My Star Wars Legends Reading Challenge–Ranking the Old Republic Books

Hello friends! I’m still continuing my Legends Reading Challenge, and I’ve finished The Old Republic Phase. I’ve done several posts of my thoughts on a few of them, but instead of doing more on the last few I’ve read, I’m just going to rank all the books in this phase with a few words about them. Let’s get started!

The Darth Bane Trilogy, by Drew Karpyshyn. (5 out of 5 lightsabers). I did a review of Path of Destruction, but didn’t get to reviews of the other two books: Rule of Two and Dynasty of Evil. I did read them, however, and loved them, though the first book is my favorite of the three. The story of how Darth Bane radically reshaped the Sith is compelling reading, and though I’m Team Jedi all the way, these books are fantastic and helped me appreciate the history and beliefs of the Sith. Definitely number one on my list.

2. Deceived, by Paul S. Kemp. (4.5 out of 5 lightsabers). Check out my full thoughts here. I really liked this story of Darth Malgus, who loves a Twilek woman who was a former slave. The plot was fairly simple (which I appreciated, lol) but the main characters had to make tough decisions.

3. Annihilation, by Drew Karpyshyn. (3.5 out of 5 lightsabers). Check out my full thoughts here. I liked this one because it dealt with Theron Shan, a character who is descended from Revan and Bastila Shan, but who doesn’t have the Force. He relies on his own skills to stop a dangerous Sith and her ship/weapon. A good adventure. I gave this one 3.5 at the time of the original post, and now it’s above two 4-lightsabers books, lol, so I’m thinking it’s actually a 4.

4. Lost Tribe of the Sith, by John Jackson Miller. (4 out of 5 lightsabers). This is the last book of the Old Republic I read, and I didn’t think I’d like it, for some reason. But…I loved it! It’s a series of stories about several generations of Sith that crash-landed on a remote planet called Kesh 5,000 years BBY. The Sith on the ship Omen were working for Sith Lord Naga Sadow, but during a battle they were knocked into hyperspace off course, and crashed on a mountain on Kesh. The ship was destroyed, there were no communications, no one knew where they ended up so no one was coming, and there were very little metals on the planet, so no reparing anything. They were stuck. And they and their descendents stayed there for 5,000 years, conquering the native Keshiri. It was so interesting to see these Sith adapt and change over millenia, with no contact from the outside galaxy–no Republic, no Jedi, no aliens, just humans and Keshiri. Legends were born and reborn. But Sith will always be Sith, fighting each other for power. I was enthralled with the whole thing. Apparently, these stories are prequels to the Lost Tribe told about in the Legends books Fate of the Jedi (which I probably won’t get to for a long time, considering they’re towards the end of the Legends list, lol). I looked it up in Wookieepedia, and the Tribe does eventually get off Kesh to threaten the galaxy and deals with Luke Skywalker. Something to look forward to!

5. Revan, by Drew Karpyshyn. (4 out of 5 lightsabers). Check out my full thoughts here. I know some people absolutely love Revan, but I’m not one of them, lol. I don’t hate him, but I don’t see the fascination. Maybe it’s because I’m not a gamer. At any rate, the story was fine (I gave it 4 out of 5 lightsabers), but I do think it’s more appreciated if you’ve played the game.

6. Red Harvest, by Joe Schrieber. (3 out of 5 lightsabers). Check out my full thoughts here. Star Wars zombies! This was a fun and freaky Star Wars read. A Sith Sorceror seeks immortality but things go terribly wrong, naturally. A quick, bloody read with some interesting Star Wars elements.

7. Dawn of the Jedi, by Tim Lebbon. (3 out of 5 lightsabers). Check out my full thoughts here. This is the first Legends book I read in my Legends Reading Challenge, and the first on the timeline (25,000 BBY). It wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for, as it wasn’t the very beginning of the “Jed’aii,” but I guess that’s far enough back, lol.

8. Fatal Alliance, by Sean Williams. (3 out of 5 lightsabers). Check out my full thoughts here. This one took me awhile to get through, and had a lot going on. The weirdness factor was up there, too, lol. Not bad, but not great, either.

9. Knight Errant, by John Jackson Miller. (2 out of 5 lightsabers). Confession: I didn’t finish this book. Doesn’t seem fair to give it a rating because of this, but based on what I read, I’d give it a 2 (and that’s only because I normally respect the author, lol). It pains me to do this, as I’ve enjoyed plenty of other John Jackson Miller books (Kenobi, Rebel Dawn, and Lost Tribe of the Sith). And it’s a really cool cover. But it was just so incredibly boring. There’s no other way to say it. I didn’t particularly like the Jedi protagonist, it took forever for things to get going (and by the middle of the book, it still hadn’t), the plot was confusing and weird, and I just didn’t want to waste any more time on it. I just didn’t care. I’m sad about it, but it happens. There were some comics that went along with it (and even a portion of the comic inserted into the middle of the book), but it didn’t help me like it any better. Maybe someday I’ll finish it…but I doubt it, lol.

So that wraps up the first Legends section of The Old Republic. Next up: “The Rise of the Sith Era” with Cloak of Deception, by James Luceno. Back into more familiar territory, and I’m looking forward to it! Stay tuned.

Canon Contemplation: Finishing up Alphabet Squadron

Some Spoilers Ahead!!!

Hello friends! With a few books in between, I’ve finally finished the Alphabet Squadron trilogy by Alexander Freed, with Shadowfall and Victory’s Price. I did a little review of its first book, Alphabet Squadron, along with the book Inferno Squad, in an earlier post.

The feel of this whole series reminds me of of the show Andor: no Jedi or Force or larger-than-life heroes or villains; just regular people doing their best and trying to end this war. Gritty, complex, no easy answers, the toll war takes on people. A slow burn at first, and then ramping up until I couldn’t stop reading. The Rebels may have won the war at Endor, but it didn’t officially end until a year later at Jakku, as the New Republic sought out renegade Imperials. In this trilogy in particular, Alphabet Squadron–along with General Syndulla and her New Republic crew–are after Shadow Wing, the Empire’s 204th TIE squadron.

I won’t go into plot details of these two books, but suffice to say there are many battles between the two groups, with losses on both sides. My eyes usually glaze over long battle scenes, whether it’s in a book or on the screen, and if these books were only about the battles, I wouldn’t be interested at all. For me, it’s the characters that made these books stand out. In the first book, I didn’t really like any of them (except Hera, of course), lol. But they were interesting and complex; and over the course of the books they grew on me. I became extremely invested in their welfare and what would eventually happen to them. I’ll just describe a few of them here:

Alphabet Squadron:

Wyl Lark is an A-Wing pilot from the planet Polyneus. His people are pacifists at heart, but felt the need to send 120 of their people to fight against the injustices of the Empire. Wyl is an excellent fighter pilot, but the constant killing wears down his soul. After Endor, he was getting ready to go home, but he was needed for more, and so he stayed. His extreme empathy–toward his enemies, as well as his allies-frequently puzzle and discomfit his team. In other words, he’s not jaded–not yet–and he tries several times to reach out to the enemy and end the killing. Wyl acts as the moral center of the story. He makes mistakes, but they’re always for the right reasons.

