Star Wars: Jedi Knights #5 -Master Yaddle Seals Her Fate

Star Wars: Jedi Knights #5, aptly titled Before The Fall, begins at a moment that those who watched The Tales Of Jedi, the animated shorts, will remember as Count Dooku, takes the first step in becoming Darth Sideoues’ apprentice following the death of Maul. The scene shows the final blow that Dooku delivers to Master Yaddle, after she confronts him after suspecting the former Jedi of pursuing a dark path.

The story then jumps to the recent path as Yaddle and Jedi Seera Longa are dispatched to mediate a situation involving the Trade Federation. Guggenheim does a great job of foreshadowing the events that will happen at the beginning of the Phantom Menace which sets Sideoues’ plans to destroy the Jedi in motion. As the two investigate both sides they run into Dooku, who is safeguarding Trade Federation property. Here, Dooku’s distain for the Order and Yaddle’s curiosity about his involvement are handled nicely and keep the story moving forward.

Yaddle’s conflict about not trusting Dooku, feeling The Force is compelling her to help does a great job of events that are already known: Dooku’s looming insolvent with Sideoues and his eventual murder of Yaddle in taking his final steps to the Dark Side , and the death and destruction he will bring during the Clone Wars, all of which are a result of Yaddle and Seera Longa likely saving him from being killed by the Wookie Bounty Hunters.

This issue doesn’t seem to play into the larger story which is built around the vision the Obi-Wan has about Qui-Gon’s murder but may be a more subtle connection that remains to be seen.

The art and colorwork continue to br dynamic and set the scene and mood for the story. The opening sequence of Dooku murdering Yaddle looks like the exact scence from. The animated episode and sets the tone for the issue.