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The CLONE WARS have erupted. Caught off guard by the quickly expanding conflict, the overwhelmed Jedi Order has rushed the advancement of Padawans to better integrate into the Grand Army of the Republic and assist the war effort.

Newly promoted Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker is increasingly torn between his growing duties to the Republic and his secret marriage to Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo. With his Knighting, his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi has been elevated to the Jedi Council under the rank of Jedi Master.

As dark forces push the Jedi further toward their transformation from guardians to soldiers, Anakin and Obi-Wan find themselves on equal footing yet opposing paths, each pondering the meaning of peace and justice during a time of war...

Star Wars: Brotherhood is a 2022 novel in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, written by Mike Chen.

The novel is set shortly after the events of Attack of the Clones, covering the early days of the Clone Wars, Anakin's promotion to Jedi Knight, and him and Obi-Wan learning how to transition from working together as Master and Apprentice to working together as Jedi equals.


Tropes in this book include:

  • Actor Allusion: Two of them:
  • Adventure Duo: While Obi-Wan and Anakin were already this as Master and Padawan, Brotherhood is focused upon the initial transition to Jedi equals and showing how their dynamic duo become what we'll see in The Clone Wars and Revenge of the Sith. They even acquire in-universe their familiar Republic media-bestowed nicknames of 'The Negotiator' and 'The Hero With No Fear'' during the events of the novel.
  • Badass Normal: Ruug as a veteran Neimodian sniper and black ops commando. Her abilities and marksmanship end impressing even Obi-Wan.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Anakin and Obi-Wan in the epilogue when they rescue Ruug.
  • Bolivian Army Ending: Subverted. It initially seems like this is going to be Ruug's final fate in the epilogue until the aformentioned Big Damm Heroes moment.
  • Call-Forward:
    • Anakin's struggles to adjust to using his prosthetic limb. He'll be doing it again in 3 years.
    • Anakin's interactions and bond with Mill Alibeth intentionally mirror his later working relationship of Ahsoka Tano. Mill is in many ways a proto-Ahsoka.
    • After the Cato Neimoidia incident — or rather after they end up on the HoloNet — Anakin teases Obi-Wan about how he's gonna have to do something about his hair if they're going to be appearing on the wartime news. Obi-Wan's embarrassed reaction (and a blow to his own, if humble self-image) implies Anakin's teasing is responsible in-universe for Obi-Wan discarding the Episode II mullet in favor of his Clone Wars/Episode III-era haircut.
  • Canon Immigrant: The Sun Dragon story and its personal importance to Anakin from Matthew Stover’s Revenge of the Sith novelization is re-canonized. Chen acknowledges in the Afterword that Stover’s novelization’s a favorite Star Wars novel of his.
    • Several events from the 2D Clone Wars show are recanonized. Mace Windu's battle with super battle droids on Dantooine is brought up and Ki Adi Mundi is mentioned to have an encounter with General Grevious.
  • Cold Sniper: Ruug technically, though she does have a quietly friendly side she expresses to Obi-Wan in private as they become friends.
  • Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: A variation. In the Afterword, Chen states that his voices for Ruug Quarnom and Ketar Nor were intentionally modeled after Nana Visitor (as Kira Nerys) and Josh Keaton (as Young Ocelot).
  • Continuity Overlap: Brotherhood is set shortly after the events of E.K. Johnsons’s Queen’s Hope and there is some overlap between them. Chen specifically stated in the Afterword that he and Johnson were in close contact during pre-production to ensure their respective timelines were synchronized.
  • A Day in the Limelight: The Neimodians. Chen does more extensive worldbuilding with them and their culture than any previous work in the Disney or Legends continuities.
  • Didn't Think This Through: Ketar's Fatal Flaw (or at least one of them). Ruug calls out her cadet on this multiple times throughout the novel, from handing 'evidence' of Obi-Wan's 'guilt' to their superiors without even notifying her first (wherein she could've determined if it was authentic or a plant) to believing Ventress' claims that Dooku will honor Neimodian neutrality (this is a galactic war and promises can be easily broken or honored as the situation develops).
