Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

Yoda: Dark Rendezvous is one of the final novels in the Clone Wars story arc. It was written as a replacement for Escape from Dagu. The novel includes a ten-page preview of Labyrinth of Evil, along with other novels such as Shatterpoint. The book is part of the Clone Wars multimedia project.

American

 * ISBN 0345463099; November 23, 2004, Del Rey, 329-page paperback
 * ISBN 0739303228; November 23, 2004, Random House Audio, Abridged CD
 * ISBN 0739450026; 2004,Del Rey, 329-page Hardback + Excerpt of Labyrinth of Evil

Foreign

 * ISBN 9022542637; 2005, Uitgeverij M, 288-page Dutch paperback (Duistere ontmoeting).
 * ISBN 3442244366; January 2007, Blanvalet, 512-page German paperback (Yoda – Pfad der Dunkelheit).
 * ISBN 8324120904; 2005, Amber, 240-page Polish paperback (Yoda: Mroczne spotkanie).
 * ISBN 8495070413; 223-page Spanish paperback (Yoda: Encuentro Oscuro).
 * ISBN 8025205029; 2006, EGMONT ČR, 201-page Czech paperback (Yoda: Temné setkání).

Publisher's summary
As the Clone Wars rage, Jedi Master Yoda must once again face one of his greatest adversaries&mdash;Count Dooku&hellip;.

''The savage Clone Wars have forced the Republic to the edge of collapse. During the height of battle, one Jedi Knight escapes the carnage to deliver a message to Yoda on Coruscant. It appears Dooku wants peace and demands a rendezvous. Chances are slim that the treacherous Count is sincere, but with a million lives at stake, Yoda has no choice.''

''The meeting will take place on Vjun, a planet steeped in evil. The challenge could not be more difficult. Can Yoda win back his once promising pupil from the dark side, or will Count Dooku unleash his sinister forces against his former mentor? Either way, Yoda is sure of one thing: This battle will be one of the fiercest he'll ever face.''

Plot summary
The Clone Wars had raged across the galaxy for two and a half years, when the Grand Master of the Jedi Order, Yoda, received a message from his former Padawan, Count Dooku. In the message, Dooku conceded to Yoda that the conflict had gotten far out of hand. He claimed that what he had begun as a political play to rid the Republic of corruption had turned into a bloodbath and that he was willing to come to a truce. Dooku invited Yoda to come and meet him on the planet Vjun, where they would organize the cease-fire.

After conferring with his fellow Jedi Masters from the Council, Yoda decided that even if the meeting at Vjun were a feint, the chance to end the war far outweighed the perils of a trap.

In order to cover for this secret meeting, the Jedi contracted a famous actor and Yoda-impersonator, Palleus Chuff to act as a decoy while the real Yoda departed for Vjun. Disguised as Yoda, Chuff left on a very public mission to Ithor. However, upon Chuff's arrival at Ithor, his ship was ambushed and destroyed by Asajj Ventress who was seeking to assassinate the Jedi Master. Yoda's perceived death was a significant blow to the Republic's morale.

Meanwhile, Yoda traveled under disguise accompanied by Jedi Masters Jai Maruk and Maks Leem and their Padawans, Scout and Whie.

During one Spaceport layover, Ventress, (accompanied by the bumbling but brave) Chuff managed to catch the quintet, and unleashed a dangerous new type of battle droid. While the other Jedi fought the droids and Ventress, Yoda sought to rescue Palleus. Both Jai Maruk and Maks Leem fell to the terrible droids and Ventress's lightsaber. Yoda, however, managed to divert Ventress's attention before she took a chance to kill the young Padawans, and the three Jedi (with Chuff in tow) escaped.

Meanwhile on Vjun, Count Dooku awaited Yoda in the Château Malreaux, the manor of the long since waned aristocratic Clan Malreaux. As the group of Jedi landed on Vjun they were forced to separate: Yoda went to meet with Dooku, and the Padawans followed mysterious disruptions in the Force felt by Whie.

