Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Vol. 9: Guerra

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

by John Jackson Miller

L’incredibile conclusione di una delle più amate saghe di Star Wars! La Repubblica e i Mandaloriani sono in guerra e sebbene il Consiglio Jedi abbia perorato la neutralità, alcuni Cavalieri stanno seguendo Revan in prima linea. Zayne Carrick e i suoi compagni si troveranno coinvolto involontariamente in un conflitto brutale.

Genres: Star Wars, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Comic Book

120 pages, Paperback

First published October 23, 2012

About the author

New York Times bestselling author John Jackson Miller has spent a lifetime immersed in science fiction. His Star Trek novels include the Discovery – Die Standing, the acclaimed novel Discovery — The Enterprise War, the Prey trilogy, and Takedown. His Star Wars novels include A New Dawn, Kenobi, Knight Errant, Lost Tribe of the Sith, and the Knights of the Old Republic comics, available from Marvel as Legends: The Old Republic.

He’s written comics and prose for Halo, Iron Man, Simpsons, Conan, Planet of the Apes, and Mass Effect, with recent graphic novels for Battlestar Galactica, Dumbo, and The Lion King. Production notes on all his works can be found at his fiction site.

He is also a comics industry historian, specializing in studying comic-book circulation as presented on his website, Comichron.. He also coauthored the Standard Catalog of Comic Books series.

Reviews

[CS · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bullet Review:

What the eff was this?! JJM wrote this?! You have GOT to be kidding - positively awful, made even worse because it came after all the fantastic KOTOR entries.

I don't know where to even begin with all the stupid in this book. I want to throw something.

Full Review:

Apparently, in the approx 2-3 months after "Demon" (or 30+ years if you go strictly by the dates in the book, which most definitely seem wrong), Zayne has been drafted into the military. Why? So that he can go all hippie "make love not war" in the middle of a battlefield.

And that's pretty much the entirety of this book: Zayne wailing every time soldiers shoot at each other in war zone. Because both sides should just stop all that shooting business and sit in a circle singing hymns at each other until someone surrenders.

Who is this Zayne? Who is this author? Is this really the work of John Jackson Miller, who wrote the earlier books? Or did some zombie take over his body?

Actually, a part of me isn't surprised JJM wrote this. To be honest, THIS is the JJM I am more familiar with - the one who writes humdrum, average Star Wars books, like Knight Errant (both novel and comic). Actually, reading KOTOR and seeing how his skills shine was a shock to me. And reading this after the brilliant earlier volumes is a MASSIVE disappointment.

Zayne is pretty much the only character in this volume. Sure, Gryph, Slyssk, and Jarael pop up once a piece, but that's to divulge important information or to be a prize (but HAR HAR, not a prize because if we note that it's sexism, it's totes not sexism!) Maybe that wouldn't be bad, but he's out of character and obnoxious.

I get not wanting to fight and kill people. I don't like it either. But you know what? The way Zayne acts in this book isn't going to get both sides to suddenly agree war is stupid and stop fighting. You can't wave your hands to people and yell "STOP FIGHTING" when the OTHER SIDE IS SHOOTING AT YOU.

And his whole character makes no sense based on the previous comics! Sure, Zayne didn't kill, but he never went to those extremes. What made him change and so suddenly? Why couldn't we see THAT character change, instead of this stupid story with him yelling "STOP" every other panel?

Minus Dorjander Kace, the rest of the characters are varying shades of stupid, annoying or medicore. Morvis and Kra'ake? How did they get such a high ranking in their respective services? Who did they sleep with/pay off? Ko Sornell? YAWN.

Dorjander Kace is pretty much the only character I liked. He had a decent character design, a decent backstory, and a passion that partially made sense - even if kidnapping children is so many shades of wrong. And it's a shame that his refrigerator girlfriend is the reason he's doing what he's doing.

And the art! At this point, I'd WELCOME Bong back with open arms! The art here makes Zayne look all rugged and weird, when before he had a rather boyish face. Dayum, 3 months ages a person BAD.

