STAR WARS LEGACY – THE HIDDEN TEMPLE (PARTS 1 & 2)
October 20th 2008 21:34
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
“The Jedi are relentless. If they are not all destroyed it will be civil war without end…”
Darth Sidious to his new apprentice Darth Vader. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
“…now the Jedi are all but extinct.”
Obi Wan Kenobi to Luke Skywalker, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics.
Production Team: John Ostrander – script, Jan Duursema – art, Dan Parsons – inks, Brad Anderson – colours, Michael Heisler – letters, Sean Cooke & Omar Francia – cover art.
Cost: AU $7.95/US $2.99
There have been times when the Jedi Order has been shattered and fragmented, when their enemies the Sith and the government of the day actively hunted them down, when the people of the various worlds of the known galaxy held them if not in contempt then at least as relics of a long forgotten age and a misguided mysticism that has no place in the modern era. Since the end of the Clone Wars and the issuing of Order 66 it seems that these times have beset the Jedi for more often than not, yet somehow they always manage to come back, to re emerge from the darkness and keep alight the flames of hope in a time of darkness. Yet it seems that in this particular time, in the aftermath of the Massacre of Ossus and the Sith-Imperial War the Jedi light has finally faded from the galaxy and their ancient foes can at last reign unhindered and unhampered by Jedi interference.
Cade Skywalker has made a jaunt to the moons of Iego to catch up with some old acquaintances in particular the shipbuilder and mechanic Bantha Rawk, a legend in the field of such endeavours and a man of some mystery to the galaxy at large. Cade has made his way here after having escaped the clutches of the new dark lord of the Sith, Darth Krayt and is seeking to enjoy some quite time as well as repair his ship the Mynock and pick up a new custom designed blaster from Bantha. Unfortunately the holiday atmosphere is completely ruined by Darth Krayt’s galaxy wide broadcast execution of Mon Calamari as a result of the debacle involving the GACF’s theft of a prototype star destroyer from the orbital shipyards.
It is whilst viewing this atrocity occurring live on the Inter galactic Holonet that Cade comes to realise that something has to be done and done swiftly if there is to be any galaxy left for the everyday ordinary sentients who just want to get on with their lives. Of course he’s going off half cocked, a fact that Bantha succinctly points out to him. Still there as he replies who can he rely on, he trusts Bantha, after all the old guy is his actually his uncle Nate Skywalker but there are only a few of that illustrious family and not enough to take on the entire Sith order, although both Luke and Anakin, the founders of the Skywalker legacy, were able to affect the galaxy on grand scale via their own individual deeds, perhaps Cade is capable of pulling off something similar.
Despite this, his legendary inheritance, he and Nate aren’t quite so sure. Cade knows he needs allies of some kind but who in the galaxy can he trust? He doesn’t trust the Empire, Roan Fel and the Imperial Knights and he isn’t too sure about Admiral Gar Stazi who leads the Galactic Alliance Core Forces (GACF). So that leaves who? As far as he knows the Jedi are too scattered and too few to be of any significant assistance, though Bantha mentions that this isn’t quite true. Common belief in the galaxy at large is that the Jedi are almost inconsequential in galactic affairs as things stand, but they have been in this situation countless times before from the dark days of the Jedi Civil War to the invasion of the Yuuzhan Vong a century ago.
As they have done in such dark and perilous times the Jedi have taken steps to prevent their complete and total annihilation, Bantha himself was instrumental in building a hidden Jedi Temple some where in the Outer Rim territories to which the Jedi could retreat re gather and contemplate what should be done. He believes that the Jedi can help Cade in his objective and his willing to guide Cade and his crew to the hidden temple and the Jedi masters in charge of this sanctuary. So with Azlyn Rae, a former padawan whom Cade knew from his days in the temple on Coruscant and the academy on Ossus, Bantha and the crew of the Mynock leave behind the moons of Iego for this bastion of the light side of the force.
All though is not quite as it seems, the Imperial Knights end up crashing the party led by none other than Princess Marisiah Fel, daughter of Roan Fel. It seems that the Emperor seeks an alliance with the surviving Jedi just as he has managed to gain some degree of détente with Admiral Stazi, can he achieve similar with the Jedi Order? Certainly the chief masters who in charge of the temple, Masters T’ra Saa, K’Kruhk and Tili Qua. Two of these three masters are survivors of the Clone Wars, both T’ra Saa and K’Kruhk were once contemporaries of the likes of Masters Yoda, Kenobi and Mace Windu, as well as the man once known as A’sharad Hett. These are the three that Cade must convince with his scheme to remove Darth Krayt from the equation and hopefully cause the Sith Order to fragment in on itself.
