– Spoiler Review –
Nearly two years since Qi’ra returned, her expansive comic trilogy has all led to this moment, with the Sith on their way to her ultimate trap and all her cards in play…so will she succeed or will she fail? And what does failure even mean for all someone like Qi’ra has done throughout the galaxy so far? Find out all the answers in our Hidden Empire #5 review!
It’s kind of wild to think, nearly two years since June 2021 and Qi’ra’s shock return to comics, we’d be at this point, with Qi’ra bringing her considerable forces to bear against the Empire as she lures out the two Sith at its top to try and trap them in an ancient device called the Fermata Cage. Considering we all know what comes next in Return of the Jedi, her plan fails, but how, why, and what it means for Qi’ra and the galaxy remains to be answered, which has helped drive interest in the story. With Hidden Empire #5, it all comes to an end and the reality of her choices, of what she all had planned, and what her efforts actually contributed to the galaxy at large is finally revealed. By the end of the issue, despite my feelings about how it’s seemed a little crazy to have had all this happen between The Empire Strikes Back and RotJ (which is technically only 6 months), it all felt worth the troubles in the end, even if felt a little prolonged by the time we got here. However, especially as it keeps being advertised at the end of current comic issues and will have the veil lifted on it at Celebration Europe 2023, there is another crossover event on its way and how snug Hidden Empire’s finale feels as the perfect cap to this era of comics only hinders excitement or interest in more big, series-crossing stories. I’ll wait until we learn more about Ajax’s story and how it’ll be presented in the comics, but at least with HE’s end, the crossover certainly felt like they’ve done enough for this era thanks to writer Charles Soule’s deft handling of the many event series.
On the Amaxine Station, Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader cut their way through Qi’ra’s forces to reach the Fermata Cage, with Palpatine relishing the chance to deliver some pain to his enemies up close and personal. Before they make it to the Cage, Doctor Aphra, possessed by an ancient cult’s AI called the Spark Eternal, confronts them. I loved this moment for two reasons: Palpatine only sort of recognizes her and steps away, leaving Vader to deal with his old acquaintance, showing how little she matters to him and his galaxy-brain schemes; the Spark revealing how scared Aphra is of the two of them, peels back another layer of bravado she shows the galaxy around her. Armed with the Ascendant’s Null Blade, a weapon able of combating a lightsaber, the Spark lays into Vader, besting him for a moment, though it calling him weak prompts him to explode with the Force, separating the Spark Eternal from Aphra (with the sprite of the Spark floating away…)! Vader makes to kill Aphra but a loud noise from the Fermata Cage distracts him along enough for her to scurry away, digging into his concerns over his Master maybe betraying him, causing the Sith Lord to leave her alone and live another day. As a big fan of the character and her series, the story of Aphra’s possession by the Spark has been one of its longest, on-going tales, and has been entertaining throughout, but I didn’t expect it to end this way (though I liked the outcome), and I look forward to seeing this all play out in the pages of Alyssa Wong’s series as well.
With the distraction done, Palpatine and Vader await the Fermata Cage’s opening, and when it does they are ready for whatever’s inside. Or are they? When it opens, out comes…a little disk with no Force or Sith/Jedi connection?! Wait…what?! After all this time and it’s just a weird looking disk with a sort of triangle pattern on it?! And I still enjoyed this issue?! Moments before it opens, Palpatine says the Cage has only ever been used in the most extreme situations, so there’s more to this disk than meets the eye, right? Well, towards the issue’s end, as the Sith walk away from the disk, we see the Spark’s little wispy spirit self, which I mentioned floated away earlier, fly towards it and embed itself inside. The disk might not have anything Force related, but maybe it had something machine related? Considering the teases in the Revelations one-shot about the droid revolutionary Ajax, and how it’s been advertised at the end of this issue and other issues out there, could this disk somehow be related to Ajax’s upcoming crossover story? Is it something used to defeat him in the past? Or a vital part of him locked away? His processor core is already out there, buried by Han Solo and Chewbacca (and Revelations showed it being dug up by a droid), so maybe combining these two will complete his return? Like I said earlier, we might have an answer soon with the Marvel comics panel at Celebration Europe on April 10!
