Book notes: Star Wars: Dynasty of Evil by Drew Karpyshyn

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Star Wars: Dynasty of Evil: A Novel of the Old Republic by Drew Karpyshyn

Synopsis:

“Twenty years have passed since Darth Bane, reigning Dark Lord of the Sith, demolished the ancient order devoted to the dark side and reinvented it as a circle of two: one Master to wield the power and pass on the wisdom, and one apprentice to learn, challenge, and ultimately usurp the Dark Lord in a duel to the death. But Bane’s acolyte, Zannah, has yet to engage her Master in mortal combat and prove herself a worthy successor. Determined that the Sith dream of galactic domination will not die with him, Bane vows to learn the secret of a forgotten Dark Lord that will assure the Sith’s immortality – and his own.

A perfect opportunity arises when a Jedi emissary is assassinated on the troubled mining planet Doan, giving Bane an excuse to dispatch his apprentice on a fact-finding mission – while he himself sets out in secret to capture the ancient holocron of Darth Andeddu and its precious knowledge. But Zannah is no fool. She knows that her ruthless Master has begun to doubt her, and she senses that he is hiding something crucial to her future. If she is going to claim the power she craves, she must take action now.

While Bane storms the remote stronghold of a fanatical Sith cult, Zannah prepares for her Master’s downfall by choosing an apprentice of her own: a rogue Jedi cunning and cold-blooded enough to embrace the Sith way and to stand beside her when she at last wrests from Bane the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith.

But Zannah is not the only one with the desire and power to destroy Darth Bane. Princess Serra of the Doan royal family is haunted by memories of the monstrous Sith soldier who murdered her father and tortured her when she was a child. Bent on retribution, she hires a merciless assassin to find her tormentor – and bring him back alive to taste her wrath.

Only a Sith who has taken down her own Master can become Dark Lord of the Sith. So when Bane suddenly vanishes, Zannah must find him – possibly even rescue him – before she can kill him. And so she pursues her quarry from the grim depths of a ravaged world on the brink of catastrophe to the barren reaches of a desert outpost, where the future of the dark side’s most powerful disciples will be decided, once and for all, by the final, fatal stroke of a lightsaber” -Audible

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Opening thoughts:

I was excited to finally read the last book in this series as I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. I think the story’s climax should be about who will survive between Bane and Zannah, but we’ll see how it goes. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this story so far and don’t have any complaints.

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Key notes:

Chapter 1

• Bane needed to figure out how to extend his life and rejuvenate his body so that he could be in peak form for when his apprentice Zannah challenged him for the Dark Lord position

Chapter 2

• Serra’s bodyguard Lucia admitted she hired the assassin that killed the terrorists that killed her late husband, but they didn’t know a Jedi would be with them and that he would end up getting killed

Chapter 3

• Information, properly exploited and controlled, could defeat any army
• He sent Zannah on a mission to figure out who killed the Jedi and why, while Bane himself went to go look for the holocron that could contain information on extending his life

Chapter 4

• Zannah was weary that Bane was plotting to replace her or lure her into a trap as a sort of test

Chapter 5

• Serra realized that the tall Sith Lord that tormented her killed her father, and was likely still alive

Chapter 6

• The dark Jedi, Set Harth, managed to obtain talismans with dark side power from the rebels in the cave

Chapter 7

• She retrieved the data on the dark Jedi and tied up any loose ends to cover her tracks

Chapter 8

• During windows of opportunities, all that is required is the wisdom to recognize them and the strength to take action
• Bane managed to get the holocron of the ancient dark lord from the temple easily

Chapter 9

• Lucia recounted her days in the Sith army as part of the Gloomwalkers battalion and how Des, the true leader of the troop, looked out for his fellow soldiers more times than she could count. He even sacrificed himself and was court marshaled for saving their lives
• Lucia found the assassin and hired her again to speak with Serra

Chapter 10

• Zannah confronted the dark Jedi Set at his home to test him and see if he was worthy to be her apprentice

Chapter 11

• Serra spoke with the assassin on her home planet to track down the man who killed her father

Chapter 12

• Bane forcefully extracted the information he sought from the holocron

Chapter 13

• Zannah offered Set to make him her apprentice and teach him to become more powerful
• He accepted and she knew it was a risk but worth taking

Chapter 14

• Their ambush on Bane was successful 

Chapter 15

• Zannah and Set found that Bane was captured, then investigated into why

Chapter 16

• When they visited the prisoner, Lucia instantly recognized Des, her former commanding officer who saved their unit multiple times. She was surprised he was still alive
• While being interrogating, Bane and Serra had a verbal exchange of ideologies about how the strong get to impose their will on the weak
  • Even this scenario proved him right 

Chapter 17

• Lucia secretly gave Bane some of the drug to wake him up and let him escape on his own

Chapter 18

• Set decided to go after the holocron Bane retrieved

Chapter 19

• Bane managed to escape and wanted to find Serra before Zannah found him

Chapter 20

• Serra hesitated to blow up the prison

Chapter 21

• Zannah managed to find Bane and incidentally killed Lucia as collateral damage

Chapter 22

• Serra found Lucia‘s body and dragged it to the escape pod before initiating the self-destruct system
• Set managed to negotiate a deal so both he and the assassin could get out on each of their ships before everything collapsed

Chapter 23

• The huntress gave Bane back his lightsaber and holocron
  • She asked to serve under him and learn the powers of the Sith. In exchange, she would give him loyalty, her ship to escape, and the healer‘s daughter
  • He accepted
• Zannah also managed to escape

Chapter 24

• They met with Serra on her home planet and ultimately killed her as Bane could not persuade her to help him in the future

Chapter 25

• Zannah realized her mistake was trying to defeat Bane by brute force in physical combat. She realized she was baited into that when really her skill above him was in Sith sorcery
• Bane sent out a message to Zannah to finish their duel and end the challenge

Chapter 26

• They started their final duel
• They were both almost evenly matched and before the final blow, Bane enacted the body transfer ritual. They then fought each other for control on Zannah’s body by pure willpower

Chapter 27

• In the end, Zannah was victorious and took on Darth Cognus as her apprentice

Epilogue

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Closing thoughts:

I really liked how this story ended and I was genuinely rooting for Zannah to win and surpass her master. I feel like it was a good way to fulfill the prophecy or rule of two that Bane wanted to perpetuate for the Sith. If she didn’t survive and he had to start all over with another apprentice, it would have been a waste.

I’m also glad it didn’t turn out that Bane would just inhabit Zannah’s body, especially because I really enjoyed her character arc as well, and would want to see her grow into the role of Sith Lord and train her own padawan, having been training under Bane for 20 years. Her talent in Sith sorcery is also pretty cool to see, so it would have been a shame if the author did a cop out and combined these two characters instead of letting Zannah move onto the next leg of her journey.

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One Takeaway / Putting into practice:

Thankfully, there’s usually one or two takeaways from each Star Wars book I’ve read. For me, the one takeaway I have is this:

• During windows of opportunities, all that is required is the wisdom to recognize them and the strength to take action

I think in the overarching lesson from the Bane series is having the intent, drive, and willpower to shape your destiny. Bane and Zannah were both hyperfocused on this, and backed it up with actions.

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Nutshell:

The final clash between Sith master Bane and apprentice Zannah culminates in the final installment of the series.

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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

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Rating:

4/5

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