– Spoiler Review –
Doctor Aphra #36 brings “Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon” to a stunning conclusion, full of twists and turns and a final, chilling note that manages to top all the previous fantastic finales to Aphra arcs.
Minister Voor has been a very effective and compelling villain for Aphra due to a multitude of reasons, especially with the absence Triple-Zero, as her sinister plans are rooted in misguided ideals of helping the Empire rule the galaxy without the need for fear or force (aka more Death Stars) that I could even sympathize with her goals. In fact, she’d not even be that bad of a ruler in comparison to ol’ nasty, vindictive Sheev, but her methods certainly show the perils of actual fake news and letting the government run the press (topical, whether that’s the intention or not) and suddenly the straight up horror of Sheev’s actions seem less maniacal, because if you would never know how/why planets disappear or voices are silenced, the ignorance results in a state much like Milvayne was in the previous arc, and not knowing sounds FAR worse than knowing and thus being able to do something about it.
To bring Voor’s coup plans to fruition, she uses both the Rebellion and Aphra to get what she wants, which isn’t hard because the Rebellion uses Aphra to get what they want as well, which is also killing Emperor Palpatine through a complicated assassination attempt. Voor lets Aphra discover the Farkiller weapon by sending her on a different mission, because Aphra is predictable in regards to finding ancient weapons worth big credits, and leaks the info to the Rebellion, who scoop her up because they see an opportunity: If they take the weapon, tell her they’re going to use it to kill the Emperor, and because of all the heat on her and she loves to do selfish things, Aphra should steal it back and bring to the Empire…who will then bring it to the Emperor to inspect and hello hidden weapon that Sheev can’t sense through the Force. Is about the most convoluted assassination attempt I’ve heard, but it has a sense of beauty to its chaos, though both Voor and the Rebels make one, giant mistake: underestimating Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra.
Voor follows the explanation of her motives by explaining her plans, Bond villain style (even walking them through her expansive compound), but she also expounds on Aphra’s shortcomings and self-serving lifestyle, highlighting moments from previous arcs, going as far back as “Remastered” and her stunt with Hera Syndulla and encrypting stolen Imperial data (mentioned earlier this arc). It’s hard to deny the truths hidden within Voors demeaning assessment of Aphra, and by coming to the Empire to get a target off her and Vulaada’s back, so clearly falling into both Voor’s and the Rebellion’s plans, Aphra seems to have only confirmed everyone’s take on her. We know Aphra’s not an idiot though, and just when Voor reaches the climax of her story, a successful assassination, Aphra’s lack of surprise sends waves of doubt through Voor. Aphra reveals she never bought the rebels going down such a dark path as making a superweapon in the first place (the title of this arc making more and more sense now), and then she follows it up with the most important moment that gave it all away: Tolvan, spurned by the truth of what happened between them at the beginning of the arc, let Aphra go too easy. As much as admitting it hurts Aphra, even she can’t deny the depth her actions tore the woman she loves up, which makes my earlier hopes they might reconcile a bit in the dust (for now…).
But as I’ve been wondering since the end of “Worst Among Equals,” where Aphra took the blaster shot for Vulaada, where and when will we see how such a selfless choice will change or affect her? While the past events that could’ve changed Aphra haven’t stuck, something felt inherently different this time. And when Aphra says she’s trying to live by the only piece of her mother’s pearls of wisdom worth a damn, “doing right by the ones you love,” revealing a hijacked camera broadcasting Voor’s plans to the Empire at large, she finally confirms she already showed her hand back when the arc first started. By taking Vulaada on as a ward, which they continue to joke she is and is not, she’s already looking to think for someone other than herself, and even if a portion of it came from maternal baggage, all that matters is Aphra has changed and is being less selfless. In fact, using the hijacked camera, she keeps it on them to help ensure they’re forever safe from the Empire’s wrath. But it doesn’t last long, but we’ll get to that in a moment.
