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Knights of the Old Republic 29: Exalted, Part 1

What is it ? : On Coruscant, Lucien Draay has been appointed to the Jedi Council, he gives a speech thanking his parents, and saying how the movement to get the Jedi involved in the Mandalorian wars is obviously wrong, due to the news that the Forces on Jebble have been wiped out by other Mandalorians.
He puts forward motions to have Alek detained for helping Zayne, and pushes forward efforts to capture Zayne himself.
Meanwhile, Jedi Masters Vandar and Lamar watch and comment on the irony of Draay going from being rebuked for the death of the Padawans to being a member of the council, but Vandar reveals it is a plan to find out the truth behind the Jedi Covenant. Lucien gets a message from Haazen that Celeste Morne has returned from her mission successfully.
Across the galaxy on Odryn the home of the Feeorins, the Moomo Williwaw lands using Celeste's id. Jarael emerges clad in robes disguised as a Jedi, and is met by some Feeorins, she is escorted by the Moomo brothers carrying a chest, but the Feeorins block the way as only a single person is allowed access at a time. She beats their leader and ignites a lightsaber, explaining that she needs help carrying the chest, but they will not enter the vault, and the Feeorins submit.
As she is escorted in, the Feeorin mentions one of the Jedi masters that killed the Padawns, Feln, telling her to pass on that they have done their duty once more.
As they arrive at the vault and are left alone, Gryph and Zayne are released from the chest which is revealed to have originally been the Moomo's dirty laundry hamper.
Zayne opens the door to the vault using the key Celeste gave him, and they enter discovering dozens upon dozens of Force Artefacts in storage. They are all sealed inside a nullification resin with a Covenant id chip. The Moomo brothers want to steal them, but Zayne explains how dangerous they are, and that Alek just wants them to document them and bring back evidence of the Covenants wrong doing to the Jedi council. Jarael and the Moomo brothers leave, with an arrangement to return with the ship to collect Zayne and Gryph later.
Zayne and Gryph then try to sneak out of the Vault, but are caught by the Feeorin, but when they tries to talk their way out, Felm arrives on a mount wielding his lightsaber and declaring that Zayne's time is over . . . .

High Points : A really good beginning, showing us events are unfolding across the galaxy not just those involving the main characters, the Jedi that Zayne contacted in the very early issues of the comic are investigating. But Lucien Draay is rising in status and power as well, and using that to move against the Revanchist's such as Alek.
And the time they spend in the vault is a wonderful glimpse into artefacts and power which we don't usually get to see, but seems exactly like the weird items you pick up and equip in the Kotor games, bridging the gap between the games and the larger universe.
We also get a glimpse into the Feeorin, how they are set into various rules and rituals, but aren't happy with the way Feln has used his power to make them serve the Covenant who are outsiders. They follow the letter of their laws, but go no further as they obviously disagree with the way they're being manipulated. An entire people serving the Covenant, but against their will.

Low Points : I feel that Gryph and Zayne sneaking out of the Vault isn't terribly well explained, Jarael and the Moomo's were allowed in with a chest to deposit it, but obviously cannot return with the same chest. So Gryph and Zayne who were concealed in the chest have to leave by another method. Which makes sense, but the dialogue seems to suggest that Jarael claims that she is collecting something from the Vault, so why can't Zayne and Gryph leave by the same method as they arrived by?
In fact I really can't work out what's going on at that point in the story, as it suggests that the Moomo's take the chest back out empty, so I really don't know what Zayne and Gryph remain behind at all apart so they can be caught and meet Feln!

So what do you really think ? : Apart from the confusion in the middle, it's a solid issue, with lots going on in the larger story, but the heroes getting on with their own part in the tale. This feels a lot more like the story I've been enjoying that the Vector storyline did, even though they managed to hook that one into the overall storyline pretty well.

Final Words : I forgot to mention above, that the Feeorin talk about the weather becoming cursed in recent years making life extremely hard, and while Zayne and the others are in the Vault they notice that at least one of the artefacts has a negative effect on the weather. So the Covenant locating the vault here is destroying the lives and civilisation of the Feeorin, who look up to Feln as their protector. Nicely showing how the Covenant has totally turned their backs on those that they actually are supposed to be protecting. Yet another sign of the rot that has set in to their order.

Score : 8.5/10

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