The Sith have returned – after decades of being thought destroyed, the ancient enemy of the Jedi are free to travel the galaxy again. Yet, visions plague Luke Skywalker, and threats of even greater darkness threaten a galaxy on the knife’s edge…. join the Legendary Adventures as we read Abyss!
Seff Hallin and Natua Wan are still in Jedi custody after falling victim to the bouts of Force psychosis that have struck around the galaxy. Unfortunately, these bouts are not simply one-and-done effects; rather, as Leia Organa-Solo finds out, they continue to remain under the effects of the psychosis for weeks on end. When Leia and Han Solo check on the incarcerated Jedi, they are attacked, but Leia repels the attack while the Jedi healer named Cilghal continues to monitor their healing. Two more Jedi fall victim to the pyschosis, named Yaqeel Saav’etu and Bazel Warv. These Jedi are incapacitated by the Solos, along with Jagged Fel, but they learn the Head of State Nataasi Daala is planning to take them into GAG custody. This is at the same time they learn the Jedi Order has a spy among their ranks, as they uncover a bugged cleaning droid which transmits a holorecording of the data to the galaxy. The Order had tried to keep their incarceration of the fallen Jedi a secret, but the reveal shocks the galaxy and launches the Galactic Alliance into action.
This gives the former Imperial Daala her chance to strike at the Jedi Order, both on macro- and micro-levels. First, Daala plans a macro-level attack on the Jedi by ruining their public image and, well, a literal attack on the Jedi to capture the Jedi they have incarcerated, as she believes them better in Alliance custody than Jedi custody. Jagged Fel, head of the Imperial Remnant (allied with the Galactic Alliance), is allowed to overhear the formation of a plot to send Mandalorian supercommandos against the Jedi to take in the fallen Jedi. Jag shares this information with Jaina Solo, who chooses to retain the information to help Jag create a stronger bond with the Galactic Alliance. When Han and Leia learn about Daala’s plot to use supercommandos, and find that neither Jaina nor Jag shared that information with them, they become mildly estranged. A few Jedi try to reclaim the Jedi that are currently in Alliance custody (frozen in carbonite), but are unsuccessful. The Mandalorians are also unsuccessful in capturing the Jedi in Alliance territory, where another Jedi uses unknown Force techniques thanks to the mysterious darkness and kills a Mandalorian by phasing his body through his armor. On a micro-level, Daala continues to personally deny the help of Jag Fel or Jedi leaders, driving a rift between the three most powerful political parties in the galaxy. Public opinion also turns against the Jedi as the hidden Jedi are revealed to the rest of the watching galaxy.
The good news for the Jedi, however, is a potential breakthrough in the mystery of what is driving these fallen Knights mad. Cilghal learns all of the Jedi were kept in the Maw Cluster for a while in order to keep them safe from the Yuuzhan Vong. This leads her to believe they might have contracted something there, leading to further study. This darkness in the Maw Cluster may still be there, as Ben Skywalker senses a dark presence in his travels with the exiled Grand Master, Luke Skywalker.
Luke’s travels bring him and Ben to the Mind Walkers. The Mind Walkers are a group who believe in something in the afterlife that happens after death, a state that can be reached by perfect meditation. By meditating, they believe they will pass into the “beyond shadows,” a plane of the Force wherein the mental state of the person is separated from their physical state. As Luke investigates where Jacen began to fall to the Dark Side, he believes his decision was made with the Mind Walkers. The Mind Walkers show Luke what Jacen saw during his time with them: a dark being in the beyond shadows sitting on a throne of evil. There is also another being (but it could be the same one to Luke, as he cannot totally make sense of the vision) who Luke sees in the Lake of Apparitions, a location in the beyond shadows. There, joined by Ben, who is also able to travel to this plane of existence, Luke and Ben talk with the fallen members of their family: Mara, Jacen, and Anakin Solo. Luke and Jacen still find their relationship strained, but discuss why Jacen fell. Jacen confirms: his main goal was to rid the galaxy of evil after seeing visions of a dark figure on a throne, ruling the galaxy. This does not explain if the woman is a different figure or not, and they don’t find out now, as they encounter the Lost Tribe of the Sith back in the real world, now freed upon the galaxy. Luke and Ben battle a legion of Sith, destroying all but one: Vestara Khai. They allow her to escape and track her in the Force.
But the Jedi do not know Vestara and the returned Sith do not pose the greatest threat to the galaxy. The Sith finally left their stranded world of Kesh because they were trying to capture a sentient ship called Ship, formerly the servant of Dark Lady Lumiya. Ship beckons part of the Lost Tribe’s fleet to a planet with sentient plants, which end up killing many Sith. There, the Sith meet a figure named Abeloth, a beautiful woman who can change her appearance. Unfortunately for her, the trick does not work on Sith apprentice Vestara, who sees through her to the destructive beast she truly is. The Sith pledge loyalty to her, and they begin to work together. The surviving Sith don’t survive much longer, as they soon encounter Luke and Ben, who destroy most of the rest of them. Vestara escapes, but does not know the Jedi are tailing her.
As the darkness in the galaxy begins to truly brew in earnest, all parties are in trouble. Daala’s reckless war against the Jedi; the Imperial Remnants now has shaky relations with the Alliance; the Jedi Order’s now tarnished image in the community at large; the Lost Tribe and their new partnership with the mysterious Abeloth; and Luke and Ben, following in the footsteps of Caedus: all of these parties are due to see the Backlash of their decisions.
You can follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisWerms, and of course, you can follow the Manor on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor!