[SD.net Database] Dark Disciple

[Balrog]

Review: I was disappointed by Dark Disciple. For those who don't know the book was based on six episodes from The Clone Wars which were never produced because the series ended. That was already the first strike against the book. I had tried to get into the series but the quality was often middling to poor and I disagreed with some of the decisions they made in general. I tried to keep an open mind while reading it but unfortunately that didn't last long.

The book literally reads like someone took the shooting script for the episodes and inserted more descriptive text around the dialogue to fill out what we would have seen visually. You can tell exactly in the book when you've reached the point where the episode would normally end and when the new one begins, even though there are no clearly-defined divisions except normal chapters. This is also notable in the reuse of characters and locations. While a couple of new worlds are introduced and a few others are slightly fleshed out, we essentially revisit all of the good ol' stomping grounds including Mustafar, Tatooine and Christophsis. This is somewhat excusable with a TV series where saving money by reusing previous elements is an actual consideration, but not for a book. It continues the sense that we're not actually talking about a galactic-scale war with battles taking place on hundreds and thousands of worlds with untold people killed, but a small scuffle between a few bad actors.

The second strike comes in the use of a previous EU story which was perfectly good and reimagined into something not as good, something TCW also did to no one's benefit. Before The Clone Wars show there was Dark Horse's Clone Wars comics, and while they were hit-or-miss the story of Quinlan Vos and his fall to the Dark Side and labored redemption was one of the major story arcs that was quite decent. The same happens to him here, hence the "Dark Disciple" if you hadn't guessed already, but his fall is entirely due to a romance with Asajj Ventress in a rather ham-fisted manner. I was very unconvinced the way it was written that Vos would make the choices he did because he got the hots for our no-longer-bald former Sith acolyte. I was also never a big fan of the character herself either, while clearly the author was, which shows in the writing.

The last strike came when some really stupid shit happened, which just caused me to shake my head and go "what the fuck?" I'll include a few here, since there were relatively few things of note to highlight from the book tech and debate-wise.

As far as time goes it takes place late in the war close to three years, when Ahsoka has already left the Jedi order.

He extended a hand in Sheb's direction, then jerked it upward. The merchant let out a treble yelp of astonishment as he found himself squirming in midair. At the same instant the Mahran twisted and brought his arms up, breaking Thurg's grip as if it were nothing at all, then grabbed the Gamorrean's arm and flipped him over.

"Oh I say," squeaked a panicked Blue, heading for the door with his arms raised, "help! Help-"

Four armed bodyguards charged in. The Rodian, huge black eyes fixed on Tal, slammed into the hapless droid. Blue went clattering into a corner, and the Rodian began firing at the interlopers.

"No, no blasters!" Sheb shouted, thinking of the irreplaceable items on display in the room, but they ignored him. Red blasterfire screamed through the room, and Sheb, still dangling in the air, screamed along with it, first in pain at seeing his beautiful merchandise obliterated, and then again when a bolt seared through his flapping robes dangerously close to his torso.

There were two other lights flashing about, as well, about a meter long, one green, one blue, that Tal and the interloper wielded like swords. Lightsabers! That meant-

Tal kept one hand extended, holding Sheb aloft, and with the other batted back the red bolts with an almost casual ease. Was the man...humming?

"Ahh!" cried the Koorivar as a blast singed his thigh.

Tal winced. "Sorry," he said, smiling sheepishly up at Sheb, even as he executed a backward flip ending in a sharp, perfectly placed kick to the midsection of a bodyguard. The Gamorrean stumbled, then toppled as Tal slammed the butt of the lightsaber into his temple.

"I wasn't done yet," Tal said, directing his attention to Desh. The smaller, more slender Jedi - for such Sheb realized they both had to be - was on the table now. He splayed a four-fingered hand and lifted the Rodian into the air. For an insane second, he and his employer hovered eye-to-eye, the Rodian's tubular muzzle undulating with protests, and then the green-skinned bodyguard was slammed against the wall.

"Well, don't blame the messenger," the Mahran said. He wasn't even breathing hard. "I was told you're to be reassigned."

