The Path of the Open Hand remain intriguing, and the novel provides many answers to questions that readers no doubt will have. However, there is plenty left unsaid. Some of this I feel will be revealed in time in Phase 3, the rest left to readers’ imagination. I wish there had been more time given to one revelation however, while the resolution did satisfy me logically, I felt a little more time spent building up to it would have been welcome. Marda and Yana belong to the Path of the Open Hand, a group led by a charismatic woman called the Mother, which believes the Force must not be used by anyone. While Marda joins a perilous expedition to Planet X in search of more mysterious creatures to use against the Jedi, Yana finds herself forming an unexpected alliance with the father of her dead lover in attempt to wrest the Path from the Mother's control. These two young women will face a crossroads, forced to choose not only their own fates, but that of the galaxy itself. Plot summary [ ] Opening crawl [ ] Keryll easily believed Lucia's lies that Minnalis had been bullying her. Minnalis convinces a bunch of undead that everything wrong in their lives is his fault. Anti-Hero: Kaito and his party in the current timeline, hands down. They enjoy torturing people. They raze towns and kill naughty children. And they will persist until the Crapsaccharine World they are in stops worshiping discrimination, slavery, and betrayal. On the Jedi side, Padawan Matty is sent to Dalna alongside Oliviah — an aloof, hard-to-read Jedi Knight who’s harboring a secret connection to the Path. Chatty Matty is intimidated by the “cool girl” Oliviah, who bounces between treating her like a Padawan and like an equal.

For me, one of the best things about Phase II of the High Republic is the Path of the Open Hand. Across the different eras of Star Wars, the Sith have fought against the Jedi without none of them truly achieving victory.Minnalis is an expert in illusions to disguise one's self and was taught how to do so by her mother to hide her race from Fantastic Racists. Fantastic Racism: Not only is the kingdom he's summoned to Human Supremacist, and the Beastman Nation supposedly beast-man supremacist, but they both are supremacist towards those summoned from other worlds to the point that they even agree to an Enemy Mine to take him down and Alesia openly calls him a useful "monster wearing human skin." In the original timeline, Kaito learned this far, far too late. Whole-Plot Reference: Uses the same general plotline as The Rising of the Shield Hero (betrayed and shunned by the people who needed him, swears revenge and to be less gullible, battles the evil princess who victimized him and the evil god/goddess she is tied to), except this time the hero really went off the deep end, turned sadist and brought his party with him. Without giving too many direct spoilers, many of the major beats in The Path of Vengeance will be very familiar to High Republic fans. Scott begins the novel within the chaotic throws of The Battle of Jedha to add to the story framework originally constructed within George Mann’s audio original, The Battle of Jedha, and Scott’s own comic, The High Republic. As the story goes on, a similar story technique is used to explore events first illustrated in Lydia Kang’s adult novel Cataclysm as characters that are just outside the focus of Kang’s story step into the light within Scott’s. Sole Survivor: Kaito's little sister, Mai, somehow avoided getting killed by the summoning spell, but out of their entire family, she's the only one left.

While Yumis herself was a monster, Kaito also slaughters her servants, most of whom were probably only guilty of being cared about by her. This changes in Path of Vengeance. Marda finds a new purpose and with it, a courage that she has never experienced before. The new Marda has a clear vision of what she must do to spread the word of the Path of the Open Hand and no one will stand in her way. Not the Jedi, not her cousin Yana, not The Herald, and certainly not The Mother. Listening to the Audiobook Path of Vengeance chronicles the Night of Sorrow as well, just from a few different perspectives. It’s during this tragic cataclysm that the Mother’s machinations are finally revealed as well as her history and the reasons for her hatred of the Jedi.

Hunter's mark adds 1d6 damage per hit, so if the paladin marks a foe and hits it all three rounds, the damage looks like this: Marda does bad things in Path of Vengeance, but I couldn’t help but root for her. She’s been radicalized in her own way, with a steadfast dedication to the “freeing” of the Force by any means necessary. She’s not out for vengeance like the Mother, she’s out for freedom — for the Force and for herself. Horrible Judge of Character: Kaito himself notes that he was so easily manipulated, not because his enemies were particularly good actors, but because he himself was too trusting. He is thoroughly cured of that in the second timeline.

Phase II of The High Republic comes to a dramatic end with Path of Vengeance, the last Young Adult Novel and final book of this period that takes place 150 years before Phase I.

Interest Stacks

We met and lost great heroes that gave everything to ensure that the fragile peace between Eiram and E’ronoh wouldn’t be disrupted by a series of unfortunate (but intentional) events. When Marda leaves the Path behind with the Leveler at her side aboard the Gaze Electric, she vows to never let anyone tell her what to do again, mirroring her descendant Marchion's private reasoning revealed in Eye of the Storm. However, the difference is that while it was a principle to never be manipulated or pushed around by those with ill intentions in Marda's case, it was reflective of a massive ego in Marchion's. The Jedi perspectives in the novel are good and fresh, and I enjoyed the characters as presented. The most consistently compelling viewpoints were Marda and Yana.

This story finally sheds some light on the origins of the " Shrii ka rai" nursery rhyme. It's part of a Madness Mantra from a Jedi who was permanently driven insane by the Nameless. Minnalis and Shuria are begrudgingly willing to share Kaito with one another, but they know that he loves the demon lord more than both of them and do not want him to join up with her. Released to Elsewhere: The cover story adults tell their children is that when Millanis and her mother were stoned, beaten, and driven out, another nearby village took them in so they could "atone" or being beast-men. In reality, everyone, save Keryll, knows the two were handed over to slavers, and not expected to survive. Minnalis tortures Keryll to death, partially because she genuinely hates him, but also to hurt Lucia for betraying her.Fortunately, you can choose a different set of spells at the start of each new day, just like a cleric. The entire paladin spell list is available to you, so you can adapt your spell selection to whatever challenges you think you’ll be facing. Either way, choosing a “standard loadout” of spells that you can rely upon on an average adventuring day is useful. You can prepare a number of paladin spells equal to half your level (rounded down) plus your Charisma modifier. So, if you’re a 2nd-level paladin with a Charisma score of 16 (+3), you can prepare four spells from the paladin spell list. To give yourself a well-balanced loudout, choose two spells labeled OFFENSE, one labeled DEFENSE, and one labeled SUPPORT. Note that this list only includes some spells from the Player's Handbook, so if you want to choose more unusual spells, or have other sources like Xanathar's Guide to Everything, you'll have to do a little self-directed research. This list is just here to get you started if this is your first time playing an Oath of Vengeance paladin. Redo of Healer, another Light Novel starring a hero who is betrayed and endures horrible abuse, then magically time-travels to before his adventure started, becomes a Villain Protagonist with a harem and seeks revenge on the princess and all the other heroes who wronged him. note There are notable differences, though: Kaito is not a rapist, he has at least one male teammate, and all of his party members join him of their own volition. If anything, this series is Lighter and Softer than Redo. No, really. The Atoner: In the first timeline, Kaito's naivety got many innocent people ruined or murdered by his companions. While Kaito's idealism is pretty much dead, he does feel the need to make things up to them in the second timeline.