Lit Reading or Re-Reading The Dark Nest trilogy by Troy Denning

You mean this Luke's quote from ch. 1 in DN III: The Swarm War:

Who needs coffee when already woke? The Woke Herald is far enough.

Soros is a nest? Now I know the secret of George's success. Just recently a friend of mine saw the tome of The Joiner King blinking out of my pocket and she asked me, if this is a historical novel. Sure! Who doesn't know those dreadful World Swarm Wars, where 7" high bugs did invade and tried to colonize earth a long, long time ago? Maybe we'll get some documentaries about this in another sequel trilogy to Lord of the Rings after Hobbit.

Here an amendment remark to The Joiner King, ch. 23

An interesting question. Can we trust Jacen’s narration here or will there be a surprise at the end of The Swarm War or earlier, given the fact, that even old Artoo is still revealing hot secrets from the past?

And I'm proceeding with commenting

The Unseen Queen

Ch. 10

When this officer Avke Saz’ula is already introduced like this, after repeated questions for him, saying his name several times, I expect great deeds of him.

But surely more important is Nek Bwua’tu – THE new character in DN, Bothan admiral, after Kre’fey was forced to abdicate as was intelligence director Dif Scaur in TUF.

Actually I’m looking forward to see a conclusion by Leia, if Bwua’tu is more than a Thrawn simulator genius of if her sarcasm went true.

Ch. 12
Pellaeon is new Chief of the Galactic Alliance’s Forces? Hasn’t the Galactic Alliance other people to replace Kre’fey or Sovv? Why not just Nas Choka?

 

It will be interesting to see Pellaeon's POV on Jacen's Raid on Thrago depot. Especially for it was the very same Jacen who helped Pellaeon through the first B'shi*th Vorrik crisis in Forces Heretics I. If I was Pellaeon, I would send Jacen straight to Csilla to explain his "shrewd" action before the same shrouded comittee of Chiss, he met before his visit of the Chiss library just a volume FH later.

 

And here my final remarks about The Unseen Queen.

Ch. 13

Of course not. It’s just unconsciousness.


But why Troy Denning is pronouncing that often how sloppy Kyp walks around? I can almost smell the odor too. Is that the new symbol of the newer Jedi Order?

Ch. 14

At this point the various Jedi are at least frank and tell each other what they think while yelling. Jacen acts really dark here, clouding Ben’s vision in order to keep the secret about his fatherhood. But what if his vision is clouded too? Would he have acted like this in the knowledge of his grandpa’s marriage and fatherhood as well? How Jacen acts right here, proves Vergere right with her concerns about families for Jedi.

Ch. 15

And here I regretted that it was not C-3PO’s left arm, a valid explanation for his red arm in Ep. VII.

Ch. 16

Did Kyp Durron knew that also in advance, before in Rebirth II: Edge of Victory, he headed with Jaina for destroying the superweapon worldship of the Yuuzhan Vong at Sernpidal’s remnants? Will Jaina forgive Jacen like she forgave Kyp that time?

Ch. 21

Just like Count Dooku in Ep. III after meeting Anakin Skywalker again. But Leia is luckier.

Ch. 22

Actually I had also problems with that scene. At first I thought, Lomi is using that stealth technique like Nightsisters do. Or like Maris Brood did on Starkiller at Felucia. That she can hide behind doubts is a completly new thing to me. It says much about Jae Juun that he is completely without any doubts most of the time he was attending the fight with Lomi Plo. Was Sien Sovv like this too? Was that the reason, why the admiral died in that crash with a tarhead? But I was astounded that Jae Juun was capable to keep Lomi Plo at bay for a while to save Luke.

Oh, I'm sure Lomi Plo can even have five elbows if she wants. But now we even know her eyes. And what has been seen, can't be unseen anymore.

 

Jacen is a terrible pilot. The Raid on Supply Depot Thrago nearly results in his death. If Jaina and Zekk hadn't saved him, his StealthX would have been destroyed by the defense emplacements.

 

And I started reading Swarm War.

Prologue:

Jacen wasn’t like this in NJO either.

Ch. 1
Luke before his speech to the Jedi at Ossus:

And here we have it again: subconsciousness against consciousness.

Can anybody follow this logic? I can’t. Jacen is so overconfident that the Chiss will exactly do as he has foreseen it. Actually I thought he, Tesar, Tahiri and Jaina on this agent-provocateur mission would wear such bug-costumes like Tarfang and Jae Juun had at the second visit of Han and Leia to Lizil. That they would use dartships instead of the Stealth-X.

Ch. 2

Actually I thought Danni Quee to say this much earlier in TUF. But now, after this reminder, I would be happy if the Jedi would really head for Zonama Sekot after the Swarm War ended. That the trilogy would have an epilogue showing if Bava and Ghator did come to terms about the stolen vegetables and fruits. That would be a nice circular conclusion.

Then Tenel Ka:

Haha, will she, after she got to know what Jacen had done at Thrago depot? Or will she condone this like Padmé did after Anakin’s Tuskenraider-raid?
A pity, Alema isn’t coming to resign officially to hand over her deep blue blade.

