The Power of Darth Caedus: How Jaina Becomes the Sword of the Jedi

THE POWER OF DARTH CAEDUS: HOW JAINA FULFILLS HER ROLE AS SWORD OF THE JEDI

Table of Contents

1) The Rise of Darth Caedus: High Stakes and Personal Growth
2) A Battle of Visions: Luke's Objective
3) Jaina's Empowerment: Luke's Role
4) Jaina Solo's "Edge": Preparing to Fight Caedus
5) Contronting Eo!Invincible Caedus: The Final Battle
6) Where does Caedus stack up?
7) Unraveling Jacen Solo: Exploring Jacen's Hype

1) THE RISE OF DARTH CAEDUS: HIGH STAKES AND PERSONAL GROWTH

In the very beginning of Invincible, Caedus reflects on his mistakes as a Sith, and comes to the realization that he had been weak as of late. Caedus knows in theory that the path to true power as a Sith Lord lies in the acceptance of emotional pain from his sacrifices, but he hadn't been adhering to this rule lately.  Caedus was cutting himself off from his pain, and as foretold by the Sith tassels, the key to achieving Caedus’ full potential as a Sith Lord was to embrace his sacrifices and pain. This realization was a turning point for Caedus, and from now on, he embraced the pain and sacrifice required to become the powerful Sith he was meant to be, and remembered why he had become a Sith in the first place: to serve.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:He had made a few mistakes. Caedus could see that now.

He had fallen to the same temptation all Sith did, had cut himself off from everything he loved-his family, his lover, even his daughter-to avoid being distracted by their betrayals. He could see now how blinding himself to his pain had also blinded him to his duty, how he had begun to think only of himself, of his plans, of his destiny:of his galaxy.

Self-absorption.

That was the downfall of the Sith, always. He had studied the lives of the ancients-such greats as Naga Sadow, Freedon Nadd, Exar Kun-and he knew that they always made the same mistake, that sooner or later they always forgot that they existed to serve the galaxy, and came to believe that the galaxy existed to serve them.

And Caedus had stepped into the same trap. He had forgotten why he was doing all this, the reason that he had picked up a lightsaber in the first place and the reason that he had given himself over to the Sith, the reason that he had taken sole control of the Galactic Alliance.

To serve.

Caedus had forgotten because he was weak. After Allana had betrayed him by sneaking off the Anakin Solo with his parents, his pain had become a distraction. He had been unable to think, to plan, to command, to read the future:to lead. So he had shut away his feelings for Allana, had convinced himself that he was not really doing this for her and the trillions of younglings like her, that he was doing this for destiny-for his destiny.

It had all been a lie. Even after what Allana had done, Caedus still loved her. He was her father, and he would always love her, no matter how much she hurt him. He had been wrong to try to escape that. Caedus needed to hold on to that love whatever it cost him, to cling to that love even as it tore his heart apart.

Because that was how Sith stayed strong. They needed pain to keep the Balance, to remind them they were still human. And they needed it so they would not forget the pain they were inflicting on others. To make the galaxy safer, everyone had to suffer-even Sith Lords.

And so there would be no angry outbursts when he confronted the Moffs over their unauthorized adventures, no demonstration killings, no Force chokings or threats to have his fleets attack theirs, no intimidation of any sort. There would be no consequences at all, for how were they to know of the worrisome things he had been seeing in his Force visions lately-the Mandalorian maniacs and the burning asteroids, his uncle's inescapable gaze-if he failed to tell them? Whether blunder or master stroke, the taking of the Roche system was as much his doing as the Moffs', Caedus saw now, and he was beyond punishing others for his mistakes. Starting today, Darth Caedus was going to rule not through anger or fear or even bribery, but as every true Sith Lord should, through patience and love and:pain.

Powered Through Pain:

A parallel is made in Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader concerning Vader’s limitations post-Mustafar. Sidious believes that Vader’s limitations are not primarily physical, but psychological, and that Vader must embrace the sacrifices he had made, and “it can all be yours”. For Vader to overcome his psychological weaknesses, he would need to be driven deeper into himself, and confront all his choices and his disappointments, embracing them and subsequently becoming empowered by them. If Vader ever overcomes this weakness, it could be at Sidious’s peril, indicating he would be reaching levels he had been prior to his maiming on Mustafar just through this shift in mindset.

Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader wrote:"This is an important time for you, Lord Vader," Palpatine was saying. "You are finally free to make full use of your powers. If not for us, the galaxy would never have been restored to order. Now you must embrace the sacrifices you made to bring this about, and revel in the fact that you have fulfilled your destiny. It can all be yours, my young apprentice, anything you wish. You need only have the determination to take it, at whatever cost to those who stand in your way."

…

"Do you recall what I told you about the relationship between power and understanding, Lord Vader?"

"Yes, Master. Where the Jedi gained power through understanding, the Sith gain understanding through power."

Palpatine smiled faintly. "This will become clearer to you as you continue your training, Lord Vader. And to that end I will provide you with the means to increase your power, and broaden your understanding. In due time, power will fill the vacuum created by the decisions you made, the acts you carried out. Married to the order of the Sith, you will need no other companion than the dark side of the Force..."

The remark stirred something within Vader, but he was unable to make full sense of the feelings that washed through him: a commingling of anger and disappointment, of grief and regret...

The events of Anakin Skywalker's life might have occurred a lifetime ago, or to someone else entirely, and yet some residue of Anakin continued to plague Vader, like pain from a phantom limb.

…

And so it fell to Sidious to complete Vader's convalescence.

As Emperor Palpatine, he had no need to reveal his Sith training and mastery to anyone, and for the moment Vader was his crimson blade. Let the galaxy think what it would of Vader: fallen Jedi, surfaced Sith, political enforcer... It scarcely mattered, since fear would ultimately bring and keep everyone in line.

Yes, Vader was not precisely what he had bargained for. Vader's legs and arms were artificial, and he would never be able to summon lightning or leap about like the Jedi had been fond of doing. His dark side training was just beginning. But Sith power resided not in the flesh but in the will. Self-restraint was praised by the Jedi only because they didn't know the power of the dark side. Vader's real weaknesses were psychological rather than physical, and for Vader to overcome them he would need to be driven deeper into himself, to confront all his choices and his disappointments.

Powered by treachery, the Sith Master-apprentice relationship was always a dangerous game. Trust was encouraged even while being sabotaged; loyalty was demanded even while betrayal was prized; suspicion was nourished even while honesty was praised.

In some sense, it was survival of the fittest.

Fundamental to Vader's growth was the desire to overthrow his Master.

Had Vader killed Obi-Wan on Mustafar, he might have attempted to kill Sidious, as well. In fact, Sidious would have been surprised if Anakin hadn't made an attempt. Now, however, incapable of so much as breathing on his own, Vader could not rise to the challenge, and Sidious understood that he would need to do everything in his power to shake Vader out of his despair, and reawaken the incredible power within him.

Even at Sidious's own peril…

So, the issue that Suit Vader suffers from and that keeps him locked below Sidious is the same issue that Caedus suffered from and ultimately fixed: he must embrace the sacrifices he had made, becoming empowered by them. If Vader embraces this it could be at Sidious’s own peril, so if that’s the gap that’s between Suit Vader and a theoretical Vader who sheds this limitation… well, Caedus' growth wouldn’t be anything less than substantial between Revelation and Invincible. This isn’t "mega-scaling technical growth" - this mindset is an essential aspect for Caedus reaching his full potential as a Sith Lord, and would result in monumental growth from Revelation leading into Invincible.

Moving onto the stakes of Invincible, Jaina, Luke, and the Jedi Council all believe that Caedus not only must be stopped, but killed, for the survival of the Jedi Order and well-being of civilization itself. The Second Galactic Civil War cannot be won through military might alone, but only through the death or redemption of Caedus, and the latter is deemed an impossibility, even by Han and Leia.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:Jaina nodded, then summoned to mind the speech she had been rehearsing about how the coalition couldn't win the war through military might alone; their only real hope was to dismantle the enemy command structure from the top down.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:"I doubt we'll be fortunate enough to get away with simple assassination," Luke replied. "But yes. For some time now, it's been clear to me that our survival-and civilization's well-being-depends on ridding the galaxy of Darth Caedus."

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:"Every day, it growz more clear to us that this fight will be won or lost in the mystic realm, not the physical," Saba added. "And the Force has named you Sword of the Jedi. We would have been foolz not to discusz your request."

The stakes:

And because Luke agrees with this too, believing for the well-being of civilization and survival of the Jedi, that Caedus should be killed, then it’s reasonable to conclude that Luke would be doing everything in his power to take Caedus down.

Isn't Luke weakened in LotF due to Mara death?

No. Following Mara's death, it is true that Luke had been consumed by grief, causing him to withdraw from his duties as Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, and duties to the galaxy as a whole, however, at the end of Fury, Luke realizes through Ben's help that he could not ignore his responsibilities any longer, and resolved to shoulder the weight of his duties as a Jedi once more, a weight that kept him alive through the toughest of situations. Luke was shaken out of his depression by Ben, and with "new resolve" developed plans to defeat Darth Caedus.

Legacy of the Force: Fury wrote:Luke closed his eyes, feeling his way through the insulation of peacefulness he'd constructed for himself across these past months. Beyond it, he tried to find himself. But at first he could feel nothing but the weight of his grief, and the one thing that kept him functioning while carrying that burden-his desire to be reunited with Mara. Reunited when the time came. Reunited in the Force.

Then there was the other weight, the one he had largely slipped from his shoulders, the weight of his responsibility-to the Order, to his family, to the galaxy.

To the living.

Of course he had shrugged it off. No man could carry two such weights for any length of time. He would be crushed beneath them.

But he had to carry the one he had set aside, didn't he?

I'm sorry, Mara. Knowing it to be a betrayal, Luke slowly, carefully stepped out from under his grief.

It didn't leave him entirely-just as Mara was still part of him, the pain of losing her would always be with him, too.

But suddenly it was easier to breathe, to think. He wondered how long it had been since he had truly thought clearly.

And curiously, it didn't feel like a betrayal at all. Then there was that other weight, the weight of duty. He had carried it throughout his adult life, and at times it had ground him down. But at other times it had sustained him, helped keep him alive.

Perhaps that was why he had been so willing to abandon it: it had been keeping him alive at a time when he did not want to live.

With meticulous care, he picked up and shouldered that other weight.

