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Pure Ones (Books)
Nobackgroundmask
Description
Organization type: Militia
Doctrine: Tyto owl supremacy, Strigidae inferiority, authoritarian control
Sub-groups: Nyra Annihilators
Fire Talons
Striga Force
Scouts
Headquarters: Desert of Kuneer (formerly)
St. Aegolius Canyons (formerly)
Ice Cliff Palace (formerly)
Castle (formerly)
Personnel
Founder: Unknown
Leaders: Nyra (former; last leader before dissolution)
• Kludd (former)
Former High Tyto


"Tytos now forever, so pure, so rare! Yet supreme!"

- Stone-stunned owlet chanting Pure One rhetoric, The Journey, page 217

The Tytonic Union of Pure Ones, better known simply as the Pure Ones, but occasionally referred to as the Union of the Purest, were a inter-provincial supremacist military organization consisting mainly of owls of the family Tytonidae, more commonly known as Barn Owls. They valued social conditioning, indoctrination, aristocratic governments, and nachtmagen. They were known to have a bitter rivalry with the owls of St. Aegolius' Academy for Orphaned Owls, which may have its roots in St. Aggie's advanced knowledge of the nature of basic magnetism. The Pure Ones eventually defeated them for good after the events of The Siege but in-between the events of The Shattering.

Throughout much of The Journey and The Rescue, the Pure Ones are known to the Band as the "you only wish", based on the dying words of a Barred Owl rogue smith who was attacked by the Pure Ones.

Culture[]

The Pure Ones had a rigid social hierarchy, which regulated Barn Owls to different levels of purity depending on the whiteness of each species' face. At the top of the chain of command was the High Tyto and his mate, followed by the Barn Owl higher officers; they were always members of the Tyto alba species. They were followed by the Masked Owls (Tyto novaehollandiae), then the Grass Owls (Tyto capensis and Tyto longimembris). At the bottom of the social ladder were the Sooty Owls. Greater Sooties (Tyto tenebricosa) were better off than the Lesser Sooties (Tyto multipunctata). However, the Sooties tended to be given dirty-sounding names like Muddy Wings, Ash Beak, Dustytuft, or Smutty, and were also given the most menial and worst of jobs. No matter their species, Sooties are typically used as shock troops and, according to Dustytuft, no Sooty Owl could ever dream of becoming one of the Pure Ones elite, among the scouts and Fire Talons, let alone the Pure Guard, nor hope to be measured for a battle claw fitting. Despite this, however, during the Skirmish of the Devil's Triangle, for example, every member of Kludd's troop of Tytos were armed with battle claws. An explanation for this could be that the quality of the battle claws wielded depended on the owl's rank and while the higher-ranking Barn Owl commandos and Masked Owl sublieutenants might expect to be fitted for their own personal set of claws by a Rogue Smith, the lower-ranking Sooty Owls might have to make do with claws taken from a battlefield.

The rescue e-catch

Stronghold of the Pure Ones in The Rescue

The Pure Ones valued rage; they equated it with courage and had ceremonies intended to develop it. These ceremonies often included maiming and/or murder of other animals, often fellow owls. The most infamous of these ceremonies was the one called Tupsi, which called for the murder of a fellow owl close to the Pure One completing the ceremony, often a family member.

A favorite tactic of the Pure Ones when recruiting more to their idealism is to find regions that have recently been struck by misfortune (e.g., forest fire, snatchings or hurricanes, to name a few) and left starving owls confused, lost and, most often, mourning lost family and in a state of depression. The Pure Ones promise these heart-broken and disoriented Tytos good hollows with soft moss, plump rats and rock rats, as well as the chance to become pioneers of an empire, the harbingers of a new age. Owls that are enticed by this are not told, however, of the rigid hierarchy the Pure Ones impose.

Any owl not belonging to the family Tytonidae was considered "impure" and therefore was either only fit to serve the Pure Ones or be eliminated. Owls of the family Strigidae were often victims of Pure Ones' brutality, which may be due to Hoole being a Spotted Owl. For reasons unknown, the Union refers to the Others as the "Purest Ones".