"Two more weeks and I would have gotten the whole operation," Tal grumbled. He, too, was speaking as calmly as if the entire exchange were occurring in his own home over friendly drinks. "The Council couldn't wait that long?"

"It would seem not." Desh somersaulted from the table to the floor, grabbing two chairs in the process and hurling them at the four-eyed, arachnoid Aqualish firing steadily, though fruitlessly, at Tal. The furniture struck the bodyguard perfectly and he went sprawling to the floor, limbs entangled in the chair's back and legs at painful-looking angles. His blaster flew out of his hands.

The Mahran caught it effortlessly. He whistled as he examined it. "Nice."

"Oh, no, you don't, Blue," said Tal. The protocol droid had hastened over to one of the fallen bodyguards and clutched a comlink in his hand. Still keeping one hand turned toward Sheb, the Jedi lept toward the droid and severed Blue's hand from his wrist. The droid gave a high-pitched shriek. "Oh, come on, that can be fixed," Tal said. "Don't be a baby."

"So, did I ruin the whole mission?" asked Desh. He thumbed his lightsaber, and with a snap-hiss the blade deactivated.

Vos telekinetically lifts a person up and keeps them there while simultaneously blocking blasters and fighting thugs.

Obi-Wan, as befitted a Jedi, was adept at concealing his feelings in the Force when he chose to. But now he did not, and even a non-Force sensitive could have seen the concern in his gray-blue eyes.

Self-explanatory.

Yoda's face relaxed into a combination of gentleness and implacability. "Always know you to walk alone, the Council does," he said. "Underestimate Ventress, you do. Skilled, she is. Her help you must take, or fail you will."

Kenobi felt a not-unpleasant chill as Yoda uttered the words. He knew what that meant. Few were stronger in the Force than Yoda, and while the diminutive green-skinned Master was always humble and cautioned that one could never predict the ever-changing future with complete accuracy, there were some things that he simply knew to be the right path. This was one of them.

The rippling of the Force told Kenobi that his fellow Council members, all of whom were familiar with Yoda's unique insight, had sensed this, as well.

So shall it be written, so shall it be done, at least where Yoda is concerned.

Level 1313 was so named because it was one thousand, three hundred, and thirteen levels from the core of the planet. Voss suspected it was easier to think of it that way rather than focusing on the weight of almost four thousand other levels between oneself and the surface. The difference between Coruscant's literal and figurative "underworld" and the one that saw the sun was sufficiently start that they might as well be located in two different systems. Crimes that would be viewed as appalling above were everyday occurrences here. The Jedi wondered, not for the first time, how many would be born, live, and die here, never having glimpsed the sun, let alone the stars. He strode past shivering figures with hands outstretched to small fires burning in metal drums. Voices called out to him: Please, sir, got anything to eat, or some credits to spare? Hey, handsome, I know what you want. Right this way, we've got what you're looking for, exotic items from across the galaxy...

With a gentle brush of the Force, a flick of a finger, and a noncommittal smile, Vos caused each inquirer to forget they had seen him....

It's interesting that not only is the planet completely built over in cityscape, but that this construction goes all the way to the planet's core. Population estimates of a few trillion seem quite small when it's not only the entire planet's surface to consider but a good deal of inside it as well.

Gently, subtly, Vos extended a sense of camaraderie into the Force as he spoke. "I'd like to get a little payback. Know what I mean?"

Bossk regarded him for a moment longer, then seemed to make a decision. "I know someone who might know where she is. Come on."

More Force influence, but it's another indication of the rather minimalism which has infected this book as it did during TCW. Who does Vos go to for information about Ventress, who has taken up bounty hunting? Why Bossk of course, who is working as part of a group with young Boba Fett in charge. Because there aren't other bounty hunters he could go to for information, it just happens to be the same people we see every single time.

While the chaos prevented Ventress from getting the clear shot she wanted, which would have ended the hunt in record time, she was not averse to giving chase. The Force buoyed her and guided her, and the prey was not so clever as to be entirely unpredictable to her keen senses. Moregi had to utilized his sheer physicality to shove his way through the crowd; Ventress, whose friend was the Force, conserved her energy for the final capture by simply soaring over the crowds of frightened, fallen pedestrians with a few well-timed leaps.