Then the discussion about how to deal with the Killiks:

I really would like to know how Corran's tone was, when he said this. Was it just curious, afraid or even sarcastic? I see here clearly, that Jacen Solo has learnt really a lot from Nom Anor in his time on formerly Yuuzhan’tar. But Nom Anor’s forged visions had much more followers at their time.

Whenever the audience is requested to debate an issue in a civilized and polite manner, you can almost be sure, that it is deemed inconvenient to utter certain opinions. How up to date Troy Denning is here! Alone for this The Dark Nest would deserve to be the real Sequel Trilogy – with much more and diverse Jedi than a sloppy Luke – or Kyp.

I like Lowie’s opposition here. He is not the always helpful furry pet anymore, as we knew him. He developes character.

At this point I wasn’t aware yet that Troy Denning was already about to even shade Han’s stance.

And now it goes to the bone. You see here, that there are some Jedi more equal than others. The tragic of Raynar Thul is, that he was always an outsider in the Jedi Academy. One the order can dismiss if deemed necessary. Raynar Thul was already psychologically challenged after the Voxyns on the Baanu Rass killed Eryl Besa, whom he felt attracted to – another character of Troy Denning.

Especially this scene made me really think.

Alema must have climbed up the ladder very fast, given the short time, she's with Gorog.

When the Jedi are so many, they could use a force-meld to get Raynar captured and to alienate him from the colony. Jaina and Zekk did show already that it is possible to withstand Raynar’s pressure. Just to send assassins to kill him is no way better than what the Dark Nest did aboard the Jade Shadow or in Tenel Ka’s palace.

 

I’m re-reading Swarm War, and one line really resonated with me:

"You are a fool to place your faith in Jacen!" Tesar rasped. "He is nothing but a shenbit in a snake'z skin. You trust him with your hatchling"

Given everything Jacen has already done so far, including assaulting Ben, Tesar’s words seem like a ray of truth through the fog of lies that the Skywalkers have been enveloped by.

Luke’s earlier musings also seem very accurate, albeit slightly misplaced.

He stared into the unblinking eyes of each Jedi Knight for several moments, wondering where he could have gone so wrong in their instruction. Perhaps he had been too hesitant to impose his own values on such a diverse group of students, or perhaps he had failed to present them with enough moot dilemmas to develop a proper moral center. All he knew for certain was that he had failed them somewhere, that he had not prepared them to face the soulcorrupting ruthlessness of the war against the Yuuzhan Vong, or instilled in them the strength to withstand the power of Raynar Thul's Will.

These thoughts are all true. Luke has failed one of his Jedi Knights. But it’s not the one he’s thinking of.

Spoiler

Replace “Raynar Thul’s Will" with Lumiya’s teachings and Luke’s thoughts could very well apply to Darth Caedus. Because, it’s Jacen whose lost his moral center. Jacen is the one whose really betraying the Jedi here, starting a war to protect his daughter. Jacen is the one who lost his soul during the Vong War and became lost afterwards. Lost and misguided and empty inside, until Lumiya came along and showed him a purpose that satisfied his insatiable ego.

It’s very interesting to read this trilogy with fresh eyes, knowing what’s coming in four years. It’s sad to see Mara standing up for Jacen, knowing how he will completely betray her trust and end up killing her. How Luke’s deep trust in Jacen will be so stretched and eventually broken that the two of them will end up fighting a death-duel over Kashyyyk. How Ben’s utter devotion and trust in Jacen will be so abused and twisted that he’ll end up in the Embrace of Pain, tortured by the very cousin he so admired and loved.

And Jaina, whose mistrust of Jacen proves to be correct all along. Poor Jaina who has to fight and kill her last brother, because there’s nobody else who can do it without falling to the Dark Side.

Luke should have listened to Tesar, Lowbacca and the others. If he had, he could have saved himself, his family and the Galaxy a lot of pain.

 

@Vialco
The tragic of Luke here is, that actually he has taught his new Jedi very well and that from the scratch. In the Yuuzhan Vong War they were brave, inventive, cunning and still had enough morality and much sense of humanity making them regret mistakes done. And they did think and speak up freely. It is very noble of Luke to look for the guilt on his own now in TUQ. That is, like Raynar felt responsible for the creation of the Dark Nest after rescuing Lomi and Welk from the Flier-rubble. The thing is IMHO, that Jacen after the victory over Onimi got such a blaze of glory around himself, his various journeys to other force cults added, that he is oozing that aura of being impeccable … so sublime with a golden shine around him all the time. And that and family relations is blinding Luke.

I remember another Luke from Destiny's Way, ch. 18, when he proposed Kyp Durron for a seat in the future High Council:

And I go on with reading The Swarm War:

Ch. 3

I would call that chapter “A Good Heart” for some reasons. You may hear the same named song of Feargal Sharkey with this chapter.

Didn’t James Luceno told us in TUF that the Yuuzhan Vong food is totally uneatable for Humans and other species in the GFFA? Y’luubi must be the eel, Danni and Miko did eat under the ice dome at Helska IV. Da’Gara gave them Haute Cuisine!

I’m still waiting for Madame Thul to converse with her son directly.

Ch. 8

Like Jorj Car’das was given such a position by Palpatine’s aide Kinman Doriana before. Funny that in the English PDF-Version of The Unseen Queen, there is an excerpt of Outbound Flight attached where Car’das makes his appearance.

