Chapter Summaries

Gillard Perine led the Republic fleet into a black hole’s gravitational range to escape the Geth, then withdrew after breaking free and striking their pursuers. On Coruscant, Anakin went to confront Palpatine but was stunned by what he found inside the Chancellor’s Office.

• Gillard Perine ordered the battered Second Sub-fleet into a tight formation and led it toward a black hole while the Geth pursued.
• As the black hole’s gravity seized both fleets, Gillard Perine ordered the Republic ships to use their anti-gravity systems and engines to break free.
• The Republic fleet escaped, destroyed several Geth warships, and fled through hyperspace, though some damaged ships were lost to the black hole.
• Anakin Skywalker received a message from Sheev Palpatine and left the Jedi Temple to confront him at the Republic Senate Building.
• Anakin entered the Chancellor’s Office and heard Palpatine urging Governor Tarkin to send reinforcements to Dorin Planet, then froze at the sight before him.

Anakin confronted the gravely wounded Chancellor Palpatine after discovering he was a Sith Lord, but stopped short of killing him and demanded to know what had happened to Yoda. Palpatine said Yoda was alive but missing, then began explaining how his family’s murder and his master’s influence led him to seek power as Chancellor.

• Anakin entered Palpatine’s ruined office and found him injured but still directing the Republic’s response to Geth’s advance.
• Anakin accused Palpatine of being a Sith Lord and held his lightsaber near Palpatine, but could not bring himself to strike.
• Palpatine said he had fought Yoda and that the Archangel of Death had inflicted more serious wounds; Anakin sensed that Yoda was still alive but could not locate him.
• Palpatine told Anakin that his family had died when he was seventeen because they opposed the profitable plasma-mining trade on Naboo.
• Palpatine described how his Sith master had rescued him, how the tragedy had driven him toward the Dark Side, and how he sought to strengthen and reform the Republic by becoming Chancellor.

Palpatine told Anakin how he engineered the Naboo crisis and rose to power, framing his actions as revenge against corrupt authorities and a way to improve the Republic. Anakin lowered his lightsaber as Palpatine began recounting his Sith training, ending with the claim that Darth Pregas was murdered by his other apprentice, the Archangel of Death.

• Palpatine defended his record as Chancellor, and Anakin challenged him over orchestrating the siege of Naboo.
• Palpatine said he had used the plasma trade and Naboo blockade to bring down Ars Veruna, punish the Trade Federation, and gain power, while claiming he had supported Padmé Amidala.
• Anakin lowered and retracted his lightsaber after recognizing that Palpatine's account of his support for Padmé was true.
• Palpatine began telling Anakin about his master, Darth Pregas, and explained the Sith Rule of Two.
• Palpatine described Darth Pregas's studies of the Force and immortality, including his research into the Life Force and ability to create life.
• Palpatine said Darth Pregas had been killed by his other apprentice, the Archangel of Death.

Darth Sidious told Anakin Skywalker about Archangel of Death’s power over life and death and his past clashes with him. He warned that Archangel of Death was heading to Planet Korriban to enslave the buried Sith Lords, then undermined Anakin’s faith that his mother had truly been restored.

• Anakin Skywalker asked why Darth Pregas had taken Archangel of Death as a second apprentice, and Darth Sidious explained that he controlled death and could revive the dead as servants.
• Darth Sidious recounted how Archangel of Death poisoned him and Pregas, killed Pregas, and withered Sidious’s arm before fleeing with Pregas’s research.
• Darth Sidious said he later fought Archangel of Death on Planet Korriban, where the enemy wounded him and drained years from his life.
• Darth Sidious warned that Archangel of Death had returned to Planet Korriban to desecrate the Sith tombs and enslave the Sith Lords’ souls, and said no one could stop him.
• Darth Sidious told Anakin that his mother’s condition was that of a zombie, and Anakin angrily insisted that Archangel of Death could restore her completely.

Anakin returned to the Jedi Temple after confronting Darth Sidious and struggled with the cost of the war and his decision not to kill Palpatine. After Shaak Ti questioned him about the Jedi Order’s divisions and his choices, the story shifted to Zhang Jiarui supplying Kuat Drive Yards with Extractor technology data.

• Anakin told Shaak Ti that Yoda had lost to Sidious but was still alive and missing.
• Blood Knights confronted Anakin, accused him of having an agreement with Sidious, and provoked him into an angry outburst before Shaak Ti sent them to the confinement cells.
• Anakin explained to Shaak Ti that he had not attacked Palpatine because killing the Chancellor could destabilize the Republic and disrupt the war effort.
• Shaak Ti asked whether Anakin would still kill Palpatine if he were no longer Chancellor, but Anakin did not answer.
• Zhang Jiarui began giving Kuat Drive Yards technology data for the Thor Mech, but wrote down the original Extractor technology instead of the Decimator cannon currently used on it.

