THE GUARDIANS OF PEACE AND JUSTICE -Episode ii-Part 4- Jun27

[Darth Kikinou]

Catch up with part 1 here: http://www.yakfaceforums.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=4527
Catch up with part 2 here: http://www.yakfaceforums.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=4550
Catch up with part 3 here: http://www.yakfaceforums.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=4571

In the last installment of THE GUARDIANS OF PEACE AND JUSTICE -- Episode ii -- ESCALATING THREATS...

With his master Sifo-Dyas injured and undergoing a bacta treatment aboard a Trade Federation ship...


...Nouk Kii had bravely fought to repel an attack by Mandalorian pirates...


...but the pirates succeeded in taking the ship...


...leaving Nouk Kii as the only hope to save the day.


As Nouk heroically drove the pirates from the bridge...


...he attempted to prevent their theft of the Iktotchi ark.


...but he was defeated.


We now continue with the conclusion of THE GUARDIANS OF PEACE AND JUSTICE -- Episode ii -- ESCALATING THREATS!!!




Shocked and deflated, Nouk finds himself paralyzed with fear, unable to mount any sort of defense.





Mandalore raises his weapon and sneers "Goodbye, Jedi!"





Nouk Kii looks upon in terror as the evil overlord swings his blade...





But suddenly, Sifo-Dyas emerges out of the light...





...and severs the murderous villain's hand, stopping his attack.





Shocked, Lord Mandalore succumbs to Sifo-Dyas' fatal blow.





The other Mandalorians start blasting...





...but the formidable Jedi is too powerful, killing one shooter and disarming the other.





Victorious, Sifo-Dyas spares the life of the remaining Mandalorian.





He demands "You will remove your mask and tell me your name."





The captured pirate acquiesces and says "I am Jango Fett, last of the Mandalorians, and I shall have my revenge Jedi, I promise you."





"Not likely my friend, you'll be spending the rest of your days in prison."





Nouk Kii, having come to, tells his Master "I have failed you Master... I... and I killed so many..."





Sifo-Dyas, brimming with pride, tells him "No Nouk, you did not fail, you did very well and I am very proud of you,





You have overcome your fear and become a great Jedi knight."





So as the situation on the Trade Federation ship is sorted,





Days later on Viceroy Gunray's home planet of Cato Neimoidia,





The Trade Federation honors its Jedi heros.





Professor Palpatine, having just won the election for senator on Naboo, is in attendance along with other senators and dignitaries.





Viceroy Gunray bestows the honors "You have saved our ship, and saved the Iktotchi's holy ark."





As he dons Sifo-Dyas with a medal he continues "The Trade Federation is eternally grateful."





He then addresses Nouk Kii "And to you, young Jedi, we look forward to working with you for many years to come."





After the ceremony, in Viceroy Gunray's palatial estate,





Senator-elect Palpatine meets with the Viceroy and Chairman Ancho.





Gunray says "Congratulations on your election, Senator."





Palpatine replies "Your financial contributions made it possible Viceroy, I shalln't forget it. Sadly though the election was so divisive that the Gungans have severed ties with Theed."





"Yes," the Viceroy says "and thank you for recommending that I keep custody of the ark."





Palpatine replies "Of course Viceroy, who better to keep it safe."





Palpatine then offers a toast "Here's to a long and mutually beneficial relationship, Viceroy."





So as Gunray and Palpatine further discuss the future,





On Coruscant,





In the halls of the Jedi temple,





Sifo-Dyas meets with Master Yoda.





He begins "Master, I wish to nominate my padawan for knighthood."





Yoda responds "To take the trials, you suggest for him. Ready, is he?"





"Yes Master. He still has much to learn about the living Force but there is little more he can learn from me."





"Take the trials, Nouk Kii will." declares Yoda, and then continues "Disconcerting, the outcome on Iktotch is."





Sifo-Dyas responds "Yes Master. Chairman Vee's company has taken full control of the spice fields, and they have banned the surrounding monastery's monks from entering them."





With concern, Yoda says "Prevent them from evicting more monks, we must."





Meanwhile, at the Courthouse of The Republic,





Jango Fett is on trial.





The Mandalorian receives the verdict from the judges.





"Guilty." ... "Guilty." ... "Guilty."





The chief justice then says "Jango Fett, I hereby sentence you...





...to a lifetime of hard labor at the Alcazart correctional facility on the second moon of Bocta."





The convicted pirate is then led to the transport ship that will take him to the remote penitentiary.





Ten full moons later on Coruscant,





Nouk Kii has been summoned to the Jedi council.





As he walks into the dark chamber, he is instructed "Step forward, padawan."





As Nouk kneels, the twelve Jedi Masters of the council ignite their light sabers and Yoda says:





"Nouk Kii, by the right of the council."