He opened his eyes. His son stood before him, anxious, but now Ben sighed, a brief exhalation of relief. "Hey, Dad, look in a mirror."

"I don't need to."

"You know what? Your feelings betray you." Luke suppressed a snort. "Ben, if you ever, ever say I told you so..."

"I won't."

"...I'll put you through a training session that would make Kyp Durron cry."

…

"Show me a Jedi Knight who isn't obstinate." Luke stepped onto the lift plate and held his toe over the button inset in the permacrete. "Get to work on your weapon, son." He pressed the button and let the turbolift carry him down, back to his work, back to his responsibility.

- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia

And Luke further reiterates in Invincible that his judgement is not clouded by vengeance, or attachment to Jacen of any kind.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:"To tell the truth, I was worried that my judgment might be clouded by a desire for vengeance." Luke glanced in Jaina's direction, and a look of genuine relief came to his eyes. "So I wanted to hear someone else say it first."

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:"Jaina, you're not the only one who's afraid for her family," Luke said, using the Force to speak over her father. "But you are the only one who's allowing her attachments to interfere with her judgment.

Luke's declaration that Caedus' death is necessary is based on his duty to the Jedi Order as well as the galaxy.

2) A BATTLE OF VISIONS: LUKE'S OBJECTIVE

Over the course of Invincible, both Luke and Caedus use visions as a way to strategize over the other. It's a theme that keeps popping up again and again, both Luke and Caedus are constantly looking into the future and analyzing the best way to go about the final events of the war.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:"That's right," Luke said. "He would have realized that I'm using visions of the future to plot strategy, and he would have started to grow suspicious of what he was seeing."

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:Jaina didn't understand why her uncle had insisted on leaving the Owools behind-or why he had been so mysterious about his reasons. She felt sure it involved the strange duel of Force visions he was waging with her brother. Obviously, there were things he couldn't reveal without messing up his plan, but it would have been nice if he'd just said that.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:In fact, she was beginning to feel like a holopiece in a dejarik match between her uncle and her brother-one that would determine not only their destiny, but that of trillions. And she wasn't even a player in the game, just a monnok being moved through dimensions she did not comprehend.

A Battle of Visions:

Luke uses this to his advantage. Both Luke and Caedus see a future in which they will fight eachother. Through meditation, Luke focuses these visions of their upcoming fight onto Caedus, and forces the future to move along a different path, that path being instead of Caedus fighting Luke - Caedus will fight Jaina. But this is a balancing act, as Luke must stay "as close" as he can to the future of Caedus vs Luke in order to prevent Caedus from growing suspicious of the visions he is experiencing, even going as far as letting Ben be captured by Caedus's apprentice, Tahiri Veila, something he had foreseen in his visions, so that Caedus wouldn't catch on that Luke is affecting his Force visions. Luke's goal is to stay as close to this future without actually fighting Caedus himself, "at least not physically." This affects Luke as well, as he is unable to see Jaina fighting Caedus in his own visions.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:Luke's faced twitched as though he had been slapped. But he nodded as though he had been expecting this reaction, and suddenly Jaina realized why her uncle hadn't warned them about what he had foreseen.

"You did it to protect me," she said, stepping forward. "You didn't tell us because it would have betrayed something to Jacen."

"That's right," Luke said. "He would have realized that I'm using visions of the future to plot strategy, and he would have started to grow suspicious of what he was seeing."

Leia's brow shot up. "You're altering Caedus's visions?"

"It's:more like jamming," Luke said. "When I meditate on the future, I'm focusing so hard on Caedus that when he looks into the future, I keep showing up."

"Sounds like altering to me," Han said. "If you were just jamming, Caedus would know it. But you're fixing it so he sees you instead of the real future."

"Not exactly," Luke said. "Remember, the future is always in motion. Caedus sees what might happen-if I were there instead of Jaina."

Han frowned and ran a hand over his brow. "My head hurts."

"It's not that hard to understand," Jaina said. She turned to Luke. "You're influencing what Caedus sees by focusing on him in your meditations-"

"Then forcing the future to move along a different course by not acting in accordance with your visions," Leia finished.

"To an extent," Luke said. "But it's a balancing act. I try to stay close enough to what I've seen to prevent Caedus from realizing that I'm trying to mask something."

"That something being me," Jaina said.

"Right," Luke answered. "I stay as close as I can to the future we're seeing without actually fighting Caedus-at least, not physically."

…

"Which is where I come in," Jaina said. It gave her no satisfaction. In fact, she was beginning to feel like a holopiece in a dejarik match between her uncle and her brother-one that would determine not only their destiny, but that of trillions. And she wasn't even a player in the game, just a monnok being moved through dimensions she did not comprehend. "Does that mean you can see whether-"

"I can't," Luke interrupted. "I'm trying to keep you hidden from Caedus's visions, which means I can't see you, either."

Caedus's reactions:

Why doesn't Luke just face Caedus on his own? Why go through this elaborate battle of Force visions?

The answer to this is as Luke explains, that fighting Lumiya out of vengeance had tainted him with the dark side, and that any future involving himself going after Caedus ends in darkness. If he goes after Caedus, he wins, but wins by turning to the dark side and becoming Caedus.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:"Every future that begins with me going after Caedus ends in darkness. I know I'm the only one who can be sure of stopping him, but no matter how I envision it, it always leads to darkness."

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:"You're saying that killing Lumiya in vengeance tainted him with the dark side."

"Yes." Saba glanced in Luke's direction, then lowered her chin in apology. "This one fearz that if you go after Caedus, no matter how the hunt beginz, it must end in vengeance. That is why you can see nothing but darknesz down that path."

"And this one believes you're right," Luke replied.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:If I had any doubts about it before, my visions have only confirmed what Saba suggested on Shedu Maad-I have been tainted by killing Lumiya in vengeance. I can't go after Caedus without becoming the same as Caedus."

Full context:

So because Luke cannot fight Caedus physically for his fear of turning to the dark side, he uses Force visions of him doing so as a way to plot strategy, that he really is fighting Caedus. In order for this strategy to work, he needs to stay as close to Caedus’s vision as possible: a fight with the real Luke. This is Luke's objective leading into Jaina (commonly referred to as Juke (Luke-amped Jaina) vs Caedus on Nickel One.

3) JAINA'S EMPOWERMENT: LUKE'S ROLE

Leading directly into Caedus vs Juke, Han and Leia look upon Luke's body, his body strapped to his seat like a lifeless statue. Luke wasn't breathing, moving, or blinking, and appeared to be completely absent. Even Leia, a Jedi Knight by this point that has a close bond with Luke, sensed that Luke was "sort of gone", the implication being Luke's absence had implications beyond the physical realm.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:"Oh dear," C-3PO said. "It seems Master Skywalker is no longer with us."

"What?" Han's heart clenched so tight it seemed to stop beating, but he kept his gaze fixed on the rapidly growing corvette. "How? Our hull hasn't even been breached!"

The upper cannon turret fell silent, and Leia called down, "Not dead, Han. He's in a:" She paused, searching for the word, then finally explained, "I don't know how to explain it. Luke's just sort of:gone."

"Sort of gone?" Han echoed. He couldn't help himself-he had to look. "How can you be:"

Han let his sentence trail away, for Luke was sort of gone. His body remained strapped into his seat, with his hands resting on the systems console and his gaze fixed between the shield status display and the targeting screen. But it was like looking at one of those figures in the House of Plastex back on Coruscant. Luke wasn't breathing, he wasn't moving, he wasn't even blinking; he just wasn't there.

"Great." When Han looked forward again, it was to see that the corvette's beam-spewing arch had grown as long as his arm. He transferred missile control to the pilot's station and sent four concussion missiles streaming toward its bridge. "Now he decides to take some time for himself."

As Caedus realized that he was fighting Luke, he struggled to believe it. He had sensed Luke's presence far way from their current location, and didn't believe that Luke could have traveled that distance in a short amount of time. These were the only reasons Caedus was suspicious, though, because Luke's presence was undeniable, and all that matters is that Luke was here and he must fight. Later, upon deep reflection, Caedus still retains the belief that he had been fighting Luke, citing Luke's Force presence and dismissing the idea of an illusion trick. This doesn't only come from Caedus though, as Jaina agrees with this as well. As Jaina recalls her "strange" surge of Force powers, she muses Luke may really have been there as Caedus suggested.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:Just a few minutes earlier, Caedus had sensed his uncle's presence far above Nickel One, in the same blastboat as his mother, father, and Saba Sebatyne. And now here Luke was, inside the asteroid. Even Jedi Grand Masters could not be in two places at once-Caedus knew that-but he did not waste time being confused.

All that mattered was that Luke was here, somehow, and that he was the one swordsman in the galaxy whom Caedus did not dare fight one-armed. Even as Luke leapt forward weaving a basket of lightsaber slashes, Caedus sprang back out of the projection booth, launching himself into a high Force flip designed to put as much distance between himself and his attacker as possible.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:The fighting around the Roche system was growing fiercer by the hour, but he could not leave-did not dare leave-until he understood what had happened to him in the Tactical Planning Forum. He had been fighting Luke one moment, Jaina the next, and then they had both been there-not just illusions of them, but presences real enough to bat blaster bolts back at the stormtroopers attacking them.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:"There was only one Jedi," Mirta said. "Your sister, Jaina."

"My sister?" Caedus roared despite himself. "You expect me to believe that?" He waved the stump of his arm at her. "That Jaina did this?"

"I don't know who did that, but Jaina was the only Jedi I saw." Mirta seemed completely unimpressed by his anger. "And don't look so surprised. She's been training with Mandalorians."

"Then why didn't she share their disposal barge?" Caedus demanded. He turned to the lieutenant. "Take your sample."

"What?" Mirta seemed genuinely shocked. "You're a Jedi! Can't you tell I'm not lying?"

"I'm a Sith," Caedus corrected. "And I don't need the Force to know you're lying. There were two Jedi there. I fought them both."

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:He thinks Luke was with us."

Jaina paused, recalling Caedus's confusion at the end of the battle. She also recalled her own condition, how the strange surge in her Force powers had suddenly faded just before Caedus had redirected the stormtroopers' fire. "Maybe Luke was there."

Full contexts:

So, Leia believes Luke's Force presence is gone, Caedus believes Luke had actually been there, and Jaina reaches the same conclusion.