Before the Sith walk away from this mystery, they almost can’t! With both the Archivist and Qi’ra watching from a far, the latter commands their trap to be sprung, which the Sith realize too late is actually what’s happening here, leading to them being locked out of time and space by the Fermata Cage! Qi’ra’s plan truly works! I was a little surprised by this and suddenly so curious how it could backfire, with the answer coming from a not so surprising place. Ren, the Knights of Ren’s leader, is flying towards the ensuing battle on Amaxine Station per Qi’ra’s request, but is using the time it takes to approach to talk through the decision before them: join with Qi’ra and defeat the Sith, the Empire, though be their target for as long as they live, or be the ones who save the Sith, hoping it makes up for their raid on Vader’s Castle, and not have to worry about being their target for the rest of their lives. How the Knights of Ren have acted throughout this era has been interesting and sometimes unexpected, as we first met them as servants of the First Order in the Sequel Trilogy, so how did they end up on the side of Palpatine? Deciding they’d rather make friends of the Sith than enemies, Ren shoots at the Fermata Cage, causing a massive wave of power to explode out and Palpatine and Vader to be freed, destroying Qi’ra’s plans in fell swoop! If there was anyone who would’ve messed up Qi’ra’s plan for us readers to place any anger or frustration on, the Knights of Ren are the perfect punching bag. They land to confront Palpatine and Vader, to make sure they know it was them who helped, and they get a nice jolt of Force lightning from the Emperor for their troubles, as well as their unending service to him. Watching them get shocked helped a bit with my anger over their choice and this now sets them on the path we know they’ll go down.
Beyond the end of Qi’ra’s plans, there had to be some sort of repercussions to interrupting an ancient Force artifact containing so much of the mystical energy field in one place, right? The giant wave I mentioned earlier was already revealed to affect the galaxy in last month’s Bounty Hunters #32, while Palpatine and Vader discuss how their connection to the Force feels sporadic ever since the device was interrupted. In Star Wars #33 (Vol. 2), which released the same day as this issue, the wave helps Luke Skywalker out in a pinch and his resulting problems connecting to the Force give Leia hope this might be the right time to strike. And in the solicits for the comics in the coming months, there’s lots of talk of the Force unbound and Vader and Luke having issues with it. The Fermata Cage might not have done what Qi’ra wanted, but it’s weakened Force users everywhere and looks to propel much of the story coming up prior to the Ajax crossover event.
Qi’ra tells all her people to fly away, escape, and make new lives, considering their cause and her fight lost and over for good, while she takes off to parts unknown. Back at her secret base, Cadeliah plays the message Qi’ra left her with, where the crime syndicate leader tells her young charge the three gifts she’s left her: information, resources, and most importantly, choice. I’ve been curious why Qi’ra’s kept Cadeliah around, as it grew clearer with each issue it wasn’t to incite the flames of conflict on Corellia and the warring syndicates there, so why keep her then? Qi’ra tells Cadeliah they are the same person, from a certain point of view, and she wanted to give the young girl what she was never given: a choice. With the knowledge and remaining Crimson Dawn resources, Cadeliah can go and do as she wishes, and I have a suspicion she’ll factor into the era’s remaining story somehow. But at the same time, it’s very possible she’s going to be left alone for now, maybe someone the comics or elsewhere can revisit in the future. Only time (or the Celebration Europe panel) will tell!
