Literature / Fate of the Jedi

"You're wrong! You have made your own Order vulnerable. The fate of the Jedi now rests with leaders who are weaker and less experienced than you. That decline will continue until the Order is locked in a hopeless struggle with its government and all but helpless. Then it will die again."

—The Hidden One

Fate of the Jedi is a nine-book novel series in Star Wars Legends, set about two years after Legacy of the Force. Like that series, it was written by three rotating authors: Aaron Allston, Christie Golden (who replaced Karen Traviss after she dropped out), and Troy Denning.

A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away... Jedi started suffering from the same psychosis, and lashing out with the Force. At the same time, rumors developed of a new breed of Sith emerging into the galaxy, poised to conquer (as usual) and generally cause problems. Our hero, Luke Skywalker, was basically unable to stop any of this, and public opinion swung against the Jedi in general, to the point where he was exiled from Coruscant; however, this dovetailed neatly with the fact that someone needed to investigate these new Sith. As he and his son Ben traveled, they experienced continued run-ins with Vestara Khai, a Sith apprentice with definite chemistry with Ben, and evidence that there was something deeper and darker than them—an Eldritch Abomination that could spell doom for the entire galaxy...

This is the final major story arc for the Expanded Universe before the Disney Continuity Reboot converted previous works into the Legends brand. It is followed by Star Wars: Crucible.

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• Outcast (2009) — Allston
• Omen (2009) — Golden
• Abyss (2009) — Denning
• Backlash (2010) — Allston
• Allies (2010) — Golden
• Vortex (2010) — Denning
• Conviction (2011) — Allston
• Ascension (2011) — Golden
• Apocalypse (2012) — Denning

The series also includes two short stories by Golden, "Imprint" (2009) and "First Blood" (2011).

Also contains a tie-in series, Lost Tribe of the Sith, by John Jackson Miller:

• Lost Tribe of the Sith: Precipice (2009)
• Lost Tribe of the Sith: Skyborn (2009)
• Lost Tribe of the Sith: Paragon (2010)
• Lost Tribe of the Sith: Savior (2010)
• Lost Tribe of the Sith: Purgatory (2010)
• Lost Tribe of the Sith: Sentinel (2011)
• Lost Tribe of the Sith: Pantheon (2011)

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Tropes used in the novels:

• 0% Approval Rating: Daala starts out as a Villain with Good Publicity, but as the story progresses, the crisis worsens, and her increasingly goes mask off about having not really changed at all, her approval ratings drop like a stone. To the point that nobody objects when the Jedi lead a coup against her.
• Aborted Arc: The way that Jaina breaks up with Jag, only for the relationship to instantly get repaired the next book, makes it obvious that the authors back-tracked due to fan backlash. There are also quite a few more, due to this being the last series in the EU.
• Achievements in Ignorance: By Abyss Raynar has recovered enough from his joining with the Killiks to the point that he doesn't need to stay in the Jedi Temple's asylum anymore. He just didn't realize it without a little prodding.
• Acquired Situational Narcissism: Relatively minor example, but soon after Kenth Hamner is promoted to acting head of the Jedi Order, he starts calling himself Grand Master Hamner. He only meant it as an attempt to gently remind the other Jedi that he has been placed in charge (it is technically his rank, after all). He soon realizes why it fails to help him any; the Jedi being very individualistic, they hold more value in actions than titles, and when they start to disapprove of his recent actions, his emphasis on the title does more harm than good.
• A Handful for an Eye: Done twice in Backlash, once semi-successfully by a Dathomiri against Luke and once very successfully by Dyon.
• Air-Vent Passageway: Luke, Jaina, and Corran have to fight their way through one in Apocalypse with adjoining perpendicular shafts serving as the requisite Bottomless Pit hazards. The mammoth proportions of the building they're in (the Jedi Temple) justifies its size and even then it's still described as being a bit cramped for anyone of above-average height.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Due to his military background and attitude to life, Kenth Hamner has never really felt like he truly fit in with the rest of the Jedi Order. The crisis with Abeloth and Daala's worsening regime end up bringing these insecurities to the surface in a truly dangerous manner.
• All Your Jedi Temple Are Belong To Us: Subverted. The Jedi leave Coruscant, and the Sith move into their temple. But Barabels don't abandon their nests.
• Amplifier Artifact: The Codex.
• Anti-Hero: Saba Sebatyne and Kenth Hamner are edging into this territory as the story begins — Saba wavering dangerously close to Jedi fundamentalism and Kenth slipping back into his military mindset in the worst ways. Kenth goes well and truly off the deep end because of it, but the trauma of his ensuing death gives Saba a nasty wake-up call and pulls her back from the edge.
• Apocalypse Maiden: Ben, in Jacen's vision.
• Apologetic Attacker: One of the Sith assassins sent after Allana apologizes to her as he attacks; he really doesn't want to kill her since she's just an innocent child, but is duty-bound to carry out his lordship's order that he eliminate the potential Jedi Queen.
• Arc Welding: Apocalypse ties in elements from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, explaining that the Father, the Son, and the Daughter, who may have been Celestials, once lived on Abeloth's planet in the distant past. Abeloth herself started out as a mortal woman, known only as the Servant, who came to ingratiate herself with the family of Force-wielders and eventually joined them as the Mother. However, her mortality prevented her from staying with her beloved family forever and in a fit of madness, she drank from the Font of Power and bathed in the Pool of Knowledge, forever corrupting herself and transforming into the Dark Side entity known as Abeloth. The Father cursed her for her selfish deed and departed for Mortis with his family, leaving her alone to wallow in her misery and loneliness for millenia. The Son and Daughter later enlisted the help of the Killiks to create Centerpoint and Sinkhole Stations, as a means of keeping Abeloth sealed.
• Armor-Piercing Question: How Vestara got Rhea to realize that Abeloth had the Sith search team under her thrall.
• Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence: It's believed that the Celestials were once physical beings that managed to find a way to ascend into pure Force entities, or maybe it was the other way around.
• A Simple Plan: Han and Leia just wanted to take their granddaughter pet shopping. Instead, they wind up with a Jedi going insane and alien predators getting released and running amok. At least they do end up with a pet nexu for their troubles.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: The cover of Ascension. In-universe, Jaina and Luke do it within the book.
• Badass Normal: Many.
  • Boba Fett, who's not afraid to pick a fight with Abeloth.
  • The Void Jumper space marines, who are capable of taking out Sith Warriors with superior tactics and firepower.
  • Dorvan, who manages to resist repeated torture and Mind Rape by the Sith and Abeloth and stay sane.
• Batman Gambit: Luke pulls a very effective one on the Lost Tribe, giving them Coruscant so that they'll all gather there and take highly visible positions...allowing the Jedi to take them down.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Ben warns Vestara that drinking from the Pool of Knowledge is not a good idea, since there are things that are better left unknown.
• The Beautiful Elite: The Lost Tribe Sith tremendously prize physical perfection and beauty, to the point where even a small scar like Vestara's could potentially halt her advancement, and giving them an additional layer of elitism on top of the normal Sith beliefs in The Magocracy and Social Darwinist. A Sith group having such a cultural quirk — in total contrast to the Evil Makes You Ugly habits of the Darth Bane's Rule of Two cult — is one of the first major hints that the Lost Tribe are not much like the Dark Jedi/Sith that Luke and company are used to dealing with and hue much closer to the original Sith Empire (of which they are an offshoot of).
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Between Ben and Vestara.
• Beware the Superman: Brought up a few times in regards to the Jedi, and one of the major factors of the public's growing distrust of them. Towards the end, even Luke can't deny that there's a point to be made for it.
• Big Bad: Abeloth.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: Subverted. In Ascension, Gavar Khai foolishly allies the Lost Tribe with Abeloth despite the risks under the belief it will bring them power, but she quickly subsumes him into nothing more than a Mouth of Sauron at best.
• Big Bad Wannabe: The Lecersen Conspiracy and Lost Tribe would both be strong contenders for the title of Big Bad, if not for the fact that Abeloth is an infinitely bigger threat in every conceivable way.
