Darth Bane: Path of Destruction

Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, A Novel of the Old Republic is a novel by Drew Karpyshyn about the life of Darth Bane, set from 1,003 BBY to 1,000 BBY. The hardcover was released on September 26, 2006 by Del Rey. The paperback contains an excerpt from Death Star.

Editions

 * ISBN 0345477367; September 26, 2006, Del Rey, 320-page hardcover
 * ISBN 0345477375; June 26, 2007, Del Rey, 395-page paperback
 * ISBN 8372456380; August 2007, Amber, 320-page Polish paperback
 * ISBN 0099491966; July 5, 2007, Arrow Books Ltd., 416-page UK paperback

Back cover
'''Once the Sith order teemed with followers. But their rivalries divided them in endless battles for supremacy. Until one dark lord at last united the Sith in the quest to enslave the galaxy&mdash;and exterminate the Jedi. Yet it would fall to another, far more powerful than the entire Brotherhood of Darkness, to ultimately realize the full potential of the Sith, and wield the awesome power of the dark side as never before.'''

Internal flap
''Since childhood, Dessel has known only the abuse of his hateful father and the dangerous, soul-crushing labor of a cortosis miner. Deep in the tunnels of the desolate planet Apatros, endlessly excavating the rare mineral valued throughout the galaxy, Dessel dreams of the day he can escape&mdash;a day he fears may never come. But when a high-stakes card game ends in deadly violence, Dessel suddenly finds himself a wanted man.''

''On the run from vengeful Republic forces, Dessel vanishes into the ranks of the Sith army, and ships out to join the bloody war against the Republic and its Jedi champions. There, Dessel’s brutality, cunning, and exceptional command of the Force swiftly win him renown as a warrior. But in the eyes of his watchful masters, he is destined for a far greater role in the ultimate Sith plan for the galaxy–if he can prove himself truly worthy.''

''As an acolyte in the Sith academy, studying the secrets and skills of the dark side at the feet of its greatest masters, Dessel embraces his new Sith identity: Bane. However the true test is yet to come. In order to gain acceptance into the Brotherhood of Darkness one must fully surrender to the dark side through a trial by fire that Bane, for all his unquenchable fury and lust for power, may not be strong enough to endure. . . especially since deception, treachery, and murder run rampant among the Sith disciples, and utter ruthlessness alone is the key to survival. Only by defying the most sacred traditions, rejecting all he has been taught, and drawing upon the long-forgotten wisdom of the very first Sith can Bane hope to triumph&mdash;and forge from the ashes of that which he must destroy a new era of absolute dark power.''

Paperback
"Two there should be; no more, no less. One to embody the power, the other to crave it."&mdash;Darth Bane, Dark Lord of the Sith.

''On the run from vengeful Republic forces, Dessel, a cortosis miner, vanishes into the ranks of the Sith army and ships out to join the bloody war against the Republic and its Jedi champions. There, Dessel's brutality, cunning, and exceptional command of the Force swiftly win him renown as a warrior. But in the eyes of his watchful masters, a far greater destiny awaits him.''

''As an acolyte in the Sith academy, studying the secrets and skills of the dark side, Dessel embraces his new identity: Bane. However the true test is yet to come. In order to gain acceptance into the Brotherhood of Darkness, he must defy the most sacred traditions and reject all he has been taught. It is a trial by fire in which he must surrender fully to the dark side&mdash;and forge from the ashes a new era of absolute power.''

Synopsis
Taking place one thousand years before Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope, the novel deals primarily with Darth Bane for the first time recounting his early life, prior to his ascension to the Sith. The story begins in the cortosis mines of Apatros where Bane was first named Dessel, and years earlier, he had a father named Hurst who had the same job as Des and who was regularly drunk, thus giving Des a regular basis of beatings. But Hurst died from a heart attack from Dessel's Force abilities. Des is forced to leave Apatros after he kills a crew member of a visiting Republic ship in a fight over sabacc. Smuggled off-world by the only real friend he has, a Neimoidian named Groshik, he enlists in the Sith army to escape the Republic. Joining a unit named the Gloom Walkers he distinguishes himself in the Assault on Kashyyyk and the subsequent Battle of Hsskhor on neighboring Trandosha.

