Lit Chronological Journey Through the EU: Disc. Tales of the Jedi: The Golden Age of the Sith 2

Sith Powers ? George R. Strayton
3,998 BBY

*So, in this chapter, Ood Bnar decides to teach us about the Sith. To try to keep it a secret would only encourage us, he says, to investigate on our own which could be disastrous.

*So, this is basically an in-universe history of the Sith, from the perspective of the Jedi.

*It is also filled with mis-information. For instance, we are told here that the Sith retained their societal structure until the arrival of ?a fallen Jedi,? who then ?dominated the Sith people . . . turned them into unwilling thralls . . . proclaimed himself the Dark Lord of the Sith.?

*Now, obviously, as most records now indicate, it was actually an entire group of Dark Jedi, probably a pretty large group, that arrived in Sith country after the Hundred Year Darkness.

*So, is this an attempt by Ood Bnar to smooth over the role the Jedi played in unleashing all these Dark Jedi on the Sith? It could play that way. Or just as a straight up error.

*So, there?s this whole section on How Holocrons Work. I still don?t get it.

*So, there?s a whole section about Sith Talismans and all the different powers you can get from them.

*Get this, from the Ensnarement section: ?Devices of this nature appear to function exactly as talismans of concentration. This particular version, however, has one added ability: it can immediately turn the wielder to the Dark Side.?

*I ask again why exactly it was so hard for Palps to turn Luke to the Dark Side. We?ve already discovered that he could have just injected him with Sith Poison, cut him with Sith Glass, etc. Now we see that if he could have tricked Luke into putting on a Sith Necklace that he would have ?immediately? fallen to the Dark Side, no matter what he wanted to do.

*I swear to God, this just infuriates me. I mean, are the people who come up with this crap idiots? They never saw the movies? What? I mean, it?s not like falling to the Dark Side is hard to understand? You give in to your baser emotions and that leads you there. It?s got **** all to do with frigging poisons or necklaces or whatever. I mean, God, this is about as bad as midichlorians when it comes to just cheapening a powerful spiritual concept.

*I actually kind of dig this detail, namely that some of the Sith Amulets are literally indestructible. Some of them, the book says, were created so that the only way to destroy them is by using the Dark Side, so the Jedi are basically unable to destroy them.

*So, then there?s a three page story about a Jedi, Vara Nreem, who rouses the Sith spirits in an ancient Sith temple in order to learn from them. She gets more than she bargained for however and gets sucked into ?torment for eternity.? I believe this story has been reprinted on Hyperspace as A Tale from the Dark Side.

*It?s about good enough for Hyperspace, if you get my drift.

*So, then we get the RPG stats on a bunch of Sith powers and the chapter ends.

*As I said, it?s an in-universe text on the Sith, from the perspective of the Jedi. That makes it sound way more awesome than it actually is. Well, whatever.

** out of **** stars.

*Next time, we?ll make some time as we look at the next six chapters of the Tales of the Jedi Companion all in one go! Be here for that

 

I mean, yeah, I get the whole 'addictive' aspect to the dark side, but some of the stuff in the TOTJ-related material just totally took it and ran with it to a ridiculous degree. You've captured the argument here brilliantly!

 

I seriously started frequenting these boards due to your hilarious rendering of the EU. I really can't wait to read your take on The Crystal Star

 

Isn't this basically what happened with Luke in Dark Empire, though? I mean, he was never angry or anything, and he clearly didn't want to hurt Leia toward the end but he was possessed or whatever. I think Palpatine cut him with Sith glass after his failed attempt to destroy all the cloning tanks.

 

I've always liked the more alchemical stuff myself. I think its effectiveness primarily comes down to how it's actually presented.

If it's presented as a "magic potion" then, yeah, I hate it: this isn't Dungeons & Dragons; a magic spell shouldn't alter free will and choice.

