In the frenzied lead-up to the final
Star Wars film, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, several stories
were commissioned to dovetail into the events of the film. James Luceno
tackled Anakin and Obi-Wan's adventures in the novel, Labyrinth of
Evil, Jan Duursema and John Ostrander dealt with Jedi Quinlan Vos
and Aayla Secura on Seleucami in the Republic series; while Paul
Ens and Tom Hodges wrote and illustrated the Evasive Action
webstrips, featuring several new padawans alongside known Jedi. (Gendy
Tartakovsky also contributed with a third season of his Clone Wars
animated series, though he did not coordinate with the other writers as
they had done with each other).
The webstrips were published
exclusively on Starwars.com's Hyperspace, an online fan club that
members paid a fee to join, in exchange for exclusive new and out of
print archived stories.
Although it was announced during the
Star Wars Celebration IV convention in 2007 that Lucasfilm were
considering having the stories collected, this never came to pass, and
with the dissolution of Hyperspace, it was believed that the strips
vanished forever... until now!
"Reversal
of Fortune" is but the first of the four Evasive Action
story arcs, with the next three, "Recruitment,"
"Prey"
and "End
Game," dealing with the aftermath of Order 66 and the early
days of the Empire.
For the ease of those following
the order of events on
the Star Wars Expanded Universe Timeline, the following are
delineated by section.
1.
Reversal of Fortune
Our story begins in the final year
of the Clone Wars, on the planet Felucia, where Separatist Leader Shu
Mai has just arrived. Attending to her patients, Jedi healer Barriss
Offee (apparently forgiven for her actions during the fifth season
episode "The Wrong Jedi" of The Clone Wars animated series) and
her new Selonian padawan Zonder know they must inform the Jedi Council
of the latest events.
The strips ran from 2004 to 2006.
From strip #85 to #169, "Reversal of Fortune" takes place during the
events of Revenge of the Sith.
2.
Recruitment
These webstrips were published
exclusively on Starwars.com's Hyperspace fan club. The strips ran from
2004 to 2006. "Recruitment" is the second of the four Evasive Action
story arcs. The
next two arcs, "Prey" and "End Game," deal with the
aftermath of Order 66 and the early days of the Empire.
3.
Prey
"Prey" is the third of the four Evasive Action
story arcs. This and the final story "End Game" deals with the
aftermath of Order 66 and the early days of the Empire.
4.
End Game
As
with "Recruitment"
"Prey," and
this arc deals with the aftermath of Order 66, the early days of the
Empire, and the origins of Baron Orman Tagge.
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