Chass na Chadic is a Theelin who flies a B-Wing. Chass is an angry young woman–she idolizes Jyn Erso, who died a glorious death to stop the first Death Star–and she very much wants a glorious death herself. But she wasn’t at Endor, and she keeps surviving battles while her comrades die around her. Mostly, she’s afraid if she survives, there will be no place for her in the New Republic. Fighting is all she knows. So she takes reckless risks, and Wyl Lark keeps saving her, and it enrages her. She has a difficult relationship with Wyl, as well as Yrica Quell. Well, with most everyone, lol.

Nath Tensent is a bit older than these two, an Ex-Imperial who pilots a Y-Wing. He left the Empire early on and became a sort of pirate, but lost his crew to the Empire; the Rebels recruited him after that. Mostly, he wanted revenge against the 204th, who killed his crew. Nath is an odd one–he isn’t particularly loyal to the New Republic per se. He’s in it for revenge, and also because he was being paid by Caern Adan, the guy who cobbled Alphabet Squadron together. Yet, he’s brave to a fault, saves countless lives, and gets several medals. He likes the attention and acclaim, but not the responsibility. He’s got a soft spot for Wyl and looks out for him, but he becomes attached to the whole squad. When pushed, he’ll do the right thing.

Kairos flies the U-Wing, and is a bit of a mystey at first. She’s non-human, but no one really knows anything about her or her people; in the first book she’s wrapped in robes and a masked helmet, and rarely spoke. But she’s intense, a terrifying killer if it comes to it. Turns out the Empire took control of her planet, and she, as the “shaman” was taken by them, interrogated, and imprisoned. Her people, however, were isolationists; their culture denies mingling with any other beings of the galaxy in order to stay “pure.” Kairos was not pure anymore, and she had no place with her people. So she was highly motivated to end the Empire. Her squadmates barely understand who she is, but trust her.

Yrica Quell is the defecting Imperial TIE fighter pilot who flies an X-Wing. She took part in Operation Cinder (Nacronis) in the 204th, but afterward defected to the New Republic, claiming Cinder as her reason and that she didn’t, in fact, take part. Turns out it was her mentor, Soran Keize, who pushed her to defect. He could see that Cinder was eating away at her but knew she wouldn’t go on her own. So she did, and Caern Adan put her in Alphabet Squadron to find and destroy the 204th, because of her knowledge of her former squadron. Just when it seems Alphabet is coming together, they find out that she did, in fact, take part in Cinder, and are appalled. Feeling she has no future in the New Republic, she goes back to the 204th, but not to really rejoin them; rather, to let the New Republic know where they were. She was part of neither, but wanted to do what was right, and to save as many lives as possible, as it seemed the 204th were operating a second Cinder. Towards the end of Victory’s Price, she goes up against her former mentor, Soran Keize, a man she likes and respects, but feels she must stop to save even more lives.

All of these people have tough character arcs, and I mean they really go through it. Physically, emotionally, spiritually, they go through the wringer; they come out the other side damaged, but wiser, I think, at least concerning themselves: who they are and what they want.

The 204th:

Soran Keize is the only character from the Empire I’ll get into, as he’s the most important to know and understand. After Cinder, and after he pushes Quell to defect, he leaves the Empire himself for a while. He takes on the name Devon, and tries to make an honest living in the galaxy for a time. He does this because he knows the Empire truly lost the war and there was no coming back; he also had issues with Cinder and what the Empire had become. But eventually, New Republic Intelligence catches up with him and tries to arrest and/or kill him. He gets away, but decides there is no life for him in the New Republic, not as long as they keep coming after him. So he goes back to the 204th. He doesn’t do it for the Empire. He does it for his squadron, the 204th. He does it out of loyalty to them, the people he had worked with and were responsible for. He still knows the Empire is done. But he wants to give the people of the 204th a purpose. If that means constantly engaging with the New Republic, then so be it, to whatever end comes. Eventually, though, he has to regroup with the larger Imperial Remnant fleet, and they take part in the battle of Jakku. Well, his people do, but he goes on a solo mission to Coruscant to try to destroy a vast Imperial database that holds every single horrible thing every member of the Empire had ever done; the New Republic could use it to harry and harass any ex-Imperials after the war. He wants to wipe the slate clean and give them a chance to live new lives. But in doing so, in bombing the database, it could kill thousands living nearby in Coruscant, and Quell tries to stop him for this reason (there are other reasons, too, which are interesting).

Soran is probably the only Imperial character I’ve encountered that I actually like. Except perhaps Leo Partagaz from Andor, but that’s mostly because of his disposition; he’s still a ruthless Imperial, lol. But Soran is a philosophical man, and truly believes that he’s helping the people he’s leading. He doesn’t care about the Empire at large; that’s over. Without many other options, all he can do is give them purpose, and he’s laser-focused on this plan. I think he’s doing it to give himself purpose, as well, in a galaxy that has irrevocably changed, and not in his favor. I respect him at least for that.

I want to mention the Emperor’s Messenger Droid, as well. This is one of many droids that announced Operation Cinder to the fleet commanders, with the eerie faceplate that held Sidious’ hologram face inside it. After Cinder, it went dark, and floated around Soran’s ship like a ghost. And I think that’s the point: it’s a symbol. The Emperor haunts them all, even in death. He’s a constant shadow looming over them, reminding them of their former glory, and of all the horrible things they did in his name. The crew at one point make a shrine out of it, praying to it for guidance. It’s frustratingly silent, giving no hint of what they’re supposed to do now. They have no idea the Emperor is punishing them for allowing the Rebels to win (typical that he doesn’t want to take any responsibility himself). It’s inside the droid that Soran finds out about the database, that the Emperor was keeping a mind-boggling account of every crime, big and small, of every Imperial out there. Because that was the point: making everyone in the Empire accountable and responsible, no matter how small a role they played. A petty and cruel bastard he was, lol.

Anyway, these books are as rich and complex, as dark and gritty as Andor, and asks a lot of the same thorny questions. When the story is about Jedi and Sith, good and bad tend to be clearly delineated. Here, as in Andor, we mere mortals have a harder time of it. We’re just people, caught up in terrible violence, with unending cycles of revenge. War is hell, and there are no winners, not really, not when the violence rips you to pieces, physically and emotionally and spiritually. These books are about the toll war takes on regular people, the scars left, the ambiguous moral decisions that have to be made. I’ll be thinking about these characters for a long time.

