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 in 1,020 BBY. The hardcover is set to be released in late September of 2006.

Blurb
"The Sith were in shambles. In-fighting among their ranks allowed the Jedi to thwart their dark plans. One last battle to end an era resulted in the extinction of the Sith. Or so it was believed&mdash;one Dark Lord survived.

From the ashes emerged Darth Bane, the lone Sith who was able to foresee the inevitable doom of the misguided order, and learn from this costly lesson. He forged a new order of secretive Sith, plotting from the shadows, carefully rebuilding power a generation at a time for centuries until the revenge of the Sith could finally be achieved.

Who was this Dark Lord? What events forged the man who would split from the Sith ranks and entirely redefine the order?"

Summary
The novel deals primarily with Darth Bane and for the first time recounts his early life prior to his ascension to the Sith. The story begins in the cortosis mines of Apatros, which he is forced to leave after he kills a crew member of a visiting Republic ship in a fight over sabacc. Smuggled off-world by a Neimoidian named Groshik, Bane's only real friend on the planet, 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 neighbouring 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 master's as Qordis and Kas'im, as well as others like: Orilltha; Shenayag; Hezzoran and Brothis. He also studies the temple archives and quickly begins to surpass the other students despite his late entry to the Academy.

After he kills a student in the dueling ring his prestiege at the Academy rises, but he beings to doubt himself and his connection to the Force starts to falter. In a desperate bid he challenges Sirak, probably the most powerful student at the Academy at that time and is beaten within an inch of his life. After this Qordis decrees that he shall receive no further training from any of the Master's.

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 tutour 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, Bane begins to regain much of his lost power and confidence, once again he revists the Temple archives and takes up the studies he foolishly 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 favour with the Master's, 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 their is only one place he can go to learn what he needs. Just prior to the departure of the Academy students for Ruusan, Bane is betrayed by Githany and led into an ambush with Sirak, but once Githany realizes how strong Bane has become she switches sides. Bane kills his rival, brutally decapitating him and instead of leaving for Ruusan he steals the Valcyn and heads for parts known only to him. He takes the ship to a world named Lehon, but 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, 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 the incantation for the Thought Bomb. Once on Ruusan Bane oversees the destruction of the Sith and his ascension as the last true Sith Lord. The novel ends with Bane finding Zannah and considering that she may be the apprentice he needs to pass on his knowledge.

Behind the scenes

 * Darth Bane: Path of Destruction is the first novelization which takes place in the Old Republic era, and the first novelization which makes reference to the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic video game.

New characters

 * Adanar
 * Hurst
 * Lucia
 * Ulabore

New locations

 * Apatros
 * Phaseera

New organizations

 * Gloom Walkers
 * Outer Rim Oreworks Company

New events

 * Battle of Phaseera

New equipment

 * 21D
 * Interference box
 * TC-17

New vehicles

 * Flatbed