Moreover, once Luke rendezvous with Luke and the others after the fight, Luke was able to recall every blow Caedus had landed on Jaina "without even having to glance" in her direction, and is able to confirm other injuries that Jaina had forgotten she had received. Luke remembers Jaina's injuries as if he had received them himself. Also recall that it is Luke’s objective to stay as close to their visions of a true fight between Luke and Caedus as he can without actually fighting Caedus, “at least not physically”.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:The next thing she remembered was stumbling into the hangar with a company of stormtroopers on her tail, then Jag, Zekk, her mother, and about half a dozen other Jedi-okay, Jag wasn't a Jedi, but he had fought like one-coming out of nowhere to drive them off. And she recalled her uncle warning the others about her injuries as they rushed to help her, how he had seemed to know every blow she had taken without having to even glance in her direction.

There is one more key piece of evidence that cements how extensive Luke’s empowerment had been that I will post later, but first let’s go through other examples that are similar to what Luke does here. I will go through the types of illusions that Luke is familiar with/capable of using.

In the 1978 novel Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, as Luke engages Vader in a fight, Luke taps into the guidance of Kenobi even though he is physically gone. Vader dismisses Luke's abilities, but Luke responds by saying that Kenobi is with him. As the fight continues, Luke is shown able to deflect Vader's Force attacks, something Vader thought Luke was incapable of doing, believing such power in a child was impossible.

Splinter of the Mind's Eye wrote:“I’m going to kill you, Darth Vader.”

That humorless laugh again. “What a high opinion you hold of yourself, Skywalker.”

“I’m … I’m Ben Kenobi,” Luke whispered in an odd way.

For just a moment Vader seemed shaken. “Ben Kenobi’s dead. I killed him myself. You are simple Luke Skywalker, an ex-farm boy from Tatooine. You are no master of the Force and the equal of Ben Kenobi you will never be.”

“Ben Kenobi is with me, Vader,” Luke snarled, gaining confidence every second, “and the Force is with me, too.”

[...]

As Vader drifted slowly back to the floor he grabbed his right wrist with his left hand, made a fist, and seemed to convulse like a man retching. A ball of pure white energy the size of his fist materialized in front of Vader’s hands and moved down toward the wide-eyed Luke.

Something made Luke realize he could never reach his saber before the white globe touched him. He threw up both hands and looked away. So he didn’t see what happened.

His hands seemed to blur. The white globe struck them, bounced back, and contacted Vader gently as the latter touched the ground. There was a soft crack as of an explosion far in the distance. Vader was knocked head over heels and the globe vanished.

But when the white energy ball had touched Luke’s hands, the power inherent in the kinetite, or restrained energy globe, had thrown him to the ground. Had he resisted it unsuccessfully it would have thrown him across the chamber and through the temple wall.

Now he lay on his belly while Vader rolled slowly onto his side, shaking his head in disbelief. His eyes refocused, to see a shaken but otherwise unharmed Luke crawling slowly toward his lightsaber.

“Not … possible!” Vader muttered, starting to crawl toward his own weapon. The left side of his body armor was dented inward as if by a giant’s fist, where the kinetite had struck. “Such power … in a child. Not possible!”

Full passage:

Other sources clarify that the spirit of Ben Kenobi “enabled” Luke (with no training by this point) to defeat Vader, and that Luke was guided by his spirit to defeat Vader. Moreover, in the Return of the Jedi novelization, in the context of Luke’s upcoming fight with Vader, Luke could draw on the memory of Ben for strength.



Source: Star Wars the Ultimate Visual Guide: Updated and Expanded



Source: Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars Databank



- Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars Databank

Moving on, in the 1996 novel the New Rebellion, Luke, knowing that there is no other way to defeat the Dark Jedi Kueller without going even darker and further empowering him, starts reaching out to Leia through the spirit plane, aiming to come back even stronger than he had been before and guide Leia to defeat Kueller.

The New Rebellion wrote:Luke was raising his lightsaber, his heart pounding. He was reaching out with the Force, going back to the place he had gone when he first fought Exar Kun. He would be out of his body but protected within the Force. Just as Ben had done in his battle with Darth Vader.

The New Rebellion:

So, if Luke is anything like Ben Kenobi, he can possess his allies and guide their weapons to defeat their opponents, doing this by surrendering his life-force, with the first steps he takes being going back to the spirit realm where he fought Exar Kun, doing this while still conscious and in the middle of a fight. In contrast with Invincible, he is passed out, not breathing, as well as Leia believing he is gone through the lens of Force senses.

Is there precedent for anything like this happening in Legacy of the Force?

Yes. In Bloodlines, Jacen senses that his mother needs assistance in landing the Falcon, and begins centering himself, visualizing Leia sitting in the cockpit and feeling her emotions and Force presence, and exhales an infinite breath "through" Leia, able to see through her eyes, reading the cockpit readouts and seeing the surrounding area. Jacen channels “his Force power” through Leia, and Leia uses this power to save the Falcon.

Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines wrote:Jacen filled his lungs with a long, slow breath and centered himself to try something he had never attempted before.

Mom, I hope you can handle this.

He pictured Leia sitting in the copilot's seat. Her emotions and her presence in the Force washed over him and he visualized himself in her place, behind her eyes, seeing what she saw. For a moment he was simply observing; but then a feeling like a sigh drained out of him and it was as if he were exhaling an infinite breath into his mother-no, through his mother. Now he was no longer sitting in the alcove between two topiary bushes, but staring at an array of lights and readouts and at hands that weren't his. Beyond the console, Coruscant loomed in the viewport.

If Jaina had joined the effort, she was hardly detectable. He had drowned out her presence in his own mind with the sheer strength of the telekinesis he was projecting.

Take this, Mom. Use me. Use the Force I'm channeling through you.

He heard her say "Uh!" as if something had startled her. Then he could feel pressure in his lungs as if he were running hard and fighting for breath. He had no idea how long it lasted. But he had the sense of clutching something tight to his chest, and an awareness somewhere outside his mind and yet at its core showed him the Falcon enveloped in the Force, the hull around her drive assembly compressed instead of expanding catastrophically.

He was sure he wasn't seeing what his mother was actually looking at, because he had none of the images of entering the atmosphere or landing. The scenes inside the Falcon's cockpit were being supplied by his memory. He was simultaneously aware both of that rational fact and that his Force power was being funneled through his mother, helping her hold the drive assembly in place by telekinesis.

Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines wrote:Jacen walked up behind Luke and patted his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Uncle Luke. If I'd known you were here, I'd have called ahead to say they were coming. Dad's pretty strung out right now, and it's not just the politics. It's Jaina and Thrackan and now the Falcon."

It crossed Luke's mind that Jacen should have been able to detect his and Mara's presence in the Force, but it was an unkind thought. Perhaps part of shutting down his own presence was becoming insensitive to others. Luke realized Jacen's Force skills seemed to be getting stronger and more subtle every day, and he felt uneasy.

"What did Han mean about projecting the Force?"

Jacen shrugged, once again the thoughtful man who felt compassion for every living thing. "Mom was trying to hold the Falcon's hull together so-I suppose I added my Force-strength to it through her. Almost like we did against the Killiks to deflect their weapons."

"Almost," said Luke. No, they hadn't quite done that: channeling the Force was a new one to him. "You've developed some impressive skills lately."

The last quote is Jacen explaining his recent feat to Luke, meaning Luke knows about what Jacen does and likely learned it in preparation for fighting Caedus through Jaina.  Not only are they both within the Legacy of the Force series itself,  meaning Troy Denning likely drew from Bloodlines when writing Invincible, but both feats share quite a few similarities with one another. For one, Jacen is able to see through Leia’s eyes as if he were there himself, and Luke is able to recall every blow landed on Jaina as if he experienced them himself. Secondly, Jacen is projecting simply “his Force power” into Leia, and exclaims to Leia “use me”, as if she not only has access to his empowerment, but to Jacen himself. This is recreated with Luke, where both Jaina and Caedus come to the conclusion Luke was really there. Not just a Force signature, not just some of his power, but he was there, and with that comes everything Luke has.

Moreover, Troy Denning confirms he’ll "certainly" have to call on all his resources if he is to prevail, but he needs to rely on more than his Jedi abilities, and even though he can throw moons around, my impression at what Denning is getting at is big feats of raw Force strength aren't what's needed to prevail in Legacy of the Force, and that's not what the series is about.  Juke is likely what Denning is referencing.

Troy Denning wrote:Q: Will the Legacy series show Luke employing the full extent of his powers? I've sometimes felt that previous depictions of Luke have been reluctant, for whatever reason, to show what he's fully capable of. After all, he is Grand Master of the Jedi order, probably the most powerful and skilled Force-user in the universe.

TD: Very powerful characters suffer from the Deus ex Machina syndrome, and Luke is certainly no exception. Because nobody is sure exactly what his limits are, I think that some readers expect him to be capable of fixing huge problems with little more than the Force. The trouble is, those kinds of stories fall into the superhero tradition, and Star Wars is space opera. The heroes are supposed to face huge problems and have limited resources—it’s the imbalance between the two that makes space opera, at its best, so engaging.

So I’m not sure how to answer the question. Luke is certainly going to face some enormous tests of his strength and character, and he’ll certainly have to call on all of his resources if he is to prevail. But is he going to shove moons around with the Force? I don’t think so. To survive Legacy of the Force, he’s going to have to rely on more than his Jedi abilities.

(https://www.powells.com/book/-9780345477521/2-9)

So then why didn’t Caedus realize Luke had been using the same ability he had used earlier in the series? This goes back to the battle of visions outlined earlier, Caedus is expecting Luke to fight him, the person he’s fighting by all indicators seems to be Luke, and Luke is purposefully staying “as close” to the real fight between Luke and Caedus that both parties have been seeing in their visions. Caedus either doesn’t think Luke knows of the ability and rules it out, or Caedus simply doesn’t think of it at the time. Why would he, when all indicators lead him to believe he had fought the real Luke.

Doesn't Luke also use an illusion trick as well though? Caedus is able to see Luke's face after all, so wouldn't he be expending power to maintaining an illusion over Jaina as well?

I'm not even sure that's the case, but in the event that he had been, the power to conjure an illusion like that requires little to no effort.

Before mantling the title Darth Caedus, Jacen fights Mara as a pathway to his Sith ascension, and is able to pull a convincing enough illusion that fooled Mara for the crucial seconds needed to land a killing blow while basically on death's door.

