Miscellaneous Missings: 53-44 BBY

The story of Count Dooku (only to be called “Count” after his departure from the Jedi Order), is further flushed out in the pages of Jedi vs. Sith.

There are two small stories of interest in this period of Star Wars history. One deals with a Sith temple, and the other gives a small vignette of Dooku’s childhood, before the events of Legacy of the Jedi.

Pages 134-135 tell the story of Master Jedi Lanius Qel-Bertuk, and is an extension of the story of the Sith temple found on Almas, built by the Dark Lord Darth Rivan. Qel-Bertuk tells two stories of lost Jedi; the first being the story of Nerra Ziveri, the head master of the Jedi academy on Almas who went missing while exploring the temple’s secrets, and the second being the story Kibh Jeen, a Jedi consular who gathered maddening insight into the ‘rule of two’ and later died. (I briefly mentioned this story in my account of Star Wars history at 580-232 BBY, but I didn’t get into too much detail about it). What is most remarkable about this story is the post script after Qel-Bertuk’s tale. We are told that during the Clone Wars Qel-Bertuk retained his position as headmaster at the Almas academy despite the fact that he relinquished his lighsaber and refused to serve in the Republic army. After Order 66 the academy was destroyed and it was presumed Master Qel-Bertuk was killed, but his fate remains in question.

Here again is an awesome little corner of sandbox which is the Star Wars story. This little bit of info is ripe for exploration to anyone who wants to tell a small Star Wars narrative. What happened to Master Qel-Bertuk? In my opinion his actions were more ‘Jedi’ than any of those who fought in the Clone Wars. It’s good to know the Order is not full of warriors, but also comprises of brave pacifists who believe in an ideal and live-out the wisdom they teach.

Page 69 explains for us the telekinesis ability used by Jedi, and is accompanied by an excerpt from Dooku as a young Jedi Master. There is even a great picture with this story of a younger Dooku levitating some chairs for his students. Dooku tells the story of one of the first times he used his telekinetic ability. He was seven years old and has just crossed paths with Master Yoda. Yoda asked the boy to move a flower pot for him and young Dooku obliged. What Dooku didn’t know was that the soil in the pot was incredibly dense and heavy, but Dooku still managed to move it. Yoda was impressed with the young boy’s abilities, and left young Padawan with the hope that their paths would cross again. This was a neat little story of this duo’s origin.

On a side note, I’ve decided to complete my reactions to the Jedi Apprentice series and all points in-between before I move into the past once again with the novels Red Harvest and JJM’s new book Knight Errant. I feel like I want to take some more steps forward before I take a few steps back.

On a personal note, my wife gave birth to our second son on January 15th. His name is Joseph and he was a healthy 7lbs. One forgets how insane it is to bring a newborn home. Our three year old son Peter has reacted well to him, and is relishing the role of big brother. So my already busy life has become even more active. Still, it is my hope to post a little more, as the first semester at work is nearly at an end, and the second semester gears up. Also, the Jedi Apprentice books are short and easy to read.

For my next post I’m going to engage with the Jedi Apprentice series and start with book 1 titled The Rising Force. Until then my friends, may the Force be with you.