Star Wars: Legacy: 15: Claws of the Dragon, Part 2
What is it ? : The council of Moffs receives instructions from Darth Maladi to stop their search for Cade Skywalker, and are unhappy about just being dismissed without explanation. Afterwards, Moff Yage attends the meal with his daughter, Gunn Yage, the captain of the squadron which pursued Cade. To their surprise Gunn's Mother, Nyna Caliste also attends, but she seems more interested in whether it was Cade that the squadron pursued than the family.
Meanwhile in the Sith Temple, Darth Maladi is torturing Cade, but he keeps wisecracking at her expense, and she realises the poisons she is putting into his body he is neutralising using the force, forcing his will on them like a Sith might.
Darth Krayt shows interest in this ability, but Cade says he can't do it for anyone else, to which Krayt tells him is a pity. As he has Jariah and Deliah brought out, he blasts them with the dark side, causing Yuuzhan Vong coral seeds which Maladi has implanted in them to erupt in spikes causing them massive pain.
Cade heals them as Maladi and Krayt watch, sensing the Dark Side around Cade as raw and untrained. Maladi says that he might kill himself and suggests killing Jariah and Deliah instead, but Krayt wants to see the extent of Cades power.
Krayt tells Cade that he will do as he is told, or his friends will be killed, but Cade counteroffers, he'll do as he's told if they are released, which Krayt surprisingly agrees to as he considers them unimportant.
Days later, Nyna Calixte and Moff Morlish Veed are spending some private time together, and she shares what she has discovered about Cade being on Coruscant, and she tells him she will bring in her agent, Morrigan Corde, to find and free Cade. He expresses doubt as she failed to locate him on The Wheel, but Calixte tells him about the alliance she broke up instead.
In the Sith Temple, Cade is escorted to see Krayt, and some of the Sith are excluded from the meeting, and discuss how they are considered less as they converted to being Sith instead of being raised on Korriban.
Cade is offered food, initially refusing it, but then eating when Krayt explains that he could have had him killed any time, so poison should not be a concern. Cade then points out it's an old trick to treat an enemy bad, then nice to make them feel that you have empathy for them. Krayt agrees, telling him it's a trick not unknown to the Jedi, revealing that he was once a Jedi and still holds to some of their traditions.
He shows Cade the lightsaber of Kol Skywalker he has put on display in a place of honour, before taking off his helment and revealing that he was once A'Sharad Hett . . .
High Points : Cade being resistant to the Sith poisons, because they're the same poisons as contained in Death Sticks is an interesting twist, that the ability to numb himself, but recover from it that he has been practicing turns out to be useful, making this established character trait to turn out to be useful. This is something Cade can do, which no other hero could do, and the fact that this is also why Krayt is interested in him, so Cade is showing off the ability that they've captured him for, succeeding in only making himself more interesting to the Sith. A nice little piece of character and story building.
The Coral Seeds that are used to torture Jariah and Deliah, I'd commented last issue about them being introduced last issue and then forgotten about, but my mistake as it was just building towards this moment. So was a nice piece of worldbuilding, as well as a pretty horrific moment.
Low Points : Is Nyna Calixte really just sleeping her way around the Moff council? Manipulating them through sex and relationships? She's got a kid by one of them, and currently in a sexual relationship with another? While it may be an attempt to make her the power in the Moff council, manipulating the other members, but I can't help but think that she's just making jealous ex's of them, and it just makes her look particularly weak and desperate for power.
So what do you really think ? : I've often said that this series is best when it's not dealing with the main characters, but in this issue it's the exact opposite, the moments with Cade are te most interesting. Seeing the Sith experimenting on him to discover the extent of his abilities, and his attempts to appear casual and cavalier, when he's seriously worried about his friends, makes these scenes stand out, giving me hope for the future of this series.
Final Words : We're 15 issue in, out of a run of 50, and this series still feels like it's trying to set up it's story and characters, taking so long to set things up. That said, with Deliah and Jariah now free on the streets of Coruscant, and Jariah feeling that he owes Cade for his freedom. And Cade's mum being brought in by Calixte to rescue him, the story seems clear where it's going from here. But with this story arc lasting 6 issues, I don't think it's going to be as straight forwards as that, and I'm actually finding myself interesting in seeing where it goes. Could this be the turning point for me?
Score : 8/10
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