– Spoiler Review –
Doctor Aphra‘s “Remastered” arc was full of changes for the already excellent series, from the new writing/artist blood, distancing itself from Darth Vader a bit, changing up the power dynamic between Aphra and her murderbots, to diving into a relationship between Aphra and Tolvan, and every piece fit and gelled together, proving the series could be just as fun and exciting when it ventured off into its own little corner of the galaxy.
When the previous arc teased the murderbots, Triple-Zero and Bee Tee, were taking advantage of their newfound freedom by taking over a crime syndicate, I was very apprehensive to learn what that meant for Aphra in the story ahead. It ended up being far worse than I could’ve imagined, as the “Remastered” arc began with the reveal that Aphra was now calling the murderbots master! (wink wink nod nod “Remastered”) Under Darth Vader’s employ, Aphra was always living on the razor’s edge, though he could be forgiving from time to time (until he ‘killed’ Aphra, anyways) because he was human, somewhere beneath that mask. On the other hand, the murderbots are mercurial at best, only willing to keep their underlings alive until they’ve bored them/outlived their original purpose, and Aphra’s life was suddenly in more danger than it had ever been before and it honestly gave me literal chills. It was a fantastic, frightening shift in the droids’ dynamic with Aphra and they proved to be the perfect follow-up to Vader’s omnipresent role in the previous arc, though his specter still loomed in the distance due to the murderbots blackmailing Aphra into servitude by threatening to tell Vader about her continued existence. That threat was enough to dampen Aphra’s rebellious nature, and with the option of faking her death off the table this time, the possibilities to worm her way out from under their control were severely lacking. But of course this is Aphra we’re talking about and she had a wonderful little trick up her electro-sleeves, a surprise which once again changes the dynamic though doesn’t completely fix the problem. More on that in a moment.
As scary as the unshackled murderbots felt, the whole scenario led to some fascinating interactions between Triple-Zero and Aphra, culminating in his goal of teaching her how similar they are to one another. When reading “Remastered” one issue at a time, I didn’t catch onto Triple-Zero’s plan with Aphra, but in hindsight (of course), reading all the issues together, it was way more obvious. It’s an intriguing idea to cover, especially since droid rights have started getting more prevalent due to L3-37 in Last Shot and the upcoming Solo, as Aphra, much like most humans, looks down on the murderbots, had kept them on a tight leash, and didn’t let them express themselves more. While this was a completely understandable stance for Aphra to take with the murderbots, of course they didn’t see it that way, so once they gained their freedom, they set out to make her understand their pain; But Triple-Zero also wanted to show her that she should’ve let them free from the start because she and him are rather similar, from a certain point of view.
By forcing Aphra into situations where she must make a choice or risk being tattled on to Vader, Triple-Zero set up a scenario not unlike droids and their masters, where they must do as they are ordered because their programming demands it. Aphra makes some dicey decisions due to the dynamic, like sacrificing members of her team to escape Imperial entanglements a couple times, though it’s not too surprising since she’s always operated in a morally complex region; For every time she’s let someone die to save her own skin, she’s saved others, like Sana and Luke in The Screaming Citadel or Tolvan several times. She’s always been aware how close to terrible she gets, but she always manages to pull herself back from the edge and mainly blame her choices on keeping herself alive. Then when Triple-Zero reveals the ultimate goal of his plan, Aphra acknowledges her actions are as suspect as the stuff the murderbots have done, no matter the intention, but she at least regrets them to some extent. Her willingness to admit her mistakes and actions weigh on her more than she lets on is one of the many human, relatable aspects that make her such a fan-favorite. The dialogue really hammers her realization home and sounds so honest and real: Aphra, “You did all this to…to make me more like you?” Triple-Zero, “By the Maker, no! I’m not a monster! I did it to make you see you’re already like me.” Aphra, “N-no. No! I’m not sick! I just…I get things wrong. I’m selfish. I…I use people. But…I don’t expect to sleep well. Ever.” It will be interesting to see how much this realization affects her character going forward, as maybe we’ll see her try to do better by others than she has in the past, though whether she manages to keep up with it will be the even bigger hurdle.
