Star Wars: Legacy: 19: Claws of the Dragon, Part 6
What is it ? : The Mynock, Cade's ship, swoops in and Morrigan Corde uses a jetpack, reminding Jariah to make things go boom. But the Tie Predator Squadron that chased Cade when he arrived on Coruscant spot it, as Yuuzhan Vong bugs explode destroying the hangars on the Sith Temple.
Inside the Temple, Cade takes down Darth Nihl, but refuses to kill him not just despite Krayts urgings, but because Krayt desires it.
Outside, Morrigan and the Mynock skirmish with the Tie Predators, while inside Cade and Krayt fight. Cade tells Krayt that now his powers have been awoken, he can see what is wrong with Krayt and without him, Krayt will die, not as Darth Krayt, not as A'Sharad Hett, but merely as a mindless Vong Abomination. This drives Krayt into a greater rage.
Morrigan calls on Moff Morlish Veed to call back the Tie's from attacking her ship, and he does, claiming instructions from the Sith that no Imperial vessels penetrate their air space. And the Tie's pull back, discussing how it would have been nice to bag a Skywalker, but perhaps next time.
Now free to act, Morrigan bursts into the Temple, distracting Krayt by shooting him in the back, allowing Cade to leap out of the building only to be caught by Jariah on the Mynock, where the two embrace in joy as the ship blasts into space and makes the jump into Hyperspace, leaving Morrigan behind as she claims she will be fine and informs Cade she is his mother.
Krayt watches the ship recede, and demands of his followers that they bring him Cade, so he can break him, use him and then kill him.
Afterwards, Moff Morlish Veed and Moff Nyna Calixte discuss what happened, and Veed says that while Skywalker escaping is acceptable, it would have been better if they could have captured him, and Calixte reassures him that Cade being alive is good for them. He notices a hologram projector, and asks what it is, and she says a family heirloom, and he remarks that it's unlike her to be sentimental. And she tells him it pays to always remember where you came from, as he leaves he tells her to pass on his complements to Morrigan Corde, which she says she will.
As Calixte stands alone in her quarters she activates the hologram, showing Cade and his parents, revealing that Calixte is Morrigan Corde as she urges her son to run. . . .
High Points : A lot of nice action in this one, with Morrigan just acting as a distraction so Cade can escape rather than having a non-Jedi be able to be a threat to a Sith. And having Cade refuse to kill Darth Nihl merely because Krayt desires it, so it must be a bad decision, I really liked.
Low Points : So the big reveal of this story arc, isn't just the background for Darth Krayt, but the revelation that Cades mother is one of the Moff's running the Empire, someone who is plotting and scheming to keep the Sith from fully being able to take control and dispose of the leadership loyal to the Empire rather than loyal to the leader of the Empire. But it just seems too overly complex, so not only is she his mother, but the leader of the Squadron of Tie Predators which attacked him on arrival at Coruscant is his half-sister. And his mother has had relationships with Kol Skywalker, Moff Morelish Veed and Moff Rulf Yage, having children with two of them. Creating a character that comes with so much backstory that I feel it in my bones we're going to get a flashback at some point to explain much of it.
I also find myself wondering how she manages to do all of this, she's one of the ruling Moffs of the Empire, doing the administration and management of the entire Galaxy. But she's spent an entire month (in part 4) sitting in Cade's ship monitoring his activities and planning the rescue. Does the Empire give their upper management serious holiday time? Or do they really manage to delegate duties so the absence of one of their leaders just isn't missed. Given she has an ex-husband on the council, and is dating one of the others on the council, as well as having a child, the fact that none of them notice she's gone speaks volumes.
So what do you really think ? : This issue wraps up this arc pretty well, but I still doubt the purpose of the whole arc, because it's really just been about explaining Krayts history, and to a lesser degree setting up Cade's direction. In the KotoR series of comics, Zayne had a clear direction to take down the Jedi Masters who had killed his fellow classmates and framed him for it. But Legacy seems to have set Cade to merely avoid Krayt until the Vong infection kills him. But I'm guessing Cade's actions will work against this aim, as it would be easy to just Hyperspace to some backwater world on the outer rim where no one goes and wait Krayt out. But that wouldn't make a very interesting series.
Final Words : Speaking of Krayt's history, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to make of it. He seemed set on the path to the Dark Side already, but then it seems to blame much of his turn to the Dark Side on Vergere and the Yuuzhan Vong. So am I supposed to empathise with him, as he was forced to become this through torture?
Something that is becoming apparent as the series goes on, is that this series is mainly about the after effects of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, Krayt is a creation of that time, the Vong themselves are trying to make up for the devastation they caused, and planets are still suffering from the Vongforming they did. Even the split of the galaxy between the Galactic Alliance and the Empire is because of the alliance they formed during the war which allowed the Empire to stabilise and rebuild to become a threat once more, creating their own brand of Jedi to counter the rebuilt Order than Luke formed in that era.
Score : 8/10
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