She thought she had him when the Volpai ran out of rooftop. Moregi hesitated, glancing over his shoulder at Ventress. Then he took a running jump and somehow made it to the next rooftop.

"Not bad," Ventress granted him, effortlessly making the leap herself. She let the Force tell her what Moregi would do next, and followed its guidance when she lost sight of him briefly. She cut a corner on one of the rooftops when he sought to throw her off by racing along the streets. She smiled to herself as she saw him emerge, and, arcing her body, dived atop him.

They slammed hard to the ground. The impact forced her to tumble away from him, and she leapt lightly to her feet, facing him. The bounty was higher if she brought him in alive, so as Moregi stared at her, panting, Ventress was calculating the best way to bring him down.

Suddenly she caught a flurry of movement out of the corner of her eye and a figure sailed across her field of vision. Her Volpai went down beneath it.

Ventress was so taken aback she simply stared in astonishment as the two grappled.

More self-explanatory quotes, this time Ventress letting the Force guide her and leaping. However she gets completely caught off-guard by Vos' sudden appearance. Presumably she was concentrating too much on how to take down the Volpai and didn't sense him coming, but still.

Moregi had a couple of seconds' lead on her now. An ordinary tracker woudl have lost him admid the unecessary and vexing rooftop architecture, but Ventress was able to keep him sight until he darted into a cluster of trees in yet another park area. She halted, catching her breath, trying to reach out in the Force to find him, but there were so many life-forms in close proximity that it wasn't possible.
-
She sensed a presence behind her and closed her eyes, gathering strength.

"Do you normally go around stealing other people's bounties?" she snapped as the dark-haired idiot slipped in beside her, a blaster drawn.

Apparently Ventress isn't so good at discerning life forms when very close together, although why she tried to find him that way rather than letting the Force tell her where he was going to go next is strange. At the same time she is able to tell who exactly it is sneaking up on her while in the same forest-park setting.

Ventress homed in one the source of the sound, extended a hand, and casually uprooted the tree behind which Moregi had been hiding. He stared at her, four eyes wide with shock, then fled toward the edge of the rooftop.

Ventress pulling a tree out of the ground; given how big Volpai get it was probably a pretty big tree.

Using the Force to lock her fingers in place on the pipe, Ventress tightened her grip on Moregi's hand. But his palm was sweaty from the chase, and he began to slide inexorably downward.

"You slippery, four-armed slimeball!" she shouted.

He fell, six limbs waving frantically like an insect, his mouth open in a scream.

Ventress was already moving her fingers to catch him with the Force when Moregi thumped down on the hood of a passing speeder. She gaped, stunned at the Volpai's impossibly good luck, as he clambered for a better grip aboard the vessel. He craned his neck and lifted one of his arms in a rude gesture.

Ventress using the Force to enhance her strength, but again is caught off-guard by an event and not quick on the draw with her TK.

Ventress sensed the annoying interloper behind her again and, folding her arms, turned to regard him.

Again Ventress is able to discern a distinct individual, whilst moving through a busy festival crowd no less, even though earlier she couldn't and she wasn't specifically looking for him but the Volpai. My only guess is that Vos was close enough to somehow overcome the whole "crowd vibe" thing.

Moregi shocked her by not fleeing: He leapt directly at her. Ventress found herself flat on the back of a narrow vessel careening at full speed with a four-armed Volpai atop her, trying to crush her trachea with her own bow. They tumbled off her stolen speeder onto the hood of another one. Ventress grunted, air knocked out of her lungs yet again by the bulk of the surprisingly vigorous Moregi. She shoved upward, but he yanked the bow from her grip and tossed it away.

Ventress was done with finesse - that bow had been given to her by her fellow Nightsisters. Snarling like an animal, she used the Force to augment her own not-inconsiderable strength, flipped the Volpai over, and straddled him. She had two arms pinned, but the second pair and his powerful legs worked together to first seize her and then kick her over his head.

