Knights of the Old Republic 31:Turnabout
What is it ? : Lucien Draay is settling into his new offices in the Jedi Temple, but he fells almost unworthy of it, thinking that it should be his fathers.
Meanwhile, Jedi Masters Vandar and Vrook are entering a rough bar on Coruscant, Vrook remembers when they would have been coming here to clean the place up, rather than sneaking around behind the backs of the rest of the Jedi Council. They meet with Shel Jelavan and Alek, who try to convince the pair that Zayne is coming here peacefully to hand himself in and give evidence to the Jedi Council. Vrook is unconvinced, mainly because he believes that Alek should be arrested as well, and they show them the evidence from Jebble where an agent of the Covenant led to the deaths of thousands.
In space Admiral Karath is with Jedi Covenant member Xamar on Karath's new flagship the Swiftsure. They have been warned that Zayne is coming, so the fleet stands by to stop him arriving. Xamar asks Karath what Zayne is like now, and Karath tells him that he is sure of himself like a Jedi, but whether that means he's a killer, a spy or just crazy he doesn't know.
They detect the Moomo Williwaw approaching Coruscant so scramble fighters to intercept led by Carth Onasi. Zayne tries to convince Carth to let him pass, but Carth has been demoted and lost enough for disobeying orders, so orders an attack. Between the fighters and Hammerhead cruisers, the Moomo Williwaw is heavily damaged, and Zayne realises that "this" ship will never reach Coruscant.
The Moomo Williwaw crashes into the hangar of the Swiftsure, and the Moomo brothers and Jarael are arrested, but Zayne cannot be located.
Carth's squadron on patrol detects his old ship, the Deadweight heading towards Coruscant, and Carth realising what has happened, decides to ignore it telling his squadron they've done their duty and followed their orders by stopping the Moomo Williwaw.
Zayne and Gryph land the Deadweight on Coruscant but hear someone else aboard the ship, thinking it's Slyysk, but the hissing voice tells them it is not Slyysk.
Nearby Alek, Shel, Vrook and Vandar are heading to rendezvous with Zayne, and they discuss the evidence, with Vandar revealing the information that Zayne's father provided about the Draay trust. But Vrook dismisses it, as it cannot be trusted coming from a source so close to Zayne. Vandar points out that Krynda has been training Jedi for decades without any oversight from the Jedi Council, that after the Sith War they were glad to have the help, but do not know where the Jedi she trained loyalties lie.
Vrook points out that even if all the evidence is real, that Krynda means too much to the Jedi being one of the few war heroes left, and that outing her would tear the Jedi order apart.
Shel asks what it will take for the Jedi to act then, and Vandar tells her that one of the Covenant must turn against it and provide evidence.
A voice responds that one of them might, and Xamar reveals himself, holding a lightsaber at the throats of Zayne and Gryph. He tells the group that he has brought Zayne to justice, but what form that Justice takes depends on what they tell him next. . . .
High Points : A strong linking issue, with Xamar turning against the Covenant, his trust broken in his allies, and the vision that he will be killed by friendly fire weighing too heavily on his mind.
Vrook and Vandar are well characterised as well, Vandar is obviously the Yoda stand in, with his personality being similar as well as his race. But Vrook comes across as the bad cop, but as we discover he is very much a realist. He knows that the evidence cannot just be convincing, it must be rock solid, or the fallout from the Council acting against Krynda and the Covenant will tear the order apart, even more so than the division from Revan and Alek.
And while it is a minor thing, the conversation regarding the bar shows how removed the Jedi Council is from the people they claim to protect. That in their youth they would break up crimes and get involved in the daily events of the people. But now the same places they once patrolled are considered to be far below their attention.
Low Points : I find the swap of Zayne and Gryph to being aboard the Deadweight to be confusing, at first I thought that they had grabbed it back aboard the Arkanian Legacy and the vessel had been sitting in the cargo hold of the Moomo Williwaw. But couldn't work out how they launched it without being spotted.
But on a reread, it appears that without us seeing, Zayne and Gryph slip off the Moomo Williwaw as it crashes into the hangar of the Swiftsure, and then they sneak across the hangar, locate the Deadweight, Slyysk breaks the locks open, and then they fly it out of the hangar into space without anyone noticing, or us being shown.
It's just a bit too convenient for my liking, and that we don't see any of this happening annoyed me.
So what do you really think ? : A great issue, Zayne's redemption in the eyes of the Jedi order seems close, all the evidence is gathered, and the Covenant is about to be outed. Although they are unlikely to just give up peacefully.
Final Words : So next we move onto the Vindication arc, seemingly the end of the storyline set up in the very first issue. There's a lot of story to be tied up, and a lot that could go wrong. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all ends.
Score : 8.5/10
Comments made about this Article!
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05/Sep/2024 12:10:11
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Posted by josejay00@gmail.com
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Lucien's reaction to settling in his new office - was that a sign of humility, or regret. People often comment, "He's his father's son," as a compliment. You're left thinking Lucien doesn't feel worthy of being Barrisson Draay's son.
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