#czerka

To summarize: I really enjoyed the book overall! The relationship and conflict between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan was, as expected, the most compelling part. However, it also introduced some very likeable characters, had a good story, and delved a bit into some very interesting topics such as Jedi prophecies and the difference in the way Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan each interpret the Force. I will say that it did feel a bit rushed towards the end, in my (completely non-professional) opinion, but still definitely an enjoyable read overall!

Now, for all of the detailed thoughts!

(Spoiler warning, for anyone who hasn’t read Master and Apprentice yet, but wants to go into it without knowing plot points ahead of time!)

Old vs New Canon

First of all, as someone who was a huge fan of the Star Wars: Jedi Apprentice series as a kid (and those books definitely still hold a very special place in my heart today), of course one of the things I have to note are some of the differences between the old and new canon. In general, I’m not at all opposed to things being different in the new canon than they were in the old, and actually consider myself to be pretty open to changes (as long as they make sense and are done well, of course!).

One of the first changes that becomes apparent is that the need for a Jedi Initiate to be chosen as a Padawan before they turn thirteen no longer exists. In the Jedi Apprentice series, Initiates who are not chosen by a Master before they turn thirteen are instead sent to one of the Service Corps (like the AgriCorps, to grow food on underprivileged planets). In Master and Apprentice, it’s stated that Qui-Gon still took Obi-Wan as his Padawan when he was thirteen. The difference is that this is actually considered to be pretty young for a Padawan, rather than being the latest that one could be chosen. This does seem to line up more with the established canon, since Ahsoka was fourteen when she became Anakin’s Padawan, and there was no indication that she was older than typical (Anakin actually makes a comment about thinking Ahsoka isn’t even old enough to be a Padawan -- although, he did say this out of annoyance, and likely didn’t mean it seriously).

This is honestly a change that I’m in support of, for a couple of reasons. One: it just makes more sense to me that the selection of younglings as Padawans would happen more often in the early teens (with some outliers, hence how Qui-Gon at twelve and Obi-Wan at thirteen would both be considered young for Padawans, but not unheard of). Whereas the hard cutoff being set at thirteen would mean that most apprentices likely start out at 11-12, and that always seemed very young to me. Two: It also seemed odd to me that there was a hard age cut-off (so young, too) at which point a youngling would be transferred to one of the service corps, losing out on their chance to become a Jedi. While I’m sure some younglings don’t end up having what it takes, I’d imagine sending a youngling away would be a very rare, hard decision with many factors to consider, rather than just “if nobody picked you by thirteen, you’re out of luck.”

Another change is that, while Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon do have their conflicts early on in the Jedi Apprentice series, they work past these issues and become a good duo before long. In Master and Apprentice, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon are still out of sync four years into their pairing (when Obi-Wan is seventeen), to the point where Qui-Gon is convinced that they are a mismatch. While they do begin working through their communication issues and strengthening their relationship in this book, the implication that their relationship has been rocky for pretty much the entirety of their first four years together is a pretty significant change. While it’s certainly a bit of a different dynamic than the old canon, it does make for an interesting relationship between Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, and I’m really hoping that this is something that will be explored further in future stories -- both the strengthening of their relationship going forward, as well as the ups and downs that I’m sure they had throughout those first four years.

Now, for one of the changes that admittedly disappoints me a little bit... Some of the wording in Master and Apprentice does seem to imply that Obi-Wan is Qui-Gon’s first Padawan, which would mean that Xanatos (and Feemor, although I have no strong opinion of him one way or the other) most likely does not exist in the new canon. This isn’t a hard fact, however -- it’s implied strongly enough that you would almost certainly assume Obi-Wan is Qui-Gon’s first Padawan if you read the book with no prior knowledge of a previous apprentice, but not strongly enough for it to be a contradiction if they were to later say he wasn’t. They never explicitly say that Qui-Gon didn’t have any other Padawans, it’s mostly just that there are some places you would expect it to be mentioned if he did, meaning at the very least that the author is under the impression he did not.