By the end of the issue, Aphra has seemed to resolve her maternal baggage. In one sense, she does so by admitting her mom acted like a bully by taking her away from their home, which Lona did due to being afraid of how much she loved Aphra and what it would do to her if she got hurt, but makes peace with the fact it made her into a survivor. In another way, well…she gets revenge for her mother’s death! Aphra spies one of the raiders’ helmets, who killed Lona, in Voor’s collection, meaning it was Voor’s scheming that brought “raiders” to their little backwater planet for the Empire to “pacify.” While my theory had been Voor was Lona Aphra,* and it’s definitely not true, I was right (that’s a stretch) they were connected in some way, as it’s Voor’s fault she dead! By hi-jacking one of Voor’s cameras and broadcasting her whole speech to the entire Empire, they come to arrest Voor for her schemes, but the arrest doesn’t last long. In a frightening series of panels, where I was holding my breath, Vader’s crimson blade slices through Aphra and Vu’s hope for survival, and Voor’s head, and just when Aphra pulls Vulaada close and tells her to look away, Vader stays his blade. Why? Because the Empire has need of her work! Is Vader impressed with how many times she’s fooled him or is he pissed as all Sith…or a little of both? What particular skills does he need from her this time? I imagine it’s the Emperor who is forcing him to work with her again, as maybe he sees her usefulness and loves to see his apprentice angry about having to work with someone he hates, which sounds right up ol’ Sheev’s alley. We’ll find out next month in the next arc, “A Rogue’s End!”
For the art team, we had Wilton Santos and Cris Bolson as artists, Walden Wong on inks, and Chris O’Halloran for colors. Early on, the splash page of Voor explaining the tenets of her division, drawn up as a series of holo-images, blue and wavy, looked exceptional, while I really enjoyed a close-up of the creepy Emperor’s cackling face, while my favorite panel might be the one where Aphra begins to correct Voor’s predictions for her plans being carried out, causing her to stop mid sip and ask, “Hm?” because it speaks louder than words for her to stop drinking from her victory glass. There’s not a ton of action this issue, nor has there been this whole arc, so the art team had to convey a lot more through character faces and poses, which they pulled off expertly. And of course the panels as we build to Vader’s reveal, heightening the tension and delivering the chills, especially as things go dark and red. Also, the outfit Voor gives Aphra? Fantastic. It’s a great design for another Doctor Aphra figure, Hasbro…just saying.
Here are a few other things:
- Issue #35 put the nails on my theory’s coffin regarding Voor being Lona Aphra, and then this issue buried it 20 feet under. I had a lot of fun parsing through issues, looking for hints or clues my theory was correct, but I’m not terribly disappointed it came up short. I didn’t really need a reason to dive even more deeply into the Doctor Aphra series because I already love to scour every panel of my favorite series. Initially when my theory looked DOA last issue, I was disappointed, but the intervening month has helped me realize the disappointment didn’t come from the content of the theory being incorrect, but rather because I wasn’t correct; when that’s the main concern of the theory, then it’s not about the fun of theorizing anymore. As Ben said to me on Twitter, he was both sad and happy it didn’t pan out either, and I couldn’t agree more, as my only sadness is due to Lona Aphra being truly dead, while I’m happy it didn’t work out because family drama like that should stay with the main Skywalker Saga anyways. In fact, having Aphra’s mom turn out to be a big-wig Imperial would feel too Luke/Vader for Aphra, and while they could’ve potentially had some fun parodying such a twist, it’s far more interesting for Voor to be a woman with her own wants and desires, getting so far on her own merits and not for some interests related to her child. It was fun while it lasted, but let the theory die…kill it if you have to…and Doctor Aphra did just that (literally and figuratively).
- While the November solicitations made it seem even more likely next Doctor Aphra arc, “A Rogue’s End” might also be the series’ end, the teaser at the end of this issue simply promises the start of a new storyline, and I think if they’d end it with the next arc, they would’ve worded it differently and therefore the series is probably safe. We’ll know more with 9/19’s release of the December solicits. UPDATE: The December solicits are here and I was dead, dead wrong, but their might be a silver-lining to the upcoming end of the Doctor Aphra series (spoilers, of course!).
- Speaking of the next arc, it’ll be drawn by Caspar Wijngaard, who reveals he thinks he’s drawn enough Vader now he could do it with his eyes closed…though you’ll see maybe not quite!
- This fan art from Twitter user sorryvader is absolutely fantastic!
- I’ll have an arc review for “Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon” up sometime shortly before the next arc begins in early October.
“Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon” wraps up in Doctor Aphra #36, an extremely satisfying finale issue to a wonderful arc.
+ Voor’s convoluted plans, even though they fail
+ Aphra reveals she did finally change
+ Aphra making peace with her mother
+ Oh…hello, Vader!?!??!!!
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
Doctor Aphra
Aphra (#1-6) | And the Enormous Profit (#9-13) | Remastered (#14-19) / Arc Review | The Catastrophe Con (#20-25) / Arc Review | Worst Among Equals (#26-31) / Arc Review | Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon: #32 | #33 | #34 | #35 | Annual: #1 | #2
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