I finished reading this last night, and it made me so furious. I wanted to throw it against a wall, but I didn't want to wake my neighbors. This is an awful comic, nothing like the KOTOR comics before it, written by Zombie JJM. I will be selling this turd ASAP.

[Iset · Rating 2 out of 5]

Knights of the Old Republic makes an unexpected return, with a tenth instalment into the series. John Jackson Miller returns for the script, but there’s a whole new set of artists on the case; Andrea Mutti, Pierluigi Baldassini, and (returning) Michael Atiyeh on the colours.

Okay, who are you and what have you done with Zayne?! I’ve been a fan of the KOTOR comic series for years, used to re-read it once a year, so imagine how excited I was when I recently discovered that there had been a tenth instalment. Obviously I promptly bought it and settled down to read a brand new KOTOR for the first time in years, brimming with excitement. JJM was still on the script, he who’d written the scintillating earlier volumes, so what could possibly go wrong? No, seriously – how could it have gone so wrong?!

Straight off the bat I will say I don’t like the artwork that much, with the exception of the conflagration in the forest panels, and the drawing of Dorjander Kace – who, by the way, reminds me more than a little of Garm Bel Iblis – but Zayne just doesn’t look like himself, and I miss Brian Ching’s art. This is a minor complaint however – I was used to the artist changes in the main KOTOR series and it was really a secondary issue when the sublime storytelling and sharp dialogue swept all before it.

The big problem here is that Zayne just isn’t Zayne any more. It’s pretty obvious from references to other events that this story takes place two or three months after we last saw Zayne at the end of Demon, so he couldn’t have changed so drastically in that time. Since when has Zayne been a pacifist?! Alright, let’s just examine this methodically. It’s true that in previous volumes Zayne avoided killing – in fact I am pretty sure that he never kills anyone. I put that down to him being a decent guy, although the fact that he was a Padawan on the run from a false accusation of murder was probably an additional incentive. It’s also true he tried to explore other options where possible, I grant you. But he was never a pacifist. He never shied away from wielding his lightsabre when necessary, and defending himself and his friends; in fact it’s only by chance on several occasions that he didn’t kill – he seemed perfectly prepared if it came down to it. And although Zayne made friends with one Mandalorian, he never acted as advocate for all of them. Here he runs around shouting at everyone to lay down their arms in the middle of a battle! I don’t think that’s going to help, Zayne! Not when the Mandalorians started this war with a view to invading the Republic, and the Republic is equally intent on defending itself and pushing them back! I wanted to shake Zayne. Yes, killing is bad, and yes I’m sure there are good and bad people on both sides, but you’re not going to convince them to throw down their weapons in the middle of a firefight! If peaceful co-existence was really Zayne’s aim here, he should’ve taken the advice of Rohlan the Runner and looked into the reasons why the Mandalorians are fighting this war.

In addition, Zayne reveals that when he was drafted he refused to fight as a Jedi, and Morvis calls him a “Jedi washout”. Um, did I miss something here?! I know that at the end of Vindication he was offered a Knighthood and he demurred in favour of becoming an independent operator… but I’m pretty sure Zayne wasn’t kicked out of the Order entirely. He refers to himself as a Jedi on several occasions after that, and says that he’s merely made it his goal to look out for the ordinary people instead of going after the war effort. At the end of Demon Zayne mentions that the Order invited him to work with other Padawans with similar “luck” problems to his. Given that the Order just learned the perils of handing off training to those who’d left the Order, in the form of Krynda Draay’s Covenant, it seems extremely unlikely that they would have made such an offer to Zayne were he not still nominally a Jedi. Speaking of Morvis, he’s just about the most satisfying character here, despite being as annoying as out-of-character Zayne. At least Zayne calls him out on it and he actually learns a small lesson about listening to the advice of others and thinking before acting, so in a small, not-very-satisfying way we get a tiny bit of character arc here. Dorjander Kace is probably the best character in this story, despite never really explaining properly why he believes what he does about the Mandalorians and the Republic, and giving up way too easily at the end – at least he sticks to his guns in the trial and “proclaimed for nine hours on the righteousness of his cause” – which admittedly is a little bit epic.

