– Spoiler Review –
Things don’t feel any less forced or awkward as “Yoda’s Secret War” hits its penultimate issue in Star Wars #29.
I think Obi-Wan’s narration hits the nerf in the head: “…this would not be the last war [Yoda] ever fought. Though it was destined to be one of the strangest,” (emphasis Obi-Wan’s and mine). As revealed last issue, the last mountain is alive so Yoda and his little friend/stonepower Master Garro mostly revive it through the Force (this is will not be the last time I ask you just to go with it) as the mountains really used to be a race of giants who lost to the people of the planet due to the people’s greed and thirst for power, and this last giant made himself a mountain to survive (like I said, just go with it). Yoda wants to hide that fact from the rockhawkers because he doesn’t trust them to help nurture the giant’s return, but his plan gets undone by his buddy Garro, who would rather be accepted back into the rockhawkers than help Yoda completely revive the mountain in peace. And just when Yoda is about to stand up the newly awoke giant, given new purpose with the hate and anger of the teen-aged rockhawkers, we cut to Luke arriving on the planet to find the giant seemingly dead and only Garro still alive. Want to know why we get this sudden cut, just when we’re about to get to see Yoda do something very interesting? Because Luke was too impatient to finish reading the story (which, I’ll admit, does seem very naive Luke-like). Yet again, the awkwardness of this being a narrative within a narrative within a narrative rears its ugly bantha poodoo head and it’s nice to know there’s only one issue left.
Don’t get me wrong, in no way, shape. or form do I hate this arc or anything, as last issue brought us an interesting look at Yoda as a student, but the whole intertwining narrative feels more shoehorned than anything natural. In fact, I don’t believe the Star Wars series has ever truly had a terrible issue, but it’s only had okay ones (including this arc) since issue #19, a whole 10 issues and nearly a year ago. I mean, Star Wars #29 ends with a couple of cliffhanger/interesting questions like, “What action did Yoda take that led to the giant seemingly dying?” or “When then did Yoda leave?” and even “Why is it ever going to be important for Luke to go there/why was this important enough for Obi-Wan to write about it/why did Yoda tell anyone about this anyways?” But in the end, the arc has plodded through its story and awkwardly tried to make the intertwining narrative thing essential to this tale and I’ve lost interest somewhere along the line, thus making any important point it’ll try to assemble from all this probably not worth it in the end. We’ll see in Star Wars #30, but so far “Yoda’s Secret War” might have been best kept that. Right now, the only thing I can think of to make this whole thing worthwhile is, besides an incremental increase in Luke’s abilities, he learns the stonepower here so he can throw the stone just perfectly in the Rancor pit and kill it (yes, I mean that as a joke).
If there’s any shining light to be had, it’s that we continue to be graced by Salvador Larroca and Edgar Delgaldo on artistry duties, and they give us an unforgettable image of Yoda looking up at the giant now standing in front of him and it’s all sorts of wonders with scale and color; it really puts things in perspective!
Here are a few other things:
- UPDATE 6/10/17: I’m still not a big fan of this arc but a recent video by a YouTuber named Wayward Jedi might just change it…slightly. In the video, he dissects the arc and finds some compelling and truly interesting points on how “Yoda’s Secret War” was a sneaky bit of writing that puts the whole saga in a nutshell and potentially sets up for what’s to come in the sequel trilogy, especially tying into and possibly explaining what others have already guessed in the regards to Luke’s cryptic line: “…it’s time for the Jedi to end,” as heard in The Last Jedi teaser.
- At this point I’m wondering when or if we’re ever going to see Artoo’s solo rescue of Threepio from Scar squad, because that inherently seems far more interesting and entertaining than what we’ve gotten in Yoda’s tale.
- Fear not, the Star Wars series takes a break from trying to hold its own story and gets to take part in the next Marvel crossover: The Screaming Citadel, which throws Star Wars into Doctor Aphra! Luke and Aphra get everyone tangled up in a gothic horror story and I cannot wait to see this crossover begin! The last crossover Vader Down, while excitingly full of Darth Vader kicking major ass, kind of just threw everyone together because its plot dictated it and overall felt a little lackluster in the story department; whereas TSC will be character driven by Luke and Aphra teaming up on a quest, so expect a lot of story and fun to be had, mainly because Aphra is in it. Check for it in May!
- No, I am not alone in being meh-ed about this whole arc so far: check out Bria’s review at Tosche-Station, which if she’s out of words then you know something’s up. Well, David at MakingStarWars found more words than Bria or I about the issue, but his takeaway is largely the same.
We get another moment in “Yoda’s Secret War,” that leaves many wondering why it didn’t stay secret in the first place. Good try though, Star Wars #29.
+ Image of ginormous giant and minuscule Yoda standing next to each other
– A few issues too many for this tale…
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
Star Wars
Jason Aaron – Skywalker Strikes (#1-6) | Old Ben’s Journals | Showdown on the Smuggler’s Moon (#8-12) | Rebel Jail (#16-19) | The Last Flight of the Harbinger (#21-25) | Yoda’s Secret War: #26 | #27 | #28 | #30 | Out Among the Stars (#33-37) | Retrospective on Jason Aaron’s Run (#1-37)
Kieron Gillen – The Ashes of Jedha (#38-43) | Mutiny at Mon Cala (#44-49)
Doctor Aphra
Aphra (#1-6) | And the Enormous Profit (#9-13) | Remastered (#14-19) | Annual: #1
The Screaming Citadel (crossover of Doctor Aphra and Star Wars on-goings)
Poe Dameron
Black Squadron (#1-3) | Lockdown (#4-6) | The Gathering Storm (#7-13) | Legend Lost (#14 – 16) | War Stories (#17-19) | Legend Found (#20-25)
Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith
The Chosen One (#1-6) | The Dying Light (#7-12)
Darth Vader
Vader (#1-6) | Shadows and Secrets (#7-12) | The Shu-Torun War (#16-19) | End of Games (#20-25) | Annual: #1
Vader Down (crossover of Star Wars and Darth Vader on-goings)
Kanan
The Last Padawan (#1-6) | First Blood (#7-12)
Jedi of the Republic – Mace Windu (miniseries)
Captain Phasma (miniseries)
Darth Maul (miniseries)
Han Solo (miniseries)
Rogue One (adaptation)
Obi-Wan & Anakin (miniseries)
Shattered Empire (miniseries)
Princess Leia (miniseries)
Lando (miniseries)
Chewbacca (miniseries)
Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir (miniseries)