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Je n'aime pas dans les vieux films américains quand les conducteurs ne regardent pas la route. Et de ratage en ratage, on s'habitue à ne jamais dépasser le stade du brouillon. La vie n'est que l'interminable répétition d'une représentation qui n'aura jamais lieu.

Star Wars Expanded Universe Chronology: Parallels: Taleena!

Parallels: Taleena

5,000 BBY

*Okay, okay, in the earliest days of the Republic, dedicated to the study of the mystical energy field . . . right, right, can we fast forward through these intros?  I’m not sure we needed the same intro every time. 

*Same thing going on here as last time.  A lot of direct phrases get carried over in the narration.  Taleena muses on the fact that she took a lover in order to help her keep going after she heard that Kiran had died.  She’s not sure what might happen if he returns alive, as she’s now heard that he may be. 

*So, okay, we all know how this goes down.  As she’s coming back from unconsciousness, she’s trying to say that Danner isn’t the one.  But before she can do that, Kiran’s lopped off Danner’s hand and there’s no more time and she’s in such shock that she can’t say anything until Kiran has lopped off Danner’s head too.

*There’s a nice bit of Taleena echoing Danner’s experience of death.  “In Kiran’s eyes, there was darkness; in Danner’s fading luminous form, there was light; and for her, in the emptiness in her heart at this very moment, there was simply nothing at all.”  Remember: Darkness, Light, Nothing at all.  I like that callback in particular. 

*Oh, I was wrong.  The guy Taleena’s actually been cheating on Kiran with?  The Republic Security Agent who shoots Kiran in the face. 

*So, the epilogue tells us that Taleena and this guy end up spending the rest of their lives together.  I find that rather credulity straining.  I mean, let’s face it, they’re probably not even that well suited to each other.  It was an affair of a month or so probably, taken up because she wasn’t thinking clearly.  Now, the relationship has ended in two deaths.  Do you think these two are really gonna be celebrating their fiftieth anniversary anytime soon?  I seriously doubt. 

*Okay, “our tale is concluded.”  Yup. 

*Well, an interesting experience.  Enjoyable enough.  Not perfect but who says it needs to be?  Good clean fun and something a little different.  And you can listen to the whole thing for free in less than forty-five minutes.  And support a genuine fan at the same time.  It’s a win-win. 

*CANONICAL STATUS:  This work is fairly explicit in its introduction that the tale about to be told is a myth, used to illustrate the reasons behind the Jedi vow of non-attachment.  It is NOT RECOMMENDED as a historical resource. 

** ½ out of **** stars.

Nathan Butler

*Well, that concludes our time spent in the year 5,000 (BBY).  Next time, we’ll revisit our Sith on Kesh after about fifteen years has passed.  Join me next time for Lost Tribe of the Sith: Paragon.

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