Unfortunately the minor redeeming features are not enough to pull this one back, not by a long way. In addition to Zayne being wildly out-of-character, the dialogue no longer zings and sparks like it used to, and we don’t even get any of our other favourite KOTOR characters showing up to make it worthwhile – no Gryph, no Rohlan, no Slyssk, no Elbee, no Camper, no cameos from Revan or Alek. Yes, Jarael is there… for all of three panels. Morvis is really the only returning character aside from Zayne. It’s almost as if the entire story has been written by a new writer and not JJM at all!

I don’t know what happened here but I am seriously considering excluding War from my personal canon and getting rid of the book.

3 out of 10

[Brett Wyman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unnecessary, uncalled for, uncanny, uncharacteristic, underwhelming...

After a perfect ending in the KOTOR comic run, the sequel fails to recapture the magic that made its predecessor so widely adored.

I like the idea of Zayne getting drafted into war. In Star Wars, we normally follow people who participate in wars and battles who are willing to put their life on the line for the cause. But in this case, Zayne's crazy life was finally winding down and started to stabilize, then BOOM... he gets drafted back into action. Good setup...

...but it's all downhill from there. The original supporting cast is gone. Zayne felt out of character, essentially reduced to an NPC that is programmed not to fight. I can just imagine Kreia from KOTOR II going up to him and saying: "So you will do nothing? Apathy is death. Worse than death, because at least a rotting corpse feeds the beasts and insects... Apathy is death!"

My biggest gripe is just how unnecessary this add-on was. It failed to develop Zayne and it failed at world building. The stakes just seemed non-existent. Had this been expanded into a larger comic run, I'd say it there's plenty of potential. But what we got was just underwhelming. I refuse to refer to this as volume 10 of KOTOR due to the quality difference. I like to think of it as volume 1 of KOTOR: War, a completely separate miniseries not at all associated with the beloved KOTOR series. Sure it borrows the main character, but he is so unfamiliar that he is basically a new character.

All in all, I think KOTOR: War did more damage than good to KOTOR. Mediocre plot with egregious character moments and poor world building. On the bright side, it doesn't completely undermine the ending of KOTOR. That's why I'm giving this 2 stars instead of 1 star. It's pretty bad, but it's not offensively bad.

[Lance Shadow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alright, one more Zayne Carrick adventure. Let's take a look! Although Goodreads lists this as Volume 10 of the Knights of the Old Republic comic series, this is actually a separate sequel that takes place after the original series.

John Jackson Miller's Knights of the Old Republic is my favorite star wars comic of all time. With its riveting story, nuanced characters, and brilliant writing, I could read it over and over again and never get tired of it.
Knights of the Old Republic: War was released two years later, with Miller returning as the writer. It was... ehhhhhhhhh.

THE STORY: Taking place shortly after the events of the final story arc in the original series, Demon, Zayne Carrick goes to his homeworld of Phoeda to visit his family, only to find himself drafted into the Mandalorian Wars.

THE BAD: KOTOR: War is missing much of what made me fall head over heals for the original series.
The story is not very good and pretty bland compared to the shocking and unpredictable narrative of its predecessor. Most of the major characters from the original series are cameos at best an not even mentioned at worst, and the void is really felt here. Instead of the complex/hilarious Marn Hierogryph or the complex/badass/beautiful Jarael, this story pairs Zayne with Dallan Morvis, a republic officer who played a very minor role in the original series. Their connection that they are supposed to form here feels rushed and even a little forced, lacking the endlessly charming magic of the bonds between Zayne and his friends in the original series. While the middle is ok, the opening is a rushed mess and the ending is woefully disappointing. Not only does it feel like the satisfying ending in "Demon" is almost undone, it's so unsatisfying as a "final story" for Zayne Carrick- this feels more like a failed attempt at a TV revival or soft reboot than it does a satisfying way to close out Zayne's story. I also found Zayne's decisionmaking at the end not compelling for him as a character- or at least how he went about carrying out the decisions he made.
Speaking of Zayne, what happened here? While I don't think he's completely out of character, this feels like a boring and watered down version of the complex and nuanced human being that was so special in the original series. The flawed but endearing person who became one of my favorite characters in all of star wars has been reduced to the generic do-gooder hero who feels like a male version of Kerra Holt from the Knight Errant comics (which is funny because Miller was in the middle of writing the knight errant comics and the novel of the same name when this came out).
Finally, the writing has lost almost all of the complexity that the original series had- gone is the amazing blend of heart, tension, excitement, and comedy that was so brilliantly pulled off before. In its place is bland, generic dialogue and an overuse of internal monologues.

