Darth Bane/Legends

Hello there and welcome back to Women of Star Wars! This week’s featured character is Darth Cognus, apprentice of Darth Zannah (who I did last week). Hope you enjoy!

Note: I know I said that this week’s post would be about Ar’alani, but she has a very long biography to write about and I’m kind of behind on school stuff. Sorry about that, and I promise that I will do her next week.

Biography

Darth Cognus was an Iktochi, born sometime before 980 BBY. Her name before becoming a Sith is unknown, but she went by “The Huntress” while working as an assassin. She was born with telepathic and precognitive talents like the rest of her species, but her abilities were more powerful than most other Iktochi. Using those gifts, she made a career for herself as an assassin. In 980 BBY, the Huntress took a job for a woman named Lucia, who was a bodyguard to Serra, princess of the planet Doan. Serra’s husband had been killed by a mining organization and Lucia wanted the Huntress to kill the organization’s leader in revenge. However, while the Huntress did the job, she also killed a Jedi who was trying to help solve the situation on Doan. The incident captured the attention of the other Jedi, and Serra visited the Jedi Temple on Coruscant because of this. There she learned that her father Caleb (mentioned in last week’s post) had been killed by a Sith named Darth Bane and hired the Huntress to capture him. Using a poisoned knife, the Huntress subdued Bane and brought him to the Stone Prison on Doan, where Serra tried unsuccessfully to make him pay for her father’s death. Lucia had worked with Bane before he’d become a Sith though, in the army, causing her to feel sympathetic and free her former friend from his cell. This started a series of chaotic events, as Bane’s apprentice Zannah, Dark Jedi Set Harth, and the Huntress herself were also in the prison during Bane’s escape for their own reasons. After Bane and his apprentice dueled and Set escaped a faceoff with the Huntress, she found Bane while he was making his getaway and offered to become his new apprentice, replacing Zannah (who Bane thought was unworthy). Bane accepted her and she took the name Darth Cognus to symbolize her turn to the Sith. However, there was still one problem, Zannah, who Bane dueled again on Ambria to determine who was the true Sith Master. While Bane was killed in the duel, Zannah took Cognus as her apprentice. Cognus eventually gained an apprentice of her own, Darth Millennial, and continued the Rule of Two.

My opinion on her

After reading the first two Bane books, I started the last one and was interested right away by Cognus because while Bane and Zannah both had mostly ordinary/not exactly Sith-like lives before turning to the dark side, I knew Cognus would end up becoming one by the end of the book right away. She was interesting and also good at her job, as she managed to subdue Bane in a fight. When she did end up becoming a Sith, I thought it was pretty fitting for her. Even though she is a mostly obscure character in the Star Wars universe, she is definitely worth exploring.

How you can learn more about her

Cognus does not have many appearances. She appears in the last Darth Bane book, Dynasty of Evil, as an assassin-for-hire and later becomes a Sith. She is also briefly mentioned in Darth Plagueis, where you can learn a little more about her and Millennial. Despite only having those two appearances, she is still a great character to read about.

Your opinion matters too!

What are your own thoughts on Cognus? Underrated or overrated? Like or dislike? Share anything you’d like to say about her in the comments.

Thanks for reading! I will tag some of the characters/events talked about in the biography since it might be confusing if you haven't read the book. Next week’s edition will be posted on Sunday, and it will be on Ar’alani as promised. Feel free to share any suggestions for the week after that in the comments, though. Have a great day and MTFBWY!

Series hub:

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Hello there and welcome back to Women of Star Wars, your weekly series spotlighting underrated female characters! Today’s post is about Darth Zannah, apprentice of Darth Bane and an awesome Sith. Hope you enjoy!

