PRIME DIRECTORof Galador
PRIME DIRECTOR
of Galador
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Galadorian) technology-user;
active circa the late 1700s through the modern era (see comments)
Occupation: Former ruler of Galador
Group Membership: Ruler of the Galadorians
Affiliations: Spaceknights (notably Astra, Hammerhand, Javelin/Darin, Rainbow, Rom, Screamer, Starshine/Landra, Terminator)
Enemies: Dire Wraiths, Galactus (Galan), Mentus;
formerly Terminator
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unrevealed (his energies were incorporated into Galactus, but he has presumably spent them);
presumably buried on Galador;
imprisoned for 200 years within an unspecified building on Galador;
formerly the Hall of Science, Galador, third from the sun in the Taloman system, Milky Way Galaxy
First Appearance: Rom#1 (December, 1979)
Powers/Abilities: The Prime Director had access to the advanced technology of Galador. He either designed, helped design, or simply conceived of the idea of the cyborg Spaceknights.
He is a capable strategic commander in times of war.
He formerly wielded the Golden Globe of Power,
which could channel the power of Galador's twin suns, generating vast
heat able to instantly cremate even Spaceknights encased in Plandanium
armor.
Already apparently senior at the
time of the first Wraithwar, he survived over 200 years thereafter,
although in stasis. Although retaining a healthy physical frame, his
advanced age limited his body's ability to tolerate exertion of his
force of will. 
He may or may not have had some power of prophecy.
He could apparently project portions of his consciousness outside of his body -- perhaps via technology -- but he was unable to control this properly, and he unwittingly projected only his evil aspect. When he finally forced the re-absorption of his evil aspect, the effort was too much for his physical body, which perished.
After his physical death, he
continued to survive as a being of psychic/id-energy and manifested as
a version of his face; he appreciated that he would only be able to
survive in this form for a limited duration as he/it was drawn to
become part of some greater cosmic intellect.. This form could travel through an atmosphere or into space, but it also could serve as a source of energy for Galactus...
History:
|
(Rom#1 (fb) - BTS) <Over 200 years ago (see comments)>
- The Dire Wraiths of the Dark Nebula slaughtered the peaceful
Galadorian armada when they entered the Dark Nebula, after which the
Dire Wraith fleet targeted Galador. (Rom#1 (fb)) - Having heard this news, the Prime Director considered that they had one chance left to save their world. Despite it being considered unthinkable by some, the Prime Director instructed his herald to ask the people for volunteers to sacrifice their "humanity" by being bonded into cyborg armor to become living weapons: The Spaceknights. (Rom#1 (fb) - BTS) - After Rom was the first to volunteer, millions of Galadorians followed, but only
around 1000 were initially found to be compatible. After completion of
the painful process, the Spaceknights forming a defensive ring around
Galador when the
Wraiths invaded the home solar system, and after a long and arduous
fight,
the battle ended with the Deathwing destroyed and the Wraiths routed
and fleeing. Dozens of Spaceknights perished in the fight. (Rom Annual#2 (fb) - BTS) - The Prime Director's abiilty to command helped lead to the rout of Wraithkind. (Rom Annual#2) <Allegedly a day after the battle that destroyed the Deathwing> - Rom pursued a group of Dire Wraiths back to Wraithworld where he slew many before being trapped in a spell that made him see an endless horde of Wraiths, causing to continue to fight, long after there were no other Wraiths around (they apparently abandoned their own planet). (Rom Annual#2 (fb) - BTS) - The news that Rom
had vanished after entering the Dark Nebula shook the Prime Director
"unto his soul." (Rom Annual#2) - The Prime Director summoned
the Spaceknight Squadron (Plor the Pulsar, Raak the Breaker, Skera the
Scanner, Tarm the Seeker, Unam the Unseen, Vola the Trapper) to the
Council Tower, informed them of Rom's disappearance, and expressed his
fears that the Dire Wraiths had found some way to slay Galador's
mightiest son. Regardless, he dispatched the Squadron to Wraithworld,
instructing them to save Rom. (Rom Annual#2 - BTS) - The Spaceknight
Squadron discovered Rom under the influence of the spell, but Unam's
illusion-casting ability allowed him to disrupt the spell's influence
on Rom, restoring him to "normal." |
|
Holding the glowing Globe of Power, the
symbol of his office, the Prime Director addressed his people, stating
that it was the living that needed to be comforted and confirming that
the invaders had been defeated. He then addressed the passing of those who had sacrificed their
humanity to become Spaceknights and who had perished in driving off the
Dire Wraiths that Galador might live. After mourning families had
placed flowers upon the crystal coffins, the Prime Director set his