As a whole, I give this trilogy 4.5 out of 5 Lightsabers (the slow burn build-up requires a lot of patience, but the payoff is worth it; and they’re BIG books–500 or more pages each).

Have you read the Alphabet Squadron trilogy? What did you think? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My thoughts on Star Wars: Visions–The Ninth Jedi

Giant kyber crystal-sized spoilers ahead!!!

I’m a big fan of Visions, the non-canon anime shorts that are stories inspired by Star Wars. There were quite a few I loved from Season One, I adored virtually all of them from Season Two, and Season Three had some I liked but didn’t impress me as much as the other two seasons. One of the fan favorites from Season One was The Ninth Jedi, and though I liked it well enough, I wasn’t sure I was interested in an 8-episode run of its own. But it’s Star Wars, so I knew I’d at least watch it once.

And…it’s fine. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it, either. Maybe it’s because I’m not an anime fan at heart. There are elements of Japanese anime that really get on my nerves, lol, and maybe that’s why I loved Season Two so much more–the shorts were made by studios from around the world and had their own unique flavor, without the screaming, gasping, grunting histrionics of traditional anime.

But, having said that, I thought the story was interesting, and the characters grew on me. I liked the concepts it explored, particularly with lightsabers. These lightsabers changed colors depending on the feelings and motivations of the wielder. I also liked that lightsabers were presented to people who didn’t have the power of the Force, but had the heart and integrity of a Jedi, to become one of them.

The basic story is that the Jedi are trying to rebuild their Order. Kara’s father, Zhima, constructs lightsabers, but he is kidnapped by General Nawaam, and Kara and the other Jedi are trying to find him, as well as stop Nawaam from conquering the galaxy. I’ll talk a little bit about each character and what they contributed to the story.

Lah Kara is the main character of the story, a “child” or a “girl,” but I’m guessing she’s a young teenager, no more than fifteen. In the original short, she delivers the lightsabers her father made to the Margrave, to give to potential Jedi, but in the process her father is kidnapped for unknown reasons. Kara is young, so she’s impatient, reckless, and quite emotional, but she’s got a good heart. She just wants to find her dad, but her journey requires that she learns the ways of the Jedi. Which means learning patience, controlling her emotions, and dealing with information about her dad’s past that isn’t exactly flattering. She can be annoying at times, but I think that’s just adolescence, lol (as well as her constant gasping and grunting).

Margrave Juro (“The Margrave”) is Kara’s mentor and an old friend of her father’s. I like Juro a lot, because he’s wise, patient, kind, decisive. You know, everything that a Jedi Master should be. Naturally, because he’s the mentor, the leader, the one everyone counts on, he’s gotta die fairly quickly, but like any good Jedi Master, he comes back as a Force ghost to guide Kara in her moments of crisis.

Lah Zhima is Kara’s father. We see him in the original short as a lightsaber smith, but it turns out he’s a former Jedi who trained with Juro in their youth. There’s a lot of mystery around Zhima, an intriguing character that’s hard to figure out at first. His story comes to us in pieces, in the memories of other characters, particularly Juro and Nawaaam. For a while, it seems Zhima is a nefarious person, but it all turns out to be a big misunderstanding.

Ethan is one of the Jedi training and travelling with Juro. He’s sent on a mission to infiltrate General Nawaam’s stronghold to find out what he’s planning (surprise! It’s a superweapon made out of kyber crystal). We don’t get too much into Ethan’s character, except that he’s a good boy with huge eyes that make him look perpetually startled.

Homen is another Jedi with Juro’s group, and another character I wish we’d gotten more of in the story. I really like the looks of this guy (he vaguely reminds me of some cartoon character from the 70s I can’t quite put my finger on, lol).

General Nawaam is the villain of the story, a Kylo Ren-like figure who rejects both the Jedi and the Sith. He strives to purge all emotions, believing they are what causes all the problems in the galaxy. I mean, he’s not exactly wrong, and so that’s why his lightsaber burns blue instead of red–he has the best of intentions, I guess, at least at first. I’m not sure how conquering the galaxy and destroying a lot of it is going to help anything, to be honest. I’m also a little confused about the whole silver lightsaber thing. Apparently it means the wielder has purged all emotions. Okay? And? Eventually it turns red while he’s fighting Kara. Kara’s had turned red at some point, then silver, and then turned back to green, and…??? I think the point it’s trying to make is that a Jedi must balance their emotions. Not purge them completely, not give in to the negatives, but control them so they don’t control you. Jedi Theory 101. Anyway, I feel like Nawaam was a weak point, mostly because his motives weren’t clear and a lot about him didn’t make sense. Oh well.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention 4-9’s, the little yellow bird-like droid who is adorable; Gramps, the ancient pipe-smoking droid that pilots their ship; the Jedi Hunters who don’t actually have the Force, but have great banter; and one Sith that works for Nawaam that turns into a Grievous-like thing. Oh, and the space dwarves! They were great.

So the show was kind of uneven for me: I liked some of the concepts and characters, but the plot didn’t quite work for me in the end, mostly because of Nawaam. I’m not sure if there will be a Season Two, or if another short will be explored for expansion, but I’ll continue to root for more Visions in the future.

Did you watch The Ninth Jedi? What did you think? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

Thoughts on Star Wars: Legacy and Eyes Like Stars

Hello friends, two new Star Wars books have come out in the past few weeks and naturally I’ve read them. Here are my thoughts about both:

Planet-Sized Spoilers Ahead!!!

Legacy, by Madeleine Roux. This is the one that I was really looking forward to. It takes place between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, and focuses on Leia and Rey. Rey has the broken Skywalker lightsaber and feels the need to fix it so she can use it to help the Resistance against the First Order. She’s also feeling the pressure of being the last Jedi and expectations of saving the galaxy and rebuilding the Jedi Order (who wouldn’t?). She’s also reeling from her last encounter with Kylo Ren and their Force connection. She’s been pouring over the ancient Jedi texts she got from Ach-To and with the help of C-3PO, finds information about an ancient “forge” on the planet Tython. She decides to go there to find it and reforge the lightsaber.

She intends on going alone, or at least with C-3PO, but then Leia decides she’s going to go as well. Leia has got her own troubles, as she’s very recently lost both her husband and her brother, and continues to deal with the pain of losing her son to the dark side; not to mention the very precarious position the Resistance is in right now, after the narrow escape from Crait. But she feels responsible for Rey and feels she can help in some way, as she did (briefly) train as a Jedi with Luke decades ago. Rey is impatient and feels a little weird around Leia, considering the connection she has with Kylo, but Leia is insistent, so off they go.

