A Closed Fist Has No Claws
"A Closed Fist Has No Claws"
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Plot summary[]
Marda Ro tells a story to her legacy. She reflects on where the journey began, in apublic house in anold settlement on theplanetDantooine. She sits at a table wearing awhiteflight suit, whitescarf and whitecowl hoping to attract the attention of passersby. She waits with abeer andtea, and is bothered by a few patrons before spotting ahuman on the other side of the establishment. She askshim and hisRodian friend about the whereabouts of any otherEvereni, to which the human tells her he saw a pair of them about ayear earlier on astation offPantora.[5]
In an alley outside the public house, Ro is approached by aTwi'lekwoman aware of the stories of the Evereni. She tells Marda that she would like to touch her, something which the Evereni girl had not felt in a long time. Marda recruits the woman, whose name isFori Nagor, to her mission to track down other Evereni. Ro finalizes the deal by kissing Nagor, officially making her the first person brought to Ro's ship, theGaze Electric, that was unaffiliated with thePath of the Open Hand.[5]
Ro reflects on theGaze and the remnants left behind byElecia Zeveron, leader of the Path of the Open Hand, afterher defeat at the hands of theRepublic. She considers the riches, but Ro realizes there is no true bond among her crew and that there is no gift that is truly given freely. Ro makes her home thethrone hall of the ship, laying claim to its hiddenweapons caches and taking the throne as her bed. Among her new crew are the human girlAlirya, theKessurian coupleEsstrop andKortanio, theOzrelansocookRox, and the humanpilotMilan Stor. Also living on the ship is theGreat Leveler, who Ro becomes somewhat obsessed with.[5]
In another flashback, Marda Ro describes a time she attacked ahuman Jedi in amarketplace before bringing his heavily injured body to theGaze. She brings the concerned Alirya, Stor, and Rox along to watch the Levelerprey upon the Jedi, calcifying his body. Later, as she gazes at aholo-mirror of herself, Ro is interrupted by Alirya, who desperately wants to help Marda. Ro acquiesces, allowing Alirya to sit by her throne, but later she tears down the blue banners in the throne room andpaints the wall with a massive redsun.[5]
At some point, Marda Ro finds herself in abar onRyloth after following a rumor of Evereni huntinglyleks inequatorialcaves. Eventually, she encounters an Evereni man who only introduces himself asIsren, theEvereni word for "old uncle." He explains some Evereni culture, and introduces to her the Evereni wordriferi, meaning legacy. The man refuses her offer to join him on her hunt for more Evereni.[5]
Marda subsequently explains the lifestyle aboard theGaze. They hunt and steal anything they like, hoarding and selling the excess they acquire. Ro, Alirya, and Rox stay behind while the others pillage, what Ro sees as the natural progression of gifts freely given. Once, however, theraiders returned with a group ofrefugees. Despite her fury at her raiders for bringing the people aboard, Ro manipulates the refugees into admitting that one among them isForce-sensitive. She offers the other refugees to either join the crew or leave, but takes the young Force-sensitive man to the Great Leveler.[5]
At a point in the future, Ro and Alirya have tea together in the throne room. The crew has grown to 37, and Alirya wonders what their overall goal is. Ro explains that the goal is to hunt down more Evereni and take as many resources as possible to allow them to do anything they want. Alirya tries to explain her own goals, but Ro shuts her down so that she never can purposefully take that away from the human. Ro tells her, since the ideology of the group is so different from that of the Path of the Open Hand, that she is making them into a beginning.[5]
Over the planetSiquay, Ro finds the Evereni siblingsVika andVelya Faer, who tell Ro more stories of Evereni culture over ameal. Vika and Marda later spar withknives before they join Velya for a drink. Days later, following a feast, Vika tells Marda that Velya finds her beautiful. As they share the moment, Alirya sneaks up behind Vika and stabs her. The Evereni woman quickly slaughters Alirya with herclaws. Ro responds by grabbing a hiddenblaster from a panel in her throne and shooting Vika down. With the vacancy at her side, Ro offers the spot to Velya, telling him to be with her for the rest of his life. He accepts, and the two grasp each other's wrists, digging their claws into the flesh.[5]
After the celebrations, Marda Ro and Velya Faer discuss Evereni customs surrounding death and the importance of remembering names. They embrace once more before he notices her art on the walls, the red planet at the heart of a storm, created from smearedblood and paint, what she considers to be representative of her legacy.[5]
Continuity[]
At New York Comic Con, it was established that the story takes place after Phase II ofStar Wars: The High Republic.[6]
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| Organizations and titles | Sentient species | Vehicles and vessels | Weapons and technology | Miscellanea |
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Sources[]
NYCC 2022: 10 Things We Learned From theStar Wars: The High Republic Panel onStarWars.com(backup link)
Notes and references[]
- ↑1.01.11.2
NYCC 2022: 10 Things We Learned From theStar Wars: The High Republic Panel onStarWars.com(backup link) - ↑ Shop the Galaxy's FinestStar Wars Exclusives at SDCC 2023 onStarWars.com(backup link)
- ↑
Star Wars: The High Republic: Tales of Light and Life onPenguin Random House'sofficial website(backup link) - ↑A segment of "A Closed Fist Has No Claws" where aJedi is killed by theGreat Leveler takes place whenMarda Ro is roughly eighteenyears old.The High Republic: Path of Deceit establishes both that members of thePath of the Open Hand receive full membership at the age of fifteen and that Ro had recently become a full member, meaning that she is around fifteen years old. The events ofPath of Deceit take place in382 BBY perStar Wars: The High Republic Character Encyclopedia; therefore, this section must take place around379 BBY. As the Jedi's death occurs midway through the story, it must have begun earlier and ended later, therefore it must have begun by 379BBY and ended during 379 BBY or later.
- ↑5.005.015.025.035.045.055.065.075.085.09"A Closed Fist Has No Claws" —The High Republic: Tales of Light and Life
- ↑ FriendsOfForce (@FriendsOfForce) onTwitter (post):"Zoraida: Phase 2Tessa: post Phase 2Claudia: 1 day after the end of Phase 1Justina: post Phase 1 but not Phase 3Lydia: post Phase 2George: post Phase 2Daniel: late-to-mid Phase 1Cavan: "so very nearly Phase 3"Charles: close to Phase 3#NYCC #TheHighRepublic"(backup link)
