Book notes: Star Wars: Revan by Drew Karpyshyn

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Star Wars: Revan: The Old Republic by Drew Karpyshyn

Synopsis:

“There’s something out there: A juggernaut of evil bearing down to crush the Republic – unless one lone Jedi, shunned and reviled, can stop it.

Revan: Hero, traitor, conqueror, villain, savior. A Jedi who left Coruscant to defeat Mandalorians – and returned a disciple of the dark side, bent on destroying the Republic. The Jedi Council gave Revan his life back, but the price of redemption was high. His memories have been erased. All that’s left are nightmares – and deep, abiding fear.

What exactly happened beyond the Outer Rim? Revan can’t quite remember, yet can’t entirely forget. Somehow he stumbled across a terrible secret that threatens the very existence of the Republic. With no idea what it is, or how to stop it, Revan may very well fail, for he’s never faced a more powerful and diabolic enemy. But only death can stop him from trying.” -Audible

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Opening thoughts:

I’m continuing on my binge of Star Wars Legends books as they have been very enjoyable to listen through. Revan has been a character mentioned in the lore many times, so I thought it would be good to finally read the book focused on his story. The only thing I know about Revan is that he’s one of the few if not the only person who was considered a master of both the light and dark sides of the force, which made him extremely powerful.

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Key notes:

Part One

Chapter 1

• The dark Lord, who was called to investigate the assassination attempts on the other Sith Lord, was ambushed by two mercenaries who tried to kill him. However, he survived the confrontation

Chapter 2

• The dark lord Darth Nyriss admitted she ordered the mercenaries to assassinate him as a test of his competence, and she knew he was an ideal candidate to serve under her, given his track record and achievements 

Chapter 3

• Revan spoke to a Mandalorian, Canderous Ordo. He previously fought in the war and told him about his visions. He had a bad feeling about something coming up or an evil force that made their leader and him turn to the dark side

Chapter 4

• Their mission to hack a facility and get data succeeded, but it ended with the whole place blowing up 

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

• Bastila told Revan she was pregnant

Chapter 8

• When they raided the separatist base, they found minor evidence that one of the dark lords of the high council was working with them, and they suspected he was behind the assassination attempts
• Scourge was tasked to take out the traitor on the Dark Council

Chapter 9

• Revan and the Canderous got a generally warm welcome from the others of his clan

Chapter 10

• Scourge successfully assassinated the Dark Councilman Xedrix and took his head as proof

Chapter 11

• Revan had to reveal he was a Jedi during a battle with the Mandalorian clan he was with

Chapter 12

• Darth Nyriss revealed her plan to Scourge to take down the emperor, and she wanted to gain his allegiance

Chapter 13

• Canderous and Revan survived the ambush by Veela and the 5 other Mandalorian clanspeople who knew of his identity, but ended up killing them 6

Chapter 14

• He took on the mantle of Mandalore the Preserver

Chapter 15

• They visited the emperor’s home planet of Nathema, which was void of all life and void of the force, which was a chilling and unsettling experience
• Revan made it to the planet but was almost instantly attacked and was about to crash land on the planet 

Chapter 16

• The Sith Lords tried to interrogate Revan after they captured and drugged him, but his will was too strong, and he also didn’t have access to all his memories. They decided to be patient and leverage him to further their plot against the emperor 

Part Two

Chapter 17

• Bastila and Revan had a 3-year-old son, but Revan has been gone for 4 years since setting off 
• Rogue Jedi plunged the Republic and galaxy back into war
• These Jedi found the dark side of the force, called themselves Sith, and hunted down tens of thousands of those who lived by the Jedi code
• Meetra, the exiled one, ended up coming back and defeating the Sith in Revan’s absence
• Bastila gave Meetra Revan’s old mask to give to him once she found him

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

• Over the years, Revan and Scourge developed a rapport and mutual respect, and learned bits and pieces of information about each other over time

Chapter 20

• Meetra met with Sechel to find and arrange a meeting with Scourge

Chapter 21

• Meetra survived the ambush, and Scourge was in disbelief that Revan’s vision came true as she was here to rescue him
• Meetra and Scourge agreed to work together to free Revan and stop the mad Emperor, though both were hesitant

Chapter 22

• Scourge gave evidence to Meetra that the plan to overthrow the Emperor was true, but that he was tired of waiting because the Dark Council didn’t seem to actually want to make a move. So they agreed to officially work together

Chapter 23

• Scourge risked his life passing the evidence to the Emperor himself and managed to survive

Chapter 24

• They managed to free Revan during the attack on the stronghold 
• Nyriss almost killed Scourge and Meetra until Revan appeared with his mask (and regained memories) to deflect her force lightning back at her to incinerate her

Chapter 25

• They regrouped on their plan to stop the Emperor, and Revan recounted all of his lost memories about being controlled by the Emperor

Chapter 26

• Scourge had a vision of their deaths, and then spoke with Revan about the force, visions, fear, and destiny

Chapter 27

• Scourge and Meetra fought against two guards each. Once they were victorious, they went to help Revan with the emperor 

Chapter 28

• Scourge betrayed them and killed Meetra

Chapter 29

• Meetra’s spirit stayed with Revan as he was imprisoned in stasis by the Emperor
• The emperor was fighting to gain info from Revan’s mind, but Revan had the power and will to fight back, and committed to resisting for as many years or decades as he could

Epilogue

• Bastila met her grandkids. She always talked with her son about his father, and she knew he had succeeded

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Closing thoughts:

I enjoyed reading Revan’s story, or at least this section of it. I feel like it sort of left out a lot of his legendary escapades and what really added to the lore/legend of Revan. For example, I wish this story covered how he was eventually converted to a Sith Lord and the feats that made his reputation legendary. I was also very disappointed with how his story turned out. He managed to have one good feat when he easily defeated Darth Nyriss. But after that, this story only really hinted as his power. It would have been nice to hear about his glory days.

It was also a depressing trajedy I suppose since it ultimately ended with him getting captured for four years, and then never really being able to send word back to his wife about his well-being and how he managed to thwart the Emperor’s plans a bit. Then it flash forward to a timeskip where Bastila now had grandchildren decades later. Basically this story skipped all the good parts and made it seem like Revan’s whole life was a trajedy which was disappointing. I really wish it ended better as he was one of the rare force users who seemed to have so much potential to do good in the galaxy.

Regardless of this, it was still a great and interesting story. It just generally left me wanting more and also that the story ended better.

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One Takeaway / Putting into practice:

I think the only takeaway I got from this book was the very interesting idea that one who had a more encompassing view of the force (both the light and dark sides) had a better grasp of it and could wield its power more fully, evenly, and in a more balanced way. This would ultimately make someone like Revan more power than most people in the Star Wars universe.

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Nutshell:

The story of how Revan sought to regain his lost memories and thwart an evil plan by the Emperor.

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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
• Star Wars: Rule of Two by Drew Karpyshyn
• Star Wars: Dynasty of Evil by Drew Karpyshyn

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Rating:

★★★★

3/5

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