Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - Dark Temple

Jedi Fallen Order: Dark Temple #1-5

by Matthew Rosenberg, Paolo Villanelli (Illustrator), Ruairi Coleman (Artist)

Collects Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order - Dark Temple (2019) #1-5.

Leading into Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, the third-person action-adventure Star Wars title from Lucasfilm and Respawn Entertainment, DARK TEMPLE follows Jedi Master Eno Cordova and his impulsive Padawan, Cere Junda, on their most dangerous mission yet! The Jedi Council has sent them to the remote planet Ontotho to oversee the peaceful excavation of a recently discovered temple. But Cordova and Junda soon learn that what surrounds the temple may be even more dangerous than the mysteries within it! Clandestine local resistance forces and ruthless corporate security troops wage a war for the fate of Ontotho — and the Jedi are caught in the middle! Who are the deadly Tomb Guardians, and what are they protecting? What secrets lie deep within the hidden temple? The race is on to find out!

Genres: Star Wars, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fiction, Marvel, Graphic Novels Comics

115 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 15, 2020

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

"I haven’t always been a writer. My parents are writers and my brother is a writer, and I resisted that as long as I could. When I was 17, I hopped in a band’s van and I went on tour for a summer, and that was it, that was what I wanted to do. I ran a record label for 10 years, a small indie punk label. I did everything in music that you can do that doesn’t involve having musical ability. Eventually the music business, probably in a similar way to comics, will just start to break your heart, and I realized one day that I kind of hated music. I was resigned to thinking, if I’m going to be involved in music forever, I’m going to hate it for the rest of my life. I just stopped. I stopped having any sort of business with music, any involvement.

I read comics my whole life, so I just naturally fell back into another medium that is marginalized and hard to make a living in."

Source: http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles...

Writer of comics WE CAN NEVER GO HOME, SECRET WARS JOURNAL, OUR WORK FILLS THE PEWS, 12 REASONS TO DIE, & MENU.

Reviews

[A.J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved Jedi Fallen Order, but this was a pretty messy and kinda pointless miniseries. It didn’t even really set up the game all that well, and the only interesting parts were seeing Cere as a Jedi doing Jedi things. I would skip unless you absolutely love the games, as this might be a good way to pass the time until the next game drops.

[fatherofdragons113 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an intriguing supplementary story to the game. I am about a third through it I think. I love the Second Sister, one of new favorite Star Wars characters.

[Tiag⊗ the Mutant · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly dissapointing story, it had none of the charm of the game, and Cere Junda was obnoxious as hell, she showed more traits of the dark side than Anakin, and the Jedi Council made her a Jedi? Makes no sense to me whatsoever.

[Matěj Komiksumec · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jeden z nejhorších, ne-li vůbec nejhorší Star Wars komiks páč tady je špatně vše. Myslel jsem si, že má Fallen Order takový infantilní jednoduchý příběh ale tohle je stokrát horší. V podstatě jde o totální vykrádačku Avatara a Obi-Wan & Anakin od Soula jenom teda neskutečně hloupoučká a strašně nudná. Máme tu mladého drzého floutka co zastupuje korporát a vesničany který chrání prastaré tajemství, mezi těmito dvěma frakcema se ocitají Jediové a celou dobu je jasné kam to povede. Úplně všichni jsou hloupý skoro až debilové a celkově větší cash grab bo hra dlouho nepamatuju.
To, že Cordova na coveru drží meč Anakina Skywalkera je už jen potvrzení toho jak neskutečně trapný počin to je.

[Jim C · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection tells the story of a planet that has recently joined the Republic. There is a small portion of this planet that does not agree with this. Within this small portion is a temple that a huge corporation with the Republic's permission would like to explore. This is not acceptable to its residents and war ensues.

I was going to give this a three star rating until I read the final page. This collection also ties in with a video game and this is where it lost me. I liked the self contained story of the two different factions and a Jedi master and padawan are there trying to maintain peace. The artwork was good too especially one full page panel showing a battle. There is also a side story that takes place in the future where an Inquisitor is investigating the area. This ends with a cliffhanger that I have learned will be resolved in the video game. What about readers that do not play the video games? I would like a resolution and that is why I reduced my rating.

I cannot even tell if this adds to the overall arc as I am left hanging. Like I said it was enjoyable until the end. If you know the back end of the story from the game you might enjoy this collection. If you do not know about the game and don't plan to you might be better off skipping this collection as I feel incomplete after reading it.

