WARNING: The following contains spoilers from the Star Wars: Brotherhood novel, which is available for preorder now.
While the full Star Wars effect can only be experienced in a theater, the franchise has successfully expanded into all kinds of media since George Lucas’ first film in 1977. Obviously, Disney+ has a plethora of new series in the works like The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Andor. However, Lucasfilm has also produced numerous, highly successful animated series, along with decades worth of comics and novels. In fact, 2022 is a particularly great year for Star Wars books.
But amongst great titles like Adam Christopher’s Shadow of the Sith and Beth Revis’ The Princess and the Scoundrel, Mike Chen’s Brotherhood looks to stand out. The novel will feature Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka and Asajj Ventress during the height of the Clone Wars, making it vital to the events of the animated series. So, here’s a quick look at what will happen in the book and how it will fit into the Star Wars timeline.
It’s amusing how many throwaway lines in Star Wars later became legitimate plot points. For instance, Anakin and Grievous couldn’t meet in Star Wars: The Clone Wars because of a line in Revenge of the Sith. Likewise, there was a line in A New Hope about Anakin flying a spice freighter, so Dave Filoni repurposed that in The Clone Wars when Anakin and Ahsoka started using a Corellian G9 Rigger-class light freighter known as The Twilight.
The premise for Brotherhood also started out as one of those throwaway lines. In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin mentioned having saved Obi-Wan’s life for the 10th time. But Obi-Wan was quick to respond, “Ninth time. That business on Cato Neimoidia doesn’t count.” Originally, that incident was explained in a novel called Labyrinth of Evil by James Luceno. In that book, Obi-Wan lost his rebreather and had to fight countless battle droids while inhaling some kind of gas before Anakin showed up just in time to save his master. Luceno’s novel, however, became non-canon when Disney acquired the rights to Star Wars. That meant the business on Cato Neimoidia once again became an unexplained piece of dialogue — until now.
The synopsis for Brotherhood says that the book takes place just after the events of Attack of the Clones, though a recently released excerpt provides even more details on its timeline. The excerpt reveals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Asajj Ventress’ first meeting, but, when they cross paths, Obi-Wan doesn’t know that Ventress is a Sith assassin — he thinks she is simply an emissary for the Separatists. With that in mind, it’s important to note that “Ambush” — the very first episode of The Clone Wars — showed Yoda in a conflict with Asajj Ventress, and he already knew of her status. So, by all appearances, Brotherhood will be set before the events of the animated series, which would place it novel after the Battle of Geonosis but still in 22 BBY.
At that point, both the Republic and the Separatists will be trying to vie for Cato Neimoidia’s allegiance in their war efforts, meaning the stakes couldn’t be higher. Meanwhile, Anakin Skywalker has just risen to the rank of Jedi Knight and been assigned Ahsoka Tano as his padawan. As the book’s synopsis reveals, the crux of Brotherhood shows Anakin and Obi-Wan growing beyond just master and apprentice, something that is vital to both their futures.
To witness the incident on Cato Neimoidia, Mike Chen’s Star Wars: Brotherhood goes on sale May 10 from Penguin Random House.
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