Knights of the Old Republic 35: Vindication, Part 4
What is it ? : Lucien attacks Gryph, blaming him for the death of his mother, saying he took her out of the stasis chamber which was keeping her alive. Zayne defends his friend, parrying the attacks and telling Gryph to flee, and telling Lucien that it was a Sith chamber, so was probably torturing his mother. But Lucien doesn't care, as long as it was keeping her alive.
As the fight leads outside, Zayne spots the supplies that Haazen has gathered, pointing out that he has something bigger planned, but Lucien doesn't care, saying that he cannot escape his future. But Zayne argues that if he could run from his teacher, why can't Lucien, but the battle continues.
As the foot of the statue to Barrison Draay, Haazen picks Sith Artefacts from a chest, with the Jedi that retrieved the chest laying dead at his feet. Lucien leaps at Gryph to strike a killing blow, but is once more blocked by Zayne, as Gryph pleads with them to stop as their real enemy is Haazen.
Lucien notices that the statue of his father has been damaged in the bombardment, and is going to fall, so he tries to use the force from stopping it falling but is crushed beneath it as it collapses.
Haazen is somewhat surprised, but praises Zayne on defeating Lucien, telling him that the Jedi underestimated him as well. He invites Zayne forward to make him his apprentice, but Zayne pleads for him to stop the bombardment, and collapses telling Haazen that he is having a vision.
Haazen is delighted, to have an apprentice which is also a Seer, and moves forward to hear the vision. But Zayne tells him his vision doesn't include Haazen, and lashes out with his lightsaber, cutting the cybernetic hand with the artefact protecting Haazen from attacks off.
Haazen blasts him with Force Lightning, telling him he doesn't need that artefact to defeat him, but Zayne and Gryph are suddenly thrown away, a Lucien climbs free of the statue, and uses the hand that Zayne cut free of Haazen to call down the fleets fire on his position, and the two are consumed by explosions.
Across the town Zayne and Gryph climb out of sludge processing vats, and Gryph is expressing that Zayne conned everyone, to get inside Haazen's defences, and Zayne admits it's what Gryph taught him.
Some weeks later. Admiral Karath tells the official story of a sneak Mandalorian attack which killed the brave Draay family, and how the Republic will take the battle to the Mandalorians as soon as the Swiftsure is ready. And Gryph who is watching with Jarael comments that it is as soon as the computer system is replaced. Jarael tells him that the story doesn't resemble the truth, but Gryph tells her that it is what was agreed to, and part of that agreement was to clear Gryph and Zayne's names. But Jarael is disappointed it didn't clear Alek/Malak's name, but Gryph points out that they've just witnessed what happens when the Jedi form their own clubs.
As she updates him on the situation with Alek, that the Jedi have sent him to the Revanchists with an ultimatum, Rohlan, who won't give up his armor, so isn't being allowed to leave the spaceport. She tells him she is going to try to help Rohlan, but Gryph passes her Zayne's padawan braid, telling her to give it to him, as he's going to be rejoining the Jedi, and Slyysk and Gryph are going to leave.
However Zayne arrives and tells him that while the Jedi offered him his place back in the order, he refused to stay with Gryph and become partners with him. Gryph agrees, and tells him his plan is to search the ruins of the Draay estate for financial information and the two walk off.
Meanwhile, somewhere else. Lucien Draay, blinded and heavily scarred walks through the fields of a planet his money prepared long ago, thinking of how he will re-establish the Covenant here, but with the ideas of his father as well as those of his mother. That here, far from the events unfolding across the galaxy they will survive, keeping the Jedi alive, he sees this because he is the son of Barrison and Krynda Draay and now he can see his future. . . .
High Points : So the end of the Covenant comes, bringing so many plotlines together, with Zayne making Haazen vulnerable with the skills he's learned from Gryph, while Gryph pleads with them to stop fighting and work together rather than just running away, as it's what he has learned from Zayne. And Lucien turns Haazen's plans against him, by using the controls of the Republic fleet to rain down fire upon them.
Low Points : While it would perhaps have made the story too unfocused, it would have been nice if they'd found a way of incorporating Jarael and Rohlan into the story, as for the past few story arc's they've really been sidelined, and I felt that the group was the core of the story, with Zayne's ability creating links and friendships to be important. But they decided to focus on just Zayne and Gryph instead.
