“
The dark is generous and it is patient and it always wins – but in the heart of its strength lies its weakness: one lone candle is enough to hold it back.
Love is more than a candle.
Love can ignite the stars.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
A pair of starfighters. Jedi starfighters. Only two.
Two is enough.
Two is enough because the adults are wrong, and their younglings are right.
Though this is the end of the age of heroes, it has saved its best for last.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
This is Obi-Wan Kenobi:
A phenomenal pilot who doesn’t like to fly. A devastating warrior who’d rather not fight. A negotiator without peer who frankly prefers to sit alone in a quiet cave and meditate.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
So this is how liberty dies," she was saying to herself. "With cheering, and applause.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
The dark is generous. Its first gift is concealment: our true faces lie in the dark beneath our skins, our true hearts remain shadowed deeper still. But the greatest concealment lies not in protecting our secret truths, but in hiding from us the truths of others. The dark protects us from what we dare not know.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars: Novelizations #3))
“
This truth: that he, the avatar of light, Supreme Master of the Jedi Order, the fiercest, most impeccable, most devastatingly powerful foe the darkness had ever known...
just-
didn't-
have it.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
Contemplation of death brought only one slight sting of regret, and more than a bit of puzzlement. Until this very moment, he had never realized he’d always expected, for no discernible reason— That when he died, Anakin would be with him.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
The dark is generous, and it is patient. It is the dark that seeds cruelty into justice, that drips contempt into compassion, that poisons love with grains of doubt. The dark can be patient, because the slightest drop of rain will cause those seeds to sprout. The rain will come, and the seeds will sprout, for the dark is the soil in which they grow, and it is the clouds above them, and it waits behind the star that gives them light. The dark’s patience is infinite. Eventually, even stars burn out.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars: Novelizations #3))
“
I am called a great swordsman because I invented a lethal style; but who is greater, the creator of a killing form—or the master of the classic form?"
"I'm very flattered that you would consider me a master but really—"
"Not a master. The master.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
And you rage and scream and reach through the Force to crush the shadow who has destroyed you, but you are so far less now than what you were, you are more than half machine, you are like a painter gone blind, a composer gone deaf, you can remember where the power was but the power you can touch is only a memory, and so with all your world-destroying fury it is only droids around you that implode, and equipment, and the table on which you were strapped shatters, and in the end, you cannot touch the shadow. In the end you don't even want to. In the end, you do not even want to. In the end, the shadow is all you have left. Because the shadow understands you, the shadow forgives you, the shadow gathers you unto itself—And within your furnace heart, you burn in your own flame.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
And Anakin is on his way despite the dread boiling through his blood. That’s what makes him a real hero. Not the way the HoloNet labels him; not without fear, but stronger than fear.
He looks the dragon in the eye and doesn’t even slow down.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
Anakin.” Obi-Wan’s voice had gone soft, and his hand was warm on Anakin’s arm. “There is no other Jedi I would rather have at my side right now. No other man.”
Anakin turned, and found within Obi-Wan’s eyes a depth of feeling he had only rarely glimpsed in all their years together; and the pure uncomplicated love that rose up within him then felt like a promise from the Force itself.
“I… I wouldn’t have it any other way, Master.”
“I believe,” his onetime Master said with a gently humorous look of astonishment at the words coming out of his mouth, “that you should get used to calling me Obi-Wan.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
They are closer than friends. Closer than brothers. Though Obi-Wan is sixteen standard years Anakin's elder, they have become men together. Neither can imagine life without the other. The war has forged their two lives into one.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
This is Anakin Skywalker: The most powerful Jedi of his generation. Perhaps of any generation. The fastest. The strongest. An unbeatable pilot. An unstoppable warrior. On the ground, in the air or sea or space, there is no one even close. He has not just power, not just skill, but dash: that rare, invaluable combination of boldness and grace.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars: Novelizations #3))
“
Until the possible becomes actual, it is only a distraction. Be mindful of what is, not what might be.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
I think," Obi-Wan said carefully, "that abstractions like peace don't mean much to him. He's loyal to people, not to principles. And he expects loyalty in return. He will stop at nothing to save me, for example, because he thinks I would do the same for him."
Mace and Yoda gazed at him steadily, and Obi-Wan had to lower his head.
"Because," he admitted reluctantly, "he knows I would do the same for him.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
In every exchange, Obi-Wan gave ground. It was his way.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
Everything dies. In time, even stars burn out. This is why Jedi form no attachments: all things pass. To hold on to something—or someone—beyond its time is to set your selfish desires against the Force. That is a path of misery, Anakin; the Jedi do not walk it.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars: Novelizations #3))
“
This story happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. It is already over. Nothing can be done to change it. It is a story of love and loss, brotherhood and betrayal, courage and sacrifice and the death of dreams. It is a story of the blurred line between our best and our worst. It is the story of the end of an age. A strange thing about stories— Though this all happened so long ago and so far away that words cannot describe the time or the distance, it is also happening right now. Right here. It is happening as you read these words. This is how twenty-five millennia come to a close. Corruption and treachery have crushed a thousand years of peace. This is not just the end of a republic; night is falling on civilization itself. This is the twilight of the Jedi. The end starts now.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars: Novelizations #3))
“
The long night has begun.
