Star Wars Insider: A Chilling Tale Continues

Experience the suspenseful continuation of the Chronicles of Corellia in Star Wars Insider. Join Driggit on her journey for redemption and face the Nihil invaders.

Just in time for Halloween, Star Wars Insider brings a chilling new tale that picks up where the last Chronicles of Corellia left off. For those familiar with the female “fake twin” of the Jedi Padwan Gavi, it is very refreshing to see Driggit (from The High Republic: Escape from Valo middle-grade novel) again. She’s safe and in the hold of a Nihil ship as she celebrates her 15th birthday. While listening to her former friend broadcast messages of hope across the galaxy, Driggit reflects on how she can never redeem herself with Gavi. She had previously tried to kill him.

Driggit was once an ally of the Jedi, but everything changed when the Nihil invaded her homeworld of Valo, causing the Jedi to retreat. She witnessed the destruction of her beloved city and, as a result, held the Jedi responsible for their abandonment. Driggit decides to join the Nihil to protect her family while plotting a way to undermine them from within.

DELIGHTFUL DRIGGIT

I very much like Driggit. She is resourceful, stoic, tough, compassionate, and feisty, all rolled into one. I completely understand that she joined the Nihil to keep her family safe. I am always impressed with how she handles herself with her Nihil “compatriots,” as it is like being a bear cub in a den full of wolves. Driggit has been tasked with assisting the warden in capturing a brilliant Lasat scientist and developing a new type of starship that could significantly bolster the Nihil’s fight against the Jedi.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Driggit, another individual is journeying to catch this Lasat engineer. The individual in question is a Jedi-turned-Nihil-still Jedi padwawan Ruu who struggles with morality in life decisions. The flashbacks with his Master reveal a much more compassionate individual deeply unsettled by the idea of using his lightsaber or the Force to inflict harm on others. He grapples with the fear of how much he has changed, reflecting in dismay how, in the previous story, he experienced a sense of satisfaction from taking a life. Such feelings do not align with the Jedi way!

ALYSSA WONG

I have to give writer Alyssa Wong much credit for this tale. I mentioned flashbacks just now and admire that she puts the “flash” in them. In between Ruu’s thinking, we are only provided snippets of reminiscences of his past, and they are divided up in real-time according to what Ruu is doing now. I feel that is very much how recollections work in the real world, and I gained a sense of solidarity with this character.

I was a little disappointed that the secret design the Lasat engineer was working on was just a modified Eviserator ship (something well-established already in the High Republic), b. Still, hey, all engineers can build Death Stars. Once again, I was impressed when Driggit encountered Ruu and was able to outfox him despite him being a Jedi. It saddens me that both these young people are put in situations where they are forced to take their lives.

VERDICT

I liked this Star Wars Insider story. It felt much longer than the other Insider tales, and I liked how there was sometimes no clear transition from Driggit to Ruu. I wouldn’t mind seeing both of them in future tales.

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FORCE FACTS

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The computer Driggit hacks into is regarded by her to be old and clunky and chosen for substance over style. I feel like Alyssa Wong paid very close attention to how outdated the computers in the Star Wars galaxy seem, and now we are getting some in-universe rhetoric on why that is, and my only question is. If there are more flashy looking computers, what on Earth are those like?!
Driggit uses a “data stick” to transfer data from the computer, and it seems they work very similarly to flash drives from the real world. The download is also very much like ours, with a bar on the screen needing to be “filled,” signaling the transfer is complete. A cool futuristic add-on, of course, is that it activates a holoprojector that we certainly do not have.
When confronted with the Trolley Problem, Ruu cannot decide what to do. I’ve always wanted to see a Jedi take on this legendary ethics thought experiment. Granted, I would have liked more of a less ethically motivated Jedi to test it on, but Ruu did what most people in the real world would probably do if faced with that decision.

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Max Nocerino

Max Nocerino is a regular Staff Writer for The Future of the Force. He is a passionate Star Wars fan and loves the literature of the galaxy far, far away. Follow him on Twitter where he shares his love of the Force frequently!