She nearly slid off the vessel - whose Pantoran driver was more than likely desperately regretting his decision to venture forth this morning - but levitated herself back onto it. A Volpai leg kicked at her, and as she rolled out of the way one of two flailing lower arms smacked her in the ribs; only her sharply honed instincts allowed her to pull back enough to take the worst out of the blow. Shooting to her feet, she followed with a good uppercut, but even using the Force to anticipate Moregi's moves, she was at a disadvantage fighting someone who had four fists. Ducking to avoid another punch, she reached for his shoulder to unbalance him - and was rocked by a left hook that connected solidly with her jaw. As she struggled to regain her balance, tightening her grip on him, she felt a piece of his shoulder plating come loose in her hand - and then she was falling.

As noted, it wouldn't be unreasonable for someone with precognition to take blows while in hand-to-hand, what with not exactly much room to maneuver out of the way and so forth. But before that she was again caught off-guard when the Volpai came after her. Trying to reconcile this, the only thing I can think of was that Vos' continued interference was starting to wear on her and she wasn't paying attention.

[RogueIce]

So I've seen what the ending was, and it makes me sad. Both in the general sense - I liked her character - and because I feel like it would have been better on the show, not in a novel. I guess we'll never know...

[Balrog]

For what it's worth it probably would have been better as a show since it was clearly written from the beginning as one. A novel at least allows for a bit more in-depth and detail which would go unsaid in a show.

Short little bump this time, as before trying to keep spoilers out while highlighting pertinent information.

Kenobi had also cautioned him against trying to use the Force to manipulate Ventress in any way. "She's extraordinarily strong-willed, and she's more experienced in the Force than many Jedi Knights," he had said.

Self-explanatory, Ventress' will and knowledge of the Force makes her immune to mental attacks.

Keeping an expression of mild curiosity on his face, Vos extended himself into the Force, closing his fingers around the object "of no use" and opening to what it had to tell him. He wasn't concerned about revealing himself to Ventress. His psychometry shell was so smoothly integrated in the Force that no one, not even fellow Jedi masters, had been able to detect it. The bar, with its music and conversations and clinking of glasses, retreated, growing faint and distant. Vos felt as if he were falling forward into a hole, but the sensation was a familiar and comfortable one. Images rushed up: A female Rodian, with gray-green skin, holding a blue youngling. It - he - bounced up and down in his mother's lap excitedly, clutching a small stuffed toy. He warbled as a hand reached out to caress his small cheek, and a face came into Vos's view.

Moregi's face. Only a glimpse, but it was enough; the Volpai's movements were gentle and slow, and his expression was kind. Occasionally Vos was able to sense emotions as well as see and hear, and his own heart was suddenly warm with Moregi's love for both mother and child.

Vos mentally disconnected from the Volpai's feelings and manipulated the image in his mind's eye, drawing back to take in the rest of the room. He focused on the details, memorizing them quickly: A narrow, bell-shaped window with a potted flowering plant and curtains of blue and yellow. The view out the window showed the angry zigs and zags of graffiti in green and purple paint, in a language he didn't know.

The image faded, and the sights and sounds of the bar returned. Only a few seconds had passed. He handed the of-great-use-after-all object back to Ventress with a noncommittal gesture.

Description of Vos' special ability.

Deftly, she twisted in midair. Vos almost dodged her other foot as it descended onto his face, but reminded himself to be slower than usual and not use the Force. He did, however, turn his head so her kick struck his cheek and not his nose. His stumble was exaggerated, but the grunt of pain was not.

Ventress "let him catch his breath," and they circled. "Quick reaction, grabbing my foot<' she said, grudgingly. Inwardly, hi grimaced that it hadn't escaped her notice. Kenobi had said she was sharp.

Force users are able to limit themselves when it comes to drawing on the Force, as Vos demonstrates here, which is helpful when trying to appear like a non-Force sensitive.

While Vos was pondering, drawing his fist back for another blow, Ventress seized his other arm and pulled. Vos decided to let the whole mess conclude and permitted himself to be thrown. Honestly, he had to admit, it wasn't that hard; Ventress was unobtrusively using the Force. An ordinary opponent would never had noticed it.

Force users can also appear to not be using the Force when they actually are, in this case Ventress either using the Force to increase her strength and reflexes or possibly throwing some TK in there as well.

