Knights of the Old Republic #10: Flashpoint, part 3 (of 3)

It's on Diamond's list for Wednesday, yay!

 

It's out today, hurrah!

 

It is kind of lame that Associate happens to be Lucien's mother. I was expecting a Sith at last...

 

So what happens?

 

Maybe luciens mother becomes a sith kreia kreia.....darth traya

 

It wouldn't make much sense for a Jedi organization bent on averting the Sith menace to have a Sith as a leader, would it?

Anyway, where's my dose of spoilers?

 

Aye, bring on the spoilers, people!

 

I've got spoilers! Read at your own risk!

After the preview ends, we see Rohlan escorting Zayne into the main prisoner holding room with Demagol initially rejecting him because he doesn't want to deal with younglings. Rohlan assures the scientist that Zayne is a Knight and says that he wants to Zayne hurt bad. Demagol still rejects him, wanting to see what Jarael has to offer, but Rohlan quickly says that he has to get back to the front. The mad doctor finally agrees to experiment on Zayne, leaving Jarael alone. Squint hears Jarael whisper Zayne's name and tells her about the meeting on Taris before the slaughter.

Rohlan secures Zayne on a vertical table while Demagol prepares his tools. Zayne says that "I think you should let me go," causing his partner-in-crime to repeat this phrase. The doctor scolds Rohlan for being weak-minded and falling for a Jedi mind trick and slaps Zayne for trying before getting what appears to be a leg bone to the back of the head.

Later, Demagol and Rohlan walk out of the torture room, disappointed that Zayne died so quickly. Jarael leaps onto "Demagol" as he approaches her while Rohlan prevents the other Mando guards from shooting her. Through the Force, Zayne lets Jarael know that it's him and she's eventually thrown off of her "victim."

Rohlan and a disguised Zayne then take a tour of the facilities, the latter complaining that the good doctor's armor isn't a good fit. Rohlan distracts the guards outside by asking them about the outpost. Zayne takes this opportunity to discreetly plant explosive charges around the area using the Force.

With the charges set, Zayne signals his ship, causing Gryph to hail the station. He's dressed in a Republic uniform, and says that he's aboard a Republic ship. He then bluffs the Mandalorians into thinking that the fleeing Republic troops had booby-trapped the place before they had left, then pressing a button that detonates the charges that Zayne had placed. The solar shield generator, and a few towers explode, disabling the shield that protects the base with only a few minutes before daybreak! He also implies that he has done the same to the Republic ships still on the planet, causing all of the Mandalorians to quickly flee the planet.

Rohlan and Zayne race back into the compound, saying that they'll take the captured ship if they manage to transport the "experiments" inside. Rohlan appears to get some glory back as he says that he is dying for Mandalore.

Inside the base, Zayne officially reveals himself to the captured Jedi, making him a hero in their eyes. Squint recomends that the base is blown up, stating there are a lot of bad memories there, and states that he's going to take the real Demagol (sadly not shown unmasked) back to Coruscant. Rohlan decides to go to Coruscant as well with Squint and the other Jedi after Zayne suggests that Demagol may have some of the answers that he's looking for.

Squint then tries to recruit Zayne to his Master's cause, stating that the Mandos have enough resources to destroy the Republic. Squint says that his Master's gone to Dxun to investigate another vision, saying that the moon may represent the Mandalorians or something worse. After Zayne tells him that the ships that he saw were already near Taris, Squint replies that the real war is now on. Zayne then tells Squint to not believe the stuff that he will hear when he returns to the Republic.

Jarael and Squint then say their goodbyes, with him telling her that Squint is only a nickname and that his last name's a little complicated. He tells her another name to call him if they should see each other again--Alek...

The arc ends with Rohlan sneaking aboard Zayne's ship and hiding out in the storage compartment that Gryph and Camper where in at the beginning.

 

Oooh, I think I know a certain Mandalorian who has a little crush on a certain... um... whatever Jareal is! (Space Elf?) Anyone catch that look? The reflection in Rohlan's mask? Yeah, thats the look of love... Of course, there may be something else that Rohlan noticed about Jareal; Demagol seemed to think there was something... unique... about Jareal.