Near the planet, they run into some refugees from Hays Minor that are in trouble with the First Order: two young men, Gavrin and Ziff. Rey and Leia help them get down to the planet, where Gavrin’s father, Lijar, is with more refugees who are posing as members of the Church of the Force. Lijar himself is an actual, enthusiastic member, who is excited about the Jedi temple remains nearby. Gav and Ziff, not so much. They’re fresh off a vigilante mission to assassinate a First Order Major who helped destroy their home of Hays Minor, a mission that went horribly wrong and Gav was severely injured. When they learn that Rey is a Jedi, they want her to help them seek vengeance on the Major and save one of their own, who is to be executed soon. Of course, Rey and Leia refuse, seeing the rashness and futility of such a move. This only proves to them that the Jedi are not what they are hyped up to be.

Rey and Leia focus on the Temple and what it can tell them. Rey is impatient to get to the “forge,” not seeing that it’s actually a metaphorical forge for the Jedi who went there. Because of Tython’s strong connection with the Force, both Rey and Leia have strange dreams and visions while there. Leia has dreams of what might have been, had she continued her Jedi training with Luke. She dreams of being a powerful Jedi who stops the First Order before they can destroy Hosnian Prime (in the dream, she literally pulls apart a Star Destroyer with the Force, lol). Rey, on the other hand, dreams of her dark self, the one we see in TROS, the one who embraces the darkness within herself. She also sees Ben/Kylo, a what-if scenario of if she’d taken his hand and joined him. In the meantime, they find some holotapes of the ancient Jedi who lived and worked there nearly 5,000 years ago. Something bad had happened here; a Sith woman came to the temple to try to come back to the Light; it’s not clear exactly what happened, but it didn’t work out well–there’s evidence of a battle.

Anyway, in the meantime, we see First Order Major Brilla Wolstenholme in the aftermath of her assassination attempt. She survived only because Kylo Ren happened to arrive at the right time and saved her. She wants revenge on the rebels who tried to kill her, but is sent to the planet Chespea, an awful backwater where she and others are nearly killed by the wildlife there. She embarks on a near-mad journey to find Gavrin and Ziff, but in the process finds out that the First Order actually set up the assassination attempt to show Kylo Ren–and herself, at first–as a hero, to boost morale. But after the parades, they tried to get rid of her on Chespea. This is a woman who willingly joined the First Order as a child and was a devoted disciple; their betrayal cut deep. At one point she could have just disappeared and started over, but she couldn’t let it go and went back to the First Order, who promptly arrested her.

Back on Tython, Rey keeps resisting the darkness within her, constantly running away from it instead of facing and accepting it. At one point she climbs up a cold, snowy mountain just to get away, but then finds she’s stuck there, near-freezing. Someone comes along to help her–the Force ghost of Anakin Skywalker (which was a suprise, but a welcome one, lol). He tells her that she’s not alone, that she can’t do everything alone. He himself tried to fix everything by himself, and well, it didn’t work. She manages to get off the mountain and back to Leia, and she tells her about her connection to her son. That secret had been a barrier between them.

Leia herself has had Force ghost visits by her brother Luke, who helps her with her dreams, but also tells her that Rey is Palpatine’s blood. Leia decides not to tell Rey right now, as she feels it would just push her further over the edge; she’s clearly dealing with her darker self in the place.

Anyway, it all comes to a head when Ziff, clearly the more angrier of the two rebels, goes off and makes a deal with the First Order: he’ll lead them to the Jedi and General Organa, but they have to bring the Major. There’s a confrontation with Ziff in the temple and he accidentally shoots a little girl named Meepka, and Rey, with a new confidence, heals her and the crystal at the same time. While she does this, she has a Force vision of putting Dark Rey and Kylo Ren away for now, telling them goodbye. She’ll deal with them later.

They manage to get away just in time, but the Major blows up herself and Ziff in the end.

There’s A LOT more than what I’ve written here, obviously, but I loved the book because it shows how Rey and Leia get to the point of their relationship we see in TROS. We go from the ending of The Last Jedi, with the Skywalker lightsaber broken and Leia and Rey not really knowing each other too well, to Leia being her Master, the lightsaber fixed, and Rey able to Force-heal. There are a lot of questions that hovered between these two movies that get answered in this book. Some may complain that that there’s not enough “action” or planet-hopping, but I like that these characters get to slow down a little bit and digest all that’s happened to them, and have all these important conversations. It’s much more character-driven, which are the kinds of books I really like.

If you like Rey and/or Leia, the Sequels, the Jedi, and character-driven books, this one’s for you. If you’re not a fan of these things, you may not enjoy it. But I loved it and give it:

4 out of 5 Lightsabers

Eyes Like Stars, by Ashley Poston. This is the first Star book presented as a “romance,” and at first I thought I probably wouldn’t bother reading it, since it’s not my area of interest. I do like some romance in my Star Wars; it would be super dull if there wasn’t any, but not necessarily front and center. Lost Stars by Claudia Gray is about the closest I want to come to Star Wars romance.

BUT–I was waiting for Legacy to come out and was slogging through Shadowfall, and felt I needed a quick Star Wars read. So I checked it out, and guess what? It’s pretty good! Definitely in the YA romance department, with two young people who are thrown together under dangerous circumstances and naturally start falling for each other. It’s a very fast read; I got through it in two days, lol.

Ardent (if that’s not a romance heroine’s name, I don’t know what is, lol) works on the tour ship that belongs to her father, and is content to live her life on its predictable decks and predictable itinerary. While docked in Coruscant one day, she looks for a holotape of a romance series in a seedy part of town, where things get very complicated. She finds the tape, but when she leaves she realizes she left with something that she didn’t pay for (an old astrolabe) and brings it back to the shop. When she gets there, a young man is in trouble with some First Order officers. They’re after an old broken lightsaber he has in his possession, and she helps him get away. Sian, the young man, convinces her to let him stow away on the ship to get away from them, and he’d disembark on the first stop. But of course, things don’t go according to plan.

I won’t go deep into plot details, but it’s fairly interesting. I like how Ardent has a latent talent for “astrogating,” like her mother–no computer navigation, just getting somewhere through hyperspace with their minds, kind of like the Skywalkers from the Thrawn novels, clearly using some form of the Force to find their way through the stars. Her mother had died when Ardent was eight years old while astrogating, and her father won’t let her use it or learn about it anymore. He’s put a lot of pressure on her to continue the family business, just assuming that’s what she wants. Her older brother had left three years prior, chafing at the confines of the ship and their father, so the business would fall to Ardent. She always thought that was exactly what she wanted, but since meeting Sian, she’s not so sure. And when her brother shows up again on the ship, acting weird and snooping around, things just get more fraught.