• Big Damn Heroes: In Vortex, Luke and Ben end up getting surrounded by an army of Sith. Then the Jedi reinforcements arrive to save the day.
  • Subverted in Conviction, Luke tricks Vestara so that she'll lead the Sith into an ambush.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Daala, actually. By Conviction, she has reverted back to her old self from the books Jedi Search, Dark Apprentice, and Champions of the Force.
• Bittersweet Ending: Abeloth is defeated, the galaxy is saved, the other villains are all defeated, things are looking up for the Alliance and Remnant, the Force Psychosis is cured as is the nanovirus on Mandalore, Allana seems destined to become the Jedi Queen, and Jaina and Jag finally marry. But millions are dead at Abeloth's hands, the Lost Tribe have been decimated, Vestara descends into evil, public opinion of the Jedi is at an all-time low, Luke is near-crippled from his final battle with Abeloth, Darth Krayt is plotting to make his move (though it takes him over eight decades to pull it off), the Force is in peril of falling out of Balance once more, and while Abeloth has been banished for now, she's still alive and is slowly reconstituting for a second attack. The galaxy is heading into potentially dark waters, but Luke has hope for the first time in a long time that they have a chance to push it in a better direction, as well as that the Jedi and Sith might finally make peace and unite as the new Ones to stop Abeloth for good when she returns.
• Blatant Lies: Vestara makes up a story about how she got her scar involving Abusive Parents. In reality, she was born with it and her family is genuinely happy (for the Sith).
• Bloodier and Gorier: Parts of Apocalypse read like something out of Final Destination. Special mention goes to the "goo fountains".
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: How the Aing-Tii view the Force compared to Jedi and Sith. They don't see a light side and a dark side. They see a whole rainbow.
• Body Surf: Abeloth gains the ability to control multiple bodies at once, but her presence tends to ruin the bodies of non-Force users.
• Brain Bleach: Invoked in Conviction.
  Ben: "Dad, if I never see another underground water pumping station or one more droch, I'll be happy."
  Vestara: "We still have plenty of cans of droch spray."
  Ben: "Yeah, but do we have any bottles of brain bleach?"
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Abeloth does it to pretty much anyone she can to turn them into her thralls. Things really go to hell when she manages to do it to Gavar Khai and, in doing so, usurp control of the Sith.
• Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: Besides the fact that the Final Battle left Luke near-death and comatose and Darth Krayt in little better shape, it is made clear that they have only temporarily dealt with Abeloth.
• Bruiser with a Soft Center: Bazel Warv, a burly Ramoan Jedi who acts like a tough guy but is a big softy at heart.
• Bus Crash: Remember Callista? It seems that Luke discovers her as Abeloth on Abeloth's planet, only to discover that Callista had gone to the planet years ago and wound up being utterly devoured by Abeloth.
• Butterfly of Doom: On Nam Chorios, the fact that the planet is laced with sentient Force-sensitive crystals means that any active use of Force powers means a powerful and destructive Force storm will form somewhere on the planet..
• Call-Back: Han tells Leia that he's broken her out of prison before and will do it again, but wants a better reward this time.
• Cardboard Prison: Boba Fett, while breaking Daala out of prison, lampshades this by pointing out all of the inherent security flaws in most modern prisons and takes advantage of all of them.
• Call-Back: The very last scene is a call back to the final lines of the Matt Stover novelization of Revenge of the Sith, with an old woman lighting a candle to ward off an all-encompassing darkness, alluding to both the "love as a candle" analogy from that book and it's "darkness looms but Hope Springs Eternal" ending. Fittingly, this series ends on similar a note of hope persisting in a time of imminent strife.
• The Cassandra: Since they were raised in an environment that encourages plotting and backstabbing and the New Jedi Order are the descendants of their ancestral enemies, the Sith are too paranoid to trust anything Luke says.
• Chekhov's Gunman: The Barabels who set up shop under the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Barabels don't abandon their nests, giving our heroes a way back in when Abeloth and her thralls seize control of the Temple.
• The Chosen One: Allana seems to be headed this way with the frequency of people having visions of her sitting on the Throne of Balance (i.e. having some big part to play in leading the galaxy).
  • Anakin Solo's ghost, however, deconstructs this idea in Abyss. He feels it isn't fair for anybody to place all their hopes on one person and that it's moreover dangerous to the larger cause, effectively creating a Keystone Army.
  Anakin: Every Jedi Knight has to be his own light, because the light shouldn't go out when one Jedi dies.
  • In Vortex, Taalon sees the vision of Allana and is scared out of his mind of the idea of the galaxy being ruled by a "Jedi Queen." Even Abeloth seems determined not to let this future come to pass. In Conviction, a Sith strike team attempts to assassinate Tenel Ka because they (correctly) fear that she is or will be the mother of the Jedi Queen.
  • By Ascension, Abeloth has decided to do everything to become this Queen, as a stepping stone to godhood. In Apocalypse it's further revealed that the Throne of Balance is actually where the being in charge of the Force itself sits. It's not just stepping stone to get to godhood, it is godhood.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: The Sith constantly suffer from this, since it's actively encouraged within their society. Deconstructed in that the constant paranoia it encourages make the Sith easy prey for Luke's manipulations (since they're utterly predicatable), and it also fuels Vestara's Heel–Face Turn, as she grows enamored of the trust and support that Ben and Luke show one another.
• Cliffhanger: End of Omen, Backlash, Allies, and Ascension.
• Comatose Canary: Played straight as a rail with Daala's conversation with a comatose Admiral Bwua'tu.
• Conflicting Loyalty:
  • Kenth Hamner is divided between his patriotism for the Alliance and his devotion to the Jedi Order. The conflict and his desperation to placate both sides in the face of their growing hostility to one another slowly drives him mad.
  • Vestara decides that the Jedi way appeals to her and tries to change sides, but her self-loathing and doubt, coupled with her remaining loyalty to the Sith culture and people she grew up in, ends up putting a wrench in her efforts. By the end, she's managed to alienate herself from both sides.
• Contagious Powers: Each of the insane Jedi has exhibited powers that had been learned by Jacen Solo during his five-year sojourn after the New Jedi Order. However, it's stated that none of those Jedi ever had the opportunity to learn the power from him or the people who taught him.
  • Abyss reveals that this is a Red Herring, with the latest insane Jedi displaying the power to alter the molecular composition of metals in order to penetrate them, something Jacen Solo never did. In reality, members of various Force groups were lured to the Maw enthralled by Abeloth, and when she drove certain Jedi insane, the link let them access an ability of the enthralled.
• Continuity Nod: In the Jedi Academy Trilogy, Lando bought the spice-mining operation on Kessel, and now he's trying to expand the operation by transporting the energy spiders that make the spice to other worlds, but the spiders keep dying. Han, who had a bad encounter with the spiders in the same trilogy, says "Good!"
  • When Lando needs pilots to fly through Kessel's caverns and deactivate mysterious devices causing groundquakes, the bulk of those who answer his call are old comrades from Wedge Antilles' many adventures, including Wedge himself. Plus one oddball - a former Imperial pilot named Maarek Stele.
• Convenient Coma: Admiral Bwua'tu falls into a coma after being attacked by fake Jedi, just so he can't actually tell anybody said Jedi were fake. Becomes an Exploited Trope after he recovers, providing a good cover for meetings of the counter-conspiracy.
• Cool Old Guy: Han and Leia still have galaxy saving adventures whilst raising their granddaughter.
  • Grand Lord Vol is very old, very evil, and the most powerful member of the Lost Tribe of the Sith. He's so badass that he actually manages to Mind Rape Abeloth.
  • Luke Skywalker is in his 60s, and a genuinely nice, friendly guy, as well as a great teacher. Also arguably the most dangerous character in the setting, with the possible exceptions of Vol, Krayt, and Abeloth herself (and given that he defeats the latter two, and that Krayt specifically avoids picking a fight with Luke or the Order until Luke is distracted with Abeloth, that says a lot).
• Copied the Morals, Too: When Abeloth assimilates people into herself as her avatars, their personalities start blending into hers and affecting her behavior. This is the reason for her creepy obsession with Luke; Callista's love for him is causing her to develop similar feelings. When Luke subsequently manages to free Callista's spirit from Abeloth, she near-instantly loses all interest in him.