Globe of Power into the prepared chalice, and it channeled the power of
Galador's suns to cremate the fallen Spaceknights. After the surviving Spaceknights had been reunited with friends and family, the Prime Director reluctantly advised them that while Galador had been spared, the war was not over. At Rom's query, the Prime Director explained that the Dire Wraiths would go to other world in other galaxies, less advanced worlds, less able to defend themselves, and they would capitalize on those peoples' superstition. Eventually the Wraiths would make those worlds into Wraith strongholds that would eventually threaten Galador anew. While Rom initially expressed frustration at the Spaceknights not re-claiming their humanity, the Prime Director elaborated that they could never enter into treaty with the Wraiths and could only instead end their threat by destroying them all. The Prime Director advised Rom that he would not command that they carry on the fight, but he asked that they do so. He further told Rom that no one would fault him if he chose to return to human form and to his loved ones. (Rom#1 (fb) - BTS / Rom#13/2) - Rom then led the other surviving Spaceknights in committing to scour the galaxy to hunt down and dispatch the remaining Dire Wraiths. |
  (Rom#25 (fb)) - After the Spaceknights had departed, the
Prime Director felt ashamed that Galador's youth had sacrificed their
humanity while he had retained his own. Resolving that he could not let them carry the burden alone, he devised a new suit of spaceknight armor but attempted to animate it with his spirit rather than with his living tissue. He hoped that if this method proved effective, no Galadorian would ever again have to sacrifice his or her humanity. However, it was the evil side of the Prime Director's persona that was unwittingly released into the spaceknight armor; no longer bound by the restraints of conscience, this evil being became Mentus. |
|
Rom subsequently pleaded for mercy for Terminator, noting how Terminator's mortal form had perished due to a Wraith plague, and the Prime Director was moved, further noting that the Wraith war had made all of them -- a once peaceful people -- other than what we were. Additionally, the Prime Director considered that while the Wraith war had made them cold and cruel, they would be no better than the Wraiths were they to judge without mercy. Noting Terminator's guilt, the Prime Director offered him the choice of death or banishment. After a long pause, Terminator chose death. Although Starshine was shocked, as she had
expected rehabilitation, the Prime Director silenced her. Terminator
had chosen to end his existence, and the Prime Director noted his own
blame in the matter, as if he had let him die with his planet instead
of imprinting his brain patterns upon spaceknight circuitry, this day
would never have come to pass. The Prime Director then levitated the
golden globe of power and, at his command, tongues of living fire
entwined themselves around Terminator, seemingly consuming him in
seconds. (Rom#20/2 - BTS) - Unbeknownst to the Prime Director
or any of the spaceknights, Mentus instead transported Terminator into
his base within cavern in a hidden corner of Galador. Mentus noted that
Terminator would be useful to him, and when Terminator angrily charged
him, Mentus rendered him unconscious simply by touching his head. As
his consciousness faded, Terminator felt his brain patterns fleeing
into a far corner of his mind -- leaving his cyborg brain a slate wiped
clean, ready to receive Mentus' instruction. (Rom#20/2) - The Prime Director was present when Rom subsequently decided to depart Galador to protect more distant planets from the Dire Wraiths. His decision to leave Galador was, at least in part, inspired by Terminator's execution. (Rom#21/2 - BTS) - Under Mentus' control, Terminator assaulted Galador's Hall of Science, defeating or slaying the Angel Elite who sought to bar his path and heading toward its inner chamber where the organic remains of the Spaceknights were stored. (Rom#21/2) - Alerted of the invasion, the Prime
Director appeared on-screen to warn off the intruder and was shocked to
see that Terminator still lived. Terminator advised him that he would
soon deal death to those whose lives he held in his inadequate care. (Rom#21/2 - BTS) - Terminator entered the inner chamber and threatened to destroy the Spaceknights' organic remains. (Rom#22/2 - BTS) - Resisting Mentus' control,
Terminator refused to destroy the other Spaceknights' remains. Instead,
Terminator stole Rom's remains and fled into the subterranean sewers
from which Mentus teleported him back to his base. Mentus began
formulating a plan with what to do with Rom's remains. |
(Rom#25
(fb) - BTS) - Mentus grafted Rom's organic remains into Terminator's
armor, which he reforged into a mirror image duplicate of Rom. When Terminator, as Rom, seemingly returned from
space to announce that the Wraith war had been won, the people welcomed
"Rom" home and made him their new Prime Director.