If it's just presented as "tainted" though then I'm perfectly fine with it -- things being strong in the dark side have been around since the cave in ESB. Like Yoda did say though, you need to be willing to be seduced for it to work, "only what you take with you" and all that, so I admit the phrasing of some of the TotJ stuff is a bit over the top, as they make it sound like "Drinking gives +10 to Chaotic Evil".

I generally don't feel the object can turn you, but it can serve as a catalyst to bring about your turn.

i.e. it seduces you like a drug, swamping you with the power of the dark side even when you don't want it (sometimes blocking out the light), thereby making you more likely to give into the temptation it's offering you.

So essentially "liquid dark side" -- or "Korriban in a tube" if you prefer, whereby if Ulic wasn't going to go to Korriban, then the Ketos would bring a little bit of Korriban to Ulic (as opposed to Exar Kun, who Nadd was able to trick into going to Yavin IV).

 

Put that way, Zor, I may not have such a problem with it. IE, it only greases the wheels, so to speak- sort of like the tragedy of losing his mother greased the wheels to make Anakin take a huge slide towards the dark side in AOTC, and his fear of losing Padme likewise did the same.

As long as the choice still belongs to you, then it's not really that bad.

 

We see this in the Clone Wars: TV series. Savage Opress goes from a fairly honorable Proud Warrior Race (thank you TV tropes) guy into Darth Maul 2.0. We also see Ahsoka Tano go from the Teenybopper Jedi Padawan she is into DARTH TEENYBOPPER thanks to Son's influence.

In each of those cases, the corruption wasn't really all that "set" in. It was just a form of brainwashing.

Likewise, the Sith poison of Ulic struck me as only a type of Sith cocaine/PCP. It made Ulic a gigantic jerk with no fear and angry all the time but it didn't make him EVIL - that required manipulation.

 

Welcome to our new posters! Lots of comments on that last one.

Tales of the Jedi Companion, Chapters 6 ? 12 ? George R. Strayton
3,998 BBY

*So, we?ll go ahead and make some real time now.

*Chapter Six is all about Neutrals: criminals, droids, explorers, etc. Basically anyone who isn?t a Jedi or a Sith.

*The chapter includes sample profiles of people like Minister of Defense Netius and Grimorg, a Weequay thug employed by Bogga the Hutt.

*God, there?s ol? Finhead Stonebone again. His profile tells us that this name is an alias. NO KIDDING?!

*Chapter Seven is about Species and it traffics in some of the most unbelievable racism imaginable.

*There?s a drawing here and the caption is: ?A Vultan scout searches the horizon for evidence of native life.? Funny thing is . . . it?s an absolute rip off of Luke?s famous binary sunset pose from ANH.

*So, there?s a section here on Miraluka, Nazzar, Vultan and Zexx.

*Here?s a great detail: ?Vultans are generally curious and friendly, although some have been known to possess a relentlessly competitive nature. They are fascinated by devices they have not before encountered, and are often willing to part with a great deal to be the first Vultan to obtain a given piece of technology.?

*So, Vultans basically = those nuts standing out in a freezing sleet storm all night so they can be first in line when the Apple store opens the next morning.

*Why, no, I don?t have an iPad yet, why do you ask?

*Chapter Eight is about Creatures. You know, Boma Beasts, Colossus Wasps, Gorm-Worms, Hssiss, Neeks . . .

*Essentially, this is the chapter you want to skip if you?re trying to convince a friend that Star Wars has literary merit.

*Hssiss. I mean, good Lord.

*Also, why would anything as big as a Colossus Wasp have evolved a frigging stinger in the first place?

*Okay, whatever . . . Chapter Nine: Vehicles and Starships.

*There?s a whole page dedicated to all the different manufacturers of starships. Complete with their logos. Akin-Dower actually has a pretty great logo.

*So, we get complete profiles on all the ships used in the TotJ series. This is really interesting. Let?s move on, shall we?

*Chapter Ten is Technology in which we spend an inordinate amount of time talking about Dehydrated Food Packs, Breath Masks and all kinds of other bizarre things.

*Chapter Eleven is Sites.