• Corrupt Church: Many have begun to see the Jedi Order as this.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: A Kuat businesswoman is trying to manipulate the events of the series to oust Daala and revive the Empire.
• Corrupt Politician: A staple of the series, but Daala in particular has virtually no principles.
  • Utterly and totally averted by Wynn Dorvan. Leia explains that he was once a minor bureaucrat who discovered his bosses were skimming funds. Rather than secure a cut of those ill-gotten gains, he risked his life to report the corruption to Leia, who was Chief of State of the New Republic at the time. And during the series proper, he repeatedly demonstrates that he's both a steady hand and a good man. Thankfully, the series ends with him in charge.
• The Coup: Once Daala's regime goes that step too far while also actively interfering with the effort against Abeloth, the Jedi Coalition is pretty much forced to stage a coup and overthrow her. By this point, she's so thoroughly alienated or lost nearly all of her former allies that nobody objects.
• Dark Action Girl: Vestara.
• Dark Horse Victory: Who gets elected to lead the galaxy? A nobody turned terrorist leader, though he doesn't stay Head of State for long.
• Deadpan Snarker:
  • Ben, though Vestara also has her moments.
  • C-3PO, after several decades of exposure to Han Solo.
  During our association, Captain Solo's sanity has been questioned an average of three times per month. By the psychiatric care standards of many conformist societies, that fact alone would qualify him for a cell in the Asylum Block. (Omen)
  • Allana also seems to have picked up some of Han's snarking ability, and manages to combine it with Leia's wit. She is their granddaughter, indeed.
  • Luke is very probably not only the most badass, but snarkiest character as well.
  • In general, it seems that pretty much every Jedi Master gets at least one or two snarky lines. Snarkiness Equals Authority, perhaps?
• Deal with the Devil: Abeloth manipulates Gavar Khai into becoming her servant and pledging the Lost Tribe's forces to her in exchange for power. She doesn't even bother with a pretense of holding up her end of the bargain once her hooks are in; she just mind rapes him until he's nothing more than a deranged Mouth of Sauron gleefully sending his own people — even his own wife — into the metaphorical meat grinder at her orders.
• Death World:
  • The world Abeloth was stranded on was populated with aggressive flora and everything was trying to kill the Sith search team. This happens anywhere Abeloth stays for more than five seconds. Her world even reverts back to "normal" once she departs. It turns out this is how she feeds and grows stronger.
  • Nam Chorios is another one: on top of the freezing temperatures, winds, and droch bugs/plague, the heroes can't use the Force without causing devastating storms.
• Democracy Is Bad: The Galactic Alliance (once the New Republic) is a bad joke. Their head of state is a former Imperial admiral once tasked with protecting the R&D installation that built the prototype for the weapon that destroyed Alderaan, who later went to war against the New Republic and was basically installed in her position by the military, and the legislature somehow accepted all of this. This implies that there are not many sane politicians running things. By the end of the series things are looking a lot better, though.
• Despair Event Horizon: Vestara crosses it after she instinctively causes the death of another Jedi in the name of saving her love Ben, convincing her that she'll never break out of the Sith mentality and that her efforts to do a Heel–Face Turn are thus doomed to failure… so she may as well be the best Sith she can be.
• Deus ex Machina: This, being invoked in order to stop Abeloth in the ancient past, is discussed in Apocalypse. In the time of the novels, a Killik hive attempts to exploit this, beginning a massive rebuilding effort on an isolated planet, preparing to confront Abeloth some time in the future. Unfortunately, the heroes later discover that with the death of the Son and Daughter during the Clone Wars, this plan is doomed to failure, as the Killiks' plan relies on them coming back.
• Deus Exit Machina: Luke and Ben are both unable to deal with Daala consolidating her power because they are elsewhere. Of course, where they are may be more important.
• Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?: Subverted: The Tribe think this mysterious woman is their friend, but she isn't. She really, really isn't. They even spend three days, preparing to celebrate Abeloth's visit (including a parade and a masquerade). Lampshaded by Abeloth:
  Abeloth: A masquerade. How fitting.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?:
  • In Allies, Luke apparently manages to kill a literal Eldritch Abomination with some Sith assistance. Unfortunately, it gets better.
  • In Conviction, Luke does more permanent damage to her, by removing Callista, and causing one of the other people she absorbed to kill himself.
  • In Apocalypse, Abeloth's three remaining avatars are killed and she is finally defeated, but isn't fully dead yet, just severely weakened.
• Did You Just Romance Cthulhu?: Abeloth has a thing for Luke. It is explained in Conviction: Callista was partially intact, influencing Abeloth's actions in different ways. After Luke helps Callista to die, this obsession ends.
• Distant Prologue: To the Star Wars: Legacy comics. Sets up and hints at everything from the Galactic Empire becoming a major player again to the rise of the One Sith.
  • The ending of Apocalypse makes this very clear. A Sith Lord who is obviously Darth Krayt arrives to aid in the final battle against Abeloth and it is explained that Jacen's actions were not done to prevent the rise of the "Dark Man", but to stop his daughter from standing by his side. With the Dark Man all but said to be Krayt and the text's discussion that the future may have only been slightly altered or postponed, the set up for Legacy is firmly established.
• Divided We Fall: A big part of the reason Abeloth gets as far as she does isn't just because of how monstrously powerful she is. It's also because, in the wake of Legacy of the Force, the galaxy is extremely factionalized and divided, unable to put up a united front against her because they're busy fighting each other. This is lampshaded by Luke in the ending, who notes that even if the Jedi Coalition does find the Dagger of Mortis, the only realistic chance they have of defeating Abeloth when the inevitable second round with her comes is by unifying the galaxy — and particularly the Jedi and Sith — under one banner.
• The Dog Bites Back: In Vortex, Taalon beats up Vestara several different times to advance the Sith agenda (as he sees it). After she sees that he's turning into an Eldritch Abomination, she kills him.
• The Dreaded: Even Ship is afraid of Abeloth. Everyone who has even the slightest comprehension of what she really is are afraid of her. With good reason.
• Driven to Suicide: Cha Niathal kills herself after it becomes clear that she's going to be brought up on charges for assisting Darth Caedus and Lumiya during the events of Legacy of the Force.
• Droid Wrongs Group
• Dying as Yourself: Thanks to Luke's use of mnemotherapy, Callista is freed from A Fate Worse Than Death within Abeloth, regains her connection with the Light Side, and passes smiling.
• Dynamic Entry: Boba Fett makes an appearance in Conviction when he breaks Daala out of prison.
• Eldritch Abomination: Abeloth.
• Eldritch Location: Abeloth's home planet. Plants eat animals, animals photosynthesize, and it seems to be the location of Force purgatory. And it's in the middle of a black hole cluster. Can't forget that.
• Elective Broken Language: In Backlash, Ben Skywalker speculates that Yoda mangles his speech on purpose, both to mess around with people and to get them to listen attentively to what he says.
• Emotion Eater:
  • Abeloth gains her power by feeding off peoples' negative emotions.
  • The mutated Dream Singer feeds off of the terror created by the nightmares it causes.
• Enemy Mine: Horribly and tragically subverted. The Jedi and Sith team up to try and take down Abeloth, but unfortunately, Abeloth's manipulations, the death of Lord Vol, and the mutual distrust between the two parties all culminates in the team-up fracturing and the Sith being tricked into allying with Abeloth. This is, not coincidentally, around the point where everything really starts going to hell.
  • In Apocalypse, Tahiri and Boba Fett team up to kill one of Abeloth's avatars, while Luke and the Sith Stranger (Darth Krayt) team up to kill Abeloth in the Mindwalker realm.
• Expy:
  • Freedom Flight is an analogue to the real life Underground Railroad. Except not really.