This could always be explained away later as Qui-Gon simply not wanting to acknowledge a previous failed apprentice, if they ever did decide to bring Xanatos into the new canon (and let’s be honest, even if they did explicitly confirm Qui-Gon never had a previous Padawan, Disney has already shown that they don’t really have a problem with contradicting/overwriting their own material later on). While I wouldn’t be heartbroken if Xanatos never makes it into the new canon, it does still disappoint me a little bit, as I always thought he had so much more potential as an antagonist that would be very fun to explore in new Star Wars material.

Something else that I noticed was that Obi-Wan finds it unbelievable that he would ever end up in a real lightsaber duel, or that two Jedi would ever fight each other to the death, and he considers red lightsabers to be something from a time long past. That definitely seems to imply that dark Jedi aren’t really a thing currently, or at least nowhere near common enough for Obi-Wan to have ever encountered or heard about one in the present (Qui-Gon does mention an ancient dark Jedi, so the idea itself isn’t foreign, just the thought that one would pop up now). Obviously, this contrasts with the Jedi Apprentice series, where Xanatos duels them both with a red lightsaber as early as book two.

The final change I noticed (although not from the Jedi Apprentice series, just from old canon in general) is that Dooku apparently left the Order much earlier in the new canon. Previously, I believe Dooku had left the Order at some point following Qui-Gon’s death in The Phantom Menace. In the new canon, he has already left by the time Master and Apprentice takes place (although is not yet a dark Jedi or a Sith, at least as far as they are aware). I really like this development, personally, and hope that we get to see a bit more of how this affects Qui-Gon going forward.

The Characters

As I mentioned before, the conflict and relationship between Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon is the highlight of Master and Apprentice (as to be expected, given the book’s title). At the start of the book, and for a decent portion of it actually, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are both under the impression that they are failing one another. Qui-Gon believes he is failing Obi-Wan as his Master because he’s unable to adapt his teaching methods to Obi-Wan’s needs, and is convinced that another Master would be able to help Obi-Wan thrive. Obi-Wan believes he is failing Qui-Gon as his Padawan, because he is still unable to understand Qui-Gon and can’t infer what his Master wants him to do without straightforward directions (which Qui-Gon, more often than not, does not provide). So much of the conflict between them boils down to one of two things: their difference in ideals, or a lack of communication.

The lack of communication is pretty straightforward, and a perfect example of this is something that gets brought up a few times throughout the course of the book: why Qui-Gon has kept Obi-Wan doing the basic lightsaber cadences, as opposed to more advanced forms that most other Padawans would have moved on to by now. Qui-Gon doesn’t explain his reasoning to Obi-Wan, and just expects him to know, which he does not. This leads to Obi-Wan dipping into his own self-doubt and assuming the worst: that Qui-Gon doesn’t think he’s ready, or perhaps never intended on finishing his training to begin with. This is a perfect example of a problem between them that could have been solved if they had just communicated -- if Qui-Gon had ever told his Padawan his reasoning, or if Obi-Wan had ever asked.

Their difference in ideals is something that is actually very interesting to explore. Obi-Wan follows the rules, while Qui-Gon bends them frequently. Obi-Wan trusts in the authority of the Jedi Council even if he has his doubts, while Qui-Gon argues with them and goes behind their back when he disagrees with their stance. They have differing ideas of right and wrong, differing opinions on how to act, and differing interpretations of the Force. While this is initially one of the reasons they believe they are a bad fit, they eventually come to the conclusion that they can both learn a lot from one another because of these differences between them. This is something that I hope we get to see a lot more of.

With the main duo out of the way, this book also introduces some other very likeable characters as well.