*Ood Bnar gives some really wise advice: ?As a Jedi, you may be appointed the guardian of a system or planet . . . you must come to know the system as well as you know yourself. If not, your efforts will be wasted. You cannot wait to begin your study of the system ? yes, I know, you have not yet been commissioned. So how are you to know which system to research? The answer is simple: study them all . . .?

*Okay, Master Ood, this kind of sounds like one of those snipe hunt things people are always talking about.

*So, let?s get this straight. You want me to do in-depth research on every planet and system in the galaxy? And you want me to do this so I won?t waste any efforts?!? Are you high on something?

*So, we are told that the Sith library on Arkania covered more than five square kilometers on the surface and went down underground for ?countless levels,? eventually becoming so large and labyrinthine that even the most experienced Sith Lords couldn?t locate anything.

*Okay, so I know it?s a Sith library, but still . . . Most. Awesome. Library. Ever.

*Then, finally, comes Chapter Twelve, Running a Tales of the Jedi Campaign. It?s kind of hard to read this as in-universe text, I must say.

*So, this is basically a sort of pragmatic how-to guide, with guidelines on structuring a campaign, what?s allowed, what isn?t, all that sort of thing.

*And that?s about all of that.

*I really found little of interest here. I don?t know why I read this.

* out of **** stars.

*Next time, we dip into the Tales of the Jedi Companion for the very last t

 

As for me I get these guides just for pure information on various aspects of the GFFA. Be it side characters and back stories to explanations on various pieces of technology and equipment to info on planets and star systems. Wookiepedia can only help you so much. You can find all kinds of info from everyday life to pirates and privateering to backgrounds on hundreds of different creatures and species hardly mentioned or used in other EU products.

Basically they are a treasure trove of info. Sure some of the info is a little obsolete but I would only put that at maybe 5-10%. Their is just so much stuff to find out that that is probably these reason it is not used by more authors.....information overload.

 

I remember feeling vaguely disappointed by this. We've got guys named Greedo, Sly Snootles, and Sleezebaggano.

I think Finhead Stonebone is perfectly acceptable as a name.

I also like the subtle fact that Oss William is not remotely like his species stereotype. It's like meeting an Ithorian trucker.

Obviously because the planet is just times X larger than our own with X larger people and animals. IT COULD HAPPEN!

To be fair, the dude is 2,000 years old. It's quite possible he did. Also, this is the Old Republic, it's not like researching 20,000 planets or so wouldn't be impossible. We Star Wars fans have probably charted like 1800 and I assume the Republic has an equivalent of Wookieepedia.

It's why I miss Marvel Star Wars. They would have added a oranguatang Sith Lord librarian.

 

You know, we disagree a lot, but it's lines like these that make your presence in this thread such a necessity. That would be awesome.

The Ruins of Kabus-Dabeh ? George R. Strayton
3,998 BBY

*So, this is the final chapter in the Tales of the Jedi Companion and the last section of the book we?ll be called upon to look at on this journey!

*So, I am introduced to Keval Raffaan, given a brief back story on him and his stats. He?s a seventeen year old Jedi Apprentice on his first mission. I am to make all his decisions for him, which dooms him, I am quite sure, to an ignominious and embarrassing death.

*The book explains all the rules about rolling the dice and what all the numbers mean. This may be simpler than I had feared.

*We are then introduced to the planet Muzara, where new settlers are clashing with the indigenous population, the Muza. My master has dispatched me, by which I mean Keval, to intercede between the two groups.

*So, then there?s a brief introduction. I arrive on planet but the Muza refuse to recognize my authority since I?m seventeen and, going by the drawing on my stat page, look kind of like a dork.

*In order to prove my authority, I must venture into the titular ruins and retrieve a bag of coins that has been hidden there. If I can do this and return safely, the Muza will allow me to intercede.

*So, this is set up via a series of one paragraph sections, all numbered, from one to eighty. So, when I arrive in the ruins, I can choose to investigate a nearby cave, a stone well, a dark pond of water or a pyramidal monument and depending on which I choose, I go to either number 1, 2, 3 or 4. At the end of each section there is a choice to make or a task to complete via a dice roll. Based on my choice or my roll number, I proceed to another number.