While the Archivist also escapes, which we knew since the two hooded individuals in the framing story have been listening to her recount this tale, we finally learn the identity of the listeners: Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa! Brother and sister, during their training together sometime after Return of the Jedi (and The Princess and the Scoundrel), have somehow found and listened to the Archivisit’s tale of Qi’ra’s plans. It’s through them we have perspective on Qi’ra’s plans, as they credit her work to help give them time to muster their forces, weaken the Empire, and tell them about the second Death Star. This goes against what the Archivist says about Qi’ra’s plans, saying they failed, though the Sava isn’t wrong when she states Qi’ra was too alone, too removed from those she used to help her, and it’s what led to something like the Knights betraying her instead of helping. Leia laments Qi’ra didn’t come to them, to seek their help, as maybe with them, not alone, she could’ve lived to see them defeat the Sith like Qi’ra intended…
Which is when we flash to a random bar celebrating the news of the Empire’s fall and the Rebellion’s win at Endor, the crowd rowdy with excitement minus one lone, hooded individual: Qi’ra! She’s alive and well into the post-RotJ timeframe, and while I would’ve been happy if they left this ambiguous, it leaves hope we’ll see her again, somehow, someway, in stories yet to come about the era. Could she be in upcoming TV shows? A film? A novel (no, not that one)? Come back in a big way for the comics when they switch to a new era? The possibilities are endless, though I just hope she’ll feel the same way Luke and Leia do about her work, as it seems like, in this brief glimpse of her in the bar, she’s unsatisfied despite the news. Did she want to be the one who dealt the blow? Or is it because she is, like the Archivist said, alone the victory feels hollow and, well, lonely, hence her look? May her return find her some happiness again! Overall, it’s through the scene with Luke and Leia, and seeing Qi’ra one last time, the perspective on these events helps wrap up the story of her trilogy in a fitting way, as it clarifies her impact. Did it need to be three miniseries, with one blowing out to all the comics, or did it need to be more? The jury is out and your personal preference will dictate the answer, with me personally hoping she’d have had more and it focused on Qi’ra more throughout it, but it makes this feel like a complete ending for the era. Imagining the other series wrapping up in like 5-6 issues and setting us up for the film felt like the perfect next step for the comics. Knowing there’s much more than that, though maybe not THAT much more, is a little disheartening, as I don’t want Qi’ra’s impact to be lessened by the next crossover, but for now I’m going to enjoy how this brought it all to a close.
With the end of Hidden Empire also comes the final issue, for now, of this art team, one I picked in my Top Three for 2022’s comics. On art is Steven Cummings, while series regular inker Victor Olazaba is joined by Wayne Faucher, Guru-eFX remains on colors, and VC’s Travis Lanham is letterer once again. The glee on Palpatine’s face throughout most of the issue is unnerving, especially on the first page as he’s slicing up Crimson Dawn soldiers, the way he’s slinging his blade almost like he doesn’t have a care in the world, while Charles Soule’s dialogue has him talking about relishing the interaction. This sneering, creepy smile goes away as he realizes they sprung Qi’ra’s trap, his shout trapped by the Fermata Cage, a lock of fear and anger it’ll be a long time before anyone sees on him again. The panel where Vader blows Sparkra, aka the Spark-possessed Aphra, back with a legendary Force push, to the point it results in the Spark Eternal leaving her body, was a memorable display of all the art team’s abilities. Lanham’s SFX for the Force push, beginning where Vader is on the panel and ending where the Spark’s sprite is exiting Aphra’s body, taking up the top of the panel, sets the expectations of an epic push. The rest of the art follows through, Vader’s stance and his billowing cloak show both his power via how he holds fast against the storm he’s unleashed, while the circles rippling out show the expanding might of the blast. Aphra’s body hanging in air, like a slow-motion fall backwards, mimicking the scenes in films and movies where someone’s soul is separated from their body, with the Spark being the “soul,” gives the push lots of weight, because somehow it was enough to expel the entity from her, a ghostly image mimicking Aphra’s body’s position. And there’s even some metal from the walkway beneath them that’s pulled up, to further cement the strength of the push. Guru’s colors are what makes the Spark sprite feel like a “soul” leaving Aphra, the read barely covering up a ghost-like white. Speaking of colors, as I’ve said in issues past, I’ve really enjoyed the pink used for the Fermata Cage and it was cool to see its area of influence over the Amaxine Station from space, as we see the pink coloring engulfing much of the plant life on that side of the station. Qi’ra’s scream as she watches the Fermata Cage erupt and her plans go to ruin is heart wrenching, Lanham’s word bubble a simple yet stark shout. I love it’s followed up by Qi’ra gathering herself from the outburst and resigning herself to what comes next, her little “All right,” word bubble showing her ability to compartmentalize and move on. Though the final panel of her in the bar, sad and alone, certainly shows what happens here is much harder for her to move on from.
Hidden Empire #5 makes Qi’ra’s grand return a worthy enough endeavor for the comics in the end, as cements her impact on the larger story and leaves open some exciting possibilities.
+ Qi’ra lives and the possibilities which come with it
+ Feels like a fitting cap to Qi’ra’s return
+ Vader v Aphra; Luke and Leia; and what was that disk in the Cage all equal fun moments
–As always, wish we had just a little more time with Qi’ra
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.