Summary:
The only living member of the Emperor’s elite Imperial Guard is back again and is continuing his mission to avenge those in the Empire who betrayed his fallen master. Given the fact that a huge bounty has been placed on Kir Kanos’ head, he has decided to take on a secret identity of sorts. Kanos poses as a bounty hunter, complte with wickedly cool armor, named Kenix Kil. Kenix Kil is apparently an anagram in the secret language of the Imperial Guard meaning Kir Kanos. Mirith Sinn is also back, but appears to be following through with her vow at the end of the previous story to hunt down and kill Kir Kanos. However, the reader soon discovers that she is using that as a cover to get into good graces with Grappa the Hutt in order to expose his plots of piracy against the New Republic. Kanos’ plan is to make such a reputation for himself as a bounty hunter that the Imperial Council will eventually hire him to hunt down Kir Kanos (himself). Thus, allowing Kanos to get close enough to his enemies to pick them off one at a time. Yet, every plan has flaws and those flaws are what make Crimson Empire II a compelling read for any fan of Star Wars.
The Imperial Council has suffered greatly in the leadership department since the death of Carnor Jax, which lead them to foolishly elect someone they feel can be easily manipulated as head of the council. The man elected is Xandel Carivus. However, a wildcard player enters the story at this point and leaves the reader guessing as to his intentions and as to whose side he may be playing for. Nom Anor is a mysterious figure shrouded in black and usually seen amonst the shadows in Carivus’ private quarters. The Black Sun has also thrown a wrench into the Empire’s plans by attempting to infiltrate their council with clones. A clone of Feena D’hasta has already been a part of the council for the last four years while the real Feena is being held at Grappa the Hutt’s palace. Grappa, on the other hand, seems to be playing with fire by forming an alliance with an unusual species of aliens called the Zanibar. Apparently, the Zannibar provde certain service to Grappa and in return the Hutt gives the Zannibar individuals for their “ceremonies”. Those ceremonies apparently involve something really nasty that the writers do an excellent job of leaving the reader to guess what this could possibly entail. So to say that the New Republic is the Empire’s only problem would be a gross understatement!
Kir Kanos ends up saving Mirith Sinn after grappa turns her over to the Zannibar. Sinn and Kanos are separated during their escape from the Zannibar’s home planet. The Zannibar capture Kir Kanos and ask Grappa to be a go-between for them and the Empire so that they can collect the bounty. However, Sinn is able to rescue Kanos from Grappa’s palace. Sinn also retrieves Feena D’hasta in order to expose the Empire to Feena’s father, Baron D’hasta. Apparently Baron D’hasta is a huge supplier to the Empire and his daughter has been sitting on the council in his stead while he has been ill. Mirith Sinn believes that once the council is exposed, then D’hasta will no longer support the efforts of the Empire.
The plan seems to work perfectly for the New Republic, but Kir Kanos insists on killing the clone of Feena as she was involved in the betrayal of Emperor Palpatine. Mirith Sinn convinces Kanos not to kill the clone and allow Baron to make a decision regarding that issue. At this point in the story, Xandel Carivus has already killed or imprisoned the remaining members of the Imperial Council who were involved in the plot against the Emperor so that he alone can rule the Empire. Sinn uses this information to her advantage and tells Kanos that Carivus is the only one left who needs to die.
In the end Kir Kanos kills Carivus, but remains loyal to the memory of his fallen master, the Emperor. Grappa the Hutt is ironically taken by force by the Zannibar to be part of one of their cermemonies because they feel as if they were cut short by the devious Hutt. Baron D’hasta is no longer part of the Empire, but isn’t quite ready to join the New Republic either. Thus, D’hasta decides to govern his sector of the galaxy himself without the aid of the Empire or the New Republic. The Black Sun is still around, but their plan to infiltrate the Empire with clones has certainly been put to rest. The mysterious character known as Nom Anor disappears leaving the reader with more questions than answers regarding his origins and alliances. (until the New Jedi Order series of course) There seemed to be a love connection between Kir Kanos and Mirith Sinn at the end of the story. However, Kanos again leaves realizing that this relationship can never work considering they come from two different worlds.
Jedi Archive Opinions:
Let’s just say it simply doesn’t get better than the original! However, the sequel to Crimson Empire I was certainly no disappointment. The addition of Nom Anor to this story added a level of mystery that was both frustrating and a nice foreshadowing of future events in the Star Wars Universe. We at the Archive believe both Kir Kanos and Mirith Sinn could be interesting characters utilized in a novel or a series of novel. We’d love to see Kir Kanos in a new series of sorts that perhaps details an alliance between Kanos and some remnant of the Empire still loyal to the Emperor and his legacy. Can you imagine the problems that Kir Kanos could pose to the future of the Jedi Knights? Kir Kanos could be a major player in the future if given a bit more training in the ways of the Force. We certainly hope that the creative minds in the Star Universe haven’t already missed the boat on turning Kanos into a major player. But, in the end the Crimson Empire series remains one of the Archive’s favorite graphic novels.