"The Gilded Cage" is a short story that was published in the canon book Dark Legends, written by George Mann, illustrated by Grant Griffin, and published on July 28, 2020. The tale follows the Nightsisters' attempt to take revenge on Darth Caldoth. The story also serves as a companion story to the Myths & Fables short story Gaze of Stone.
Plot summary
Darth Caldoth stole the mummified remains of a Nightsister from the planet Dathomir in order to learn the secrets behind the Nightsisters' reanimation process. Angered by the theft, the Nightsisters plan their revenge upon Darth Caldoth, knowing it would be wiser to attack him when vulnerable, rather than head-on. After gathering six sisters and putting them through great trials, a young Nightsister named Zeldin was selected to carry out their revenge. Following a defeat to Caldoth by the Jedi Bran Ath' Morath, the Nightsisters enacted a ritual to transmit Zeldin's thoughts into Darth Caldoth's Mind. There she observed and slowly breached Caldoth's mental barriers in order to influence his thoughts and actions.
The Nightsisters, through Zeldin, influenced Caldoth to recruit an apprentice named Ry Nymbis, who they thought could defeat him. But when Ry Nymbis tried to kill Caldoth, his attack misfired, reflected back onto him, and turned him to stone. They then tried to lure Caldoth to the moon of Obsidia and let the spirit guardian that dwelled there defeat him, but yet again he prevailed, binding the spirit an a vial. Angered, Zeldin planned a final trap. Stoking Caldoth's flames of hatred for Jedi Bran Ath' Morath, they worked to lure Caldoth into fighting the Jedi once again. Caldoth attacked the world of Kizan to provoke the Jedi, but during battle he once again succeed and struck a killing blow on Bran Ath' Morath.
On Dathomir, Zeldin screamed in frustration for she had once again failed. With their patience gone, the Nightsisters resorted to drastic measures. They prepared a ritual that would allow Zeldin to assert full control over Darth Caldoth. But Caldoth had known of the Nightsisters presence all along, and his mastery of the force allowed him to instead imprison Zeldin within his mind where she remained trapped. The rest of the Nightsisters, fearing Caldoth's power, gave up on revenge and committed Zeldin's body to a pod for burial.[3]
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Notes and references
- ↑
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- ↑ "The Gilded Cage" depicts Darth Caldoth as a Sith Lord known by the Jedi Order. Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace states that the Sith were presumed dead after the Jedi-Sith War, and the Jedi were unaware of any Sith alive afterwards, meaning that Darth Caldoth was active prior to the Defeat of the Sith, which Star Wars: Timelines dates to 1032 BBY. Therefore, in order for the Jedi to have known about Darth Caldoth, "The Gilded Cage" must take place by that year.
- ↑ "The Gilded Cage" — Dark Legends