[Adam M · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an entirely "meh" affair. The art was fine, but the writing was entirely underwhelming. I was looking forward to some interesting Jedi action to lead into the "Star Wars: Fallen Order" video game (which I genuinely enjoyed.) Instead it was mostly filler nonsense that didn't really resolve any more than it started.
Totally skipable, much better Star Wars graphic novels out there.

[Chris Greensmith · Rating 1 out of 5]

"I'm responsible for the path that Trilla is on. And what she does next is the cost of all of my mistakes.

Our mistakes... Are in the past. And it's all of our responsibility and it's about what we do next that's important. You taught me that, Cere."

[Matthew Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting but not necessary prequel to Jedi: Fallen Order (video game). As far as backstories on the characters go, I didn’t feel like I cared for Cere Junda or Eno Cordova any more with the addition of this book. If anything, they more so annoyed me with each of their personalities. This was an okay read, just nothing spectacular like I found the game to be.

[ambyr · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's no real character development here; Cere starts out rash and ends rash, which makes it weird that her first depicted encounter with the Jedi Council is censure and her second, receiving knighthood, despite no evidence of growth between the two. Her flaws as depicted here also don't seem to play into who she later becomes in Fallen Order in any interesting way.

The art is fine, at least. But for a tie-in comic, this fails to tie-in--or to be a strong story in its own right.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this with no familiarity with the characters - I haven't played Fallen Order yet. It stands alone just fine, providing a decent adventure about Jedi dealing with complicated matters and interrogating some of their philosophies. It's thrown into a fairly action-packed story, but it felt a bit muddled, and the fact that all the characters were shades of grey made it hard to root FOR anyone, including the Jedi. Cere is the central character, and you can see how she grows through the story. I assume she's the connective tissue to the game. There's a second story, a flash forward that didn't add much to the overall plot.
Overall it's an okay but not memorable story. The art is a bit busy, but otherwise okay.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order - Dark Temple collects issues 1-5 of the series written by Matthew Rosenberg and art by Paolo Villanelli and Ruarí Coleman.

The book takes place before the events in the videogame Star Was: Jedi Fallen Order. Padawan Cere Junda and Jedi Master Eno Cordova have been sent to the planet Ontotho on a peace keeping mission. A corporation is trying to to conduct an expedition into an ancient temple and the natives if the area want to preserve the history.

I felt this story has been told many times in science fiction and fantasy. It really doesn't add anything new and none of the characters are interesting. Cere Junda is rash but boring. This is a very basic tie in to the videogames setting up the mysterious ancient temples that will be explored throughout the game. This book can be skipped by most as it really adds nothing to Cal's story.

[Feli · Rating 2 out of 5]

'I was under the impression that the Jedi led interesting lives full of great and important adventures.

My memory banks are full of the histories of Jedi adventurers whose deeds will be remembered for all time.

But you are the first Jedi I have ever actually encountered and I find you quite forgettable.'

Well, that sums up this graphic novel just perfectly. Nothing to add here. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Brett Wyman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fallen Order was a wonderful video game. The best canon story in a Star Wars video game by a long shot. I bought this because I wanted some good Fallen Order backstory for Cere Junda and Eno Cordova but it was just a snooze fest that added nothing of significance to the characters or Star Wars in general.

[Jamie Connolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not even sure why I decided to pick this up. I haven't played the video game(though I do plan to) and wasn't particularly interested. It wasn't actually even very good. But I still liked it quite a bit. I'm not sure if that makes sense but there it is. 3 stars.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been enjoying the game so i thought I'd check this out. Unfortunately it was a bit boring.

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3 stars

While I enjoyed the dual timeline, and the conflict of who was actually the bad guy (or if there was even such thing), this graphic novel is aimed at those looking to play the accompanying game. Unfortunately, God has not blessed me with video gaming capabilities. It is quite funny actually, because by all my interests point towards me being a good gamer (I love physics, Star Trek/Wars, Doctor Who, books, maths, history... all the nerdy stuff) but I am absolutely hopeless. So hopeless my brother sometimes thinks I am faking/milking it, but I am honestly not! Anyway, that is all to say that I would be interested in the Jedi - Fallen Order game, and thus this comic, but for my complete incompetency at any kind of game.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felt like an episode of the clone wars. I LOVE Fallen Order and it was good to see Cere’s idealism balanced with her master’s knowledge and pragmatism. Very akin to how her and Kal interact

[☮ morgan ☮ · Rating 2 out of 5]

kind of confusing, but i'll read anything related to jedi fallen order

[Lance Shadow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recently, I acquired a Playstation 5 and finally played Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for the very first time- and it BLEW ME AWAY. I fell in love with the characters, the story was amazing, and the game itself was incredibly fun to play. The game became my favorite story in the canon timeline, and by the time I finished it, Jedi Fallen Order became one of my favorite Star Wars games ever. The only reason 2003's "Knights of the Old Republic" is still number 1 is because I'm incredibly biased toward RPG style video game storytelling.

