his realm, noting that he came to her aid as quickly as he could, but space was vast, even to "such as we."

(Starlord#2 (fb) - BTS) - The Master of the Sun created the Element Gun, a weapon which could project earth, air, fire, or water, by drawing on the material present on the planet R'Ralmis' Mount Vr'k'lv'b (a volcano).

(Marvel Preview#4) <January 26, 1990> - The Master of the Sun sent the image of Star-Lord to the Space Station Eve, telling them that in 14 days, one of the crew would assume the destiny of the Star-Lord.

(Marvel Preview4) <February 9, 1990> - The Master of the Sun brought Peter Quill to his realm, claiming himself to be the Master of Earth's Solar System, and outfitted Quill with the costume and Element Gun to become Starlord. The Master of the Sun then sent him to gain his vengeance on the aliens who had killed his mother. He soon encountered an Ariguan ship and slew everyone aboard, after which he immediately returned to the Master of the Sun's realm. Quill was unsure whether he had actually ever left the realm, but the Master told him that he had experienced his vengeance and was now free of his past life--"free to form a new life...Then come, Star-Lord. Leave your madness behind and walk with me."

(Marvel Spotlight II#6 (fb)) - The Master of the Sun introduced Starlord to a sentient energy being that had once been a star. The energy being reformed itself to become his ally, "Ship."

(Marvel Spotlight II#6) - The Master of the Sun apparently planned to have built a legion of Star-Lords, patrolling and protecting the galaxy, with Quill having been just the first.

(Marvel Spotlight II#6) - A group of Ariguan space warriors invaded the space base of the Master of the Sun, identifying him as having been their greatest scientist, Ragnar, until he had abused his privileges and interfered with their war because he disagreed with it, then using his renegade science to elude them for a long time through trickery and disguise; his greatest sin had been the creation of Starlord.

   The Master of the Sun countered that their senseless strife had created from Quill a human monster of vengeance, but that he (Master of the Sun) had given Quill peace and, as Starlord, the means to avert other senseless strife wherever it may be found.
    Meanwhile, Starlord, aboard the sentient Ship, entered the Master of the Sun's base to rescue the Master of the Sun. The Ariguans fired on Starlord, hoping to slay both of their enemies, but Starlord blasted them with rock and water from his element gun, dropping the lizard men. Quill prepared to take the Master away in Ship, but the Master instead explained that he had once chosen to live by the Ariguans' rules and now, if necessary, he must die by them. He admitted that he had entrusted with the ultimate secrets of science, but that in focusing on Starlord he had neglected other areas of responsibility; and because of this neglect, innocent beings had suffered.
    The Master then willfully surrendered to the reviving Ariguans and returned to the form of "Ragnar, the true being I am. The being who sought to accomplish good works by sending his son in his place." Ragnar departed as a prisoner of the Ariguans, and Starlord respected his wishes (see comments).

(Starlord#1 (fb) - BTS) - According to Ship (who's memories were damaged), the Master of the Sun died.

Comments: Created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan.

In a flashback in Starlord#1, Ship mentioned "the death of the Master of the Sun" while reviewing the events of Marvel Spotlight II#6. He could well have been executed for his crimes after that issue. She also could have been speaking figuratively, referring to the death of that identity or persona. Or she could have mis-remembered events as her memory was pretty spotty at that point.

Who is the Master of the Sun?:

• The Master of the Sun was originally described as the master of Earth's sun, and thus Master of the whole solar system. This might make him a masculine form of Apalla, or perhaps, even better, he could be the Grand Nebular, described by Apalla as the leader of all of the stars. While he considers Earth's sun to be his domain, there is nothing definitive that he originates from said star. In fact, he used as a base a planet well outside the Earth's solar system, in an unknown sector of space. His plan of forming a legion of Star-Lords to patrol the galaxy would seem to make his scope much larger than Earth's solar system.
  This would also make sense as to why he would seem so much older and wiser than Ship. Like Ship, perhaps his physical form was destroyed, but he may have been able to live on in a state of pure energy.
  Besides Apalla and Ship, another sentient star/nebula would be the being formerly known as Cloud, from the Defenders.
• Marvel Spotlight II#6 threw a wrench into all of that! It revealed him to be some renegade alien lizard-man scientist, Ragnar, who had neglected his duties and those he was responsible in favor of attempting to create a legion of Star-Lords. These lizard-men aliens were not named and appeared to be different from the Ariguans. However, I think that can be chalked up to artistic license. In a flashback in the same issue, the aliens whom Star-Lord confronted and took vengeance after first taking the identity looked exactly the same as the lizard men of which he was supposed to be a member. The Ariguans are definitely the ones that slew his mother (under direction of Gareth and Shakati), and in Star-Lords origin in Marvel Preview#4, they were the ones on which he took vengeance. In addition, the flashback in Starlord#1 (which reviewed Marvel Spotlight II#6), the aliens who confronted the Master of the Sun were definitely one of the Ariguans. So, by the Dorkas Farkas principal, if the events of Marvel Spotlight II#6 are definitely true, than the Master of the Sun was/is one of the Ariguans. The story hinted that he chose Star-Lord to overcome his anger and vengeance-seeking (instigated by the other Ariguans murder of his mother), and to bring him to peace and use him to oppose the war mongering of the other members of his race.
  I MUCH prefer the first explanation, but it's hard to argue with a published story. It just doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of his image and history.
• Are the first two origins 100% mutually exclusive? No. Numerous stars have taken human form, including Apalla, Cloud, those forced into human form and replaced by the Creators, and even Ship. There's no reason why the Master of the Sun couldn't have taken the form of an Ariguan at some point. Or, perhaps, like the Creators, he could have once been an Ariguan and have usurped the form of a star. You can even use our old friend time-travel to warp his chronology however you like. Or make up your own explanation.
• Alternatively, The Master of the Sun could be some cosmic being, who took multiple forms (some of which were quite similar to the Master of the Sun's), and enjoyed using others as pawns (and feeding said pawns plenty of misinformation), such as Merlyn. He was seen narrating a tale of the Special Executive back in Dr. Who Magazine#51, and so has some history of acting around the rest of the Universe.
• Or some other guy. Maybe Dave.

