Just for Beefy and others who have decided to purchase the newest novels. Yeah Spoilers here.
...
__________________ Every time this fool be come along
He gots you noobs cryin' out fo' mom
Leave the scene lookin' like Vietnam
Might as well call him "Matt Atom Bomb"
Like his name suggests, he's quite atomic
And this fool - he likes DC Comics
Two energy swords make up his symbol
And trust me, dawg, this homie's nimble
I've been wondering how to do that....
...
..
.
for 4 years.
__________________ Every time this fool be come along
He gots you noobs cryin' out fo' mom
Leave the scene lookin' like Vietnam
Might as well call him "Matt Atom Bomb"
Like his name suggests, he's quite atomic
And this fool - he likes DC Comics
Two energy swords make up his symbol
And trust me, dawg, this homie's nimble
Not really since I always Quick Quote and that doesn't show it.
__________________ Every time this fool be come along
He gots you noobs cryin' out fo' mom
Leave the scene lookin' like Vietnam
Might as well call him "Matt Atom Bomb"
Like his name suggests, he's quite atomic
And this fool - he likes DC Comics
Two energy swords make up his symbol
And trust me, dawg, this homie's nimble
Abyss was very much an excellent book; easily the greatest of the three available novels.
Vestara and the Lost Tribe, specifically Lady Rhea and Master Xal, are given further dimension and exploration. They're treacherous, venal, and very much embody the mentality of the ancient Sith: they pride themselves on being warriors first, masterminds second, though there is a great deal of political maneuvering on their part. Manipulation is practically built in the genetic code of the Sith.
The Jedi manage to outwit Daala when she attempts to humiliate the Jedi at a press gathering; she also places a female judge who is essentially Star Wars' answer to Professor Umbridge from the Harry Potter series -- total b1tch.
There is dissent amongst the Jedi High Council. Kenth is totally giving into Daala's wishes, prompting derision from Kyle Katarn and others, though the Council has agreed that Kenth should be referred to as "Grand Master" in order to set a good example for the rest of the Order. They also briefly toy with the idea of frightening Daala by threatening to disband the Order, allowing the Jedi to become private citizens without regulation (which in turn prompts Daala to try to humiliate them in the aforementioned press conference).
Daala and Jag have a candid moment where Daala admits that she's going after the Jedi and intends to make an example out of them. She cites that she is doing so simply because of the Sith; she believes that Sith are simply Jedi in darker robes and that in order to destroy the Sith, you pretty much have to destroy the Jedi. This is somewhat sympathetic given the obvious imperfections of the Jedi Order and that Caedus and Vader were infamous Jedi before they became infamous Sith. The problem is that Daala herself was a subordinate to a far more evil Sith than either Caedus or Vader, and he wasn't, at any point, a Jedi.
But Daala makes exceptions for Imperials she respected, so...
The Jedi and Han and Leia are pissed about Tahiri's arrest for the murder of Admiral Pellaeon, though it pleases me. Jag wisely points out, however, that Daala is being extremely selective: she allows Cha Niathal to resign in peace despite the fact that she played an equal role in Jacen's coup. I'd say punish them both. Jacen acted illegally during the Battle of Fondor, disregarding both GA and Imperial policy by attacking a surrendering foe -- which may or may not be a warcrime. So any legitimacy he had as Head of State died when he attempted genocide. Thus Tahiri's assassination of Pellaeon, on Jacen's orders, was equally illegal and it pleases me to see her confronted about her heel face turn.
Daala also brings the Mandalorians into play, and let's just say that though the Mando/Boba-wankery is a far cry from Traviss, it still lives on in certain respects.
Luke's journey in the Maw ends in a metaphysical journey to the Lake of Apparitions, which is essentially a lake full of Force ghosts. Luke and Ben are first met by Anakin Solo, who tells Ben to learn from [Anakin's] mistakes and examples; we also learn Luke still feels guilty for sending Anakin on the mission that killed him.
The next ghost in line is Mara Jade. She tells Luke that the afterlife is different for each person, and that hers is a place of "reflection for all that she'd done." When asked by Luke if she was suffering, Mara answers that she has done things that -- in the afterlife -- cause her anguish. They briefly discuss whether or not she deserves it, since Palpatine tricked her. Mara responds that she made her peace with Palpatine a long time ago and that she did not serve him all her life, which was "both my blessing and my curse." She points out to Ben that she pursued Jacen as she did when she was Palpatine's servant; as a hunter and killer. And she didn't do so to punish a Sith Lord, but to revenge herself on a man she felt was hurting her son. Mara ends the chat by warning Luke to stop from this journey and not to pursue [SPOILER - highlight to read]: Abeloth. He, predictably, doesn't listen.
It's also nice because this is the first book that I recall where Mara tells Luke she loves him.
The final ghost is Jacen. Jacen is unrepentent for his actions, though his first words are that he will not ask for Luke's forgiveness. Luke tells him that that's probably wise, since he's not sure he could give it. Ben says some harsh things, telling Jacen that he's glad he's dead. When he attempts to apologize, Jacen tells him not to. That he has every right to feel the way that he does, and that all [Jacen] asks in return is that he simply be honest about it.
