Iskat Akaris has long felt isolated in the Jedi Order - shunned by most of her peers for an accident that crippled a fellow initiate as a child, apprenticed to a Master who seems more interested in finding artifacts than establishing a bond with her, and an unknown past in which even her species is a mystery. As Iskat struggles to be a good Jedi, the Clone Wars erupt and the Battle of Geonosis alters the course of her life as she finds the heat of battle more of a home than any other place the Jedi have sent her. Struggling with her emotions, the distrust of the Council, and chaos of war, Iskat finds herself on a path to darkness that may have answers she has long sought and the acceptance she craves, but could cost her all that she already has...
Tropes:
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Iskat Akaris wishes to be a part of the Jedi's effort to preserve democracy and freedom during the Clone Wars rather than be a librarian at Jocasta Nu's suggestion. The Jedi Council send her on her first mission in the war on Thule, which she undertakes with Jedi General Josk and fellow Jedi Knight Tualon Yluna to destroy a Separatist Droid Factory, which becomes very hectic when it's discovered that there was a Sith temple on the planet. That's not even adding into the fact that it was supposed to be a stealth mission, but the destruction of the droid factory caused by Iskat using a thermal detonator to prevent its safety features from overriding the initial sabotage she did by turning the panel all the way up also hurt civilians below the factory, landing Iskat in trouble with Adi Galla and Yoda, who punish her by teaching the Jedi Code to Younglings, as well as mediation lessons for 2 years.
- Call-Back:
- Iskat violently attacked 2 Jedi Padawans just for mentioning her incident with Tika, similar to Anakin hovering 2 Padawans' lightsabers over their heads when they mentioned him being a slave to his emotions during Obi-Wan and Anakin.
- Iskat tries to look for information on Feyra in the Jedi Archives, only to find the information is gone, similar to Obi-Wan looking for intel on Kamino during Attack of the Clones. Both Jedi even ask Jocasta Nu about why the information was deleted, though unlike Jocasta's stern insisting that Kamino does not exist (unaware that Dooku used Sifo-Dyas's access codes to delete all information on the planet), she reacts with alarm to the possibility of something having been deleted, no doubt weary of further security breaches after Obi-Wan's investigation concluded the Archives had been tampered with before.
- Call-Forward: Iskat's fight with Klefan Opus, right down to the beheading of the Jedi Master to end the fight, is how the Ninth Sister/Masana Tide would meet her end at the hands of Cal Kestis, though while Cal killed her to free her from her servitude to the Empire, Iskat kills Klefan to help the Empire's extermination of the Jedi.
- Canon Immigrant: The planet of Thule from the now Legends Star Wars: The Clone Wars video game, which was a planet the Sith once ruled over.
- Commonality Connection: A recurring subplot throughout the novel is Iskat bonding with Heezo, a Selonian in the Jedi Temple who worked on various droids such as Mouse droids and LEP servant droids, telling him about her frustrations with the Jedi Order while he tells her about various stuff going on throughout the Clone Wars, such as General Grievous, in addition to mentioning the Dark Side here and there. It's later revealed that Heezo is one of Palpatine's spies in the Jedi Temple, since Heezo himself failed his Jedi trails when he was once a Jedi Padawan.
- Death World: Thule, a planet Iskat visits during a mission to destroy a Separatist Droid Factory after she, Josk Nivar, and Tualon Yluna slice into the main system to figure out where the other droid factories the Separatists built throughout the Galaxy on order from the Jedi Council. She strangely feels at peace with it via the Force, due to a Sith Temple on the planet itself.
- Downer Ending: Iskat completely loses herself to the Dark Side; turning away multiple chances to stop the path she's on. In the end, she dies unredeemed at the hands of Vader for feeling love towards Tualon.
- Four Is Death: During the First Battle of Geonosis in the book's fourth chapter, many Jedi are killed by either the Battle Droids or the Geonosians, one of which manages to kill Jedi Master Sember Vey just as she ordered Iskat to retreat.
- Foregone Conclusion: We know from the Dark Lord of the Sith comic series that Iskat and Tualon Yaluna will both fall to the Dark Side and become Inquisitors right up to their deaths, with the book showing how that happens.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: Iskat comes across Charlin Plaka, a Jedi Knight who survived Order 66 along with Jedi Master Klefan Opus, but was captured on the planet of Firrhana by pirates and imprisoned there without any contact, save for a droid who brings her food and water. Iskat mocks the Jedi Knight for always bullying her during her days as a Jedi and for sticking to the obsolete teachings of the nearly dead Jedi Order.