Oh, and my guess is that Squint/Alek is the dark enemy (maybe Sith) in the red spacesuit from the Jedi vision seen previously... note that Squint/Alek's wearing the same suit from the vision...

 

So the mystery Jedi from the Jedi Council in #9 is Squint's Master? Guess that eliminates Revan.

And Squint's real name is "Alek"?

Also, what year is this set in (in the front?). It seems like this is set before #9...

 

Oooh, I think I know a certain Mandalorian who has a little crush on a certain... um... whatever Jareal is! (Space Elf?) Anyone catch that look? The reflection in Rohlan's mask? Yeah, thats the look of love... Of course, there may be something else that Rohlan noticed about Jareal; Demagol seemed to think there was something... unique... about Jareal.

Oh, and my guess is that Squint/Alek is the dark enemy (maybe Sith) in the red spacesuit from the Jedi vision seen previously... note that Squint/Alek's wearing the same suit from the vision...

 

Hmm, no one gets ashed. Pleasant surprise.

 

Oops, sorry about the double post. Not sure how that happened...

 

Does alek = darth malak?

Overall another solid issue.

 

More like Alek = Bandon...

 

But the Databank says that Bandon was his name as a Jedi. Although maybe his full name is "Alek Bandon."

Between the same red pressure suit and the (I'm sure) significance of him saying his actual name, I'm sure he's supposed to be someone important...

 

Ah, didn't catch that whole Databank thing. Anyway, Alek doesn't state his last name on the grounds of it being "complicated", apparently, so I suppose that would rule out Malak, Revan and Bandon

 

Chalk it up to Zombie Problems.

What an issue! Quite a lot happened; when I saw the staples and realized I was only halfway through, I was actually shocked. I was sure that I was much closer to the end. As such, the conclusion to Flashpoint wasn't hurried or rushed in any way. A great dose of action, and Squint was used very well. The scene at the end where he put his helmet down was pure championship. Throwing that bone to us readers, implying that he might be the dark figure from the Seer's vision --- ahhhh! Also, I'd like to note that it's not certain Alek is his firts name; he simply said "Call me Alek". It might be a truncated form of his mouthful-of-a-last-name. Such as... Malak. Or... AlekNihilus. ... Or Alekrayt?

Overall, I enjoyed Flashpoint more than Commencement. It was kind of upsetting to see Demagol get subdued so easily, but fighting isn't really his fort�©, is it? Nah, more like a mezzopiano. The relationship between Zayne and Jarael wasn't explored, either --- when Jarael rescued Zayne at the end of Issue 6, there were definitely some hints, and so I assume that we'll see how Zayne rescuing Jarael plays out in Issue 11. It was replaced by the hints at Jarael & Squint we saw here in issue ten.

Edit: My alt + 130 is appearing very oddly...

Also edit: Did Rohlan leave Demagol aboard the Jedi ship? Or maybe he actually left him in the storage closet? The "I had to knock him out again" seemed like a little too convenient of an excuse... ...?

 

I already posted this on Darkhorse, but i'll say it here;

Rohlan goes back into the facility to get Demagol.
The way Squint asks what's wrong with Demagol.
The way Rohlan hesitates to reply.
The way Rohlan looks at Jarael.
The way Rohlan walks away without saying goodbye.
The way he sneaks back on to the Last Resort.

I'm starting to suspect Demagol did something to Rohlan and switched uniforms just by what I stated above.

Plus, what if Squint actually said Malak, but because of the helmets she heard Alek.

 

And not having a last name at all isn't complicated?

 

Oh, RIGHT! And here I was thinking that look was Rohlan crushing on Jarael!

Your post makes much sense, sir. I reckon you're right; Demagol got the drop on Rohlan somehow and swtiched suits...

 

I think it's pretty obvious that Alek = Malek. i mean, seriously, how retarded would Malek look if the best he could come up with for a Sith name was his friend's name with an "M" at the beginning? That would be like if Anakin's Sith name was Darth Mobi-Wan.

 

Ha ha! Of course!

 

Is the 'Darth Who' contest still open? Someone submit Darth Mobi-Wan, ASAP!

 

I think it's the author teasing us--as he did with Haazen's resemblance to Sion.