Missed a post? Catch up on The Year of Kenobi here.

The Story

Three books into the Jenna Zan Arbor arc, and it’s finally time to bring things to a close. Although the last book ended with Obi-Wan finding Qui-Gon in captivity, but being unable to properly save him due to a second, mysterious Jedi also being in captivity.

Fortunately that obstacle doesn’t last especially long the time around, as Qui-Gon manages to get himself free with the help of Obi-Wan’s lightsaber. From there, it becomes more about the converging threats of Zan Arbor and bounty hunter Ona Nobis. Our Jedi duo team up with Siri and her master Adi Gallia to track the two down, free the mystery Jedi and get to the bottom of her motivation.

Thoughts and Impressions

Throughout the arc, the one thing that continually fascinated me and held my curiosity was why exactly Zan Arbor was draining her subjects of blood. Maybe it’s my canon poisoned brain, but I couldn’t help but wonder if this was some kind of precursor to Dr. Pershing in The Mandalorian, where she wanted to use the blood of Force sensitive individuals for scientific purposes.

Turns out no. She’s just crazy like that?

I suppose I was asking a bit much given that this is the mid-point of a long-running middle grade series and the main characters are the “point” of the story much more than the adventure/plot implications are. But considering what a stellar job Watson was doing at balancing plot and character early on, I found it surprising how little I engaged with the text at hand, and the arc as a whole.

It was a fine adventure overall. Very serviceable, and probably hit just right for the target demographic. But for me personally, I’m relieved to be putting this adventure behind me and starting fresh on a new one next time around.

What’s Next?

This arc is finished, meaning we are on to some new adventure. With no obvious tension between Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, it’s anyone’s guess where the next adventure will take them.

***

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