Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures: Season 1: Story 45: The Caves of Batuu
What is it ? : The Young Jedi are training with Jedi Master Carver Drow on Batuu, when he demonstrates a new Lightsaber sequence he has been practicing where he leaps up stacks of boxes, wall runs, and lands on a single hand catching his lightsaber with the other. Kai wants to attempt it, and fails and is disappointed in himself, wondering how he can be a great Jedi like Yoda told him he would be if he can't do this sequence.
Drow instructs Celesta to instruct the other Young Jedi while he takes Kai for a walk, he tries to explain to Kai that being a great Jedi isn't about knowing everything and being able to do everything right, it's about learning all the time.
As they walk in the forest, Kai does accept this, so Drow explains that there are places which are imbued with the force, where Jedi go and sometimes get visions, and they have discovered some caves here on Batuu which they should visit. They arrive at the caves which are surrounded by carved runes, and he waits outside while Kai enters the caves.
Inside the entrance disappears and Kai realises he's in a vision. Firstly he sees the Charhound Ember, which leads him to Bell Zettifar, who explains to him no Jedi is perfect, but Kai says he cannot be a great Jedi without being perfect.
He then sees fellow youngling Djovi Resmia, who he sees doing the sequence, so he once again tries to do it, but fails and falls from the bridge in the Tenoo forest where they have been.
Landing below he finds himself in the Yarrum Tower where he searches for his dropped lightsaber, he sees Taborr Val Dorn, who explains while Jedi have to be perfect, pirates just have to be tough, and invites Kai to give up trying to be a Jedi and be a pirate instead. Kai responds that pirates take things which aren't theirs, so he will never be a pirate and the two fight. Kai grabs a piece of scrap metal to defend himself, but Taborr overwhelms his defence, but before he can strike the killing blow with his electrostaff.
But Kai finds himself sitting on the side of the river at Kublop Springs, and Yoda gives him his lightsaber once more, explaining that he didn't give Kai the lightsaber because he was perfect, but because he was Kai. Telling him he accepts imperfections in everyone else, but he must learn to accept them in himself.
And with that he finds himself back in the caves, he walks outside and explains to Master Drow that he has learned he will never be perfect and has learned to accept that. Drow tells him that true greatness lies not in perfection, but in the knowledge there is always more to learn, and the two begin their walk back to the Jedi Temple and their friends. . . .
High Points : I think the most interesting part of this is what we learn about Kai from his vision. Jedi Visions tend to tells us more about the character that is having them, so in Empire Strikes Back we learns that Luke was worried about turning into Vader, that if a student of Obi-Wans could turn to the Dark Side, then he might too. From Kai's vision we mainly learn of whose opinions are truly important to Kai, he doesn't really care about Lys and Nub's opinions, as he feels they are followers or at least subordinate to him. He doesn't care about Master Zanna, Celesta Kama or Master Drow, as he considers them subordinate to Yoda.
He cares about Djovi's opinion, as he's the one Youngling he respects the skills of, Bell Zettifar's, as he is what Kai wants to become in the future, a brave Jedi Knight, Yoda's, as he is a Jedi Grand Master, the greatest Jedi of them all, and strangely enough he also cares about Taborr Val Dorn's opinion, as he is Kai's dark reflection, the person Kai might be able to redeem if he's good enough and if they respect him enough.
None of these are massive revelations, but do reflect on poor Kai quite badly. We've always known he's pretty shallow, but this hammers it home. But to give him some credit, he is only a kid.
Low Points : There's not much I can take away from the story, it's a bit shallow, and really it's expressing a problem we've never seen Kai having before, he's failed at loads of things in the past without becoming depressed about them. But it's a straight-forwards story told well.
So what do you really think ? : I enjoyed this one, definitely not a series best, but a solid Star Wars story, building on what we've discovered in the series as it's gone on.
Final Words : The message in this one seems to be, everyone makes mistakes, learn to live with that, and it's a very Star Wars way of dealing with that, and quite informative about Kai's character is that he believes that if he fails to be a Jedi, he could be a great pirate instead. That Taborr at his best, is what Kai considers to be his own worst.
Score : 8/10
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