(Rom#25 (fb) - BTS) - As other Spaceknights -- including Astra,
Hammerhand, Javelin, Rainbow, Screamer and Starshine -- returned
to Galador, they were met by fellow Spaceknight Terminator posing as
Rom. They were presented to an adoring public as a conquering hero
before being
incapacitated (before they could reveal that the Wraith war still
raged) and frozen in stasis by the Terminator.
The Prime Director and the Spaceknights were
contained within different sections of the same building. Mentus fitted
the chamber containing the Spaceknights with a lock that only his
thoughts could open.
At some point, Mentus developed the technology to
somehow move Galador through space toward the Dark Nebula, home system
of the Dire Wraiths. Mentus planned to offer Galador to the Wraiths in
exchange for Wraithkind's subservience to him.
(Rom#25 - BTS) - Rom arrived on Galador and was assaulted and subdued by Terminator (in Rom's form) and the Angel Elite and placed into stasis, after which Mentus introduced himself and revealed his origins and machinations.
(Rom#25 - BTS) - As Rom lamented his own lost humanity (with Terminator having claimed his organic remains) and was unable to move within the stasis fluid (although he could still speak), the Prime Director revealed his presence and similar entrapment, urging Rom to have courage because Mentus fed on despair. Realizing he could still summon his neutralizer from subspace without moving, Rom did so, shattering his tightly fitting containment tank; as the fluids ran off of him, Rom gained his mobility and then used his neutralizer to shatter the Prime Director's stasis tank.
Praising Rom as ever the greatest of the Spaceknights, the Prime Director noted that the Galadorian were still in chains, though the Galadorians were unaware of this, after which he showed Rom the chamber containing the Spaceknights. Rom shattered the locked door and then used his neutralizer to thaw the frozen Spaceknights within. The Prime Director then told Rom to lead the Spaceknights against Mentus' evil, as this was the task he was born to do. Although countering that he was born to more pleasant pursuits and had to be taught the ways of war, Rom led the Spaceknights indeed.
The Prime Director then departed the
chamber, preparing to confront Mentus directly.
(Rom#25) - Harmlessly subduing
the Angel Elite guarding the Hall of Science, Rom and the other
Spaceknights entered the Hall and confronted Mentus, Terminator and
Mentus' Wraith allies. The Wraiths were furious to learn Rom had not
been destroyed and though Mentus advised them that he had been
imprisoned but that he would be destroyed now, the Wraiths decided that
Mentus could not be trusted, and so they adopted the forms of "some of
the most loathsomely lethal creatures in their own dreaded Dark Nebula"
to deal with the Spaceknights.
Instructing Terminator to fight beside the
Wraiths and to delay the Spaceknights, Mentus fled, intending to hasten
Galador's approach to the Dark Nebula.
(Rom#25 (fb) - BTS) - The Prime Director confronted Mentus within the chamber containing Mentus' planet-moving technology, reclaiming his lost humanity and reincorporating into himself both his good and evil sides of his persona. Per the Prime Director, "Mentus proved unequal to the struggle ," and the Prime Director re-absorbed his essence.
However, the task took so much of the Prime
Director's strength of will that his frail physical form could no
longer contain him, and he transcended into a psychic/id energy
manifestation.
(Rom#25 - BTS) - Appealed to by Starshine, Terminator
threw off Mentus' control and joined the other Spaceknights against the
Wraiths, whom they swiftly dispatched.
(Rom#25) - The group then flew to the chamber housing
Mentus' planet-moving technology, only to find the Prime Director and
Mentus on the floor, locked in death.
(Rom#25 - BTS) - The Prime Director's id energy form then spoke to the Spaceknights, revealing the resolution of his encounter with Mentus but noting that he could not remain among them for long as he already felt himself being drawn to become part of some greater cosmic intellect. Regardless, he informed them that he had sensed a grave danger to Galador as it was approached by Galactus.
(Rom#26 - BTS) - The Prime Director's id energy self confronted Galactus, hoping to drive him off or otherwise convince him to spare Galador. However, Galactus bombarded the Prime Director's id energy self, tearing it apart before Galactus absorbed his energies, ending his existence.
Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema.
"200 years ago"
The flashback in Rom#1 took place "200 years
ago," which would have been around 1780 A.D. when the story was
published in 1979.
The sliding timescale moves that date way forward,
and it would be around 9 years before the stories currently being
published in the Marvel Universe (so like 2015 at the time this profile
was written in 2024 A.D.).