The Huk … will the Kaleesh help the Galactic Alliance now?

Ch. 11

What Ep. I vibes you have here. I summoned a trap – like in the event below.

The verpine hive mother at Nickel One: Actually I thought that to come earlier. In The Courtship of Princess Leia by Dave Wolverton in 1994, there was a sentence about a crazy Verpine hive-mother. It was this sentence, which let me believe earlier, that The Swarm Wars (I knew that title already from a fanfiction) must have taken place even before Leia’s and Han’s marriage. But now I see I failed widely.

With R9 Mara can do this, but not with Jacen.

Ch. 12

On Tenupe

The Geonosians - a people really ill-fated to align themselves with the wrong side always.

 

I now imagine an army of Hutt chefs attacking the Killiks and other insectoid species galaxywide to prepare a huge Huttese feast... they love themselves some intelligent insects after all.

There must be some inuniverse cookbooks about fried Mon Calamari too under the Empire I bet. What poor lad at galactic publishers has to censor or decide publishment of books and check for each and every reference if any species, culture or groups rights or feelings are hurt by it?
Or does the GFFA rely on lawyers to deal with such issues post publication only and that is why for long periods such publications end up availeable everywhere?

 

While I agree in principle, the fact is that the Jedi are okay with simple assassinations in this series....they have no problem making attempts on Alema.

Just a general observation: there already was a thread devoted to this...you could have just continued that one vice creating a whole new one!

 

@SiouxFan,
Alema is a good point: When it would had been Alema, who was abducted over Myrkr by Lomi and Welk and not Raynar, would Luke also have tried to save her life, because it slipped out of her responsibility then? On the other side: Raynar did show some regret about what had happened to Anakin and the others at Myrkr. Sometimes he tried to break through that barrier of the collective hive-mind and the orders imposed on him by Lomi. And Luke and Han saw on Woteba, that it was Alema who thwarted such a recall of the past. There weren't such emotional flashbacks in Alema at all in the whole trilogy as we saw coming from Raynar Thul. And I think that's what Luke led to his decision to let Raynar live and Leia's to kill Alema.

And that leads me to say something in advance on ch. 24 of The Swarm War:

Alema Rar taken out by the beast.

What feelings Leia does harbor against Twi’lek dancing girls? Didn’t she dance sometimes for Jabba too? But in this tense situation she has to draw power from wherever she can, of course.

Does anybody of you know the TCW-comic "Strange Allies" from 2011? There you have a green Twi'lek called Kuvuta Pindi with almost the same fate as Alema had on Tenupe.

When I see the comic page now, I remember that there had been some Chiss on Tenupe too. What would they give to have a Jedi like Nuru Kungurama among their ranks that time.

But let's go back some chapters:

Ch. 3

Did somebody of you remember that Madame Thul had chestnut hair in The Joiner King, ch. 25?

and now in the Y'luubi-restaurant she has gray hair.

There is one year between TJK and TUQ. Is that enough time to let chestnut hair go gray out of grief completely or did she dye her hair and after Tesar’s visit she decided to let all the gray grow out?

And here one passage of Artoo’s Holovids of Luke’s parents … and Threepio:

C-3PO here must have had some time-shifting vision like Jacen had on Yoggoy. Maybe he spoke of Rhommamool in NJO then.

Ch. 13

That’s what I thought of Palpatine, later when I read NJO.

Ch. 14

Jaina here is exactly, where Tsavong Lah had been on Ebaq 9, the very same position - with the very same feelings. Nice, that Troy Denning did take up that vibes from Destiny’s Way eight years ago, where Jaina was the counterplayer of the late warmaster, not so nice for Jaina here of course.

 

True...but we don't get Alema's POV at all in the series, so it's impossible to know if she was feeling remorse or not. But, even if she did not feel she was in the wrong, she has worked with the Jedi for a long time and it seems reprehensible to me that all of them gave up on her so quickly.

What is interesting is that this strike wasn't needed. The Killiks attack the GA fleet in the next chapter, and it happens immediately after Jaina's squadron lands. This starts the war that Jacen was planning to start...so what was the point of the attack? The non-jaded argument I present is that his strike shows the limitations of what Jacen sees in these visions, that he acted hastily, and that he really needs to stop believing the damned things because they never seem to be accurate. Remember, the Admiral in charge had no problem whatsoever with Jacen's actions, and the Killik attack does show that they are the threat he saw them to be.

My jaded argument is that we needed something more concrete to show Jacen's decline...whether it made sense to the story or not and whether it is circular or not.

 

I am tempted to not only analyse the Dark Nest Trilogy psychologically as I did in earlier posts but more from a storytelling point of view. Some elements seem to be quite soap opera level by design whereas others are more clear different in style and feeling.

The psychological take split the story in parts analogue to conscious, subconscious and other neurological and psychological systems. But aside those, some pieces of the trilogy especially seem to be constructed like memories. And like memories, they can vary greatly in style and function. Some memories are historically factual and portray what happened like when we try to recall exact events for a report. Others are more influenced by our subconscious and either overwrite/forget/alter bits of information to make them less or more of what they had been for some subcoinscious reasons. Memories merge with dreams, hopes, fears or sometimes delusions. Sometimes they are repressed, or resurface unwanted. Other times they are less factual and more a what if rationalising of the past to cope. Given memories are very varied and functional, what if the Dark Nest Trilogy scenes differ in their factuality likewise?