  • Dramatic Irony: At the end of the novel, Anakin makes it clear he will not be taking any more Younglings or Padawans under his wing again. Not long afterwards
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Jaro Tapal and Cal Kestis appear briefly.
  • Fake Static: Anakin resorts to this to get Mace Windu off their backs during his and Mill's unauthorized rescue flight to Cato Neimodia. Mace is not amused.
  • Fantastic Racism:
    • Anakin has no love for the Neimodians as a whole based on his experiences with Nute Gunray and what the Viceroy did to his wife and her homeworld.
    • On the flip side, Ketar hates these galactic stereotypes about his homeworld and people...and does not see the irony of viewing the Republic with the exact same disdain and hatred.
  • Fire-Forged Friends:
    • A variation with Anakin and Obi-Wan. Despite having been Master and Apprentice for a decade, their relationship has always been one of tension and bickering. A key part of Brotherhood is showing how Anakin's elevation to Knighthood allows him and Obi-Wan to begin transitioning out of their strained working relationship and into the relaxed brotherly camaraderie and bond of The Clone Wars and the final Prequel film.
    • Obi-Wan and Ruug become friends over the course of the Neimodian investigation. It's part of why he and Anakin rescue her from her jailbreak in the epilogue.
  • Foregone Conclusion:
    • Following Coleman Trebor's death at the Battle of Geonosis, his Jedi Council seat is temporarily filled by placeholders (including Obi-Wan), until Yoda and the others can approve a permanent successor. The seat will ultimately become Obi-Wan's (and does).
    • Despite the close bond they form, Anakin will not mentor or train Mill as Ahsoka will occupy that position come The Clone Wars. The dramatic tension instead becomes whether or not Mill will survive the events of the novel. She does.
  • Freudian Excuse: While Ketar raises justifiable anger about the Republic’s disdain towards his people and homeworld, the revelations from Obi-Wan’s Trial late in the novel strongly imply Ketar's grief and anger at the death of his parents during an off-world trip to Coruscant is what’s really driving his anger and anti-Republic zealotry.
  • Hidden Depths: Anakin offers some genuinely deep, thoughtful insight to Mill during the denouement about his own experiences and flaws. It helps Mill make the decision not to pursue Knighthood.
    • Both Obi-Wan and Yoda especially are surprised to see such remarkable self-insight and mentoring coming from Anakin of all people. From Yoda's thoughtful expression afterward, it's implied this may have been what put the idea in the Grand Master's head of assigning Ahsoka to Anakin during The Clone Wars.
  • Important Haircut: As in the pre-Disney canon, Anakin's elevation to Knighthood is signified by the ceremonial cutting of his Padawan braid.
  • Insane Troll Logic: Ketar in the climax when justifying planting the bombs and killing thousands of his own people and their heritage to justify framing the Republic and allying with the Separatists.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: After a decade of making Obi-Wan's life hell, Anakin finds himself in his own teacher role by having to offer encouragement and advice to excitable Younglings. Despite being a stoic Jedi, Obi-Wan is all but gleeful at knowing what awaits Anakin.
  • Mirror Character: Ketar Nor is very much one for Anakin. He's young, idealistic, chafing at the tutelage of his older, experienced mentor. Like Anakin, he gives into his rage and it nearly leads to the same kind of bloodbath Anakin inflicted on the Tusken Raiders — though unlike Anakin, he's stopped in time.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Obi-Wan ultimately deciding not to confront Anakin about his suspicions of his infatuation with Padmé, or sharing his suspicions with Yoda and Mace.
  • Outside-Context Problem:
    • Brotherhood is the very first chronological encounter between Asajj Ventress and Anakin and Obi-Wan in the Disney-era canon. So they end up being this to one another as neither party is yet used to dealing with the other at this point.