Jacen’s knee is broken, his body was crushed by a tunnel that Mara poured all her strength into, then with one last surge deflects a blaster bolt and continues on fighting, Mara and sears Jacen’s chin with a vibroblade, with Jacen continually losing strength as the fight continues, “flailing” his saber to fend her off, on the “knife-edge” of dying, falls into a crater, and is stabbed in the gut by Mara’s shoto.

Legacy of the Force:

So, the power to conjure up an illusion is extremely, extremely inconsequential, and not much effort is required for someone of Luke’s caliber. The only reason the illusion was so convincing was because it was the cherry on top of everything else. As said earlier, Caedus almost immediately rules out a simple illusion trick .Caedus sees a future where he fights Luke, he believes Luke’s presence really has been there, and on top of that he sees that he is fighting Luke.

This idea tows the line of the popular reaction scaling argument proposed by The Ellimist and others, and while that argument does support this one here, it should be noted that Caedus is not just considering power here. Earlier in the series, Jacen demonstrates his knowledge of Luke's Force attack by recognizing its “characteristic traits”, even in the dark, which highlights the fact that Jacen has a deep understanding of Luke's abilities beyond just using his raw power.

Legacy of the Force: Betrayal wrote:Jacen had barely closed his eyes again when his compartment door blasted inward. The shock of the concussion startled him, delaying him a deadly half second . . . but as he rose, as he gestured for his lightsaber, as the long barrel of the first intruder's black rifle entered and swung toward him, the attacker was suddenly bowled off his feet. Jacen felt the pulse in the Force that did it, felt the characteristic traits of Luke's exertion within it. Lightsaber in hand, Jacen snapped it on, took a fraction of a second to wave at Ben's bed and flip it over, sending the boy into the wall and covering him with the bed. Only then did Jacen leap out into the central chamber.

Moreover, Caedus's measuring stick is Luke as foreseen in not just his visions, but Luke's as well. The real Luke was seen fighting Caedus by both parties involved, and it's this that the Juke fight is supposed to measure up to.

4) JAINA SOLO'S "EDGE": PREPARING TO FIGHT CAEDUS

Over the course of Revelation, Jaina trains with the Mandalorians with the intent of killing Caedus (she goes to Mandalore believing she can arrest him, but rules this out as an impossibility later on). What Jaina learns is to beat Caedus she will have to “fight dirty”, and mold her style in a way that'd exploit Caedus’s weaknesses. She believes she doesn’t need to be fitter, stronger, or even more skilled, but needs to become so unpredictable that Caedus cannot anticipate her.

Legacy of the Force: Revelation wrote:"You assumed too much. You're just training, nobody wants to hurt you, the nice Mando is helping you, he's standing all wrong to attack... you want to win? Start out to win. Hit first."

"You're telling me to fight dirty. I get that."

"No, I'm telling you this isn't about lightsaber tech-nique. I'm more than twice your age, no Force powers, and I still got you to drop your guard. Winning isn't about being better. It's finding your opponent's weakness and exploiting it."

"But what about Jacen's weaknesses?"

"They're yours."

"He's my twin. I know him."

"And he knows you. Be someone else."

Jaina clipped her lightsaber to her belt and understood both the simplicity and enormity of her task. The solution was obvious. It was just very hard to achieve. She didn't need to be fitter, or stronger, or more skilled; she needed to play it so out of character that Jacen wouldn't be able to counter or anticipate her.

[…]

"We'll try to give you an alter ego, "Beviin said. "A nasty Jaina. A crafty, cheating Jaina. A bounty-hunting Jaina."

[…]

No, Mandalorians weren't what she'd expected at all.

And she would learn to be as much of a surprise to her brother as they were to her. Thanks, Fett.

Then going into Invincible, Jaina exclaims that despite the Masters and several Jedi Knights being her superior in the Force and lightsaber skill, she should be the one to fight Caedus, because she’ll have advantages no one else has.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:"So is Jacen," Jaina replied, relying on a technicality-but knowing that it would work in her favor if anybody tried to argue that a Jedi Knight wasn't powerful enough to confront Caedus. "I know that you Masters-and several Jedi Knights-are more skilled in both Force and lightsaber than I am. But I'm his twin sister. I'll have advantages no one else will."

It is further elaborated in the Fate of the Jedi: Dramatis Personae that Jaina used these new Mandalorian techniques coupled with her “attunement” to Jacen to ultimately defeat him, and that she is the only one capable of doing so.



- Fate of the Jedi; Dramatis Personae

Moving on, this next section will outline the prophecy of the Sword of the Jedi, how Jaina lives up to this title in Invincible, and how it ties in to everything above.

Jaina being the Sword of the Jedi stretches all the way back to the New Jedi Order series, in which during their knighting ceremony, Luke deems Jaina the Sword of the Jedi. The Sword of the Jedi is a symbol of strength and leadership for the Jedi Order, expected to lead the way in battle, bring peace to others, and be a guiding force for their allies. The title also acknowledges that their life will be full of challenges and they will never truly find peace, but they will be blessed for bringing peace to others.

New Jedi Order: Destiny's Way wrote:"Jaina-Solo!"

Jaina stepped forward, and Luke could feel her cool presence in the Force, the precise way her footsteps matched the drumbeat that still thudded up from the orchestra pit. She wore her military uniform-Cal Omas had asked her to, in order to show her commitment to the New Republic. Kyp and Kenth Hamner, the two pilots, robed her.

Luke put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her dark eyes, and a chill suddenly seized him, flooding his nerves with cold fire.

"I name you the Sword of the Jedi," he said. "You are like tempered steel, purposeful and razor-keen. Always you shall be in the front rank, a burning brand to your enemies, a brilliant fire to your friends. Yours is a restless life, and never shall you know peace, though you shall be blessed for the peace that you bring to others. Take comfort in the fact that, though you stand tall and alone, others take shelter in the shadow that you cast."

Luke fell silent, and for a long horrified moment he stared into Jaina's wide-eyed face.

He hadn't meant to say that. He hadn't meant to say anything like it. Yet the words had poured forth from him like the ringing sound of a giant bell, a bell that was being tolled, not by Luke, but by someone else.

He sensed the other Jedi staring at him. Had he actually spoken loudly enough for them to hear?

Luke's hands trembled as he drew the cowl over Jaina's head. When he returned to the podium he had to fumble for the microphone switch.

"Draw your lightsabers," he said, "for the first time as Jedi Knights!"

But all the way up until early in the Legacy of the Force series, Jaina and others are still unsure what the prophecy actually means. All that’s known is that the Force itself spoke through Luke when reciting the prophecy.

Legacy of the Force: Exile wrote:"And I'm not taking the Sword of the Jedi designation too seriously. How can I, when I don't even know what it means? Not even Uncle Luke really knows what it means.

He's never been entirely sure why he said it. Maybe it was the Force speaking through him."

…

But if the Force was speaking through the Grand Master when he pronounced you the Sword of the Jedi, and if the Sword is anything like I like Chosen One, then there's some sort of imbalance that needs to be addressed. And that would seem to point to Lumiya."

This story thread only starts to take meaning during the latter portions of Legacy of the Force, where it grows increasingly apparent that Jaina will fulfill her role as Sword of the Jedi upon slaying Caedus. This is the burden of being Sword of the Jedi, she must stow away personal problems and replace them with what matters - the future of the galaxy and the lives of the innocent people who live in it. She will do what needs to be done to protect the galaxy, even if it means sacrificing her own happiness and taking on the burden of her brother's death. This realization grows increasingly more clear going into Invincible, that only Jaina can stop Caedus.

Note: Jaina’s belief that she’s his equal seems to come from the point of view of their respective Force potentials, as she has said Caedus is much stronger both before and after this point.

Legacy of the Force: Revelation wrote:"I thought I'd made up my mind so many times, but Mirta brought me up short today. My brother killed her mother, and she still begged me not to kill him, just in case I was wrong." "And what if you let him live, and you're wrong?" Jaina shut her eyes. She could sense Venku still taking a slow walk around the perimeter, a little irritable, growing impatient. The two men didn't live around here. They came down into Keldabe from the remote north, the Oyu'baat regulars said. Even Mandalorians didn't drop in on them for a cup of caf and a chat.

"They call me the Sword of the Jedi, "Jaina said. "That's supposed to be my destiny. It's odd how these prophecies start to make sense when it's too late."

Legacy of the Force: Revelation wrote:If anyone can stop Jacen, then, it's me. I'm his equal, and I'm the Sword of the Jedi. But I just don't have his... training. I've no idea what he learned from Lumiya, let alone what he picked up on his travels during those five years.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:"Every day, it growz more clear to us that this fight will be won or lost in the mystic realm, not the physical," Saba added. "And the Force has named you Sword of the Jedi. We would have been foolz not to discusz your request."

Legacy of the Force: Revelation wrote:"Then, Bard'ika, I'll do it for them, so they have a galaxy to grow up in." Her heart broke, and not for the first time. She thought of the strill, desperate and unhappy, biting those who loved it, and knew the burden of being the Sword of the Jedi. Her biggest fear now wasn't that she would have to live the rest of her life with Jacen's death on her conscience. She had found a way to replace it with what mattered-not her personal problems, but the threat to the future of kids like Gotab's great-great-grandchildren, and-yes, even Fett's.

Full passages:

But as revealed later in Invincible, being the Sword of the Jedi has another meaning as well. As Caedus is coming for Luke, Jaina exclaims why would he be hunting down Luke if she was the one who fought him, but Saba replies Caedus not going after the sword (Jaina) but rather the warrior who wields the sword (Luke).



- Legacy of the Force: Invincible

If you remember earlier, I said there was another key piece, well here it is. Jaina is the Sword and Luke is the Jedi. Jaina is the vessel in which Luke fights Caedus in, for if Luke fights Caedus himself, he will fall to the dark side and become the same as Caedus. Recall the earlier line in which Luke says he’ll stay “as close” as he can to the future they’re seeing without actually fighting Caedus-"at least, not physically". That line now makes much more sense from the point of view that Luke had indeed fought Caedus - he just wasn’t physically there. That as well as Luke remembering every one of Jaina's blows, as well as both Jaina and Caedus believing Luke had been there.

Before moving onto the final Caedus section, I will address some of the evidence used against Caedus in Invincible itself, which is Saba laughs at the prospect of Luke being unable to kill Caedus.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:"I know you have," Luke said. "But I'm not going to need support because I can't kill Caedus."

There was a short silence while everyone contemplated this startling statement. Then Saba Sebatyne began to siss.

"Master Skywalker," she said, "you are alwayz making jokes at such strange timez."