Some scenes are how it happened, others are over the top like in a soap opera tv show (i.e. Ben's reaction to Jacen and Tenel Ka) and others are overly comical and childish like in a cartoon (Jedi Masters and Council arguing and fighting like kids in a hangar), etc. the question is, how does storytelling follow the memory function and factuality and how what of the entirety of Dark Nest can be taken literal and what can't? What part seems meddled with like Kilik Joiners minds, what parts are free of Kilik influence and still meddled with by the subconscious naturally?

Some scenes feel like you watch a story that changes styles periodically from black and white classic tv, to soap opera style, to comedy, to historical report, to drama... etc. (i.e. Wandavision?).

 

I think that is the central theme of DNT: The hidden power of the sub- and the unconscious. I found plenty of examples where Troy Denning is showing the opposition of those two towards the consciousness. And swarm mind contra individuality.

I'm missing not only Alema's POV. The lesser POV, the more the reader is condoning a character's death. Already in SbS, Alema seemed very distanced until cold and just fulfilling her duty for the order. I think her joining first Taat and then Gorog was the final act of breaking free from the order she didn't feel for very much anymore anyway. And in TUQ on Woteba she attacked Leia and tried to sabotage the Falcon. Raynar, with the exemption of that glass sculptures, never did attack the Jedi that scathely. I think it was after her attack on Woteba, Alema was considered a steady risk for the Jedi and that's why Leia showed no mercy at Tenupe either.

And I'm going on to read The Swarm War:

Ch. 15

There is a scene in the Lego Star Wars Droid Saga, a short re-hash of the Prequels and the OT with some Rebels stuff, where Threepio is asking Leia if she wouldn’t like to see holos of the wedding and else of her parents and Leia is declining right away. I think this scene from Dark Nest was the template for this. After Leia’s refusal the audience in the film is crying “Clone Wars – Clone Wars” and this I understood as an appeal of the makers of Lego Star Wars to continue TCW after it was cancelled. And thus Artoo in the Droid Saga is continuing with holos about Ep. II.

Ch. 17

I like this trialogue so much. And as long as Han doesn’t say Zekk ...

Ch. 21

When Leia told Han, that she loved him, she wasn’t the one putting him into trouble but now … great moment for confessing love!

Is there any information about what happened to these schattered moons over Tenupe? There seems to be a narration gap until Leia's interrogation takes place.

Leia’s interrogation. It is funny to see how Chiss officer Baltke and Leia are switching roles. And Leia didn’t recognize Han? And what about the man looking like Han without the ear now? Was he merely Andy Serkis under CGI (Chiss Generating Image)? And if he was real, did he get some healing?

Ch. 23

And that’s what I thought all the time, after I read that initially the Killiks were a self-confined species. Why should they build a superweapon like Centerpoint unless somebody hires them for this?

 

Sure, but we can attribute that to all of the trauma she'd just suffered in losing her sister. I would argue that Jaina was much the same way after Myrkr. And Alema started off by only wanting to sabotage the Falcon, right? She only attacked Leia after her attempts at sabotage were being thwarted. Perhaps she gravitated towards the Taat because she could feel that the Jedi were keeping her at arm's length.

About Jag: I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how he would ever want to see Jaina or any of the other Solos again.

The problem, of course, is that Denning couldn't decide if he wanted it to be a psychological thriller or a soap opera, so it did neither of them well. There are elements of this story that were quite intriguing, but needed better execution.

 

Alema Rar was kinda like her compatriot Daeshara'cor at Ruin, but Daeshara'cor made amends over Ithor. Jaina and Zekk were also Taat-members but they tried to contain their aggressive tendencies and they gave each other some compass to adhere to, while Alema was all alone in Taat as it seemed. Jaina also did loose a sibling, so why didn't she go that rogue? Maybe because she also had her family, a think I don't know of Alema after Numa died.

And here the last chapter of The Swarm War reviewed.

Ch. 25

Actually I didn’t suspect Raynar Thul to survive here. And I was surprised he had a golden lightsaber. Like Valenthyne Farfalla thousand years ago! Didn’t he have a gray lightsaber before?

Aristocra Formbi is as reserved and stiff-lipped as we know him already/later from Outbound Flight.

Han says something positive about bugs – that’s real character development! While Formbi - in Outbound Flight he seemed to be in the shadow of Thrawn. In Survivor's Quest years after Thrawns death he seemed to unfold his potential - he learned Basic, worked together with foreigners. And in Dark Nest he became almost the same stingy, secretive Chiss as we know him from Outbound Flight. That guy must be of venerable age in TSW.

The epilogue was very rushed. Neither did it show how the Killiks transformed back into their self-contained, innocent state, nor how Madame Thul is relieved and happy to see her son again. A few sentences about how Raynar feels now with his anti-insect-hat could had been very helpful too. I also miss a remark of Leia towards Bwua’tu about his outstanding military leading qualities beyond any simulator.

And a reunion of Jacen, Tenel Ka and Allana would also had been nice. Instead we have a longer talk with Cal Omas, which isn't a bad thing at all, but too long in comparison with the things I did expect further.

