The Will of the Force is the twenty-fifth installment in Sakaros's Untitled New Sith Wars series. Having sworn a Barash vow to absent himself from the Jedi Order until his path becomes clear, Tirien Kal-Di journeys into exile, accompanied by Narasi Rican, Zaella Sabir, and Jirdo Yushari, all of whom seek to understand their own destinies.
Opening Crawl[]
Excerpt[]
| Source: The Will of the Force | Attribution: Sakaros |
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"So," Jirdo said. "When we get there, what do we do? I mean, what does a Barash vow involve?" "Meditation…." Tirien began. "When you ask Tirien, that'll usually be the answer," said Narasi. She smirked, and Tirien sensed she was trying, so he twitched one side of his mouth and gave her a look before he continued. "…but apart from that, it's too early to say. It will depend on where we land. If it's a populated world, perhaps acts of service to others…" He trailed off when he noticed the look Zaella was giving Narasi. She said, "I swear, if you make people hug me again, I will beat you with my stick." She extended a hand toward her sparring stick without looking, and Narasi laughed. Tirien did not understand the reference, but it was such a relief to hear Narasi laugh that he did not ask, either. Returning his gaze to Jirdo, he said, "If it's an uninhabited world…I don't know. The Force will have to guide us." "What about us?" Zaella asked. Tirien restrained a sigh, fearing she would misinterpret it. Would it have been better to send Zaella and Jirdo to the Temple—regardless of their objections—where they could have been counseled by steadier Jedi? It's done now; they're here. "In some ways, that's in your hands. We're all seeking clarity, but that doesn't mean we'll find it in the same place, or the same way." Zaella sat up. "Which is great and all, but I don't even know what I'm looking for. I…" Need help. Tirien did not think she could get those exact words out, but her anxious amber eyes told him everything. Nodding, he said, "I understand. There's much we don't know and can't predict, but I'll help you however I can." Hubris… Drawing his knees up to his chest, Tirien loosed the sigh after all. "We'll all help each other—the four of us are together for a purpose, and I don't know that any of us can succeed without the others. And…that includes—" The Second Chance rocked. Jirdo went down on one arm, Zaella splayed her legs for balance, Narasi had to lurch to catch Gizmo before he went bouncing across the deck, and Tirien almost pitched sideways. For one second, everyone stared at everyone else, and Tirien sensed multiple points along the spectrum of fear. Then the ship bucked again, and once he had caught himself, he lurched to his feet and ran for the cockpit. | |
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| Characters | Creatures | Droid models | Events | Locations |
| Organizations and titles | Sentient species | Vehicles and vessels | Weapons and technology | Miscellanea |
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Creatures
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Plot summary[]
Tirien Kal-Di, Narasi Rican, Zaella Sabir, and Jirdo Yushari, traveling on the Second Chance on a blind jump into hyperspace, pass through the dense hyperspace knot in the Deep Core and revert to realspace at an unknown world. They land and discover a major amplification of their Force powers on the surface shortly before they meet the Keeper, a mysterious being who reveals they have arrived at the ancient Jedi world of Tython. The quartet investigate the derelict Jedi Temple. All four try to come to terms with their own struggles—Tirien's conflict over leading the mission to Allanteen and nearly falling to the dark side, Zaella's Sith past, Jirdo's role in enslaving the Guudrians, and Narasi's susceptibility to Vedya Gasald's manipulations and inability to help any of the others.
After weeks, as Zaella struggles to get past her dark side instincts, Narasi and Tirien discuss their contrasting expectations of how long their exile might last. Zaella finally asks for help, and Tirien's reservation cracks enough to give her guidance. When he realizes that Master Giffis Fane, whose holocron he possesses, served in the Tython temple, the group consults the holocron and plans an expedition to the nearby ruined city of Kaleth.