During the Battle of Phaseera, Bane removes his commanding officer over a disagreement about orders and leads the unit to battle and victory over the Republic forces opposing them. Although he is arrested upon his return he is not executed as he believes he will be. Instead, Lord Kopecz has realized his Force potential and transfers him to the Sith Academy on Korriban.

Taking the name Bane upon his arrival he goes on to learn the ancient ways of the Sith, studying under such masters as Qordis and Kas'im, as well as others like Orilltha, Shenayag, Hezzoran, and Borthis. He also studies the temple archives and quickly begins to surpass the other students despite his late entry to the Academy.

After Bane kills a student named Fohargh in the dueling ring his prestige at the Academy rises, but he begins to doubt himself and his connection to the Force starts to falter. In a desperate bid he challenges Sirak, the most powerful student at the Academy and is beaten within an inch of his life. After this Qordis decrees that he shall receive no further training from any of the Masters.

Githany, the Jedi traitor, arrives at the Academy shortly after Kaan's near victory over the Army of Light on Ruusan. Seeing Bane as someone she could use to remove Sirak, her only real rival at the Academy, she begins to secretly tutor him in the ways of the Force. At the same time Bane approaches Kas'im for secret instruction in lightsaber combat, neither teacher is aware of the other and Bane hopes to keep it that way for as long as possible.

Slowly, as Bane begins to regain much of his lost power and confidence, once again he revisits the Temple archives and takes up the studies he abandoned before. As his training progresses he begins to believe that the Brotherhood of Darkness and the Sith as a whole have turned their back on their ancient ways. Despite his new training, Bane realizes that the true potential of the dark side is beyond not only him, but every other Sith Lord. When Bane defeats Sirak he once again enters favor with the Masters, but departs angrily when Qordis orders him to stop visiting the archives. Bane leaves for the Valley of the Sith Lords hoping to find some remnant of those Sith who have passed beyond.

Bane eventually returns, having found nothing, and feigns acceptance of the Sith and their current teachings, when actually he now knows there is only one place he can go to learn what he needs. Just prior to the departure of the Academy students for Ruusan, Githany leads Bane into an ambush with Sirak at the Academy library, but only so Bane could kill Sirak. At first Bane believes she has betrayed him but he quickly realizes the true reason and then Githany throws him his lightsaber which she picked up in his room to confirm her intentions. Bane and Githany together kill Llokay and Yevra. Bane kills Sirak, who pleaded for his life, brutally decapitating him because Bane saw that despite his reputation, he was weak and that no one who begs for mercy deserves it. Instead of leaving for Ruusan with the other Sith Lords he steals Qortis' Valcyn and heads for a location he read about in the Sith archives. He takes the ship to a world named Lehon, remembered to history at large as the Unknown World and home to the now-extinct Rakata. Bane has come to believe that the Rakata were the first dark side users present in the galaxy and upon his arrival at the Temple of the Ancients finds Darth Revan's holocron.

Taking all he learns from Revan, Bane crafts the Rule of Two, seeing it as the only way the Sith can ensure that only the strongest of their order survive. After he defeats and kills Kas'im in a lightsaber duel by having rubble from inside an ancient temple fall on top of the Sith, who he briefly feels may be the apprentice he will need to pass on his knowledge, Bane leaves for Ruusan, but not before sending Lord Kaan a message in which he purposefully appears weak and regretful about killing Kas'im and in hope of calling a truce he sends the incantation for the thought bomb as a gift. However, before getting to Ruusan, Kaan, believing Bane will actually destroy the Brotherhood like he did to Kas'im, so he agrees to let Githany kill him. She does this by putting poison on her lips so he will be infected when she kisses him after herself taking the antidote. Bane though detects the poison straight away and is thrilled that Githany is acting like a true Sith using cunning and treachery rather than noble methods such as being challenged to a duel like Kas'im did. He is so happy and confident that the methods he learned from Darth Revan in the holocron can suppress the poison he kisses Githany three times. A while later inexplicably he feels the effect of the poison throughout his body and realizes he underestimated Githany and that she used two poisons against him, one to cover the other. After Bane is poisoned, Githany leaves him for dead, but he comes in contact with a doctor named Caleb who cares neither for the Jedi or the Sith. Caleb refuses to save Bane, and even dips his hand into boiling water to show that torture will not change his mind. Bane though probes his mind and discovers Caleb is trying to hide something... or someone. Bane figures out he is keeping his daughter in his home, and he force lifts her over the boiling cauldron that Caleb dipped his hand into, giving Caleb the choice of either curing him or watching his daughter die. Caleb complies then, and Bane spares the father and daughter's lives, figuring he might need them in the near future, he reasoned that killing without reason or gain was a petty pleasure of sadistic fools and that he was determined to rid the dark side of such fools. Darth Bane heads for Ruusan and finds a large jedi fleet in the system with an even larger Sith fleet protecting the planet from reinforcements for the jedi.

