#yula braylon | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

xtinadoesstarwars · 4 years

Text

Dooku: Jedi Lost

I was really apprehensive about starting this book because I wasn’t entirely interested in knowing more about Dooku because what else is there to know? He’s got style, he’s got grace, and he’s a winner, he’s Count of Serenno. Anyway, I find that the books I think aren’t going to interest me are the ones I learn the most from.

Spoilers below.

First off, this isn’t actually a book. You can buy the script on Amazon but it is primarily available as an audio play of sorts. The script was written by Cavan Scott who has authored several books in the Star Wars literature. The run time is a little over 6 hours, so it’s a lot shorter than other books I’ve listened to in Star Wars canon (Catalyst and Bloodlines - covering those both later).

The basic plot summary is that Asajj Ventress learns about her master Count Dooku and his past from various sources, including his own recountings to her, communications between him and his sister, Jenza, as well as his holopad journal, while she is on a quest to find Jenza.

Notable things I learned about:

1) The Lost Twenty - Jedi Masters who became disillusioned with the Jedi Order. I remember this being mentioned in an Episode II: AOTC deleted scene but didn’t give much thought to it. There are many components of the Jedi Order that have perpetually perplex me, especially in light of the original trilogy and the sequel trilogy. The only stories we hear of the Force are those at the opposing ends - the lightest and the darkest. It would be something to see a story of balance. It’s a lot to ask of people to give up familial ties, to take children away from their families, but I also see the importance of learning how to balance one’s power in the Force, lest one becomes a danger to oneself or others.

2) Expanding upon the idea of balance in the Force, we get an ancient Jedi mantra for balance in Dooku: Jedi Lost:

We call upon the three—light, dark, and balance true. One is no greater than the others. Together, they unite, restore, center, and renew. We walk into the light, acknowledge the dark, and find balance within ourselves. The Force is strong.

3) This may or may not be a correct conclusion to draw from the book but it kiiiiiinda seems like mayyyybeeeee Dooku’s turn to the dark side miiiiiight have been related to the “legend” that Serenno was once part of the Sith empire (Me in my head: spicy peppers for spicy Siths). His sister Jenza recounts to him that once of their ancestors fought off the Sith and the other houses submitted to them. They have a funny little exchange about Jedi and Serennians, but I will leave y’all to read that.

Stuff that made me LOL:

- Dooku and Sifo-Dyas were so cute and shitty to each other, as preteens and teens are wont to do. They had NICKNAMES (Doo and Si), fabulous to see Dooku with a sense of humor not so mired in darkness, although you could argue he is pretty funny in The Clone Wars TV show.

- Asajj having lengthy conversations with Ky about whether or not he’s really in her head or if she’s just losing it, because their bickering was A+.

- Asajj threatening people.

- Dooku fighting with a fucking glass of wine and not spilling it like the bad bitch that he is. The man SIMPLY HAS STYLE!

Characters:

Orlagh Cassidy as Asajj Ventress

Euan Morton as Dooku

Pete Bradbury as Gretz Droom (new character, Padawan to Jor Aerith)

Jonathan Davis as Qui-Gon Jinn

Neil Hellegers as Ramil (New character, brother of Dooku)

Sean Kenin as Sifo-Dyas

January LaVoy as Jor Aerith (New character, Master to Gretz Droom)

Saskia Maarleveld as Jenza (New character, sister to Dooku)

Carol Monda as Lene Kostana (New character, Master to Sifo-Dyas, Dooku is greatly fascinated by her and her work to study and find Sith relics in order to prepare for what she believes is the impending Sith uprising)

Robert Petkoff as Ky Narec (Former Master to Asajj, serving as the voice of her consciousness--the way I heard it anyway)

Rebecca Soler as Yula Braylon (New character, a Seeker and Jedi who had a son Arath--unbeknownst to the Council--who was somewhat of an annoyance or rival to Dooku during their days as initiates)

Marc Thompson as Yoda (Master to Dooku)

#book spoilers #dooku: jedi lost #xtina does star wars #books

3 notes · View notes

gffa · 5 years

Note

Hey there you're usually my number one source for Star Wars stuff! Is there any reason why Corey Burton isnt voicing Dooku for the audiobook that is coming out for dooku? I love Dooku so much and was a bit surprised!