I think the love story hits all the marks that romance fans are looking for. I enjoyed the book, but again, it’s not really my thing. There were enough “Star Warsy” things in it to make it a fun read for me, but I’ll give this one:

3 out of 5 Lightsabers

Thoughts on Spiderman: Brand New Day

Hulk-sized SPOILERS ahead!!!!

After my marathon watch of all the Spiderman movies, I finally saw Brand New Day, and it was definitely a fun afternoon at the movie theater. Marvel delivered on all its promises: action, heart (and heartbreak), familiar faces, cameos, and some surprises. There’s no denying it’s awesome, but I do feel it tried to stuff a bit too much into it.

It begins with Peter doing what he does best, which is help the police of New York City deal with the bad guys, and communicating with the Chief of Police in a relationship that’s clearly been built over time. He’s always working as Spidey, in order to deal with the fact that MJ and Ned are gone to MIT in Boston. He keeps track of them on their Youtube vlog during their entire four years there. In the meantime, we see him go up against a baddie named Scorpion, and has already dealt with some cool-looking exotic baddies called The Hand. He also has a run-in with “Frank” aka The Punisher, who he’s also dealt with before, and they just seem to irritate each other and get in each other’s way. I haven’t watched any Punisher movies or shows, so I know very little about him except that he lost his family and probably went vigilante to avenge them or something. Anyway, a lot happens in the first half hour and it’s a bit dizzying.

ALSO, there’s some strange new threat that’s invisible, can get into other people’s bodies, and is going after some mysterious thing held in some corporate compound or other; Peter realizes that his body is changing in weird ways, that his spider DNA is ramping up and he doesn’t necessarily like it; AND he finds out MJ has a boyfriend. Wow.

Peter goes to Bruce Banner for help with his changing DNA problem (brought on by stress), who is teaching physics at a University. After talking to him, he comes up with an idea for an “inhibitor chip” (that sounds familiar, lol) to keep the increased sensitivities at bay. Of course, we see the Hulk later in humungous fighting mode.

So I’ll get right to the big secret: the invisible threat is Jean Gray (from X-Men), just a teenage girl here, who is looking for her sister, Sara. They both have the same abilities, and Sara was kidnapped for “research,” of course. Jean is just trying to find her. Peter unwittingly delivers her to these guys, then finds out the truth and feels bad. In the meantime, Jean used MJ to get to Peter, putting her life in danger, and so Peter brings her to Frank and asks him to keep her safe. When Peter leaves to go find Jean, he accidentally leaves behind that letter he wrote years ago to MJ but never gave her, explaining who he was. Of course, she reads it. But she doesn’t remember him, not even a little bit, and it’s heartbreaking.

Anyway, Peter goes to help Jean, but he has to unleash his new, improved Spidey powers to get past the baddies and convince her to stop hurting people. In other words, he has to grow, and so does she. They both have to get past their losses and their fears. Unfortunately, Frank has showed up determined to kill Jean, but when he shoots, it’s Peter he hits, who saves Jean’s life. Jean keeps him alive with her power as he’s brought to the hospital. He makes it through and realizes the people of the city love him, as there’s a crowd of well-wishers outside the hospital. It makes him feel a bit better, as he realizes he has to let MJ go. She’s still nice to him, though, and they hang out with Ned (only as Spidey). One day, Peter sees him in the cofee shop and introduces himself and starts their special handshake, and Ned remembers. The handshake, AND Peter. So Ned remembers him from a handshake, but MJ doesn’t remember him after reading that deeply personal letter? Come on, man! I’m hoping maybe, somehow, they can start over and be together again someday.

All in all, it was a great movie, but like I said, there was a lot to take in and keep track of, and I feel like it could have been streamlined just a little bit. I think it’s starting to prepare us for Doomsday–we see Yelena Belova from Thunderbolts, who helps Peter with some intel, and the “New Avengers” are going to be in that film (and I adored these guys, so I’m happy about that); as well as the X-Men, so I’m expecting Jean maybe to come back? And the Fantastic Four, and Thor, and Loki, and somehow, Steve Rogers….pretty much every character Marvel has ever created, it seems, lol. I have mixed feelings about that, like it’s going to spread the movie very, very thin, but that’s for another post.

So have you seen Brand New Day? If so, what did you think? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

Spiderverse!

Hello friends! In preparation for the release of Spiderman: Brand New Day (July 30), I went back and rewatched the first three films to refresh my memory of where Peter Parker was and how he got there. I then decided to go all the way and rewatch the Tobey Maguire films, and watch (for the first time) the Andrew Garfield films. My world has been filled with comic book craziness for the last few weeks, and I thought I’d do a post comparing the three sets of Spidermen. And look, I HATE spiders (I squirm when they show actual spiders, lol), but I LOVE these guys! Let’s go chronologically:

Spiderman, Spiderman 2, and Spiderman 3, 2002-2007

Tobey Maguire is the quintessential original Spiderman in modern Marvel adaptations. And he couldn’t be more perfect. He’s equal parts adorable and awkward, dorky and brave, good and imperfect. He’s definitely the most “Aw, shucks!” Peter, who’s in love with the girl next door who doesn’t know he’s alive (at first). Mary Jane is the beautiful dreamer who becomes an actress/singer; his best friend Harry Osborne is the rich son of Norman Osborne, who becomes the Green Goblin. Willem Defoe knew the assignment and brought a psychotic edge to the villain, which is fun to watch.

This trilogy sets up the classic Spiderman motifs: the origin of his powers, learning to use them (and how to use them responsibly), his relationship with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, Ben’s death and Peter’s guilt for his part in it, trying to win MJ’s love (and then losing it), his complicated relationship with Harry. Putting the suit away for a while, the public’s finicky view of him (hero or villain?) all the while navigating new adulthood, making a living, going to college, fighting bad guys, and trying to (unsuccessfully) balance everything. It’s a lot, lol, and this poor kid goes through it.

The three films offer a classic character arc for Peter, with a beginning, middle and end that is satisfying to watch. It’s funny, heartbreaking, thrilling, and just plain fun.

Villains fought: The Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Sandman, Venom (and Harry’s Goblin Jr. for a time).

The Amazing Spiderman, The Amazing Spiderman 2, 2012, 2014

I think this duology is underrated and not appreciated for the wonderful job Andrew Garfield does with his more damaged Peter Parker. This series delves into what actually happened with his parents, in particular, his father Richard Parker, who was a brilliant scientist (of course) and was killed for his work on the very experiment that caused Peter to get his spidey-skills. But he didn’t know that for a long time, and was anguished about his parents’ departure and death. It generated a lot of anger. But despite this, he’s still the kind, vulnerable Peter we know, a young man given extraordinary powers and trying to figure out what to do with it; at the same time navigating through high school, bullies, and first love.

