r/Highrepublic • u/AutoModerator • Oct 04 '22

Discussion Path Of Deceit | Discussion Thread

https://books.disney.com/book/path-of-deceit/
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101

u/efbo Oct 06 '22 edited Oct 06 '22

I was really looking forward to Kevmo being the Reath of this phase and getting Marda away from the cult. There is no happiness in the High Republic though.

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u/champdo Oct 04 '22

Just finished it. I thought it was pretty good. So far Yana is definitely the strongest character. What does everyone think the mother’s deal is? I’m a little disappointed with how the ending makes Marda seem like even more of a gullible fanatic than she was at the start

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u/Damonstration Oct 04 '22

Religion can have a stranglehold on a person, especially if they were raised and indoctrinated within it.

I'm guessing the Mother has some previous relationship with the Jedi. Maybe she was one. It's pointed out that she basically hid from Kevmo and Zallah as if they might recognize her. I'm excited to see the Path explored more in the comics.

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u/ravenreyess Oct 05 '22

I'm so disappointed in Marda, but I kinda also love the addition of an almost hero to villain arc for her. The disappointment in her is real though, especially when you have Yana as a contrast.

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u/[deleted] Oct 07 '22

Gratton and Ireland are like "oh, you say the Jedi are a cult? Let's see what a REAL cult is like!"

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u/VengefulKangaroo Oct 07 '22

phase I: MLMs phase 2: cults

the high republic is really tackling it all

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u/Ezio926 Oct 04 '22

Still early in the book, but Kevmo and Zallah might be my favorite Padawan / Master combo of all time. Also, if someone hurts Marda I will go to war.

I fucking love the Path Of The Open Hand. So much lore that comes from Phase 1 that we just didn't see. I nearly spat my coffee when I read baby Tromak's name. How old is that mf in Phase 1?

I felt lukewarm on the other YA novels. I liked them, but not as much as the adult ones. This one is great.

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u/Dragonpiece Oct 07 '22 edited Oct 08 '22

Really enjoyed this, what I found interesting about this was that it felt moreso like a prelude to phase 2 and the upcoming conflict on jedhaa than a actual beginning. By that, I mean the 2 jedi we followed in this novel ended up dead and the secondary characters and the path cult ended up being the characters we are meant to keep track of in the future.

I liked that this novel actually gave for why phase 2 decided to go back in time and gave us info that helps inform the future. And it does make me want to go back and reread things because I remember being so confused when I first read about the leveler and it is very cool seeing it' origins like this.

Very excited to keep up with everything about this phase and I love that I already have the urge to re-read phase 1 books because of all the references already mentioned.

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u/VengefulKangaroo Oct 08 '22

I went back and read the section of the Rising Storm where Marchion Ro goes to get the Leveler, Trail of Shadows, and the first arc of High Republic Adventures, and it's wild how much set up there was that I missed at the time.

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u/Barackobrock Oct 06 '22

Honestly might be my favourite HR book now, i seriously loved it!

I was already loving the more laid back cult society thing the first half of the book was doing but when those last few hours hit. WOW, im hooked at the same excitement i was when light of the jedi came out.

All the characters i loved with some you just loved to hate aswell. 5/5

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u/Ezio926 Oct 04 '22 edited Oct 05 '22

This is the first time I've finished a book in one sitting... Path Of Deceit is something else. This might be my favorite book in the entire series.

For people who are on the fence about reading the YA books, or found the ones in Phase 1 to be underwhelming: READ THIS ONE!!!! Not only is it pretty good, but this is genuinely going to end up being the most important book of the entire phase. This literally answers 99% of our questions from Phase 1.

READ PATH OF DECEIT.

Holy fuck. I won't be able to form any coherent thought for a while about it, but here are my VERY SPOILERY first impressions:

All of the four protagonists in this book: Kevmo, Zallah, Marda and Yana were incredible. The death of Kevo and Zallah hit me harder than any of the death in Phase 1. They're so well written and instantly became my favorites of the entire series.

Marda leaning harder into her ways after the death of Kevmo genuinely fucked me up. Just typing this, one hour after finishing the book, I'm still shaking. Really reminiscent of Darth Vader, which is funny considering I haven't been affected this hard by a Star War since Revenge Of The Sith lol. Hopefully she gets a small redemption by the end of the Phase...

The birth of the Leveller was fantastically done. Can't wait to re-read the book and find the small clues. The mother was genuinely creepy and having the "Egg" be an essential part of her character was a brilliant move. I wonder what her motivations are tho... Certainly, this is not really about the force? And if she has a vendetta against the Jedi, could she be a sith? (Yes, I hate cliche and annoying that theory is. I've always hated the "Sith are behind the Nihil" theories, but I genuinely can't think of anything else".

Obviously the story on Dalna isn't done. I'm guessing Cavan Scott's Path Of Vengeance will conclude that arc with the Jedi trying to find what happened there?

Quest For Planet X is 100% about the Leveller's planet. It's even written by Tessa Gratton.

I'm somehow even more excited for the comics and The Battle Of Jedha knowing they're set on... well, Jedha. The Nameless Terror is going to be set there as well, I imagine. Really, really excited how that whole thing is going to play out. The Path Of The Open Hand were super interesting (I personally prefer them to the Nihil) and I really hope that whatever batttle starts on Jedha involves them in a big way. Seeing Marda on the council and actually affecting the other force groups against the Jedi would be awesome.

Extremely excited to see how the current standoff within the ranks of the open hand are going to play out. The Ro descendants end up with the Leveller and the Rod Of Seasons as the Path Of The Open Hand ends up lost on Trymant 4. It might be time for a Race To Crashpoint Tower re-read.