Apropos Jacen. He and Kyp should make some amends for sentencing Raynar to death. Not necessarily with a formal lip-service but with deeds.

Jaina/Zekk: There is no insight, how the spiritual unity between these two is dissolving, how Tesar and Tahiri felt without Taat. And Reya Taat: When she was mentioned in TSW I had hope to hear more of her fate. Will she return to the Chiss now, when the colony doesn't exist anymore? So many loose ends with interesting side stories to follow.

The message for Jagged Fel meanwhile was a good pending cliffhanger to be continued with in LotF (I won't read in the near future, btw.).

But what I regret most: We don’t get to know how/if Ghator and Bava at Zonama Sekot did come to terms or not about the stolen vegetables and fruits. Did the Jedi fulfil Luke's promise to visit Danni and Tahiri at Zonama Sekot? What a missed chance of a circular beginning and ending the trilogy like it was in FHII with the Ssi-ruuk theme and Cundertol, the prime minister of Bakura. That should had been the epilogue and the stuff before, after ch. 25, should had been ch. 26.


What I have to say in general about this trilogy:

Actually I did expect to have some Killiks with personality, when Raynar already woke them up like this. But it seems he and Lomi were merely enhancing the meld of one hive to several hives and to non-Killiks, which is o.k. for me, but leads me to my next question: What of this transformation from a self-confined nest into a galactic superpower is really Raynar’s merit and what is Lomi Plo's? While Welk was just a henchman of Lomi, I let him out here.

And this is a real issue I have with this trilogy. I don’t mind the non-individual swarm-minded Killiks. I feel sorry for this species to be abused like this and whose members are to be replaced any time one was killed like we see with Wolow in Jaina’s service. But contrary to the NJO you have no interaction between the various important members of the enemy side. The only such thing we see is Alema's suggestion-kiss for Raynar in TUQ. But aside this: How does it feel to be a Night Herald? And how is a new one chosen? By a casting show "Gorog's next Night Herald"?

You don’t see (because she is mostly unseen of course) or hear Lomi Plo conversing with Welk, Alema or Raynar. It just goes via the perception of our heroes, what they get to know about the various nests. We don’t get to know how Alema did climb up the ladder gaining Lomi’s trust to be superior even to Raynar, manipulating him in TUQ. It may be a secret The-Force-is-Female thing between Lomi and Alema, I guess.

We don’t know at all what Lomi thinks of Raynar or Alema, if she sees them as true allies or rather shaky stooges to be replaced soon. While in NJO you have very much insight into how Nom Anor thinks of Tsavong Lah or how Onimi judges his underlings in general, the thoughts and feelings of Gorog's leadership are completely off paper.

Beside Jacen’s time vision in TJK, we still don’t know how that development of transforming the Gorog nest into the dark nest did proceed. How did Raynar convince the Killiks to save and nurture him? Did Lomi and Welk wake up later and brought him under their control? When came the point Raynar felt that he was really lost and had to abide with the new situation, following Lomi Plo’s plans? Is there perhaps a short novel showing all this like we have with some events in NJO?

Then Beda Gorog – an unsolved mystery: Alema Rar tells us, that her predecessor as Night Herald is Beda Gorog and that she is female, while until now we all thought Welk to be the former Night Herald. I waited and waited – but Troy Denning until the end didn’t give any valid explanation for this contradiction. More, the author even missed a chance to make a statement, to incinerate a beacon to transcend gender boundaries, showing Welk who re-defined him/herself as a female, with a new name, new arm, new identity. Instead we have a silent Welk and a Beda Gorog no-one knows about except Alema Rar, while we could have Welk, the Diversity Herald and Lomi Plo as the dragged out queen.

Actually it was a very good and fluent read. It was just the right mixture of intimate play and action scenes. It has a lot of surprises, but there were no striking gaps in the narration as I felt from time to time in SbS, where this was all started. Raynar Thul was such an interesting character that now I searched, if he did show up already in Young Jedi Knights or so, and Wookieepedia says that Raynar Thul made his first appearance in YJK: Heirs of the Force 1995 by Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta.

 

Hi @Sinrebirth,

I know the Kwa already from "The Curse of the Black Hole Pirates" by Ryder Windham (Star Wars: Secret Missions II). Hence everything comes together, while I still don't get how and why the Killiks sometimes were reclusive and self-containing and suddenly they reach out into the galaxy. It seems, Raynar wasn't their first Unu, or Lomi not their first non-Killik queen (Did she kill her killik predecessor on the throne?).

 

The Jedi as a whole display some concerning behavior during the Dark Nest Crisis. But the Jedi whose actions and thoughts are the most concerning by far is Jacen Solo.

“So now you are beyond light and dark?” Akanah asked. “Beyond good and evil?”

“I’m no longer an active Jedi Knight,” Jacen answered, “but yes.”

Jacen believes he is beyond good and evil. That light and dark are all part of one Unifying Force that he uses at his own discretion.

By itself, this is an extremely alarming viewpoint. Jacen believes he can do no evil. That he can use the Dark Side of the Force without any consequences.

“Jedi don’t answer to politicians.”

“What?” This from Corran, who sat on the other side of Kyp. “Then who do we answer to? Ourselves?”

