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Star Wars Read-Through Part 21: Republic Commando: Seeing Through the Eyes of the Clones

So far, most of the Clone Wars stories we have read have focussed on the adventures of the Jedi, especially Anakin Skywalker as he journeys toward his promotion to Jedi Knight, and his master Obi-Wan Kenobi.

But not all Clone Wars stories are stories of Jedi heroism. The video game Republic Commando puts us in the armor of a particularly well trained clone and the rest of his commando squad. Accompanying this well received game was a series of novels which also went on to further develop lore surrounding the training of the clone army and the culture of the Mandalorians. 

For this post, I read the following stories: 

I read the paperback versions of the three novels. Omega Squad: Targets and Odds were both printed in the backs of Triple Zero and True Colors, respectively. I played the Steam edition of the Republic Commando game.

Note that I am going to streamline this blog a bit, and I'm cutting the "Story" portion. Sometimes I read these books long enough ago that I rely on Wookieepedia summaries to write the short bit about the book/comic/etc. Instead I'll stick with a broader discussion on my thoughts.



Thoughts:

The Republic Commando series of novels is an excellent exploration of clone characters. Each squad is composed of four commandos and in a perfect situation the four were trained together since birth. In the case of Delta Squad, the team remained together until the end of the final mission of the game, but Omega Squad was composed of survivors from other squads whose other members died in the horror of the Battle of Geonosis. 

I also greatly appreciated the development and exploration of Mandalorian culture through the eyes of Kal Skirata, a bounty hunter who had been tasked by Jango Fett to train the clone commandos. His style inspired a form of loyalty that would draw in more than just his commandos. We also got a clear view of how terrible the Kaminoans treated the clones, given they were viewed as property and not living men. 

There are two more stories in the Republic Commando series which I am intentionally waiting to read later, because they are set at the end of the Clone Wars and in the early Imperial period, respectively. I will comment more on the conclusion of this series then.

The game, unfortunately, did not draw me in as well as it drew in others. I found the combat mechanics boring and each mission far too long. There were only three missions, each with many (too many, in my opinion) sub-missions. I would have preferred shorter missions in more settings, perhaps like the Rainbow Six commando games.

Next: 

The next batch of Star Wars Legends stories to read are the Boba Fett middle-grade books. 

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