Once on Ruusan, Bane walks into a meeting of the Sith Lords in which Kaan is describing his battle plan to the others. They are all surprised he is still alive especially Githany. Bane then lectures Kaan in front of all the Sith ridiculing him for thinking like a dirty general and not a Sith Lord. Bane looks at the map in the middle of the room and says don't just fight in the forest.... Destroy the Forest!!. Bane with the help of the Sith lords uses a ritual he learned from Darth Revan which allows him to create and control a massive thunder storm which rolls over the forest destroying and burning everything in its path. The jedi are on the run and Kaan pulls out of the ritual using his force influence on the others to pull them out as well so he can go and attack them. Githany leaves with Bane and he realises that she is truly lost and cannot be his apprentice. Bane went back to the Sith camp which was deserted due to everyone else attacking the jedi. As he gets to Kaans tent though he meets with Qordis who wants to join in with Bane's new Sith rule, but Bane Force-chokes him to death as he explains that he didn't come back to take over the brotherhood but to destroy it.

Bane enacts the next phase of his plan to destroy the brotherhood by contacting the Sith fleet admiral that is protecting Ruusan from the Jedi reinforcements and tells him to break off and attack them. This move allows Jedi to get through the blockade and turns the tide of the battle to the jedi's favor. Lord Kaan who has slowly gone mad during his time on Ruusan then turns to his last chance of victory, the thought bomb. The Sith go deep into a network of caves knowing that General Hoth would follow. There the Sith prepare the thought bomb that will kill all force sensitive being. It is unclear whether any of the sith truly believes they can survive the bomb but Kaans influence over them all forces them to go along with his insanity. Kopecz seeing Kaans madness decides it is better to die in battle than to suffer the thought bomb so he confronts with a past Jedi ally named Valenthyne Farfalla, friend of Lord Hoth of the Jedi leading against Kaan's Sith army, and Farfalla strikes Kopecz dead in a lightsaber duel after Kopecz tells Farfalla of Kaan's thought bomb plan. Bane later oversees the destruction of the Sith as Kaan went crazy and used the thought bomb to wipe out all nearby Sith and Jedi, also killing Githany, who figured out about the destructive ends and tried in a vain attempt to escape, and Lord Hoth, the latter who decided to use ninety nine other Jedi with him to confront Kaan and his suicidal forces. Afterwards, Bane sees his ascension as the last true Sith Lord. The novel ends with Bane finding a Force-sensitive girl named Zannah, who has just killed two Jedi by snapping their necks with the Force because they killed her friend Laa, assuming the creature was a danger to her, and Bane considers that Zannah may be the apprentice he needs to pass on his knowledge.