"By the will of the Force."





"Dub thee, I do, Jedi."





"Knight, of The Republic."





Meanwhile, in Professor Aristote's private offices,





Two Sith lords discuss the future of their research...





Professor Aristote says "The time has come to reveal ourselves to the Jedi. I shall meet with Master Yoda on the morrow and disclose our achievements."





Palpatine vehemently disagrees "Lord Plagieus, you know the council will simply confiscate the Holocron and shut us down..."





Aristote replies "I shall appeal to Master Yoda's reason, Lord Sidious. We cannot continue this. There is little more we can learn from the Holocron. It is dangerous to go on."





Palpatine protests "But we've proven that the Jedi are mistaken, about a great many things. We cannot stop, not now, the Jedi will simply dismiss our findings and may even go so far as to arrest us."





Resolute, Aristote says "No Lord Sidious, either way, it is time. I have decided, and that is all."





In a grave voice, Palpatine says "Yes Master... You are most wise, Lord Plagieus."





That night, at Aristote's residence...





Lord Sidious, acting on his overwhelming desire to prevent the Jedi from imposing their dogma on him, breaches his mentor's private chambers...





... and ensures that the wise professor will not bring his Sith lordship to an end.





Senator Palpatine is now the lone Sith Lord in the galaxy... in a position of rising political power... with a bright future ahead of him.




Fin.

[julianmaurice]

Darth,

Just seen this post. I'm away at the mo and am typing this on my mobile, I will look at it tomorrow as soon as I can get on the PC. Looks really great.
Jules

[Lance Quazar]

I know I owe you some feedback on Chapters 2 and 3, but I couldn't help but read this and share with you a few quick thoughts. More detailed comments will be forthcoming on 2-4.

But this is another great episode. I really love your series. I think you doing complete stories and breaking them into four chapters is a great approach. Makes them feel like episodes of a show or mini movies or something. I think it's a terrific format and I can't wait to see more of these. Please don't take so long next time!

I think the recaps at the beginning of each chapter are wonderful, a great way to bring us back up to speed and highlight the important events. The endings in each chapter have been great, you've done a wonderful job in ending each on a terrific moment of suspense, making us eager for more!

So much of this chapter was action-oriented and on that front, you did not disappoint. There is real tension and excitement bursting off of your images. This is a thrilling chapter, highly entertaining stuff.

I think you did a really good job with the Nouk Kii character and I really look forward to seeing this character develop as your series progresses. I hope that he and Sifo Dyas will remain partners going forward and I hope to see more of their relationship. You did a very fine job in establishing him as the somewhat hesitant and nervous apprentice, but he definitely rises to the occasion.

Sifo Dyas rushing to the rescue at the end was a very cool moment. However, I think you maybe should have had Nouk Kii lose his lightsaber before Manadlore is about to kill him, since it still seems like he could have defended himself fairly easily if he was armed. Nevertheless, it's a very cool moment.

I love the Jango cameo very much! Really cool to see him and see how he became the "last" of the Mandalorians. I would love it if we could see him escape from prison at some point in the future, given his antagonism with Sifo Dyas, I'm wondering if you're setting him up to be a recurring threat down the line.

I really like how you tie your stories in with established lore from the films. I think it's very interesting to see another side of the Federation, how their political relationship with the Republic evolves. Right now, thanks to Palpatine, they really do have strong inroads into the political process, it's disheartening to see the greedy corporate bastards triumph over the humble Ikotchi, even if the monks we saw were kinda psycho.

I must admit, I was very nervous by the appearance of the "holy ark", I thought it was just too much of a kind of "inside joke" to literally have the Indiana Jones Ark in this series and with virtually an identical backstory to the "real" Ark - holding sacred tablets, etc.

I am glad it didn't become part of the story in a big way, though it was cool to see that the Federation managed to finagle their way into holding onto it, those greedy bastards. All the political wrangling felt, sadly, very realistic. Sad to watch the Jedi helpless in the face of corruption, but that's very much consistent with the films, obviously.

I am wondering if, given his experiences, Nouk Kii might actually come to look upon the Federation favorably and I wonder if that is a potential source of future conflict for the series.

I think you have planted some great seeds for future chapters given all that has happened in this final installment with the Federation, Jango, and, of course, Palpatine. Really like the Plagueis/Sidious stuff, even if Plageuis doesn't really seem like much of a "Sith Lord" at all. He's really just a dilettante at best, someone who is academically studying the Sith out of curiosity, but has no real evil designs. Not how I pictured the character, I'll admit, but it is a fresh choice and it makes for an interesting contrast to the more ambitious Palpatine.

As exciting as the episode was in terms of action, I really like how you ended it on the dual downers of Palpatine killing Plagueis and Sifo Dyas and Yoda griping about the Federation.

I really did like the knighting scene, which was straight out of the awesome original Clone Wars cartoon. I remember listening to the audio commentary on those original episodes and Genndy Tartovsky says he remembered asking Lucas if he had any thoughts about the knighting ceremony and Lucas basically mumbled and said, "I dunno." So that is pure Tartovsky, I guess. I thought it was awesome in the series and you did a great job recreating it here, though I can't help but think it's a little dangerous to knight someone with a lightsaber!

The few shots of the ships in this chapter are better, but a couple of the Coruscant shots still looked washed out and grainy, especially the pic of the planet. But some of the city scapes look great.

One other minor nitpick - the shot of the Temple with Sifo Dyas talking to Yoda had a few too many extras milling about. It looked awfully crowded in there for a moment. The statues were a nice touch, though.

Love the Superman homage in the Jango trial! Like I said, I hope we see Jango again in this series, seems like an obvious set-up for later on. Maybe we'll even see his daring escape from prison. Jango isn't going to just sit quietly, that's for sure!

Anyway, thanks again for a great series. I will go back and comment on the other chapters, I know my comments were critical and I haven't gotten around to the "praise" yet - but there will be much more of it!

Excellent work!!!!

[Darth Kikinou]

Thanks!!

Oh you can bet we'll be seeing Jango Fett again, and he is indeed mighty sore at Sifo-Dyas alright! I'm not sure if I didn't make it clear but Nouk's light saber is severed in the battle with Mandalore He's holding half a light saber there and it's just sparking, like Anakin's in AOTC on the conveyor belt is.

I'm so happy you caught the Superman homage Especially given how hard I worked to make those rings, what with my effects contractor being on hiatus (some lame excuse, like "I'm getting married." feh )



I'll look forward to the rest and then address everything else!

[Darth Kikinou]

I think you did a really good job with the Nouk Kii character and I really look forward to seeing this character develop as your series progresses. I hope that he and Sifo Dyas will remain partners going forward and I hope to see more of their relationship. You did a very fine job in establishing him as the somewhat hesitant and nervous apprentice, but he definitely rises to the occasion.

I think that's the key to making a good PN, to have a great character that people care about, with a personality and all. That's why Chewie's series is so popular! I hope to make my Jedi compelling too but I guess it takes a few episodes.

I must admit, I was very nervous by the appearance of the "holy ark", I thought it was just too much of a kind of "inside joke" to literally have the Indiana Jones Ark in this series and with virtually an identical backstory to the "real" Ark - holding sacred tablets, etc.

I am glad it didn't become part of the story in a big way, though it was cool to see that the Federation managed to finagle their way into holding onto it, those greedy bastards. All the political wrangling felt, sadly, very realistic. Sad to watch the Jedi helpless in the face of corruption, but that's very much consistent with the films, obviously.

You know I didn't even hesitate going that route but now that you fellas mention it I really should have called it something else, maybe just some golden chest with lots of treasure inside. Oh well.

I am wondering if, given his experiences, Nouk Kii might actually come to look upon the Federation favorably and I wonder if that is a potential source of future conflict for the series.

We shall see.... I have a lot of plans!

Really like the Plagueis/Sidious stuff, even if Plageuis doesn't really seem like much of a "Sith Lord" at all. He's really just a dilettante at best, someone who is academically studying the Sith out of curiosity, but has no real evil designs. Not how I pictured the character, I'll admit, but it is a fresh choice and it makes for an interesting contrast to the more ambitious Palpatine.

Well that is what I was going for so I'm glad it didn't completely flop then! The thing is, if the Sith have been extinct for so long, and the dark lord of the Sith all of a sudden is some normal dude from Naboo, I figured there had to have been some kind of accidental process to get him that way.

I really did like the knighting scene, which was straight out of the awesome original Clone Wars cartoon. I remember listening to the audio commentary on those original episodes and Genndy Tartovsky says he remembered asking Lucas if he had any thoughts about the knighting ceremony and Lucas basically mumbled and said, "I dunno." So that is pure Tartovsky, I guess. I thought it was awesome in the series and you did a great job recreating it here, though I can't help but think it's a little dangerous to knight someone with a lightsaber!

Hah! I was afraid you might complain that I lifted the lines from the series But since it's a ceremonial ritual, I guess it's ok! I did put that dialogue for Sidious about the Jedi being "mistaken, about a great many things," but in spite of the tackiness of it I thought it'd be important to link him to what he ultimately becomes. Or something

The few shots of the ships in this chapter are better, but a couple of the Coruscant shots still looked washed out and grainy, especially the pic of the planet. But some of the city scapes look great.

I'm gonna get my contractor to work on those for me once he gets back from his honeymoon!