Hi! I don’t have any official info on this, but my assumption is that it’s because it’s a different company making the audio drama than made TCW and that Random House Audio may not have access or may just prefer using their usual contracted actors.It’s not just Corey Burton for Dooku, either! Here’s the audio drama cast:Dooku: Jedi Lost cast:Orlagh Cassidy as Asajj VentressEuan Morton as DookuPete Bradbury as Gretz DroomJonathan Davis as Qui-Gon JinnNeil Hellegers as RamilSean Kenin as Sifo-DyasJanuary LaVoy as Jor AerithSaskia Maarleveld as JenzaCarol Monda as Lene KostanaRobert Petkoff as Ky NarecRebecca Soler as Yula BraylonMarc Thompson as YodaVERSUS The Clone Wars cast, where applicable:Nika Futterman as Asajj VentressCorey Burton as DookuLiam Neeson as Qui-Gon JinnTom Kane as YodaSometimes the books do get the actors from TCW or the movies to read the novels (like Ashley Eckstein for Ahsoka, Kelly Marie Tran for Cobalt Squadron, Catherine Taber for Queen’s Shadow) but far more often they use readers like Marc Thomspon or January LaVoy (who are my favorites!) for Star Wars books and it makes sense that they’d be part of this.It might be a money thing (it’d be expensive to hire those actors for just the one job) or it might be a contract thing or a preference thing, but it’s not too surprising and I’m eager to hear it, they’re a bunch of really good actors in there! ♥

#novels #Anonymous

6 notes · View notes

escaping-thoughts-reviews · 3 years

Text

Dooku: Jedi Lost by Cavan Scott, 2019

Not much is known of the mysterious leader of the Independent Systems. Former Jedi Master, Count of Serenno, philanthropist, political genius and secretly Lord of the Sith.

This is his story. From birth to Jedi-hood and sub sequential fall to the Darkside. It follows Dooku’s growth, the friends he made, his journey as a Master of two controversial Padawans and his fascination with ancient Sith relics and Jedi prophecies.

First audiobook I ever listened to, and while a paper version was later published, I think the book works better in his original audio format (I’ll explain later).

The book starts just before the events of the Clone Wars. Ventress is starting her apprenticeship with Dooku and is given the task to find a woman that has close ties to the former Jedi Master.

The narration jumps from present to past through audiologs of Dooku’s childhood as Initiate, Padawan and into adulthood as a Knight and Master.

I found this narrating choice to be very effective and while other books can fall into the trap of blurring the lines between past and present events, confusing the reader, here the author manages to keep the two distict.

One of the most interesting parts of this novel is Dooku’s family and their history. We discover how he came to be in the Jedi Order and his father’s resentment of him. It’s revealed he has two siblings, a sister named Jenza and a brother, Ramil. During the novel we see their relationship grow. And while Jenza cares for Dooku and stays in contact with him through the years, Ramil takes from their father and resents Dooku and wants nothing to do with him.

Serenno as a world is further explored. From their repulsion for Force sensitive beings to an ancient mural depicting a creature capable of destroying the world: the Tirra’Taka.

We also explore Dooku’s relationship with Sifo-Dyas, a fellow Initiate and Padawan, and his slow descent into madness that will lead him to create the Clone Army.

Sadly Yoda is written as a crappy master and it feels really out of character. He chooses Dooku, but almost immediately leaves him with another Master and barely teaches him anything. I feel like this was a lost opportunity to explore their bond and the reasons Dooku resents Yoda so much in the future (I guess for that we have the EU).

The reason why this story works better in audio format can be summarised in a scene when Dooku hears voices in a vision when only a Padawan learner (some among them are Ventress, Savage, Sidious, Qui-Gon, Yoda, etc...). I loved this moment, although it begs the question if Dooku always had this ability. Sure it could be tallied to this being a Disney book and therefore “there are no rules”, but some consistency would be appreciated.

As the story switches to Ventress’s PoV, we learn more abou Ky Narec through her recalling of events, and his voice acts as a conscience to the Sith assassin. A conscience she tries to bury.

I would also like to share some of my favourite moments from this book (no spoilers):

D: “There’s no harm in feeling pride. I’m proud of you after all.” “If I never do anything of note ever again, I will watch you rise through the Order, changing it forever”

Q: “For the better?”

D: *soft, warm laugh*

This is probably one of my favourite moments. We see Dooku’s clear affection towards Qui-Gon and knowing the faith of the latter, it makes it even more heartbreaking (Euan Morton does an amazing job, that laugh kills me). It also allows us to understand more clearly why Dooku fell to the Dark Side, making the reader empathize with him.

D: “You are wise beyond your years, Qui-Gon Jinn. With a connection to the Living Force that may even rival Yoda.”

Q: “I doubt that”

[Oh, Qui, you don’t even know the half of it.]

D: “I have faith in you and faith in the Force”

[How do you go from this to the bitter man of CW?]

