Knights of the Old Republic #19: Daze of Hate, part 1 (of 3)

Does it mean Russia is Wild Space?

 

A very good issue (I'm too lazy to post the whole summary, so nya nyah!). I'll post some interesting stuff though.

Eejee has a few good one-liners in this issue.

Although the Revanchist Leader's identity is still only in the category of "likely", Squint refers to him as his master, implying that if the RL turns out to be Revan, Alek is almost certainly Malak. Also, he says his hair's not coming back...

Rohlan inquires about Demagol's fate. Or should I say, 'Rohlan' inquires about 'Demagol's' fate? 'Rohlan' also suggests not to try to hard to preserve 'Demagol's' life...

Lucien "spirited away" Adasca's niece, likely to become a Covenant Seer....

Mand'alor takes a page out of Palpatine's book and announces his presence via oversized hologram.

Is "Utrela" a Mando'a word, as in "Utrela Mand'alor. The Arkanian Legacy awaits your arrival..."?

From the Holonet News in the back (an excerpt from a dialogue between Camper and Arkoh's Grandfather 33 years earlier): They seem to have attempted to dupe Camper in the same way as Qwi Xux was duped into working on Imperial Superweapons. Apparently, they were looking at Exogorth Applications in Industrial Waste cleanup.

Edit: Oh, and contrary to the indications of DHC's Comic Shop Locater, there's a reasonably close comic shop to RCAD. I don't need to bus out past the keys to pick up my new comics

Edit2: In the picture they show as a preview for the next issue, Lucien gives off a very Joker-esque vibe in the glow of Alek's Lightsaber. It's cool, and creepy, and funny all at the same time.

 

Darn! So we didn't find out the really BIG revelation yet? That Demagol is the Mayor of Sernpidal???

 

Is the Revanchist Leader ever explicitly refered as being male? Because IIRC Revan was not Malak's master while they were Jedi. It could be a red herring...

 

So far in the comics, no.

But I haven't read #19 yet, so I may be wrong.

I've often wondered if it could be Kreia. The Hooded Dude certainly sounds like Kreia with his/her cryptic comments all the time.

 

On a quick re-skimming of this issue's mentions of the RL, there are no explicit gender-related pronouns applied to him.

 

Why is no one talking about this issue? It was amazing, one of KOTOR's best issues yet (up there with Issues 8 and 15), and in its execution, demonstrated exactly what makes this comic series as incredible as it is.

I absolutely loved the pacing of the comic. It read like a game of "Party Quirks" from an episode of Whose Line is it Anyway, with major player after major player from the series so far showing up every few pages. The pacing was speed-of-light, and it never let up. The first issue of an arc often feels like it's nothing more than a setup for things to come, and Issue 19 here was definitely that sort of setup --- but it felt like so much more. It was a setup, but didn't feel like a mere setup, a la Issue #1 of The Ahakista Gambit. It was also the first issue of an arc where EVERYTHING HAPPENS, but didn't feel rushed like the first issue of Broken did. Essentially, it was a perfect first issue of an arc. It may help that it was built from two previous three-issue arcs, but it was definitely something altogether new.

It seems that every major player from the series did show up on Lord Adasca's ship. First, we get the Zayne-Carth-Saul Karath trio, followed quickly by Squint, followed quickly by Lucien, followed quickly by Manda'lor. Only the Gryph and Slyssk would have made it complete. In the midst of all of these reunions, we got betrayal, mistrust, revelations, all played out in excellent dialogue. And one thing that wasn't absent at all was humour! Humour was used in this issue in a way that didn't detract from the pacing, and to me, contributed to this being an excellent spokes-issue for the entire series. In a four-panel page, Jarael plants a huge kiss on Zayne (WHAT?!!!), while the faces of four characters in the background steadily change as they notice it. The expression on the face of the Duro in the third panel is hilarious, and may be the second-funniest piece of art so far in the series, ranking just behind "YEEP!" The epic kiss is then concluded with the Duro making a wisecrack, which really speaks for the way that KOTOR doesn't always take itself seriously.

The pencils were by a new artist, and I have to say, I really enjoyed them. The style of art fit really well with the humour, particularly the humourous way the Duro was drawn. It also fit with the more serious parts, as well.

The kiss!!! Was it completely genuine on Jarael's part, or nothing more than an excuse to whisper that info to Zayne? I can't help but think there was something serious there.

The Squint-Rohlan reunion was a treat, and the hints that JJM dropped were tantalizing. Alek saying "The hair's not coming back" and Rohlan inquiring after Demagol? JJM knows what we fans speculate, and he's either dropping hints to tease us, or to deliberately mislead us. And I love it!