Rael Averross is, in my opinion, the most interesting of the new additions. I find the idea of a rogue Jedi very intriguing -- he is part of the Order, and does consider himself a Jedi, but holds a much looser interpretation of the Jedi Code (probably most apparent by his rejection of celibacy, as he believes that he can indulge in casual sex without forming attachments, since the attachments are actually what is forbidden). Many Jedi consider his demeanor to be largely due to the fact that he was brought to the Jedi Temple older than most, and that feeds into their reluctance to train Anakin later on. Rael also has a very tragic past with his former Padawan, which drives many of his actions going forward. I like how he and Qui-Gon are similar in some ways, but very different in others, and how that shows through their friendship. 

Rahara and Pax are two characters that I was a bit unsure of at first, but they grew on me as the story went on. I like the relationship that they have with one another, and they served their purpose in the story well. However, they do strike me as characters who are specific to this story, and probably won’t be popping up again except for maybe a passing mention here and there (as opposed to Rael, who I’m almost positive will be returning in other pre- Phantom Menace stories at some point).

Dooku only ever appeared in flashbacks to when Qui-Gon was a Padawan, and one short call with Rael at the end of the book. I really enjoyed these flashback sequences, as I feel like they gave a lot of insight to both Dooku and Qui-Gon as characters. In particular, I thought it was very interesting to see how the prophecies seemed to tempt Dooku in a way that they did not with Qui-Gon, despite them sharing the same interest. The moment where Dooku uses force lightning to save Qui-Gon from a bounty hunter also really stuck out to me, as did Qui-Gon’s subsequent concern for his Master’s soul. The relationship between Dooku and Qui-Gon is one that I hadn’t given much thought to before, but these flashback sequences really piqued my interest! I’m looking forward to seeing a bit more of them now, in the upcoming Tales of the Jedi animated anthology series.

The Story

I definitely enjoyed the story of Master and Apprentice as a whole. The beginning sequence with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon on Teth served as a great opening, and had me invested from the very start. Then, Qui-Gon’s invitation to the Jedi Council and the wrench that this throws into his relationship with Obi-Wan served as a good instigator for them to finally begin confronting the issues that they’ve been having. Of course, we know that Qui-Gon is going to end up turning down the offer and remain as Obi-Wan’s Master, but the journey that he takes to come to that conclusion is the interesting part. I suppose my only complaint there would be that I do wish his relationship with Obi-Wan had more to do with his decision (it did sort of seem like keeping or losing Obi-Wan as a Padawan was viewed as just a result of his decision, rather than a factor in that decision), but it does make sense for Qui-Gon as a character that his driving motivation was his relationship with the Force.

The situation on Pijal was an enjoyable setting for the story to take place. While some of the revelations seemed pretty obvious (like the Opposition not actually being the ones responsible for the terrorist attacks and assassination attempts), I honestly did not see it coming when Fanry stabbed the Skykeeper and assumed absolute power. That was a twist that definitely worked on me!

My only real complaint with the story is that the ending did seem a bit rushed to me. From the time Fanry stabs the Skykeeper to the time the threat is over lasts a total of about 30 pages. Perhaps that’s all it needed to be (I’m far from a professional writer or reviewer), but to me, everything following the moment where Fanry assumes absolute power and boards her ship seemed to be a little bit anticlimactic. The coronation scene was very gripping though, so perhaps that was the real climax of the story, as opposed to actually freeing Rahara and stopping Fanry. Everything seemed to wrap up pretty quickly and neatly after that, to the point where I sort of wish things had slowed down and taken their time a bit more.

Other Miscellaneous Thoughts

I really liked Pijal’s style of things being dull and simplistic on the outside, but beautiful and ornate on the inside. It made for some unique and beautiful imagery that I very much enjoyed picturing in my head!

I was initially surprised at the presence of Czerka, since most of my exposure to them comes from KOTOR (although I’m aware they’ve been in other properties as well). Their inclusion in the story was a welcome surprise, though!

Overall Thoughts

My summary at the beginning pretty much covers it, but I very much enjoyed reading Master and Apprentice! I always love a good Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon story, and am hoping to see a lot more of this duo in new canon material going forward!