Military[]

Nyra the siege

Nyra, who was the leader of the Pure Ones for much of the series.

The exact number of owls is unknown, but according to the series the rough estimate of all the owls excels at 5,000. The army is composed of many divisions. Later in the series, after multiple confrontations with the guardians, their numbers dwindled greatly, especially following Kludd's death. In the Wolves of the Beyond series, however, General Nyra was said to have been leader of a "hellish legion of owls", raising their numbers to approximately 3,000 to 6,000.

Their ranking system consisted of:

  1. High Tyto
  2. Adjunct General
  3. Colonel
  4. Captain
  5. Lieutenant Major
  6. Lieutenant
  7. Sublieutenant
  8. Sergeant
  9. Corporal
  10. Soldier

History[]

Before the Books[]

The Pure Ones are known to have existed long before the events of the book series, but little is known about their history. The Pure Ones at the time of The Capture had roots in the League of Ice Talons, which may have started their aristocracy. However, they had already begun the process of having a leader called the High Tyto. It's also known that they used the powers of small magnetic flecks of iron as weapons, which could disorient a birds' navigational skills and even their minds. The Pure Ones captured hatchlings and brainwashed them by the use of flecks.

Therescue no title

Kludd, leader of the Pure Ones from late in The Capture to the end of The Burning.

The Capture-The Journey[]

A young male Barn Owl named Kludd, living in the forest of Tyto, was recruited for the Pure Ones by a female Barn Owl named Nyra, who had been a hagsfiend in her past life and reincarnated. After pushing his hated brother Soren out of the family nest, which was watched by a delighted Nyra and several others, Kludd rose in rank and eventually plotted with Nyra to seize power, whereupon he killed the former High Tyto in ritual combat, but at the cost of a large portion of his face, which he replaced with a mask of mu metal. This earned him the name "Metal Beak" by the owls, such as the Guardians of Ga'Hoole, that were unaware of his true name and with his rise to power, the Pure Ones began to begin their goal of taking over the owl world and purifying it. Taking Nyra as his mate, he assumed the mantle of High Tyto and contemplated a plan to capture and brainwash the old sage Ezylryb, a warrior-turned-poet also known as Lyze of Kiel, with great knowledge of the Northern Kingdoms- knowledge the Pure Ones could use to their advantage. For unspecified reasons, Kludd and his Pure Ones murdered a Rogue Smith in the Beaks (perhaps because he was a slipgizzle for the Guardians), though before he died, the Barred Owl told the Band then it had been something far worse than St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls, leading to the Pure Ones briefly being known as the "you only wish".

Unfortunately, before the capture plan could be put into action, a patrol from St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls led by Skench discovered their base and snatched all the hatchlings for use in their own to conquer the owl world, including Kludd's sister, Eglantine. The Pure Ones fought to return the hatchlings, whom they viewed as rightfully theirs, and the hatchlings were dropped. This event was later known as the Great Downing. The Guardians of Ga’Hoole recovered most of them and reversed the Pure Ones’ brainwashing, alerting the owl world to the Pure Ones’ presence. Ezylryb was dispatched to discover the cause of the event, and fell right into a trap, being lost among triangle of flecks, or the Devil's Triangle, specially arranged so that within it, senses of navigation were lost, and there was no hope of escape. The Pure Ones planned to hold him there until they could find a new stronghold.

At an unknown time, another plan was implemented: to send spies to the heart of St. Aegolius and pave the way for a Pure One invasion.