  • Haydnat Treen is an expy of Viqi Shesh from NJO, except instead of collaborating with the Yuuzhan Vong, she is working for Imperial hardliners.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Gavar Khai is a scheming Sith Lord who is mostly concerned with power, but he genuinely loves both his wife and daughter. The point where it becomes clear that Abeloth has subsumed him entirely is when this stops being the case.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Vol, the Grand High Lord of the Lost Tribe of the Sith. In Ascension, he comes face to face with Abeloth's true form, recognizing her for what she is and the evil that she represents. Far from trying to take control of it or enslave it like the Sith had planned up until that point, he roundly rejects any chance of alliance in horror at how evil she truly is, culminating in a mental duel that results in Abeloth being wounded almost as badly as she was in her encounters with Luke.
  • Once the Lost Tribe learns about the "Jedi Queen" prophecy and that Allana may well be her, their leaders send Sith assassins to kill her to prevent it from coming to pass. Almost every single one of these Sith express deep reluctance to do it, and one even apologizes to Allana as he attacks, because they genuinely don't want to hurt an innocent child but are honor-bound to carry out their lordship's will.
• Everythings Deaderwith Zombies: The Sith Ghouls empowered by Abeloth in Apocalypse. Their attacks leave patches of dead skin and are especially deadly to a Stomper marine's armor.
• Evil Is Not a Toy: The Sith, not understanding exactly what Abeloth is or how powerful she truly is, think they can enslave her as a superweapon to serve them through magic. Than Darish Vol sees her true form and he immediately realizes that the Sith have vastly underestimated the sheer abhorrent, unnatural evil and existential threat she represents. Unfortunately for everyone, she proceeds to kill him, and Gavar Khai is not nearly as wise as Vol when Abeloth offers him power instead…
• Evil vs. Evil: The battle between the Sith and Nightsisters at the end of Backlash, as well as the Sith's battles against Abeloth.
• Failed a Spot Check: In Ascension,Luke, Ben and Jaina search Korriban for Sith and don't find them. Although, this is something of a Foregone Conclusion, and it's noted in-universe that finding a bunch of Sith on a world incredibly strong in the Dark Side is not exactly an easy job.
• Failsafe Failure: Subverted. While planning for a possible coup against Daala, the Jedi learn that they can lock down the entire Senate Hall on command by tricking the security system into thinking the Hall is under attack by the Yuuzhan Vong. Even though the Yuuzhan Vong are no longer a serious threat, nobody bothered to remove the program. Similarly, Daala is broken out of prison thanks to exploiting several failsafes in the prison security system, such as vents not being sealed in the event of a gas attack so that the gas can be vented out.
• Face Stealer: How was Abeloth able to take Callista's form and mess with Luke? Because she devoured her several years ago. She also devours several other characters in the course of the story.
• Fallen Hero: The Hidden One was once the benevolent leader of the Baran Do Sages, but is now a virtual tyrant keeping many of them trapped underground with him so he can control them all, and he tries to forcibly trap Luke and Ben there with him to prevent his secrets from being learned by anyone else.
• Fetch Quest: The Aing-Tii send Luke and Ben out to recover some of their holy relics that their religion prevents them from touching. Luke and Ben ponder as to how they collected the relics in the first place.
• Find the Cure!: Boba Fett's subplot involves him seeking out a cure for the nanovirus targeting his bloodline that Darth Caedus unleashed on Mandalore in the previous series, so that he can return to the planet proper and continue his rule as Mand'alor. He succeeds.
• First Kiss: Ben and Vestara in Ascension.
• Foregone Conclusion: A minor example. The end of this particular story arc, as well as the fate of most characters by the end of it, is all up for grabs. However, this happens to mark the first appearance of The One Sith in the novels, and they are going to triumph at some point in the future.
  • Since Luke has several direct descendants living by the time of Star Wars: Legacy, it's pretty much a given that Ben will live long enough to have at least one kid.
• Foreshadowing: As noted below, Jaina's line to Cilghal in the first book about the difference between Jedi and the military grimly foreshadows Kenth's To Be Lawful or Good struggle.
• Four Is Death: Not Backlash itself, no. Nor do any villains come in fours. But chapter 4 of Ascension definitely qualifies. Abeloth destroys the City of Glass.
• From a Single Cell: Despite her two remaining physical manifestations being destroyed and her spirit being beaten up in the Spirit World, Abeloth is described as merely shrinking into a miniscule Force presence and it soon becomes apparent that she's still alive; the final battle wounded her, but no more, and she will reconstitute herself to make another attack eventually. In the epilogue, a group has been sent on a quest to retrieve the Dagger of Mortis in order to finish the job.
• From Bad to Worse: All of Ascension just seems to pile things getting worse on top of each other. First, the Lost Tribe's capital city is wiped out by a vengeful Abeloth, then Abeloth and her Lost Tribe cronies vanish into the galaxy, leaving Luke and co. out of luck. Then the Jedi leave Coruscant, only for it to be revealed that the Lost Tribe's already there, and starting to take over, but fortunately the Jedi know about it. What they don't know is that Abeloth is also there, using taking over of the Galactic Alliance as a stepping stone to her ascension to godhood.
• Future Badass: Between Jacen's vision of her as Krayt's dragon and the Jedi Queen, it's clear that little Allana is going to grow up into someone very dangerous and very powerful.
• Gambit Pileup: This series may be the definitive example from the Star Wars canon. We've got Daala, the Sith, Krayt's Sith, Abeloth, the Lecersen Conspiracy, Freedom Flight, Luke, and the Force knows how many others working each other behind the scenes at the same time.
• Glasgow Grin: Vestara has a small scar at the edge of her mouth that serves as a compact one of these.
• Gallows Humor: This conversation:
  Han: "Nobody move! This is a holdup!"
  Leia: "Han!"
  Han: "Oh, right. My mistake. Nobody move, this is a coup."
• General Ripper: The series points out why it's an extremely bad idea to put one (like Daala) into a position of power. It becomes extremely apparent when losing her position makes her revert to her former self.
• Glamour Failure: Abeloth can cast extremely potent illusions, but they're not infallible.
  • In Vortex, the local populace has been made to think they're infected with a virulent plague through a Force illusion, which convinces even Ben and Vestara but Luke is knowledgeable enough to see right through it.
  • In Conviction, some savvy smugglers Abeloth runs into don't take any of her crap, including turning on and locking up the people that she influences.
• Godhood Seeker: It's hinted that Abeloth's main goal is to become a god.
• God Save Us from the Queen!: Daala, who is an absolutely horrible person and head of the GA.
  • The Beloved Queen of the Stars is...not very beloved, since she's Abeloth.
• Goodbye, Cruel World!: Cha Niathal commits suicide to avoid conviction for aiding and abetting Caedus and Lumiya's crimes, leaving behind a message that tries to gussy it up as some kind of heroic act and not one of cowardice.
  This has been done with honor, without error, and by my own choosing. Niathal out.
• Good Feels Good: In Ascension, Vestara says this is one of the reasons she wants to become a Jedi.
• Grand Finale: Serves as one for the Original Trilogy/Post-Imperial eras and cast, with the Jedi Coalition and their allies battling their greatest threat yet and a major theme of Passing the Torch to the next generation.
• Grey-and-Gray Morality: Neither the Alliance nor the Imperial Remnant are bad in any sense of the word, and both are mostly made up of good people trying to do the right thing, but they both also have a few evil members perverting their nice intentions and threatening to destroy everything they stand for from within, as well as both being willing to engage in Realpolitik against one another and other groups. The Lost Tribe of Sith are also not necessarily evil themselves (though many of their members certainly are), just a Proud Warrior Race with their own culture that just happens to clash badly with the larger galaxy, mainly in their valuing of cunning and deception, and are trying to conquer the galaxy because they legitimately believe it to be right to do so, based off the fact that their ancestors once ruled much of the stars only to be destroyed by the Jedi and Old Republic. The Jedi are still heroic, but also struggling to grapple with a world that is increasingly drifting away from their black-and-white days of fighting Dark Jedi and Palpatine-wannabes; some are thus being forced to make hard choices and some also edge towards the fundamentalism of the old Jedi they had been growing beyond in response to the troubled times. Amid all this messy morality is the pitch-black evil Abeloth who is threatening to destroy everyone because they're divided against her.
• Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Luke and Ben tend to fight with their lightsabers, while Vestara and Jaina tend to fight with force lightning and from a starfighter, respectively. For example, in Vortex, Vestara throws her lightsaber to an unarmed Luke and then starts shocking Abeloth. However, averted sometimes when Jaina and Vestara use their lightsabers, such as the duel on Dromund Kaas.