"I don't think he's joking," Han said. He turned toward Luke. "Look, buddy, if this is about our feelings-"

"Han, it's not." Luke met the gazes of both of Jaina's parents, then said, "To tell the truth, I've been looking forward to running him down."

Upon Luke's admission that he is unable to kill Caedus, the Council sits in silence, contemplating the gravity of his words. The fact that Luke’s statement required contemplation implies that they recognize they do recognize the validity of Luke's claim generally speaking, and moreover, Saba has no idea how powerful Caedus really is, with not even Luke himself knowing the full extent of Caedus' power. Later on, the Council is shown to have hushed discussions about Caedus' abilities and foresight, and despite the danger he poses, Saba is excited with the prospect of facing Caedus, even with the way Caedus handled her in Fury (ragdolled into an explosion), and Caedus’ past success in leaving Luke severely injured to the point that he required stay in a bacta tank for a week.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:This time Vatok didn't look back, leaving Jaina alone with her fears, wondering not only whether he and Mirta and the rest of the Mandalorians were headed to their deaths, but whether she might be, as well. Even Luke did not know the full of extent of Caedus's powers, and Jaina had no illusions about being her brother's equal in terms of Force strength. If it came down to a straight Force battle, she would die. It was that simple.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:Han would have argued the Force comment, except that the firestorm in the Throat suddenly seemed to be dying away. He checked the wall display and saw that Caedus's fleet was slowing down. Unfortunately, it was still short of the area where the Hapans were lying in ambush.

"Uh-oh," he said, more to himself than anyone else. "It looks like they're getting careful."

Saba hissed, and the rest of the Masters in the room began to whisper about Caedus's battle powers and his ability to read the future. Luke said nothing; he just stood in front of the viewport, his hands folded behind his back and his gaze fixed on the deck between his feet.

Legacy of the Force: Fury wrote:In the moment he had before those detonators went off, Caedus acted to whittle down the enemy numbers as they had been whittling down his. He gestured, exerting himself telekinetically, and Saba Sebatyne slipped laterally into the starboard pit, almost atop the doomed droid there.

Her leap toward safety was almost instantaneous, but almost wasn't good enough. The detonators went off. The blast caught Sebatyne when she was only a meter or two in the air. It propelled her like an old-fashioned munition to the port-side wall, slamming her into that surface five meters above the floor, and she slid, flaming, down into the pit.

Luke and Ben looked Caedus's way. He smiled at them and shrugged. "One down."

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:"Perhaps later, Princess Leia," Tenel Ka interrupted. "But Prince Isolder knew the location of this base. Apparently, Darth Caedus forced him to reveal it, because the Anakin Solo has broken out of the Roche system with the Remnant assault fleet. They were last seen entering the Transitory Mists near Roqoo Station."

"Caedus is coming to us?" asked Saba Sebatyne, looking entirely too happy about it. "You are certain?"

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:"I must say, that seems quite wise," C-3PO said. "The last time you two fought, you were forced to spend your nights in the bacta tank for an entire week."

So it’s much more likely the case that Saba’s quip is not meant to be an honest analysis of Luke versus Caedus (she doesn't have the knowledge to assert such), but an attempt to lighten the mood in the face of a overall bad situation (the Council is startled), while also demonstrating her strong-willed nature to never run away/give up the fight.

5) CONFRONTING EO!INVINCIBLE CAEDUS: THE FINAL BATTLE

Upon her final confrontation with Caedus, which ends with his death, Jaina considers reaching out to Luke again for help in her upcoming fight. However, she ultimately decides against it because Caedus would be prepared for Luke’s strength, and that if Jaina expected to defeat Caedus, she’d have to fight her own way.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:Recalling the surge of Force power she had experienced when she fought Caedus the first time, Jaina wondered if she should reach out to her uncle Luke when the fight began. Perhaps he would be able to bolster her strength as he had on Nickel One. But then she recalled Mirta's comment about her brother underestimating her, and she realized that calling on Luke would be a mistake. From what Mirta had said-and what she had observed herself on Nickel One-Caedus was obsessed with their uncle. He would be ready for Luke's strength, prepared to see through Luke's illusions as he had not been the first time. If Jaina expected to win this fight, she would have to fight in a different way-her own way.

A question you might have is: why wouldn’t Jaina opt to use Luke’s power? Luke is much stronger than her, seeing as without Luke’s power she goes from being able to catch blaster bolts with her fingers to barely being able to hold her lightsaber after Luke stops. There are four main reasons for this;

1) Overconfidence: Jaina believes that Caedus would particularly be overconfident in a fight against her specifically, because he is magnitudes stronger than her in the Force.

Legacy of the Force: Revelation wrote:If anyone can stop Jacen, then, it's me. I'm his equal, and I'm the Sword of the Jedi. But I just don't have his... training. I've no idea what he learned from Lumiya, let alone what he picked up on his travels during those five years. But he'll make a mistake sooner or later. He's way too cocky not to overestimate himself.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:"Now, the thing you need to know about your brother:he underestimates you."

"That's not really news, Mirta," Jaina said. "Maybe not even true. He's magnitudes stronger than me in the Force. All I've got on him is five weeks of Mandalorian commando training."

"And that's enough to get the job done." Mirta's tone was reprimanding, like a parent scolding a child for wanting a third bowl of frezgel. "But I mean, his weakness is more delusional. He's convinced you couldn't have taken his arm-at least not alone. He thinks Luke was with us."

Jaina paused, recalling Caedus's confusion at the end of the battle. She also recalled her own condition, how the strange surge in her Force powers had suddenly faded just before Caedus had redirected the stormtroopers' fire. "Maybe Luke was there."

2) The Sword of the Jedi prophecy: Jaina realizes she isn’t as capable as Luke in defeating Caedus, but she remembers the Sword of the Jedi prophecy, and recognizes the significance of being chosen for this role: to lead the fight against enemies of the Jedi. Some of this was discussed earlier, but the Jedi Council also recognizes the importance of this prophecy, having already discussed this at length before bringing it up with Jaina, and concluding she is the one to face Caedus despite her being less skilled in the Force and with a lightsaber than the Council.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:Jaina's heart sank. It was beginning to sound like Luke intended to go after Caedus himself, and she could not decide whether to feel betrayed or confused. She had no hope of convincing anyone-maybe not even herself-that she was more capable of slaying her brother than Luke. But what of the vision he had experienced on Mon Calamari, when he had promoted her to Jedi Knight? Hadn't he foreseen that she would be the Sword of the Jedi, always leading the fight against enemies of the Order?

[…]

"And there's the whole Sword of the Jedi vision Luke had when he made Jaina a Jedi Knight." His voice was cracking, but Han Solo didn't falter as he spoke-and he didn't balk. "That's got to mean something."

Jaina's heart beat an extra time in surprise, and she looked over to see her parents shining approval at her through tear-filled eyes.

[…]

"Every day, it growz more clear to us that this fight will be won or lost in the mystic realm, not the physical," Saba added. "And the Force has named you Sword of the Jedi. We would have been foolz not to discusz your request."

"Even before I made it-that's the creepy part." Jaina turned to Luke. "You knew I was going to ask for the Council's sanction, didn't you?"

"I've seen some things that have led me to expect it, yes." A note of distress in Luke's voice suggested that not all those futures turned out well. "I apologize for not being more direct, but we had to be sure you were ready."

"So this was a test," Jaina said, turning toward Kenth and Corran. "Your reservations about killing Caedus-"

"Have already been discussed at length in your absence," Kenth assured her. "We just wanted to be sure everyone present appreciated our reluctance in granting this sanction."

3) Familial: Jaina believes that when Caedus realizes it’s her who he is fighting, it’ll trouble him to know that Jaina, and by proxy his entire family, would be coming after him. While she believes this wouldn’t help her perform better in the fight, the Council notes that the reason Caedus is particularly dangerous is because he is never unwilling to kill, and that if the Jedi try to take him alive, it’ll be the Jedi who end up dead, so this is perhaps what Jaina is speaking to. Despite Luke being family, Jaina doesn’t believe Luke would have this advantage over Caedus because of Caedus’ obsession with him.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:Before Saba could act, Jaina stepped to her uncle's side. "Let me go."

"You?" This came from the other end of the table, where Corran sat looking surprised and worried. "You're only a Jedi Knight."

"So is Jacen," Jaina replied, relying on a technicality-but knowing that it would work in her favor if anybody tried to argue that a Jedi Knight wasn't powerful enough to confront Caedus. "I know that you Masters-and several Jedi Knights-are more skilled in both Force and lightsaber than I am. But I'm his twin sister. I'll have advantages no one else will."

[…]

"I know," Jaina said. "But it will trouble him that it's me coming after him. We know from debriefing Allana how misunderstood he feels, how betrayed he feels because we've all chosen to stand against him. It won't protect me in a fight, but I can use it against him in other ways."

"And he won't use your feelings against you?" Kyp asked. "He's your brother, and you still love him. I can feel that."

"I still love him," Jaina admitted. "But that won't make me hesitate-not even for a nanosecond."

[…]

Of course her parents would want to be her support team; their feelings about Jacen had to be as strong as her own, and they would want him stopped just as much as she did. And Jaina knew better than to think she would have any chance of keeping them away when she was placing herself in this kind of danger-her mother might have had the strength to let her go after her brother alone, but not her father. He was going to be watching her tail whether she wanted him there or not.

Besides, if it was going to trouble Jacen to know that it was his sister hunting him, then it would trouble him even more to have all three Solos after him. It would hurt anyone to discover that his entire family was determined to kill him.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:From what Mirta had said-and what she had observed herself on Nickel One-Caedus was obsessed with their uncle. He would be ready for Luke's strength, prepared to see through Luke's illusions as he had not been the first time.

4) An opportunity to ambush Caedus: Jaina learns a variant of Art of the Small, a technique in which she is able to completely hide her presence from others in preparation for her fight with Caedus. She emphasizes that catching him in a vulnerable state would be ideal, and is worried that Caedus would be able to sense her despite learning the ability (before any Luke empowerment). If she had Luke’s power that she needed to hide from Caedus as well, Caedus would’ve undoubtedly sensed her approach, because the likelihood of Jaina being able to hide Luke’s power when she questions the ability to hide even her own is nonexistent. And we see how this manifests in their final confrontation when Jaina catches Caedus in a vulnerable position (“fiery roaring in his ears” upon learning the Imperials sent a nanovirus to kill Allana), and is able to land a saber to the gut.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:She was concentrating on keeping her presence hidden, and the technique-the same one Caedus had taught Ben, and which Ben had then taught to her and his father-was too new to her to risk splitting her concentration.

