Legendary Adventures: Labyrinth of Evil

On a mission to capture Nute Gunray, Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker find something even better: a holoreceiver with a direct line to Darth Sidious. The Clone War moves into its endgame as the Jedi race to find the elusive Sith Lord…join the Legendary Adventure as we reach the penultimate adventure in the Clone War!

This novel may be one of the hardest to write a review/Legendary Adventure for. In typical Luceno fashion, this novel has dozens of subplots and plot points, tons of moving parts, and so many references it would make your head spin. As a reader, I really enjoy this type of writing. It’s a bit more dense than most, but I appreciate getting my money’s worth out of a novel. That being said, this does necessitate a different type of post than usual. I simply cannot review every event or plot point this novel raises. This review would rise into the thousands! Instead, in true Legendary Adventure fashion, I’ll only be commenting on events that we see in a new light having read Legends in chronological order. These events, then, include the Battle of Cato Nemoidia, the attack on Belderone, and the Invasion of Coruscant. (That’s already a lot of events, right? Turns out, there are at least three others!)

So, let’s take a look at the Battle of Cato Nemoidia! It has been a while since we have heard from Anakin and Obi-Wan, at least in the novels, hasn’t it? Last time we met them, they were chasing down yet another Separatist bio-weapon. Now, they’re fresh on the tail of another Nemoidian Separatist: Nute Gunray. The Jedi and Squad Seven, a small task force of clone troopers, attack Cato Nemoidia, hoping to finally put an end to the Nemoidian’s reign of terror over the galaxy. Unfortunately, the Jedi are separated, and neither of their strike forces are able to capture Gunray as he makes a hasty retreat. Unfortunately for the Separatists, he leaves behind a crucial piece of tech: his holo-chair that we were first introduced to back in The Phantom Menace! This holo-chair is important because it has a direct line to Darth Sidious – something the Jedi would never be able to hope to find on their own.

Considering how important the search for the “second Sith” was in the comics (especially the Republic series, which chronicled Quinlan Vos’s struggle with the Dark Side), it is almost humorous how the search never really impacts the novels. In fact, had Gunray not forgotten the mechanochair, the novels still would not be focused upon finding this Sith! This is a most handy coincidence for the novels, which, up until now, have been primarily focused on fighting Count Dooku and countering Separatists innovations in warfare. Where Quinlan Vos was unable to move the War forward, though, Obi-Wan and Anakin’s combined effort at finding things left behind is able to move the War into its final stages.

Nute and Rune Haako, another Separatist leader, have a somewhat humorous conversation detailing all of the losses of the Separatists so far. At one point, they both note how humiliating it is that they spend their whole lives evacuating! In light of their massive failure (one which may be their last), they arm the mechano-chair to detonate. Thankfully, Anakin’s impatience in waiting for Republic Intelligence to pull the chair apart allows him to stop the chair from exploding. He then receives a message, too, detailing a conversation between Sidious and Nute. Blinded by his love for Sheev, Anakin cannot hear that Sidious is the same as Palpatine. This gives them vital clues in the search, setting the two out on a galaxy wide adventure.

As Republic Intelligence races to Cato Nemoidia to provide back up for Anakin and Obi-Wan, Bail Organa and the Loyalist Committee are finally granted a meeting with Palpatine. They wish to discuss easing certain security measures put in place early in the war as it seems that the tide has finally turned toward the Republic. Palpatine is reticent to ease these standards, not wanting to do much before the end of the War is certain. The Loyalist Committee is not pleased; the seed for Rebellion is sowed early. (Thankfully, as a heads up: we see them again in the Revenge of the Sith novel despite being cut from the film!)

The Jedi then follow clues left in the mechano-chair and discover, well, it had a designer. They uncover a plot to attack Belderone, but this advanced warning allows them to stop the ambush ahead of time. In a few previous novels, we had learned that the War was not going well for the Republic. They were infiltrated at the highest levels. They struggled to send reinforcements for even top Jedi. They desperately sought peace, despite knowing it was a trap. Finally, the war seems to have turned around thanks to the intel gained from Gunray’s mechanochair. This Republic victory will, in fact, be their last.

More interesting than the failed attack on Belderone is the reaction of General Grievous. As far as novel readers are concerned, we don’t really know Grievous very well. (Well, to be fair, readers or viewers of anything don’t really know Grievous very well, as he’s not a very rounded character.) Earlier, Grievous considers letting the Republic capture the Nemoidians after their failure on Cato Nemoidia, stopping only from fear of Sidious. Now, Grievous reflects on his own string of losses. How does a Kaleesh warrior, feared and respected on his planet, lose so many battles? Thankfully, his chance to shine is almost upon him as the final movements of the War are set in place.

Grievous reports the loss of the holoreceiver to Darth Sidious. Sidious calls Dooku to The Works, the same part of town we became familiar with at the end of Attack of the Clones. The loss of the chair is too much for the Separatists, so they decide that it is time to put their final plan into action.

The final plan? The Invasion of Coruscant! Mace Windu and Shaak Ti, along with Padawans and clone troopers, are hot on the tail of Darth Sidious when all hell breaks lose. The Separatists invade Coruscanti air space, laying fire to their space support and taking fire at the ground. General Grievous and some battle droids lead the ground assault, marching straight to Chancellor Palpatine’s office. This is not the first attack on Coruscant, but it is the most shocking. Grievous tears down many Jedi as he moves through the city, including Shaak Ti. (Viewers of the original Clone Wars cartoon might think they know this event well – unfortunately, the details do NOT match those in the novel.) Grievous lays hands on the Chancellor, but the two greatest Jedi Knights race to the capital to stage a daring rescue….where we pick up, arguably, the best Legends novel of all time, Matthew Stover’s Revenge of the Sith!

Legendary Travel Tips:
-This novel is preceded by juvenile novel Boba Fett #6: Pursuit and is followed directly by Revenge of the Sith.
–Pablo Hildago notes that while the Cartoon Network Clone Wars series was based on the outline of this novel, the cartoon embellished the battle a bit to make it more exciting for TV. It also added more Jedi (Roron Corrob and Foul Moudama), who were added last minute to the novel.
-This novel contains a reference to almost every Clone Wars novel written before publication, but also features call outs to the Republic comic. While I am unfamiliar with the Battle of Jabiim, this novel convinced me that I need to check it out at some point.

You can follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisWerms, and of course, you can follow the Manor on Twitter @MynockManor!

Movie Reviews:
The Last Jedi