It wasn't so much that their attackers were excellent fighters, but that there were simply so man swarming out of the shadowy corners. Vos and Ventress had their hands full, and at one point Vos noticed that a leathery-face Weequay whom Ventress thought she'd eliminated had woken up and was training a blaster on her.

Vos had no choice. He used the Force to knock the weapon out of the Weequay's hand, simultaneously leaping to close the distance between himself and the attacker. When Ventress turned around, Vos was in close enough proximity to later claim that he'd kicked the blaster away.

Another example of Vos' simultaneous Force usage.

Ventress was none too keen on visiting Mustafar. No one in their right mind would be. The only thing it was good for was lava, and the only people who lived there were those who had the dangerous job of harvesting the molten export, Black Sun (who found the lava handy as well, specifically for convenient disposal of evidence), and various and sundry being who either didn't want to be found or had control of others they didn't want found.

Turns out Mustafar is a popular place in the galaxy. Who would've guessed? [/sarcasm]

Ventress debated puting on a breath mask, but decided against it. The masks were vital if one was constantly exposed to the fumes, but a few hours wouldn't harm them.

Mustafar's atmosphere.

"Shhh," he said, projecting calmness at them in the Force. He smiled.

Another Force-influence example.

He jumped out onto the balcony, whistled loudly, reaching out with the Force, and felt the lava fleas respond.

Vos using the Force on animals, just in case Disney decides to make Command Animal a separate power again for some reason.

"Kid, you've not seen anything yet," Vos assured him, and prepared to make his own jump. "Watch this."

His flea was almost beneath his perch on the abutment. He grinned, looking down, knowing he had timed it perfectly, and then he leapt. The kid would have a story-

Sudden pain seared his shoulder. A blaster bolt! Caught off guard, Vos grunted and jerked. Instead of landing perfectly astride the flea, he struck it hard and bounced off, hurtling toward the waiting lava below.

He twisted, trying hard to adjust his trajectory, and at the same time stretched out his hand to use the Force to cushion the impact.

Vos is also caught off guard by an attack. His attention was clearly diverted in this case, which could explain why he had no warning about the bolt.

Surprise caused Ziton to hesitate for a fraction of a second, but then he dived for his weapon. Before he could fire it, the stranger with the yellow tattoo shot it out of his hand.

The blond woman had already dispatched one of the burly Falleen guards and was now snapping the other's arm with frightening casualness. Blaster bolts sang as the dark human, dodging attacks with lithe grace, shot the blasters from the hands of the guards.

Vos is accurate enough to reliably shoot weapons out of people's hands - almost certainly with some help from the Force - while Ventress is being Ventress.

[Ziton] was well versed in a variety of martial arts and expert in mixing styles in such a way that his enemy could not anticipate what he might do next.

This one somehow did.

Almost as if the fight had been choreographed, she blocked his every blow, from the Strike of the Nexu to the Kick of the Bantha, with almost disinterested ease. The sounds of thuds and groans from his guards told him that her compatriot was easily handling three, possibly four attackers at once. Who were these people?

As if she had tired of playing with him, the envoy ceased simply defending herself and moved in for the kill. Her punches and kicks became a blur, and panic started to rise in Ziton's throat.

Ventress' combat precog doesn't fail her this time at least, and one could interpret the blur of her moves to mean she's using a burst of Force-speed as well, though it could easily just be the normal kind of blur or artistic license.

[Balrog]

She brought the Banshee in for a landing beneath the curving, blackened trunks of what had once been eighty-meter-high trees. A few had escaped the flames, and some of them still bore poignant, precious fruit. Ventress sat for a moment in the cockpit, opening to the pain, letting it slice her soul like a knife across an open palm, her grief, hatred, and guilt dripping out like blood. It had been less than a year since the slaughter, and the wound was still fresh and raw.

Without a word to Vos, she rose, went to the door, and tapped the controls to open it and extend the ramp. He followed as she descended, looking first at her, then gazing upon the red-tinted, mist-wreathed world. He stiffened abruptly. Ventress suspected he was sensing the grip the dark side had upon her birthplace; how strong it was, and how deep it went.

