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Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Omnibus #2

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    Nolando
    Senior Member

  • Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Omnibus #2



    Released by: Dark Horse Comics
    Release on: December 25, 2013


    The sprawling story of this omnibus centers on ex-Padawan Zayne Carrick, on the run from the Republic and, it seems, everyone else. It also collects the stories from issues of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #19 - #37.

    Zayne's affinity for the Force seems related solely to his streaks of luck - both bad and good. He's the lone survivor of his Padawan class as their masters had a vision that one of these students would bring about the end of the Jedi order and restore the Sith to the galaxy. Rather than risking anything these Jedi masters decide to kill their own students and blame it all on the rather hapless Zayne. This puts him on the run and into a partnership of sorts with the simian-like con artist Heirogryph.

    As the story opens Zayne is in custody of Admiral Karath who's just lost the majority of his fleet and not even sure if he still holds that title. But, as he's out and about, he responds in person to an invitation from Lord Adasca to bid on a weapon that could change the balance of power in the on-going, brutal Mandalorian War. Trouble is, the Republic isn't the only player invited to this bidding session…




    Adasca is having mind-control devices implanted into large space worms that are capable of endlessly procreating and eating through anything & everything in a given galaxy. Adasca holds the beautiful Jarael hostage so that her scientist mentor/friend Camper will comply with this awful plan. Apparently, they all soon discover, she and Zayne know each other and they also know the turncoat Mandalorian named Rohlan. The Jedi send along a young master named Squint who's soon overshadowed by a more senior master, part of the Revanchist movement that is responsible for what Zayne's accused of and Zayne's former master, Lucien. Finally, the Mandalorians also arrive, all to barter for control of this weapon Adasca promises.



    This doesn't sit well with any of our heroes, though, and they're soon hatching a plan to not only escape but, also, to destroy the possibility of this massive weapon. Zayne and Lucien are held together but soon escape, putting their vendetta to the side momentarily. Republic sympathizer Onasi helps neutralize some guards so that they, Jarael and Rohlan can put their plan into action. Meanwhile, Camper does his bit to turn the tables on his captor in his remote control pod. The rest spring a plan to make it look like Adasca was going to turn on the Mandalorians and soon everyone's fighting for their life.


    Adasca's plans get turned on him, Camper has to sacrifice his life, the Republic flees and Onasi “loses” Zayne as a prisoner, and Lucien gets knocked out before he can kill Zayne. Slyssk, Del & Dob Moomo arrive with a ship and transport our heroes away to fight another day. Or head to another planet - Taris, to be exact, which is under heavy Mandalorian bombardment and occupation.

    The problem is that an old acquaintance of Zayne's named Shel is also there, bent on revenge for the death of her Padawan-brother. She's motivated by master Raana Tey, another of Lucien's group actually responsible for those killings. Our heroes are soon enmeshed in helping the resistance on the planet, for the most part - Rohlan and Jarael stay aboard the ship, growing closer, with her growing stronger in a variety of ways.

    The main story, though, is Zayne and Gryph helping the resistance against the Mandalorians as well as Tey convinced she has to finish Zayne off, finally. And she almost manages to do so until Shel has a change of heart and rescues Zayne by fatally wounding Tey. But she does manage to mention one lead to Zayne, a woman by the name of Krynda.

    The next story introduces Jedi seer Q'anilia, one of those having the visions of the return of the Sith and Zayne being somehow involved. Back on Taris, Zayne & Gryph are on the run from the rakghoul plague and encounter another Jedi named Celeste. She's on a mission to stop the Mandalorians from acquiring an old Sith artifact, one that is key to the plague. This talisman is recovered by the mad Mandalorian named Pulsipher who decides to put it on and becomes even crazier.

    Celeste, Zayne and Gryph follow Pulsipher to an ice world and soon find the plague has followed them there. They soon discover that the rakghoul plague is intentional as it begins to affect all of the amassed Mandalorian troops on this planet. With this plague, they can be controlled by the talisman. However, the talisman actually holds the presence of an ancient Sith master, Karness Muur. The wearer needs to be a Jedi so he can inhabit them almost fully, something Celeste realizes too late. Gryph finds that she's actually an agent of Lucien's and she's tasked with killing Zayne but after speaking with him she has a change of heart and decides to take the talisman and its power with her to an impenetrable grave.

