Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #1-6

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #1-6

Originally released in 2006

Written by John Jackson Miller

Art by Brian Ching

Since May 4th, I have been playing a lot of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic in my free time, and I finished that game for the first time earlier today, so I decided to read a comic based on that. (or at least one with that name)  Rather than covering the events of the game, this comic takes place in the backstory, during the Mandalorian Wars about eight years before the game starts. (to briefly summarize, the Sith (the setting's villains) convince the Mandalorians (a race of proud warriors) that going to war with the Republic would be a glorious battle)

This first story arc focuses on a perpetually unlucky Padawan named Zayne, who feels annoyed that he seems to be stuck as a Padawan (and embarrassing himself in front of the masters) while his friends get to become Jedi Knights.  They even get a celebratory party and everything!

Zayne picked a rather poor time to arrive, as he's immediately declared a murderer and forced to go on the run.  It's unclear why this is happening, though it seems safe to assume that things aren't what they appear to be.  Has a Sith Lord mind-controlled the Jedi Council?  Are the deaths faked with this all being an elaborate test?

There are a few changes between the comic and what was established in the game, but some of them are arguably for the better.  For example, in a flashback, Zayne's mother visits the Jedi enclave on Dantooine; in the game, it's established that the Jedi cut ties with their family during training as it's felt that strong attachments and passions can lead Force users to the Dark Side, but both here and in the prequels, it makes the Jedi come across as being heartless to say the least.

Aided by Gryph, a rodent-like con artist (not to be confused with Griff, a Twi'lek con artist from Knights of the Old Republic), Zayne tries to flee to the lowest levels of the city, though with the Force as their ally, the masters can anticipate his every move.

Gryph seeks the help of a senile inventor known only as Camper, and along with Camper's bodyguard Jarael, they flee the planet Taris in a ship that seems like it's being held together by duct tape and prayers. Trying to get in touch with Dantooine doesn't help - when he describes what happened, they immediately assume that the Dark Side messed with his senses and despite his difficulties in using the Force, he somehow killed all of his fellow Padawans.

As the escape attempt continues, Zayne realizes an increasingly larger number of odd things about the Masters on Taris.  For starters, they hate the Sith to a degree that is unusual for the supposedly serene Jedi, and four of the five Masters who are present are consulate, the researchers and healers of the order, which seems excessive. (The only Master who isn't a consular is Lucien, Zayne's master)

While visiting the last place that all of the Masters and Padawans were together, Zayne finds a droid, T1-LB or Elbee for short, who was believed to have fallen during the test but turns out to have been pushed.  He figures that the droid would have a recording of whatever caused the Masters to murder their apprentices, but before he can get the droid back to the ship, they're interrupted by the arrival of a Jedi and some soldiers.

Camper's intervention buys them time, and the motley crew discovers what caused all of this - while waiting for the Padawans to return and meditating, the five Masters saw a vision - their own deaths, the destruction of the Jedi Council on Coruscant and even the Republic itself at the hands of the Sith, and at the center of it all, a person wearing the same space suit that their Padawans were wearing at the time of the vision.  They decide that one of their own Padawans must be responsible, leading to the massacre in what comes across as a major jump to conclusions.

Realizing that the hunt isn't going to stop, Zayne decides to turn himself in so that everyone else who's gotten dragged into this can be spared. The Masters start monologuing about how a recent war with the Jedi-turned-Sith Exar Kun could have been avoided if his master (who had visions of what he would become) killed him when he had the chance.  They're terrified of another event like that happening, but fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to the Dark Side.

It isn't long before the five Masters are murdering people for being in the wrong place at the wrong time (even though they explained their entire plan in front of him and he had nothing to do with it) and deciding to kill all of Zayne's allies because they know too much. (Even if what they know about the incident is very little, or even nothing)

Jarael arrives to save Zayne, wearing the red suit that was seen in the vision of the future - maybe she's the one responsible for what happens, or maybe the red suit symbolizes how the Masters' own actions could lead to this future.  Either way, Zayne and Jarael escape, and the group flees the planet to parts unknown.  I figured that there would have been a bit more ambiguity in the motivations of the Masters, but they jumped off the slippery slope way too quickly for calm serene Jedi. (Some resisted the idea, but one or two of them almost immediately jumped straight to killing their own Padawans) Zayne's all right as a protagonist, with his almost total incompetence with the Force making him stand out among the Jedi in Star Wars.