Count Dooku has reached out to the Republic claiming that the war has spiraled out of control, far beyond what he expected. He invites Jedi Master Yoda to Vjun to issue a cease-fire…is his offer genuine, or is Yoda walking straight into a trap? Join the Legendary Adventures as we encounter a Dark Rendezvous!
Remember last Adventure when I promised that the Legendary Adventures were about to trek through more and more exciting and well-written novels? Let me introduce you to a novel that I would consider a hidden gem. As far as I’ve seen, most people who read it love it. The problem for the novel is that I haven’t seen anyone discuss it! Let’s hope this stop on the Adventure helps shuffle that around a bit…
So, let’s recap the Separatist war crimes so far. They’ve developed Jedi Killer Droids. They’ve attacked two listening outposts; infiltrated the highest levels of Coruscant government; kidnapped Jabba the Hutt’s son; developed bioweapons (plural!); attacked planets for a resource used as medicine. Are you keeping track of all of this? Well, despite Karen Traviss’s greatest efforts, it is hard to see the Republic as the bad guys in this situation. It seems like the CIS (Confederacy of Independent Systems) is the real aggressor here, huh? It has been hard to be sympathetic with them in light of all of the horrible things they have done in the war. Count Dooku, apparently, has decided that the CIS has gone too far and has extended an olive branch to the Republic in order to compromise and create a cease-fire.
The Republic is stuck, not being sure whether or not this offer is genuine. Count Dooku hasn’t been on the scene much in the Legends novels, so we don’t really know what his role in the war has been so far. Whatever he did in Legends canon (which you can read in the Dark Horse Republic comics) has been enough to cast significant doubt on this proposal. Regardless, Yoda decides that it is worth risking the trap if it may turn out to end the war. This isn’t his only reason, though: Yoda cares about Dooku deeply and wants to try and redeem him.
Turns out, Dooku had a real rocky time in the Temple. He came into conflict with another Padawan, Lorian Nod. Despite the trouble that his relationship with Nod caused, Dooku still had some sort of connection with Master Yoda. Even from a young age, Dooku had a prescient foresight in regards to the rising tide of darkness in the galaxy. (How sad it is for him to have known of the growing darkness yet be unable to do anything about it, let alone joining it!) Despite his best efforts, Yoda lost Dooku to the Dark Side. Or, at least, that’s how Yoda views it.
But Yoda does not want this high profile mission to go awry, so he comes up with two plans to cover his trails. One plan involves a famous actor, Palleus Chuff, who was to dress as Yoda and act like him in public. Chuff, dressed as Yoda, would go on a public mission to Ithor to raise morale for the Republic’s cause. The other plan involved disguises. Yoda, Masters Jai Maruk and Maks Leem, along with their Padawans Whie and Scout. This quintet would travel to Vjun to make the meeting with Dooku and, hopefully, bring an end to the war.
Even though hope springs eternal, we can’t have everything we want. Asajj Ventress, acting as a loose cannon, attacks Chuff’s ship, destroying it on the route to Ithor. This brings a serious blow to the Republic’s effort as the Jedi believe that the Jedi Grand Master has been killed. This even has some blow back on Ventress, who is chewed out by Dooku because of her self-authorized action. Thankfully, Chuff survives the attack and is brought to Vjun with Ventress for Dooku and Yoda’s final showdown. For Master Yoda’s party, disaster is even more fatal. Masters Maruk and Leem are killed in action against a new type of droid, led by Ventress herself, but Yoda and the Padawans escape to infiltrate Dooku’s chateaux.
Dooku is hiding in Château Malreaux, a huge estate on Vjun befitting his status as Count. As Yoda walks through the house to approach Dooku, the Padawans take tunnels below the mansion. After their confrontation on Geonosis, the two know that a simple lightsaber battle wouldn’t end well. They instead go into a philosophical debate about the nature of the Force, both trying to bring each other into the light. Yoda holds on to the hope that the Dooku he connected with years ago is still there, listening to him, willing to end the war. Dooku hopes to bring Yoda to the Dark Side, but begins to tremble as he realizes what kind of power Yoda would wield if he were to turn to the darkness. Just as Dooku seems to be making a decision toward the light, they are interrupted by Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Yeah, suddenly they’re in the novel, too. This is one of the two elements that I think keeps this book from the perfect status it was so close to achieving. These two come mostly out of nowhere to abort the climax, leaving me with a slightly anti-climactic feeling of disappointment. Rather than seeing Dooku work through his emotions, he’s interrupted with no chance of revisiting his feelings toward this confrontation. The second element is the somewhat abbreviated and shortened side plot focusing on Whie. Whie has all of the makings of becoming a new Anakin Skywalker, maybe even a contrast/comparison-worthy character with Dooku! He has a crush on Scout, has terrible visions of the future wherein he is killed by a fellow apprentice, and even meets his family (turns out, he is heir to the Malreaux line!). All of this, if the novel were focused on him, would have been fascinating to watch as a microcosm of Anakin’s fall. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a lot of space to develop and is far less exciting than the Dooku/Yoda plot anyway. Too bad. (Scout, on the other hand, gets a second chance at novel life soon!)
One of the most prescient aspects of this book, one that I’m not sure that I remember seeing elsewhere, is that it deals with the relationship between Yoda and the Dark Side. We generally see Yoda as the wise Grand Master, unperturbed by the darkness. The Clone Wars faced Yoda’s darkness head on, but Dark Rendezvous deals with it a bit more obliquely. Instead of seeing an actual dark side version of Yoda, we see Dooku’s reflections of Yoda’s power and how he interacts with the darkness. At the end of the Clone War, even the holiest of Jedi wouldn’t be touched by darkness. Yoda, no exception to temptation, would be an unimaginable force for death and destruction. The thought of this alone, and his potential role in creating this arbiter of death, shocks Dooku into potential repentance.
All in all, this is a fantastic novel, worth anyone’s time. I wish more knew about it, as it does so many good things that it deserves a far wider audience. Heck, it made Dooku an enjoyable character to me! Sean Stewart captures a wonderful Yoda voice, somewhere between Attack of the Clones level seriousness while turning into the jokester we know from The Empire Strikes Back.
Legendary Travel Tips:
-This novel is preceded by Star Wars Insider short story Hero of Cataro and followed by the young reader’s story Boba Fett: A New Threat (who knew he was a poet??)
-A few chronology issues occur, such as Obi-Wan’s incorrect details about his first meeting with Asajj Ventress. Scout is also listed as 14 years old, despite this novel taking place six months before Revenge of the Sith and the novel stating that she turned 13 just a few months before Attack of the Clones.
–Scout appears later in Legends, but I won’t spoil that; Whie appears as a student of Cin Dralling in Revenge of the Sith!
You can follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisWerms, and of course, you can follow the Manor on Twitter @MynockManor!
Legendary Adventures:
Revenge of the Sith: The Cestus Deception | Jedi Trials | The Clone Wars | Wild Space | Republic Commando: Hard Contact | Shatterpoint | No Prisoners | Republic Commando: Triple Zero | Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth | Republic Commando: True Colors | MedStar I: Battle Surgeons | MedStar II: Jedi Healer