The Rescue[]

While most of his army (possibly under Nyra's leadership) were situated in the Deserts of Kuneer on unknown business, Soren, Kludd's brother that was believed by him to be dead, led a small band of owls to destroy the Devil's Triangle and free Ezylryb. Kludd and nine other Tyto owls, including his lieutenant, Wortmore and Dustytuft's father, beheld this from where they had been perched and as the Triangle was destroyed, Wortmore inquired to whether the Pure Ones' master had known of the effect fire had on flecks and expressed caution towards challenging the group, though he was quickly cowed by the masked Tyto alba. Unwilling to accept the failure of his plan, Kludd lead his troops, who were all armed with battle claws, no matter their species, attacked the unarmed owls. However, they were surprised by Twilight's taunting and the fact that their enemies fought with fire and in the fray, four Pure Ones, including Dustytuft's father, were struck down after Ruby and Martin arrived to aid the friends. Soren managed to wedge a burning stick under Kludd's metal mask. Screaming and shrieking curses, Kludd fled into the night, his followers, reduced to five, fleeing behind him in his wake while the Guardians left with Ezylryb.

Jp cover 4

Japanese cover of The Siege, depicting the Guardians defending the Great Tree from the Pure Ones.

The Siege[]

Kludd dove into a lake to stop the molten mask from melting his face off, and was discovered by the Glauxian Brother Simon, whom Kludd murdered upon his recovery. He returned to the majority of his forces, and they began to assemble an army of hireclaws to besiege the Great Ga'Hoole Tree. The Rogue Smith of Silverveil was assigned to make Kludd a new mask, but she betrayed them upon doing so, escaping to alert the Great Ga’Hoole Tree of the oncoming siege through Mist.

Meanwhile, the spies at St. Aegolius fail to remain undercover and are discovered by the academy’s leaders, when some Pure Ones defect to the other side. However, they don't know why the Pure Ones are placing flecks in unhatched eggs’ nests (an effect which leads to shattering). A spy named Otulissa from a third party, the Guardians of Ga’Hoole, gives the academy false information regarding flecks. As part of their plan to escape the St. Aegolius Canyons, Otulissa and her comrades instigated a skirmish between the turnfeathers and Pure Ones by exposing one of the traitors, who was swiftly and savagely killed by a Kludd loyalist, beginning the battle.

Kludd's army was assembled on Cape Glaux and besieged the Great Tree with their mercenary reinforcements. Around this time, the Pure Ones were somehow able to come into contact with the Ga'Hoology ryb Dewlap, who Kludd was able to suborn to his will, using her fanatical commitment to the health of the Great Tree to brainwash her into becoming his spy by passing information to the Pure Ones. After a period of time, a section of the defense fell, but the Pure Ones were then caught in a pincer movement. Defeat for the Pure Ones was ensured when the extremely dangerous flying snake Slynella arrived on the battlefield on the side of the Guardians, forcing a retreat.

The Shattering[]

After the failed attempt to seize the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, the Pure Ones gathered their strength once again, but this time they launched an invasion against St. Aggie's that was led by Kludd with the aid of their remaining agents.

05 the shattering jpnotext

Eglantine and Primrose flying through the fire and away from the crowning tree.

Meanwhile, his mate, Nyra, undertook a covert mission involving the infiltration of the Great Tree in the pursuit for the knowledge of higher magnetics. During the siege, a slipgizzle named Ginger was placed in the tree, pretending to be a defecting Pure One. Through Ginger, Nyra was able to shatter her sister-in-law Eglantine and manipulate her into bringing back bits of information about flecks in a hollow located in the Beaks, including pages detailing how to create more. After their plan to shatter Eglantine failed, with the Sacred Orb being smashed, they managed to conquer St. Aggie's and gained control of the massive fleck stores there, as well as recruited many of the St. Aegolius thugs to their ranks as shock troops and minor soldiers.

The Burning[]

The Pure Ones set up camp in the St. Aegolius Canyons and enforced their position using Devil's Triangles. The Guardians launched a massive counterattack in the form of an invasion, planned by the Spotted Owl Otulissa. With help from the Kielian League, the Guardians practically decimated the Pure One's ranks and set fire to the canyons, destroying the flecks and their power. During a cave battle, the High Tyto Kludd was killed by Twilight, which was a devastating blow to the Pure Ones. In the battle's aftermath, Nyra managed to survive and mourned her deceased mate, Kludd, as their son hatched from their egg a few days after the battle.