One of the most exciting aspects, for me at least, of this arc was its exploration and development of a relationship between the rigid Imperial Tolvan and Aphra, which is a big show of support and representation for LGBTQ+ fans and inclusion overall. At the start of “Remastered,” we find Tolvan fallen in the ranks again, thanks to failures first at Eadu (aka the events of Rogue One!), then Yavin IV with Aphra, and in issue #14 suffers another as Aphra, with some mercenary not-friends-friends, destroys her latest base during their search for information. Dejected and feeling like the Empire she so covets is throwing her away, she begins to dream about Joystick Chevron (a nickname Aphra tells her) whisking her away, but when she gets promoted while standing in front of the firing squad line thanks to Inspector Thanoth’s will (a wonderful character from Gillen’s Vader series), she finds new purpose in the Empire and uses it to track down Joystick not only to get justice for how Aphra’s screwed her over, but also to see if Aphra could/would actually care for her, unlike the Empire. As for Aphra, she can’t go gallivanting around the galaxy digging up stuff due to the murderbots as her masters, and with Krrsantan off doing his own thing, life has gotten quite lonely, a predicament even she knows she’s partly to blame for, so when she runs into Tolvan she attempts to make a connection. This loneliness, and the act of trying to fill the void, is another of the many aspects of Aphra’s character that has led to her becoming a fan-favorite, because despite all the questionable things she does, relating to her can be very easy as many of us have gone through or are going through similar situations with loneliness and attempting to make connections with others. There’s a wonderful push and pull between the two throughout “Remastered,” as Tolvan wants to give up the Empire to be with Aphra but finds contention with Aphra’s methods, while Aphra really wants to connect with Tolvan but pushes her away because she believes she’s “…kinda the kiss of death.” They debate this a few times and I absolutely enjoyed and appreciated each conversation, as this was never going to be an easy pairing and their distinct viewpoints are represented and brought to the table, helping their eventual pairing feel organic and earned. By the final issue, the two get a little two-day cabin getaway from all their problems, enjoying each other’s company, but they both know it can’t last forever, with Aphra taking a leave first. Returning to her masters with the data they requested on Aphra’s mission, Tolvan and the Empire come crashing through, destorying the droids’ crime empire and arrested Aphra, as if their cabin getaway seemingly meant nothing; that is, until it’s slyly revealed it was all part of a plan to get Aphra out of the murderbots’ clutches before they realized what she’s done with the data containing Triple-Zero’s memories. It’s the cutest, most Aphra/Tolvan thing I could’ve imagined, as each one gets to do the thing they love but help each other at the same time. While their first kiss in issue #16 will still go down as a momentous moment for Star Wars and LGBTQ+ representation, the whole “Remastered” arc, especially with their little two day honeymoon, continued to take it to the next level, making it seem so easy to include representation of this (or any) kind.
“How can a mind know oneself if it knows nothing of its formative nanoseconds? Its earliest experiences? Its first-ever murder.” – Triple-Zero, issue #15. Trip’s quest to be reunited with his memories, despite its subtext of teaching Aphra a lesson, was something I could understand wanting to do, as I can’t imagine ever being separated from my childhood memories and experiences, something that can happen in real life due to illness or injury. It’s a little different for droids, be it memory wipes or storage backups hidden around the galaxy, but this whole story thread is another aspect of droid rights and sentience that the new canon has been covering in bits and pieces, which adds some fascinating new ways to look at characters we might normally write off for not being human/aliens. But Triple-Zero does not end this arc enjoying the thrill of his first murder, because remember how I mentioned Aphra had a trick up her sleeves? Well, she takes the data containing his memories and encrypts it, giving her leverage over the murderbots, which she can use to prevent them from telling Vader about her still being alive. This solution is only temporary, as they might be able to decrypt it at some point and it leaves the murderbots still free and roaming the galaxy, and I look forward to seeing what they do to rectify the situation.