Like in the movies places can be come strongly associated with the Dark Side, in this case Ventress' former home on Dathomir. How much the Nightsister slaughter contributed to it and how much was their own use of the Dark Side is unknown.

She gestured to an area of trees that had managed to escape the fire, and pointed to the large sacks that hung like giant teardrops.

"These contain the bodies of my sisters," Ventress said. She reached to caress the smooth casing. "When one dies, so I was told, we perform a ritual to honor her. We bathe her in a sacred pool, then enclose her in this pod. In this way, a sister never truly leaves us. She is dead, but she is nestled inside something vibrant and alive. She is suspended between sky and soil, because she is truly of neither. She is always near, always part of the clan. I was taught that our dead sisters can share our celebrations of joy, and our ceremonies of grief. And on that night - they shared our fight."

Ventress gestured to the skeletons around them. For a moment, her voice caught. "But...I do not know the secret of preserving the fallen, and no one else was left to tend to them..."

A bit more about the zombie Nightsisters which showed up in TCW's depiction of the fight.

Sensing the presence of a living thing, she turned to one of the burned branches. A black snake about half a meter long twined lazily about it, flicking out its forked tongue to smell her. Unafraid, she touched its minds and called it to her. It obeyed, climbing up her left arm to her neck. Its tongue tickled as it touched below her ear.
-
Hatred
The snake hissed, and then began to thrash. Vos started to intercept, but Ventress lifted her left hand to stop him.

"When Ky Narec was killed, I allowed my hatred to take over." At the words, the snake's struggle intensified. Ventress drank in its panic, closing her free hand on empty air as the Force throttled the animal for her. "Hatred gave me access to abilities the Jedi think are too unnatural. But the Sith know that the path to hatred is the path to ultimate power."

The snake went limp. She let it fall from her hand to the ground, dead.

Ventress also using the Force to command animals, also in case they decide to make influencing animals and people different powers for whatever reason, and killing with the Force.

"I had conversations with Karis and Naa'leth. They told me of what they underwent. Nightsisters know the dark side better than anyone. We grow up steeped in it, but we can use it as a tool and stay ourselves - unlike the Sith. That balance is what you must learn."

The difference between Nightsisters and Sith, at least from the Nightsister's viewpoint, which may be a bit colored because, you know, the dark side.

Here, the damage to the forest was even greater than where Ventress had set the Banshee down. Vos could feel the temperature drop, and faint echoes of the pain the Nightsisters had suffered brushed his thoughts.

In this area at least the presence of dark side energy is tied directly to the Nightsister's dying. I'd be curious to see if they decide that only large numbers of Force-sensitives dying causes these areas to occur or if simple slaughter is enough to create one.

"Feel the dark side. It gives you power. You are in command - in control. You can bend things to your will."

She was right. From time to time, Vos had used the Force to make "suggestions" to those whose minds weren't strong enough to resist. His interaction with the serpent reminded Vos of those times, except increased a thousandfold. The snake was not merely biddable - it was enthralled.

Apparently a more powerful version of mind trick. What's not quite clear is if it's something intrinsic to the dark side which makes such things possible, or whether it's a matter of the dark side simply providing more "power" which allows for more powerful effects.

It would have been one of the most beautiful places Vos had ever beheld, if it had not been so steeped in the dark side. It was strong here; controlled, directed. At the far side of the open area, he saw an alter, and wondered what sorts of horrors it had borne witness to. Perhaps once, this had been no more than a cavern, a neutral place, eventually permeated by the energy left over from centuries of dark work. Or perhaps it had always dwelled on the edge of darkness.

Besides killing lots of people in one spot, another way of making areas rich in the dark side is performing bad voodoo in the vicinity.

He sensed her presence, but the location was muddied, difficult to pinpoint.

No indication given why Vos was having trouble sensing her, whether it was through her own efforts to suppress herself or the permeation of the dark side in the area messing with his Force-radar.

[Tychu]

I'd like to know where you guys place this story in the timeline.
My biggest gripe with the novel is in Chapter 27 or 28. I downloaded the free audible version so I can't easily reference the exact places.

