2003 CW Anakin vs Ventress is now canon again (Spoiler ahead)
So first of all, minor spoiler from the newly released novel Star Wars: Brotherhood, so keep reading with caution.
In this new novel, set after Geonosis but before TCW, Anakin comments on defeating one of Dooku's agents on Yavin IV, but he didn't recognize it was Ventress due to the rain. The author of the book himself confirms Anakin is mentioning that duel, wheile telling us why he wouldn't later remember Ventress in TCW: "The idea is that when he fought Ventress on Yavin IV in the Genndy series; it’s raining, it’s fast, and then it's over. He’s just like, Dooku sent someone after him. He has no idea who it is."
Same book also mentions Mace "staring down an overwhelming wave of B2 Super Battle Droids on Dantooine," as well as Ki-Adi Mundi having wounds that were still healing from his recent battle with the newly revealed cyborg general, Grievous.
Brotherhood has a ton of connections to both the 2003 Clone Wars microseries and the Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover. It's a really solid book, can't recommend it enough.
Don’t think that means the same thing. Just that these events happened, but it’s not the 03. Because Anakin clearly can see who Ventress is within their fight. It didn’t even rain long enough for that to be a factor.
So events are the same as far as location, but how they played out and what happened is gonna be different.
__________________ "Commence primary ignition."
Last edited by Zenwolf on May 22nd, 2022 at 05:38 AM
Btw, another event that has been “partially” canonized is how Vis survived Order 66. Not in this book but in “Star Wars: Battles that changed the Galaxy”, released a few months ago, which is a book covering all the most important battles in the galactic history from an in-universe perspective. We also have a mention of the Battle of Kashyyk where Vos was involved and it’s stated that, after being wounded by his clones, Vos managed to kill commander Faie, who was threatening to burn a Wookiee village to hunt him down. This is basically the same thing that happened in the Legends continuity
The author, Mike Chen, has basically said that he sees the 2003 as exaggerated events that may have happened. Basically holonet propaganda. So Anakin still fought Asajj, but "it's raining, they fought, then it was over." Seems like it was way less intense and over-the-top compared to what we saw. Ki-Adi Mundi still fought Grievous, but I doubt Grievous blitzed through half a dozen Jedi in that encounter, or perhaps their injuries were far more substantial before the fight took place. Mace still faced down an overwhelming wave of super battle droids. But perhaps an "overwhelming wave" is like 20-30, not hundreds or thousands.
Seems the narrative events of what happened in the 2003 microseries are still largely considered canon, but the specifics of those events are likely far less over-the-top compared to what we saw on screen, and instead are more in-line with the levels of power that Jedi have been portrayed with in the movies and The Clone Wars.
"The Daemon lied with every breath. It could not help itself but to deceive and dismay, to riddle and ruin. The more we conversed, the closer I drew to one singularly ineluctable fact: I would gain no wisdom here."
I'd argue the scene is well-lit for the sake of the audience. In-universe, the lighting would realistically be much darker due to the storm and the time of night. This is very, very common in movies and tv shows, where the audience can see much more than the actual characters in the scene.
That still doesn't fly considering there's multiple instances of direct face to face he has with Ventress, including right under the big giant glowing Yavin up on a high position with a lightsaber glowing between them. Another instance when they clashed together in the dark and both blades clearly illuminate their faces. The rain is a non factor considering it didn't rain much at all.
There's no way that Anakin wouldn't recognize her later on. That and just because it's night time, doesn't mean you can't see. It would have to be pitch black, with no stars for visibility for that. But there's clearly light pouring onto Yavin 4.
But maybe Canon has it have a different interpretation of that fight and how it went all down on Yavin.
__________________ "Commence primary ignition."
Last edited by Zenwolf on May 23rd, 2022 at 10:28 PM
That's kind of exactly what I've been getting at. I think I mentioned before that the 2003 microseries is exaggerated. It's basically holonet propaganda in canon. So the actual events would be a much more tame interpretation of what we saw on screen in the 2003 series. So yeah, a cloudy night with rain (and hence, incredibly poor lighting) would absolutely be enough to obscure Asajj from Anakin.
On top of that, Anakin's fight against Asajj in Brotherhood also took place in the dark. He couldn't see her for most of that duel, so even if he got a good look at her on Yavin IV, he still wouldn't have recognized her on Cato Neimoidia in Brotherhood. The only reason he knew for certain he was fighting Asajj at that point was because he had learned from Obi-Wan that Dooku's agent on Cato Neimoidia was named Asajj Ventress.
You’d have to be a special kind of brain dead to not realize it’s Ventress even if it was dark and stormy. Bald, pale, two curved red lightsabers… gee, I wonder who it could be?