With that out of the way, I can't wait for next year's Star Wars Jedi: Survivor as well as the tie in novel Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars. In order to satiate my need for more of Jedi Fallen Order's amazing characters until those two entries release in March of 2023, I picked up the tie-in comic. The first issue was released in September of 2019 before the release of the game, but the final issue came out after the game was released.
And while this comic statisfied my need for more "Star Wars Jedi" content, at least for now... that's pretty much all it achieved.

THE STORY: Dark Temple has two parallel storylines- one in the present focusing on the main villain of Jedi Fallen Order, the 2nd sister, as she investigates a mysterious temple on the planet Ontotho. It serves as the framing device for the other more substantial story taking place in the past, featuring a young Cere Junda and her master, Eno Cordova.
In the past, padawan Junda and master Cordova are sent to Ontotho to peacefully resolve a violent conflict between the planetary government as it joins the Republic and the nation of Fylar, which wishes to remain independent from the Republic and the rest of Ontotho.

THE BAD: There isn't anything bad necessarily about the story we get in the comic itself, but I would have liked to see much more in terms of connective tissue between the story of the comic and the game it ties into.
Here's the thing- Jedi Fallen Order: Dark Temple reminded me ALOT of my experience with Solo: A Star Wars Story. That film worked pretty well as a young Han Solo adventure, but didn't really do much to present a true origin story for how he became the selfish scoundrel we first saw in the Mos Eisley Cantina back in 1977.
This comic is much the same with Cere Junda- while I believed this comic's portrayal of a young Cere could eventually grow into the complicated woman we see in the game, the comic doesn't do much to foreshadow those developments. We see Cere Junda desplay traits that Star Wars has established could risk one falling to the dark side, that's about it.
Eno Cordova definitely is more of a fully realized character in Dark Temple than he was in the game (where he was basically a background plot device), but even then the comic does the bare minimum. Cordova here is a pretty standard jedi master character, and even his defining trait of being particularly interested in history and artifacts has probably been done with plenty of other jedi characters in past stories.

THE GOOD: As a comic, Dark Temple is pretty well put together and a fun read.
While I was disappointed to see the criminally underused Marco Chechetto do more than the cover art, the rest of the comic from artist Paolo Villanelli looks gorgeous. The action sequences and backgrounds in particular are fantastic.
I also found the story itself surprisingly engaging. I wouldn't be surprised if writer Matthew Rosenberg was given strict limitations on what he could write about in order to avoid major spoilers from the game- but whether or not that was the case, he came up with a pretty good story that had some good twists and a satisfying character arc for Cere Junda in her days as a jedi. While I would have liked to see more direct foreshadowing for what Cere reveals about herself in her conversations with Cal Kestis (eg, being forced to tap into the dark side to survive a situation and then being warned of the dangers), I was pretty satisfied with it as a young Cere Junda story.
In the segments with the 2nd Sister, it was fun to watch her be brutal. This comic just presents her as a generic baddie with a mask and a red lightsaber- in most circumstances this would be a major problem because, well, we've seen that countless times in Star Wars well after Darth Vader originated that trope (in Star Wars at least). But here, it's forgivable because she isn't the focus of the main story and if anything else was revealed about her it would probably be a major spoiler from the game- and Rosenberg or the studio heads' limitations actually made the right call to save all that for the game itself.

THE CONCLUSION: Final rating is 3.5 stars, rounded down.
Jedi Fallen Order: Dark Temple was a fun comic that worked pretty well as a mostly standalone adventure starring a young Cere Junda. It gave me exactly what I wanted when I picked it up: more of the characters I quickly came to adore after playing the video game; and something that could tide me over until March 2023.
However, it doesn't really do anything of substance beyond that. While I was entertained and satisfied with the story the comic gave, me, I can't really recommend it to anyone who isn't already invested in the characters from the game. If you didn't like the storyline in Jedi: Fallen Order or aren't interested in playing the game, then this isn't going to change your mind or hype you up for it. Heck, the final issue, which reveals the most important non-spoilery tie ins to the game itself, didn't even come out before the game was released.
And if you haven't played the game but are interested, I can recommend this comic wholeheartedly, even if it's not essential pre-Fallen Order reading. You'll get enough extra understanding into Cere Junda's past that reading this comic before playing the game can be rewarding, but you definitely won't be lost if you don't.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark Temple is a fairly by-the-numbers introduction to the Jedi: Fallen Order video game, which I haven't played. We're introduced to the planet Ontotho and the Jedi Ceres Junda, which presumably both play a role in the game. Junda is on Ontotho to prevent a conflict from escalating, but her complete inability to use diplomacy results in her only creating further conflict. It's not exactly the best showing for a Jedi - nice to see them struggle once in a while.