There is a meaningful exchange about the Throne of Balance -- "upon which sits the course of the future" -- apparently a metaphor. Luke had a vision prior to meeting Anakin, Mara, and Jacen that [SPOILER - highlight to read]: Allana would sit on the Throne, surrounded by friends in a time of trust. This may or may not have been the same throne that Jacen envisioned in Invincible that a dark Luke would be sitting on. This becomes a huge part of Luke's discussion with Jacen; Luke believes that whatever Jacen saw on the Throne was his motivation for becoming a Sith Lord. He tells Jacen that he sees Allana on the Throne, which relieves Jacen, who tells Luke that that means all Jacen had done as a Sith Lord was validated. He refuses to tell Luke who he saw on the Throne, however, but tells him "it wasn't you... if that's what you're thinking."
Both Ben and Luke suspect he may be lying. At the very end, though, when Luke figures out what Jacen saw, and Ben asks him, Luke refuses to answer, saying "it doesn't matter -- not to you" and that "you know what's really wonderful about that? It never will."
[SPOILER - highlight to read]: I think that meant he knows Jacen saw an evil version of Luke
The second to last major point of the book for me was Luke's fight with a 15 Sith striketeam. Due to Luke's metaphysical journey, both he and Ben return to their bodies an incredibly (physically) weakened state, muscles have atrophied, ect. Ironically, however, this seems to be treated as a minor issue with the dialogue and then, with the fight scene, it's never mentioned again. Luke draws heavily on the Force to sustain himself, which (to me) does not earn him sympathy points for his relatively poor performance in the duel. Yoda, Dooku, and Palpatine all had to rely heavily on the Force to compensate for their weakened physical forms and still performed to a far greater extent than Luke can manage here.
The fight is pretty much a tactical engagement with little saberplay. Luke kills most of them with blaster shots, and the Sith suffer a betrayal from Master Xal, who attempted to murder Lady Rhea and Vestara. After launching stun grenades at Ben and Luke and apparently disabling them, Vestara murders Xal for his betrayal. His death throes distract his apprentice, Ahri Raas, who in turn is killed by [SPOILER - highlight to read]: either Ben or Luke... who aren't really stunned. The fight goes downhill from there with the Sith. Vestara lashes out at Luke and injures him in the face, though it is later revealed that [SPOILER - highlight to read]: he allowed her to do so in order to put a Dathomiri blood trail on her before he knocks her unconscious.
He attempts to take her prisoner, though she repeatedly tries to kill him and Ben. She eventually escapes when Rhea and two flunkies show up. Luke kills the two flunkies before Rhea pimpsmacks him into a wall with the Force. Vestara and Rhea attack him in coordination, and though he is pretty much able to handle Vestara without issue, she does score a couple of hits on his combat suit (they're basically fighting in an airlock), which causes it to lose pressure. Rhea is [SPOILER - highlight to read]: a badass and repeatedly injures Luke with her blade and "pummel[s] him from thigh to throat with knee, elbow, and helmet."
Luke is stated to be "in no condition to be merciful" for those fanboys who will predictably excuse this as "lol luke aint tryin 2 hurt no one." When Ben, in Rogue Shadow, attempts to fire on the Sith ship, Rhea makes the mistake of pausing to look toward the light...
[SPOILER - highlight to read]: and Luke dismembers her.
I haven't read what you wrote gideon but I think you exaggerate a little bit.
1. It is explicitly stated that Luke has been mind walking for more than 3 weeks and he is almost completely drained of energy.
2. He was trying to capture Vestara and therefore, allowed her to hit him so he could release a blood trail.
When you told me what happened I was outraged but the book gives valid excuses for Luke's performance.
Edit: Nevermind, you did mention it. But they DID give Luke's condition more than a "minor" glance.
__________________ Greed is Good.
Last edited by Dr McBeefington on Aug 19th, 2009 at 06:49 PM
[SPOILER - highlight to read]: And last, but certainly not least, we are seemingly introduced to the main villain of the Fate of the Jedi series: a malevolent entity by the name of Abeloth.
To begin, what exactly Abeloth is... no one knows. This is here description, courtesy of Vestara:
"Behind Xal and Ahri stood... something tall and vaguely human with a long cascade of yellow hair that reached nearly to the ground. Her eyes were tiny and deep sunken, like two stars shining out of a pair of black wells, and she had a large, full lipped mouth so broad that it reached from ear to ear [with numerous, sharp teeth]. Her stubby arms protruded no more than ten centimeters from her shoulders, but in the place of fingers, her hands had writhing tentacles so long that they hung down past her knees. The body was straight as a tree trunk, and as she started downstream to the place where Vestara and Lady Rhea would be coming ashore, her legs did not seem to swing forward so much as ripple."
She is (among other things) a shapeshifter of sorts; a creature with a penchant for illusions.