Short biography

Zannah, nicknamed “Rain” as a child, was born in 1010 BBY on Somov Rit. She spent much of her childhood with her cousins, Darovit (Tomcat) and Hardin (Bug), and the three of them had their older cousin Root as a guardian. Rain and her cousins Bug and Tomcat were recruited to fight with the Jedi against the Sith on the planet Ruusan, but the Sith attacked their ship when it arrived on Ruusan, blowing a hole in it. Rain fell out into the forest and both her cousins and the Jedi thought she was dead. However, she survived thanks to Laa, a bouncer (telepathic creatures native to Ruusan). The two became friends, journeying together across Ruusan’s countryside, and Rain learned that she was very strong in the Force. Some time later, Laa was killed by two Jedi. Rain used the Force to kill both by snapping their necks and in doing so, she attracted the attention of Darth Bane, the last surviving Sith (read more about him on his wiki page). Bane took her as his apprentice and Rain gave up her childhood nickname, going by Zannah from then on. To officially become a Sith apprentice, Zannah was tested by her new master and had to get off Ruusan by herself. Passing the test, she began to study the dark side on the planet Ambria, becoming skilled with a double-bladed lightsaber and Sith sorcery. Over the years, Zannah served as her master’s will, completing missions around the galaxy for him. On one undercover mission to retrieve information from the Jedi Archives, Zannah was reunited with her cousin Tomcat, now going by his real name Darovit, who was visiting the Temple at the time. She learned that Darovit had told the Jedi about her and Bane and made him come with her to warn Bane. They were followed by Jedi, who dueled with Zannah and her master. While the Sith killed all 5 of the Jedi, Bane was injured by his own Force lightning, leaving Zannah and Darovit to seek medical help. Even though Caleb, the healer that they went to (who had a history with Bane) made sure that the Jedi would be aware of the existence of Sith in the galaxy in exchange for his help, Zannah managed to keep herself and Bane hidden by killing Caleb and driving Darovit insane with Sith sorcery, then sending him at the investigating Jedi with a lightsaber, convincing them that he was Bane and that the Sith were gone (they killed Darovit in self-defense). After the two Sith escaped unnoticed, Zannah promised her master that she would someday kill him and continue his Rule of Two. 10 years later, she still hadn’t done that, leading Bane to worry that she wasn’t a worthy apprentice and try to find a replacement (as well as the secret to eternal life). However, Zannah, after being sent to investigate a Jedi death on the planet Doan, decided that she would no longer take orders from Bane. On Doan, the mission ended up being more eventful than expected, and Zannah attempted to take Dark Jedi Set Harth as her new apprentice. The two of them, after learning that Bane was being held in a prison on the planet, set out to kill him. However, Zannah failed to kill Bane and Set escaped from the prison on his own, giving up his apprenticeship with Zannah. Meanwhile, Bane took a new apprentice, Darth Cognus, and sent a message to Zannah telling her to confront him on Ambria. When she arrived, the two Sith dueled and Zannah was bested in lightsaber combat, though she managed to defeat her master with Sith sorcery. While Bane tried to take over her body through essence transfer, he was ultimately killed and Cognus became Zannah's apprentice. However, a small part of his identity was imprinted on her. Zannah was eventually succeeded by Cognus and her apprentice, Darth Millennial.

My thoughts on her

I was reading through the wiki page on Sith and the Rule of Two about a year ago and noticed Zannah’s wiki article. I started reading it because I was interested in female Sith (I didn’t know any other ones back then). I remember thinking, “She sounds interesting” and wanting to read the books, but my mom wasn’t exactly into the idea of Star Wars books at the time. Eventually, I ended up getting to pick out 10 books at the store (more like on Amazon) and remembered reading the wiki page, so I got all three Bane books to read. They sat around for a long while because I got distracted by some of the canon books and the Legends Thrawn trilogy, which I borrowed from my friend. I started Path of Destruction 2 weeks ago and got really into the series, which is why I’m done with all of them right now, lol. Zannah is my favorite character from the books and she isn’t talked about very often, so I immediately put her on my list of underrated female characters to write about in this series. In my opinion she has a pretty good character arc and is somewhat relatable/inspiring (in a mostly evil way of course).

How you can learn more about her

• Zannah appears in the Darth Bane trilogy (Path of Destruction, Rule of Two, and Dynasty of Evil). She’s mostly in the 2nd and 3rd books but as they’re a trilogy I would read all three. To me all of them are great and you should definitely read them, they show how the Rule of Two was formed and have a solid plotline.

