Master and Apprentice is a Star Wars Expanded Universe novel by Claudia Gray (Lost Stars, Bloodline and Leia, Princess of Alderaan).
The book is about Obi-Wan Kenobi's apprenticeship with his Master Qui-Gon Jinn, and as such is set prior to The Phantom Menace.
Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi have never exactly got on well as master and apprentice, and their relationship faces a new test when Jinn receives a surprising offer: an invitation to join the Jedi Council. However, before either can properly face the matter, they are sent on a crucial mission, an investigation into terrorist attacks on the planet Pijal in the lead-up to the coronation of the planet's new queen, Fanry. Complicating the issue is that the planet's current regent is Rael Averross, a Jedi of unusual tendencies and a dark past who, like Jinn, once trained under Dooku.
The title was released on April 16th, 2019.
Tropes:
- Abdicate the Throne: Fanry is forced to step down as queen in favor of a cousin after a very short reign. The cousin in turn has an even shorter reign as she abolishes the monarchy.
- A Child Shall Lead Them: Fanry, the queen of Pijal, is chosen to ratify an agreement that will bring Pijal out of its isolationist leaning. She's stated to be fourteen.
- Born into Slavery: Rahara Wick, a slave of the Czerka Corporation. She's not unique either; anyone Czerka owns becomes a slave simply by being born, with entire families of slaves.
- Canon Immigrant:
- Orange lightsaber blades, sort of. Obi-Wan's kyber crystal is secretly replaced with a kohlen crystal, in a sabotage attempt. Kohlen crystals look like kyber crystals but have a different crystalline structure. The result is an orange lightsaber blade. Qui-Gon does note it's only Obi-Wan's specific lightsaber (or presumably similar ones) that could have been used that way, as his own would simply have failed to light if he'd done the same thing.
- Czerka Corporation is now officially canon.
- Call-Forward: Many of the ancient prophecies mentioned very clearly refer to the events of the prequel and original trilogies, namely the life of Anakin Skywalker, the return of the Sith, and the rise of the Empire.
- Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan encounter by chance and ally with Pax and Rahara, jewel thieves, and get them tangled up in their mission. Similar to how they both encounter Jar-Jar on Naboo, who also gets involved with their mission.
- After Rahara is captured by Czerka and forced back into slavery, Qui-Gon attempts to buy her so that he can free her, similar to what he would do with Anakin and Shmi later on.
- Princess, and later Queen, Fanry, is revealed to have set up the more aggressive resistance against her and Czerka. After becoming Queen, she uses the chance to take on her enemies: both Czerka and the Republic for supporting Czerka. The use of the False Flag Operation and throwing blame onto other parties is similar to what Palpatine will later do, orchestrating the Clone Wars from both sides with the final intent on destroying the Jedi.
- Obi-Wan learns how to ride a varactyl, a skill that will come in handy during his fateful venture to Utapau.
- There is also a tie in to the sequel trilogy as in a flashback sequence Qui-Gon is chatting with Averross via hologram. Averross is hanging out at a castle on Takodana and is seen by Qui-Gon getting a drink from a short alien woman wearing goggles and beads.
- Continuity Snarl: This book adds to a snarl started by Queen's Shadow regarding the ruling dates of Padmé Amidala's predecessors on the throne of Naboo by mentioning that the current monarch of Naboo is a teenage girl. The only way this makes sense is if King Veruna is no longer her immediate predecessor as monarch. More detail can be found here.
- Distant Epilogue: The epilogue takes place seven years later at Qui-Gon's funeral on Naboo.
- Dramatic Irony: It's mentioned that Rael Averross, at age 5, was the oldest child the Jedi Order had taken in that Qui-Gon knows of, and he thinks to himself that there's no way the Order will take in anyone that old again, let alone anyone older... little does he know...
- Dreaming of Things to Come: On Pijal, Qui-Gon receives visions of the future thanks to the Force. While he's skeptical at first, he comes to believe the visions are real. He's ultimately right, which also leads him to believing in the Jedi Prophecies again.
- Evil Counterpart: Fanry, to Padmé Amidala. Both are young queens who sought to free their homeworlds from corporate control: Padmé fought the Trade Federation which had invaded and occupied Naboo, and Fanry sought to free Pijal from generations of subservience to the ruthless and exploitative Czerka Corporation. However, Fanry was far more bloodthirsty, ruthless and power-hungry than the pacifistic and democratically inclined Padmé, with said traits contributing to Fanry's downfall.