Hatchling Eyecatcher

Nyroc, son of Kludd and Nyra, watching his father's bones being burned in a Pure One special ceremony.

The Hatchling[]

Several remnants of the Pure Ones resided at St. Aegolius's canyons after the Battle of Fire and Ice. Nyra's son, Nyroc, was planned to be the next supreme emperor of the Tytonic Union and she and her small rabble of holdouts henceforth beheld Nyroc's continues achievements, including Nyroc's performance of the 'Hail Kludd' flight, which he performed before Nyra and her circle of lieutenants, along with the mass of soldiers and new recruits, the latter of whom, though they showed despair at the elders praise, sycophantically echoed words of amazement at Nyroc's skill. With the exception of his best friend, as Greater Sooty named Dustytuft, Nyroc lived an early life that was untouched by friendship with any owls close to his own age, since most of the recruits bitterly resented his perfection and henceforth shunned him. But as time passed, Nyroc rejected the ways of the Pure Ones and fled.

The Outcast[]

In the months following the desertion of their prince, the Pure Ones began regathering themselves, calling back scattered troops and amassing new followers under a banner that was answered by a flocking of hireclaws and Rogue Smiths. The Pure Ones even restarted the St. Aegolius eggorium program, snatching eggs and young owlets from nests in the Borderlands to be raised among them, either as Tyto soldiers or non-Tyto slaves. Though undoubtably growing, the Pure Ones also suffered a loss in the form of the defection of one of their best lieutenants - Uglamore - who had defected in the wake of Nyroc's desertion to become an owl hunted by Pure Ones and Guardians alike.

The Golden Tree[]

Nyra allied herself with the vyrrwolves, former dire wolves of the MacHeath Clan led by Dunleavy MacHeath who had transformed themselves by drinking water from the transformation pools of the Tunnel of Despair. Stryker managed to gain possession of The Book of Kreeth from Trader Mags under the alias of an old soldier by orders from Nyra, who hoped to use the ashes of her dead mate Kludd, the book, and the water in the Tunnel to recreate her son as a hagsfiend in the Canyonlands, where Nyra and her new and old forces had made their headquarters. In the dark caves, Nyra held a gathering of her force of vyrrwolves and Pure Ones, declaring how the ceremony would gain them the Ember to the collection of wolves and owls, including Stryker, who questioned Nyra's claim of feeling a kinship with the hagsfiend Kreeth, but quickly fell back into line when Nyra inquired fiercely if his loyalty was growing insufficient. During this time, Nyra had also begun demanding various elaborate gestures inspired from the codes of the dire wolves from her followers.

The plan failed when the Pure Ones and their allies were attacked by a group of owls from the Great Tree led by Coryn, and a group of dire wolves led by Hamish and Gyllbane and consisting of wolves from the MacDuncan, McFang and MacNamara Clans. Caught by surprise as Coryn and the Band struck suddenly, while MacHeath and his wolves howled, the Pure Ones added their screeches to the din and flew for their battle claws. As Nyra mortally wounded Twilight, then battled her son, Stryker, Gebbles, Spyke and the other Pure Ones joined the MacHeaths in battle with Coryn's coalition. The arrival of Brunwella Plonk and Doc Finebeak, however, swayed the battle at a crucial point and all of the vyrwolves were killed, when the remaining Pure Ones forced to flee, abandoning the Tunnel of Despair. During the battle, Nyra lost The Book of Kreeth to the Guardians and somehow escaped.

By this time, the surviving forces of the original Pure Ones had deteriorated till only Nyra and four others (Stryker, Gebbles, Wortmore and Spyke) remained of the Pure Ones survivors. As for the other remnants of the Pure Ones, those that had survived had mostly either fled to the Northern Kingdoms, where they hoped to find sanctuary, vanished into Beyond the Beyond or even simply abandoned the whole idea of Tyto purity and hoped to start anew, the memories of their Pure One lives behind them. Despite this, Nyra was also able to strengthen the Union with new recruits, including an elderly Whiskered Screech named Ifghar (the brother of Ezylyrb) and his Kielian snake Gragg, who Nyra had permitted to join her ranks only for their knowledge of warfare.