Soon the Padawans were captured by the lurking Asajj Ventress. She revealed to Whie that the Château was in fact his house, and the insane house-woman was his mother, Lady Whirry Malreaux. Asajj then held Scout in a tight Force grip, and tried to bring Whie to the dark side. Ventress knew of the boy's crush on the pretty, athletic red-haired Scout, and used it to ignite Whie's darker side by telling him to kiss Scout. In the end, Whie Malreaux handled his inner emotions and resisted the dark side.

Meanwhile, Yoda met with Dooku. The two Masters engaged in a tense debate about the ways of the Force, and reminiscenced about Dooku's childhood in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. In the end, Yoda encouraged his former apprentice to leave the dark side and Darth Sidious forever. Dooku, hands shaking, was on the verge of answering when an assistant informed him of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi's arrival in the mansion, dispatched there by the Jedi Council. Convinced that the legendary duo were replacements for him, Dooku was overcome by jealousy and threw his assistant out the window. Yoda was forced to save Whirry from falling to her death, and then parry Dooku's follow-up lightsaber attack. Although Dooku managed to wound him, Yoda was unfazed, and did not yield to the dark side. Yoda recovered, and a short lightsaber battle ensued. In a repeat of his escape from Geonosis, Dooku activated an orbital missile targeted to the house before leaping from the window. Yoda was forced to stop the missile to save the lives of everyone in the vicinity, giving Dooku and Ventress the time to escape.

Kenobi and Skywalker rescued the Padawans and Yoda, and returned home to Coruscant.

Meanwhile, on a distant planet that was Dooku's new headquarters, Count Dooku realized that everyone he had ever loved, including Yoda, had forsaken him. He was truly alone.

Behind the scenes
In chapter 4, page 88 of the American edition, when Jai Maruk explains why he thinks Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy should be sent to the Agricultural Corps, he says, "A Jedi Knight has a different kind of mission, and in the work we do, I think she would be dead in six months". This foreshadows the Jedi purge in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, which takes place exactly six months after the events in this novel. Ironically, though, Scout actually survived the events of Order 66 and went to the planet Mandalore with the ancient Jedi Kina Ha under the care of Mandalorian Kal Skirata in Imperial Commando: 501st.

A potential continuity issue arises at the end of the book where Kenobi explains to Skywalker that the first time he met Asajj Ventress, he stole her spaceship from the planet Queyta. This occurs in the Republic comic Blast Radius. However, Obi-Wan is clearly seen returning from Queyta to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant piloting a Jedi starfighter. One possible explanation could be that the starfighter belonged to Ventress's former master Ky Narec.

Other internal references suggest some uncertainty about chronology. The official timeline places Yoda: Dark Rendezvous two and a half years after the battle at Geonosis in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and half a year before Revenge of the Sith; however, the character Scout is supposed to have turned thirteen three months prior to the events in Attack of the Clones and is repeatedly referred to as being fourteen.

Whie Malreaux appears in Revenge of the Sith, practicing against Bene under the supervision of Cin Drallig. His dreams in Yoda: Dark Rendezvous of being killed by a Jedi and surprised by it despite the forewarning refer specifically to this scene.

Dooku's reaction to the arrival of Skywalker and Kenobi, during his conversation with Yoda, structurally resembles Vader's reaction when Kenobi emerges from Padmé's ship on Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith. In both cases, someone with a strong past relationship to the Sith Apprentice is pleading with him to return, but the arrival of a third party, unexpected by the pleader, gives the Sith opportunity to conclude that he has been betrayed and dismiss the appearance of caring, cementing his relationship to the Sith master.

Throughout most of the novel, Yoda's eyes are referred to as green, yet according to the The New Essential Guide to Characters, they are brown.

Cover gallery
This is a gallery of the different cover variations of Yoda: Dark Rendezvous.