- Failure Knight: Rael's actions led to the death of his Padawan, Nim Pianna. He hopes to make up for it by taking care of Princess Fanry. Multiple characters call him out on this. By the end of the novel, even Rael realizes that trying to make up for the death of his padawan helped cause this whole situation to occur.
- False Flag Operation: The slicer dart the blackguard seemingly attempted to use on Fanry and the droid attack during the Grand Hunt were set up by Princess Fanry herself along with her royal guards, Deren included, who are actually the blackguards trying to "assassinate" her. The entire operation was to allow Fanry to become queen and rule absolutely without interference from Czerka.
- Flashback: There are frequent flashbacks throughout the novel to Qui-Gon's apprenticeship under Dooku. They reveal the beginning of Qui-Gon's interest with the Jedi Prophecies, his budding friendship with Rael, and possibly Dooku's Start of Darkness.
- Foreshadowing:
- Princess Fanry is very interested in how lightsabers work, specifically the kyber crystal aspect, and smiles when Qui-Gon reports on Opposition attacks made by the blackguards.
- In a flashback sequence Dooku nearly kills a Falleen bounty hunter who was about to kill his apprentice with Force lightning, foreshadowing his fall to the dark side of the Force.
- Foregone Conclusion:
- Qui-Gon won't become a member of the Jedi Council, which would most likely result in Obi-Wan having to be transferred to apprentice under another Jedi Master.note
- Dooku's fall to the dark side of the Force.
- Full-Circle Revolution: One revolution follows the other almost immediately!
- First, Fanry leads her royal guard, including her attendant Cady, who's a Czerka slave, against Czerka occupation and orchestrates a coup to give herself full power. She leads the attack on the Czerka headquarter ship, despite having slaves on board. This leads to...
- Cady putting a blaster to Fanry's head and forcing her to step down. Cady and the other slaves Fanry freed in secret believed she would free all the slaves from Czerka control. Since Fanry reveals she has no intent, and blames anyone under Czerka control, she's forced to step down and her cousin Lamia becomes Queen.
- Gentleman Thief: Thieves Rahara Wick and Pax Maripher, though Rahara's a woman. They're strictly jewel thieves and don't like inflicting injury.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: Immediately after being crowned queen, Fanry launches an attack on Czerka, deciding that they're preventing Pijal from being independent. She also blames Rael for only seeing her as a little girl and helping Czerka draft the treaty which would give them power over Pijal.
- Heel–Face Turn: Cady turns against Fanry when the latter makes it clear she's willing to destroy a Czerka ship even though there are slaves being held onboard.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The Opposition, the resistance led by Halin Azucca, is mainly comprised of artists and performers and their acts of revolt are peaceful, with artistic protest demonstrations. Them suddenly bombing Czerka offices causes the Republic to send Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan to protect Princess Fanry. It turns out the Opposition isn't responsible for the more aggressive acts; Fanry and her royal guard planned the bombings and later faked assassination attempts.
- MegaCorp: Czerka Corporation, just like they were in Legends.
- My Greatest Failure: Rael being forced to kill his Padawan, Nim: During an escort mission, the ship Rael and his Padawan, Nim, were on was boarded by pirates. The pirates used a slicer dart on Nim, allowing them to control her actions and force her to attack Rael. With no other options, Rael was forced to kill Nim. He tries to make up for this by taking care of Princess Fanry.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: Captain Deren is utterly loyal to Princess Fanry, even when her orders are clearly distressing to him, such as being ordered to shoot Meritt Col and Obi-Wan.
- Mythology Gag: The cover art takes inspiration from the Jedi Apprentice series.
- Not What I Signed on For: Fanry's self-coup collapses when she proceeds to order her flagship, the Heavenly Sphere (which she renamed to Righteous), to fire on the Czerka Corporation vessel Leverage despite the incoming footage of all the ship's Czerka slaves rising up against their captors in a slave revolt. Not willing to murder the slaves to get at Czerka, Cady (herself a Czerka slave who had only recently removed her slave chip) and the rest of the ship's crew turn against her and take her captive.
- The Noun and the Noun: Master and Apprentice.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Played straight as usual with the Republic Senators and the Jedi Council to a degree, but somewhat defied with Chancellor Kaj, the predecessor to Chancellor Valorum. She's described as more hands-off, which causes many politicians to adore her since that leaves them to their own devices. Of course, said hands-off policy is implied to be what led to the Republic's current corruption and complacency.