THE GOOD: I disliked many of the important elements in this comic, but it's not offensively horrible.
While pretty bland here, Zayne Carrick does retain enough of the basic traits he had in the original series for me to believe he's the same character. Although it could be argued that the basics aren't enough because of how complex he is supposed to be, the most important aspects of his character seemed to be here: his moral code, his knack for preparing schemes, and his selflessness towards others.
And even though the main character wasn't my favorite, some of the supporting characters weren't half bad. While he doesn't have good chemistry with Zayne, Morvis on his own was fairly compelling and has a decent arc, and I liked how it played into him being a privileged, incompetent oaf. I also liked Ko Sornell, who was probably the most interesting character in this comic. I liked how her character showed what the mandalorian crusaders do to the peoples they conquer, and it's one of the few hints of the complex writing that Miller was able to pull off in this comic's predecessor.
Finally, the art is decent. The characters look ok and the action sequences look pretty good, especially the big battle scenes.

THE CONCLUSION: Final rating is 2.5 stars, rounded down because of how much I dislike the ending. It's not the worst star wars comic I ever read, or even the worst old republic era comic I ever read. However, it completely fails to live up to the incredible heights that the original series reached. As for Old Republic stories specifically, it's one of the weaker entries for sure, but probably wouldn't quite reach my top 5 worst.
Do I think this ruins the character of Zayne Carrick or anything in the original series? No.
Do I wish that things ended at "Demon" and this had never been written? absolutely.
It keeps the character of Zayne Carrick intact enough that I'm not angry it exists, but as the last story in the legends timeline that features him, this is such an underwhelming way to end things. If you can't get enough of Zayne Carrick or are just a completionist, you might as well give this a shot because you've already come this far, even though you probably won't be happy with what you get. As for me though, I'm likely not going to read this again, just either pretending that "Demon" is the end or try to come up with a headcanon that makes sure Zayne doesn't stay in the mandalorian wars too long.

[Jay DeMoir · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think it's time to stop reading comics from this particular era of my favorite universe for a while...

The stories don't seem to "hit" as much as they should.

[Jared · Rating 5 out of 5]

Star Wars Legends Project #21

Background: Knights of the Old Republic: War was first released in five issues from January to May 2012. The trade paperback came out in October 2012. It was written by John Jackson Miller and pencilled by Andrea Mutti. In addition to Mutti also drew Miller's Lost Tribe of the Sith: Spiral series. He has also drawn several series for Marvel, mostly Iron Man and X-Men, as well as some work in other franchises like G.I. Joe, Tomb Raider, Conan the Barbarian, and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

War takes place in the year following the conclusion of the main series in Demon (my review here, 3,962 years before the Battle of Yavin. War focuses primarly on Zayne Carrick, with only brief appearances by the series' other major characters. A minor Republic character, Captain Dallan Morvis, has a fairly large role here, and characters like Cassus Fett and Revan are mentioned, but pretty much everyone else is new.

Summary: With all of his personal troubles laid to rest, Zayne is ready for a well-deserved vacation, visiting his family on Phaeda. Unfortunately, there's still a war on, and since Zayne is no longer a Jedi, he's caught in the draft and ends up in the service of the Republic via the planetary militia. Still an avowed pacifist, Zayne annoys his superiors by refusing to kill anyone and working constantly to minimize the loss of life (to both sides), but a plot against the Republic from within the ranks of the Jedi is about to claim his full attention!