As events unfold, Dooku and Qui-Gon are sent by the Coucil to attend a Swooper race, where they encounter Ramil, who’s there as a pilot.

The action picks up as his swooper is sabotaged and the two Jedi chase the culprits through the underground levels of Coruscant, and we discover where Qui-Gon gets his maverik streak, or better, from who he gets it.

The chase leads them to confront a criminal boss. The confrontation enrages Dooku to the point he has to fight the lightning that threatens to escape, keeping it inside, controling it. Which is interesting, but also contradicts what we know about Force lightning, aka only those who are subjected to it in prolonged periods of time can use it. So it begs the question of how can Dooku use this ability if he was never exposed to it. But, again, this is a Disney novel, so lore consistency is not really expected. Here instead it’s treated as a force from within and the only way to control it is to accept it.

Another interesting side-plot it’s when a member of the Council is revealed to be allied with the underground boss, but only to protect a fellow Jedi, later revealed to be her son. The Master in question is Yula Braylon, a fromer seeker (a Jedi who finds Force sensitive children and brings them to the Temple). Her son instead is revealed to be Dooku’s training rival, Arath.

This opens a whole conversation about what’s wrong with the Order, because how sad is it that when threatened, a Jedi feels it’s safer to comply with the requests of a criminal, that to ask the Council for help. In the end, both Breylon and Arath are arrested.

The story then shifts to Dooku’s homeworld of Serenno, that is under invasion, the Republic doesn’t care (so neither does the Order) because they see it as an “internal fewd”, although they are under attack from a foreign world. Jenza sends a official help request, but the Order decides to ignore it. Dooku defies the Council and along with Sifo-Dyas and his Master, Kostana, travel to Serenno.

Ramil is revealed to be behind the invasion, the Houses of Serenno are in shambles and the population is forced out into the plains as refugees. The situation is dire.

Everything escaletes when Dooku and Kostana fall into a crevice and find the mythical Tirra’Taka.

To save his people Dooku mind melds with him and has accesses its memories, discovering that the Tirra’Taka was enslaved by the Sith and abandoned on Serenno after their defeat at the hands of House Serenno. He also discoveres that the beast hates force-sensitives and that he reawakened when Dooku returned all those years ago. Finally explaining the fear and aberration Dooku’s father, Count Gora, felt towards him and how he saw his son’s Force-sensitivity as a threat to Serenno and wanted him as far away as possible.

Along with these revelations Sifo-Dyas is rapidly losing his mind, having nonstop visions, caused by the growing distress of the creature. I’ll be honest, Syfo’s abilities don’t make much sense and seem to be there just to hype the drama.

Before Ramil can kill Jenza and the rest of the people, Dooku summons the Tirra’Taka and uses it to destroy the invading army. This causes Sifo-Dyas to lose his mind completely. The fight ends with Dooku killing his brother.

Sadly the beast goes insane and Dooku is reluctantly forced to kill it to save Kostana, Sifo and Jenza.

D: “I never ment to hurt you. Not like the others. Never ment to bend you to my will. I’m sorry. So, so sorry.”

Here the author has me perplexed. He describes Dooku striking down the beast with his “golden blade”. Since when does Dooku have a golden kyber? It makes no sense, but again, it’s Disney...

After the battle, they discover this new, rare and, therefore, expensive ore called Zaccanium and now the Repubblic is interested in helping. This makes Dooku livid, keeping in line with his character and his contempt for the corruption of the Republic.

Yoda: “More than a name, the Jedi are. More than a title”.

Because of this Dooku decides to remain on Serenno as the new Count. Sealing his fate, as Sifo says “All the futures have become one. One path”.

D: “Please tell Rael and Qui-Gon... tell them the Force will be with them, always.”

This concludes the flashback section of the book and we return to the present, where Ventress finds the woman she was tasked to hunt down.

She’s revealed to be Jenza, who wanted to go ask the Jedi to help her brother, for she fears he’s walking down a dark path, but was instead kindnapped by Republic agents and tortured for informations about the Separatists. Dooku arrives she begs him to get help form the Council and to stop listening to the “hooded man”.

Meanwhile, Narec’s voice is still trying to convince Ventress to run away and gives her a vision of what awaits the former Jedi Master. As she’s trown back to reality, Dooku gives her an order, to which Narec tries again to convince Ventress to run away, in the last desperate attempt to keep her in the Light, but she doesn’t. She obeys the Sith and Narec finally disapears. She made her choice.