…

The display was small, the image it showed even smaller, and it took Jaina a moment to make out what she was seeing. Even then, she did not quite believe her eyes.

The screen showed one of the smooth-polished cells that passed for VIP quarters in Nickel One. Seated in the corner, slumped in a large flowform chair with one hand raised toward his brow and his yellow eyes focused vacantly on the floor, was the brooding, dark-cloaked figure of her brother.

Darth Caedus-alone, deep in meditation, and vulnerable.

Jaina understood almost instantly. "The preparations!" She looked up at Mirta. "That's what Fett was doing when I left-tapping into the surveillance system."

"Not tapping." There was a note of jolly good humor to Vatok's correction. "Taking."

Mirta continued to hold the vidreceiver, allowing Jaina to study the image as long as she liked. It was hard to believe it might be so easy-that all she had to do was watch her brother's cell until he was meditating or sleeping or doing any of a dozen other things that would leave him vulnerable.

And of course, it would never be quite that easy. Her brother would feel her coming, or sense that he was in danger, or just change locations unexpectedly.

But it was a start.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:"The tissue samples have already been collected."

"What?" Caedus went over to the gurney. "Show me."

The droid turned both of the prince's hands up, revealing half a dozen bruises and needle marks on the interior of the forearms. There was a muffled scream in the corridor outside, but Caedus could barely hear it over the fiery roaring in his ears. He did not need to ask what the marks meant, because he had seen similar marks on Mirta's arms after the Remnant medic collected her samples for the nanokiller.

The marks meant that Lecersen and the Moffs had betrayed him:and his vision. They meant that Allana's nanokiller was probably already on its way to the Dragon Queen.

Caedus pulled his comlink and opened a channel to his aide, Orlopp. "Have a hold placed on all launches from the Anakin Solo," he ordered, turning toward the door. "And find out if we've launched any missile boats recently-especially missile boats carrying Remnant forces."

There was an uncomfortable pause, then Orlopp asked, "Did you say missile boats?"

Caedus's stomach went cold. "Tell me."

"A missile boat just launched from this hangar," Orlopp reported. "I had to wait for it to clear the containment field before I blew the Beam Racer."

"What about the crew?" Caedus asked. "Were they ours?"

"They were in Alliance uniforms," Orlopp reported. "New uniforms:and a Remnant colonel saw them off. Shall I have a recall order issued?"

"It's worth a try, but they won't obey." Caedus came to the door and, lacking a second hand to reach for the control pad, stopped to finish his order. "Have my StealthX prepped for immediate:"

He let the sentence trail off as the door opened on its own, revealing a dark-uniformed woman with an athletic build and brown, furious eyes.

"Jaina?"

A lightsaber snap-hissed to life, and suddenly Caedus felt as though he were going to vomit fire.

[…]

The invisible fist of a Force blast slammed Jaina in the chest and sent her flying back, her breath groaning from her lungs and her lightsaber hissing free of Caedus's stomach. From the fight on Nickel One, she had learned the dangers of letting her head snap back on impact. She tucked her chin, then fought to hold it there as she struck the durasteel wall on the far side of the corridor.

[hideedit]

And upon Jaina slaying Caedus, Jaina becomes the Sword of the Jedi, with everything the title meant (including being the Sword for Luke).

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:On some level, Jaina knew, they were probably trying to reassure her, to let her know that nothing had changed between them. But that was impossible, of course. Jaina had become the Sword of the Jedi, with everything that meant.

Full passage:

This is further reinforced by Jacen’s decision to align himself with Lumiya. Across all potential timelines where he doesn’t join forces with her, Jacen inevitably faces off against Luke in a confrontation in which both are strengthened through loss: for Luke, likely the death of Mara Jade. This duel is immediately preceded by the detonation of Lumiya’s asteroid in book 7, meaning it’s unlikely that this is some far flung future outside the range of LotF books - but to a future that occurs not very far from Fury, which is Invincible. Furthermore, TCSWE reflects that Caedus will kill Luke in every future, and that the only way to stop this is to prevent Nelani Dinn from telling Luke by killing her.

In all possible futures in which both Luke and Caedus are strengthened by their loss, Caedus always beats Luke. Caedus gains this as of Invincible.

Full passage:

6) WHERE DOES CAEDUS STACK UP?

Bringing back this quote:





The conclusion is simple: as of the end of Invincible, Luke is not expected to win against Caedus. The most generous interpretation for Luke is that they are around the same level by the end of Invincible, and that neither of them are expected to win against the other. But when accounting for Jaina’s own power being added to Luke’s, Jaina’s new fighting tactics devised specifically to exploit Caedus’s weaknesses, Jaina’s attunement to her brother, as well as Jacen’s visions from Betrayal reflecting Caedus will always win, well… it becomes clear that Caedus seems to be Luke’s superior.

There could be many factors for why that is though. It could be Luke is more powerful but Caedus makes up for it with his diverse set of skills such as Aing-Tii fighting-sight (advanced precog), or that Caedus is outright more powerful.
[hideedit]

7) UNRAVELING JACEN SOLO: EXPLORING JACEN'S HYPE

I get it: it's hard to say anyone in general is at that level and leave it at that. That Caedus can be with the legendary Grandmaster just before tussling with Abeloth herself in the very next series. The goal of this next section will be to highlight Jacen's hype leading into Legacy of the Force, and how Caedus could've achieved this level of power.

Note: the goal isn't to make any hard claims in this next section as the previous section had, but to generally outline why Caedus ought to be placed at the level being argued for.

Potential

Luke is able to sense both Jaina and Jacen individually in the womb, which implies to Luke that they are tremendously strong in the Force. In contrast, Anakin Skywalker was unable to sense Luke and Leia individually, and was unaware of their relation until he probed Luke's mind in RotJ.

Heir to the Empire wrote:The Skywalker heritage was indeed with them; the fact he could sense them at all implied they must be tremendously strong in the Force.

Heir to the Empire Sourcebook wrote:Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight and hero of the Clone Wars, was slowly being corrupted to the Dark Side by his own lust for power and the evil influence of the Emperor. He finally left his young wife to fully embrace the Dark Side, unaware that she was pregnant with twins.

The twins were so attuned to one another that Leia believes the depth of their connection to one another is something she doesn't have with Luke.

The Last Command wrote:Later, in retrospect, the whole thing would seem obvious, if not completely inevitable. But at that moment, the revelation was startling enough to send a shiver through the core of Leia's soul. The twins, growing together in the Force even as they'd grown together within her, had somehow become attuned to each other—attuned in a way and to a depth that Leia knew she herself would never entirely share.

- The Last Command Sourcebook



- The Last Command Sourcebook

It also should be noted that the many quotes saying Jaina/Jaina have "Skywalker talent", and are "inheritors" of the Skywalker Force powers should be indications in of themselves that there's not this random drop off from Luke/Leia (the commonly held position), but that Jaina/Jacen's potential is (at the bare minimum) representative of what we know of the Skywalker family, which at this point includes Luke/Leia, post-1999 Anakin Skywalker and Anakin Solo.



- Fact Files #118

New Jedi Order

For this next section I will be going through the events of the New Jedi Order series (mainly Traitor) that further reinforce Jacen's hype.

When Jacen is sent on the Myrkr mission, things take a turn for the worst, his brother dying to save the Jedi from the voxyn as well as being captured by the Yuuzhan Vong and Vergere. It’s during this time when Jacen becomes troubled with the dark side (or what he perceives as the dark side).

Upon regaining the Force, Jacen suddenly feels a surge of red anger and hatred wash over him, and unleashes a galaxy of hatred and rage in the form of lightning at Vergere and others. Jacen’s hatred had become “the only law of the universe”, his power roaring through him and becoming a vortex of any object he could find to throw at the Yuuzhan Vong, eventually burying them alive, and worse: being happy about it.

New Jedi Order: Traitor:

Note: You could say this is due to the power of the old Jedi temple they were on, but this is not true, as the temple only brings out what Jacen already has within him. This is something Jacen directly states (he can’t run from himself), and is proven to be true as evidenced by calling on this dark power later away from any nexus.

Jacen, upon learning the realization that the dark power was brought out of him by a light side nexus (the old Jedi temple) and proving Vergere’s point that light and dark are only a reflection of oneself, runs away for days until his legs refuse another step. It’s at this point that Jacen meets an apparition of Anakin Solo, which is later revealed to be a reflection of himself. His dark power - the red tide - swells in his chest, but he keeps it at bay for now. It’s not until Jacen realizes he cannot sense this apparition at all, believing it to be a masked Yuuzhan Vong, that his dark power comes forth, going from his legs refusing another step to effortlessly somersaulting and running at the apparition of Anakin. The dark power gives him strength when he has none.

New Jedi Order: Traitor:

Jacen then finds himself swallowed by a Yuuzhan Vong beast, learning that he was lured by use of telepathy, which explains why he saw the spirit of Anakin. The Yuuzhan Vong beast swallowing Jacen symbolically represents what’s happened with Jacen as well - his darkness has swallowed himself. Jacen believes the universe hates him, so he hates it back. With the dark power he commands, everything has become simple. Jacen then Force chokes what he believes was an apparition of a child, but upon realizing that this was not an apparition - a real person - his hatred and strength failed him, apologizing to the girl. When Jacen realizes she’s in trouble, about to get killed by the beast, he realizes he has no strength to help her, or even stand once the dark power fades. Jacen, angry with himself that he cannot help her, welcomes back the dark power.

New Jedi Order: Traitor:

Jacen gave into the dark side completely, using it for strength when there was no other substitute, and letting his dark power run wild.

Again, note, Anakin Solo is a projection of Jacen's own psyche.

New Jedi Order: Traitor:

Vergere and the Yuuzhan Vong then offer Jacen his brother’s lightsaber and, Jacen has a choice to make. He could walk the path of Anakin: the path of a pure warrior. Jacen was a natural with a lightsaber (a common allegory for combat in general), and with the dark power at his disposal, he could surpass any living Jedi including Luke, even the Jedi Knights of old, and become the greatest sword of the Force who had ever lived.

The passages from before are to show that the dark power being talked about about is not about a ‘what-if Jacen went dark’ scenario (I.e; Dooku’s estimation of Dark Yoda in Yoda: Dark Rendezvous), nor about some future dark power Jacen could one day wield - it’s talking about Jacen’s darkness during the novel and directly leading up to this point. This is also supported by the use of a lightsaber as symbolism, all Jacen needs to do is dawn the lightsaber and it all becomes his.

