Master and Apprentice (Star Wars)

by Claudia Gray

you can’t refuse to sign on behalf of the Republic. You don’t have the authority to make that choice.” His apprentice wasn’t wrong. But when facts collided with ideals, Qui-Gon preferred to change the facts. “I may have the authority to sign a treaty that condemns people to servitude and slavery,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean I have the right to do so.”

“Yes. It’s a matter of principle. The principle being that we as Jedi must not go beyond our mandate, that we must work within that mandate to do what is right.”

the only thing Qui-Gon knew to be absolutely true was that his vision was real.

“Once, you asked me about the basic lightsaber cadences. Why I’d kept you there, instead of training you in more advanced forms of combat.” Obi-Wan turned reluctantly to face him again. “I suppose you thought I wasn’t ready for more. The same way I’m not ready to believe in all this mystical—” “That’s not why.” After a long pause, Obi-Wan calmed to the point where he would listen. “Then why, Qui-Gon?” “Because many Padawans—and full Jedi Knights, for that matter—forget that the most basic technique is the most important technique. The purest. The most likely to protect you in battle, and the foundation of all knowledge that is to come,” Qui-Gon said. “Most apprentices want to rush ahead to styles of fighting that are flashier or more esoteric. Most Masters let them, because we must all find our preferred form eventually. But I wanted you to be grounded in your technique. I wanted you to understand the basic cadences so well that they would become instinct, so that you would be almost untouchable. Above all, I wanted to give you the training you needed to accomplish anything you set your mind to later on.”

“The future is always in motion. We cannot put our entire faith in such visions.” “No, we cannot. Qui-Gon errs in this. Yet also an error it is to say that such visions cannot have meaning.”

“seeking to know the future is a path to the dark side.” Obi-Wan had said the same, but it sounded harsher coming from Tiin. Yoda harrumphed. “Seeking to know, yes. But seek this vision, Qui-Gon did not. Came to him unbidden, it did. Such visions may be false—but not darkness in themselves.”

I am one with the Force, Obi-Wan thought, recalling an old saying of the Guardians of the Whills. The Force is with me.

Rael answered. “Let’s say I believe that someday there’s going to be perfect balance in the Force, thanks to some kinda ‘Chosen One.’ Did you ever really think about what that would mean, Qui-Gon? It would mean the darkness would be just as strong as the light. So it doesn’t matter what we do, because in the end, hey, it’s a tie! It doesn’t matter which side we choose.”

“It matters,” Qui-Gon said quietly. “It matters which side we choose. Even if there will never be more light than darkness. Even if there can be no more joy in the galaxy than there is pain. For every action we undertake, for every word we speak, for every life we touch—it matters. I don’t turn toward the light because it means someday I’ll ‘win’ some sort of cosmic game. I turn toward it because it is the light.”

“You’ve made mistakes, Qui-Gon. You’ve touched darkness.” “Yes, I have. No doubt I will again. This isn’t a choice we make once and walk away from. It’s the work of a lifetime.”

Besides that, his vision remained vivid. Qui-Gon had seen bloodshed and mayhem at the treaty ceremony. He knew—as absolutely as though he’d already lived through it—that he could not allow the ceremony to occur. Not even to save his own life.

“None of this changes the vision I’ve seen of the future. But of course, you don’t believe in the vision. You don’t believe in prophecy.” “I believe in you, Master,” Obi-Wan insisted, crestfallen again. “More than I think you realize. But I also believe that the future is always in motion.”

“I saw Deren in my vision. Of course he’s playing a role in Fanry’s coronation as the captain of her guard, but it’s possible his appearance has a greater significance.”

Captain Deren would be standing next to Obi-Wan during the ceremonies. If Qui-Gon’s vision came to pass—and he knew that it would—his Padawan would be at the very center of the danger.

He who learns to conquer death will through his greatest student live again.

It was…enjoyable, speculating on how the prophecies might be real, wasn’t it? But of course, they’re only metaphors. Only comments on the mystics’ time, not our own.”

Princess Fanry stabbed the Skykeeper.

golden-orange flickering light—shielding it,

screams and shouts of dismay filled the room.

Obi-Wan unscrewed the components of his lightsaber. To everybody’s astonishment, this revealed an orange kohlen crystal where the kyber crystal ought to have been.

“Fanry and Deren thought the kohlen crystals were useless, except as a way to fool Obi-Wan. But the crystals were able to project a sort of blade, even if it was less powerful—except, that is, against shields also powered by kohlen.”

“Hasty, you were, to risk so much on the strength of a dream,” said Yoda. “But a true future it revealed.” “Not exactly,” said Eeth Koth. “If I understand Padawan Kenobi’s report correctly, Qui-Gon believed Fanry would be the victim in the incident, not the perpetrator—” “That’s the most interesting thing about this, to me,” Qui-Gon said. “Because I’ve come to realize that I was not only meant to have the vision—I was also meant to misinterpret it.” The Council members traded glances. It was Mace Windu who said, “What do you mean?” “I mean, had I been on the dais with Fanry and Deren, they would’ve tried to sabotage my lightsaber instead of Obi-Wan’s. But Fanry only knew how Obi-Wan’s works. Mine has a very different inner mechanism. If she’d done to my lightsaber what she did to his, I wouldn’t have wound up with a modified weapon. I wouldn’t have had any weapon at all. Deren would’ve cut me down, Obi-Wan would almost certainly have remained on the planet’s surface, and the conflict above Pijal—rather than being swiftly defused, with no loss of life—could well have sparked a war.” Yoda’s ears swiveled. “Sure you are of this?” “As certain as the Force allows,” said Qui-Gon. He knew, now, that the prophecies were real. What he had seen, the ancient mystics had seen. The Force meant for him to understand this. He knew also that he had seen the kyber that wasn’t kyber—which meant the days of prophecy were at hand. Everything would change. It might even be in Qui-Gon’s lifetim...

“You honor me,” Qui-Gon said. “I have only the greatest respect for every one of you. So I hope you’ll understand that this isn’t a repudiation of you. But I must decline to join the Jedi Council.”

“My relationship to the Force has changed,” Qui-Gon said. “I wish to…be silent for a while. To surrender to it. To accept whatever the Force brings. Joining the Council would take me far away from that goal. But this is the path I must follow.” That, in the end, was why the prophecies weren’t dangerous to him, not the same way they’d been to others who’d been led to darkness. The danger came in thinking that knowing the future became a form of control over it. Finally Qui-Gon understood it was the exact opposite. Knowing the future meant surrendering to fate. Surrendering to the ebb and flow of life. Only through that surrender could the Force be truly known.

Dooku drew himself up. Still stiff as a plank, Rael thought. “Why would you choose the path that leads to weakness? The path that is destined to fail?” “We don’t choose the light because we want to win.” Averross smiled sadly. “We choose it because it is the light.” With that, he snapped the projector off, and Dooku disappeared.