This series chose Gwen Stacy as his love interest, which (according to my googling, lol) was Peter’s first love in the earlier runs of Marvel Spiderman (called, naturally, The Amazing Spiderman). I found their relationship to be sweet, fun, and a bit more sexy than the other Peter/MJ relationships (though still PG rated, come on, kids are watching, lol). I love that Gwen is a smarty-pants in her own right and got into Oxford, though tragically, she never makes it there. And this is where this series differs from the others: while the other Peters lose some variation of their Uncle Ben or Aunt May, this one loses his love interest, and it’s devastating, and naturally he feels responsible.

All the Peters have to deal with loss and responsibility, but this one just seems especially sad to me. With the angst about his parents and the loss of Gwen, I see Andrew as the Wounded Spidey, from the very beginning. On a side note, I found Andrew Garfield reminded me a lot of a young Hayden Christensen. His looks, his acting, his voice, everything about him reminded me of a tortured Anakin, lol.

Villains fought: The Lizard, Electro, The Green Goblin

Spiderman: Homecoming, Far From Home, and No Way Home, 2017-2021 (And various Avenger movies).

Ah, Gen Z Spidey! Marvel’s Multiverse Peter starts out a bit younger than the others at a tender fifteen years old. It doesn’t bother with an origin story, we’ve seen it before, and I think it was a good choice, though I do wonder where the heck he ran into a radioactive spider, lol. Even so, from the beginning this Peter is woven into the Avengers story, as he is discovered by Tony Stark. I love the mentoring role Tony plays in Peter’s life, and it’s fair to say it evolved into a sort of father/son relationship; Tony was the father figure he never had (he doesn’t even have an Uncle Ben in this iteration), and Peter definitely made Tony a better person.

He starts out with a crush on Liz, the daughter of his first villain, Vulture, but she quickly moves away once her dad goes to prison. He then gravitates to his friend MJ (Michelle Jones here, not Mary Jane). This MJ is smart, sarcastic, a little dark, and emotionally guarded at first, but their romance is sweet in the way only high school first loves can be. The fact that we all know Tom Holland and Zendaya are a couple in real life only makes it more endearing.

Peter’s best friend is Ned, not Harry Osborne as in the other films, and I love him, too. It’s fun that he has Dr. Strange-like powers, and even though he promises Peter he’ll never turn into a villain and try to kill him…I wonder. Now that nobody knows who Spiderman is, who’s to say what’s going to happen? I’m going to get into speculations for Brand New Day in a couple of paragraphs, so hold that thought.

This Peter is quite young and vulnerable (but still with plenty of teenage snark), and thrown into a complicated world he’s not quite ready for–kind of like Gen Z these days. And boy, does he make some of us feel old–“Do you guys know this really old movie called Empire Strikes Back?” Omg.. But he’s thrown into a massive battle for the fate of, not only our world, but the entire universe, and…they lose. He blips, disintegrating into ash in Tony’s arms. His panic guts me everytime.

Villains fought: Vulture, Mysterio, Thanos

But once he’s back, everyone knows his identity and its causing problems for his friends getting into MIT, their dream school. He gets involved with Dr. Strange’s magic, and it causes all manner of trouble and multiversal monsters. BUT–he gets to meet the other two Peters, and this is absolute magic.

When he meets them, Tom Peter has just lost his Aunt May (May keeps getting younger in these films), and he feels responsible, as they always do, but they try to comfort him. Tobey Peter is older and wiser, having gone through his shit and finding some sort of peace with that. Andrew Peter is still young, but older than Tom Peter and is still dealing with the consequences of his shit. Tom Peter is smack right in the middle of his shit. They’re the same person, but all together they’re like brothers, and Tom Peter is the little brother they’re helping out.

They fight the villains (and CURE them rather than kill them) before sending them back and burying their demons in the process. They battle Tobey Peter’s Green Goblin and Doc Ock, and Andrew Peter’s The Lizard and Electro. It was just wonderful to see all the Peters together. They say their goodbyes and then Tom Peter has to say goodbye to his friends–because of Dr. Strange’s spell. Multiverse monsters are coming through and it has to be done, but they promise to find each other afterward.

But will they? Here are my speculations, guesses, and questions for Brand New Day:

We see Eman Esfandi (our very own Ezra Bridger from Ahsoka) playing a new love interest for MJ. Will he become another villain for Spidey to fight, or just a distraction? Or a catalyst for him to take action?
As I mentioned earlier, Ned (and everyone else) has no idea who Peter is or that he’s Spiderman. Will Ned somehow become a villain and try to kill Spidey for whatever reason? It would be a mirror of the other Peters, whose best friends become enemies. I’d actually hate to see it, but the fact that Ned actually SAID it in the last movie seems to be some kind of foreshadowing.
This is just an observation, but it seems that Peter’s powers are in flux, changing and getting stronger. It seems he’ll be able to release the webs straight from his wrists, just like Tobey Peter. It’s cool. And a little gross, lol.
I don’t know who the known villains are in this one–Scorpion and The Savage Hulk (???), as well as some invisible threat no one knows yet. There’s also Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, who seems to be a friend and/or ally to Peter. I’ve never watched the Punisher, so I don’t know much about him.
There’s a lot of speculation about who Sadie Sink’s character is going to be. Some say she’s a young Jean Gray (and could be that invisible threat?), but I’d love her to be Gwen Stacy. Probably not going to happen, but I’d love there to be a romantic rival for MJ, just to make things interesting. Or maybe she’s Ghost-Spider or Spider-Gwen? I’ve been googling the character, and I’m so confused, lol.
Will Spiderman be in Doomsday? I think reports say no–at least, Tom Spidey. I’ve heard that Tobey Spidey might be a multiverse appearance in that one, which if so, will be cool.

As someone who doesn’t know Marvel as well as she knows Star Wars, these movies are continually fun and surprising for me, because it’s all new and I have no idea what may be coming. Suffice to say, I can’t wait for Brand New Day, and will give my thoughts on it when it comes out!

One Of My Favorite Posts

Hello friends, here’s a blast from the past that I had a lot of fun writing and thought I’d share again. Enjoy!

A Jedi’s connection with animals

Mon Mothma Fan Art

Hello friends! I’ve been working on a piece of fan fiction featuring Mon Mothma, so I thought I’d poke around and find some fan art of the Chandrilan Senator, Rebel leader, and New Republic Chancellor. Enjoy!