- I Want Them Alive!: Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi reminds Jedi Knights Iskat, Tualon, and Sunghi to take General Grievous alive if they manage to find him on Frong, a world in the Outer Rim he and his Battle Droid minions destroyed. It's later revealed that while Grievous and his army WERE present on the world, he was nowhere to be found, since it was part of a bigger ploy to lure out as many Jedi as possible to be killed by their Clones when Order 66 went down, with Sunghi being one of their victims. Plus, Grievous himself was already defeated by Obi-Wan on Utapau.
- Killed Offscreen: Adi Gallia suffers this because of Savage Opress by the book's 25th chapter, which also takes place around the 3rd and final year of the war. Later, many Jedi such as Mace Windu, in addition to General Grievous himself, also suffer this in the context of Revenge of the Sith.
- Mook Depletion: A rare Hero example, since with so many Jedi fighting in the Clone Wars all around the Galaxy, there hasn't been a single Jedi who can take the time to help her train fully, aside from Ahsoka Tano and a few other Jedi. Of course, since the Clone Wars were designed to weaken Jedi numbers by the pound so Palpatine can establish his Empire, it's unsurprising that he'd want Iskat's resentment towards the Jedi to build so she can fall to the Dark Side.
- Mythology Gag: During the mission to hunt down 2 Jedi on the planet of Firrhana, Iskat disguises a Purge Trooper named 67 as a captured Jedi, a reference to the cut disguised Clone Troopers from Revenge of the Sith.
- Protagonist Journey to Villain: The book charts how Iskat goes from a struggling Padawan to a member of the murderous Inquisitorius.
- Samus Is a Girl: Ginntho, the slicer Iskat, Tualon, and Captain Spider and his company are assigned to find is actually a female Anzellan who's voice was masculine to scare off any potential enemies and had a multi-armed Battle Droid tech suit for easier mobility.
- Simultaneous Arcs: Aside from obviously occurring during the prequelsnote and The Clone Wars, the book shares scenes with Brotherhood, specifically the Knighting ceremony where Anakin is elevated to Jedi Knight, with Iskat being revealed to be a part of the same ceremony.
- So Much for Stealth: The mission on Thule was for Iskat, Tualon, and Josk to stealthily deactivate the droid factory on the planet since intelligence falsely indicated there were barely any droids present, but due to the alarms alerting a Battle Droid battalion to Iskat and Tualon's presence, they fight and barely accomplish their mission.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Iskat takes a page from Anakin's book in reckless strategies during the mission on Thule, that, while it may get some Clones killed or in danger of being killed, actually gets results faster than normal planning would do, as we seen in The Clone Wars multiple times. Of course, unlike Anakin, who has praises from various Jedi (Such as Obi-Wan, despite his initial misgivings, praised Anakin for his cleverness in certain tough spots such as getting past Admiral Trench's blockade of Christophsis, while defeating the Admiral himself) and the Clones under his command like Rex, once Iskat and Tualon return to Coruscant with the full report on their mission, Masters Adi Gallia and Yoda reprimand them for their reckless actions, since it forced the Separatists to be more careful in the security measures of their various droid factories across the Galaxy. On top of that, there were civilians under that factory who were murdered. While Iskat snapped that the civilians on Thule could've been Separatists like the Genosians, Gallia and Yoda tell her that civilians, even if they were working for the Separatists in managing their droid factories, affiliation with them didn't matter since civilians were innocent regardless of what side of the war they're on.
- There Are No Therapists: Just like with Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi fail to fully understand Iskat's pain and trauma, which would lead her turning to the Dark Side.
- Trailers Always Spoil: The synopsis for the book mentions Sember Vey being killed in the Battle of Geonosis, leaving Iskat without a master.
- Unseen No More: After a mention by Senator Rethalow in "Empire's End", the planet of Frong is finally seen, with General Grievous sighted there, or so it seemed.
- Wham Line: After Iskat and Tualon successfully manage to recruit Ginntho to the Republic, she drops this bombshell about who Iskat really is other than a Jedi.Ginntho: [Tualon Yaluna]'s lucky the Pkorian here was honest.Iskat Akaris: (surprised) What did you just call me?
