Variable for comment text when failing captcha?

The default theme works but the piano-black one I’m using is obsessed with ********* the comment form. Been staring at the two comments.php for hours now trying to figure this thing out. It seems completely unoutfigurable… or something.
Here’s the code for my comments.php that isn’t working properly (from the piano-black theme, clears the comment on failed captcha):

<div id="comments">

<?php
	if (!empty($_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME']) && 'comments.php' == basename($_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME']))
		die ('Please do not load this page directly. Thanks!');
if (function_exists('post_password_required'))
	{
	if ( post_password_required() )
		{
		echo '<div class="nocomments"><p>';_e('This post is password protected. Enter the password to view comments.','piano-black'); echo '</p></div></div>';
		return;
		}
	} else
	{
	if (!empty($post->post_password))
		{ // if there's a password
			if ($_COOKIE['wp-postpass_' . COOKIEHASH] != $post->post_password)
			{  // and it doesn't match the cookie  ?>
				<div class="nocomments"><p><?php _e('This post is password protected. Enter the password to view comments.','piano-black'); ?></p></div></div>
				<?php return;
			}
		}
	}
?>

<?php  //custom comments function by mg12 - http://www.neoease.com/  ?>

<?php
       if (function_exists('wp_list_comments')) { $trackbacks = $comments_by_type['pings']; }
       else { $trackbacks = $wpdb->get_results($wpdb->prepare("SELECT * FROM $wpdb->comments WHERE comment_post_ID = %d AND comment_approved = '1' AND (comment_type = 'pingback' OR comment_type = 'trackback') ORDER BY comment_date", $post->ID)); }
?>

<?php if ($comments || comments_open()) ://if there is comment and comment is open ?>

 <div id="comment-header">
  <ul id="comment-header-top" class="clearfix">
   <li id="comment-feed"><a href="<?php bloginfo('comments_rss2_url'); ?>" title="<?php _e('Comments RSS','piano-black'); ?>"></a></li>
   <li id="comment-title"><?php the_title(); ?></li>
  </ul>
  <div id="comment-header-bottom" class="clearfix">
   <ul class="switch">
<?php if(pings_open()) ://if trackback is open ?>
    <li id="comment-switch" class="active"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="MGJS.switchTab('comment-list', 'trackback-list', 'comment-switch', 'active', 'trackback-switch', 'non-active');"><?php _e('Comments','piano-black'); ?><?php echo (' ( ' . (count($comments)-count($trackbacks)) . ' )'); ?></a></li>
    <li id="trackback-switch" class="non-active"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="MGJS.switchTab('trackback-list', 'comment-list', 'trackback-switch', 'active', 'comment-switch', 'non-active');"><?php _e('Trackbacks','piano-black'); ?><?php echo (' ( ' . count($trackbacks) . ' )'); ?></a></li>
<?php else ://if comment is closed,show onky number ?>
    <li><?php _e('Comments', 'piano-black'); echo (' (' . (count($comments)-count($trackbacks)) . ')'); ?></li>
    <li id="trackback-closed"><?php _e('Trackbacks are closed.','piano-black'); ?></li>
<?php endif; ?>
   </ul>
<?php if(comments_open()) ://if comment is open ?>
   <a href="#respond" id="add-comment"><?php _e('Write comment','piano-black'); ?></a>
<?php endif; ?>

<?php if(pings_open()) ://if trackback is open ?>

<?php endif; ?>
  </div><!-- comment-header-bottom END -->
 </div><!-- comment-header END -->

<div id="comment-list">
<!-- start commnet -->
<ol class="commentlist">
	<?php
		if ($comments && count($comments) - count($trackbacks) > 0) {
			// for WordPress 2.7 or higher
			if (function_exists('wp_list_comments')) {
				wp_list_comments('type=comment&callback=custom_comments');
			// for WordPress 2.6.3 or lower
			} else {
				foreach ($comments as $comment) {
					if($comment->comment_type != 'pingback' && $comment->comment_type != 'trackback') {
						custom_comments($comment, null, null);
					}
				}
			}
		} else {
	?>
<li class="comment"><p><?php _e('No comments yet.','piano-black'); ?></p></li>
	<?php
		}
	?>
</ol>
<!-- comments END -->

<?php //if you select comment pager from comment option
	if (get_option('page_comments')) {
		$comment_pages = paginate_comments_links('echo=0');
		if ($comment_pages) {
?>

<div class="page-navi clearfix" id="comment-pager">
 <?php echo $comment_pages; ?>
</div>

<?php } } ?>

</div><!-- #comment-list END -->

<div id="trackback-list">
<!-- start trackback -->
<?php if (pings_open()) ://id trackback is open ?>

<div id="trackback-url">
<label for="trackback_url"><?php _e('TrackBack URL' , 'piano-black'); ?></label>
<input type="text" name="trackback_url" id="trackback_url" size="60" value="<?php trackback_url() ?>" readonly="readonly" onfocus="this.select()" />
</div>