"The long aquiline nose, high cheeks, and the well shaped chin, all were the face of Abeloth. Just this morning, that face had seemed the most beautiful face [Vestara] had ever seen... until Lady Rhea declared it was time to return home, and Abeloth had betrayed her true nature."
Though this is the first time we see Abeloth in this book, Vestara's perceptions drive the audience to conclude that she is a master manipulator of a most vicious sort. She has manipulated the Lost Tribe; only Vestara can perceive her true form, and Vestara concludes that the only reason Abeloth hasn't killed her is because she enjoys Vestara struggle to remain sane with this revelation.
Abeloth also seems to be omnipresent or capable of metaphysical projection, because she appears constantly throughout Luke and Ben's journey into the Lake of Apparitions, standing at a distance, all the while dealing directly with the Sith.
When the Lost Tribe first meet Abeloth, they're exploring a cave. Vestara, Rhea, and Ahri discover that Xal has been captured by an unseen force. When they release him, Abeloth (in her beautiful manifestation) appears and subdues them all effortlessly with the Force before releasing them, saying, "My apologies... I wasn't sure you were real."
It's not exactly explained, but Abeloth seems capable of great mind control. The Sith immediately trust her and promise to take her back to their planet. Abeloth, despite appearing to the Sith as a stranded recluse, possesses enough gravitas to manipulate the Sith into capturing the Skywalkers. Abeloth is the one who engineers the concluding duel between Luke and the strike team, appealing to the Sith's vanity, that they would please their Council by bringing them back as prisoners. Vestara is suspicious, but relents.
Abeloth's power and mystery take on a truly epic form when it is revealed that she was the entity present in the Maw during the Yuuzhan Vong War, all those years ago, the presence that terrified Ben as an infant, wanting him to withdraw from the Force. The Sith Ship, when Vestara tries to get him to countermand an order from Abeloth, tells her "you are strong in the Force, child, but strong is nothing compared to almighty."
Somewhere in the book, and I forget where, Abeloth is suggested to be a manifestation of ancient evil and Force power.
Ben concludes that Centerpoint Station was basically a guardian that kept Abeloth imprisoned or in check in the Maw and that, with its destruction, Abeloth is free to exude her influence over Force users. She is responsible for the Jedi psychosis.
Yes, she is extraordinarily badass and easily the greatest part of this book.
If Luke can summon the energy from the Force to get in an arm wrestling match with a black hole, if people like Yoda, Sidious, and Dooku can sustain themselves -- their aged, decrepit, frail bodies -- with the Force against opponents far greater than Sith B1tch and Sith Brat respectively, then I expect Luke to do far better than what he did.
You'll notice that fatigue is never mentioned at all to be the source of his distress in combat with Rhea and Vestara.
It, in fact, reminds me of Matthew Stover's take on the duel in Revenge of the Sith: "And now the victorious shadow was now only Palpatine, a very old, very tired man[...]"
Physical weariness is a pain in the ass, but with someone with full access to the Force? Not insurmountable.
So how powerful are Rhea, and Vestara in the general rankings of things? Jedi Master level? Kyp Durron? Kyle Katarn? Ben? And what of the Sith in general?
Vestara seems to be, no more and no less, than a dark side Ben with a vagina. Pretty talented for her age, loads of potential, very cunning. She seems to be Ben's foil, his antagonist.
Rhea is, admittedly, one badass Sith whore. If the Lost Tribe rules by the ancient Sith teaching of might makes right, she's a high ranking Sith and therefore, likely, one of the best. But she's not the best and takes orders from a higher body: the Council. Which is a scary thought, since she can go toe-to-toe with Luke.
Luke himself says that "the Sith woman fought like a shenbit, never letting up, never hesitating, never pausing. It was all Luke could do to stay between her and the wall, and he used the Force to keep her trapped in front of him, using her like a shield to keep the girl from slipping around to attack his flanks."
They're nothing special. Gideon and I have this argument where I feel that if it wasn't because of extreme fatigue/PIS/CIS, he would have wasted them all. There's nothing suggesting these sith can compete with the likes of Bane, Caedus, or Palpatine.
But Abeloth.....She may very well be the most powerful force...ANYTHING in the Star Wars mythos..
You're reaching. Rather like the situation with Andeddu, which is essentially that he must have been emotionally, physiologically, psychologically, and mystically weakened because he lost to Wyyrlok. Luke was physically frail, true, but it was also specifically mentioned that he was sustaining himself with the Force and "feeling better by the second."
Was Luke not his best? I'm sure. I'm sure it takes up vital Force energy to sustain one's self with the Force that one could, otherwise, be directing elsewhere. But Dooku did it. And Yoda. And Sidious. They were oftentimes winded and exhausted afterwards, but kicked major ass.
I might be reaching but again, he was mind walking for 3 weeks and I forget whether he had an IV or not. He WAS sustaining himself in the force and that was the only reason he seemed not to collapse.
Aug 18th, 2009 10:56 PM