In Kaleth, the group finds the remnants of the ancient city, but, at the Keeper's guidance, ventures underground. Each has an individual, simultaneous conversation with the Keeper just before Narasi attempts to reach down into Tython's core with the Force. In doing so, she is beset by an overwhelming vision of the entire galaxy's history of warfare, from beginning to end; Tirien pulls her out of it before it can completely destroy her mind, but suffers a good deal of it himself. As they try to leave the city, the foursome stumble upon and unearth an ancient Tho Yor, and so learn of the Je'daii Order, a predecessor group to the Jedi many millennia older. Studying the Je'daii history gained from the Tho Yor, and accepting that Tirien needs time alone, Narasi decides to go on a Je'daii-style Great Journey across Tython with Zaella. Jirdo sets out for Vur Tepe, the Forge of the Je'daii, to build a lightsaber of his own, while Tirien remains at the Jedi Temple to meditate.
Narasi and Zaella journey first to Stav Kesh, the Temple of Martial Arts, where they train in combat and Zaella tries to shed her Sith battle instincts. Over time, though, she realizes Narasi is shying away from the use of the Force, and determines that she is suffering the aftermath of her vision. The two go next to Qigong Kesh, the Temple of the Force, and train together in the Silent Desert while practicing their Force skills. As Narasi slowly starts to trust the Force again, Zaella receives a haunting vision of a possible future in which she falls even deeper into the dark side. Refusing to become what she has seen, she at last commits to joining the Jedi Order, but leaves Narasi conflicted when she expresses a desire to become Tirien's second Padawan.
Jirdo ventures off alone across the Tythonian wilderness, struggling to get by mostly unarmed. As his trek goes on, he comes to accept he must rely on the Force, setting aside his self-doubts and accepting the Force's guidance. Along the way, he collects pieces which might serve for his new lightsaber. He arrives at the outskirts of Vur Tepe, defeating the guardian droids with only a practice saber he stole from one of them.
Tirien, meanwhile, ranges between the Jedi Temple and the Tho Yor at Kaleth, pondering the Je'daii Code and its differences from the modern Jedi Code. The Keeper appears to him more than once, and seeks to persuade him to adopt a centrist view of the Force, drawing on both light and dark while refusing to allow either primacy over the other. He also points out that Tirien's actions at Allanteen stemmed from both righteous anger and a desire to protect innocents—dark and light—and that the end result was good in Gasald's defeat, but warns that allowing either the Jedi or the Sith to rule the galaxy is a recipe for disaster.
After they leave Qigong Kesh and stop briefly at what remains of many other Tho Yor, Narasi and Zaella travel to Vur Tepe, where they meet Jirdo. He has all the components he needs for his lightsaber except a crystal; he has accepted that he will not construct one, until Zaella gives him the crystal from a Je'daii sword she found at Stav Kesh. After he completes his weapon, they return together to the Jedi Temple and find Tirien, who is resolved to return to the fight, but first wants to visit Akar Kesh, the Temple of Balance. On the way, Zaella asks to become his second Padawan, but he postpones the discussion. At Akar Kesh, Tirien experiences a vision of his past temptations, then of a conflict between Rhosa Xei and Darth Alecto.
The Second Chance and her crew astrogate back out of the Deep Core. Jirdo leaves the group at Borleias, resolving to serve in a more down-to-ground manner, looking out for and protecting individuals while Jedi like Tirien, Narasi, and Zaella fight the grand war. Tirien declines to be Zaella's master, but persuades Elata Cazars not only to let him off the hook for Allanteen, but also to take Zaella as her Padawan. After the three travelers part as friends, Tirien and Narasi finally join Mali Darakhan on the Coronet's Jewel, prepared to take the war to Valin Aresh and rescue Aldayr.
Behind the scenes[]
Zaella's description of Tirien as being on his "own kriffing plan" was inspired by a military colleague of Sakaros's, who described a fellow officer trainee who was routinely late to formation as being "on his OFP"—"own f***ing plan".
Shout-outs include:
- Numerous religious references, including:
- The Keeper describes the Jedi of the Dark Wars as "crushed in infirmity", a reference to Isaiah 53:10.
- The Keeper's question to Tirien in Chapter 6—"What is truth?"—was posed by Pontius Pilate to Jesus in John 18:38. As when Pilate asked it of Jesus, it is not clear if the question is sincere, sarcastic, or rhetorical.
- The Mandalorian axiom quoted by Zaella ("Iron sharpens iron") is taken from Proverbs 27:17.