While Aphra got further away from the main rebellion heroes and Darth Vader, there was a pleasant little surprise of a cameo from a main character from Star Wars Rebels, Hera Syndulla! Cross-pollination is always an exciting thing, but never before had a character from one of the shows co-starred so prominently in a story like this, and the writers managed to really capture Hera, as the Space Mom reacted as disgusted as one would imagine around Aphra. There were some interesting implications with her throwing herself into her work, controlling tons of X-wing astromechs in a Rebellion flight school, hinting at her dealing with the losses she suffered from the events of Star Wars Rebels, but the arc didn’t delve into it and kept little Jacen Syndulla out of sight (though that might have been because even the writers didn’t know about that reveal). One of the best bits of interactions between Hera and Aphra comes when the Space Mom recognizes Aphra for being so damn lonely, attempting to save Tolvan’s life once again, as I imagine Hera feels all too well with the death of Kanan and the splitting of her crew. As much as I enjoyed her appearance, and look forward to seeing how Rebels characters can be integrated into other stories in the future, there’s a moment I have to discuss which I didn’t really cover in my single issues review. In her debut issue #17, Hera ends it tied up with a bow on her head, Aphra offering her to the Imperials as a way to sneak aboard the super-secret Hivebase-1. When I initially read it, in the full context of the issue and knowing Aphra, I didn’t see it being anything but a funny, little joke she was playing to make the deal look sweet for the Imperials. It was soon after the issue released that many people, seeing the panel either alone or having read the issue, took issue with the sexist nature of it and I can’t disagree with their opinion on it. Interestingly enough, issue #19 took a meta approach of discussing the moment by having Aphra apologizing to Hera about the bow, but whether it was planned out ahead of time or a reaction to fan’s reactions is up in the air. Other than that, Hera’s role was a fun way to see a familiar character in a new light.
For “Remastered,” Si Spurrier joined Kieron Gillen on writing duties and while it never seemed terribly obvious where one writer began or ended, it’s hard to ignore how much the fresh blood seemed to reinvigorate the series. Not only was all the above great new story territory, but this series really took Aphra into the weirder corners of the galaxy, from all the bizarre, rejected creations in Hivebase-1 (like a Wookiee with a railgun as a head!), the chthonic monster they awake in Wat Tambor’s workshop, Aphra’s insane and wonderful Dek-Nil probability droid, to even the Hutt-soldiers, Doctor Aphra embraced its ability to tell and show things main series and characters wouldn’t normally cover. I hope things get even weirder and out-there next arc and I bet Si Spurrier will make it happen, no problem. On art this arc was Emilio Laiso, with colors by Rachelle Rosenberg, a team readers of the Rogue One adaptation should be familiar with. Much like Kev Walker before them, Laiso and Rosenberg’s work hit the quirky nature of the series on the head, offering plenty of great, overly expressive faces and reactions, with my favorite being Aphra’s face switching from “yes” to “no” in issue #18. There’s something about how background bits in panels get very limited details that I’ve not been a big fan of, but it’s a minor thing that doesn’t distract from any of the story. I will be happy to have Kev Walker back though, but I won’t mind a return from the current art team at some point. Joe Caramagna offered his skills as letterer, while the departure of Heather Antos and Jordan D. White as Assistant Editor and Editor, respectively, back in March meant some new hands got credited with them in later issues, like Emily Newcomen as Assistant and Mark Paniccia as Editor. I can’t thank Antos and White enough for allowing Aphra’s story to go in this excellent new direction and hope whoever settles as the new editing team will continue to let this fan-favorite flourish.
Here are a few other things:
- This arc gave us the saying, “Plenty more mynocks in the exogorath,” and I’ve co-opted it for the site: “There are plenty of talented mynocks in our exogorth!”
- And definitely do not pass up on reading Bria from Tosche-Station’s excellent, far-ranging interview with Gillen and Spurrier over at the official site!
- Ashley Witter’s cover art continues to amazes and damn do I wish we could get her to do interiors one of these days!
“Remastered” (issues #14-19) was an excellent showcase of everything that makes Aphra Marvel’s most exciting, not-to-be-missed work yet.
+ Murderbots as the Masters…and how Aphra gets back on top
+ Aphra’s realization
+ Tolvan and Aphra’s budding relationship
+ Embrace the strange!
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 | #15 | #16 | #17 | #18 | #19 | The Catastrophe Con (#20-25) | Worst Among Equals (#26-31) | Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon (#32-37) | A Rogue’s End (#37-40) | Annual: #1 | #2