This one is part of the official artwork of Star Wars Celebration Japan in 2025. I love the style–called ukiyo-e, a traditional Japanese art style that flourished in the 17th to 19th centuries. Here Mon holds an official scroll while the Death Star looms in the background. The look on her face says “Do your worst…I’m still here.”

Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025 official artwork by Japanese artist Takumi

Here’s the famous wedding crash-out dance in Andor, in which Mon feels her life spinnng out of control. This one scene conveys so much emotion without words, and this piece captures that perfectly. The tear running down her face is a nice touch.

I love the grace and elegance of this piece. Mon wanders the halls of her palatial apartments in Coruscant, but it means nothing without freedom. She exists in a gilded cage.

This one captures the glamor of Senator Mothma, before she must leave all the glitter behind and become a war leader.

I like how this one captures the duplicity Mon must maintain while in Coruscant, to keep up the mask of conformity while secretly funding and guiding the nascent Rebellion. As she reminds her friend Tay Colma while at a society party, “Smile,” while talking treason.

This one captures the uncertainty, doubt, and fear of actually going up against a powerful Empire. But once committed, she doesn’t back down.

I’m still working on the fan fiction story, but I’ve got a few others I’ll post here in the coming weeks. In the meantime, enjoy these awesome works of Star Wars fan art!

Star Wars Canon Contemplation: Inferno Squad and Alphabet Squadron

Hello friends, so after tearing through the Legends trilogy of Darth Bane, I decided to read some canon books. I’ve been avoiding the “pilot” stories because I don’t really care for those–I thought. But there are only a handful of canon novels left that I haven’t read, lol, so I had to broaden my view. I decided to start with Battlefront II: Inferno Squad. Of course, I haven’t played the game, but I’m always willing to give video game books a try if it’s good storytelling.

SPOILERS!!!!

So not only is this one a pilot story and a video game story, but it also has Imperial characters as the protagonists. Those are a lot of strikes for me, lol. I can’t completely root for Imperials to succeed, but I will concede that it’s interesting to get their point of view once in a while. Plus, this one’s written by Christie Golden, and I loved her Star Wars novel Dark Disciple, so off I went.

And you know what? It was a great read! I was pulled in from the very beginning as Iden Versio, a star Imperial TIE pilot, goes deep undercover with her comrades (called Inferno Squad) in the remnants of Saw Guerrera’s Partisans after his death, who call themselves The Dreamers (Save the Dream!). Their job is to find out who is leaking information to them and to eliminate the threat. Iden has to publicly “defect” from and denounce the Empire, citing the destruction of Alderaan as the inciting incident that turned her. This is painful for her, as she doesn’t believe that at all (which is why it’s so hard for me to root for Imperials, who see the destruction of an entire planet full of civilians a military necessity, while the destruction of the Death Star is a “terrorist” act, ugh.)

Anyway, she’s recruited by the Dreamers, while her comrades are playing parts that caused them to become members as well. They have to take part in a few missions where their fellow Imperials are killed, but they maintain their act. They get to know the members of the group, and while some aren’t that likeable (such as their leader Staven), most of them are just people who hate the Empire and want to see justice done. The group is led by Staven, but they have a “Mentor,” who advises and guides them, and is actually the person who is giving them the Imperial intel for their missions. Turns out this is Lux Bonterri, the son of Mina Bonterri from the Clone Wars, who was an Onderonian Senator for the Separatists. I vaguely remember Lux from a few Clone Wars episodes–I remember he kind of had a thing for Ahsoka?–but the rest of his history I’m not familiar with.

Anyway, Inferno Squad figures this out and routes the Dreamers, but not without some personal cost. They lose a member of their squad and have to commit acts against the Empire. And most of them also become, if not friends with, then friendly with some members of the Dreamers, giving them a different perspective of the war.

I think it was clever to have Inferno Squad go up against the remnants of Saw’s Partisans, because they were considered extremists and not an official part of the Alliance. I’m not a fan of Saw’s methods, so I didn’t particularly care what happened to them, even though I did like most of their members. And I wasn’t that sad when one of Inferno Squad’s members died because–well, Imperial. I felt oddly detached from all of the characters, lol. Despite this, it was a good, fast, entertaining read. Iden’s struggle to please her cold, perfectionist Admiral father made her a bit more sympathetic for me, and learning that she later defected to the Alliance after Operation Cinder redeemed her a bit in my eyes.

3.5 out of 5 lightsabers

Let’s switch sides and go with a Rebel/New Republic pilot story. Although this one, Alphabet Squadron, features an Imperial defector named Yrica Quell. Quell leaves the Empire after Operation Cinder, supposedly in protest against its extreme cruelty. She spends some time at Traitor’s Remorse, a camp for Imperial Defectors, where she’s assigned a “therapy droid”–actually, an old reprogrammed Imperial torture droid called IT-O. But then Caern Adan, from New Republic Intelligence, recruits her to lead a squadron to find the Imperial TIE squadron Shadow Wing, which happens to be Yrica’s old squadron.

Together with an alphabet soup of ships and their pilots–Wyl Lark with his A-Wing, Chass na Chadic with her B-Wing, Nath Tensent with his Y-Wing, and Kairos with her U-Wing–Yrica must lead the squad in search of Shadow Wing. But Yrica must prove her loyalty and ability to lead, and it seems she’s got some secrets. Every member of Alphabet Squadron is damaged in some way and it takes some time–most of the book, in fact–for the squadron to form any semblence of a team. I found myself losing patience with all of them, especially Yrica, at some point or another, but it just means the author (Alexander Freed) did a great job writing them as flawed human beings who have been through a devastating war.

I tried reading this book some time ago on my Kindle, but after a few chapters I just couldn’t get into it. More than likely, I was distracted by other books, but this is a slow burn and a fairly dense read. I was determined to get through it, and once I slowed down and took it all in, I found that it’s a great book. For a “pilot book” it’s got a lot going on as far as characterization. While Inferno Squad was a fast, intense read about an Imperial pretending to be a defector, this one deals with an actual Imperial defector, who has to reconcile so many conflicting feelings and ideas about who she’s loyal to now. She desperately wants to prove herself so she can fly again, but her superiors don’t fully trust her yet, and her teammates don’t understand her. Yrica doesn’t make it easy for them, either, as she still thinks like an Imperial much of the time.

It was fun to see Hera Syndulla in the story, as Alphabet Squadron comes to be aboard her ship, the Lodestar. She leads an attack, along with Alphabet Squadron, on a planet called Pandem Nai, in the hopes of routing some Imperial Remnants, as well as destroying Shadow Wing. They manage to do the former, but not the latter–Shadow Wing gets away.