Issue #19 succeeded in being awesome, and making me ultra-excited for the next five issues. While being very good standalone stories in their own right, we now know that Issues 13-18 have been leading up to something big. I'm very, very excited for the next two issues of Daze of Hate, and the three of Knights of Suffering as well. A lot of our favourite characters are here, and they're all ready to kick some arse. Cheers to JJM and the KOTOR team! This issue was delicious. It was a delissue?

 

Wait for it...

Jarael: I love you.
Zayne: I know.

 

Bah! Now I have to get over to my comic shop again (I was just there yesterday to pick up everything in this series from 13 on and in Legacy from 8 on)... should have waited a day and done it today.

*grins as he plans for tomorrow*

- Keralys

 

Pretty exciting issue. Honestly I have to say....I didn't care that much for the art. It felt much different from what we have seen from the series thus far. Of course, there were a lot of Panels with a lot of different people to get through, so perhaps the less detail orientated style was necessary.

This arc has the potential to be incredibly explosive. Not only are there a lot of different characters, there are a lot of different "Sides". What should be a simple meeting with three factions....Republic, Mandos, and Adascorp as the seller....ends up with far more than that. Lucien, Squint, and Karath all show up and certainly have different points of view on the situation. Mandalore and Romegal don't necessarily have the same interests here...and Jarael/Camper and Zayne have their own agendas too. Adasca is feeling pretty good and thinking he holds all the cards here....but I think with everything going on beneath the surface he has bitten off more than he can chew.

 

And another thing that's interesting is it seems there might be the potential for a triangle to develop between Squint-Jarael-Zayne. Jarael CLEARLY shows interest in Alek, and it's CLEARLY mutual.

 

Just out of curiosity....how big of a threat are these Exogorths? I mean, they are big and all...but they can't be all THAT fast and pounding their fleshy hides with turbo lasers cannot do them a world of good. Even if a hundred of them showed up in a system wouldn't a few capital ships tear them to shreds?

 

And another thing that's interesting is it seems there might be the potential for a triangle to develop between Squint-Jarael-Zayne. Jarael CLEARLY shows interest in Alek, and it's CLEARLY mutual. [/quote]
More like a love dodecahedron:

Rohlan >
Alek > Jarael <> Zayne > Shel
Adasca >

 

I don't have the current issue yet, but in the issue they were introduced, Adasca mentioned that they tore through the Adascorp mining station very, very quickly. Even though this was in an isolated system, I'd expect the Adascorp mining station would've had weapons, them being an evil corporation and all, but they could do nothing against the exogorths. I think of them as beefed up Yuuzhan Vong ships (though I hope there'll never be any connection between them, its not like everything organic has to be Vong-related). Really, really thick skin and they can eat anything, and they're very big. Maybe a dozen wouldn't be so bad, but Adasca now has hundreds under his control, and he's given them hyperdrives so he can send them wherever he wants. So they could conceivably tip the balance of the war (though we know they won't, as most of the major events of the Mandalorians Wars are covered in the KotOR games), hence why he's invited all of the big players. I could see these things taking literal bites out of warships, while turbolasers do nothing against their skin. Jarael did call them a plague, and that probably isn't too far off the mark.

Its probably possible to outrun them in fighers and capital ships, but for attacking planets with stationary defenses, like perhaps Coruscant even, those things would be unstoppable. Although I still view Zayne's luck as the ultimate weapon of that era.

 

I thought of a neat (ok, what I think is neat) way of explaining this.

We have conflicting sources, some that describe Revan as having been a Jedi Knight (KotOR, KotOR II) and some that describe him as a Jedi Master (CotOR, PoD - though the former is wrong about nearly everything else).

Revan, I assume, was knighted at a very young age. Perhaps before he was twenty. He strikes me as the prodigy type and - unlike Anakin Skywalker - he had the majority of Jedi Masters (that we've seen) worshipping the ground he walked on... at least while he was a student.

So, lets say that Revan is knighted before Alek/Malak. Malak, admiring/idolising his best mate, drops his current master and becomes Revan's Jedi apprentice. He's already been trained to near-knight level you understand, and this is mainly an excuse for them to hang out and travel the galaxy righting wrongs together.

Even so, when Malak finally graduates the level of Knight (which occurs at some point before the Revanchist/Jedi schism proper, which I don't think has happened yet) - Revan proclaims himself a Jedi Master (since Malak was "his" padawan), since he has "trained an apprentice to knighthood". You then get some Jedi who object to this, refusing to acknowledge Revan as a Master - like the council - and some who don't. Thus the conflicting sources.

I'm probably way, way, way off - but I could see it happening.

 

Assuming Alek is Malak, of course. I used to think so, but after this issue, seeing the short hair, I'm more inclined to think that they aren't the same.

So, it's confirmed now that the UHJ and the Revanchist leader are one and the same. Excellent.

Lucien is giving me Megatron vibes.

Also, if Jarael hadn't kissed Zayne, then Zayne would have met Squint... For the better or worse, it would have probably ended up differently.

