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Knights of the Old Republic 3: Commencement, Part 3

What is it ? : Zayne dreams of doing a jump from a starship with his fellow Padawans, as their masters taught them to not fear. When he awakens he a Gryph are aboard a Wookie Garbage Cart being transported towards the undercity, but Gryph reveals while he said they would head towards the Undercity, he didn't actually mean they should enter it as it is infested by Rakghouls. As they leave the cart, gang members recognise them from their posted bounties, but Gryph convinces them the gang leader wouldn't want the hassle of dealing with the over city authorities, and that Wookiee's are smuggling something more valuable in their garbage cart, the two then leave quickly as a fight breaks out, which Gryph thinks will be won by the Wookiee's.
Meanwhile in the under city, the Jedi following their scryed information that Zayne was heading here are fighting dozens of Rakghouls.
Gryph and Zayne head into a ruined area, which Gryph explains was demolished to make way for new construction, but then no one bothers to do the construction, and he convinces Zayne to cut off his Padawan braid to help disguise his identity as an ex-Jed. As they continue they are ambushed by a Arkanian Female called Jarael, Gryph tells her he wants to see Camper, but she knows of the bounties and thinks they bring trouble. Jarael explains how fighting has broken out in the lower city, as some want the bounty, but others take it that there is no danger from law enforcement if the Jedi cannot protect their own Padawan's. She also passes on news that Lhosan Industries has pulled out from Taris, and without their support the planet is now ripe for invasion from the Mandalorians. All things she blames Zayne for due to the accusation he killed the Jedi Padawan's.
Gryph spots Camper nearby gathering salvage, and reminds him of their connection. Camper appears to be a mentally addled but somewhat skilled engineer that people rely on in the lower city. When he finally recognises Gryph he tells him to get lost, and Gryph makes excuses for having not paid him for their last deal.
Zayne thinks Camper is too addled to help, but as they all squabble, with Zayne wanting to move on, Jarael wanting them away from Camper, Camper wanting nothing to do with Gryph, and Gryph trying to get them to make a deal, the authorities arrive in an air speeder.
They all race into Campers home, which is revealed to be a starship sitting among the garbage of the lower city, and they blast off. The constables tell Master Lucien that they know the starship isn't space worthy, so if he waits they can pick them up in orbit when the ship inevitably fails. But Lucien demands that it is a Jedi matter and they will take charge.
As they fly into orbit in Campers starship, The Last Resort, Zayne looks for the Navi-computer so they can make the jump to hyperspace, but Camper tells him he wired it into another system and tells him the control to use instead. But when Zayne hits the control the entire power system cuts out, with Camper pondering whether he actually sold the Navi-computer instead. . . .

High Points : And we continue to meet some of the rest of the team which will form around Zayne over the series, with Jarael and Camper a pair of Arkanians, one a brilliant but mentally confused engineer, and the other his skilled protector.

There's some solid comedy in here, from Gryph having caused the Jedi to wander into the Undercity and having to fight off Rakghouls (serves them right for listening in to other peoples conversations), the failure of the starship at the end due to Camper having sold off parts of it in the years it's been buried in garbage on Taris. Right through to the Gryph's excuses for not paying Camper last time, claiming that he's been having problems with his accounting droid.
Which keeps it light even during the drama and action that's also going on, in a very similar way to R2-D2 and C-3PO, or Han Solo's wisecracks do in A New Hope.

Finally, we discover there's real consequences to the plot line here. The deaths of the Padawans has undermined confidence in the Jedi, and the whole reason the Jedi are on Taris in such numbers was to provide a counter to the looming Mandalorian threat. Now the Jedi look weak, so corporations are abandoning the planet, which is weakening it's military and making it far more likely the Mandalorians will attack and invade.
The mythos of the Jedi is one of their major powers, the idea that a very few Jedi can swing a battle, and the actions of the Master have destroyed that mythos for so many people that an entire planet is now in danger. The actions of Jedi really have massive consequences.

Low Points : But while we're still introducing the team (and pretty much the whole of "Commencement" is doing), there's not much more forward progress in the storyline. While they've gotten off the surface of Taris, we don't know more about the murder of the Padawans, and the motivations of the Jedi Masters.

So what do you really think ? : While there's not any movement in the main plot except the physical location of the main characters, I did enjoy this issue and found it a real page turner as I really wanted to know what happened next.

Final Words : At this point, Jarael seems ill suited to the group, she's a super confident, super capable character. Compared to Zayne who is generally competent, but is a bit of a clumsy blundering failed Jedi. Gryph who is a skilled conman and provides a wealth of underworld knowledge, but is a braggart and overconfident in his own skills and blind to his own failings which gets them into trouble. And Camper, who is forgetful, often confused, yet a brilliant engineer.
Each of the others have failings, with balance out their skills, and make them relatable. But Jarael so far has no failings, and just seems to be suffering the others, so I'm not really bonding to her character so far.

Score : 8.5/10

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