Zhang Jiarui pretended to help Kuat Drive Yards analyze the Thor Mech while secretly preparing to escape. He transferred General Kalani’s chip into an engineering robot, leaving his next move poised to begin.

• Zhang Jiarui gave Kuat’s engineers technical formulas, then deliberately supplied flawed data and persuaded Little Kuat to let him inspect the Thor Mech with their help.
• While pretending to examine the wreckage, Zhang Jiarui retrieved General Kalani’s chip from his armpit, hid it in the cockpit, and staged a fall to explain his injury.
• Zhang Jiarui recovered from his cuts and spent several days working with the engineers, earning their trust and arranging for engineering robots to assist them.
• Zhang Jiarui crawled into the Thor Mech’s energy core compartment, retrieved General Kalani’s chip, and replaced an engineering robot’s chip with it.
• The rebooted engineering robot announced that it could not work until its operating system was rewritten, and Zhang Jiarui took the engineers out for drinks.

Zhang Jiarui bought time on Kuat Planet while General Kalani prepared to gain control of the industrial Star Ring, and Adele Ulan confronted a mechanical double of Tang Xiao over their distant marriage. Meanwhile, Darth Malthael arrived in the Korriban system, ready to disrupt Darth Sidious's timing for Order 66.

• Zhang Jiarui got Kuat engineers drunk, then agreed to stall while General Kalani prepared to take control of their surroundings.
• Adele Ulan worked to build a force of her own using resources from Rendili's relocation, with Gali Ulan sending her talented staff to help.
• Adele Ulan confronted a Tang Xiao who had avoided her for nearly two months, and he cut his wrist to reveal machinery beneath his skin.
• Darth Malthael arrived in the Korriban system aboard his new Red Comet spacecraft after preparing to interfere with Darth Sidious's plans for Order 66.

Darth Malthael’s plan to expose hidden intelligence through I-5YQ finally triggered Coruscant’s lockdown, forcing Darth Sidious to act against the Jedi before he had fully consolidated power. With Sidious distracted, Malthael traveled to Planet Korriban to complete the dark ritual he had been unable to finish under Sidious’s watch.

• Darth Malthael had hidden Lorn Pavan’s intelligence inside I-5YQ and arranged for Jax Pavan to discover it and alert Master Yoda.
• Darth Malthael intended the intelligence to force Darth Sidious into attacking the Jedi Order before his power was fully consolidated, while still allowing Order 66 to destroy the Order and leave more survivors.
• Darth Malthael learned that Coruscant had entered lockdown and understood that his plan had been set in motion.
• Darth Malthael went to Planet Korriban to complete his dark ritual while Darth Sidious was occupied.

Darth Malthael entered the Valley of the Dark Lords to bring its dead Sith Lords under his command. He overcame Marka Ragnos and the other spirits’ attack, and a black gemstone fell into his hand as the ancient Sith began to dissolve.

• Darth Malthael traveled through the Sith Academy toward the Valley of the Dark Lords, drawing spirits and a raging sandstorm behind him.
• At the valley entrance, Darth Malthael declared that he had come to command death, and Marka Ragnos appeared with Naga Sadow, Ludo Kressh, Ajunta Pall, and other Sith spirits.
• Darth Malthael challenged the spirits and advanced into the valley, using the Death Force to dispel the black mist and fierce winds.
• The valley transformed into darkness, where gigantic skeletal forms of Marka Ragnos and other Sith Lords attacked Darth Malthael.
• Darth Malthael continued forward as the skeletons dissolved into yellow sand, and a pitch-black gemstone fell into his hand.

Darth Malthael was overwhelmed by the ancient Sith Lords’ attacks, but he realized that the darkness around them was a mind-shaped world of the Force and unleashed a colossal claw and Crimson Lightning. He returned to the Valley of the Dark Lords physically weakened and lost within its depths as Marka Ragnos warned that he would still die there.

• Marka Ragnos and the other ancient Sith Lords pierced Darth Malthael with bone spikes and tore his body apart, but he continued to question the nature of their surroundings.
• Darth Malthael realized that they were in the world of the Force, where he could drag the Sith Lords’ spirits from their skeletal bodies and make them disintegrate.
• Darth Malthael described the realm as a world shaped by the mind, then summoned an enormous claw and Crimson Lightning that destroyed the darkness and the ancient Sith Lords’ skeletal forms.
• Darth Malthael reappeared deep inside the Valley of the Dark Lords, coughing black sand and reduced to a shriveled corpse.
• Marka Ragnos warned Darth Malthael that he would still die in the valley.

