STAR WARS
Novel References


The Dark Rival

PAGE QUOTATION COMMENTS
1Chapter 1
4Chapter 2
4

Qui-Gon was the one who discovered Xanatons, the one who took the midi-chlorian count and brought the child back to the Jedi Temple.

He remembered the look on Crion's face as his only son was taken from his home planet of Telos. Crion was the wealthiest man on Telos, but he knew, despite all his riches, he could not offer Xanatos what Qui-Gon could. He could not deny his son.

characters: Xanatos, former apprentice of Qui-Gon Jinn; Crion, Xanatos' father.


location: Telos, homeworld of Xanatos.
5

The Great Sea of Bandomeer was a black void in the distance.

Bandomeer consisted of one huge land mass and one enormous sea, which divided the planet in half. All of it was owned by mining companies. There was only one city — Bandor, where the governor's quarters were located.

locations: Great Sea of Bandomeer; Bandor.

7

It was a precarious situation that the local government was working to change. It had plans to restore and reclaim the land and vast ocean. The Agri-Corps was helping in that endeavour by replanting large areas and enclosing them to form what the government called "Enrichment Zones."

locations: enrichment efforts taking place in "enrichment zones" in an effort to make the planet more self-sufficient.

10Chapter 3
10-11

Since leaving the Temple only a few days before ... On his thirteenth birthday, it would be too late. And that was only three weeks away!

chronology: This implies that the transit time from Coruscant to Bandomeer is less than a week.

13

SonTag, the governor of Bandomeer, entered the room. Her silver hair was cropped in tufts in the Meerian style. Her dark gaze calmly rested on the Jedi. Like all of the Meerians, she was small. ....

She indicated the younger woman to her left. The younger woman's cropped hair was also pale silver, and her eyes blazed at them across the room. Although she was standing quietly, her energy seemed to send a vibration through the air. "This is VeerTa. She is the leader of the Home Planet Mine."

characters: SonTag, governor of Bandomeer; VeerTa a Meerian indigenous agitator.

18Chapter 4
21

A young man stood in the doorway. His shiny black cape was lined in a blue so deep it was almost black as well. A broken circle scar marked his cheek.

character: Xanatos, physical description.

22

"Every apprentice is free to leave at any time. You know that," Qui-Gon said evenly. "If they leave honourably, there is no mistrust."

If Jedi apprentices are free to leave at any time, then how are they prevented from abusing their powers in civilian life? They would seem to be a significant threat to casino operators, speculative capitalism, and public order generally.

26Chapter 5
30Chapter 6
30

his tour guide, a Meerian named RonTha, was the dullest creature he'd ever met. RonTha was fascinated by such things as stem grafts and seed sprouts. He could talk about them for hours in his droning monotone. And he did.

character: RonTha, a Meerian working for the Agri-Corps in the enrichment zones.

39Chapter 7
45Chapter 8
51Chapter 9
55

Then he saw a directory with no name. An icon hovered where the label should have been. Two broken golden circles that overlapped. Qui-Gon's heart beat faster. The two broken circles could be read as letters, too. O and C.

How is it that two letters in the galactic Basic language resemble their counterparts in the Latin alphabet of Earth?

57Chapter 10
61Chapter 11
62-63

A tall, mournful creature stood in the doorway. His skin was dark, but appeared to be peeling in white patches. Two white circles surrounded his eyes. He had extraordinarily long, rubbery arms that dangled past his knees.

....

"The name is Guerra, not that you need tp know it so. I'm a Phindian. We're a mixed lot, here."

character: Guerra, an enslaved miner for Offworld.


aliens: Phindian, long-armed sapients.
68Chapter 12
76Chapter 13
76

All of the guards were Imbats, creatures known for their size and cruelty, not their intelligence. They were as tall as trees, with leathery skin and massive legs ending in broad, grasping toes. Their heads were small for their bodies and dominated by large, drooping ears.

aliens: Imbats.

83Chapter 14
83

From the first, tension sparked between the pilot and Xanatos. Stieg Wa was young, brash, and confident. He'd been on his own since he was a child and had prospered in treacherous adventures. He good-naturedly needled Xanatos about being sheltered in the Jedi Temple and knowing nothing of real life.

Stieg Wa, a freelance pilot once hired to transport Qui-Gon Jinn and Xanatos.

83-84

The one danger of the journey was crossing the Landor system, known to be overrun with pirates. Stieg Wa was confident that they could slip through; he'd done it countless times. But when three pirate ships ringed the transport and warned Stieg Wa to surrender, he discovered that a crucial indicator light was faulty. The transport's claoking system had malfunctioned.

location: Landor system.


technology: Stieg Wa's ship depends upon a cloaking system. Judging by Captain Needa's remarks in The Empire Strikes Back, this probably means that Wa's vessel is much larger than the Millennium Falcon.
93Chapter 15
99Chapter 16
109Chapter 17
112Chapter 18
114

It was an ion bomb, the most destructive explosive in the galaxy. .... "This bomb is on a timer. And my guess is that all those boxes stored around Bandomeer are set to blow at the same moment." He turned to Obi-Wan. "The chain reaction will be enormous. The entire planet could blow."

....

"Ionite," Obi-Wan said. "It has a neutral charge. Nakes most instruments stop dead. Especially timers. Miners fear it, but now, it will save them." He grinned.

If hand-held bombs can destroy the surface of a planet, then what is the purpose of using large warships to conduct an orbital bombardment (as in an Imperial "Base Delta Zero" operation) or constructing a machine as vast as a Death Star? How can a device that seems to be chemically based have an effect that exceeds the violence of nuclear weaponry?


What is ionite? What is this neutral charge supposed to be and how does it interact with electric currents?
117Chapter 19


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