• She also appears in the Jedi vs Sith comic run, which has mostly the same plot as the first Bane book but includes more background on Zannah and her cousins. It’s a pretty good comic to me and I’d recommend it to any fan of Zannah or the Bane trilogy. Fun fact, the comics actually came out before the novels so they are not just adaptations of the book.

Your opinion matters too!

What are your own thoughts on Zannah? Underrated or overrated? Like or dislike? Share anything you’d like to say about her in the comments.

Thanks for reading! Next week’s edition will be posted on Sunday (I’ve finally set a day for the series, it’ll be Sundays most of the time). Again, please share any suggestions you have for the next featured character, or choose your favorite out of my potential choices (Darth Cognus, Fennec Shand, or Ar’alani). Have a great day and MTFBWY!

Series hub:

[Women of Star Wars] Series Hub | FandomThis is where I'll link all the posts I make for…starwars.fandom.com

YOUR GUIDE TO THE EU IN ORDER!

We will be going over all the books, movies, comics, video games, and more that fit into the LEGENDS continuity!

LEGENDS POINTS SCALE:

-10 to -1 means it is definitely not good at all and not worth reading! 0 means bad. 1 to 2 means okay! 3 to 4 means good. 5 to 7 means very good. 8 to 9 means amazing! 10 means it is one of the 50 some best STAR WARS books of all time!

Best rating so far: 10/10

Worst rating so far: -1/10

Hello there Legends fans. I know I'm a bit late with this edition, but I hope more Bane stories will make you forget the delay. Today I've got for you Bane of the Sith. Enjoy!

BANE OF THE SITH by Kevin J. Anderson (1000 BBY):

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Bane_of_the_Sith

Bane of the SithWookieepedia

The story can be found here: https://epdf.pub/bane-of-the-sith4eeb12a239371dbb3f5dfd329d3b4e1675991.html

Bane of the Sith - PDF Free Downloadepdf.pub

First of all, I want to say that this was Darth Bane's very first appearance in the EU, and we all have Kevin J Anderson to thank for that. I know Bane was created originally by Lucas, but Anderson gave life to the character.

Unfortunately, this was also Anderson's last EU story that he ever wrote. With all that said, I have to mention the fact that this story takes place right before Darth Bane: Path of Destruction and Jedi vs Sith. Also, this story is also told in chapters 7 and 8 from Darth Bane: Rule of Two, so if you don't read it, you aren't missing very much.

However, the short story is has quite a few differences from the book. For example: it goes a bit deeper into the history of Onderon, Dxun and gives us more details about Freedon Nadd. Also, when Bane arrives on Dxun, his ship crashes, and in the short story it states: "As in the crash of the Valcyn, once again he emerged without a scratch", while in the book, Bane dislocated his shoulder and had to fix it himself.

As for the Kaan's and Qordis' ghosts, I really like how Kaan was written here. It seems like after his death, he came to agree with Bane and didn't wish for him to die, but to continue his destiny, whatever it takes (the first test being the orbalisk infestation).

In conclusion, Bane of the Sith is a great story, well worth your time (it's not even long), and I encourage everyone to read it, even if you've already read Rule of Two.

LEGENDS rating: 8.5/10.

New to the series? Want to get into Legends (The Expanded Universe/Eu), but don’t know how? Check out the Archive, for all past and future editions. This Archive will take you to every post, guiding you on your EU Journey? Good luck, journeyer! Begin your quest:

https://starwars.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000003293609

☀️ [THE ENTIRE LEGENDS Chronology]. Archive! | FandomYour Guide, To Our Daily guide! The Entire…starwars.fandom.com

https://starwars.fandom.com/f/p/3343172654596433076

☀️ [THE ENTIRE LEGENDS DAILY CHRONOLOGY] Overall Series Discussion Thread | FandomI hope you all love my guide to the LEGENDS 37…starwars.fandom.com

Thanks To These Users, for their support and help with our series:

@IJV28

@KaiGuy14

@WarlordGrandAdmiralThrawn

@DarthFox1313

@SkywalkerofDragonstone

@Anotherbatmanfan

@Givinname

Next time, I will review the second book in the Darth Bane trilogy, Rule of Two.

-Grand Admiral Tuki.