  • Also inverted in the case of Han and Leia—Han usually deals with most problems with his blaster, while Leia the Saba Sebatyne-trained Jedi Knight is more likely to deal with a problem with her lightsaber (or even a solid kick).
• Helium Speech: Ben decides to annoy his father near the end of Outcast with this jaunty little piece:
  Where fields once grew, a road runs through, and buildings hide the sun,
  Where grass of green could once be seen, are only gray and brown.
  My childhood home, while I did roam, became a place of sadness.
  Now I return, my heart does yearn for times of light and gladness.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: Vestara. Deconstructed, as it ultimately ends with her alienated from both sides and left with no recourse but to throw her lot in with Darth Krayt. Discussed by Luke and Jaina:
  Luke: You want me to take a Sith who's trustworthiness seems to depend on the time of day, the season, and the phases of whatever moons happen to be nearby, on a potentially dangerous mission to the Sith homeworld?
• He Knows Too Much: The Hidden One keeps the other Baran Do Sages trapped underground forever and tries to do the same with Luke and Ben, all to keep his secrets, well, hidden from the world.
• Hero with Bad Publicity:
  • A major plot point. Following the events of Legacy of the Force and Daala's policies against them, the New Jedi Order has taken a severe hit to their reputation in Alliance territory, much of which is being led to view them as a Corrupt Church little better than the Prequel Era Jedi at their worst. Luke himself has been exiled from Coruscant. By the end of the series, their reputation has taken some even worse hits, as many blame them for Abeloth's devastation of Coruscant, resulting in the entire Order being exiled with Luke. But they're starting to climb back out of the hole.
  • Inverted and Played for Laughs when Han attempts to act menacing but his reputation gets in the way. Han would like people to think he is dead serious when he threatens them with a blaster. But as the person he is threatening reminds him, Han Solo has been a galactic hero and household name for several decades now, and nobody believes he will shoot unarmed bystanders. Naturally he is right, much to Han's annoyance.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Bazel throws himself on the metaphorical spears of an entire Sith strike team to rescue Allana from them.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Wynn Dorvan is shown to be an extremely skilled sabacc player after he wins a sabacc tournament against hundreds of the best players in the galaxy.
  • In Conviction, Han proves that he actually knows how to manipulate people into doing what he wants without having to actually shoot them. Leia is extremely impressed. As he says, politics is basically the same as sabaac (poker), except the cards aren't showing.
    • Even before that, in Vortex, he played Daala like a fiddle, and even had to hide his confidence so that he wouldn't give his plan away.
• Hidden Elf Village: Quite a few actually. The Sanctuary of the Baran Do Sages, the Aing-Tii world, Sinkhole Station for the Mind Walkers, the island community for the Fallanassi, and Kesh for the Lost Tribe of the Sith.
• Hope Spot: The middle of Ascension: Luke is back on Coruscant and is leading the Jedi Order once again; Moff/Senatorial conspiracy is falling apart; all three villains (Abeloth, Daala and Lost Tribe) are on the run with few resources left; Vestara chooses to become a Jedi and Wynn Dorvan is about to be elected Chief of State. And then it all goes to hell.
• Humans Are Ugly: Discussed.
  Luke: Tell you what, if you think it's wrong for you to think of them as ugly, just think of how you look to them. Short, squat, unlined skin, a nose that puffs up like a rodent, tiny little mouth with jagged white things in it, a horrible shrub-like growth on your head.
  Ben: This, from the man who's worn a bowl-cut hairstyle almost all his adult life.
• Hurricane of Puns: In Conviction, Threepio has a bomb implanted into him by Sith assassins. After it's discovered and removed, R2 can't stop making puns at Threepio's expense.
• Hypocrite: Let's just say that there are a few.
• Insane Troll Logic: A hallmark of Force Psychosis.
• Internal Deconstruction: There's a lot of critique of the Light/Dark binary view of the Force and the way Jedi operate, as well as many other hallmarks and tropes common to Star Wars. It starts swinging towards Reconstruction by the end, though.
• Interspecies Romance: Daala (Human) and Nek Bwu'atu (Bothan).
• It's All My Fault: Saba blames herself for Kenth Hamner's death.
• Jumped at the Call: Vestara's reaction to a strange ship appearing in the sky promising to teach her how to be a Sith master.
  • The trope later gets taken up to eleven and combined with Undying Loyalty, resulting in entire battalions of Space Marines volunteering to help Storm the Castle.
• Karmic Death: In Allies, Captain Faala is killed in the Mind Walker realm when the angry spirits of her old enemies drag her to her death.
• Karma Houdini:
  • Haydnat Treen is a borderline example; she is never directly brought to justice within the series, but her crimes do come to light, and her political career is over.
  • Daala is also a borderline example, as she escapes into the galactic underground, but has had all of her political ambitions and power crushed and her life utterly ruined, meaning she's really not much of a threat and is basically miserable.
• Kill It with Fire: Han uses a flamethrower and really enjoys doing so.
• Klingon Promotion: Saba to the title of Grand Master.
• Lampshade Hanging: So Dorvan is pro-Jedi and pro-Daala? This inherent contradiction is remarked upon by all his supporters.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Javis Tyrr gets his comeuppance in Allies when Dorvan finds and publically reveals evidence of him illegally spying.
• Les Collaborateurs: Most of the Lost Tribe of Sith get unwillingly turned into this for Abeloth after she manages to get her hooks into Gavar.
• Like an Old Married Couple: Ben and Vestara, Discussed in Conviction, between Mayor Snaplaunce and Luke.
  Snaplaunce: He and the girl, are they a couple?
  Luke: No.
  Snaplaunce: They argue like one.
  Luke: So you are a couple with every one of your political opponents?
  Snaplaunce: Oh, well struck, Master Skywalker.
• Lost Tribe: The Lost Tribe of the Sith, obviously.
• Ludicrous Gibs: Apocalypse describes the results of being squashed by a piece of building, split in two lengthwise by a lightsaber, splattered on the floor due to a malfunctioning transport tube, and being caught in the fiery disintegration of a flying vehicle.
• Mama Bear:
  • Mirax Horn gets her moment when she slaps Colonel Wruq Retk so hard, it knocks him unconscious. This is because he's got her carbonite-imprisoned children hanging on the wall like trophies. And, to add to this, Retk is a Yaka.
  • Leia, of course. Jag even Lampshades it when he comments on how he feels sorry for the poor bastard who attempted to assassinate them and put Allana in danger. She even beheads a Sith who was threatening Allana without a second thought.
• Mercy Kill: Sarasu Taalon falls into the Pool of Knowledge and begins being horrifically mutated by it into a Humanoid Abomination, practically a weaker Abeloth. Vestara doesn't hesitate at all to put him out of his misery. Later on, she ends up doing the same for her father, Gavar, once it becomes clear he's nothing more than Abeloth's thrall now.
• Me's a Crowd: Abeloth eventually turns out to be possessing multiple bodies at the same time, though they're never at the same place after the initial possession.
• Mind Rape: Abeloth's mental probing. When she attempts this on Vol, he counters with some Mind Rape of his own.
• More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Abeloth's true form.
• Motive Misidentification: At the start of the series, Luke and Ben are walking the galaxy trying to piece together what caused Jacen to become evil in Legacy of the Force, with Luke coming up with a number of different theories, such as him misinterpreting the Potentium teachings. All of those theories turn out to be wrong, or rather, incomplete. Jacen's spirit in the finale provides the central piece — that he was trying to prevent a Bad Future he feared would come about where Allana became Darth Krayt's servant — but also spells out to Luke that this was really just the inciting incident that started him on the path and there truthfully wasn't any one thing that made him succumb to villainy. It was many different questionable actions, misunderstandings, and poor choices on his part that culminated in him becoming Darth Caedus.
• Mouth of Sauron: What Abeloth turns Gavar Khai into, mind-raping him until he's a deranged servant who gladly sends the Sith to their deaths on her orders, doesn't care when she kills his beloved wife, and even tries to murder his own daughter.