However, I would think that the date of
initial Galador-Dire Wraith conflict should stay fixed in time in the
late 18th century A.D. rather than being moved forward into the 1800s.
Or should it? Significant amounts of time have passed that having it stay fixed in time would make the initial conflict between the Wraiths and Galadorians 250 years ago, rather than 200 years ago...
After Terminator subdued Rom, he instructed the Angel Elite
to take Rom into the Hall of Science. The next panel showed Rom
suspended in the tightly-conforming stasis tank in the same room in
which he found the Prime Director to be present. After breaking free,
they left walked to the sealed chamber that seemed to be contiguous
with the room they were in. Entering that room, they freed the other
Spaceknights, with whom Rom departed to challenge Mentus' evil. To do
so, they flew to...the Hall of Science, and the Angel Elite believed
they were impostors as the "real Rom" (Terminator) had not left that
building?
I'm not sure what happened here, but it seems to me that Rom was
taken into the Hall of Science and by the Angel Elite and then taken to
a containment facility elsewhere by parties unrevealed, as it would
have been very problematic if the Angel Elite had seen the real Prime
Director kept their in stasis.
Mentus and the Prime Director
are pictured in Rom#48 when Rom tells Brandy (now Starshine) that
Galador was not as perfect as he may have presented it to be. No new
data was provided. 
In Rom#51, the Prime Director is pictured in a
flashback to when he conceived the Spaceknight plan. His posture is
virtually identical to that shown in the flashback to the same time in
Rom#1, although the people around him look differently. Perhaps he sat
there for a prolonged period, ruminating and conceiving the plot, and
people just circled around him soundlessly.
Thanks to Donald Campbell for
pointing out the Rom#22/2 behind-the-scenes history information that I
had recently read but forgotten, and the Rom Annual#2 appearance, that
I had completely forgotten about.
Donald also added:
Also, I believe that there is a single reference
(somewhere) to the "elders" who governed Galador. The reference was
vague enough that I don't know if it was meant to be an actual organized
governing body, like the "Elders of Galador."
Additionally, the fact that the Prime Director briefed the Spaceknight Squadron in "the Council tower" in Rom Annual#2 could imply the existence of a (ruling) council. Or not.
"To Save a Spaceknight" is sort of an
odd story since it seems to retcon how and why the Spaceknights decided that
they had to continue the war by pursing the Dire Wraiths wherever they fled.
It seems that it must take place between Rom#1 (fb) and Rom#13/2, but that placement is a bit awkward because it means that Rom was committed to pursing the Wraiths at the end of Rom Annual#2 but then had to be convinced to do so by the Prime Director and Ray-Na after the funeral in Rom#13/2.
Until I read your profiles, I had never
realized that Rom must have been transported to another location after
Rom/Terminator had ordered the Angels to take the "foolish imposter"
into the Hall of Science. However, it makes sense because that's the only way
in which Rom could have been taken into that building but later return with a
flight of Spaceknights to attack it from the outside. It also makes sense that
Mentus would have a secret lair elsewhere since the Hall of Science seems to
have been at least a semi-public area, one to which a lot more Galadorians had
access and could potentially witness his covert activities.
Also, a caption in Rom#25 does specifically
state that Rom and the Prime Director were imprisoned "in a dungeon on the
paradise-planet Galador," which would seem to confirm that it was not
within the Hall of Science (unless it was a secret dungeon within that
building).
I disagree with your opinion that
Mentus, while revealing his origin and history to Rom, didn't actually
show him the Prime Director imprisoned in a nearby stasis-tube. While I agree
that the scene is a bit awkwardly written and the artwork is bit off since the
position of the Prime Director relative to Rom seems to shift between the two
significant panels (ie., from being across the room to being nearly beside
him), I think that the reason why the brooding Rom appeared to be surprised by the
fact that he was "not alone in captivity" had more to do with his
belief that the Prime Director was able to speak. I think it was meant to
convey the idea that Rom had believed that the captive Prime Director was
somehow insensate after being held captive for so long and that was why it was
a surprise when he was able to speak to Rom.
--I can see how it could be interpretted either way--Snood
I really wish that Bill Mantlo had
given the Prime Director a real name. It's tiring having to type out
"Prime Director" every time I want to refer to that character.