Darth Malthael shielded himself from the Sith spirits and began a final attempt to master the Force and become Death Incarnate. As Marka Ragnos cursed him, Malthael started crafting a new Lightsaber from strangely twisted components.

• Darth Malthael sealed the nine ancient Sith Lords he had confronted into black gemstones and began meditating with white Kyber Crystals and Lightsaber components.
• Marka Ragnos sent Sith spirits to attack Darth Malthael, but an invisible barrier prevented them from reaching him.
• Darth Malthael explained that the Death Force could sever the bridge between the real world and the Force world, leaving the spirits unable to affect him.
• Darth Malthael reflected on his failure to conquer the ancient Sith spirits and chose to risk the last of his Force in another attempt to become Death Incarnate.
• Darth Malthael used the Force to assemble and twist components into the unsettling hilt of a new Lightsaber.

Darth Malthael forged a grotesque Lightsaber through Sith Alchemy, corrupting its three Kyber Crystals with the Dark Side. After declaring that the Force passage revealed a new path, he drove the weapon through his own chest, and as he died, one of nine black gemstones began moving toward the hilt.

• Darth Malthael assembled a tentacled black Lightsaber around three Kyber Crystals and used Death Force to turn them crimson.
• Ludo Kressh warned that Sith Alchemy could make Darth Malthael lose control and go insane.
• Darth Malthael said his battle had revealed the passage to the world of the Force and dismissed the Lightsaber as not powerful enough.
• Marka Ragnos urged Darth Malthael to leave Korriban, but Darth Malthael refused and summoned nine black gemstones.
• Darth Malthael activated both crimson blades through his chest, and the ancient Sith ghosts retreated from the threat surrounding him.
• As Darth Malthael died, a black lightning bolt struck one gemstone, drawing it toward the Lightsaber.

Darth Malthael completed the black Lightsaber, named Soul Stealer, and used it to destroy several ancient Sith spirits. He then pursued Marka Ragnos deeper into the valley.

• Marka Ragnos and the other Sith spirits attacked Darth Malthael as the remaining black gemstones were drawn into his hilt.
• The ninth gemstone completed the Lightsaber, whose black blade destroyed the attacking spirits and cut Marka Ragnos in half as he fled.
• Darth Malthael recovered, took up the double-bladed Lightsaber, and named it Soul Stealer.
• Darth Malthael killed Ludo Kressh and Naga Sadow, turning them into gemstones for the weapon.
• Ajunta Pall dissipated as Darth Malthael taunted him and declared that Marka Ragnos was next.

Darth Malthael pursued the ancient Sith spirits with Soul Reaver, a weapon that could cut through spirits and channel the Force. He defeated and sealed Marka Ragnos, absorbing a tremendous surge of Death Force that brought him closer to death.

• Darth Malthael pursued the fleeing Sith spirits through the Valley of the Dark Lords with Soul Reaver.
• Darth Malthael confronted Marka Ragnos and rejected his offer to recognize him as ruler of the Sith Empire.
• Marka Ragnos attacked Darth Malthael with black mist, but Darth Malthael cut him apart with Soul Reaver.
• Soul Reaver's tendrils sealed Marka Ragnos inside a black gemstone and drew it into the sword.
• Darth Malthael felt a surge of Death Force and realized he was incomparably close to death.

Jedi Master Shaak Ti accused Chancellor Sheev Palpatine of being a Sith Lord and announced that the Jedi Order would leave the Galactic Republic. Palpatine condemned the withdrawal and demanded that the Jedi Temple be opened for a thorough investigation.

• Shaak Ti confronted Sheev Palpatine in the Galactic Senate and accused him of being unfit to lead the Republic as a Sith Lord.
• Palpatine defended his actions and challenged Shaak Ti to provide evidence, and she admitted the Jedi Order had none.
• Shaak Ti announced that the Jedi Order would leave the Galactic Republic and withdraw to remote planets.
• Palpatine accused the Jedi Order of helping the Separatists and claimed its departure would delay victory.
• Palpatine demanded that the Jedi Temple be opened and searched to protect the Republic's secrets.

Palpatine demanded access to the Jedi archives and framed the dispute as a Senate vote, while Shaak Ti accused him of trying to seize Jedi research. As the Senate erupted in support of the Jedi, clone troopers surrounded the Temple, and the Second Systems Army gathered at Bandomeer to threaten Mandalore and the Neutral Systems Alliance.