Ontotho also hosts mysterious energy spheres, which are unexplained in Dark Temple and no doubt play a role in Jedi: Fallen Order. The twisty, backstabbing-filled plot of Dark Temple is fun and fine, but it feels like a random one-shot rather than a world-building introduction to a big, exciting video game. Maybe that's fine? It works as a standalone read, though I'm certainly not rushing to the Steam store to purchase my game.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Para começar, essa é a única edição, da reedições internacionais deste título que usou esta capa, todas as demais usam a capa padrão dos Estados Unidos. Pra continuar, Matthew Rosenberg é um cara que eu acho que tem roteiros muito ruins, que não sabe aproveitar o que tem a seu dispor. Mas nesta minissérie baseada no videogame de sucesso Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, ele se sai bem melhor que em outros trabalhos para a Marvel e DC Comics. Nesta história vemos uma padawan e seu mestre Jedi envolvidos em uma guerra entre dois povos alienígenas, cujo centro das disputas reside em um templo. Tudo começa quando atos intempestivos da padawan a levam a cumprir essa missão ao lado de seu mestre, e a sua forma de lidar com as coisas numa paciência pavio curto vai fazer também com que ela possa perder a vida de seu mestre no processo. No fim das contas, este é um quadrinho divertido, com uma arte bem elaborada, e muito melhor do que eu esperava tendo em vista que foi escrito por Rosenberg.

[Graham Barrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Read in 2020, review from 2024)

A perfectly serviceable but maybe unnecessary spin-off from Jedi Fallen Order. The comic follows a younger Cere and Master Cordova years before the events of the game on a mission that has vague-ish connection to one of the added bits of lore the Jedi games brought to the franchise. It does its job well enough I guess, gives Cere fans more on her backstory but doesn't have too many ramifications on the game or franchise as a whole. It's short enough though that you could read it in an hour so if you want more Fallen Order content it could be worth perusing and skimming for everyone else.

[Logan Harrington · Rating 1 out of 5]

2/10:
I really wasn’t a fan of this story, as it shows Cere Junda in a way that feels so off-brand. The impulsiveness and recklessness she regularly exhibits are on full display, showing insane naïveté, even as a Jedi Padawan to Master Eno Cordova. And after all of her stupid mistakes, the Jedi Council decided that this mission and her role in it is what warrants her being Knighted by the Jedi Order? C’mon.

[Wouter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent tie-in that doesnt really expand too much on the game unfortunately. Its an ok prequel story with a few of the game's characters, but nothing really stands out. Kinda insignificant in the end with how it ties into the game.

[Booksofswarley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Les dessins m'ont plu mais le scénario s'éloigne pas mal du jeu vidéo. Un peu déçu du manque de liens faits, en dehors de la fin du comic et la référence à Bogano. J'aurais aimé en apprendre un peu plus sur la relation entre Cere et sa padawan.

[Zettifar · Rating 4 out of 5]

great connection comic for fallen order fans

A solid tie in comic for fallen order fans .

A fun time getting to spend some time with Padawan cere , can really see the similarities between a younger cere and how Cal is in fallen order. Good to also get a somewhat explanation story on master Cordova interest in the zeffo as a Jedi archaeologist.

[Emmers · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was nice to see the characters from the game before the events of it, but this story was rather boring. At least the art was nice!

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the Jedi that was a archaeologist. The temple still holds mysteries.

[Thomas Janssen · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,75*

The story doesn't really tie in that much with the Fallen Order game, and the characterization of Cere and Eno is fairly superficial. Another review mentioned that they exist to move the plot forward instead of being fully fleshed out characters, and I agree with that. Still, it's an enjoyable enough story and the artwork is really well done

[Esteban · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting adventure of a Jedi master and his padawan. Really makes you want to play the game that follows this story