New Jedi Order: Traitor wrote:The opportunity. Anakin's lightsaber. Anakin had made it. Anakin had used it. It had changed him, and he had transformed it. Its crystal was not like those of other lightsabers, but was a living Vonglife gem.

Part Jedi. Part Yuuzhan Vong, he thought. Almost like me. They were offering him Anakin's life: his spirit, his skill, his courage.

His violence. Jacen had first used a lightsaber in combat at the age of three. He was a natural. And now he could feel the Yuuzhan Vong. And the Force was with him. He could follow Anakin's path. He could be pure warrior. He could be even greater than his brother had been: with the dark power he could command, he could surpass any living Jedi, even Uncle Luke. Surpass even the Jedi Knights of old. He could be the greatest sword of the Force who had ever lived.

More: He could avenge his brother with the weapon his brother had forged.

I could pick that up, he thought, and kill them all. Is that who I am?

Is that who I want to be?

​​Jacen's choice to pass the lightsaber to Vergere signifies his rejection of the path of the pure warrior, contrasting the way of Luke and the late Anakin Solo. The manifestation of Anakin's spirit, again, a projection of Jacen's own psyche, reinforces this notion. In their exchange, Jacen rejects the notion that becoming a human weapon is sufficient to overcome the Yuuzhan Vongt. He recognizes the need for a different approach, one that is less reliant on brute force to beat the Yuuzhans.

New Jedi Order: Traitor wrote:Jacen reached for the lightsaber, but not with his hand. The handgrip seemed to levitate, bobbling in the air above Nom Anor's palms--then it flipped away, hurtling toward Vergere. She caught it neatly, and set it on the table at her side. He stared at her, and not at her--he gazed at his own reflection on the glossy black curves of her bottomless eyes. He gazed silently, expressionlessly, until he felt himself reflect the reflection: he became pure surface, gleaming over an infinite well of darkness. A mirror for every image of night. He filled himself with stillness; when he was so still that he could feel the universe wheel around the axis he had become, he stood up.

Nom Anor hissed soft triumph. "You will become a star, a sun, the Sun--and you will fill the galaxy with the Light of the True Way."

"All right," Jacen said.

A cold, still surface, flawless: unrippled by weakness, or conscience, or humanity.

"Why not?"

New Jedi Order: Traitor:

Jacen's epiphany marks a crucial turning point in his character, as before this point, Jacen was confused on his role in fighting against the alien invaders. It's here that he realizes the war isn't won with him becoming a warrior, but rather in becoming both a student and a teacher, which are one of the same. This realization carries immense significance as it underscores the insufficient ways of the traditional Jedi warrior approach, exemplified by Luke and Anakin Solo, in dealing with the Yuuzhan Vong. The death of Anakin Solo serves as a symbol of the limitations of the warrior-type Jedi, and the need for a new strategy to combat this powerful enemy. Jacen embodies this new approach as well as Vergere's new Force philosophy, and his transformation throughout Traitor culminates in him becoming a Jedi unlike any other, an embodiment of the will of the Force, and even becoming more powerful than Luke just prior to TUF.

New Jedi Order: Traitor wrote:“Now, though--now, what are you, Jacen Solo?"

In an instant, it all flashed through him, from Sernpidal and Belkadan through Duro and Myrkyr to the Embrace of Pain, the Nursery, the Jedi Temple, and the cavern beast...

He was no warrior, he was certain of that. Not like Jaina was, or Anakin had been. He was no hero like Uncle Luke or his father, no great statesman like his mother or strategist like Admiral Ackbar or scientist like Danni Quee... He remembered that he didn't have to know what he was. All he had to do was decide.

"I... I guess..." he said slowly, frowning down at the weapon in his hand. "I guess... I'm a student."

"Perhaps you are." Vergere nodded. "Then you are also a teacher, for the two are one. But to be such, you must learn, and you must teach. You must live."

She was right. He knew she was right. He could feel it as surely as he'd ever felt anything.

Star Wars Insider 83, “20 Most Memorable Moments of the Expanded Universe” wrote:In Matthew Stover’s novel Traitor, Jacen found himself deep behind enemy lines, a Yuuzhan Vong captive and an experiment in terror. Driven by an uncertain purpose, goaded by an unusual mentor, and tortured by an uncommon alien adversary, Jacen is confronted by a symbolic death, descends into the physical and psychological rings of hell, and undergoes one of the more exciting Hero’s Journeys in Star Wars history. Granted a spiritual rebirth, Jacen makes a triumphant return, transformed into an avatar of the will of the Force. A Jedi Knight unlike any other, Jacen would challenge our definitions of the Force and challenge readers to question whether everything they had ever learned was a lie.

Starwars.com: NJO Finale: The Unifying Force wrote:Starwars.com: Another theme has been the natural process of life: birth, maturation, death. We've seen the deaths of Chewie and Anakin; we've seen the birth of Luke and Mara's son, Ben; we've seen the maturation of Jaina and, especially, Jacen, whose link to the Force seems to grow beyond even Luke's. At the same time, on a larger scale, the same processes have unfolded in personal relationships, in political systems, in the clash of races and of civilizations. The same thing, like a universal law, seems to be operating on all these different levels; is it the Force?

LUCENO: I feel on safer ground saying that it is different authors writing about the Force. Many an NJO plot point grew from the series outline itself; things were discovered along the way, as a kind of epiphenomenon of the creative process. As depicted in the films, the Force appears to operate in a similar fashion. I guess you could say that we were at least attempting to ally ourselves with the Force to write in harmony with it.

Another point, and a topic I’ll talk about briefly (because it honestly deserves a blog of its own) is Vergere’s Force philosophy. Vergere believes that the dark side does not exist. The Force is one, everything is the Force, and the Force does not take sides. Jacen learns this the hard way, believing it was a dark side nexus that caused him to succumb to the dark side, but it was in fact a lightside nexus (the old Jedi temple). Vergere believes Jedi fear the dark side and use it as an excuse to control others, and that there is no light or dark, but only the Force. This Force philosophy was approved by George, and grants its user a complete view of the Force in comparison to those in the movies. Use of the Force in this way is unlike any other seen before, and was concocted during Vergere’s 50 years among the Yuuzhan Vong. This philosophy was brought to the wider New Jedi Order by the end of the Unifying Force, and makes them more powerful than “dreamed possible.” Luke also famously uses this philosophy to overcome his fear of the dark side.

Starwars.com - First Look: Traitor wrote:He is now the ward of Vergere, a Yuuzhan Vong accomplice with mysterious motives. She has much to teach young Solo, including a new way of perceiving the Force, a method that unleashes tremendous energies -- but at what cost? Is the young pupil being turned into a weapon by those with devastating plans?

Starwars.com - First Look: Destiny's Way wrote:The Solo children are each armed with knowledge that may win the war -- one with military intelligence, the other with a new understanding (of) the Force.

Champions of the Force: Preview 7 wrote:Eventually, the war led Jacen down a very different path and to a new understanding of the Force.

Vergere, New Jedi Order: Traitor wrote:"No. What you feel is the Force." Slowly, painfully, she lifted herself onto her elbows, and she met his blankly astonished stare. "This is the shameful secret of the Jedi: There is no dark side."

How could she lie here with smoke still rising from the shreds of her clothing, and expect him to believe this?

"Vergere, I know better. What do you think just happened here?"

"The Force is one, Jacen Solo. The Force is everything, and everything is the Force. I've told you already: the Force does not take sides.

The Force does not even have sides."

Vergere, New Jedi Order: Traitor wrote:"Light and dark are no more than nomenclature: words that describe how little we understand." She seemed to draw strength from his weakness, slowly managing to sit up. "What you call the dark side is the raw, unrestrained Force itself: you call the dark side what you find when you give yourself over wholly to the Force. To be a Jedi is to control your passion... but Jedi control limits your power. Greatness--true greatness of any kind--requires the surrender of control. Passion that is guided, not walled away. Leave your limits behind."

Jacen Solo, New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force wrote:"On Coruscant, at the ruins of the Jedi Temple, Vergere said that the Jedi had a shameful secret, and that secret was that there is no dark side. The Force is one. And since there are no separate sides, the Force can't take sides. Our notions of light and dark only reflect how little we know about the true nature of the Force. What we've chosen to call the dark side is simply the raw, unrestrained Force itself, which gives rise to life as easily as it brings death and destruction."

Starwars.com - Walter Jon Williams Interview wrote:"The discussion between Luke and Vergere is between two masters. Luke is a master but his ideas are derived from his life experience, which was focused on the war between the light and dark aspects of the Force as exemplified by his personal battles with Darth Vader and the Emperor. It's not so much that his view is wrong, but rather that it's incomplete. Vergere is the person who can add the missing component to Luke's knowledge."

Walter Jon Williams wrote:QUESTION: Matt Stover and yourself establish and described the new concept the new concept of the Force, the one envisioned by Vergere. How well did that concept be received by Del Rey and Lucasfilm?

WALTER JON WILLIAMS: Actually, that aspect was approved by George Lucas himself. So, [unintelligible] concepts of the Force were, you know, come from the guy whose in charge of the galaxy. What we've learned from his films so far isn't wrong, it's incomplete. That there is more to the Force than just light and dark.

Vergere, Master of Mystery (Wizards) wrote:During her time with the Yuuzhan Vong, Vergere learned to transcend the concepts of "light side" and "dark side." Studying in secret while serving her "masters" to the best of her ability, Vergere became a Master of the Force while surrounded by creatures who seemed completely disconnected from it.

Starwars.com - Troy Denning builds a Dark Nest wrote:And it seemed very clear to me that they would be effective. The Jedi's battles against the Yuuzhan Vong had instilled in them an iron will to win, and the new view of the Force taught by Vergere -- the mysterious Knight from the Old Republic -- had made them more powerful than they ever dreamed possible.

Full passage(s):

Full passage(s):

So this is to say, Jacen’s dark power, which could make him the greatest sword of the Force who had ever lived, is then expanded upon by his use of the light side, which makes him far more powerful than he had dreamt of prior to its use. Though one can say this is just Jacen’s point of view, let us not forget who wrote Traitor. Matthew Stover almost never writes his characters to be wrong about something like this. Anakin Skywalker believes himself to be the most powerful Jedi, and the OOU section of the Revenge of the Sith novel confirms this. Yoda is said to be the most powerful foe of the darkness, and most use that quote to say he is. Furthermore, if anything, Jacen underestimates himself. Jacen is fine with admitting his saber skills are below most of the main cast as of the Unifying Force (which is questionable given how he and Kyp compare based on their fights with Yuuzhan Vong slayers), and later on in Legacy of the Force, Jacen’s opinions on his powers aren’t at all misplaced.