Review: I really didn't know what to expect from this story, besides a sort of unnecessary, tacked-on, "one last adventure" type of story. I definitely didn't expect one of the best stories of the entire series. This doesn't feel tacked-on at all. Despite the apparent finality of the previous story, this feels like the real conclusion to Zayne Carrick's story, albeit a conclusion that leaves a much larger opening for further tales.

The idea of a committed pacifist Jedi seems so obvious in retrospect, I'm astounded it took so long to be realized, and supremely grateful that it was executed so well. In addition to being thrilling entertainment, the story puts Zayne in the midst of combat, the ultimate morally-compromising situation, and shows how his moral compass still points true north. Through courage, determination, and sheer bloody cleverness, Zayne sets an example of active nonviolence that throws the corruption of the Republic and his fellow Jedi into sharp relief.

This isn't the first Star Wars story to explore the horrors and moral ambiguities of war (the excellent Shatterpoint comes to mind), but it is a welcome perspective to a fictional universe that, by its very name, is pretty much doomed to tell stories of perpetual battle. Miller brings such maturity to the material, and he has quickly become one of my favorite Star Wars writers. I can't wait to read more from him . . . and I won't have to! Meanwhile, I cannot recommend Knights of the Old Republic, all of it, highly enough!

A+

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3962 BBY

This is the last compiled volume in the KotOR series of graphic novels. It contains "War" parts 1-5. While Zayne Carrick has been on a number of adventures throughout the galaxy, the Mandaloriean war has continued all the while. Now the Jedi have offered to help in the war, but Zayne was drafted from his home planet into the fray. When Dallan Morvis, a Republic commander, does not see eye-to-eye with Zayne's way of doing things and even finds Zayne to be a jinx, their mix-up in the war becomes even more problematic. Taken in by a Deveronian Mandie whose child Zayne saved, Morvis and Zayne must try to work together rather than doing things their own way, or they will never get out of the Mandoaide alive!

While the cover art on this volume is amazing, the interior art does not match up with the presentation of the characters on the cover (witch is never the case, but Zayne could have at least still had long hair in the interior). The story was a nice added bonus to the KotOR series in that the two main arcs are finished, but we get to see an aspect of the war that had been hanging overhead throughout those main story arcs in the first place. All-in-all a nice conclusive volume.

[Rika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Creo que va tocando dejar de leer cómics de este universo por un tiempo...

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

With Gryph and Jarael tossed to the side, this volume just doesn't feel the same. I love the character of Zayne Carrick, but he just wasn't enough to carry this very well. At times he is drawn here in such a way that I don't even recognize him. And at times there are too many shadows obscuring the faces of the characters. I did think it was interesting exploring themes of war and pacifism. And it was nice having Zayne put Morvis in his place. But at the end of the day, War feels kinda tacked on. The ending feels too meta and kinda makes it feel like there could have been more after this, but there isn't. As such, this feels more like a strange ending than a transition to what could have come after, which could have been promising.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice farewell to Zayne Carrick after the amazing KotOR series. Even though I would like much more to read about a Zayne & Gryph adventure, than the Mando War, which wasn't much to read about, save for a specific attack with some Jedis in it and whatnot.

I'd really like to know where Malak and Revan was and whatever info we were getting I was excited to learn something/anything about them but sadly not much said about them.

Oh well, a nice story about Zayne and what he went through the war between Mandalorians VS The Republic.

Fun story with great artwork!

[Ritinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

É bem melhor este «uns tempos depois» do que aquelas últimas trades pós-enorme-conspiração-jedi.
A arte tem ali um problema com o rosto do Zayne e o Marn está praticamente ausente. De resto, é mui recomendável.

[Sacha Valero · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the final volume of Knights of the Old Republic. Zayne has headed to his home world of Phaeda to visit family when he's drafted into the Republic army. Mandalorians have invaded, and he and Captain Morvis (a real jerk) end up being captured.

