OFFICIAL NEWS Dark Disciple – Unlikely Allies, Impossible Odds, and the Heart of Darkness on an Impossible Mission

Thanks, Viral.

Hey everyone! So, I noticed a request in the comments section of the review that I kick down a few spoilers. Tell me how far you'd like me to go with it. I don't necessarily want to blow the whole thing for everyone, but it's up to you guys.

Viral, are we still under any legal or ethical requirement to keep quiet about any of this between now and the time the book is released?

(By the way, I ended up shortening the article title a bit, at the suggestion of the Department of Redundancy Department.)

 

(Bathroom's that way. Take the hall pass on your way out.)

 

I got my advance copy today! A perk of my job. Aftermath is next

 

Whether it be sooner or later, I'll definitely be seeking out a spoilery review. I've read all of the new canon books so far, but I've got zero interest in this one. So I'll vicariously read it through others.

 

I know! I have been waiting anxiously for this one (thought maybe they forgot about me) and can't stand the wait for Aftermath! Will be reading this tonight and this weekend

 

Im just wondering if Vos and Ventress die.If not it opens them up to appear in cannon further down the timeline.

 

A huge spoiler in terms of Rebels is what I was thinking there may be. I'm hoping the new female inquisitor is ventress. I have a whole story in my head where she's captured by vader, and the emperor has her tortured and modified by Dr. Cylo from the vader comics. Then she becomes a sort of lobotomized, robotic killer with just a small going of humanity left in her.

 

just watched this review

 

I just finished the audiobook version, and if you can, I highly recommend it! Like I've said in previous threads about new canon novels, some of the clunkier aspects of the text vresins are smoothed out because it's like hearing a radio play (complete with music and foley sound effects).

After listening, I hold Quinlan in much higher esteem. Seeing him in TCW, I got the impression he was a bit of a frat-boyish, thug Jedi, but in this you get to see how good of a heart he has.

The same goes for Ventress. She's a badass, but she also has a goodness and vulnerability. She could'very been a great Jedi if she hadn't experienced so much trauma in her life.

The addictive nature of the Dark Side is also on full-display. Ventress is, essentially, in "recovery," and in her own way trying to atone for her sins. There's a nice parallel between the Quinlan/Ventress relationship with the Anakin/Padme one. Afterwards, you get the feeling that there could've been hope for Ani if only someone had seen his pain.

You also get to see how much goodness Obi Wan has, and it adds to his eventual guilt over losing Anakin to the Dark Side.

The corruption and hypocrisy of the Jedi Order is also on display, and you can see that many of the Council members had more Dark Side in them than Light, even if they didn't see it.

The Yoda inverted speech still gets a little grating, but he is very much portrayed in full Buddhist teacher mode. One other negative of the audiobook for me was the accent the VO actor chose for Mace. To me, the actor affects a bit of a minstrel show accent, bordering on a tad offensive. Also, there isn't a whole lot of differentiation between Anakin and Vos's voice, so scenes with them together are kind of confusing--making you have to concentrate on which one is speaking.

Overall though, it was a really fun listen. And I think it probably lessened the more melodramatic aspects of the text. I think from here on out, I'll definitely be doing the audio versions of the new canon novels.

 

I'm a few chapters in and I love it! I went in with pretty low expectations, don't get me wrong I love Clone Wars series, but I'm ready to move forward in th SW universe. Christie Golden handles this material very well and keeps everything feeling fresh.

 

I believe it was a good ending for the Clone Wars era. TBH, we've been in it since 2002 - so that's about 13 years! As @Kyle said, the time for the Clone Wars to end is here. We've covered so much material for just three years! That's more than anything between ANH and TESB, which is also three years, TESB to ROTJ, which is just a year and uncovered now that Shadows is Legends, and of course TPM to AOTC has little to no material for 10 years! So with that, Dark Disciple was a very satisfying end, and Clone Wars Legacy did a good job releasing the unfinished episodes in every media type possible.

As for Dark Disciple, I loved it. Simple as that. I felt Quinlan was really respected as a character, whereas in TCW he didn't have enough substance to make him anything other than a weird "Surfer-Jedi", but in the comics he was really how Anakin could have been if there was more film time for his fall. Ventress, on the other hand, had an equally amazing, and very heartbreaking arc. I wished she could have had more, but reflecting on the years with her, from Sith to anti-hero, it really was a great novel throughout, and how she was slowly healed by Vos was great stuff, and I truly accepted this version of Asajj as infinitely superior to the Rattataki version of the original Clone Wars comics and TV show. The action really fit well with TCW's style, but also seemed to have hints of a style of OT and Rebels, especially with Vos's adventures with Ventress. As for the overall story, I felt it was pretty deep. It had more substance than Heir to the Jedi (which i really enjoyed), and in many ways was close in details with The Sith Lords, but not as far as Tarkin.

The Clone Wars era may continue slighlty in Rebels with Asohka, Rex, Gregor and Wolffe, but for the most part, this was the best way to close the chapter on The Clone Wars. Now onward, to "Journey to The Force Awakens"!

 

Well said y'all! And @LadyMusashi, I definitely agree with you about Obi Wan being the only likable Jedi (well, other than Vos). He seemed to be the only one at least making an attempt to follow his conscience. The PT-era Obi Wan may just be a very close second to Han for my favorite SW character. A lot of that has to do with Ewan's performance, but also the prim-yet-self-effacing character they build in CW. He always had a good gallows-humor barb at the ready. But he's also probably the last "true" Jedi (at least in the ancient sense) for his dedication to doing what's right.

Even though Yoda was just as guilty of sending Vos down that path as Mace et al, I still came away really liking him. He seemed to at least know what they were doing was wrong, and only came to his more morally questionable decisions after great reluctance and consideration--while the rest of the Council seemed to have a quite un-Jedi taste for revenge and bloodlust. I especially liked the very minor exchange between the Council members, Vos and Yoda where the Council members don't seem to appreciate Vos's light-hearted approach to his work. Yoda shuts them down by smiling and reassures Vos that having a sense of humor is a great gift. It's hard to be hard-line when you can smile and laugh once in a while. I love Yoda the best when he's in Buddhist teacher mode