*We?ll just play straight through this once and then go back and look at the different paths, I guess.

*So, I chose the stone well, discovered a hidden ladder and went down into it. Once there, I ran afoul of some worms that launch themselves out of holes in the wall. My dexterity roll failed me, not once, but twice, resulting in Keval expiring at the bottom of the well, a worm firmly attached to his rib cage.

*Did I not frigging tell you?

*So, anyway, as I pressed on with the well plot, I discovered that if I had looked for something to plug the holes with instead of attempting to battle the worms with my lightsaber, I would have survived and found the bag of coins at the end of the tunnel. So, I did make the right choice.

*You know, before I died from a worm chewing its way into my small intestine.

*Why did I pick the well? It just seemed right. It just . . . I just knew that the coins were down the well. I?m not even kidding. My instincts, you know.

*The instincts that led to me dying while a worm . . . oh, skip it.

*Anyway, the cave contains a monster that you have to battle. Obviously, the coins aren?t there.

*The dark pond of water is a total wash with the exception that if you splash around in it (what idiot would reach into a dark pond of water in a ruined city?), it turns your skin grey.

*Maybe that?s what Chalmun meant when he said Qui-Gon was a Grey Jedi.

*The pyramid is a trap, complete with a fake bag filled with pebbles. Just like in Raiders, when you grab the bag, it sets off a weight based mechanism and the pyramid starts sinking into a watery grave.

*Basically, lots of ways to die here and lots of ways to waste time. It?s kind of annoying that, like a laser, I shot to exactly the correct location, skipped all the messing around on the surface and found the hidden ladder and then died with the bag of coins just around the corner from me.

*GOD I HATE RPGS WHY DO YOU PL

 

One question: did you ever ask that worm for your intestine back?

*falls over laughing hysterically*

Sorry, the sheer absurdity of the whole thing... wow. Just... wow. Thank you for slogging through all of this for us!

 

I agree, though I would still prefer it to be a more gradual process. Geting you hooked on the darkside as it were, slowly whisper madness into you until you could no longer tell your thoughts from its suggestions.

Like what happened with Atris in Kotor 2 with the Sith Holocrons.

In all fairness, this is Star Wars. Plenty of people's real names in the universe are far more stupid.

Ah, the animals are one of my favorite parts about Star Wars. Though admittedly this batch is far from my favorite collection of creatures.

Sounds more like a choose-your-own adventure than an RPG.

 

Huh, that's interesting. Well, all the book says is that you can set it up so that the grey water is coming from under the pyramid/trap thingy. Under the pyramid, there is, as established in the one I played through, a big pit of water with some kind of monster in it. You would have to battle the monster and destroy that reservoir in order to allow the clean water to start flowing again. It just kind of gives you that set up in a paragraph; you have to do most of the work in creating that adventure yourself.

And, yeah, it is very much like a Choose Your Own Adventure. They call them Solitaire Adventures, but what they really are is tutorials. They're basically Choose Your Own Adventure stories with the added elements of the stat card and rolling the dice; they just kind of teach you the mechanics of that, how to read and use a stat card and all that.

The Shadow of Freedon Nadd ? Ryder Windham
3,998 BBY

*So, here we are, back to what appears to be the uber-text of this journey now, Jedi Vs. Sith. This section is, of course, in Part One: Histories and Holocrons.

*It is written by Arca Jeth and I anticipate it therefore being filled with logical lapses, complete failures to spot the obvious and, possibly, horrible spelling errors.

*Because it is never a bad time to bash Master Arca, that?s why.

*So, we get here yet another version of Freedon Nadd?s story.

*To recap, The Sith Lords Chronicles had it that Nadd was a Jedi who travelled to Yavin 4 and there resurrected Sadow and was taught by him; after this, we were told, he went to Onderon to set up his little kingdom.

