Star Wars : Knights of the Old Republic : Commencement Commencement is the largest story arc in the " " series of comics . It was the first arc published but is preceded chronologically by " " which was published 8 days after . Plot summary . While trying to sell stolen goods , Snivvian Marn Hierogryph is taken off - guard by Zayne Carrick , a Jedi Padawan assigned to bring the black marketeer to justice . Hierogryph manages to slip away from Carrick , who plummets off a high building . The phased Jedi manages to end up at a banquet held by the Jedi . After confronting his master , Lucien Draay , about the ordeal , Carrick is assigned to paying the Besalisk restaurant owner for dinner and the damage to the restaurant . Later , Carrick finds Hierogryph , and arrests the Snivvian , bringing him to the Taris Jedi Temple , only to find his friends murdered , with the Jedi Masters standing over them with lightsabers raised . Carrick flees through the city on his Urban Navigator swoop , with Hierogryph in tow . They lose the masters ' pursuit in a restaurant but fall down a garbage shaft that leads to the Lower City . Zayne tries to explain to Gryph what happened , and why his masters are trying to catch him . Hierogryph cuts down a Taris Civil Authority surveillance droid with Carrick ' s lightsaber . As they go out into the street , they see a large wanted bulletin in the SoroSuub Landing for Carrick ' s arrest for killing the Padawans , with Hierogryph listed as " an accessory " much to his chagrin . Hierogryph leads Carrick to a Kedorzhan bar , where he is sure that they ' re not to be seen , since the Kedorzhans can ' t see well after working in the mines . Carrick decides that they need to get offworld , and Hierogryph says that the only way off planet is through the Undercity . Back at the Temple , the masters are in meditation , eavesdropping on the fugitives ' conversation , and prepare to go after Carrick . During a dream , Carrick recounts a previous experience with his fellow Padawans , their final exercise as learners in an asteroid belt , when Hierogryph wakes him . They ' re riding in the back of a Wookiee ' s garbage wagon in the Lower City . As soon as they get out , they ' re accosted by Black Vulkar thugs who wish to collect their bounty . Hierogryph talks them out of it , saying that there is spice sewn in the Wookiee ' s harness . He also tells Carrick about having spread a trail up to the gate to the Undercity but they had already continued past the gate , since it would be crazy to go into the Undercity , because of the plague and the Rakghoul s . Meanwhile in the Undercity , Masters Lucien Draay , Q ' Anilia , Feln , and Raana Tey are fighting off hordes of rakghouls , having been misled by Gryph ' s deception . Master Xamar reports in that the fugitives have been spotted in the refugee camps . Gryph leads Zayne to " The Last Resort " , the home of someone who had helped him before by smuggling Zovius Mendu to Corellia . They arrive only to be attacked by Jarael , who tells them to leave . As Hierogryph is talking to Camper , an addled old mechanic , the Jedi Masters arrive with the Taris Civil Authority . Camper fires up the " Last Resort " , which is actually an old junk hauler , and they all flee to space . As soon as they clear atmosphere , the power on the ship fails . As the Civil Authority orbital patrol ships are closing in , Camper fixes the power , and they flee to hide in an asteroid belt . When everyone else goes to sleep , Carrick flies clear of the asteroid belt ' s interference and calls Master Vandar Tokare , the master that taught him at the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine before he was apprenticed to Master Draay . He explains to him what really happened . Master Tokare believes him but he is unsure if Carrick was that " much " innocent and thinks that he may have been under the influence of the Dark side of the Force . Jarael knocks him out and flies them back into the belt . Carrick realizes that all of the masters are Consulars except Lucien . He decides they need to go to the last place the Padawans were before they were killed : the rogue moon , a low - gravity moon in the asteroid belt under perpetual bombardment from debris , and the site of the Padawans ' final trial . When they get there , Carrick remembers that Elbee , the Jedi ' s loader droid , had fallen over a cliff , but would have seen what had happened to the Masters there . He and Jarael go to recover his remains , and Carrick realizes that Elbee had been thrown down , since the moon doesn ' t have enough gravity to have done that much damage to him . As they are gathering up the parts , Draay and Civil Authority troopers descend on them from a police cruiser . Despite managing to escape the Council , Carrick is convinced by Jarael that he has to turn himself in , for the Jedi shall never stop hunting him and eventually all he cares about will be destroyed in his attempts to flee . Returning to Taris along with Valius Ying , a bounty hunter , Carrick is brought before the Council , and it is revealed that the other Padawans were killed because one of the Padawans , Shad Jelavan noticed Master Draay had his lightsaber which meant that Carrick would be being Knighted . He deduced what the Masters planned to do and attempted to attack them , leading to their deaths ahead of the plan . As he resigns himself to his fate , Carrick is rescued by Jarael wielding his lightsaber and disguised as the ' Sith ' from the vision . The Council is taken by surprise and fails to prevent their escape . As he leaves the system aboard the " Last Resort " , Carrick leaves a message informing the Jedi that they had no need to search for him , for he would hunt them until he learned the truth behind their actions . Behind the scenes . All issues in the story arc were written by John Jackson Miller , colored by Michael Atiyeh , lettered by Michael Heisler and edited by Jeremy Barlow and Dave Marshall . " Part 6 " was pencilled by Travel Foreman as a fill - in artist while the regular artist , Brian Ching , was working on " Crossroads " . Originally , John Jackson Miller was going to call it " Renegade " .