Essentially the plan is for a Jedi strike team to infiltrate the Sith Temple on Coruscant and take out the dark lord who is beset by a terrible illness, namely the fact that he is being devoured by the various Yuuzhan Vong implants that they implanted in him a century ago at the height of their invasion of the galaxy. He has wielded the Sith into a potent order, one as potent as the Sith of ancient days, although he has no successor, no heir from amongst the ranks of his minions although there are many who would covet such a position. This flaw coupled with Krayt’s debilitating illness is all that the Jedi need to make their move and hopefully put an end to the dominion of the New Sith order, at least its how Cade views things.
There are those amongst the order, namely Cade’s old Jedi comrade Shado and his former master Wolf Sazen, who feel that their former comrade is skirting close to the dark side with his plan. After deliberating the various matters placed before them the council decides that negotiations with Emperor Roan Fel will be opened, but as for Cade’s plan to eliminate Darth Krayt they find it fraught with danger, as Master Saa points out Jedi do not defeat their enemies by becoming like them. Strangely this is precisely a similar viewpoint that has been echoed by Jedi councils in ages past, during the Mandalorian Wars they urged Revan not to join the conflict and take other Jedi into battle with him, the Clone Wars their was similar misgivings by the Jedi council. Interestingly though in the Great Hyperspace War their was no such misgivings, Jedi fought side by side with the Republic as they also did in the Sith War started by Exar Kun.
So just like Revan going to war against the Mandalorians Cade Skywalker opts to follow through on his plan with his crew and some unlike allies, Azlyn Rae, his old friend Shado and the Imperial Knights led by Princess Marisiah Fel. Its an interesting combination and one wonders if Cade and his team are doomed to repeat what happened to Darth Revan and his apprentice Darth Malak, after all the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Reading these two issues I could sense the similarity between what was occurring in the comics and the situations that take place in the computer game KOTOR II: The Sith Lords, in both case the Jedi Order has effectively gone into hiding and even though they are still capable of action they have become locked into the stasis of prevarication, not a good situation to be in especially in light of what happens in KOTOR II, where the surviving Jedi masters are promptly killed by their foes.
The other thing to consider is the impending emergence of Vector into the Legacy era, which is likely to put an entirely different and possibly catastrophic slant on events within the galaxy. All in should prove to be very interesting to have this thrown into the Legacy mix, as the entire premise behind the Vector storyline is to significantly bring about changes within the various Star Wars storylines that Dark Horse has been working with. So just when you think that they have ratcheted up the thrill and action levels within Legacy chance are the next instalment is going to push it even further outside the envelope.
Darth Sidious to his new apprentice Darth Vader. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
“…now the Jedi are all but extinct.”
Obi Wan Kenobi to Luke Skywalker, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics.
Production Team: John Ostrander – script, Jan Duursema – art, Dan Parsons – inks, Brad Anderson – colours, Michael Heisler – letters, Sean Cooke & Omar Francia – cover art.
Cost: AU $7.95/US $2.99
There have been times when the Jedi Order has been shattered and fragmented, when their enemies the Sith and the government of the day actively hunted them down, when the people of the various worlds of the known galaxy held them if not in contempt then at least as relics of a long forgotten age and a misguided mysticism that has no place in the modern era. Since the end of the Clone Wars and the issuing of Order 66 it seems that these times have beset the Jedi for more often than not, yet somehow they always manage to come back, to re emerge from the darkness and keep alight the flames of hope in a time of darkness. Yet it seems that in this particular time, in the aftermath of the Massacre of Ossus and the Sith-Imperial War the Jedi light has finally faded from the galaxy and their ancient foes can at last reign unhindered and unhampered by Jedi interference.
