Book notes: Star Wars: Rule of Two by Drew Karpyshyn

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Star Wars: Rule of Two: Star Wars Legends (Darth Bane) by Drew Karpyshyn

Synopsis:

“In the New York Times best-seller Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, Drew Karpyshyn painted a gripping portrait of a young man’s journey from innocence to evil. That man was Darth Bane, a twisted genius whose iron will, fierce ambition, and strength in the dark side of the Force made him a natural leader among the Sith – until his radical embrace of an all-but-forgotten wisdom drove him to destroy his own order…and create it anew from the ashes. As the last surviving Sith, Darth Bane promulgated a harsh new directive: the Rule of Two.

Two there should be; no more, no less.

One to embody the power, the other to crave it.

Now Darth Bane is ready to put his policy into action, and he thinks he has found the key element that will make his triumph complete: a student to train in the ways of the dark side. Though she is young, Zannah possesses an instinctive link to the dark side that rivals his own. With his guidance, she will become essential in his quest to destroy the Jedi and dominate the galaxy.

But there is one who is determined to stop Darth Bane: Johun Othone, Padawan to Jedi Master Lord Hoth, who died at Bane’s hands in the last great Sith War. Though the rest of the Jedi scoff at him, Joshua’s belief that there are surviving Sith on the loose is unshakeable.

As Johun continues his dogged pursuit of the man who killed his master, Zannah, faced unexpectedly with a figure from her past, begins to question her embrace of the dark side. And Darth Bane is led by Force-induced visions to a moon where he will acquire astonishing new knowledge and power – power that will alter him in ways he could never have imagined….” -Audible

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Opening thoughts:

I absolutely loved the first book in this series on Darth Bane, so picking up the second book was an easy choice. I’m also happy that this book follows the journey of Bane and his new apprentice. I’m excited to see how her character develops across the storyline.

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Key notes:

Chapter 1

• The residual effects of the thought bomb caused him increasing pain
• He started to guide and teach his new apprentice about the dark side and how to harness her talents
  • She impressed him so far and he realized he chose his apprentice well upon seeing her reaction to him telling her that he killed all the other Sith

Chapter 2

• What was left of the Jedi Army of Light was recuperating after the battle. One of the padawans wanted to go back to the surface of the planet to help despite orders not to

Chapter 3

• He showed his new apprentice the power of the dark side in physical combat and told her of their long-term plans

Chapter 4

• He tried to teach Zannah that power was just a means in the dark side. The purpose is freedom
• He tells her that “only if we are free can we reach our full potential”
  • The dark side is the path to greatness
• Equality is a chain, like obedience, fear, uncertainty, or self-doubt
• Upon encountering her cousin, Zannah attacked him
  • Bane was pleased with her cold and cunning development and decided to spare him

Chapter 5

• Bane told Zannah he was leaving her. She had to find her own way off the planet and meet up with him in 10 days.
• He explained that it was her destiny to eventually surpass him and challenge him to the death. If she cannot, she would not be worthy to inherit the legacy of the Sith

Chapter 6

• Zannah managed to board a ship that rescued her and killed everyone on it to prevent them from taking her to the Jedi base

Chapter 7

• Bane was having hallucinations as residual effects of the thought bomb
• Bane found another Sith holocron

Chapter 8

• There were impending changes happening in politics where the Jedi would now answer to the senate and the chancellor
• Bane got new powers and managed to escape the planet 

Chapter 9

• Bane reunited with his apprentice
• Johun was assigned to guard the Chancellor
  • He was informed that he passed the trials and would be knighted as a Jedi officially

“In life, joy and sorrow are often closely linked”

Chapter 10 – 10 Years Later

• Bane failed at four attempts to create his own holocron

Chapter 11

• Zannah reported back that her mission to stoke the fires of a separatist movement was successful
• The larger plan was to keep the Republic and the Jedi focused on the separatists instead of the two of them

Chapter 12

• Johun managed to single-handedly fend off the assassination attempt on the former Chancellor’s life
• By sacrificing himself and giving himself over to the force, he miraculously managed to survive

Chapter 13

• Zannah displayed her power to the leader of the rebel forces

Chapter 14

• The rebel leader wanted to become Zannah’s apprentice and offer his Sith assassins to her to help them kill Bane

Chapter 15

• Bane survived the ambush and almost killed Zannah, but she convinced him that she did it to gain the man’s trust to get the data card which had info about creating a holocron
• She knew he would survive, otherwise he wouldn’t be worthy of being the Sith Lord

Chapter 16

• Zannah’s new mission was to infiltrate the Jedi temple to figure out how to get the parasites off of Bane’s body

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

• Bane had to fight a hoard of ancient techno-beasts to get the holocron

Chapter 19

• Zannah discovered the info she was looking for to remove the orbalisks from Bane. However, she coincidentally ran into her long-lost cousin 

Chapter 20

• Her cousin believed she wasn’t a Sith because she was kind and caring on the inside
• She claimed she kept him alive to help heal her master

Chapter 21

• They encountered the Jedi and fought five of them with the two of them
• Bane and Zannah managed to survive and kill all 5 of the Jedi

Chapter 22

• She took her master to the healing man Bane met a decade ago, but the man refused

Chapter 23

• They managed to successfully save him after removing the creatures from his body
• When Bane woke up, he demanded that Zannah kill him so that they don’t capture him

Chapter 24

• The squad of Jedi masters and knights went to the healer’s camp and found the healer mutilated
  • They slayed the madman with a stolen lightsaber, and suspected he was the Sith Lord they were warned about
• In the end, Zannah hid herself and Bane underneath the sleeping mat in the secret room

Epilogue

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Closing thoughts:

This was a great second installment of the Bane series. I thoroughly enjoyed the continuation of Bane’s adventure as he trains his new apprentice. Thankfully she’s a good compliment to Bane and is very resourceful, which makes her very likable.

I also love how even though they’re both evil users of the Dark Side, I find myself rooting for them and their endeavors. Despite being evil, their ambitious characteristics are somewhat admirable.

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One Takeaway / Putting into practice:

The one takeaway that stood out to me is the one sentence I put in quotes:

“In life, joy and sorrow are often closely linked”

Even though it is a simple statement, I think it is more profound the more you think about it in the context of our lives. Where we find great happiness is also where we can find great unhappiness. Trying to avoid sadness will leave you without happiness. Something to think about because it seems like they always go hand in hand.

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Nutshell:

Darth Bane continues his quest to overthrow the Jedi and the Republic while mentoring his own apprentice, Zannah.

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Similar books:

• Star Wars: Ahsoka by E. K. Johnston
• Shatterpoint: Star Wars Legends by Matthew Stover
• Star Wars: Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno
• Star Wars: Darth Plagueis by James Luceno
• Star Wars: Maul: Lockdown by Joe Schreiber
• Star Wars: Path of Destruction by Drew Karpyshyn

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Rating:

3.5/5

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