*Now, the Tales of the Jedi Companion had Nadd as a Jedi Apprentice, one being refused promotion. He, in that version, killed a particularly nasty Jedi Master who kept blocking his promotion and then fled to Ashas Ree, where he studied the Sith and went from there to Onderon to set up his kingdom.

*Now, it?s time for completely incoherent version number three. This section says that Nadd was a Jedi who killed his own Master (which wasn?t the case in the Companion) and that he then ?apprenticed himself to a Dark Lord of the Sith.? But since there can only be one Dark Lord at a time, the Dark Lord sent him to Onderon to have a little kingdom there.

*Well, whatever. Now we know that Nadd, who was either a Jedi or a Jedi Apprentice either did or did not kill another Jedi who was or was not his Master and that he then did or did not resurrect Naga Sadow, did or did not apprentice himself to a living Dark Lord of the Sith and did or did not convert to the Sith way because of time spent in personal meditation and study. Thanks for clearing that up, guys!

*In short, now that everyone has told us Nadd?s story, we know nothing about him!

*Except that his name is stupid. We do know that. Do we ever.

*So, Arca basically tells about him coming to Onderon and vanquishing Amanoa, Ommin and Nadd. He then says that he?s put Nadd?s sarcophagus on the jungle moon where no one will ever find it, unless of course the Jedi themselves direct him to it and allow him to go his way despite knowing that he?s lying about his identity.

*Foolproof plan, Master Arca. Completely solid.

*Tionne has an addendum that finishes the story, telling of Arca?s (richly deserved) death and Ulic?s fall to the Dark Side.

*She also gives us another version of Nadd?s story, albeit one that seems to fall in line with what the Companion said. She says that, according to Sith researcher Murk Lundi . . .

*HEY WASN?T HE THAT GUY IN THAT JUDE WATSON BOOK YES YES HE WAS

*Anyway, she says that Lundi?s research indicates that Nadd found a Sith holocron and learned the Sith way from it, not from a living Sith Lord.

*See what I said about how Arca would just totally screw this section up? Yup, he did it.

*So, anyway, she says that it was a Sith holocron from this Sith guy named Adas and that the holocron was lost on Ashas Ree around the time of the Great Hyperspace War and that Nadd

 

Oh wow, THAT was the holocron Dr. Lundi was all giddy over? Huh, I never made that connection. I look forward to more Arca-bashing Great review, as usual!

 

The whole situation with Freedon Nadd and Naga Sadow would be a continuity snarl as bad as the one with the Clone Wars TV series, except for one fact.

I don't think anyone cares.

The easiest explanation seems to be that Freedon Nadd was a Jedi Padawan who was scheduled for promotion to be a Jedi Knight but the Jedi wanted to do a "secret test of character." You know, like sending Luke Skywalker to confront Darth Vader via reverse psychology (I think that was a halfway decent argument when I was fourteen), having Xanatos find his master kill his evil biological father (slightly less pleasant of a test), and the somewhat jerky but understandable one of having Freedon Nadd denied his rightful place as a Jedi Knight because he's sailed through Jedi training up until this point.

Matta Tremayne's solution? Challenge him to a lightsaber duel when he's agitated and then accidentally die during it. Wow, that was like the worst Jedi plan ever. I'm reminded a bit of Vodo Siosk Bass who believed Exar Kun needed a lesson in humility only to get his posterior whooped (Then Vodo ****es about it - I can't wait to get to that story, the Jedi Masters in the Dark Lords of the Sith comics are probably my favorite for personality but they can be a collection of whiny little barves can't they?)

So Freedon Nadd then journeys to Yavin IV and finds a cryogenically frozen Naga Sadow (or something) and revives him only to kill him (which - theoretically - should make Freedon Nadd the Dark Lord of the Sith but everyone seems to treat him as if he didn't get this). My solution is that Naga Sadow moved his spirit into that big huge worm thing that Exar Kun kills (there's evidence for it since Naga Sadow's spirit shows up later in the EU anyway and there's references to it in the comic).