• Mythology Gag: This isn't the first time where Luke and several other force-sensitives have to deal with a dark side entity who inhabited various bodies in order to maintain their power.
• Negative Space Wedgie: The Kathol Rift and the Maw Cluster.
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: Part of Force Psychosis involves the crazy Jedi knowing Force skills they never used before.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: It turns out that Centerpoint Station, which our heroes destroyed in Legacy of the Force, was the thing keeping the can Abeloth was trapped in sealed. The Kessel situation may have also been caused by Centerpoint's destruction. By extension Jacen's trying to change the future were part of what freed Abeloth from her prison.
  • Retroactively compounds what was already a Nice Job Breaking It, Hero moment from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. By getting The Son and The Daughter killed, The Father and Anakin Skywalker removed the forces that were keeping Abeloth from becoming a major galaxy-threatening problem. Furthermore, since Anakin refused to take the Father's place, there's no one to stop her now. Good job.
  • Adding to the above, the Jedi theorize that the deaths of The Son and the Daughter has disrupted the Force and may be the reason why the galaxy has stuck in a state of near constant war since the Prequel era.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: When Daala escapes prison, so does Tahiri.
• Off with His Head!: Abeloth kills Vol by decapitating him and presents the head to Workan to signify that she's in charge now. Later in the finale, Saba avenges him by biting off the head of one of Abeloth's avatars.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • When the Jedi Council starts tracking down Sith pirate attacks and realize they're building an entire fleet.
  • The Killiks freak the fuck out when they are informed that Abeloth has been released. They have every reason to.
• One-Winged Angel: Abeloth has three or four forms.
• Once Per Book: Up until Vortex, each book has one or several Jedi develop Force Psychosis.
• Only One Name: Backlash seems to make a point of noting this in the case of Zekk.
• Only Sane Man: Dorvan, who realizes what's at stake and tries to rein in Daala's excesses. When he realizes Daala has gone beyond the breaking point, he decides to resign rather than work for her.
  • The victims of Force Psychosis believe themselves to be the only real people in a galaxy of imposters.
• Open Secret: All of the Jedi Masters and quite a few Jedi Knights already know about the "secret" Barabel nest under the Temple. As they note, the characters in question disappeared suddenly, with Saba refusing to talk about where they are, and she's too moral to send them off on a secret mission without telling anyone.
• Papa Wolf: Corran's children (Valin and Jysella) are imprisoned in carbonite thanks to their going crazy and Mr. Horn himself is not happy. In fact, after Kenth dies, Corran cites this as the reason he can't lead the Jedi Order, as he's so emotionally unbalanced.
  • Luke is also this: One of the very few things that gets him angry is Ben being threatened, and he's self-aware enough to realize that this trope is part of why he's skeptical of Vestara's Heel–Face Turn.
• Paparazzi: Javis Tyrr; all right, so he's only one guy, but he more than fits. Also plenty of unnamed ones in Outcast, especially after Valin's rampage.
• Passing the Torch: As the functional Grand Finale for the OT era and cast, there's a definite theme of the old guard giving way to the younger generation. Highlighted at the end, with Luke — now in his late sixties, broken down emotionally, and near-crippled from his battle with Abeloth — watching and fading a bit into the background as Jaina gets married and the Order braces for the inevitable rematch with Abeloth, reflecting that his time may be nearing it's end and younger Jedi and Sith will have to be the ones who stand against Abeloth when she returns.
• People's Republic of Tyranny: Despite Leia arguing in Legacy of the Force that attaining the post of Chief of State of the GFFA through any means other than election (which is what her son Jacen did) is unconstitutional, Daala is basically installed in the position by military leaders. This is only emphasized by an aversion of the Good Republic, Evil Empire trope. The previous and current leaders of the Empire, Gilad Pellaeon and Jagged Fel, are often shown as being far more benevolent and trustworthy leaders of their authoritarian state than Daala is of the nominally democratic GFFA.
• Philosophical Parable: For a while, each book had Luke and Ben visiting a different locale to learn about Jacen's fall, and the episodes tended to resemble this. Backlash downplayed this: while Jacen did train with the Witches of Dathomir, that plot point was not present in the novel. Allies averted this trope entirely, while Vortex and Conviction don't even mention Jacen's motivations.
• Pointless Doomsday Device: Subverted. It turns out Centerpoint Station wasn't so pointless and it's destruction has caused big problems.
• Powered Armor: Some of the Void Jumper Space Marines, called "Stompers", wear suits of these. It backfires when the Sith ghouls get to them.
• The Power of Love/Love Redeems: Jaina invokes this while vouching for Vestara:
  I don't want to get too sentimental here, Uncle Luke, but don't underestimate The Power of Love. It's pulled two family members back from the Dark Side already. Ben's sixteen, but he's not a fool.
• Precursors: A lot of hints as to the Celestials.
• Praetorian Guard:
  • Daala's use of the Mandalorians is surprisingly similar to how Roman Emperors used vikings, in what was known as the Varangian Guard.
  • In Ascension, Tahiri becomes The Atoner, and looks like she's going to be one of the first Imperial Knights.
• President Evil:
  • While not exactly evil (at first), Chief of State Daala certainly has her qualms about the Jedi and won't hesitate to use government resources to put them in line. There is, however, quite a bit of irony to her running the galaxy from a planet (Coruscant) that she once hatched a plot to destroy. Fortunately, she is not as brilliant of a strategist as her reputation makes her out to be.
  • Head of State Abeloth plays this straighter than Daala, at one point threatening to decimate Coruscant's population because they didn't help keep the Jedi away from her. And she partly succeeds too.
• Private Military Contractors: Belok Rhal and his band of rogue Mandalorians that work for Daala are basically the Mando equivalent of PMCs; amoral and ruthless mercenaries who have gleefully cast aside the Resol'nare in favor of credits and sating their bloodlust.
• Proud Warrior Race: The Mandalorians as usual, but Belok Rhal's crew of mercenaries are a Deathwatch-esque rogue faction that exaggerates it into vicious brutality for any pay whatsoever. The Lost Tribe of Sith, being descended from the original Sith Empire, also have a lot of qualities like this.
• Properly Paranoid: After the assassination attempt on Admiral Bwua'tu, Daala is (correctly) convinced that somebody is trying to frame the Jedi for it, because in her mind, if the Jedi really wanted to kill him, they would not have failed. Plus, they wouldn't be crazy enough to try and fake a failed assassination attempt.
• Psychic-Assisted Suicide: In Vortex, Abeloth and the Fallanassi (who are under her control) drive dozens of Sith mad with illusions. This causes some of them to kill themselves.
• Puppet King: The Lecerson Conspiracy manipulates the post-Daala elections to get Padnel Ovin, a new senator who was a terrorist leader only months ago, installed as Chief of State. He's well-known for a lack of political skills, and they figure he'll be easy to manipulate. However, Ovin is just savvy enough to recognize what's going on, and asks Dorvan to stay on as his primary adviser. Unfortunately, when the Sith enter the picture, he gets taken out and replaced by an avatar of Abeloth.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Mayor Snaplaunce and Wynn Dorvan. The latter eventually becomes Chief of State.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: Borleias, once one of the most strategically valuable planets in the galaxy due to its proximity to Coruscant, is now home to a small outpost where military careers are sent to die.
• Recycled In Space: In Conviction, the conspirators' plot to remove Daala is suspiciously parallel to that of the conspirators in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.
• The Remnant: The Lost Tribe are descended from a faction of the original Sith Empire that got stranded on Kesh following the Great Hyperspace War, making them pretty much the last of the true Pre-Bane Sith culture.
• Replacement Goldfish: Abeloth tries to force Ben and Vestara to drink from both the Font of Power and Pool of Knowledge so they'll turn into semi-divine eldritch creatures like her, intending to use them as replacements for her lost "children", the Daughter and the Son.
• The Reveal:
  • The Lost Tribe of the Sith had assumed that the Sith had long ago conquered the galaxy while they were stuck on Kesh. Ship sets em straight. Their reaction? Let's go out and set things right by conquering everything!
  • Some part of Abeloth is no one else but Callista.