...
But even in the deepest night, there are some who dream of dawn.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
His agony somehow became an invisible hand, stretching out through the Force, a hand that found her, far away, alone in her apartment in the dark, a hand that felt the silken softness of her skin and the sleek coils of her hair, a hand that dissolved into a field of pure energy, of pure feeling that reached inside her—
And now he felt her, really felt her in the Force, as though she could have been some kind of Jedi, too, but more than that: he felt a bond, a connection, deeper and more intimate than he’d ever had before with anyone, even Obi-Wan; for a precious eternal instant he was her … he was the beat of her heart and he was the motion of her lips and he was her soft words as though she spoke a prayer to the stars—
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
Do or do not, there is no try. -Yoda
”
”
George Lucas (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
This is not just the end of a republic; night is falling on civilization itself.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars: Novelizations #3))
“
The dark is generous, and it is patient, and it always wins– but in the heart of its strength lies weakness: one lone candle is enough to hold it back. Love is more than a candle. Love can ignite the stars.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
Have you had contact with any other survivors?"
"Only one," the Alderaanian senator said grimly. "Lock onto my coordinates. He's waiting for you.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
...you must understand that not even the Jedi know all there is to be known about the Force; no mortal mind can. We speak of the will of the Force as someone ignorant of gravity might say it is the will of a river to flow to the ocean; it is a metaphor that describes our ignorance. The simple truth - if any truth is ever simple - is that we do not truly know what the will of the Force may be. We can never know. It is so far beyond our limited understanding that we can only surrender to its mystery.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
This is Obi-Wan Kenobi: A phenomenal pilot who doesn’t like to fly. A devastating warrior who’d rather not fight. A negotiator without peer who frankly prefers to sit alone in a quiet cave and meditate.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars: Novelizations #3))
“
She was silent, and still, only letting herself breathe, feeling the beat of her heart, and she could have stood there forever, in the shadows, and had her fondest dreams all fulfilled, simply by watching him be alive...
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
Say what you will about the wisdom of ancient Master Yoda, or the deadly skill of grim Mace Windu, the courage of Ki-Adi-Mundi, or the subtle wiles of Shaak Ti; the greatness of all these Jedi is unquestioned, but it pales next to the legend that has grown around Kenobi and Skywalker. They stand alone.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars: Novelizations #3))
“
Which would leave Mace and Agen Kolar- -both among the greatest bladesbeings the Jedi Order has ever produced
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
At last the work of generations is complete. The great error is corrected. They day of victory is at hand. The day of revenge. The day of the Sith.
”
”
Rae Carson (The Rise of Skywalker (Star Wars: Novelizations, #9))
“
Being a Jedi means allowing things—even things we love—to pass out of our lives.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
Sometimes the closest,” Palpatine said sadly, “are those who cannot see.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
The greatest danger from the darkness outside came when Jedi fed it with the darkness within.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
The dark’s patience is infinite. Eventually, even stars burn out.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars: Novelizations #3))
“
Not his penetrating intellect, or his talents with the Force, or his unmatched skills with a lightsaber."
-Matthew Stover on Mace Windu
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
A slight, wistful smile crept over his face. 'If I listen hard enough, I can almost hear Qui-Gon reminding me that until the possible becomes actual, it is only a distraction.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
These bronzium images serve as melancholy reminders that some Jedi have needs the Order cannot satisfy.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars: Novelizations #3))
“
Anakin wanted to crawl away into a corner somewhere; he felt sure that if things would just stop for a while—an hour, a minute—he could pull himself together and find some way to keep moving forward. He had to keep moving forward. Moving forward was all he could do.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars: Novelizations #3))
“
Now Obi Wan did face him.
'Palpatine faced Mace and Agen and Kit and Saesee-four of the greatest swordsmen our order has ever produced. By Himself. Even both of us together wouldn't have a chance.'
'True,' Yoda said, 'But both of us apart, a chance we might create...
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
Leave him, Anakin. There is no time." Palpatine was half hanging from the banister, both arms wrapped around a stanchion. "This whole spire may be about to break free-"
"Then we'll all be adrift together." Anakin glanced up at the Supreme Chancellor and for that instant he didn't like the man at all
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
He could feel the end of the battle approaching, and so could the blur of the Sith he faced in the Force, the shadow had become a pulsar of fear.
Easily, almost effortlessly, he turned the shadow's fear into a weapon: he angled the battle to bring them both out onto the window ledge.
Out in the wind. Out with the lightning. Out on a rain-slicked ledge above a half kilometer drop.
Out where the shadow's fear's fear made it hesitate.
Out where the shadow's fear turned some of it's Force-powered speed into a Force-powered grip on the slippery permacrete.
Out where Mace could flick his blade in one precise arc and slash the shadow's lightsaber in half.
One piece flipped back in through the cut open window. The other tumbled from opening fingers, bounced on the ledge, and fell through the rain towards the distant alleys below.
Now the shadow was only Palpatine: old and shrunken, thinning hair bleached white by time and care, face lined with exhaustion.