One other minor nitpick - the shot of the Temple with Sifo Dyas talking to Yoda had a few too many extras milling about. It looked awfully crowded in there for a moment. The statues were a nice touch, though.

heh, well how else am I supposed to show off my customs?!?!?! But yah that's a good point.

[YAK_Chewie]

Read through, look for some detailed feedback this week.

[zedhatch]

I finally had a moment and was able to catch up on this. Really most of what I can think to say has been covered by everyone else but I just wanted to add another "Great Job" comment to the mix. Awesome sets all around, the story is solid and interesting. That is all I can think to add.

[YAK_Chewie]

Ok, finally a full review of this chapter, and I'll also go into some overall thoughts on Episode ii as a whole.

What you have done here is remarkable, it really is. There are some areas of the scenery that I wished were more detailed, and some photo quality that I really wish was improved, not to mention using some more modern figure parts (like for Sifo Dyas) but the STORY and PLOT more than make up for it. Really, the customizing community should take more notice of work like this and give credit where credit is due. This is amazing stuff and I am glad to have been able to read it.

What I really liked the most about this chapter, and Episode ii altogether is your dedication to telling bits and pieces of a broader story. You don't rush anything and take the necessary steps for character development. Especially with Palpatine... was a devious bastard! I love seeing his progression, after all he's my favorite character in all of Star Wars. Definitely the most in depth character Lucas ever created, and you did a great job expanding on him. I do think though that you should have had him learn more about creating "LIFE" though as is mentioned in ROTS, and we even do see Shmi in the previous Act.

I really liked how Plageuis is studying the Sith, but in your view isn't a hardcore evil doer. He's seems to have been exploring it more than anything else, for greater knowledge and for the advancement of civilization. But Sidious wants that knowledge for personal power... awesome! I love how they argue, but Sidious backs down and kills him in his sleep. It's an interesting reason for why he did it, though I'm sure it's not the "official" reason, I like it.

I also thought it was cool to see the Trade Federation in good standing with the Republic, the whole galaxy seems pretty united except for a few rogues like the Mandalorians... no wonder the Jedi became complacent and were blindsided by the Clone Wars. Things were too easy for too long. You can draw parallels into world history with that too. Great stuff man.

Back to other characters, Nouk Ki is fun and I think it will be cool to see him later on. Sifo Dyas can't have too much more in store for him, as right after TPM is when he dies, I think. How far out are we from EPI? A few years? Or 9 years out still since Anakin hasn't been born yet? So if that's the case, and you go more with the pre-TPM era, I guess there's still quite a bit of time to include more... And Nouk Ki may even be a Jedi Master if you go into the Clone Wars era...?

Will be fun to see where you take this, will we see more before TPM takes place? Will we see Dooku soon?

Again, congrats on your series this is a lot of fun. My only real suggestion is to look into a better camera perhaps, the dio sets are already getting better as are your customs.

[julianmaurice]

DK,

I really loved this, and it's great to see a Photo novel come to a conclusion.

I keep reminding myself that it is the writing that is most important and your story flowed very well, I especially liked the conclusion and the explanation of what happened to Lord Plagues.

You have done a fantastic job and I have been thoroughly entertained. Now I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with next.

Well done on a superb piece of work.

Jules

[Darth Kikinou]

Thanks gents! The review is much appreciated, I am glad you enjoyed it.

I've been thinking of changing the scene where Sifo-Dyas asks Yoda to let Nouk take the trials. I'd like to put Dooku in there as well and have him disagree, saying it's too soon and that the order is too dilute as it is. Start the rumblings of his discontent Yoda is a complete idiot, after all. It's his poor judgment that leads to the downfall of the Jedi.

As far as the future for Nouk, I'm really jonesin' to get to the Clone Wars hehe. I have so many awesome ideas for it. But in the meantime there are 3 or 4 episodes that need to be made first, and I have some pretty nifty ideas for those as well I intend to start working on episode iii in September, full bore, no stretching it out over a year heh. December release hopefully!

I don't want to give too much away, but I'll tell you this: Nouk will never be a Master. He'll be one of the many peon Jedi who get crap assignments, very dangerous ones at that, especially during the clone wars. As such, he and his fellow low rank Jedi will have quite a bit of contempt for the "Jedi generals on Coruscant" as well as a special loathing for The Chosen One. They'll say things like "this mission is FUBAR"

I think I need to revise my timeline a little bit to accommodate Anakin's age, I might be off by a couple of years, need to verify. I thought he was 8 in TPM? The events in TPM won't take place until episode iv, so one more to go till then!

In episode iii, you will see Darth Maul. And you will see Darth Sidious begin to sow the seeds of conflict between the TF and the republic. And you will see him undermining the chancellor as well. And of course our hero will have a fantastic adventure!

Right now I'm trying to figure out how to build a Geonosis arena worthy of Darth Maul as a gladiator....

I've said too much, thanks again though!!