So what do you really think ? : So I missed mentioning that last issue when Haazen was trying to make Lucien his apprentice he suggested various Sith names, including Darth Sion. Now Sion in the heavily scarred Sith Lord from Kotor 2, who holds himself together with hatred. And we see Lucien at the end of this issue as a heavily scarred figure. So it leads to the question, is this Sion or not? I'm unconvinced, as Lucien seems to be blinded at the end, while Sion has at least one functioning eye, although beneath the bandages, he could still have an eye healing. Lucien also seems to be more at peace with himself, although if his new Covenant is destroyed, that indeed could fill him with hate.
Wookieepedia seems to list them as separate people, so I'm not the only one unconvinced by this. But this is perhaps just a dropped storyline which they had thought about for later isues, but just never got around to doing.
Final Words : A brilliant ending to the Covenant storyline, but is everything wrapped up? While we know that events keep unfolding across the Galaxy as Revan and Malak lead the fight against the Mandalorians, leading up to the video games. But does this involve Zayne at all, or are the later issues going to be more about wrapping up the storylines with Rohlan and Jarael. I really don't remember, so we'll find out together.
Score : 9.5/10
Comments made about this Article!
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15/Sep/2024 04:09:09
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Posted by josejay00@gmail.com
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Now that the Covenant has been dealt with, I can say what I've been holding off on. I was a little disappointed in that we got a summation of Zayne's meeting with the Jedi Council. I was expecting that in detail After Ahsoka confronted the Jedi Council after being cleared of all charges, that expectation resurfaced. I think I can guess how it went.
Zayne would have criticized the Jedi Council in not believing him. They knew he had a lot of trouble using the Force, so how could he have killed his fellow Padawans. Even if he had fallen to the dark side, the chances of him doing that were still negligible. It went to show they didn't know him anymore than Shel or most of the other Jedi did. The only ones who believed him and helped him were individuals he would have been tasked to turn in. What does that tell you about the situation?
He's been on the front lines. He's seen what the Mandalorians are doing. The Jedi Council can debate with itself on whether or not taking action against the Mandalorians would be an act of the dark side. But as far as Zayne's concerned, there's right and there's wrong. Turning a blind eye to the atrocities, turning a deaf ear to the cries for help - that's wrong no matter how the Jedi Council tries to justify their reasons.
Which leads to the Jedi Council. They're trying to get the factions united while playing politics and trying to present to the public a unified front. Yet they're so focused on that, they're forgetting an essential duty - looking after the little guy. They didn't know what was going on with Camper, the Arkanian offshoots, Zayne's father, the Taris resistance, and the Feeorins. So they didn't help them.
This extends to the members of the Jedi. Zayne's learning difficulty was never addressed properly. He got assigned to a Jedi who wanted no part of being a teacher.
Which leads to the Covenant. Now the idea behind the Covenant was a good, sound one. Seeking out and destroying Dark Side artifacts so another Exar Kun incident wouldn't occur. Good idea. Good intention. However, there were problems with those who created and implemented the program. Krynda Draay lost her master and husband. The Jedi gave her privacy to mourn and recover. However, she was in no position to really start such a program, nor was she emotionally stable enough to raise a child.
Which leads to Lucien. Instead of giving him the love and attention he needed, Krynda considered him a disappointment. This set up Lucien having "mommy issues". Yes, he was loyal to the program and the Covenant, but I wonder if he was more interested in gaining his mother's approval. Had he been raised right, he wouldn't have treated Zayne the same way Barrisson and Krynda treated Haazen.
And that leads to Haazen. The belittlement he received pushed him to the edge, and Dossa took advantage of it. I remember Aayla Secura confronting Aurra Sing in Jedi: Aayla, and Aayla told Aurra, "You are what I could have been. I am what you could yet be." I can see something like that between Zayne and Haazen. Zayne is what Haazen could have become. Haazen is what Zayne could have become.
Everything above are good reasons for Zayne to leave. But Zayne himself said the main reason he left. He could have been given a new Master who would work to help him overcome his difficulties. He could have learned everything right and be qualified to graduate. But there was one thing left. He witnessed how his actions triggered some major events. And he needed to shoulder the responsibility for those actions. This is something that gets placed on the shoulder of all Jedi - the welfare of the Republic. And that's something Zayne doesn't want to have. He's being honest with himself and knew that he couldn't make the big decisions. He just wants to focus his attention on helping the little guys now.
I understand where Zayne's coming from, but I think if he had stayed, he would have been Knighted.
As for Lucien, I'm of mixed opinions. Yes, he'd been manipulated and neglected all his life, and now he's free to pursue his own path. But after what he did, a large part of me believes he should have died on his family estate.
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