Lore wise: it’s interesting. Through the course of the movies and animated series, we never really see or learn about Dooku as a character (his motivations, aspirations, bonds if he ever had any). the most we get is a hint of his affection for Qui-Gon in Episode II or, his almost panicked reaction at Sidious’s order to kill Ventress (you could also count the ROTS novelization by M. Stover, where he tries to convince Sidious not to kill Obi-Wan, because he sees him as a grandson).

I liked the concept that Dooku gained the Force lightning before becoming a Sith, because it kind of shows that although it’s associated with the Dark Side, it’s still part of the Force.

The biggest change this book makes (also “Master and Apprentice”) is probably to the timeline In the EU, Dooku and Qui-Gon were 10 years apart, making Qui-Gon in Episode I 60 yrs old and Dooku 70 (80 in Ep II). While now, in the Disney canon, Qui-Gon is 47 and Dooku is still 70. Not a big deal I guess, but it does raise the question: how does Qui-Gon have the rank of Master in TPM, if Obi-Wan is his only Padawan? Qui-Gon was 22 when Obi-Wan was born, so that leaves approximately a 13 years gap, in which they could squeeze in another Padawan.

At least it’s implied that Dooku still joined Sidious after Qui-Gon’s death, I was afraid they’d retcon that. I always liked that it was that loss that pushed him to the edge.

Voice acting: Orlagh Cassidy as Ventress is good, she sounds very similar to Nika Futterman. Morton’s Dooku grows on you after a while, although the not so pronounced british accent is quite distracting, but what can I say, there’s only one Chistopher Lee. Qui-Gon is... interesting. Like, I know he should be 13/14 when he’s first introduced, but he sounds way older (sometimes older that Dooku), but to his credit the slight irish accent is delightful. Also Jonathan Davis delivery and speech patterns mimic those of Liam Neeson pretty well. On the other hand I was not expecting Rael’s voice to sound like that! Nice.

So, in conclusion:

Jenza deserved better

Ventress deserved better

Dooku is a dick, like his father and brother before him

But in all seriousness, this is a very well acted audiobook, with an amazing soundtrack and an interesting story that sheds light on one of the most unexplored characters of the Prequel Trilogy.

———————

Rating: It’s a buy!

#books #star wars #dooku: jedi lost #count dooku #booklr #reviews #long review #slighty spoilerish #2019 #escaping thoughts

1 note · View note

bolithesenate · 3 months

Text

not a single day passes where I don't think about the implication of legends(?)-comics jedi master Vima-Da-Boda

she *has* to have been in her prime during the clone wars, which puts her right into the time frame of anakin 'stress ulcer over my secret wife's secret pregnancy' skywalker.

why am i saying this?

because this woman, a jedi master from a *geneological jedi dynasty*, also got pregnant, had a whole daughter and TRAINED HER AS HER OWN PADAWAN (the daughter then wdnt off and fell and got herself killed but thats besides the point)

what i'm saying is that between Vima (and the whole Sunrider Dynasty tbh) and Yula Braylon (who hid her child but Yoda explicitly states that they would have helped her had she told them) and the several other jedi with close family bonds in and outside the order WHY do people keep insisting that the jedi were anti-family hardliners?

the jedi order, at least in legends, has *always* allowed its members to marry and procreate if they choose to. you can even train your own children! it happens all the time!!

ki-adi mundi has five wives and idk how many children, plo koon's niece is a jedi, adi gallia and stass allie are cousins and both became high council members, vima trains her own daughter as her padawan and yula could have announced arath as her kid no problem.

and that is not even going into jedi families in the old/high republic times (remember, the order's most famous grandmaster, nomi sunrider, became a jedi at 30 after her already jedi husband was killed and she too had a daughter which she trained as a padawan)

also, you know, canon is free real estate anyways.

but for those who are so hellbent on saying that the jedi are anti-marriage/family hardliners, no they are not & they never were.

i hope that helps 👍🏼

#im not saying this to discredit anyone who wants to play with the concept of a vow of celibacy/non-attachment jedi order #i'm just saying that thats not what the source material implies #you know you're free to do whatever you want in fic 🤷🏻‍♀️#i just am a staunch defender of the jedi order being quite a bit more open about things than large parts of the fandom think it is #like. what reason could there POSSIBLY be in-universe for someone to not just grab the next best nomi sunrider holocron #and have the recording of THE grandmaster herself tell anyone off that tries to go 'all familial bonds are attachment' or whatever #seeing as the sunrider line kept producing jedi over literal milennia i think their existence alone should shut up any naysayers #but whatever #i think about the sunriders way too much tbh #random boli thoughts #star wars meta #me writing #jedi order #the jedi

45 notes · View notes