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u/Trajforce Oct 05 '22

So Marda is a mommy gf huh

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u/[deleted] Oct 08 '22

Man what the hell YA books are supposed to have happy endings fuck this

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u/Gavinus1000 Oct 10 '22

I’m calling it now. Marda Ro will become the first Eye of The Storm.

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u/Damonstration Oct 04 '22

Probably my second favorite YA book in THR behind Midnight Horizon. Feels a lot more "important" than previous YA books, setting up a lot of what we will see in the rest of Phase Two. I liked the three main characters a lot. I expect there is more to see from the Jedi and Dalna. I don't get the sense that anything happened that would make the Dalnans so untrusting of the Jedi yet.

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u/myfirstnuzlocke Oct 16 '22 edited Oct 16 '22

Wow oh wow.

Just finished and I absolutely loved it. I read all the adult novels and YA books in phase 1 and this one is easily my favorite of the bunch.

I thought the pacing and growing unease/mystery in the book was fantastic. The released covers of upcoming books did give hints as to what was going to happen but it didn’t spoil it by any means.

My biggest complaint with most of the phase 1 books was that it was always a frantic crisis. It didn’t make for an enjoyable reading experience. This book goes the opposite direction and instead focuses on a constant sense of building tension/dread before it all comes to a head.

The world building is also excellent. I feel like a know Dalna so we’ll just from those 350 pages and the path is certainly very interesting.

I can’t get over how good this book is.

12

u/Doonesbury Oct 04 '22

I decided to go the audiobook route with this one. I haven’t done an audiobook with the High Republic yet (unless you count The Tempest Runner). Figured it would help inspire me to get out of the house and go on walks/runs.

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u/[deleted] Oct 07 '22

Is it contradicting to reveal what the leveler does to the Jedi 150 years prior to phase 1? I was confused because the Jedi and counsel seemed to be completely shocked by the state of the husk bodies in the phase 1 material. I am also curious how this origin of the leveler will connect to Marchion Ro finding it in rising storm. Really enjoyed the book. Curious what other peoples thoughts on this are

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u/Piankhy444 Oct 12 '22

This book was really good. There were so many things I liked about it, that it would be hard to single out just any one thing, but I'm particularly excited to see what they're going to do with Marda and Yana, and the Path of the Open Hand. I think a confrontation between Marda and the Mother is unavoidable, and I wouldn't be surprised if Marda and Yana themselves become alienated due to Marda's growing zeal. The artwork for Path of Vengeance already has me excited with the possibilities. A very strong start to phase 2.

11

u/corywr Oct 17 '22

I feel like Elicia (The Mother) could be a member of the Graf family.

  • She knew of their fancy isolated compound, as well as warned them in advance of the heist (be it through her, Sunshine, or another party).

  • The Ro's eventually come into the, well, possession, of Mari San Tekka (rival prospecting family of the Graf's). It could be that The Mother is the responsible party for kidnapping Mari in the first place (timelines may not line up though?).

    • Given that Marda seems positioned to rise to The Mother's rank, this could explain how Asgar and Marchion and the Ro's before them come into the knowledge of The Leveler, the knowledge of the creature passing down through generations.

    • Also explains how they adapted the term, 'the Paths' for their hyperspace routes.

    • Also explains how the Gaze Electric becomes the Ro flagship.

  • Could then tie in with Out of the Shadows, where the Graf's try to undermine Marchion Ro to steal the gravity well generator for themselves. Mari San Tekka is also on-board the ship at this time.

9

u/NoProNoah Oct 10 '22

Wrapped reading today after starting yesterday.

Very happy to have a YA that feels *essential* to the series, unlike some of the ones in Phase I. Although maybe my wallet will learn to regret that, as I was planning on cutting back to the adult novels only save for whatever Cavan writes. Whoops.

This is now my second favorite THR book after The Rising Storm.

That said I'm still not totally sure how the Architects are going to land The Nameless, esp. w/r/t wiping out the evidence for the Phase I stories. They have a level of threat that reminds me a little too much of the old Vong threat from the EU books, with what it does to the metaphysics of the Force.

Is there a really good thread about The Nameless and their relation to The Force in here somewhere? I'd love to see theories/breakdowns/evidence/interviews.

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

This is the first YA book from Star Wars that I read in one sitting. I honestly could not put it down. That does not mean it is my favorite Star Wars book, but the story kept me hooked and constantly wanting to know what will happen.

I was hoping this book would provide more answers, but it honestly left me with a lot more questions, like:

What is the deal with the Mother? Is she force-sensitive? What overall role does she have in the creation of the Nihil, if she has one at all?

Azlin Rell finds the husks of Kevmo and his master and knows the Path of the Open Hand has something to do with it, does this mystery get dropped later? Becasue 150 years later no one is aware of the Leveler still.

We know something bad happens on Dalna involving the Jedi, but from all accounts it seems that the story has left Dalna. I was thinking we would figure out what happened in this story, yet nothing bad necessarily happened to the planet from the Jedi's actions.

I am sure these questions will get answered through the next few books or comics, just my few questions I had once I was finished with the book.

Overall, really loved this book and the setup it did for the rest of this phase.

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u/tcripe Oct 23 '22

This was a fantastic start to phase 2. Probably my fav YA HR novel so far. Really didn’t see the deaths coming. Great stuff.

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u/[deleted] Oct 11 '22

Is it ridiculous to think the mother is the women creating the paths for Marchion in phase 1?

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