– Spoiler Review –
Qi’ra’s ultimate plans against the Sith ruling the galaxy bring the might of the Empire against her and what remains of Crimson Dawn…does she have any more tricks up her sleeves? Hidden Empire #2 finds the rush to open the mysterious Fermata Cage is just one part of her grander plans.
Qi’ra has never been a one-trick pony, so beyond relying heavily on whatever Sith (if there even is one) inside the Fermata Cage to help her take down the Sith ruling the galaxy, she has to have more up her sleeves, right? What’s been clear across other comics is the Dawn’s many connections are crumbling now they are Empire enemy number one, even over the Rebellion (which is quite helpful for our heroes and their upcoming battle), and this issue highlights this problem finally within the series. Qi’ra still has Cadeliah, the daughter of two warring Corellian crime syndicates, with her and claims she’s her last hope, but it’s still not quite clear what the kid can offer Qi’ra beyond maybe being a protégé to try again in a decade or so in case she fails now? Regardless, it can’t just be a kid Qi’ra has beyond an ancient Sith Lord to help her in her fight, right? Right? As Chanath Cha and the Orphans fly Qi’ra to a hidden base, inside we see a GIANT Crimson Dawn fleet waiting in the wings. It’s impressively massive, dwarfing even what the Rebellion manages to have in the Battle of Endor I’d say, and shows how she’s made her organization look flashy from the outside but in reality she’s been spending all her crime-earned cash on making a force to be reckoned with, one the Empire won’t be expecting since they think they have the Dawn on the run. But when and where does she plan on using the fleet? According to the issue, she knows it’s not enough to take down the Empire, and barely enough to take down the two Sith she’s targeting, saying it’s only enough once the Fermata Cage unleashes its occupant. If it never gets opened, as the struggle continues this issue…what will Qi’ra do then? Leave the fleet for Cadeliah to use in the future? Wait in the Unknown Regions with it for the right time to strike again? Donate it to charity? I do like how Qi’ra and her full plans stay unknown to us, but I do wish we’d get more inside her head or how she’s feeling about all this besides how she wants everyone to think she feels about this.
Speaking of the Cage, we get a few more details and another valiant attempt to open it this issue. As Palpatine and Vader chat about it, Palpatine reveals to Vader he knows Lord Momin BUILT the Cage, but we all know he’s not inside of it (he was in his helmet as he helped Vader build the Mustafar home), and while Palpatine isn’t sure if a Sith is even in there, it’s enough of a threat if one is, he really wants Vader to bring the teams’ efforts to end swiftly. As Kho Phon Farrus and the Archivist work to open it without the Knights of Ren now, we also learn the “sand” inside of the hourglass like Cage is actually mini black holes (!?!) held together by a dark side matrix, giving it the ability to wrap and trap time. Based on this, Kho believes their Ascendant tech can give the hungry little black holes a worthy enough snack of local dark side power to appease them and open on up. Well, they almost don’t, as Kho decides to leave the project, claiming they’ve learned what they wanted and can be in less dangerous situations going to team back up with Sana Starros’ group (currently trying to save Doctor Aphra from rogue Ascendant AI tech, a fight Kho just left recently). Sava Sun, the Archivist, tempts Kho back though with the raiments of dark sider Lady Shaa, leading them to come up with their big plan with Ascendant tech and feeding mini black holes. I liked this issue for giving Kho more of a personality than was present in issue #1, allowing new readers to get a better sense of their character and the wild fun they can bring to any proceeding, while familiar fans will see more of the Kho they know this time around. Their latest attempt to turn on the Fermata Cage is deadly, Kho’s plan being more effective than even the Knights were able to achieve, but it’s also killing the two of them in process as the Ascendant tech does more than provide a snack to the Cage, trying to give it a feast instead. This attempt is an even bigger beacon for the Emperor to latch unto than the first one, as it being turned on reaches Luke and Yoda even, allowing Ol’ Sheev to narrow down their location and send Vader over to bring the research with the Cage to a close. Every attempt, if the two manage to escape, will only bring the Empire to their door, so either they have to get it open or this plan might not work out in the end.
Weakened from the attempt to open the Cage, the Archivist and Kho are not in enough shape to pack everything up and flee before Vader arrives. Thankfully, Qi’ra’s good at planning ahead and had already sent Chanath Cha and the Orphans, so they are there just as Vader arrives. Chanath has been one of those characters I’ve enjoyed watching weave their way through the comics, as writer Charles Soule has been biding his time using her across his various series. She was first introduced to us as someone who the Emperor called to fix problems in Soule’s Lando miniseries, while his Darth Vader comic revealed her backstory to be a little complicated when it came to the Empire, as she hunted Vader alongside her parents. He stopped them of course, holding her life in his gloves as they helped him with something else, then let her go, though her parents made her promise no revenge on him (even though he kills them afterwards) as it was all just business in the end. Well, when she shows up, she tells him she’s ready and not even afraid to finally fight him, seeking revenge for what he did to her parents, though it doesn’t seem like he recognizes her (we know the drama king of Anakin inside of him totally does) as he charges in, telling her simply he’ll be her death.