Despite this, his legendary inheritance, he and Nate aren’t quite so sure. Cade knows he needs allies of some kind but who in the galaxy can he trust? He doesn’t trust the Empire, Roan Fel and the Imperial Knights and he isn’t too sure about Admiral Gar Stazi who leads the Galactic Alliance Core Forces (GACF). So that leaves who? As far as he knows the Jedi are too scattered and too few to be of any significant assistance, though Bantha mentions that this isn’t quite true. Common belief in the galaxy at large is that the Jedi are almost inconsequential in galactic affairs as things stand, but they have been in this situation countless times before from the dark days of the Jedi Civil War to the invasion of the Yuuzhan Vong a century ago.
As they have done in such dark and perilous times the Jedi have taken steps to prevent their complete and total annihilation, Bantha himself was instrumental in building a hidden Jedi Temple some where in the Outer Rim territories to which the Jedi could retreat re gather and contemplate what should be done. He believes that the Jedi can help Cade in his objective and his willing to guide Cade and his crew to the hidden temple and the Jedi masters in charge of this sanctuary. So with Azlyn Rae, a former padawan whom Cade knew from his days in the temple on Coruscant and the academy on Ossus, Bantha and the crew of the Mynock leave behind the moons of Iego for this bastion of the light side of the force.
All though is not quite as it seems, the Imperial Knights end up crashing the party led by none other than Princess Marisiah Fel, daughter of Roan Fel. It seems that the Emperor seeks an alliance with the surviving Jedi just as he has managed to gain some degree of détente with Admiral Stazi, can he achieve similar with the Jedi Order? Certainly the chief masters who in charge of the temple, Masters T’ra Saa, K’Kruhk and Tili Qua. Two of these three masters are survivors of the Clone Wars, both T’ra Saa and K’Kruhk were once contemporaries of the likes of Masters Yoda, Kenobi and Mace Windu, as well as the man once known as A’sharad Hett. These are the three that Cade must convince with his scheme to remove Darth Krayt from the equation and hopefully cause the Sith Order to fragment in on itself.
Essentially the plan is for a Jedi strike team to infiltrate the Sith Temple on Coruscant and take out the dark lord who is beset by a terrible illness, namely the fact that he is being devoured by the various Yuuzhan Vong implants that they implanted in him a century ago at the height of their invasion of the galaxy. He has wielded the Sith into a potent order, one as potent as the Sith of ancient days, although he has no successor, no heir from amongst the ranks of his minions although there are many who would covet such a position. This flaw coupled with Krayt’s debilitating illness is all that the Jedi need to make their move and hopefully put an end to the dominion of the New Sith order, at least its how Cade views things.
There are those amongst the order, namely Cade’s old Jedi comrade Shado and his former master Wolf Sazen, who feel that their former comrade is skirting close to the dark side with his plan. After deliberating the various matters placed before them the council decides that negotiations with Emperor Roan Fel will be opened, but as for Cade’s plan to eliminate Darth Krayt they find it fraught with danger, as Master Saa points out Jedi do not defeat their enemies by becoming like them. Strangely this is precisely a similar viewpoint that has been echoed by Jedi councils in ages past, during the Mandalorian Wars they urged Revan not to join the conflict and take other Jedi into battle with him, the Clone Wars their was similar misgivings by the Jedi council. Interestingly though in the Great Hyperspace War their was no such misgivings, Jedi fought side by side with the Republic as they also did in the Sith War started by Exar Kun.
So just like Revan going to war against the Mandalorians Cade Skywalker opts to follow through on his plan with his crew and some unlike allies, Azlyn Rae, his old friend Shado and the Imperial Knights led by Princess Marisiah Fel. Its an interesting combination and one wonders if Cade and his team are doomed to repeat what happened to Darth Revan and his apprentice Darth Malak, after all the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Reading these two issues I could sense the similarity between what was occurring in the comics and the situations that take place in the computer game KOTOR II: The Sith Lords, in both case the Jedi Order has effectively gone into hiding and even though they are still capable of action they have become locked into the stasis of prevarication, not a good situation to be in especially in light of what happens in KOTOR II, where the surviving Jedi masters are promptly killed by their foes.
The other thing to consider is the impending emergence of Vector into the Legacy era, which is likely to put an entirely different and possibly catastrophic slant on events within the galaxy. All in should prove to be very interesting to have this thrown into the Legacy mix, as the entire premise behind the Vector storyline is to significantly bring about changes within the various Star Wars storylines that Dark Horse has been working with. So just when you think that they have ratcheted up the thrill and action levels within Legacy chance are the next instalment is going to push it even further outside the envelope.
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