Characters

 * Adanar
 * Darth Bane
 * Borthis
 * Caleb
 * Caleb's daughter
 * Kiel Charny
 * Tomcat
 * Valenthyne Farfalla
 * Fohargh
 * Gerd
 * Githany
 * Groshik
 * Haduran
 * Handa
 * Bug
 * Hezzoran
 * Lord Hoth
 * Hurst
 * Kaan
 * Kas'im
 * Kopecz
 * Exar Kun
 * Laa
 * Llokay
 * Lucia
 * Darth Malak
 * Mikki
 * Adrianna Nyras
 * Orilltha
 * Pernicar
 * Petja
 * Qordis
 * Darth Revan
 * Naga Sadow
 * Shenayag
 * Sirak
 * Torr Snapit
 * Ulabore
 * Yevra
 * Darth Zannah

Creatures

 * Bantha
 * Bouncer
 * Carrion beetle
 * Cydera tree
 * Halurian ice-boar
 * Irax
 * Kath hound
 * Manka cat
 * Night bird
 * Orkellian cave slug
 * Pelko bug
 * Squellbug
 * Rancor
 * Rock worrt
 * Tuk'ata
 * Tauntaun
 * Womp rat
 * Zucca pig

Droid models

 * Beta-4 CardShark
 * Message drone

Events

 * Battle of Rakata Prime
 * Duel on the Star Forge
 * Duel on Lehon
 * Battle of Bespin
 * Battle of Brentaal
 * Battle of Chandrila
 * Battle of Corulag
 * Battle of Hsskhor
 * Battle of Kashyyyk
 * Battle of Korriban
 * Battle of Phaseera
 * First Battle of Ruusan
 * Second Battle of Ruusan
 * Third Battle of Ruusan
 * Fourth Battle of Ruusan
 * Fifth Battle of Ruusan
 * Sixth Battle of Ruusan
 * Seventh Battle of Ruusan
 * Battle of Sullust
 * Battle of Taanab

Locations

 * Alderaan
 * Ambria
 * Lake Natth
 * Apatros
 * Apatros Cantina
 * Bespin
 * Brentaal IV
 * Chandrila
 * Corulag
 * Coruscant
 * Dathomir
 * Dxun
 * Gamorr
 * Gentes
 * Honoghr
 * Iridonia
 * Kashyyyk
 * Korriban
 * Lehon
 * Manaan
 * Nar Shaddaa
 * Phaseera
 * Ruusan
 * Ryloth
 * Sullust
 * Taanab
 * The Maw
 * Trandosha
 * Umbara

Organizations

 * Galactic Solutions Industries
 * GenoHaradan
 * Jedi Order
 * Outer Rim Ore
 * Sith
 * Gloom Walkers
 * Brotherhood of Darkness
 * Order of the Sith Lords

Species

 * Bith
 * Bouncer
 * Cathar
 * Cerean
 * Equine
 * Gamorrean
 * Human
 * Hutt
 * Ithorian
 * Makurth
 * Neimoidian
 * Rodian
 * Selkath
 * Trandoshan
 * Twi'lek
 * Wookiee
 * Zabrak
 * Zeltron

Technology

 * CS-33 Firespray
 * GSI-21D
 * Interference box
 * TC-17
 * TC-22

Vehicles and vessels

 * Aurek fighter
 * Buzzard
 * Bivouac transport
 * Corsair battleship
 * Dreadnaught cruiser
 * Flatbed
 * Fury
 * Hammerhead-class capital ship
 * Interloper
 * land crawler
 * Land cruiser
 * Nightfall
 * Rage
 * Republic battleship (New Sith Wars)
 * Republic cargo ship (New Sith Wars)
 * Sith Destroyer
 * Sith interceptor
 * Valcyn

Miscellanea

 * Bacta
 * Corellian whiskey
 * Cortyg brandy
 * Cydera tree
 * Dun Möch
 * Gizer ale
 * Hydration tablet
 * Jedi Code
 * Kolto
 * Kshyy vine
 * Lightsaber sequence
 * Lommite
 * Pazaak
 * Sabacc
 * Sabriquet
 * Sith Alchemy
 * Sith Code
 * Sith training saber
 * Synox
 * Veil dancer
 * Wroshyr tree

Behind the scenes
Darth Bane: Path of Destruction remains one of the few adult novels that has not been adapted to audiobook.

There is a paperback edition of Darth Bane: Path of Destruction in circulation, from the cover of which all white text is missing, including the words "Darth Bane" in the title.

Cover gallery
This is a gallery of the different cover variations of Darth Bane: Path of Destruction.