Knights of the Old Republic: War: Part 2 of 5
What is it ? : Having been betrayed by the Jedi Dorjander Kace who now leads a breakaway sect of Jedi that fight alongside the Mandalorians, The Mandalorian Knights. Zayne Carrick and the Crew of the Reciprocity have been pressed into service alongside the Mandalorians for an attack on the world of Halthor. A Mandalorian falls, and Zayne tries to help, but they reject his aid, as Mandalorians either fight or fall, they don't burden anyone else with needing help.
So to stop the Slaughter, Zayne jetpacks in and destroys some defence cannons, so the defenders are defenceless, and one of the Mandalorians returns his lightsaber. He recognises them as the mother he saved from Captain Morvis back on Essien, she tells him that she didn't want his help back then, especially not from a Jedi.
Zayne spots Captain Morvis being repremanded for not firing his weapon, and he tries to use his rank and his family status to get returned to the Republic, but the Mandalorians refuse.
Zayne promises to the Mandalorians he'll keep Morvis in line, and the two see the Mandalorians rapidly building camps for their forces now the battle is over.
They see Dorjander Kace giving a speech on how the Republic is corrupt, but the Mandalorian way is pure which is why he and his group decided to give the Mandalorians their own Jedi. Zayne befriends a Devaronian Mandalorian, who reveals that the people who have joined up prefer the purity of the Mandalorian way to the myriad of different cultures they are from, he for example likes being nomadic, unlike many of his race. He discovers the Devaronian is a comms specialist, and asks him to get a message out to one of Zayne's friends, which he will try in the morning, but security is tight.
During the night Morvis tries to assassinate one of the Mandalorians, but Zayne stops him, and it alerts the Mandalorians to his actions. Zayne saves his life by pointing out the Morvis has never killed anyone, and the Mandalorians mock him because as a Republic Captain he kills through orders and not personal skill.
Zayne's actions draw the attention of Dorjander Kace, who remembers hearing of him, pointing out that Lucien Draay took his seat on the Jedi council. As they speak, Zayne reveals he is from Phaeda, and Dorjander reveals that is their next target, which horrifies Zayne, especially when he sees that a group of Mandalorian Dreadnaughts have joined them for the assault. . . .
High Points : We get a close look at Mandalorian culture here, seeing how they are different to the Republic, and pretty much free from the corruption that riches and influence can bring. Every Mandalorian is given equal chances, and every Mandalorian is expected to take the same risks, there is no hiding behind the lines handing out orders. This does make the Mandalorian's quite appealing, although we can already see that the Mandalorian Knights threaten this order, by adding a group of people with "magic" powers, it threatens the balance.
Low Points : But certain other elements of the Mandalorians aren't what we've seen in the past. The Mandalorian woman that Zayne saved, and the Mandalorian in this issue object to Zayne's offers of help, as Mandalorians don't take help from others as it makes them reliant on them and a burden on the whole Mandalorian empire. But Cassus Fett took a warning and help from Zayne in the original series, saving many Mandalorian lives. So either this rule is new to the lore, or it differs across the ranks, so a leader will take help from others, as it makes sense to work together to strengthen the whole Mandalorian Empire. Whereas lower ranked Mandalorians are considered less valuable, so are trained to try to not burden the whole and just die.
So what do you really think ? : There's a lot of talk in this one, without actually much going on. We get the assault on Halthor, but apart from that it's mainly talk, with us learning more about the Mandalorians, with some individuals becoming established, and Dorjander Kace is being built up as the major antagonist in this story. I think we're supposed to empathise with him, as he points out at times how similar him and Zayne are. But it's not working for me, as we've not seen what events have set him on this part, and the fact that we've seen the Mandalorians before exterminating entire planets, doesn't make their culture very appealing.
Final Words : Although it's by the same author, this series really doesn't seem the same as the older Knights of the Old Republic series. It's somewhat bigger in scope, but Zayne is really being controlled by events and not being the same character we've seen in the past. Probably because he's lacking the support that made the old series so great, but we'll see how it goes in future issues.
Score : 8/10
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