4/5 Rancors - With Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil, Drew Karpyshyn ends his trilogy chronicling the powerful Sith Lord's ascension to power and formation of an order based on the Rule of Two. In the second book, Bane and his apprentice Darth Zannah firmly established their working relationship and additionally managed to deceive the galaxy into believing the Sith Order was extinct. Bane had ostensibly trained Zannah to one day overthrow him and take an apprentice of her own, furthering the Sith cause and continuing the slow progression to overthrowing the galaxy. As Dynasty of Evil starts, Bane is still waiting on Zannah to challenge him, and indeed has begun to wonder if she has what it takes to be the next Sith Lord. Therefore, Bane is looking for alternatives, one of which would be prolonging his own life to ensure the future of the Sith (and of course perpetuate his own power).
Two key elements from the prior books feature in this story. One is Serra, the daughter of Caleb the healer who saved Bane's life in years past. She is living a new life as a princess on the harsh mining world of Doan (a place reminiscent of Bane's own childhood world Apatros). The other is Lucia, a member of Bane's old Brotherhood of Darkness regiment the Gloom Walkers: she's now Serra's bodyguard and friend. Completing the main cast is The Huntress, a Force-sensitive assassin who revels in the hunt and uses her latent Force abilities to her advantage, and Set Harth, an ex-Jedi artifact hunter who lives purely for his own pleasure. These two play into the plot as candidates for new apprentices as Bane and Zannah scheme to their own ends. Dynasty of Evil features two particularly page-turning action sequences (along with quite a few other battles, naturally). The first is an ambush where the Huntress and some minions attempt to actually capture the Lord of the Sith in his own mansion. It's grippingly cinematic and realistically portrayed, with sound tactics employed by both sides. The second big action beat is in the gloomy and secretive Stone Prison on Doan, as all six of the main characters are brought together, each with their own agenda. Great chase scene and a very intense interrogation sequence showing Serra overwhelmingly out of her depth.
From the comics detailing ancient times in the Old Republic Mr. Karpyshyn borrows Darth Andeddu's holocron. Within this relic is the secret to life transference and possibly the key to Bane's ambitions. Bane visits Prakith in the Deep Core to forcibly retrieve the holocron while distracting Zannah with a separate assignment. The pacing is excellent as the two each start to realize what the other has in mind and as they accept their inevitable confrontation to determine primacy.
Speaking of the end, there is a fascinating twist in the climactic battle. I won't detail it any further in an effort to avoid spoilers, but suffice to say it's one that will inspire debate as to its true nature. Personally, I felt there were enough cues provided that the outcome was fairly clear, but I'll leave that discussion to messageboards rather than this review. I was satisfied with this ending for the trilogy but it does leave at least one significant question mark about the continuity of the Sith line.
Mr. Karpyshyn did an excellent job in the Bane trilogy of rendering an evil protagonist in a balanced and intriguing manner. He gave plenty of background and insight into what made Bane tick and after the first book showed a talent for taking the story sketched out in the older Jedi vs. Sith comics and running with it. This set of books is over for now, but I would welcome further Star Wars contributions from Mr. Karpyshyn in the future.
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