- The Keeper says that, when caught between the light and dark sides and using the totality of the Force against Gasald, Tirien "shattered your enemy like an earthen dish", a reference to Psalm 2:9. The Keeper's actual advice—charting a middle path to true understanding between two extremes—is based on the Buddhist concept of the Middle Way.
- Tirien blames the Sith for bringing "disease, war, famine, and death on the galaxy", a reference to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
- The Keeper quotes Ecclesiastes 1:18: "He that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow."
- Jirdo makes reference to the dark night of the soul, a mystical poem by Saint John of the Cross.
- Tirien thinks he is "twisted every way", and later remarks "what answer can I give you, Narasi?", a reference to the song "Notes/Twisted Every Way" from The Phantom of the Opera.
- Zaella's imagined mindset of the builders of Kaleth—Look upon our works, ye mighty, and despair—is a pluralized take on the most famous line from "Ozymandias", a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
- Fane's question when the holocron is being scanned by the Tho Yor ("What is occurring?") is a shout-out to Nathan Pyle's Strange Planet, as seen here.
- Zaella tells Narasi, "Suffering's an old friend," a take on Doctor Strange's line, "Pain's an old friend" in the 2016 film.
- The Keeper advises Tirien, "You must unlearn what you have learned," advice which Yoda gave Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back.
- Narasi's half-in-a-trance way of uncovering the entrance to Qigong Kesh is a reference to Sakaros's favorite film, The Princess Bride.
- Narasi tries "reaching out from Tython, sending her mind across the stars to wherever Aldayr might be." "Across the Stars" is Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala's love theme.
- Narasi's reference to Bodhi as a "happy little art temple" is a reference to painter Bob Ross's famous "happy little trees".
- The Keeper tells Tirien, "You have perceived the resonance between the extremes." "You have perceived the resonance" is a line from Final Fantasy VIII, delivered as the party navigates the first floor of the Deep Sea Research Center.
- Zaella describes Tirien's philosophy of the Unifying Force as "everything happens because we're all connected in the great circle of life", a reference to The Lion King.
- Tirien tells Zaella, "Training to become a Jedi is not an easy challenge, and even if you succeed, it's a hard life," the same caution Qui-Gon Jinn gave Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace.
- Tirien's thoughts about Akar Kesh's power in silence ("True power had no need to proclaim its own strength"), though not actually inspired by it, express the same sentiment as Margaret Thatcher's famous quote: "Being powerful is like being a lady—if you have to tell people you are, you aren't."
After Tirien, Zaella, Narasi, and Jirdo try to communicate with the Tho Yor in Basic, Huttese, Quarren, High Galactic, Twi'leki, Sith, Zygerrian, and Bocce, all to no avail, Jirdo glumly thinks they "might have been speaking Kwa for all they accomplished." This is an inside joke—in the Dawn of the Jedi series, it is strongly implied that the Kwa built the Tho Yor; if the party actually had spoken Kwa, the Tho Yor likely would have answered them instantly.
Sakaros had several aspects of traditional Japanese martial arts philosophy in mind for the travelers' individual pursuits, including mushin (Zaella's training at Stav Kesh) and shoshin (which the Keeper urges on Tirien).
The ischial tuberosity is indeed called the "sitz bones" for reasons Sakaros was unable to determine; the explanation Jirdo gives seems as reasonable as any.
Sakaros intentionally rejected the geography shown in Star Wars: The Old Republic as it relates to the relative locations of Vur Tepe and Kaleth—while accepting that the Tython Jedi Temple was near Kaleth (as a conscious choice by the Cold War-era Jedi), Sakaros could not believe that the same Tho Yor which spread out to cover an entire planet put two of their nine locations at a distance which can best be described as "a brisk afternoon's walk".
Among the prophecies Tirien hears at Akar Kesh are pieces of Rhosa Xei's prophecy in Twist of Fate, the Poem of Ages, the Sith'ari prophecy, and the prophecy of the Chosen One.
The Will of the Force went through the usual Sakaros title changes, this time because of the evolving narrative—from The Nature of the Force (an intended homage to Firedance), to The Will of the Force, to The Children of the Force, and finally back to The Will of the Force.
The Keeper's observation about the negligence of the Jedi effectively allowing Ulic Qel-Droma and Exar Kun to gain dark side power unchecked was inspired by an observation MPK made to Sakaros.