• Shaak Ti offered limited access to Jedi records, but Palpatine insisted on a thorough investigation of the Temple Library and archives.
• Shaak Ti accused Palpatine of seeking Jedi research, and Palpatine challenged the Order’s loyalty while calling for a Senate vote.
• Padmé Amidala denounced Palpatine’s involvement, prompting senators to voice support for the Jedi before Palpatine ordered Jedi confined to the Temple.
• Spaarti clone troopers surrounded the Jedi Temple as Shaak Ti and Palpatine left the Senate Chamber.
• The Second Systems Army Main Fleet assembled at Bandomeer, positioning itself to suppress the Neutral Systems Alliance and Mandalore.

Mandalore’s civil war destabilized the Neutral Systems Alliance, prompting the Republic’s Second Systems Army to spread its fleet across the region. On the army’s flagship, Ry-Gaul and Windu discussed the uncertain situation on Coruscant and the possibility that the Jedi Order had assassinated Palpatine.

• Death Watch, led by Pre Vizsla and Bo-Katan Kryze, struggled to seize Mandalore because of its poor reputation and limits on violence.
• Planets in the Neutral Systems Alliance split between seeking Separatist support, returning to the Republic, and forming a new neutral alliance.
• The Second Systems Army deployed most of its fleet to patrol the alliance and guard transport hubs, provoking disputes with neutral worlds.
• Ry-Gaul told Windu that communications with Coruscant remained restricted and confirmed that its defenses had shifted focus.
• Windu suspected the Jedi Order might have been responsible for Palpatine’s assassination.

Mace Windu, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Lei-Gul discussed why the Jedi could not return to Coruscant and decided the Second Systems Army and Neutral Systems Alliance had to remain a threat to Palpatine. Near Prolo II, Sefrans Tann’s Conqueror-class battleship Destruction destroyed a Republic battlecruiser and began its attack on the Second Systems Army.

• Windu told Lei-Gul that the Jedi had learned Chancellor Sheev Palpatine was the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, but could not simply arrest him based on intelligence from another Sith Lord.
• Ki-Adi-Mundi explained that Windu’s expulsion from the Jedi Order freed the group to take control of the Second Systems Army, while Windu also identified the Neutral Systems Alliance as an ally.
• Lei-Gul agreed that the army should stay away from Coruscant and continue campaigning as a threat to Palpatine, and Windu and the others vowed that blood debts would be repaid in blood.
• A fleet commander reported that the J-13 Sub-fleet had lost contact near Prolo II, so Windu ordered the nearby Fourth Sub-fleet to investigate.
• Admiral Sefrans Tann’s Destruction attacked the Republic force near Prolo II, disabled its ships and starfighters, and blasted the Hunter Class Battlecruiser into wreckage.

Darth Lilim arrived on Planet Korriban after answering Darth Malthael’s summons and endured the Sith spirits’ assault to reach him. She found that her master had conquered the Valley of the Dark Lords, and Darth Malthael began explaining why he had never brought her to Korriban before.

• Darth Lilim left her command post on Ord Mantell and traveled to Planet Korriban when Darth Malthael summoned her.
• Darth Lilim passed through the Sith Academy despite the spirits’ attempts to overwhelm her mind.
• Darth Lilim entered the Valley of the Dark Lords without being attacked and realized that Darth Malthael had conquered its spirits.
• Darth Lilim knelt before Darth Malthael and congratulated him, while he dismissed her praise and said he was still far from becoming the One-Man Sith.
• Darth Malthael explained that he had avoided Korriban because it had once been a burial ground for the Sith Empire’s failures.

Darth-Malthael rejected the Sith spirits’ inheritance and declared himself King of the Undead in the Valley of the Dark Lords. He ordered Darth-Lilim to kill him, then attacked when she hesitated, leaving her to fight for her life as he condemned her weakness.

• Darth-Malthael explained that Sith spirits passed on resentment and hatred, then declared he wanted his servants to inherit victory and conquest instead.
• Darth-Malthael said he had defeated Marka Ragnos, Ludo Kressh, and Naga Sadow, and claimed the title of King of the Undead in the Valley of the Dark Lords.
• Darth-Malthael ordered Darth-Lilim to kill him and promised she would gain everything, including Dawn Star Planet, but she refused to raise her blade against her master.
• Darth-Malthael threatened Darth-Lilim, prompting her to attack with Force lightning; he blocked her strike and hurled her backward with the Force.
• Darth-Malthael pressed the wounded Darth-Lilim with his Lightsaber, outmatched her swordsmanship, and berated her for becoming weak and pampered.
• Darth-Lilim denied that she was weak and charged at Darth-Malthael again.