“Of course,” Jacen replied calmly. “Who else can we trust to wield our power? We must follow our own consciences.

“And so we place the burden of remaining pure on lesser shoulders?” Jacen pressed. “Mother, you’ve watched two governments collapse under the weight of their own corruption and inefficiency, and the third is sagging. Do you really believe Jedi should be the tools of such frail institutions?”

Jacen doesn’t trust the Galactic Alliance government. Or any government. He only trusts in himself. He believes that he knows what’s best for the Galaxy. This self-confidence borders on extreme arrogance and does not bode well for the future. Not for a Jedi with Jacen’s power.

Sending the Hapan Fleet to Qoribu touches off a brief, yet bloody battle between them and the Chiss. Jacen is escalating the war, when a Jedi’s duty is to pursue peaceful negotiations and only engage in battle as a last resort.

There was a time, before Vergere and the war with the Yuuzhan Vong, when Jacen would have felt guilty for having to use such a powerful attack on a nine-year-old boy. But now all that mattered was protecting Tenel Ka and the baby, and Jacen felt nothing but relief as he laid his young cousin aside.

Jacen feels no guilt for throttling a nine-year old boy whose being mentally influenced by a Dark Side Nest of Joiners.

Tenel Ka started to open one of her nursing flaps, hoping to silence the child by feeding her, but Jacen stopped her. He needed that crying.

Instead of allowing the Force to flow through his body, he began to use his fear and anger to consciously pull it through.

Jacen uses his anger to draw on the Force. He’s using the Dark Side, even though he believes he’s beyond it.

“We are fine,” she answered. “It is Ben I worry about.”

“Don’t.” Though Jacen knew Ben’s behavior had not been the boy’s fault, he could not quite keep the

anger he felt out of his voice. “I don’t think Gorog would hurt him. He’s practically a Joiner.”

“I am not worried about what Gorog did to him,” Tenel Ka answered. “I am worried about those bruises on his throat.”

Jacen stood, his vision clearing, and went to his young cousin’s side. The impression of his thumb and forefinger were purple and deep, clearly made in anger, but Ben’s breathing was regular and untroubled.

“There’s no need to worry.” Jacen placed his fingers over the bruises and touched Ben through the Force. “They’ll fade in no time.”

Jacen attacked Ben out of anger and still feels anger towards him, even though he’s a child and under the influence of a Killik Nest.

Jacen would have pressed harder, but he could feel that she was telling the truth, that she had not cared why the Gorog were interested in the technology—so long as Tenel Ka’s baby was killed. He had to move his fingers away from Ta’a Chume’s throat. They were beginning to squeeze.

Jacen interrogates Ta’a Chume using the Force, delving deep into her mind. Another use of the Dark Side, during which he get so angry he starts choking her. Later, because killing her would mean continued assassination attempts on his daughter, Jacen uses the Force to shatter Ta’a Chume’s mind and leave her in a coma.

No Jedi would do something like this. That power is Dark in origin. Jacen has departed from the Jedi Path, even though no one knows of what he has done.

Jacen starts a second war by launching an attack on Supply Depot Thrago. He does this by deceiving his fellow Jedi Knights-including his own sister- and manipulating them into helping him.

Jacen’s misdeeds don’t end here.

He lies to Luke and Mara about where he took Ben and wipes the memories of Allana from his mind.

He encourages Luke to draw on his anger and rage to defeat Lomi Plo.

"That's right. You can only accept it," Jacen said. "Some misfortunes you can prevent, and you will. But others .. . sometimes all you can do is embrace the pain."

Luke laid a hand across his nephew's. "I understand. Thank you."

"Good," Jacen said. "Now use what you are feeling. Your anger and your grief can make you more powerful. Use them when you meet Raynar and Lomi Plo, and you will defeat them."

A sudden wave of disgust rolled through the Force-bond between Mara and Luke, and Luke frowned and pulled his arm away from Jacen.

The only reason I can see that Luke doesn’t see through Jacen here is because Jacen is helping Ben. Luke’s emotions as a father are blinding him to the fact that one of his Jedi Knights is falling to the Dark Side.

There’s only one last evil deed Jacen does in this trilogy.

He betrays his own parents to the Chiss. He arranges for them to be captured at Tenupe by Jagged Fel.

It’s never outright stated who betrays the Falcon’s mission. But the following passage makes it very clear who is suggested to be the traitor.

Jacen felt his father's eyes on him and realized everyone was looking in his direction.

"You here?" Han asked. "You're not having another of your visions, are you?"

"No, just . . ." He was surprised to find a lump in his throat. ". . .just thinking."

"Well, stop it," Han ordered. "You're scaring me."

Jacen forced a smile. "Sorry. I wouldn't want that." He turned to his mother. "You can't talk him out of this?"

Leia must have sensed something despite his defenses, because she ignored the joke and said, "Is there a reason I should?"

Jacen rolled his eyes, but silently cursed his mother's perceptiveness. "It was a joke, Mom." He spread his arms and wrapped her in a tight hug so she would not be able to examine his face too closely. "I just came to wish you a safe trip."

He released her and turned to embrace his father. "Good . . ." Had Jacen realized he was going to have such a hard time concealing his emotions, he would have found an excuse to be busy doing something else when his parents departed. ". . . bye, Dad."