Before his capture Zayne saves the life of a mando child, and his mother swears not to kill him. This is good because after they're capture and a bit of betrayal, they end up being watched by her and her family.

After assisting his captors with taking over a Republic installation, he's freed (Morvis ended being taken to a slave camp). He makes his way back to the planet and rescues the slaves, and they head out to interfere with the betrayers grand plan.

It was an interesting story, and in the end Zayne finally finds his place in the Republic.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh man, I just loved this from start to finish. I'd read all the previous run of Knights of the Old Republic, so I knew Zayne already. It impresses me so much how decent of a person Zayne is, even if he's kind of a crappy Jedi. (In some ways, he's a better Jedi than most of the people around him.)

The whole plot of this story arc is so crazy and creative - never did I imagine Zayne would end up drafted by the Republic, and then working for the Mandalorians instead... all the while trying his best to prevent casualties on both sides.

I also really liked Ko Sornell (who I'd previously met in the short story "Interference") and also Dorjander Kace. I even came to appreciate Captain Morvis.

Nuanced, less about black and white sides to an issue, and also pretty darn fun on top of that.

[Joseph · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did you ever wish you didn't read something or watch something, but did? Well I just did and its this book. Talk about running out of ideas and coming up with a story that is so lame, unbelievable and just bad.

Carrick gets drafted? And during his entire "tour" the war ends? I could go on and on, but why bother. In fact, I am not sure why I am giving it a 2 star... I really should have listed to the posts about stopping at volume 9.

And a question to anyone out there. When did Mando's become creatures or animals? I thought they were all humans.

SKIP!!!

[Grady Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even though I am a devout Star Wars fanatic, I felt that this volume was less satisfying than the rest of the Knights of the Old Republic series. While Zayne Carrick had a prominent role in this story, I felt like all the other characters we came to know and love were just thrown aside. It is just not the same Knights of the Old Republic series without those characters and camaraderie and chemistry that comes with them. If it involved a different character than Zayne Carrick, I may like this volume better.

[Malcolm Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

As usual, Zayne ‘Forest Gumps’ his way through a number of otherwise lethal situations, often faring much better than those around him. However, by now, Zayne has gotten used to the bizarre levels of chance that his unique connection to the Force provides for him. This is mostly played straight with only a few comic relief moments where Zayne goes through a baptism of fire to truly discover his place in the universe.
A mostly satisfying read that had some nice cameos from Jarael and Gryph. The artwork was pretty decent, too.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Man they should have just left well enough alone and not came back for another miniseries. It's missing all the charm and adventure of the regular series. This is all about Zayne being drafted into the war between the Republic and the Mandolorians. Somehow Zayne ends up on both sides of the war and so do some of the Jedi. It doesn't make any sense. Nor does it that in a war, they allow Zayne to go around without killing anyone instead of throwing him in prison. It's extremely hard to believe this is the same writer as the regular series. It's like he never read the rest of his own series.

[Alana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of a basic "good guys and bad guys on both sides, good intentions gone bad, what are we really fighting for" kind of story. Felt rather disconnected from the rest of the storyline for Carrick. It was ok, but nothing earthshattering, and could probably be skipped, except for some characters. I dunno, just didn't keep my interest as much.

[Octavi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entretenido.

[Sam Nicholson · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10

[Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Moche au possible.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had some okay moments, but the plot makes no goddamn sense.

[Ekenedilichukwu Ikegwuani · Rating 3 out of 5]

not a bad story, but feels unnecessary after zayne's arc has already been finished. and it really isn't the same without jarael and gryph as more active members of the story either

[Cody · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn't as good as the main series, but it was still decent.

[Brannigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a great ending to a series and this was great.

[liv · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

mandolorian jedi, need i saw more

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extremely disappointing and has nothing that previously made the series great. I think I'm going to pretend this TPB doesn't exist. The series, in my mind, ended with volume 9.

[Zia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a weak ending to the Knights of the Old Republic arc.

[Alexis P · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, but short return to the adventures of Zayne Carrick, now during the Mandalorian Wars, showing the hardships of war and how he copes with it.