So I’ll be plodding my way through the next two books–Shadow Fall and Victory’s Price–to see how this team can actually come together and defeat Shadow Wing once and for all. Stay tuned.

3 out of 5 lightsabers

My Star Wars AOC Fan Fiction–Satine

Hello friends, here’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while–share my fanfiction here on the blog. I’ve linked to my stories on Archive Of Our Own before, but I wanted to put some of it straight here on the blog. I’ve written a few shorter pieces that will work here. These short stories have a common thread which is, admittedly, a bit morbid–I wanted to get into the head of several women Star Wars characters in their last moments. What are they thinking? Are they afraid? Hopeful? Are they full of regrets? I thought it might be interesting.

This first piece is from Satine Kryze, Duchess of Mandalore’s point of view. It’s the exact scene in the Clone Wars (Season 5, Episode 16) in which Maul kills her in front of Obi-Wan to exact his revenge. There is a story in the book Stories of Light and Dark that does the same thing, but from Obi-Wan’s point of view (it’s a great story), but I wanted to get Satine’s perspective.

Here’s the story:

I Have Loved You Always

All I ever wanted was peace.

Peace for Mandalore. For my people. To end our constant, destructive aggression. I accomplished this for a time. A blink in the eye of Mandalorian history. I am proud of that accomplishment.

But now, all has come to violence and ruin.

I am bound and kneeling beside the vile creature Maul as he sits on the throne–my throne!–with the traitor Almec on my right, and a terrifyingly gigantic yellow Dathomirian zabrak to my left. As Maul brings Obi-Wan to the throne room, I know all is lost. Mandalore. Peace. My life. Yes, he will kill me to hurt Obi-Wan. To make his enemy suffer, and fulfill his burning need for revenge. Whatever his aims are in Mandalore–and he has several–Obi-Wan’s pain is chief among them.

As Obi-Wan is brought before us, I vow this: I will not be the tool to bring about Obi-Wan’s downfall. For I know that Maul wants not only Obi-Wan’s pain, but the eradication of all that is good in him as well.

No matter what Obi-Wan is–a Jedi, a general, a hero, a warrior, a man, my love–yes, here at the end, I will call him my love–he is a being of Light. A jedi’s existence is meant to hold the Light within himself; it is the reason I gave him up so long ago. He only recently admitted that he would have given up the Order for me, if I had asked. But I didn’t ask. I knew then, as I suspect he did as well, that our love could not compete with his calling. We could have ruled Mandalore together, brought peace and prosperity–and perhaps Maul would not be here now. Instead, our children’s laughter would have filled these halls.

But he always would have been haunted by what he gave up. The Order is his family, his life. The Light within him–the Force–serves a higher purpose, and he would have felt that loss. I could not do that to him.

And I won’t do it now. I must warn him, exhort him not to fall for Maul’s machinations. It would give this creature of darkness the greatest satisfaction to see his Light extinguished. A vindication for his false superiority, for he envies Obi-Wan’s strength in the Light. I understand him. He thinks me weak; Death Watch thinks me weak; even Obi-Wan at one point thought my pacifism naive.

But they’re all wrong.

There he is now, in his stolen red Mandalorian armor–so handsome, even as he fights despair. Even now, my heart skips a beat when I see him. Ever since his mission with Master Qui-Gon so long ago, to protect me during the Mandalorian Civil War.

Stars, we were so young then! But we knew who we were, and we came to know each other. Peril boiled us down to essentials, and we liked what we saw. He was young and brave, so desirous to gain his Master’s approval and praise, but always questioning him. He was also often brash and arrogant. But I suppose I was, too. We bickered, we challenged each other, he saved me more than once–and dropped me while doing it!–but I forgave him, because I saw the Light in him. When the war was over and I returned to the seat of Mandalore, our parting was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do–and I’ve had many challenges over the years. But he would become a great Jedi Knight, and I–I would rule Mandalore and bring about a long-overdue peace. We each had a destiny to fulfill–without each other.

And now this demon of the dark has us both at his mercy. The creature is speaking now, taunting Obi-Wan, gleeful in his triumph. “You’re noble flaw is a weakness shared by you and the Duchess.” Suddenly I am lifted off the ground by an unseen force, an invisible hand wrapping around my throat. “You should have chosen the dark side, Master Jedi.”

“Obi-Wan,” I choke out, feet flailing, my fingers prying at the vise tightening around my neck.

Obi-Wan, kneeling between two guards, looks up at Maul, anger darkening his expression. No! No, stay calm, I want to shout, but I can’t find the breath.

“Your emotions betray you,” Maul says silkily. “Your fear, and yes, your anger. Let your anger deepen your hatred.”

“Don’t listen to him, Obi–” I somehow croak out, delving deep for the last of my strength.

“Quiet,” growls the yellow zabrak in warning.

And then Obi-Wan speaks: “You can kill me, but you will never destroy me. It takes strength to resist the dark side. Only the weak embrace it.”

My heart soars–he will not fall. My love, my Obi–he is strong.

“It is more powerful than you know,” Maul snarls.

“And those who oppose it are more powerful than you’ll ever be,” Obi-Wan retorts.

These words agitate Maul, and I feel the grip at my throat tightening. Obi-Wan must panic, as he reconsiders his tactics. “I know where you’re from,” he says in a calmer tone. “I’ve been to your village. I know the decision to join the dark side wasn’t yours. The Nightsisters made it for you.”

But he’s made a critical error; his attempt at compassion backfires and enrages Maul. “Silence! You think you know me? It was I who languished for years thinking nothing but you, nothing but this moment, and now the perfect tool for my vengeance is in front of us. I never planned on killing you. But I will make you share my pain, Kenobi.”

Everything happens very quickly then. I’m starting to see spots before my eyes, but the snap-hiss of a lightsaber cuts across the room, and I see Obi-Wan’s horror-stricken face as I rush through the air towards him, towards the darkly glittering blade before us. The Dark Saber.

Pain, heat, as it pierces my middle, and a strangled sound comes out of me, the vise gone from my neck; and then I fall to the cold stone floor. “Satine!” I dimly hear Obi-Wan call out.

I look up through a cloud of pain, and he is there, holding me tenderly, as he never could before. To have his face be the last I ever see–such a blessing here at the end!

“Remember, my dear Obi-Wan,” I manage to say, reaching up to touch his face, “I have loved you always. And I always will.”

He begins to fade. Or rather, I begin to fade. For a brief moment, I recognize the deep irony of me, the pacifist Mandalorian, dying a violent death upon the Dark Saber. Perhaps my opponents will find it fitting and deeply satisfying. But I feel no pain now, only peace, the peace I have fought so long for. Let him be safe from the Dark, I pray–to the gods, to the Force, to the stars–my last thought, then–

Light.

So much Light.