Fate of the Jedi: Backlash, penned by Aaron Allston, marks the fourth installment in the Fate of the Jedi saga, hitting shelves on March 9, 2010. An excerpt from Fate of the Jedi: Allies is featured at its conclusion. Marc Thompson lends his voice to the audiobook version. The paperback edition became available on February 22, 2011.
The aftershocks of Jacen Solo's fall to the dark side and the perplexing epidemic of madness affecting young Jedi continue to spread chaos throughout the galaxy. Luke and Ben Skywalker, having barely survived encounters with the fanatical Mind Walkers and a lethal Sith assassination team, are now relentlessly pursuing a Sith apprentice who no longer has a master. Their pursuit takes them to the ominous planet Dathomir, where a group of powerful dark-side users will provide Vestara with the advantage she needs to evade capture. Here, the Skywalkers will be compelled to fight for both their lives and their prey.
In a parallel storyline, Han and Leia Solo have successfully completed their perilous mission, transporting Jedi afflicted by madness from Coruscant to the sanctuary of the Transitory Mists, beyond the reach of Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala. However, this daring action has only intensified Daala's rage, and she is now determined to crush the Jedi Order's resistance once and for all.
Yet, the most significant danger lies dormant in the depths of the remote Maw Cluster. A being of pure, insatiable dark-side energy, known as Abeloth, sends out a call across the cosmos to both Jedi and Sith. For some, it may hold the key to survival. For others, it could be the ultimate tool for domination. But for everyone involved, it represents a momentous and transformative encounter, as well as a strategic gamble with consequences beyond imagination.
The story picks up directly after the events of the previous book. Luke and Ben Skywalker barely escape an attack by a Sith assassination squad while exploring Sinkhole Station. Vestara Khai, the Sith squad's sole survivor, flees to Dathomir, a planet, to relay a message to the Lost Tribe of Sith on Kesh, their homeworld. Simultaneously, she intentionally leads Luke and Ben to her location (Luke employed a Dathomiri blood trail technique after she wounded him at Sinkhole Station). Soon, Luke and Ben are aided by Dathomiri locals like Dyon Stadd in their search for Vestara. Han and Leia Organa Solo, along with their daughter and granddaughter, Jaina and Allana, respectively, as well as Allana's nexu cub Anji, C-3PO, and R2-D2, respond to the Skywalkers' call for help. The group encounters two tribes: the Raining Leaves, a group of Force-sensitive Witches, and the Broken Columns, a group of freed male slaves. These two clans are set to unite after a series of physical challenges spanning several days. However, the unification ceremony is repeatedly disrupted by the Nightsisters. To counter these attacks, Luke and Ben merge the two clans into a single unit to defend against the Nightsisters' threats.
During the unification ceremony, R2-D2 disappears from the docking bay. Allana, left with C-3PO, sneaks away aboard the Millennium Falcon to investigate Artoo's disappearance. She discovers that the local docking bay worker, Monarg, is holding the astromech droid. Monarg catches Allana trying to free Artoo, but C-3PO distracts him by allowing Monarg to beat him while Allana removes the restraining bolt from Artoo. The girl and the two droids escape Monarg's shop, but Monarg and his friends attempt to recapture them as they flee back to the Millennium Falcon. Fortunately, Allana manages to pilot the legendary YT-1300 light freighter into the forests of Dathomir without damaging the Falcon.
Meanwhile, Natasi Daala, the Galactic Alliance Chief of State, faces increasing public opposition due to her treatment of the Jedi. This stems from her deployment of a Mandalorian strike team to capture recently afflicted Jedi before the Order could secure them. As public and military dissent grows, and comparisons to Palpatine surface, she reaches out to Han and Leia, who she retrieves from Dathomir with Jaina after Allana's rescue, hoping to mend the relationship between the Galactic Alliance and the New Jedi Order. Daala's situation is further complicated by an assassination attempt on Jagged Fel, the Imperial Head of State, orchestrated by a secret political faction seeking to replace him with Moff Drikl Lecersen. Additionally, she faces criticism for her efforts to imprison Tahiri Veila for killing Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon two years prior. This criticism is fueled by the fact that Admiral Cha Niathal, who aided Darth Caedus during the Second Galactic Civil War like Tahiri, remains unarrested. This leads to accusations of Daala being biased against the Jedi while allowing military personnel to go free. To counter this, she invites Niathal to Coruscant to face trial, intending to acquit her. However, Niathal believes that even if acquitted, she will never earn respect or forgiveness for her actions in aiding Caedus, nor can she forgive herself, as she does not regret her support. Consequently, the Mon Calamari poisons her water tank with carbon monoxide, committing suicide. Daala mourns Niathal's death, which is marked by a funeral on Coruscant, though the Chief of State is unable to attend due to the intense public backlash she faces.
Returning to Dathomir, the combined forces of the Raining Leaves and Broken Columns successfully repel the Nightsisters' persistent rancor attacks. This shared success boosts morale, leading the two clans to unite in marriage and form the Bright Sun Clan. Eventually, the attacks subside, the Nightsisters are defeated, and the Bright Suns Clan establishes a peaceful existence on Dathomir.
Later, Lecersen tries to sabotage the growing peace between Daala and the New Jedi Order by hiring terrorist Kester Tolann to attack the Solos and Jag Fel during dinner at a local restaurant. Tolann and his YVH droids are killed. Despite the attack's implications pointing to Daala's involvement, Jag suspects other potential enemies within the Empire who might want to overthrow him, with Lecersen being a prime suspect.
The Sith eventually arrive and abduct the remaining Nightsisters to bolster their ranks, despite Luke and Ben's attempts to intervene. While Vestara is captured, so is Halliava Vurse, the traitor from the Raining Leaves who was secretly a Nightsister. Vurse is left to the Bright Suns Clan's justice system. With Vestara in custody, as she was working for the Sith, Luke and Ben return to the spaceport. Before departing, Luke confronts Monarg, accusing him of facilitating Vestara's escape by providing her with a ship in exchange for credits to transmit a hyperspace message to the Sith fleet, rather than the ship crashing. Vestara confirms this, and Monarg is blackmailed into helping the Skywalkers and Dyon Stadd leave Dathomir. As the Jade Shadow departs, it is intercepted by a fleet of Sith warships. Left with no choice, Luke and Ben disable the engines and prepare for contact from the Sith.