"Take it easy, kid. We're coming back." Han suddenly stiffened, then pulled back and eyed Jacen nervously. "Aren't we? You haven't seen something-"

"You're coming back, Dad-I'm certain of it," Jacen said. "Just be careful, okay? Raynar isn't going to believe you-and it won't help that you're telling the truth."

"Is that what you're worried about?" Han sounded relieved. "Look, kid, we've been over this about a-"

"We'll be fine, Jacen," Leia interrupted, finally warming to him and squeezing his hand. "This is the only way to make the Chiss understand how difficult it would be to win a war against the Killiks."

Saba stepped up behind Leia, looming over her the way Chewbacca used to loom over Han. "Everything will be fine, Jacen. Your mother is a powerful Jedi-az strong in her way as you are in yourz."

Jacen nodded. "I know that." He leaned down and kissed Leia on the cheek. "May the Force be with you, Mom."

"And with you, too, Jacen," Leia said. "We're not the ones who'll be attacking Gorog's nest ship."

Han's face suddenly fell. "That's not what you're worried about-is it?" he asked. "Did you see-"

"I didn't see anything, Dad," Jacen said. "Really." He shooed his father up the ramp. "Go on. I'll meet you when this is over.

Han studied him for a moment, then finally nodded. "I'll hold you to that, kid. Don't let me down."

He took Leia's hand and started up the ramp.

Saba remained behind, one slit-pupiled eye fixed on Jacen, and began to siss in amusement. "You are alwayz full of surprisez, Jacen Solo." She started up the ramp. "Alwayz so full of surprisez."

Jacen had to fight down a moment of panic. He knew that Ben found the Barabel Master frightening, and he was beginning to understand why-she was just so hard to read.

Before starting up the ramp after Saba and the others, C-3P0 paused in front of Jacen and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Pardon me, Master Jacen. But did whatever you saw have anything to do with me?"

Before Jacen could answer, Han's voice sounded from the top of the boarding ramp. "Threepio! If you're still on that ramp in three seconds, you'll be riding to Tenupe cargo-clamped to the hull!"

"Threats are hardly necessary, Captain Solo!" C-3P0 clumped up the ramp after Saba and the others, his golden hands paddling the air. "I'm coming, I'm coming!"

Jacen smiled and waved a last farewell to his parents, then retreated to safe distance and watched with Luke and Mara as the boarding ramp retracted and the Falcon slipped out of the hangar. The ship hung below the Megador for a moment, a mere teardrop of white durasteel framed by the hangar's huge mouth, then spun toward the Star Destroyer's stern and streaked off deeper into the Unknown Regions.

Luke's hand suddenly clasped Jacen by the shoulder, and Jacen barely stopped himself from cringing. He could not afford to show any hint of surprise . . . or guilt.

It’s not outright stated who betrays the Millenium Falcon’s mission to Tenupe. But it’s obvious for anyone who can read between the lines.

The fear and panic and guilt that Jacen feels makes it clear that he’s betrayed his parents. He betrayed them to the Chiss. Stopping the Swarm War matters more to Jacen than the lives of his own parents. Jacen has lost the capacity to care for people in a real fashion. The only people he truly loves at this point are Allana and Tenel Ka.

Jacen betrays his own parents to the Chiss, with the caveat that Jagged Fel take them alive. Jacen knows Jag won’t allow his parents to be harmed, but it’s still a monstrous betrayal. They could easily have been killed at Tenupe.

Jacen is walking the knife’s edge of the Dark Side in this series. And no one can remain on that edge forever. Either they step back into the Light the way Quinlan Vos and Jaina did. Or they fall into Darkness, as Anakin Skywalker did.

I used to be a big fan of Jacen and defended his character a lot. It's only now, years later, that I can see all these subtle signs and indicators of his corruption. Jacen still calls himself a Jedi. But he's slipping towards the Dark Side of the Force, just as his grandfather did.

I think the only reason Jacen is still a Jedi here is because there are no Sith left to approach him and tempt him with their teachings and the full power of the Dark Side.

 

Just this quote from TJK, ch. 31, after Jaina and Zekk went to the Harem cave:

Poor Raynar.

But how and why they built Centerpoint then?

@Vialco
Jacen and his overconfidence: Maybe at 29 ABY he got some overdose of the Force, when he fought Onimi - more than his mind could bear in the long run. Or Onimi succeeded in injecting some more refined poison into Jacen, he couldn't detect or resist.

 

Jacen always had the seed of arrogance and selfishness inside him.

From the very beginning of the Yuuzhan Vong conflict, all he wanted to do was to sit and meditate and think about his own life and purpose.

The youth sighed, and a certain amount of relief pulsed off him. “If this sounds harsh, I don’t mean it to be, but I’ve come to realize something pretty fundamental about the Jedi order. We’re all trained to use the Force to allow us to do things to keep the peace and stave off disaster. We do that because we’re following your teaching. You’re following the teaching of your masters, Uncle Luke, but they had to instruct you in those things you needed to defeat the Empire. They did a great job forging you into a weapon, and you even went beyond their training to do things they probably didn’t think you could.”

The Jedi Master nodded. “I can accept that.”