New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force wrote:He sighed and sat down. He was a decent lightsaber master and sai acrobat, but nowhere near as skilled as Luke, Kyp, Mara, Corran-or Anakin. His heart just wasn't in it.

Starwars.com - Karen Traviss: Tracing Bloodlines wrote:How does a clever, morally aware man go down the path that Jacen does? By self-delusion and self- justification. Jacen already has a high opinion of his powers and judgment, and that's not misplaced: the man is good at his work.

Revenge of the Sith:

But the argument isn’t even that Jacen absolutely reaches this level. The argument is that based on the preponderance of evidence, we have strong reason to believe so. There is strong reason to believe that Jacen Solo in the New Jedi Order has the power to become the greatest sword of the Force there ever was, if he chose that path.

By the time Jacen takes up the mantle of Darth Caedus, he makes the switch and becomes more focused on combat. When recovering from his duel in Inferno, Caedus takes pride in the fact that he had waged his fight against Luke so well, and his dedication to combat is further evidenced by Caedus's decision to pursue Luke by killing him in the context of a fight.

Legacy of the Force: Fury wrote:And she was almost right. Caedus hurt everywhere. Mere days before, he had waged the most ferocious, most terrible lightsaber duel of his life. In a secret chamber aboard his Star Destroyer, the Anakin Solo, he had been torturing Ben Skywalker to harden the young man's spirit, to better prepare Ben for life as a Sith. But he had been caught by Ben's father, Luke Skywalker.

That fight... . Caedus wished he had a holorecording of it. It had gone on for what had felt like forever. It had been brutal, with the advantage being held first by Luke, then by Caedus, in what he knew had been brilliant demonstrations of lightsaber technique, of raw power within the Force, of subtle Jedi and Sith skills. For all his pain, Caedus felt a swelling of pride-not just that he had survived that duel, but that he had waged it so well.

At the end, Caedus had lost a position of advantage-Luke had slipped free of the poison-injecting torture vines with which Caedus had been strangling him-when Ben had driven a vibroblade deep into Caedus's back, punching clean through a shoulder blade, nearly reaching his heart.

That had ended the fight. Caedus should have been killed immediately. For reasons he did not understand, Luke and Ben had spared his life and departed. It was a mistake that would cost Luke.

Legacy of the Force: Invincible wrote:Mirta began to curse him again, and Caedus knew he had made all the progress he was going to that day. He motioned Tahiri to follow him, then left the room and started down the corridor toward his quarters, deep in thought as he puzzled over how Luke had really gotten into the room.

It always came down to Luke. It had been Luke's eyes into which he had been looking when his arm was taken, it was Luke's face that haunted his dreams, it was Luke who he saw in his visions. Sometimes Luke was chasing him through a desert landscape filled with spires and arches, sometimes Luke was driving a crimson lightsaber through his heart:sometimes Luke was wearing Caedus's black robes, sitting on his dark throne, ruling his Sith Empire.

"That was a lot of trouble," Tahiri said, finally tearing Caedus out of his thoughts. "If you were going to betray your promise, why bother justifying it? It's not like anyone there was going to talk about it."

Caedus stopped in the middle of the corridor. "I didn't betray my promise," he said. "Mirta was lying about something."

"Sure, after you started pressing her," Tahiri said. "But I didn't sense the lie the first time. If Luke was there, she didn't know how he got there."

"Luke was there," Caedus insisted.

"Sorry," Tahiri said, not quite cringing. "I didn't mean to suggest-"

"No-forgive me," Caedus said, finally realizing what he had overlooked-what the Force must have been telling him all along. "I was just coming to a decision."

Tahiri remained silent, waiting for his pronouncement.

"Have Mirta transferred to the Anakin Solo, and inform the Moffs that I would like them to place their assets at my disposal and select a command committee to accompany us."

"Very well," Tahiri said. "Shall I inform them of our objective?"

"My uncle." Caedus began to walk again. "I've been growing more and more convinced that killing Luke Skywalker is the key to winning this war-and I'm sure of it now."

As well as Caedus believing himself to be perhaps the best swordsman there ever had been, except for Luke.

Legacy of the Force: Fury wrote:But he was still the best lightsaber swordsman around-excepting possibly Luke, perhaps the best there ever had been.

Jacen's Knowledge and Mastery

What we know about Jacen by this point is that he is the hero of the Yuuzhan Vong war, leading the Jedi to victory. He has become the embodiment of the will of the Force from Traitor onwards, and his power is such that if he chose the warrior path he could be the greatest sword who’d ever lived, before joining his dark power with his light power, and becoming even more powerful than that. Jacen only gets better from here on.

During the 5 year stretch between the end of the Yuuzhan Vong war and the Dark Nest trilogy, Jacen went on a five-year search for the true nature of the Force, studying a hundred different ways of harnessing the Force from various Force sects, every arcane Force philosophy, and uncovering totally new avenues of Force study. It’s through this that Jacen perfected his use of the Force, becoming a “complete master.” By Legacy of the Force, the only threshold Jacen needs to reach to become a fully realized Sith Lord is not through knowledge or any technique, but through sacrifices.

Dark Nest I: The Joiner King wrote:
"I know you." Ben took the hand and shook it. "You went away when I was two. Did you find it?"

The question puzzled Jacen less than it did Mara. "Some of it," Jacen answered.

Ben's face fell. "So you're going back?"

"No." Jacen's tone changed to that of a person addressing an equal. "What I haven't found, I doubt I ever will."

Legacy of the Force: Betrayal wrote:"I know he [Luke] hasn't studied every esoteric Force discipline you have," Leia said, "but that doesn't mean he's wrong. His opinions shouldn't be disregarded."

Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines wrote:All his study in a hundred different ways of harnessing the Force had come to a single point of fruition now. The only gaps in his knowledge of the Force were those of the Sith.

Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines wrote:He thought of his five years of studying every arcane school of Force philosophy and wondered what more Lumiya could show him to bring him to the status of a Sith Master. He couldn't imagine it.

Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines wrote:If he didn't pull up in twenty seconds, he'd be dead. He was no longer aware of Jaina, or Zekk, just the rust-streaked ship with its band of white light that now filled his field of view. He became a pilot again: not a Sith Lord-in-waiting, or a Jedi with all the knowledge of generations, but a pilot at one with his fighter.

Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines wrote:Jacen sat down, careful not to touch any artifacts in case one had a use he didn't yet know. "This is what I don't understand. I spent over five years perfecting my use of the Force, learning techniques from all species-not just the Jedi way. What more can there be? Where does a Jedi adept end and a Sith begin? You see, I never really believed that it was purely a line between good and evil. Some days I can't even define those terms."

"It's acceptance," said Lumiya. "The willingness to surrender to what the Force asks of you. To stop denying it by rationalizing denial as self-discipline and avoidance of powerful emotions."

Legacy of the Force: Tempest wrote:And the first thing Alema wanted to take was Jacen, who was moving along the pedwalk toward the corner of an intersecting skylane. She had wanted to take him for a long time, since the day he had returned so mysterious and powerful from his five-year sojourn to study the Force. And now she would have him-perhaps not in the way she had once desired, but she would have him.

Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice wrote:"What about Jacen's destiny?" Alema asked. "Without you to guide him..."

"Jacen has the knowledge to complete his journey." Lumiya separated out an orange wire that ran from the detonator housing into a relay box on the head of the missile cylinder. "All that remains for him is to make his sacrifice."

Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice wrote:He'd spent five years learning the most arcane Force techniques in the galaxy, but-again-he didn't have to use a single Force skill to gain power this time.

Lumiya, Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice wrote:He was talking about timing. He had full mastery of the Force, but he seemed to enjoy using the limited tricks of ordinary people.

Jacen Solo, Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice wrote:Meanwhile, Mara was challenging him, pinpointing herself in the tunnels that ran deep under the Kavan countryside, thinking she was still an A-list assassin and that she could take someone who had complete mastery of the Force.

Starwars.com wrote:Jacen Solo has embarked on a journey to the dark side. Long out of step with the rest of the new Jedi order, the powerful son of Han and Leia has traveled to the ends of the galaxy, uncovering new and potentially dangerous avenues of Force study.

(https://web.archive.org/web/20071211095857/http://www.starwars.com/eu/lit/novel/news20061003.html)

Fate of the Jedi: Ascension wrote:They had learned much of what Jacen learned; skills that no other Jedi had known for centuries, if ever. And they had learned that his fall had been inevitable.

More quotes:

There are many quotes detailing how one’s knowledge of the Force has direct impact on fighting prowess, but here are a couple.

Overall Force knowledge is said to have a direct impact on combat ability, even regardless whether any specific ability is being used. This makes sense, as the more you connect with the Force in its various ways, and the more knowledge you have of using the Force, the easier it is to streamline the use of the Force not only in a way that's generally better, but tailored to your personal preferences.

Star Wars: Mysteries of the Jedi wrote:Yoda's knowledge of the Force makes him just as powerful as Darth Sidious.

Star Wars: Jedi Battles wrote:When the most powerful Jedi battled against the most powerful Sith, the two sides of the Force clashed in spectacular style. The devastating fury of the Sith Lord was matched by Yoda's knowledge of the Force, making the two equally fierce.

CONCLUSION

Here are the main points:

1) Darth Caedus receives massive growth leading into Invincible
2) Luke's empowerment of Jaina (Juke) in her first fight with Caedus is to a degree that represents an actual fight with Luke vs Caedus. Luke is aiming to be as close as possible to the visions of Luke vs Caedus without him actually fighting Caedus, atleast not physically. This is further reinforced by both Jaina and Caedus independently reach the conclusion that Luke had really been there, Leia being unable to sense Luke's presence, Luke recalling every blow that Jaina sustained without even looking, as well as Saba's comments that Jaina is the Sword and Luke is the Jedi, making the Sword of the Jedi. Jaina lives up to this prophecy by the end of the book.
3) Caedus would be prepared for Luke's strength by the end of Invincible, and if Jaina is expected to win against Caedus, it'd have to be her own way.