  • In Ascension: The slave revolts are secretly being caused by the political conspirators as part of their scheme.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something:
  • Following the events of Legacy of the Force, Boba Fett is a still The Good King of the Mandalorians as the current Mand'alor. He is just as likely to go into the field of battle himself as you'd expect from the ruler of a Proud Warrior Race, and even manages to take down one of Abeloth's avatars near-singlehandedly.
  • The Lost Tribe's leadership are powerful Sith Lords and thus fully capable of being devastating combatants. Special mention goes to Darish Vol who almost saves the day by defeating Abeloth and only narrowly loses.
• Rule of Three: In Conviction, Lieutenant Jevon Thewles' apartment is being raided:
  Jevon: "Can I get up?"
  Jevon: "Can I get up?"
  Jevon: "Can I get up?"
  Guard: "Yes, sit up."
  Jevon: "Can I get dressed?"
• Sacrificial Lamb: Kani, who volunteers to go speak with the Mandalorians outside the Temple, reasoning that they won't feel threatened by an unarmed teenager and are honorable warriors besides. Unfortunately for her, Belok Rhal and his band are rogue Mandos on Daala's payroll who are anything BUT honorable and her being a mere unarmed teenager means that Rhal has no fears or qualms about unceremoniously shooting her dead in public.
• Sanity Slippage: Kenth Hamner starts really losing it as he gets torn between his Conflicting Loyalty to both the Alliance and Jedi, until eventually he's convinced himself that he would be totally justified in murdering Saba to make the rest of the Jedi Council fall in line.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers!: Discussed between Luke and Daala. Of course, the Force can't really be a witness later...
• Sealed Evil in a Can: Abeloth, who was hidden away in the Maw by the Celestials in the ancient past using Centerpoint Station. With it's destruction and a few other unfortunate events, she begins to get free.
• Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You: The cover of Vortex, where Han is seen aiming a blaster at the reader.
• Secret Police: Daala starts using Belok Rhal and his band of rogue Mandalorians as a covert "peacekeeping" force by sending them to conflict zones on the payroll of GA front companies to put them under the guise of protecting corporate interests. Then in Conviction, she dispenses with the pretenses and starts doing it openly, which means that eventually no one of importance really protests when the Jedi remove her from power.
• Self-Made Orphan: In Ascension, Vestara is forced to kill her father, though by this point he barely even qualifies as the same person as her father, given what Abeloth did to him. Her mother was already killed earlier when Abeloth destroyed the Sith capital.
• Sequel Hook: The final novel has Luke finding out that there is a second major Sith faction separate from the Lost Tribe (the One Sith from Star Wars: Legacy), and unbeknownst to the Jedi, Vestara is going to work for those Sith. Also, Abeloth isn't truly dead, and the only way to truly kill her is to find the Dagger of Mortis.
• Sex for Solace: It is heavily implied by some of Tahiri's dialogue that she and Jacen's relationship was a bit more than just master/apprentice.
• Shaped Like Itself: Boba Fett's disguise. He even changes his body language so people will think someone's impersonating him.
• Shout-Out:
  • In Allies, Ackmena is an abolitionist, in honor of the late Bea Arthur. In the same book, Dyon knocks someone out by grabbing the neck and pinching (the author of Allies, Christie Golden, has contributed some books to the Star Trek Novel 'Verse).
  • In Conviction, when at a bar, Moff Lecersen orders a drink called the "Sonic Screwdriver".
  • Ben's line: "What if you're Luke Skywalker today and Darth Starkiller tomorrow?" 'Starkiller' was the original last name assigned to Luke in early drafts of Star Wars. It's been referenced in various ways in much of the EU.
  • Luke and Ben's visit to the Hidden Ones' sanctuary is an intentional reference to the underworld of Greek mythology.
• Ship Sinking:
  • While Zekk's bus came back, we learn that he is working with a Hapan agent last seen in Legacy of the Force, and that he is involved with her.
  • Appeared to happen to the Jaina/Jag ship. However, they made up one book later and the series ends with them finally getting married, founding the Fel Dynasty.
  • Ben and Vestara, though it had a terribly promising start, falls apart after the latter believes herself to have gone past the Moral Event Horizon.
• Sidetracked by the Analogy: In Abyss Saba compares Daala and the Jedi to animals on her homeworld. Kyp gets confused as to what each animal is and they spend about a page clarifying.
• Slowly Slipping Into Evil: More like slipping back into evil. The longer the crisis goes on and the more her powerbase crumbles, the more Daala falls back into her old villainous ways.
• Snark-to-Snark Combat: Luke and Ben, Ben and Vestara, Han and Leia...basically everyone involved in the Solo/Skywalker/Fel family enjoys doing this at any and every opportunity.
• Space Marine: The GFFA's troops.
• Spell My Name With An S: In Allies, Dyon Stadd, Kyp Durron, and Gilad Pellaeon's last names are consistently misspelled Stad, Durran, and Pallaeon. Also, the plurals "Jedis" and "Siths" are used.
• Spirit World: Where the Mind Walkers go when they use their eponymous power (which seems to be some sort of astral projection), which may or may not be the netherworld of the Force. Evidence towards the former is the fact that Mara appears to be in some sort of purgatory after the events of Sacrifice.
• Stab the Scorpion: Variation: At one point in the final duel, Darth Krayt Force Drains Luke Skywalker and Abeloth, seemingly indicating that he turned against Luke. Luke, however, quickly realizes that the Force Drain was simply Krayt holding down Abeloth, and that he was only caught in it because he was in close proximity to Abeloth when it hit. He quickly pulls back and starts coordinating better with Krayt to avoid anymore friendly fire.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Vestara and Ben's relationship. One's a Jedi, the other is a Sith, and their people are at war. Tragically, Vestara's internal doubt in her own goodness and ensuing descent into villainy destroys any chance they could've had to be together.
• The Starscream:
  • Yuvar Xal in true Sith fashion.
  • The Moffs. Even lampshaded by Jag in Apocalypse when he opens a public speech by mentioning that, when he accepted the job of Imperial Head of State, he didn't expect to survive as long as he did.
• Start of Darkness: Luke and Ben's quest is to figure out just when Jacen had his.
• Stating the Simple Solution: Surprisingly enough, Taalon advocates just executing Luke when Abeloth manages to capture him, but is quicky overruled.
• Stealth in Space: Conversed for Stealth-X fighters, in Backlash.
• Stockholm Syndrome: Played for Laughs with a Bothan secretary in Conviction.
  (Han tries to get the secretary to help by threatening him.)
  Secretary: Forgive me, General. But I won't help you, and you won't sell me. You're a hero of the Alliance.
  Han Solo: Leia, I swear, I hate having a good reputation. I hate it!
• Storming the Castle: The Jedi built their temple's defenses a little too well. The Cavalry only turn it into a battle of attrition. And that was before the Sith ghouls came out to play.
• Take Me to Your Leader: After blasting his way through a room's lock, and stunning the guards:
  Han Solo: Take me to your leader. We come in peace.
  Leia: Han.
  Han Solo: Sorry, Leia. Sometimes I can't help myself.
• Take That!:
  • There's specifically a Kyp Durron reality show. Kyp says, "There goes my social life."
  • Also, the series seems to be one huge plot thread pointing that in retrospect, making Daala the Galactic Alliance Head of State was pretty much a very bad idea.
  Moff Getelles: Natasi Daala has been an erratic officer, a laser cannon with a malfunctioning actuator if you will, since she was an ensign in the Imperial Navy, and her recent actions bear out this diagnosis.
  • There are some subtle (and some not-so-subtle) digs at news shows which prioritize sensationalism over facts, and at the people who believe everything the news tells them without bothering to think.
• Taking You with Me: As the Jedi Coalition and their allies near her doors, Abeloth starts using her powers to unleash destruction across Coruscant, trying to take the entire planet down with her. She ends up killing thousands before the heroes are able to bring her down.
• Team Pet: The Jedi get one in the form of Anji. A nexu.
• Teleporters and Transporters: The Aing-Tii can use the Force to teleport themselves and objects. Mostly notably they use it and Flow-walking to navigate the rift where they live. They end up teaching Luke how to do this.