“Okay, the thing of it is that you were shaped as a weapon by Jedi Masters who were part of a tradition that had developed into peacekeepers. I get the feeling, though, that’s not how the Jedi began. I think the Jedi philosophy started as something that strengthened people within. The powers we manifest—I think those are all outgrowths of the internal strengthening, but a lot of those teachings were lost along the way. I mean, I feel the need for something inside.”

With anguish on his face, Jacen looked at his uncle. “I’m not sure being a Jedi Knight is my calling in life. I’d really prefer it if you gave me no assignment at all.”

Luke shifted his shoulders involuntarily as a twitch shot up his spine. “Wow, I’d not expected that.”

Jacen glanced at the floor. “I’m sorry I disappointed you.”

“No, it’s not that.” Luke frowned. “I was going to tell you that what you wanted didn’t matter right now because I need you. And as I was getting ready to say that, I heard Uncle Owen telling me the same thing, right before he died.”

Jacen’s head came up. “Then you understand?”

“Oh, very well.”

“Then you’ll let me seek the answers I need?”

“No.” Luke held his hands up quickly. “I mean, yes, you’ll be able to seek for your answers, but not as a replacement for an assignment. You have to remember that absolutely key to the Jedi philosophy is a respect for all life. For you to go off now means you’d be putting your life ahead of that of others, and that’s not good.”

“But, Uncle Luke, you’ve always put yourself last. You—and Mom and Dad and everyone else—are always being pulled every which way.” He balled his fists and pounded them against his hips. “You don’t have the time to figure out what it is you need to do to develop yourself further in the Force. You’re always distracted.”

Jacen is, at his very core, selfish. And greedy. He has no interest in dedicating his life to fight for others. Which is the core of Jedi philosophy.

At the start of the war, Jacen wants to go off and explore the Galaxy. To find all the knowledge of the Force there is and just learn. Which, for a Jedi, isn't necessarily wrong. But, to pursue knowledge at the expense of saving lives and doing good is selfish.

The life of service and dedication that being a Jedi requires is not one for Jacen. He says it when he's still a teenager. He wants more. The life of a Jedi isn't for him. It never was.

Jacen was ready to go on a Galaxy-wide sojourn at the start of the Yuuzhan Vong War. The war stopped him, but by the end of it, he hasn't learned the lessons he needs to. Instead of staying with the Jedi and helping the battered Galaxy rebuild, Jacen decides to spend half a decade wandering the stars in pursuit of his own selfish desires.

That is not the Jedi Way.

Jacen puts his own desires and wants first. Which, for a normal human being is fine and natural. But for a Jedi who can tap the power of the Force, it's a very bad sign and a step down a dark path.

The Sith are all about themselves. About selfishness and self-aggrandizement and putting their desires and goals above everything else.

Jacen was doomed the moment he decided to set foot on his five-year sojourn. Spending all that time alone dissipated the empathy and compassion that had been his saving grace until then. When he returned, he was a different man.

Cold, ruthless and more arrogant than ever before.

Willing to instigate wars because he felt he knew better than anyone else in the Galaxy.

Willing to manipulate and harm his own family just to achieve his personal goals.

Willing to use any aspect of the Force, because he believed himself beyond Light and Dark.

Luke should never have let Jacen wander the Galaxy alone after the Yuuzhan Vong War. That was when Jacen lost his compassion, empathy and his soul, setting him down a dark path.

 

Hmmm,
I think the tragic of Jacen Solo is, that he knew his dark potential quite well, even at the beginning of the Yuuzhan Vong War. He didn't want to use the force for some reason - because he was afraid of doing evil with it. Later Vergere told him often inasmuch: You don't know what will turn out evil or good, and that's why you have to follow your consciousness and decide by yourself what's right and what's wrong and then act accordingly.

On Ebaq9, Jacen was dedicated to help Jaina (what was just useful as a distraction for Tsavong's remaining troops). And he volunteered for the Myrkr mission. There he hadn't problems with putting his wishes aside to act in favor of the whole team. I think the real problems came, when Tenel Ka and Allana were assaulted by the Killiks; that set a downward spiral in motion, like in his grandfather when Palpatine did send him those nightmares about a dying Padmé with the child. Until then Jacen could fight his self-centeredness, after that he couldn't anymore - if that could ever be called selfishness, when he wants to save Tenel Ka and the child.

But now I do recall that Zonama Sekot passage in TJK:

Surely some of you remember that the Yuuzhan Vong made Jacen Solo an avatar of Yun-Shuno, the goddess for the Shamed Ones. Six years later many of the now so called Extolled had become proud and haughty, mirroring Jacen's development in Dark Nest.
Fun fact: In the German edition Bava is a woman, while Ghator stays male. I was surprised to see that in the English original it is different.

And suddenly I get some doubts if Akanah wasn't right to tell Jacen a bit later:

Before I did read the rest of the trilogy, I just thought that Akanah just doesn't want to let her adepts go. But now I remember how mildly Jacen did react verbally to Nom Anor's last assault on the Solo-Family on Shimrra's citadel ship and his behavior against Taa Chume six years later. I just imagine Jacen, after the Killik assault in Hapes Palace, instead of turning into a Bor Gullet-like interrogator, to tell the former queen mother softly and stoically: