Page 60 - Star Wars Insider #194

PATHS OF DESTINY

LINEAGE OF THE FORCE

Masters and Their Apprentices
Over a thousand years the Jedi became brilliant teachers, to the Jedi Order difficult to adapt to.

able to draw out of their Padawans a deep connection with However, the Jedi Council set aside this ancient wisdom
the Force that was formerly the privilege of only a few of the and accepted nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker for Jedi training.
most fortunate and dedicated Jedi Masters. The Jedi Order This decision was one of the most momentous in galactic
also learned that such power easily overwhelms an untrained history, for Anakin’s subsequent fall to the dark side of the
psyche, and thus arose the strict policy of taking recognized Force and rise to tremendous evil power as the Sith Lord Darth
Force-sensitive children from their parents at an early age, Vader, right hand of Darth Sidious, resulted in the destruction
before family bonds made the more austere life of dedication of the Republic that the Jedi were sworn to protect.

Count Dooku /
Darth Tyranus
Yoda A man of singular brilliance and
Yoda’s tremendously long lifespan allowed him to appreciate better individuality, Count Dooku resigned
than his fellow Jedi the gravity of the profound changes occurring in from the Jedi in frustration at the
the fi nal days of the Republic. Yoda knew how much work it had taken Order’s restrictions and failures.
to build the great edifi ce of galactic civilization, and how deeply it could He reveled in the freedom to do
be damaged, perhaps irretrievably, in a short span of critical neglect. anything his abilities allowed,
The diminutive Jedi Master trained numerous Padawans who and quickly became one of the
became prominent fi gures in galactic history, each of whom went on to most powerful voices in galactic
have a profound infl uence on subsequent generations. government. Openly a leader of
the Separatist cause, he secretly
schemed with Darth Sidious,
becoming the Sith apprentice
Darth Sidious Darth Tyranus and working on both
A master of patience and profound sides to foment the civil war that
duplicity, Darth Sidious obscured would destroy the Republic.
himself beneath his public identity as
the kindly Senator Palpatine, as he
rose from modest interstellar political
power to become a leading voice in
the Galactic Senate. The profound
cunning of Sidious’ slow-burning
plan to become Emperor was
exceeded only by his utter treachery
to those foolish or greedy enough
to trust him. He trained others in
the dark arts for his own ends, and
disposed of them ruthlessly when
those ends were met.

Darth Maul
Darth Sidious considered the realm Anakin Skywalker
of action beneath him, cultivating With no father fi gure in his life, Anakin Skywalker
Sith underlings for such purposes. He was easily captivated by the friendly, informal
exploited no individual more effectively tutelage of Chancellor Palpatine, who gradually
than Darth Maul. For Sidious, Maul was drew the troubled Padawan away from his
a blunt instrument, whose interest in allegiance to the ways of the Jedi. Without the vital
Sith knowledge was restricted to those grounding that other Jedi took for granted, Anakin
insights that made him more physically was left bewildered by their rules and his own
powerful and invincible in combat. emotional impulses, which Palpatine exploited.

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