    Just as all hell breaks out with the rakghoul Zayne and Gryph get rescued but not before receiving another key (literally) to finding Krynda. This leads them to the planet Odryn, home to the strong Feeorin people. As Zayne and Gryph soon discover these people are led by a Feeorin Jedi Master, Feln, who's using their sacred temple to gather and store ancient and deadly Sith artifacts. Celeste's key opens the door to the temple so they set about trying to document enough of what's stored here, gathering evidence to take back to the Jedi Council, to show that newly-appointed council member Lucien is up to no good and to clear their names.

    Naturally, then, their plans get interrupted and they become prisoners again - but not before Feln returns, ready to dispatch Zayne for once and for all. He and Lucien discuss what to do with this news but they're interrupted by another, Haazen, who's been pulling Lucien's strings all along. He gets Feln to destroy the trove and, with it, his native sacred place. This proves too much for the other Feeorin who kill Feln and release the prisoners. They find that their friends, the Moomo Brothers, did manage to secret away some evidence before Feln destroyed the storehouse, so now they can finally return to Coruscant, to present their info to the Jedi Council.

    Lucien, meanwhile, isn't pleased with how things are going and, much less, that Haazen is taking a more active role. He has Republic Admiral Karath set up a cordon around the planet under the guise of protection against the Mandalores - but what it really is waiting for is Zayne and his evidence. So it takes some incredible daring and quick thinking to penetrate the planet's defenses but they soon do, pretending to be captured by another Jedi Master, Xamar, with Zayne playing up the notion that he's gone fully over to the Dark Side.

    This ruse soon puts them into the company of Lucien and Haazen in a further attempt to lure out the Lady Krynda. Xamar, for his part, is able to get the Jedi not in league with Lucien to join in an attack just as Zayne's disguise is ruined by Haazen. But, then, they all soon find during the unfolding battle that Haazen is not as he seems. He has control of Karath's fleet and begins bombarding Lucien's compound. Haazen's story then takes up much of this portion of the story, detailing how he rose from his start as an inept flunky to Lucien's hero father, Barrison. His jealousy allows him to play into Sith hands, trying to obtain Barrison's life but instead getting horrifically marred and not getting the Lady Krynda, Barrison's wife and Lucien's mother. He doesn't go full Sith, choosing instead to be “something more.”

    During this reveal it's Gryph and Q'anilia who rush to find Kyrnda, to end the madness, but find that she is about to die. This news proves too much for both Lucien and Haazen but mostly for the son as she has seen what he has done and it proves finally too much for her. Lucien chases after Gryph for removing Krynda from stasis and Zayne tries to protect him, much to the entertainment of Haazen. Soon, though, they realize that they'll have to work together to stop Haazen and, hatching a daring plan that flings Zayne and Gryph to safety, Lucien manages to call in the bombardment on his compound. Afterward, the survivors are happy enough to have made it out alive, share some regrets and look to the future. Meanwhile, a blinded and damaged Lucien fights against the Dark Side and finds a new, peaceful home with other Jedi masters.

    The final story of this collection, then, comes as a bit of a jarring shock here as it seems to take place somewhat out of time with the huge story arc of the previous recent issues. It's a strange include on this omnibus as it features our regular heroes back to their wacky hijinks, now trying to sell an unseen planet on the black market, using that to get at the real problem with the power brokers in that sector of the universe. It's a story that's consistent with the characters we've grown to know over these many issues but, again, here it feels totally out of place, entertaining but just an odd choice to include.

    All in all, this series of stories is quite epic and set in the way, way back part of Star Wars histories and, thus, rich for mining for new stories that somehow tie into the events that introduced us all to this world in the first place. This collection - minus the final included story - is an excellent summation of what's possible in this world. John Jackson Miller's story is complex, detailed and varied but still entertaining, moving at a great clip. The action feels like it really slows a couple of times when exposition is felt necessary (but rarely actually is) but the dialog is crisp and tight. The artwork is consistent from artist to artist here and very detailed, representing differing styles that still feel like the right fit. This comes courtesy of Brian Ching, Bong Dazo, Scott Hepburn, Alan Robinson and Dustin Weaver.
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