The River of Wind[]

Nyra traveled with a slink melf composed of the elite of what few soldiers she had left to the Middle Kingdoms to assassinate Coryn and Soren. Her plan failed, and only she escaped alive into a crevice in the cave.

Exile[]

In the final chapter, after the Striga and his few followers are driven from Ga’Hoole, Coryn sees Nyra making a deal with the Striga through a fire.

The War of the Ember[]

While living in hiding in a Panqua Palace, Nyra "reawoke" the past forms of hagsfiends inside a collection of dragon owls that had become restless in the wake of Orlando's flight and converted a number of the Palace's blue owl servants, amassing a small army. She created an alliance with the Striga. However, these are killed, along with the hagsfiend eggs, by the wolves of the Beyond. In the final moments of the battle, Nyra is fatally wounded by Soren with an ice splinter, and later burned up by lava despite the efforts of the Striga to save her. Enraged, the Striga slices off Coryn's port wing, only to be brutally decapitated by Soren, who was wearing Ezylryb's battle claws. Coryn then dies of blood loss and ascends to glaumora, leaving no more known Pure Ones confirmed to be still living in the owl kingdoms.

Members[]

Pure Ones' Army[]

Blue Brigade[]

Defected Members[]

Quotes[]

"They called themselves the Pure Ones and, at first, they seemed kind. They wanted to teach us to worship Tytos because they said we were the purest of the pure of all owls, and that is why we spoke the praising songs. But it wasn't at all the way that Mum and Da used to read to us, Soren. No, not at all. I mean, you remember how Mum would try to hum a little tune and almost sing. We could not do that. They wanted nothing to do with music. They thought music was like poison."
- Eglantine, The Rescue, page 138

Trivia[]

  • The Pure Ones and their political and racial ideology, hierarchy and supremacy is almost if not exactly identical to that of the Death Eaters from the Harry Potter franchise, which are both extremely likely to be allegorical of Nazi Germany.
    • All three groups are concern about "Racial Blood Purity" and the creation of a singular "Core Master Race" which has the power and rights to dominate all other races that they view as sub-species, unworthy or weak. The Pure Ones and their leaders Metal Beak/Kludd and Nyra desire to create a wholly Tytonic/Tytonidae world of Owls just as how the Death Eaters and their leader Tom Marvolo Riddle or Lord Voldemort desire to create a world of Pure-Blood Wizards, and is similar to the Nazis and their leaders Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, and Heinrich Himmler to build a Master Race of Pure Blood Nordic Aryan Germans to rule over Europe and exterminate or enslave the rest of the other races of the world.
    • Also, all three groups seem to use or employ falsified facts, lies, cheating/unfair methods to win at all cost, propaganda and intimidation, blood purity, racial supremacy, racism, and hatred in order to gain allies and eliminate their enemies.
  • Bay Owls never appear in the Pure Ones' armies, even though they are in the Tytonidae family as well. There is a possibility they are not common in the known Owl Kingdoms, since they don't appear as a character in any book. Interestingly though, Bay Owls are mentioned in The Capture, when Soren mentions them to Jatt along with Sooty, Masked, Grass, and Barn Owls as owls that he saw in Tyto.
    • However, the Pure Ones may not have accepted Bay Owls because though they are of the Tytonidae family, they do not share the same genus. Barn, Masked, Grass, and Sooty Owls are part of the Tyto genus, whereas Bay Owls occupy the Phodilus genus.[1] They also have very different face shapes compared to other Tytonidae owls, which could potentially play a part in the Pure One's opinion of the species.
  • Ironically, Nyra, the leader of the Pure Ones, wasn't even a Tyto, but a hagsfiend.
  • The full name of the Pure Ones, the Tytonic Union of Pure Ones, shares similar characteristics of the Soviet Union's full name, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR); having five words, using the word "Union", and using their political party name.
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