The dates involved in Star-Lord's origin may or may not be topical. See the comments for Star-Lord for my two cents worth on that.

Ship and Sinjin (Star-Lord/Peter Quill's successor) visited a planet called R'Ralmis and mentioned that the Master of the Sun once lived there. The architecture is similar, and so this is likely the same place that Starlord visited in Marvel Preview#4, but this is uncertain.

CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connections to:

• any other Masters of anything, including "Master of your Domain."

R'Ralmis

The former home of the Master of the Sun, this planet served as the source of the earth, air, fire, and water discharged from the Element Gun. After the Master of the Sun was killed, it was apparently colonized by the Ariguans.
Actually, the Master of the Sun's base may have been a satellite city orbiting R'Ralmis.

(Marvel Preview#15 (fb)) - From his palace, the Master of the Sun acquired the consciousness of a destroyed star, comforting it.

(Marvel Preview#4) <February 9, 1990> - The Master of the Sun brought Peter Quill to his base, apparently a palace on a futuristic world with unspecified inhabitants. The Master outfitted Quill with the costume and Element Gun to become Starlord. After allowing Quill to fulfill seeming vengeance against the aliens who had killed his mother (likely an illusion), the Master told him that he had experienced his vengeance and was now free of his past life--"free to form a new life...Then come, Star-Lord. Leave your madness behind and walk with me."

(Marvel Preview#15 (fb)) - From his palace, the Master of the Sun introduced Starlord to a sentient energy being that had once been a star. The energy being reformed itself to become his ally, "Ship."

(Marvel Spotlight II#6) - The Master of the Sun apparently planned to have built a legion of Star-Lords, patrolling and protecting the galaxy, with Quill having been just the first.

(Marvel Spotlight II#6) - A group of Ariguan space warriors invaded the space base of the Master of the Sun.

(Starlord#2  - BTS) - Sinjin Quarrell, who had taken the form of the missing-in-action Starlord, used Starlord's element gun to form a massive meteor of stone and ice to form an asteroid large enough to make it through the atmosphere and impact the surface of Bovric, which depleted the rock overlying Mount Vr'k'lv'b's molten core.

(Starlord#2 (fb) - BTS) - The planet R'Ralmis' Mount Vr'k'lv'b began a terrifying eruption as a result of Quarrell's actions. The subsequent volcanic eruptions killed hundreds of Ariguans.

(Starlord#2) - As Sinjin Quarrell and 'Rora (Ship) approached R'Ralmis (noted to be the planet the Master of the Sun formerly dwelled upon -- or his base orbited there), they announced their presence to the spaceport controller and requested permission to land at the Cl'mv'pvr spaceport. Aristo, the Ariguan port communicator responded, thankful of the presence of Starlord after all these years, in the time of their deepest need. She announced the eruption of Mount Vr'k'lv'b, noting the many deaths it had caused and how a new lava surge was threatening the entire coastal plane. She asked Starlord's help, and he agreed to do whatever he could.
    In the process of stopping the volcano, 'Rora realized that the element gun had been drawing from the volcano. Afterwards, still unaware of Quarrell's role in inadvertently causing the eruption, Aristo sent numerous messages of thanks from the people of R'Ralmis.

--Marvel Preview#4 (4, 15 (fb), Marvel Spotlight II#6, Starlord#2 - BTS, 2 (fb) - BTS, 2

Note: The name R'Ralmis is first used in Starlord#2 (1997) and is described as "a planet the Master of the Sun formerly dwelled upon." The Marvel Preview appearances of the palace of the Master of the Sun are fairly consistent in appearance, and they may well be on R'Ralmis...or they may be someplace else...the Ariguans note that the Master of the Sun had " used his renegade science to elude them for a long time through trickery and disguise." The Marvel Spotlight appearance was clearly a space-base, but whether it was orbiting a planet, R'Rralmis or another, or whether it was in interstellar space, I don't think was ever made clear. So, we don't know for sure whether R'Ralmis appeared on panel before Starlord#2, but it is at least Behind-The-Scenes in Marvel Preview#4.

Appearances:
Marvel Preview#4 (January, 1976) - Steve Englehart (writer), Steve Gan & Bob McLeod (artists), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Marvel Preview#11 (Summer 1977) - Chris Claremont (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Terry Austin (inks), John Warner & Ralph Macchio (editors)
Marvel Preview#14 (March, 1978 & June, 1978) - Chris Claremont (writer), Carmine Infantino (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Rick Marshall & Ralph Macchio (editors)
Marvel Spotlight II#6 (May, 1980) - Doug Moench (writer), Tom Sutton (artist), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Starlord#2 (January, 1997) - Timothy Zahn (writer), Dan Lawlis (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)

Last updated: 02/18/13

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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