– Spoiler Review –
Set some time before The Force Awakens, Age of Resistance – Supreme Leader Snoke #1 delves into one of the early lessons Snoke teaches his newly acquired apprentice, Kylo Ren, through a trip to the dark side cave on Dagobah!
Age of Resistance – Supreme Leader Snoke #1 has a lot of connections to The Last Jedi, and understandably so considering we saw the most important interactions between Snoke and Kylo there: At the issue’s outset, Snoke is holding Kylo out in the air much like he did Rey, but instead of torturing out what’s in Kylo’s mind (which I’m assuming he did some time before this), it’s more about control, trust, and subservience, as he drops Kylo to his death least he embrace his brewing anger and turn it into power; Snoke slaps away Kylo’s mask, frustrated with his apprentice’s reliance on it, much like him calling it ridiculous in TLJ; when confronted with Luke Skywalker in the Dagobah cave, Kylo doesn’t hesitate in killing his former master, striking with as much anger and fury as their duel in TLJ, but much like the film, both times he battles an apparition; when Kylo tricks Snoke to kill him in the Throne Room scene, focusing his mind on doing one thing but really doing something else, he employs that tactic here when the cave apparates his parents, Leia and Han, making Snoke think Kylo can do the deed but really he can’t (not yet, at least when it comes to his father)…this leaves me to wonder when he first realized the trick would work against Snoke or if this was the first time; lastly, when Snoke brings up what happened between Luke and Kylo at the Jedi Temple, it continues to confirm the final version of events shown in TLJ to be true.
With this issue, Kylo joins his uncle and grandfather in the grand tradition of Skywalker cave experiences, as Anakin had his on Mortis, though his memory was wiped away, while Luke of course visited Dagobah’s. Luke failed his, Anakin did as well…but did Kylo actually pass his? This is the first we’ve seen a dark side aligned user enter the Dagobah cave, and striking down Luke certainly is something Snoke wants his apprentice to do and Kylo wants to do, helping snuff out the call of the light, but by not striking down his parents, though imagining it to trick Snoke, I have to wonder if that would be considered a failure, as technically he did the deed to some extent. In fact, if the cave only contains what you take with you, as Yoda once said to Luke, then Kylo taking his modus operandi in with him, which is letting the past die, killing it if he has to, destroying the cave (!!) could be seen as successfully following up on what he took into it with him. Both Kylo and Snoke leave Dagobah satisfied by what has transpired: Snoke feels vindicated in his choice with Ben Solo, while Kylo knows he’s solidified his place in Snoke’s regime, is able to trick him if he wants to, and can kill the past if he wants to…though not all if, which is why he’s not all satisfied by issue’s end/the sequel trilogy itself.
In a way, Tom Taylor’s script felt like it was more about Kylo than Snoke, and while it doesn’t reveal much we didn’t already know about both characters, it reinforces both Snoke’s power and weaknesses. From Snoke casually lifting Kylo around to the manipulative way he stokes the dark side within his apprentice, we see Snoke’s power and ingenuity, but we also see he’s a frail, old man who is far too over confident in his own abilities; this fits with his role in the sequel trilogy so far, as after we see him as a towering being in TFA, TLJreveals he’s not all he seemed/fans theorized.
Another Villain issue of Age of Resistance, another appearance on pencils by Leonard Kirk, Cory Hamscher on inks, and Guru-eFX for colors! Much like I’ve noticed in Han Solo – Imperial Cadet, there are a few minor things that bug me on how Kirk draws faces: they don’t always seem to fit their bodies; they come off a bit too masculine from time to time, like I wouldn’t have known it was Leia without the context; noses are pronounced; and they facial structure can be pudgy, as even Snoke didn’t look as withered. It’s not always off-putting, as the opening full page close-up of Snoke, and first look at Kylo’s face after he sees Leia and Han in the cave, are fantastic portrayals, looking torn from the films. The rest of the art is similarly fantastic, with several expansive splash pages, while Dagobah receives a moody, atmospheric feel to it as one would expect from the former home of Yoda, and the panel of Kylo standing in the pit where the cave once stood might be my favorite panel in the entirety of Age of Resistance so far.
Here are a few other things:
- Back in the lead-up to The Force Awakens, we were told Snoke has been around for some time, watching the events of the galaxy from afar, which makes his comment about having Luke Skywalker at his side giving him control of the galaxy sooner an interesting one. Is this before the remnants of the Empire stumble upon him in Unknown Regions? During Luke’s quest to restart the Jedi Order, hence how he gets wind of Kylo’s prowess? As much as he doesn’t matter to the overall ending of the sequel trilogy/saga, I’m sure a book/comic about his past will be quite illuminating.
- The destruction of the cave is an interesting development, as that’s something I didn’t think would or even could be destroyed (beyond Dagobah being blown up/the thing being bombed)! I’m actually kind of happy it happened, as the more I think about it, it didn’t feel as mystical to just have everyone and their Hutt visiting this supposedly hidden cave, as it felt a bit abused by Legends’ end (even Starkiller got to have a vision there in The Force Unleashed 2 and it wasn’t even really a playable level!). I think Yoda’s visit inThe Clone Wars was fitting, as so too is the one here, but as TLJ proved with Rey on Ahch-To, caves seeped in the mystical aspects of the Force can be found elsewhere.
- From all the canon Force cave encounters we’ve seen, I have to rank Rey’s as my favorite of the bunch, as its more about her finding the answer within than looking at a bigger destiny, while Yoda’s experience is a close second, as it helped him accept the reality of the Jedi’ failure in the prequels before the ultimate defeat even struck.
- The official site put up a preview of the issue, which contains the start of Kylo’s Dagobah trials.
Age of Resistance – Supreme Leader Snoke #1 might not reveal anything terribly new about its characters, but it does build off of and expand on both Snoke and Kylo’s sequel trilogy appearances thus far.
+ All the TLJ connections
+ Kylo’s Dagobah cave trial
+ Confirms and builds on what we already knew…
– …and therefore doesn’t add anything new
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
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