• Thanatos Gambit: Kenth does one in Vortex.
• That Man Is Dead: The philosophy of the Baran Do sages who retreat into their sanctuary. Their old life on the surface is over and dead, so they must take a new name.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: A rather complicated case about Vestara. She kills a Jedi to save an unconscious Ben from a monster, and no one suspects that it was a murder. She expects to feel crushing guilt once the combat numbness wears off, since she's trying to do a Heel–Face Turn at the time, but eventually realizes that she genuinely has no guilt or regret for the act, and that she would do the exact same thing again without hesitation if it meant saving Ben. That fact ends up driving Vestara past the Despair Event Horizon and into believing that she'll never stop thinking like a Sith, and therefore has no chance at becoming a Jedi. She thus resolves to start looking for the best opportunity to betray the Skywalkers.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Luke gives one to the Barran Do sages and the Hidden One about how hiding away in their caverns is not living in tune with the Force. He didn't do this to insult them, but to point out the problems in their philosophy.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: To enter a temple, Ben has to defeat a Baran Do Sage because if Luke did so, that would imply Luke's inferiority to the leader of the Baran Do Sages (as they believe in Authority Equals Asskicking, for the leader of a rival tradition to engage in combat with someone less than his rank, that implies that he's only equal to them).
• This Is Gonna Suck: The moment Raynar Thul tells the Killik Queen that Abeloth has escaped, the Queen goes crazy and begins ordering her drones to prepare for the coming apocalypse.
• Those Were Only Their Scouts: When the Lost Tribe first show up in the form of a meager handful of ships, the Jedi assume them to be mere pirates trying to emulate Sith. When they follow said ships to Kesh, they're horrified to discover they were mere scouting parties for what is actually the remnant of the original Pre-Bane Sith Empire.
• Title Drop: See the Hidden One's rant at the top of the page.
• To Be Lawful or Good: Kenth Hamner is increasingly torn between his patriotism to his nation, the Alliance, and his loyalty to his friends, the New Jedi Order. Unfortunately, he chooses Lawful, even as Daala's regime turns corrupt, and ends up going off the deep end and all but turning against the other Jedi.
• Too Dumb to Live: During the Jedi coup, a cameraman breaches the security line around the Senate Hall and starts moving forward to get a better shot as the security officers, busy trying to hold off an angry mob, yell at him to stop since he's about to walk into range of the giant automated laser cannons designed to shoot intruders. A security officer is forced to shoot the cameraman with a stun bolt to keep him from getting vaporized.
• Tragic Villain: Vestara sees herself as this after she commits murder to save Ben from toxic fumes.
• Trash of the Titans: The Mind Walkers in Sinkhole station are so busy meditating that they don't clean up anything ever.
• Two Lines, No Waiting. Luke and Ben try to find the truth about Jacen. Daala's not cut out for administration, to put it mildly. Then there's the Lost Tribe of the Sith. And Abeloth. And Force psychosis. And Jaina and Jag's engagement. And minor plots along the way, like Allana going to a petting zoo or the current slavery storyline. Lot of stuff going on.
• Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny: An in-universe example occurs towards the end of Backlash—The Sith do battle with the Nightsisters.
  • Also in Backlash, a card game is featured that's based around this concept.
• Undying Loyalty: Nek Bwu'atu uses this to whip up The Cavalry, who Jumped at the Call.
• The Uriah Gambit: Tahiri's prison warden was a close friend of Pellaeon, so in order to get revenge on her, he deliberately places her within the general prison population, which mostly consists of criminals that the Jedi have put away, some of them having been personally arrested by Tahiri herself. She's also warned by her attorney to watch out for security droids that might suddenly "malfunction" around her.
• Unreliable Narrator: The Killiks provide a lot of Abeloth's backstory, but since they can't distinguish between legend, myth, and fact, the Jedi take what they say with a pinch of salt.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: Saba as Chief of State?
• Villain Has a Point: Acknowledged In-Universe. The discussion Luke has with Daala in Outcast has Luke realize that, while Daala's security measures are rather extreme, she's also doing it so that the galaxy does not need to rely on the Jedi as galactic police, which, given the constant Jedi/Sith wars (the galaxy is still reeling from the last one) is probably not that bad of an idea on its own. The same idea was earlier explored in Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Chief of State Daala certainly fits.
  • Hero with Bad Publicity: She's the one that pins the blame for Jacen's fall on Luke Skywalker and forcing him into a self-imposed exile from the Jedi Order. Subverted in that the Jedi Council wishes him luck with his quest to investigate Jacen's Face–Heel Turn, and his son Ben joins his father on the quest.
  • In Ascension, the Sith try their hand at this, getting a hold of the media.
• Villainous Legacy: The Lecersen Conspiracy is a group of Alliance senators and Remnant moffs who secretly idolize the old Empire and want to bring it back… with themselves in charge, of course.
• Violation of Common Sense: See Dark Horse Victory above.
• The Virus: Abeloth, made worse by the fact that she's sentient and sapient and thus more than capable of applying her "infection" in strategic ways.
• Walking The Galaxy: Luke and Ben are doing this at the start of the story.
• Was Once a Man: If the Killik vision is to be believed, Abeloth was originally an ordinary human woman. Her efforts to become immortal so she wouldn't lose her family turned her into an Eldritch Abomination.
• Weak, but Skilled: Dyon, who lacks the Force powers necessary to become a Jedi, but makes up for it thanks to his skills with a blaster.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Ben and Vestara, both.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Daala. Admiral Bwua'tu in Allies thinks that she's doing wrong things for the right reasons. Five minutes later, he's attacked by false Jedi.
  • This is also the reason, alongside the Papa Wolf trope, why Jacen Solo became Darth Caedus.
• Wham Episode: In Ascension, the Senate votes a disguised Abeloth as the new GA Chief of State.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Daala forces Luke to accept exile by threatening to have Kyp Durron extradited to the Imperial Remnant to stand trial for war crimes, namely blowing up Carida with the Sun Crusher.
  • Abeloth-possessed Akanah just loves to point out how much the Jedi have screwed things up.
• Why Am I Ticking?:
  • Threepio is unwittingly turned into a bomb by a Sith assassin in Conviction.
  • Abeloth supercharges Tolla Annax with pure Force energy far beyond what a mortal body can typically contain and then detonates it when the Jedi arrive on Upekzar, functionally using her as a living bomb.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Abeloth isn't just one of the most powerful beings the Jedi ever faced. She's also batshit insane in truly horrifying ways. These things are linked.
• Woman Scorned: What Ship says will make Vestara into a Sith Lord.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Abeloth's primary motivation for her atrocities was desiring to be loved, as she feared losing her family (which was largely her own fault in the first place that she did lose The Ones as her family). However, by the time of the current time in the novels, she's long abandoned the Woobie aspect of her.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: Kenth believes that by being elected the temporary Grand Master of the Jedi Order, it's like an ascension in military rank, and that therefore the other Jedi will fall in line behind him. What he fails to understand is what Jaina noted in the first book: That soldiers are expected to follow orders, even at the cost of doing what's right; whereas Jedi are taught to prioritize what's right over following orders.
• Yin-Yang Bomb: Part of what makes Abeloth so dangerous. Due in part to her immense power and long-life, she's more than learned how to wield both the Light and Dark Side simultaneously, using all aspects of the Force with equal skill.
• You Cannot Grasp the True Form: Abeloth, though it's speculated that she might be a Celestial or a mortal imbued with similar power. The Aing-Tii Prophet's predictions corroborate this.
  • Both Luke and Vestara can see her true form (from Wookieepedia): "...that of a woman with a large full lipped mouth so broad that it reached from ear to ear, stubby arms that protruded no more than ten centimeters from her shoulders, and hands that had long, writhing tentacles for fingers."
  • According to Lost Tribe mythology, Abeloth might be a Destructor, a race of powerful beings that regularly exterminate all life in the galaxy.
  • The Killiks try to describe what Abeloth and the Celestials are, but aren't very good at it, citing that it's something mortals simply can't comprehend.
• You No Take Candle: C-3PO's translation of Keshri. Justified, as the language had never been heard before by the galaxy.
• Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: Even said so.

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