    • Dooku is also kinda this to the galaxy at large at this point. Despite the Battle of Geonosis, the Clone Wars are still in the early stages and Dooku's still giving his noble, well-intentioned rebel act. So many worlds are still buying it or don't quite know what to make of the Separatists at this stage (whereas Obi-Wan, thanks to his and Dooku's chat on Geonosis, knows damm well it's all lies and an act).
  • Planet of Hats: Invoked and deconstructed. The rest of the Galaxy views the Neimoidians as a whole based largely on the actions and behavior of the Trade Federation, Lott Dodd, and Nute Gunray. While some values are shared (ex. an ingrained risk/assessment mindset), your average Neimoidians are not greedy or cowardly and they're sick of the galactic stereotypes they get labeled with. Part of the novel is Anakin and Obi-Wan realizing their own ingrained bigotry and bias against the Neimoidians and trying to let it go. Obi-Wan gets it, while Anakin has more trouble (due to his emotionalism and enduring anger at what Gunray did to Padmé and Naboo).
  • Remember the New Guy?: Jedi Initiate Mill Alibeth, who is the novel's tritagonist and forms a bond with Anakin, yet is never mentioned during the Clone Wars era. Due to her empathic abilities, Mill chooses not to pursue Jedi Kighthood. Instead, she joins a deep space mission focused on medial and spiritual treatment of war-wounded Jedi.
  • Resolved Noodle Incident:
    • That 'Business on Cato Neimoidia' Obi-Wan was embarrassed talking about during Revenge of the Sith is resolved here in the Disney Canon (and replaces the Legends depiction of that incident from James Luceno's Labyrinth of Evil). That 'business' is also revealed to be how they acquired their media-bestowed nicknames of 'The Hero With No Fear' and 'The Negotiator' in the new canon.
    • The exact circumstances of when and where Anakin confesses the massacre of the Tusken Raiders to Palpatine is also revealed and dramatized here.
    • An odd example. In the Star Wars: The Clone Wars in the chronological first episode to feature Ventress Obi-Wan and Anakin are already familiar with her. This wasn't a noodle incident when the episode first aired since Star Wars: Clone Wars had depicted the first time Anakin and Ventress met. But when the latter show was decanonized in the big EU reboot it left the circumstances of how the two Jedi had met Ventress up in the air. This novel depicts the new canon event in which Obi-Wan and Anakin meet Ventress.
  • Secret-Keeper: Chen offers his own take on why Obi-Wan, despite clearly having figured out what Anakin and Padmé were to each other by Revenge of the Sith, kept quiet and never openly confronted him before Episode III. Obi-Wan saw his own would-be relationship with Satine Kryze in theirs and reflected on how, despite never pursuing it, it had shaped both him and Satine for the better in the years since. He hoped Anakin and Padmé would be able to do the same for one another, yet still accept Anakin's future was ultimately with the Order.
  • Shout-Out:
    • In the Afterword, Chen cites Nausicaa as the inspiration for Mill Alibeth.
    • At one point, the Jedi Initiates discuss Huyang (who was voiced by David Tennant). According to their stories, the Gathering's Professor arrived at the Jedi Temple centuries earlier — by crashing into it in a blue box. Chen confirmed on Twitter the Doctor Who in-joke was one of his favorite Easter Eggs.
    • Another Easter Egg added in by Mike Chen was a reference to a sport played in a lake - Blitzball, a direct reference to the Final Fantasy X Mini-Game of the same name.
    • During a description of Neimodian culture, Chen slips in references to a deity named Maradaine — a reference to Fantasy novelist Marshall Ryan Maresca's Maradaine Sequence.
  • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
    • As the novel takes place shortly after the Battle of Geonosis and the duel with Dooku, Anakin has just been outfitted with his prosthetic right arm. So he is struggling to adjust to it and to re-calibrate his fighting style.
    • Just because Anakin has been elevated to Knighthood doesn't mean his and Obi-Wan's dysfunctional relationship has been altered. They both have difficulties adjusting to the new dynamic and status quo.
    • Anakin and Padmé are still in the honeymoon phase of their marriage and they're doing a less-than-stellar job of hiding that marital glow and affection (as Obi-Wan notices, though he sees it as deep infatuation).
  • Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
    • An ironic variation with Obi-Wan and Anakin. This was the norm for them leading into, and during, Attack of the Clones. But with Anakin elevated to Knighthood, the two Jedi ironically have just as many difficulties (initially) working together with one another as Jedi equals as they did working together as Master and Apprentice.
    • Played straight with Anakin and Mace Windu. Elevation to Knighthood and the new reality of the Clone Wars has not changed Mace's already-low opinion of Anakin. The feeling's still mutual on Anakin's end and this friction between them will only get worse over the next 3 years.
  • Toxic Friend Influence: Palpatine to the newly-Knighted Anakin and Ventress to Ketar.
    • The tragedy of Ketar's situation is that as an experienced black ops commando, Ruug quickly evaluates Ventress and correctly pings her as trouble. When she sees her stoking Ketar's anger and bigotry, Ruug does everything she can to keep Ventress and the cadet separated during the investigation. Unfortunately, Ventress only uses Ruug's genuine concern for her youthful charge as 'proof' to Ketar that Obi-Wan has 'corrupted' his mentor.
  • Tragic Villain: Ketar.
  • Undying Loyalty: Both said of Anakin outright, and shown in his actions - albeit side by side with a hint about how that strong sense of loyalty could take the terrible turns it eventually did.
    "When anyone showed loyalty to Anakin Skywalker, they became an ally for life. And if they ever betrayed him, that intensity would immeditely invert into something more dangerous."
  • Ungrateful Bastard: Ketar after the climax. Ruug gets him medical treatment to save his life (and had promised not to reveal his role in the attempted bombings if he had surrendered peacefully). Instead, he has the audacity to call her a traitor and (off-screen) turns her in for 'treason' for working with Obi-Wan to prove the bombing Frame-Up.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Satine Kryze of all people unknowingly and unwittingly derails Obi-Wan's planned confrontation with Anakin over his suspicions about his ex-Padawan's infatuation with Padmé. While working up the courage for the talk to come, Obi-Wan checks in on current events and sees Satine's formal declaration of the Council of Neutral Systems. The shock of this announcement makes Obi-Wan reflect on their own shared history and how it forged both of them into the people they are today: Jedi Master and leader of a peaceful Mandalore. Obi-Wan decides to postpone the confrontation until after they return to Coruscant, then ultimately abandons it after concluding (and hoping) Padmé and Anakin can help one another grow as people just as he and Satine did for one another.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Ketar becomes this to Ventress.
  • Whatever Happened to the Mouse?: The ultimate fates of Ruug, Ketar, and Mill following the events of the Brotherhood. Ruug is rescued from a Bolivian Army Ending by Obi-Wan and Anakin in the epilogue, but it's unknown if she survived the Clone Wars. With Mill, it's unclear if her deep space assignment away from the front lines will save her from Order 66. Ketar's post-Clone Wars fate is the most ambiguous and unknown of the three.
  • You Killed My Father: A variation. Ketar holds the Republic responsible for his parents deaths at a pirate attack in Republic space — a voyage they were only on because of a desire to showcase Neimoidian culture on Corsucant to try and challenge the galactic stereotypes against Cato Neimodia (and which backfired).
  • You Were Trying Too Hard: Anakin's knighting, and their initial wartime separation, gives Obi-Wan the insight he needs to realize he was guilty of doing this to his Padawan. Obi-Wan wanted to honor Qui-Gon's dying wish and be the best Jedi he could be for Anakin. It's only now, with distance and hindsight, that Obi-Wan understands he overcompensated and tried too hard to emulate his definition of an ideal, best Jedi. It never occurred to him to wonder or even ask what Anakin considered to be his definition of an ideal, best Jedi (i.e. Qui-Gon), or to adjust his thinking and teaching style accordingly. Obi-Wan feels genuine regret and sadness at this, wondering how much of the last 10 years of friction and conflict between them could've been avoided if he'd had this epiphany sooner.

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