– Spoiler Review –
In Jedi Knights #9, the series’ penultimate issue, Marc Guggenheim goes full throttle on the connective thread of Qui-Gon Jinn’s would-be assassin, setting up for a big finale full of revelations.
Teased throughout the series so far, Corlis Rath’s desire to kill Qui-Gon Jinn has been an interesting thread, and now we’re entering what’s basically the two-part finale to Jedi Knights. As Qui-Gon awakes from his coma after Corlis poisoned him on Mina-Rau in issue #6, Mace Windu and Aayla Secura’s actions to secure a cure in issue #7 come with just enough context to help him start exploring what drives this vendetta against him. Whereas the answers in issue #7 didn’t come with enough context for us readers to connect any dots, issue #9 might draw it out a bit too long, with most of what we get here stuff readers have surmised over the course of theorizing and waiting for us to get here, like why Qui-Gon might not recognize Corlis and how it’s related to their species’ special Chrysalis ritual. There are two aspects which weren’t as easily discernible, which is Corlis went by a different name, Davros Hex, when Qui-Gon met him, and how teetering on the edge of the dark side Count Dooku was at the time. While the name revelation is interesting, it doesn’t feel substantial, but the interactions between Qui-Gon and Dooku are what kept me most engaged.
Dooku was always fascinating to me as a character, someone who left the Order, was still a respected member, and yet fell to the dark side and became a pawn in a much larger game. Canon has done wonders for him, be it in things as small as Age of Republic – Count Dooku #1, seeing when he does fall to the dark side fully in Tales of the Jedi, and getting to experience his time as a Jedi and why he left the Order in Dooku: Jedi Lost, there’s been a lot of great exploration of his motivations and actions. While Jedi Knights #9 might not be as big as those, seeing him pushing a dark dogma on Qui-Gon in such a way where you can both see the disillusionment creeping in on the edges but also done in such a way it’s coming from a place where he thinks he’s right, not because he’s fallen yet or anything, fits well with canon’s portrayal so far.
After the POV/VR-esque antics of Madibek Musabekov, colorist Luis Guerrero, and letterer Clayton Cowles in issue #8, we’re back to their normal work, which is still some of the best in Star Wars comics at the moment. The transitions between past and present were very fluid this issue, giving it a sense of how connected everything is and how important the lessons of the past are for the present. It’s almost like showing off, in a good way, for the team, especially when they have side by side panels of something similar but from a different era, like when there’s two close-ups on Qui-Gon’s head, once in the past and once in the series’ present, as the past features a clean-cut, shorter hair, and less wrinkly version of him while the present adds some wrinkles, some hints of fading color, and the long flowing hair and mustache. The other big version of this split era content was the final page of the issue, where Qui-Gon stands looking up at Corlis in both eras, the framing giving us a similar sense of gazing up at Corlis that Qui-Gon’s feeling, while it also allows us to see the differences in Corlis/Davros, as the younger version is a buff, frightening fighting machine, while the older is changed yet similar in little ways, but he’s skinnier now, muscle and face obscured by his sleek outfit of choice, while Guerrero’s coloring gives the younger a very imposing sense of darkness and power with the yellows and blacks, while the older gets a mixture of pinks and reds and some white, like violence will strike where you least expect it with him.
Here are a few other things:
- While Jedi Knights ends with its tenth issue in December, Marc Guggenheim isn’t done with Star Wars comics yet, as he has the Jar Jar #1 special that’s co-written by Jar Jar himself, Ahmed Best, which also stars another Best character, Kelleran Beq! It’s out in February.
- For some reason Qui-Gon kept calling Mina-Rau “Xuretia,” so either that’s just an error, the name of the city on the planet they were in, or a different name for the planet?
Jedi Knights #9 provides clarifications on the connective thread of Qui-Gon Jinn’s would-be assassin and sprinkles in some great Count Dooku content, all setting up for what should be a fun and satisfying finale.
+ Can’t avoid answers any longer!
+ Dooku’s time with Qui-Gon
– Felt too drawn out for aspects we already surmised
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him and the website on Bluesky.
JEDI KNIGHTS REVIEWS
Vol. 1 “Guardians of the Republic”: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 — Vol. 2: #6 | #7 | #8