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 U.K. paperback.
 * ISBN 978-80-252-1159-5; March 25, 2009, EGMONT ČR, 271-page Czech paperback (Darth Bane: Cesta zkázy).

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 to ensure that only the strongest of the Sith order continue to exist. 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 then 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. In anticipation of his arrival, and fearing that Bane will actually destroy the Brotherhood like he did to Kas'im, Kaan agrees to let Githany kill him by kissing him with poisoned lips, after herself taking the antidote. Bane detects the poison straight away and is thrilled that Githany using such cunning and treachery as befits a true Sith Lord, rather than traditional methods like dueling. He is also confident that the methods from Darth Revan's holocron will allow him to counteract the poison, and kisses Githany three times. Eventually, he does feel the effects of synox on his body and realizes that she used two poisons against him synergistically, one to cover the other. Fortunately, he comes in contact with a healer named Caleb who cares neither for the Jedi or the Sith. He refuses to treat Bane, even calmly scalding his own hand in boiling water to show that torture will not change his mind. Bane probes his mind and discovers Caleb is trying to hide something ... or someone. Bane concludes that his daughter in his home, so 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, and Bane spares their lives, figuring he might still use them and that killing without reason or gain was a petty pleasure of the very same sadistic fools from whom he was determined to save the Sith order.

Heading for Ruusan, Darth Bane finds a Jedi fleet in the system and Sith ships blocking their reinforcements for Jedi below. On landing, Bane enters a meeting of the Sith Lords during which Kaan had been describing his battle plan to the Brotherhood. They are all surprised he is still alive, especially Githany. Bane uses the opportunity to lecture Kaan 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! With another of Darth Revan's rituals, Bane convinces the assembled Sith lords to help him create a massive Force storm to roll 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 as he realizes that she is truly lost and cannot be his apprentice. In the empty Sith camp, Bane enters Kaan's tent where he meets Qordis, who recognizes his power and wants to join in with Bane's new Sith rule. Bane then Force-chokes him while sharing his intention, not to take over the Brotherhood, but to end it forever.

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 the Army of Light would follow. There the Sith prepare the thought bomb that will kill all force sensitive beings. It is unclear whether any of the Sith believe they can survive, but remain compliant in the presence of Kaans dark influence. Kopecz however, sees Kaans madness and decides it is better to die in battle than endure the suffering of the thought bomb, and so he confronts past ally and Jedi Master Farfalla, who strikes Kopecz down in a lightsaber duel after hearing Kopecz talk about Kaan's plan with the thought bomb. Bane later oversees the destruction of the Brotherhood of Darkness as Kaan detonates the thought bomb, wiping out all nearby Sith and Jedi, killing Githany, who figured out about the destructive ends and tried in a vain attempt to escape, killing Lord Hoth and the ninety nine Jedi who volunteered to ensure the end of Kaan and his suicidal forces, and also severely disturbing all other beings on Ruusan. The novel ends with Bane, the last Sith Lord finding a Force-sensitive girl named Zannah, who had just killed two Jedi in anger after seeing them attack her friend Laa, a Bouncer, who they assumed was endangering her. Seeing her potential strength, Bane considers making Zannah the first apprentice in his Rule of Two.

Behind the scenes
Darth Bane: Path of Destruction remains one of the few adult novels that has not been adapted to audiobook, a Library of Congress reading of this book does exist under id: rc 63786.

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.

The hardback edition refers to the seventh form of lightsaber combat as Vaapad, even though Vaapad wouldn't be invented until almost a millennium later. This is corrected in the paperback.

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