--Yes, I almost made that comment,
too...I considered even suggesting something using some combination of
the letters from "William Timothy Mantlo," but then decided I'd
rather just see him independently identified at some point.--Snood
Decades ago, I somehow came to
believe that the OHotMU had stated that Galadorians had lifespans that exceeded
two centuries. Ever since then, I have believed that that false data was
inspired by the fact that the already-elderly Prime Director was able to
survive almost 200 years in captivity and that the human cells contained within
the Spaceknights would also survive and be in a state which would enable them
to be reunited with rest of their bodies that were cryogenically preserved back
on Galador, and I had planned on mentioning that "false fact" in
these comments. However, when I checked the quarter-page profile on the
Galadorians from OHotMU II#15 while writing these comments, I was totally
surprised to find that there is NO MENTION of their race having an extended
lifespan. While I'm (reasonably) sure that I must have read it somewhere, it
has left me left wondering how and why I ever got that idea in the first place.
Weird. Another mini-Mandela effect.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Prime Director should be distinguished from:
Holding the glowing Globe of Power, the symbol of his office, the Prime Director addressed his people, stating that it was the living that needed to be comforted and confirming that the invaders had been defeated.  He then addressed the passing of those who had sacrificed their
humanity to become Spaceknights and who had perished in driving off the
Dire Wraiths that Galador might live. After mourning families had placed flowers upon the crystal coffins, the Prime Director set his Globe of Power into the prepared chalice, and it channeled the power of Galador's suns to cremate the fallen Spaceknights. |
.  (Rom#20/2) - On Galador, the Prime Director presided
over the trial of Terminator, whom Starshine accused of having murdered
the king of Thuvria. Given the choice of death or banishment, Terminator had chosen to end his existence, and the Prime Director ultimately levitated the golden globe of power and, at his command, tongues of living fire entwined themselves around Terminator, seemingly consuming him in seconds. (Rom#20/2 - BTS) - Unbeknownst to the Prime Director or any of the spaceknights, Mentus instead transported Terminator into his base within cavern in a hidden corner of Galador and enslaved him. |
 .(Rom#25 (fb) - BTS) - After the Prime Director had been poisoned by Mentus and was believed to have perished, Mentus had Terminator -- whose armor he had transformed to mirror Rom's -- pretend to be a returning Rom, who announced that the Wraithwar had ended. The Galadorians quickly accepted "Rom" as their new Prime Director; as such, he became the holder of the Golden Globe of Power. (Rom#25) - When the real Rom returned to Galador, Terminator confronted him in his own form, carrying the Golden Globe of Power as well as bolts of "living lightning." Denouncing Rom as a Wraith impostor, Terminator had the Angel Elite subdue him with weapons specifically designed to incapacitate his armor. --Rom I#13/2 |
images: (without ads)Appearances:
Rom#1 (December, 1979) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Sal Buscema (artist), Jo Duffy (editor)
Rom#13/2 (December, 1980) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Sal Buscema (artist), Jo Duffy (editor)
Rom#20/2 (July, 1981) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Sal Buscema (penciler), Joe Sinnott (inker), Jo Duffy (editor)
Rom#21/2-22/2 (August-September, 1981) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Sal Buscema (penciler), Joe Sinnott (inker), Al Milgrom (editor)
Rom#25 (December, 1981) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Sal Buscema (penciler), Joe Sinnott (inker), Al Milgrom (editor)
Rom#26 (January, 1982) - "Boisterous" Bill Mantlo (writer; peerless
proser), "Our Pal" Sal Buscema (powerful penciler), "Joltin'" Joe
Sinnott (inker; incredible embellisher), Al Milgrom (editor)
Rom Annual#2 (October, 1983) - Bill Mantlo (script), Sal Buscema
(penciler), Ian Akin & Brian Garvey (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
First posted: 09/02/2024
Last updated: 09/05/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
, third from the sun in the Taloman system, Milky Way Galaxy, third from the sun in the Taloman system, Milky Way Galaxy
(Rom#22/2
(fb) - BTS) - Despite the peace of Galador, the Prime Director --
perhaps suspecting or prophesizing that strife would eventually come to
his world -- ordered the genetic breeding of the of the home-guard
known as the Angel Elite. 
(Rom#13/2) - After the citizens of Galador
assembled, Rom announced the results of the Wraithwar to the Prime Director, adding that the
dead awaited their last rites. 
(Rom#20/2) - On Galador, the Prime Director presided
over the trial of Terminator, whom Starshine accused of having murdered
the king of Thuvria. When Terminator noted that he had acted because
the king had embodied his people's naivety, which had placed their
world as well as Galador in jeopardy, the Prime Director confirmed that
he had slain their king for this reason. 