So Freedon Nadd high-tails it to Onderon after picking up King Adas' holocron from somewhere (I'm inclined to think Naga Sadow had it because, honestly, who else would?)

 

That is the implication. Though one of the other scenarios involves some Dark Siders hunting for Sith artifacts, so I suppose you could make the case that the artifacts have something to do with it too. It's really pretty vague and since it's a setup for an RPG adventure that you have to basically write yourself, you could retcon it to make it tie to FOTJ in whatever way you're thinking probably.

Charlemagne, God, that was awesome. Wonderful retcon narrative. And, yes, you've pinpointed why I hate the Jedi Masters of this period. They're kind of . . . jerks and whiners. Possibly also idiots. They are intensely characterized and all very unique; Thon and Baas and all that being some stuff we don't see anywhere else in the EU. But, boy, do they get on my nerves. So, when you say Matta Tremayne's plan was the 'worst Jedi plan ever,' consider that we're talking about a lot of extremely bad plans during this period. But you're right, Matta's may have been the most ill-advised.

 

Attack of the Krath ? LucasArts
3,997 BBY

*So, before we get to the actual story we?re looking at today, we should mention a couple of things we just passed. You can find my reviews here for Dark Lords of the Sith, both the comic story and the audio drama adaptation.

*My review of Dark Lords of the Sith, the comic, is kind of a turning point for this thread. It?s a longer review than any I?d done to that point and I began to get a bit more pointed in my critique of the philosophy of the work at hand. I finally say that DLotS is ?pissing me off.? It still does, frankly; I said that the Jedi of this period were like ?Kant with a lightsaber. Except even stupider.? I spend a lot of time, quite rightly, I think, bashing the weird philosophy of the Jedi in letting all the villains ?choose their own path.?

*This culminates in probably the most idiotic sequence in all of Star Wars comics, excepting perhaps Mace?s little double whammy time travel in The Secret of Tet Ami, when Nomi and all her friends launch a massive rescue mission, storm a city filled with innocent civilians, engage in a massive starfighter battle over the city and hack their way through a horde of evil guards to confront Ulic to . . . TELL HIM THEY AREN?T RESCUING HIM! I mean, there is little in recorded literature to stand up to this, folks. I mean, that?s like the worst scene in any artwork in history or something.

*But enough about that. My review of the DLotS audio drama is pretty good too, but only because the drama itself is so terrible. Best quote: Nominee for most hilariously inept sound bite ever: ?Wait, will you really want to touch that control panel once you realize it?s actually . . . a womprat?! *chomp* *bloodcurdling scream*

*But now let?s move on to The Sith Lords Chronicles. Once again, here is the link.

*We have reached Part IV: Attack of the Krath.

*I seriously, when I first saw this on the timeline, was like, ?Who the heck are the Krath??

*Frankly, that?s kind of still my reation to Satal and Aleema. Lamest villains since Ludo Kressh? Yeah.

*It says here about the bit where Exar Kun goes to Onderon, ?His arrogance wins him no favors with Master Arca, who refuses to help.? Well, he also refused to hinder. I think that?s called ?not getting involved.? Also, ?being a moral coward.? Also ?being a twit.? Some Arca partisan must have written this thing.

* ?Shouting for help, Nadd?s specter appears again.?

*Nothing is as scary as a specter with a dangling modifier.

*Wow, before these were just kind of dull. But as the story gets stupider, so too do these little summaries. Here?s a great nominee for bad line of the month:

*Letting out a tremendous psychic shriek, Kun startles Master Vodo.

*Oh, yeah, I think I saw that on America?s Funniest Home Videos. God, I love those tremendous psychic shrieks as prank fodder.

*Well, anyway, at this point, the story just goes totally off the rails. It had been pretty lame and dull to this point, but at this point, it just starts getting actively annoying and morally dunderheaded.

*Next time, something a little more interesting than all this old ground. It?s a story I skipped last time through; Angela Phillips shows up with The Most Dangerous Foe.