Now, this story has to take place in the 2nd half of the war. Ventress has already failed with training Savage and Dooku has killed off the Night Sisters. Now I think the majority of us can agree that Disney has no idea what they are doing. Even with the scarcity of sources that they left the universe with they can't keep things together. Are we to believe that, this late in the war, Quinlan Vos falls to the dark side, becomes an admiral in the CIS and leads them to victory in a massive battle. Then he redeems himself in time that the Jedi Council trusts him enough to lead the campaign on Boz Pity. (I think it's Boz Pity, Obi-Wan makes mention of it in Episode III when Anakin is late to the briefing). You can say it's Christine Golden's fault but she had a decent track rating on her othe books.

What I want to believe is that the stories were cancelled for a reason. But then don't release them at all if that was the case.

Thanks for reading my rant

[RogueIce]

It would have been in the seventh season of the show, and IIRC there were eight seasons planned. So time for Vos to reintegrate back into the Order, especially since his redemption was probably going to be in the sixth episode of eight planned, judging by the titles.

But that's the main problem: this is eight episodes of the show, 176 minutes (so just shy of 3 hours) crammed into one book. Whatever pacing and time skips and airing order could have done for this arc (such as, possibly, a break between episodes 4 and 5 giving time for Vos to be a CIS Admiral or whatever, off-screen) isn't happening here. I don't know if the book includes a time skip or if it carries on as if it's all one continuous adventure or what. But that's not helping matters any, which is for sure.

And just to compare, Episode 3 has a 140 minute runtime. In paperback, the novelization is 480 pages. So that one had an extra ~150 pages for a movie with ~30 minutes less runtime than this arc has, with a 336 page novel for 176 minutes. I am sure that presents considerable pacing issues.

Which is a shame, because I feel like this would have been a good arc to see on the show. Katie Lucas, the original writer, had some extremely strong episodes on the show - including pretty much all of the ones that focused heavily on Ventress. Combined with the inherent strengths of a visual medium (the action, visuals, acting, music, etc.) and what would probably be better pacing with eight episodes - aired however they would have been* - I think this story would have worked far better on screen than it does in a book.

*Wookieepedia says it was all season 7 episodes but I kind of remember reading somewhere that it was split between seasons 7 and 8, so maybe more of a time skip than thought, I don't know. I could easily be misremembering though so take this with a hefty pile of salt.

[Tychu]

Well when Ventress meets with Spoiler

Obi-Wan

, the book makes mention that when she was brooding over Quinlan, days turned to weeks and weeks to months. So time did pass.

I don't know the book rubbed me the wrong way. I mean they kept the core of Vos from the Dark Horse Comics but changed the details. Killed of Master Thulm and then compacted Vos' fall to the dark side. In the old EU Vos went through this from 2001-2004. But like you said the pacing is all off due to medium change.

[Elheru Aran]

I'm not sure which annoys me more, that they're trying to run with a dead-end character like Asajji Ventress, or that they actually bothered to give Quinlan Vos more air-time... the EU had enough Quinlan Vos shit back in the day, we *really* didn't need more.

[Adam Reynolds]

I don't know the book rubbed me the wrong way. I mean they kept the core of Vos from the Dark Horse Comics but changed the details. Killed of Master Thulm and then compacted Vos' fall to the dark side. In the old EU Vos went through this from 2001-2004. But like you said the pacing is all off due to medium change.

This was something Clone Wars did more than once in later seasons. They redid the Invasion of Mon Calamari from the first Clone Wars series as well as the Battle of Kamino from the comics. It would have been better if they were free to do that without restrictions, as occurred when the EU was purged.

I'm not sure which annoys me more, that they're trying to run with a dead-end character like Asajji Ventress, or that they actually bothered to give Quinlan Vos more air-time... the EU had enough Quinlan Vos shit back in the day, we *really* didn't need more.

Franky, I think the era is a terrible one to focus on. The problem is that the prequels are ultimately a shaggy dog story in which nothing the characters fight for really matters in the end as the Empire and Sith will come to power regardless. It works well enough as a tragedy in ROTS, less so in AOTC and TPM, and not really at all in Clone Wars. That is the fundamental problem with prequels in general, when they are told we know enough of how they end that you cannot keep the story going forever. Prequels work best when they are limited in scope of storytelling.