YOUR GUIDE TO THE EU IN ORDER!

We will be going over all the books, movies, comics, video games, and more that fit into the LEGENDS continuity!

LEGENDS POINTS SCALE:

-10 to -1 means it is definitely not good at all and not worth reading! 0 means bad. 1 to 2 means okay! 3 to 4 means good. 5 to 7 means very good. 8 to 9 means amazing! 10 means it is one of the 50 some best STAR WARS books of all time!

Best rating so far: 10/10

Worst rating so far: -1/10

Have you ever heard the story of Darth Bane the last Sith'ari? If not, I sure hope this edition will make you read the books, because today I'm going to review the first book in the trilogy, Path of Destruction.

DARTH BANE: Path of Destruction by Drew Karpyshyn (1006-1000 BBY):

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Darth_Bane:_Path_of_Destruction

Darth Bane: Path of DestructionWookieepedia

We've finally come to what's probably the biggest Legends material we're reviewing since Knights of the Old Republic, and of course I'm referring to the Bane era.

I'll start by saying that this book is one thing: intoxicating. Once you start reading it, it's very hard to put it down (we have Drew Karpyshyn to thank for that). Now, if didn't know, Karpyshyn was one of the lead writers for KotOR, so it's only natural that PoD has many connections to the old games (which makes it even better).

Apart from being very well written, Path of Destruction and the next 2 Bane books are a bridge that connect the Old Republic era to the prequel era. And on top of that, the first book is the beginning of Bane's journey, whom I see as the Chosen One of the OR (because in a way, he is).

The plot of the book is simple: the complete and utter destruction of the Brotherhood of Darkness, but not in the way you'd imagine. Karpyshyn takes us where no other Star Wars book has: he takes us into the heart of the Sith Order, the history, the philosophy, the anger and the barely concealed hate the Sith Lords have for each other.

Although Bane is what Jedi call "evil", he is a fascinating protagonist, much better than many other protagonists we have in Star Wars. I'd go as far as to say that his Hero's Journey is second only to Anakin and Luke. All came from harsh worlds, suffered harsh losses, and were given a chance at freedom. However, Dessel's story is more tragic as his father was abusive while Anakin's mom and Luke's aunt were loving. Then, his growth from miner to soldier to apprentice to Sith Master was well-done. You watch as he gradually learns of his skills, begins to use them, fails, succeeds, learns of the Dark Side, and gives himself over.

Now I can't talk about Dessel/Bane's journey without talking about the other characters in this book. The one side character that I really want to mention is Kas'im, the Blademaster. I felt he was a real mentor, but not afraid to push his student, and I'd have liked to get more of him. Other nice characters are: Hoth (that type of Jedi leader who's oscillating between Light Side and Dark Side), Kaan (the charismatic leader who is dethroned in the end) and Farfalla (the better Jedi leader, about which we'll hear more about later). All were marvelously written and contribute to the plot of the novel, but of course, the shiny hero is Bane.

WOW! If you are interested in learning more about the EU, reading about good characters, good dialogue, and intense, brutal action, then Path of Destruction is your book!

And without any doubt in my mind, I'm giving this book a full LEGENDS rating: 10/10.

New to the series? Want to get into Legends (The Expanded Universe/Eu), but don’t know how? Check out the Archive, for all past and future editions. This Archive will take you to every post, guiding you on your EU Journey? Good luck, journeyer! Begin your quest:

https://starwars.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000003293609

☀️ [THE ENTIRE LEGENDS Chronology]. Archive! | FandomYour Guide, To Our Daily guide! The Entire…starwars.fandom.com

https://starwars.fandom.com/f/p/3343172654596433076

☀️ [THE ENTIRE LEGENDS DAILY CHRONOLOGY] Overall Series Discussion Thread | FandomI hope you all love my guide to the LEGENDS 37…starwars.fandom.com

Thanks To These Users, for their support and help with our series:

@IJV28

@KaiGuy14

@WarlordGrandAdmiralThrawn

@DarthFox1313

@SkywalkerofDragonstone

@Anotherbatmanfan

@Givinname

Next time, @Legends Lover will review the comic series Jedi vs Sith.

-Grand Admiral Tuki.