I’m glad to see the art team of Steven Cummings on pencils, Victor Olazaba inking, GURU-eFX for colors, and Travis Lanham on lettering continues on. One of the impressive panels this issue was the reveal of Qi’ra’s hidden Dawn fleet. Set inside a cave behind a waterfall, the giant cavern has many of its own waterfalls inside, while at least three more Vermillion-like ships can be seen, a ton of Star Destroyer-esque ones arrayed around it, and tons of little fighters on platforms surrounding the scene give her hidden fleet a measure of scale that’s jaw dropping. GURU-eFX’s colors, mixing cold blues and the fleets mainly grey look, with red on the flagships and fighters, makes both the cave and the fleet feel cold and dormant, while the red gives us the impression they are ready and waiting to jump into action. In fact, a panel with the smaller fighters over Qi’ra’s shoulders gives us more details on the unique looking fighters (they look like the cockpit of the snowspeeders mixed with Z-95 headhunter wings) and the scope of her operations, all the people milling about, looking after the fleet and ships to keep it all prepped and ready for whenever Qi’ra needs them. There was no three double-page spreads again, but this was an impressive one on its own and really highlights the resources Qi’ra still has at her disposal. While we’ve not seen Kho in different art much, Cummings already did them a good service last issue, I appreciated his work for them this issue even more, displaying many more expressive, funny facial responses to situations but also, intentional or otherwise, adjusting their look in even the smallest of ways, that their non-binary look hovers back and forth in a fitting manner. Overall, Cummings’ pencils and Olzaba’s inks on the character models are just lovely as always, as they feel 3D to some degree, their outfits with little details and unique identifiers, and faces carry a lot of emotion. It’s what helps make Vader, in the issue’s final panel, so damn menacing, his cape flourishing behind him, Lanham’s SFX for his lightsaber red, large, and scary, his word bubbles small and to the point to show how insignificant he views Chantha’s threat. As I mentioned in my review of the previous issue, I really liked the errie coloring for the Fermata Cage’s pink glow, it being a very unused color in Star Wars giving it an unique, unnerving quality to its presence, and this issue GURU-eFX does something different with it again. When Kho activates their Ascendant-tech to feed the Cage, the pink coloring overwhelms the panels again, but it also robs color from the area, so it’s a muted pink but still the same unnerving look, though the way it takes color only adds to how the machine is taking even the air around them away, leaving Kho and the Archivist choking.
Here are a few other things:
- It always seems so weird when there are little consistencies in a comic, especially a short miniseries. For instance, in Hidden Empire #1, Qi’ra basically throws the Vermillion at a Star Destroyer to prove her point to Emperor Palpatine the Dawn doesn’t need her to continue her plans, but now the issue claims at least twice Palpatine ordered the Vermillion destroyed. While technically yes, he did, it sort of robs Qi’ra of the impressive moment and takes her part out of it’s memorable destruction. Last issue she was heartbroken but already said to leave the escape pods from the Vermillion and move on, continue the fight to honor them, but then this issues she’s calling the Empire bastards for targeting the pods as if she didn’t just say leave ’em, sort of ensuring they’d destroy all the pods. You can reconcile these two, but it still feels like they don’t overlap well.
- I’m also a little surprised Palpatine actually believes he killed Qi’ra, but I guess since he told her she was beneath his gaze due to her connection to Maul, maybe he would think she wasn’t able to pull off a fakeout like she did.
- Curious how the Orphans do against Vader? If they ever open this Fermata Cage? Hidden Empire #3 won’t be out until February, #4 in March, and here’s hoping #5 lands in April then (though I wouldn’t put it past them to wait until May to let it line up with all the Star Wars Day/Month celebrations).
- Even more so after reading this issue, I don’t understand where or how Vader’s own current series fits in with this one.
Hidden Empire #2 reveals the depths of Qi’ra’s plans and brings Vader on a collision course with her most important one: the Fermata Cage.
+ The Big Dawn Fleet
+ Kho’s personality shines through
+ Art team dazzles again with big and small moments
– Little inconsistencies
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
HIDDEN EMPIRE REVIEWS:
#1