 

The Most Dangerous Foe ? Angela Phillips
3,996 BBY

*This story was written way back in 1996 and got published in an Adventure Journal. It was one of the Adventure Journal stories that didn?t get a reprint in either of the short story collections of the period. It was reprinted on Hyperspace, so you can probably still find it there.

*It should be noted that the two timelines I?m using differ just slightly on placement here. DinoJim?s timeline places the story just after the Sith War?s conclusion, but before Ulic?s return to Yavin 4 in the epilogue to The Sith War. Joe?s timeline, on the other hand, places it just before the Sith War, but after Dark Lords of the Sith, so after Ulic and Exar have joined forces but before they have begun their assault in earnest.

*It?s really a coin toss as to where you place it. The story is said to take place ?a few thousand years? before ANH, ?back in the high times of the Old Republic, when the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and blah blah blah . . .?

*I went ahead and placed it here, between Dark Lords of the Sith and The Sith War, purely because I was ready for a little break from all the Sith Lords Chronicles and such. Jim?s placement of it a bit later is, I think, equally valid.

*So, the frame story here is of a couple of folks swapping stories as they flee Yavin in the immediate aftermath of the destruction of the first Death Star. This story is one of the ones they tell.

*So, the story is of sixteen year old Vici Ramunee, Jedi Padawan. As the story begins, she has just completed her lightsaber, under the instruction of Mistress Tannis, her Jedi Teacher.

*So, she calls her Mistress. In other texts, the term Jedi Master seems to apply, regardless of gender (or, in some cases, the lack thereof). I think I like the across the board use of Master better than trading off between Master and Mistress. I mean, like, that dude from the story of Cope Shykrill that was a Jedi Master, but also just a big green gaseous cloud . . . situations like that, how would you even know the gender? I think it?s better to have the title be fixed.

*So, Tannis sends Vici on a quest to find the Cave of Truth where she will face her most dangerous foe.

*Here, on the very first page of the story, it should be entirely obvious to anyone with half a brain where the story is going. But it will still take nine languidly paced pages to get there. For some reason.

*If you don?t get it when Tannis says that Vici must face her most dangerous foe, you?ll definitely twig to where this is going, when Tannis instructs her to leave all tools, including her lightsaber behind.

*So, her ten year old brother, Veni, follows her out into the wilderness, against her wishes and without her knowledge. He also helpfully brings her her lightsaber, thus screwing up her little quest beyond all repair without even knowing it. God, little brothers, right?

*So, this giant monstrous creature comes upon Vici and Veni in a rocky canyon and Vici pulls her lightsaber. The creature then reveals that, contrary to his appearance, he is in fact a great Jedi Master sent to aid Vici on her quest.

*Wow, so a Jedi Master who doesn?t look like you?d expect? They really should have just called this story The Empire Strikes Back since that?s basically what it is.

*So, she eventually enters the cave and has some strange visions, like a table full of food and a rotting corpse wearing her clothes and medallion and you know things like that.

*So, then she ultimately gets trapped in this mirrored room and gets incredibly angry because she can?t figure her way out. She then catches a glimpse of her face, twisted in rage, in one of the mirrors and suddenly realizes that *GASP* she herself is her most dangerous foe!

*Alfred Hitchcock, beware, Angela Phillips may yet take your crown as master of the completely unforeseen, out of left field twist. You?re reeling, aren?t you?

*Anyway, that?s the end of that.

*I didn?t mention any of the colo

 

Hm, you're reading some quite obscure sources. I imagine that will become a bit more mind boggling in the more crowded sections the timeline.

I didn't care much for Tales of the Jedi at first, though I enjoy them a bit more now. Exar Kun isn't a bad villain, though he is a bit strange in the Jedi Academy Trilogy. I like Ulic Qel-Droma as well, but I have never cared for Nomi Sunrider. Vima isn't a bad character at all, though, I'd like to see a bit more of her after Ulic's death.

 

Well, there's at least one twist you could never see coming: no one named Vidi ever shows up.

 

Awesome!