<ol class="commentlist">

<?php if ($trackbacks) : $trackbackcount = 0; ?>

<?php foreach ($trackbacks as $comment) : ?>
<li class="comment">
 <div class="trackback-time">
  <?php echo get_comment_time(__('F jS, Y', 'piano-black')) ?>
  <?php edit_comment_link(__('[ EDIT ]', 'piano-black'), '', ''); ?>
 </div>
 <div class="trackback-title">
  <?php _e('Trackback from : ' , 'piano-black'); ?><a href="<?php comment_author_url() ?>"><?php comment_author(); ?></a>
 </div>
</li>
<?php endforeach; ?>

<?php else : ?>
<li class="comment"><p><?php _e('No trackbacks yet.','piano-black'); ?></p></li>
<?php endif; ?>
</ol>
<?php endif; ?>
<!-- trackback end -->
</div><!-- #trackbacklist END -->

<?php endif;//comment is open ?>

<?php if (!comments_open()) : // if comment are closed ?>

<div class="comment-closed" id="respond">
<?php _e('Comments are closed.','piano-black'); ?>
</div>

<a href="#pngfix-right" id="back-top"><?php _e('Return top','piano-black'); ?></a>

<?php elseif ( get_option('comment_registration') && !$user_ID ) : // If registration required and not logged in. ?>

<div class="comment-form-area" id="respond">
 <?php if (function_exists('wp_login_url'))
        { $login_link = wp_login_url();  }
       else
        { $login_link = get_option('siteurl') . '/wp-login.php?redirect_to=' . urlencode(get_permalink()); }
 ?>
<?php printf(__('You must be <a href="%s">logged in</a> to post a comment.', 'piano-black'), $login_link); ?>
</div>

<?php else ://if comment is open ?>

<div class="comment-form-area" id="respond">

<?php if (function_exists('comment_reply_link')) { ?>
<div id="cancel-comment-reply"><?php cancel_comment_reply_link() ?></div>
<?php } ?>

<form action="<?php echo get_option('siteurl'); ?>/wp-comments-post.php" method="post" id="commentform">

<?php if ( $user_ID ) : ?>
<div id="comment-user-login">
<?php if (function_exists('wp_logout_url')) { ?>
<p><?php printf(__('Logged in as <a href="%1$s">%2$s</a>.', 'piano-black'), get_option('siteurl') . '/wp-admin/profile.php', $user_identity); ?><span><a href="<?php echo wp_logout_url(get_permalink()); ?>" title="<?php _e('Log out of this account', 'piano-black'); ?>"><?php _e('Log out', 'piano-black'); ?></a></span></p>
<?php } else { ?>
<p><?php printf(__('Logged in as <a href="%1$s">%2$s</a>.', 'piano-black'), get_option('siteurl') . '/wp-admin/profile.php', $user_identity); ?><span><a href="<?php echo get_option('siteurl'); ?>/wp-login.php?action=logout" title="<?php _e('Log out of this account', 'piano-black'); ?>"><?php _e('Log out', 'piano-black'); ?></a></span></p>
<?php } ?>
</div><!-- #comment-user-login END -->
<?php else : ?>
<div id="guest-info">
 <div id="guest-name"><label for="author"><span><?php _e('NAME','piano-black'); ?></span><?php if ($req) _e('( required )', 'piano-black'); ?></label><input type="text" name="author" id="author" value="<?php echo $comment_author; ?>" size="22" tabindex="1" <?php if ($req) echo "aria-required='true'"; ?> /></div>
 <div id="guest-email"><label for="email"><span><?php _e('E-MAIL','piano-black'); ?></span><?php if ($req) _e('( required )', 'piano-black'); ?> <?php _e('- will not be published -','piano-black'); ?></label><input type="text" name="email" id="email" value="<?php echo $comment_author_email; ?>" size="22" tabindex="2" <?php if ($req) echo "aria-required='true'"; ?> /></div>
 <div id="guest-url"><label for="url"><span><?php _e('URL','piano-black'); ?></span></label><input type="text" name="url" id="url" value="<?php echo $comment_author_url; ?>" size="22" tabindex="3" /></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 10px;">
<?php do_action('comment_form', $post->ID); ?>
</div>
<?php endif; ?>

<div id="comment-textarea">
 <textarea name="comment" id="comment" cols="50" rows="10" tabindex="5"></textarea>
</div>

<div id="comment-submit-area">
 <input name="submit" type="submit" id="comment-submit" class="button" tabindex="6" value="<?php _e('Submit Comment', 'piano-black'); ?>" title="<?php _e('Submit Comment', 'piano-black'); ?>" alt="<?php _e('Submit Comment', 'piano-black'); ?>" />
</div>

<div id="input_hidden_field">
<?php if (function_exists('comment_id_fields')) { ?>
<?php comment_id_fields(); ?>
<?php } else { ?>
<input type="hidden" name="comment_post_ID" value="<?php echo $id; ?>" />
<?php } ?>
</div>
</form>
</div><!-- #comment-form-area END -->

<a href="#pngfix-right" id="back-top"><?php _e('Return top','piano-black'); ?></a>

<?php endif; ?>
</div><!-- #comment END-->