 

Too late to edit my last post.

Yeah, even if he's not Revan, I could easily see the Hooded "Dude" revealed as Kreia. Very easily.

 

So, when Rohlan inquires about Demagol, what does Squint say?

 

He says that Demagol was intoxicated, and they couldn't wake him; and that Squint suspects that he intoxicated himself.

 

Crud. That does not bode well for the real Rohlan, assuming the theories are true.
Also, could someone please post a detailed summary? Thanks.

 

To be fair, just because he refers to the UHJ as "master' doesn't mean the UHJ is a master, or even Squint's teacher. He could simply mean that the UHJ is the leader of the Crusaders.

 

Detailed summary (spoilers galore, of course):


It opens with the preview scene; the Republic ship with Saul, Carth, Morvis and captive Zayne prepares to board the Arkanian Legacy.

Onboard, Jarael rebels against Adasca, takes down the HK-24s and threatens him with a gun. Adasca orders one of his men to cut off Camper's hands unless he hears from him in another ten seconds. Jarael puts down the gun and complies.

Adasca greets Saul and the Republic gang. Saul questions why him of all people, saying that he may not even be an admiral anymore, but agrees to proceed with the negotiations. While he is speaking, Jarael notices Zayne, runs past the higher-ups and kisses him, falling with him on the floor. It's all just a cover-up to allow Jarael to whisper a few things to Zayne. Adasca, realizing that they know each other, orders Zayne to be carried away to the "special" holding area. Jarael pleads that Zayne isn't taken to Coruscant.

Squint arrives and introduces himself as "I'm Alek, Jedi Knight, at your service", identifying the Revanchist leader as his master. He notices Jarael and Rohlan among the gang. He's not happy with the fact that Rohlan slipped away instead of going with them to Coruscant, but Jarael assures Squint that he's not a threat, citing the fact that he saved her life as proof. Rohlan asks Squint about Demagol's fate, and Squint says that he was tranquilized. Rohlan suggests that he "may not have wanted to reveal anything", and says that he "wouldn't try too hard to preserve his life".

Adasca is notified that another Jedi has arrived, and is surprised to see... Lucien. They talk about corporate matters like old friends, about Lucien's father Barrison and Adasca's niece Aurora, whom Lucien supposedly "spirited away". A droid brings them two cups with some purple drink, and when they clash them, Adasca pours some into Lucien's cup. Lucien drinks them, senses other guests onboard, and just before realizing something, passes out.

A bit later... Adasca, the Republic guests, Jarael, Squint and Rohlan discuss the exogorths. Saul asks him what Adascorp wants from the Republic in return, and Squint proposes that he gives them to the Jedi instead, to Jarael's shock. Saul, however, notes that the Revanchists are just "a bunch of freelancers" and "don't speak for the Jedi". Suddenly, "the final interested party" arrives - a Mandalorian ship.

A huge hologram of Mandalore appears, in the same pose as on the cover (looks awesome). Rohlan tells Jarael that it was he who called them, since Mandalore promised to set her free. Adasca says that his corporation is now a galactic player and "no longer accepts contracts, but accepts allies".

Elsewhere on the ship, the HK-24s hold Lucien hostage and quarrel between themselves in HK-speak (one of the funniest moments in KOTOR ever). Lucien never looked more like Megatron before. With a totally eeeevil face, he asks "Where -- Where am I?", and a voice answers: "Nowhere good".

Pan out to reveal Zayne, tied up back-to-back with Lucien. To be continued...

The newsflash addendum is called "Adascorp Fiscal Period Financial Report and Outlook: Field Report: Project Black Ha..." (part of the title is obscured) and is a report for Adasca - a chatlog involving his grandfather Argaloh, the Sixth Lord Adasca, as well as Camper and project director Artonian Dobonold. Camper runs away after hearing how Grandpa Adasca is going to use the exogorths.

 

Why even be so complicated about it? Perhaps Squint (or the real Malak)'s regular Jedi Master was opposed to the war, so Squalak ditches his master and picks up Revan as a new "Master". Technically, he could view every Jedi above him as Master and learn from them, even if they're not officially a master (seems like something I could imagine QGJ advising an apprentice to do). And given that Revan is leading the Crusade, plenty of non-Jedi probaby call him "Master Jedi" and the like. It'd probably catch on, especially if Revan chose not to correct people on that detail like so many other Jedi Knights (Jacen in the earlier LOTF books for example) do.

It's not too hard to imagine the distinction between an official, card-carrying Jedi Master and the Master of the Jedi Crusade against the Mandalorians being a bit blurred.

 

Thanks, Sikon.

 

No, the other way around. They are apparently nigh-indestructible and eat everything. Basically, if you dumped a hundred in a star system and stimulated their eating and dividing responses, pretty much everything in that system is toast. Planets, fleets, etc.