'For all your power, my lord,you are no Jedi. All you are, my lord,' Mace said evenly, staring past his blade, 'is under arrest.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
This story happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. It is already over. Nothing can be done to change it.
It is a story of love and loss, brotherhood and betrayal, courage and sacrifice and the death of dreams. It is a story of the blurred line between our best and our worst.
It is the story of the end of an age.
A strange thing about stories —
Though this all happened so long ago and so far away that words cannot describe the time or distance, it is also happening right now. Right here.
It is happening as you read these words.
This is how twenty-five millennia come to a close. Corruption and treachery have crushed a thousand years of peace. This is not just the end of a republic; night is falling on civilization itself.
This is the twilight of the Jedi.
The end starts now.
”
”
Matthew Stover (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars Novelizations, #3))
“
Be mindful of the currents of the living Force: to do one’s duty is not always to do right. Concern yourself with right action. Let duty take care of itself.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Revenge of the Sith[SW REVENGE OF THE SITH M/TV][Mass Market Paperback])
“
He remembered the Question of Master Jrul: What is the good, if not the teacher of the bad? What is the bad, if not the task of the good?
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Revenge of the Sith[SW REVENGE OF THE SITH M/TV][Mass Market Paperback])
“
Obi-Wan wasn’t even fighting. He was only a vessel, emptied of self. The Force, shaped by his skill and guided by his clarity of mind, fought through him.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Revenge of the Sith[SW REVENGE OF THE SITH M/TV][Mass Market Paperback])
“
It is possible that even the war itself has been only one further move,” he said with elegant, understated precision, “in some greater game.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Revenge of the Sith[SW REVENGE OF THE SITH M/TV][Mass Market Paperback])
“
Save your twisted words, my lord. There are no politicians here. The Sith will never regain control of the Republic. It’s over. You’ve lost.” Mace leveled his blade. “You lost for the same reason the Sith always lose: defeated by your own fear.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Revenge of the Sith[SW REVENGE OF THE SITH M/TV][Mass Market Paperback])
“
And so the mask becomes the man,” he sighed with a hint of philosophical melancholy. “I shall miss the face of Palpatine, I think; but for our purpose, the face of Sidious will serve. Yes, it will serve.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Revenge of the Sith[SW REVENGE OF THE SITH M/TV][Mass Market Paperback])
“
The dark is generous and it is patient and it always wins—but in the heart of its strength lies its weakness: one lone candle is enough to hold it back.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover
“
Twice the pride, double the fall.
”
”
Miles Lane (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith)
“
The dark is generous and it is patient and it always wins – but in the heart of its strength lies its weakness: one lone candle is enough to hold it back.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith)
“
some Jedi have needs the Order cannot satisfy.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars: Novelizations #3))
“
This was all he needed. To be here, to be with her. To watch the sunset bring a blush to her ivory skin.
If not for his dreams, he’d withdraw from the Order today. Now. The Lost Twenty would be the Lost Twenty-One. Let the scandal come; it wouldn’t destroy their lives. Not their real lives. It would destroy only the lives they’d had before each other: those separate years that now meant nothing at all.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Revenge of the Sith[SW REVENGE OF THE SITH M/TV][Mass Market Paperback])
“
The STAR WARS Novels Timeline OLD REPUBLIC 5000–33 YEARS BEFORE STAR WARS: A New Hope Lost Tribe of the Sith* Precipice Skyborn Paragon Savior Purgatory Sentinel 3650 YEARS BEFORE STAR WARS: A New Hope The Old Republic: Deceived Lost Tribe of the Sith* Pantheon Secrets Red Harvest The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance 1032 YEARS BEFORE STAR WARS: A New Hope Knight Errant Darth Bane: Path of Destruction Darth Bane: Rule of Two Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil RISE OF THE EMPIRE 33–0 YEARS BEFORE STAR WARS: A New Hope Darth Maul: Saboteur* Cloak of Deception Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter 32 YEARS BEFORE STAR WARS: A New Hope STAR WARS: EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace Rogue Planet Outbound Flight The Approaching Storm 22 YEARS BEFORE STAR WARS: A New Hope STAR WARS: EPISODE II: Attack of the Clones 22–19 YEARS BEFORE STAR WARS: A New Hope The Clone Wars The Clone Wars: Wild Space The Clone Wars: No Prisoners Clone Wars Gambit Stealth Siege Republic Commando Hard Contact Triple Zero True Colors Order 66 Shatterpoint The Cestus Deception The Hive* MedStar I: Battle Surgeons MedStar II: Jedi Healer Jedi Trial Yoda: Dark Rendezvous Labyrinth of Evil 19 YEARS BEFORE STAR WARS: A New Hope STAR WARS: EPISODE III: Revenge of the Sith Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader Imperial Commando 501st Coruscant Nights Jedi Twilight Street of Shadows Patterns of Force The
”
”
George Lucas (Star Wars: Trilogy - Episodes IV, V & VI)
“
The dark is generous, and it is patient, and it always wins— but in the heart of its strength lies weakness: one lone candle is enough to hold it back.
Love is more than a candle.
Love can ignite the stars.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover