Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic-Days of Fear, Nights of Anger collects issues 13-18 written by John Jackson Miller with art by Brian Ching, Dustin Weaver, and Harvey Tolibao.
Synopsis
With the money that Gryph was able to access on Telerath in hand; the gang prepares to go their separate ways. Jarael, Camper and LB take off in The Last Resort; while Gryph pays a Trandoshan named Slyssk to steal a ship for him and Zayne. It turns out that the ship is a provisioning vessel and the three find themselves in a Republic convoy en route to Serroco on the front lines of the war. Gryph embraces the mishap and ends up making money hand over fist selling food to the soldiers; but Zayne is plagued by visions of Serroco’s destruction and chooses to turn himself in to Adm. Karath in order to warn him of the impending attack. Now a captive on board the Republic ship Courageous, Zayne, along with Karath and Carth Onasi, barely escape when the ship is overrun by the Mandalorians. Meanwhile, on The Last Resort, Jarael and Camper are menaced by an HK-24 droid sent to capture Camper. “Rohlan Dyre” emerges from his hiding place to dispatch the killer. Later, Camper becomes gravely ill, forcing Jarael to take them to the planet Arkania in order to get him help. They are taken aboard the ship Arkanian Legacy, a mobile hospital and corporate headquarters for Adascorp, the very people that Camper was so desperately trying to avoid. Arkoh Adasca promises Jarael that they are committed to helping Camper, but his more sinister motives are soon revealed.
Review
Days of Fear, Nights of Anger takes the classic narrative route of splitting some of our heroes up to see what kind of trouble they can get into separately. I think it works pretty well here, and it gives us something to look forward to since we know they will eventually end up together again. The question remains: how much trouble can they get into? The answer: a lot. The Gryph/Zayne plot starts off strong by introducing us to Slyssk the cowardly Trandoshan. This guy rivals the Moomo Bros. in being a pure, unadulterated delight. The idea of a Trandoshan who doesn’t like to hunt and finds more joy in being a cook on Gryph’s restaurant ship is genius. When Gryph cons him into thinking that he has saved his life, Slyssk is more than happy to undertake a life debt to the Snivvian, telling him, “You’re the first person I’ve ever owed a life-debt to! Nobody’s ever wanted to save my life before!”
When they set up shop on Serroco, Zayne meets Carth Onasi and Admiral Karath. Carth, in between droning on about his family, takes a liking to Zayne and they start to establish a nice dynamic. Karath is presented as just enough of a jerk here; it sets up the potential of his future villainy without making him completely unlikeable. Zayne’s reaction when he witnesses the destruction wrought on Serroco and thinks Gryph is killed is really moving. The Jarael/Camper storyline is admittedly not as much fun as the Zayne/Gryph one. That’s to be expected, though. It starts off with a fight between an HK droid (with the kind of dialogue that you expect), Jarael, and Elbee the loader droid which ends with a Mandalorian coming out of nowhere and taking the droid out. I mean, anything after that is going to feel anti-climactic. You get a lot of humor with Zayne and Gryph; but it’s kind of hard to make a story about an oppressed sub-species and an evil corporation trying to weaponize exogorths funny. Nevertheless, it’s a worthwhile story that ties in to the bigger picture of the series. You get a lot of fascinating information and background on the Arkanians, Arkanian Offshoots, Camper, and more tantalizing glimpses into Jarael’s background.
Notes
The scene where Jarael goes to what is basically an Offshoot internment camp (it might actually be more accurate to describe it as a ghetto in the historical sense of that word) is an example of the kind of detailed world-building that this series is capable of. We may never see those characters again, but when they are in front of us they are presented with depth. I don’t know what else to tell you, this feels a lot like a transitional story; which is not to say that nothing happens, a lot happens. It’s just that it mostly feels like stuff that is building toward something bigger, because it is.
Comic Pack Wish List: Slyssk, Carth Onasi
Score:
This volume sacrifices the somewhat frenetic pace of previous entries, but does so for the sake of some solid worldbuilding: 5 Skulls.