- Pet the Dog: When Fanry starts her coup during her coronation, she takes the time to reassure the terrified court jeweler that she has nothing to worry about. She also behaves politely toward Qui-Gon on account of the latter having refused to verify the upcoming treaty because it would have cemented Czerka Corporation's control over Pijal. She is also clearly distressed when Obi-Wan wounds Captain Deren with his sabotaged lightsaber, hinting at her caring for her captain of the guard, which is later confirmed when it is stated that she wants to see the wounded Deren and apologize to him.
- Prequel: The book is primarily set 7 years before the events of The Phantom Menace.
- Prophecy Twist: Prior to the coronation ceremony for Princess Fanry Qui-Gon has a vision of the ceremony being interrupted by a Blackguard attack and that Fanry will be a victim of the attack. The attack takes place just as the Force had revealed to Qui-Gon, but Fanry is not a victim of the attack but instead its leader. Qui-Gon later realizes that not only was he supposed to have the vision, but he was also supposed to misinterpret the vision as well.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Deren is implied to be one of these.
- Raised by Robots: When Pax was 5 years old, his ship was invaded by pirates and everyone was killed. He survived by hiding and was eventually found by a group of protocol droids who raised him afterwards. His upbringing significantly affected his behavior and personality, leading him to an almost droid-like, but not apathetic, way of thinking.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Minister, and later Governor, Orth is this. She's loyal to Pijal and wants what is best for her planet. Notably, she wasn't involved with Fanry's coup. She mentions if Fanry had voiced her concerns to her, things might have gone differently and less violent.
- Refusal of the Call:
- At the story's beginning, Qui-Gon is offered a seat on the Jedi Council. After his experiences on Pijal and coming to view the Council as too complacent, he turns down their offer.
- Rael is contacted by his former master, Count Dooku, to come train with him and learn true power, away from the Jedi. Rael turns Dooku down as well, opting to remain with the Jedi despite having disagreements over their ideologies.
- Replacement Goldfish: Princess Fanry is this for Rael Aveross' deceased Padawan Nim, whom Rael was forced to kill in a pirate attack gone wrong. After becoming queen and declaring war, Fanry accuses Rael of only seeing her as a little girl because of this and not as a future leader.
- Resolved Noodle Incident: Now we know why Obi-Wan hates flying.
- The Reveal: Princess Fanry and her royal guard are behind the more violent acts of resistance. The entire thing is a False Flag Operation to place blame on the Opposition, the actual non-violent resistance, and to take control of Pijal. Fanry believes the Czerka Corporation and the Republic are exploiting Pijal, and enacted a plan to take back complete control over her planet.
- Shoot the Dog: Qui-Gon informs the Jedi Council about the assassination attempt on Fanry, but they still insist on moving ahead with the Pijal treaty. This treaty would open new hyperspace lanes and bring Pijal to the galaxy at large, but is also revealed to have a clause giving Czerka permanent control over Pijal's operations, such as mining. When Qui-Gon reveals this and refuses to help, the Council assign Obi-Wan to oversee the treaty, with additional clauses that the Senate can later change the Pijal treaty to take power away from Czerka. Both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are doubtful the Senate will actually do so, given its history of corruption. This is yet one more example of how the Jedi Council had grown too complacent and blind to galactic issues.
- Skeptic No Longer: Qui-Gon's Force visions of the Pijal ceremony going wrong eventually leads him to believing in the Jedi Prophecies again. Of course, as we know, this leads to his belief in the "Chosen Prophecy".
- Slave Brand: Czerka implants a chip underneath the left hand of their slaves. Rahara and Fanry's servant Cady both have the implant. Rahara removed hers when she escaped, and later, after Fanry attacks Czerka, Cady is revealed to have already removed her own.
- Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Though made illegal by the Republic, many Outer Rim and private companies, such as Czerka, use slaves as cheap labor. Rahara, an escaped slave, holds a special loathing for her former masters.
- Start of Darkness: Dooku's fascination with ancient Jedi prophecies and desire to control the future is implied to be the start of his fall to the dark side of the force. Averted in the case of Qui-Gon Jinn, who is just as fascinated with the ancient prophecies as Dooku was, but does not seek to control the future, believing it will all turn out as it should.
- Vagueness Is Coming: Many of the prophecies of the Jedi mystics are of this nature, such as "When the kyber that is not kyber shines forth, the time of prophecy will be at end." Obi-Wan laments the seeming absurdity of there being a prophecy about prophecy. The prophecy turns out to be true: kohlen crystals, called "fools kyber" are the "kyber that is not kyber" part of the prophecy. When used in a specific type of lightsaber, the kohlen crystal also emits a orange blade.
- Velvet Revolution: Halin and her Opposition attempt this. They're former artists and performers, and their revolution amounts to vandalizing statues and launching non-violent protests.
