– Spoiler Review –
As Luke Skywalker looks for answers on how to fix the borrowed lightsaber he’s been using, Star Wars #35 (Vol. 2) finds him introduced to a mysterious doctor, leading him on an unexpected journey through the Force in another of Charles Soule’s excellent issues focusing on the young Skywalker’s growth as a Jedi.
After being saved by Gretta, a human member of the Fallanassi Force religion order, Luke eventually came around to her and let her guide him to a kyber expert hiding out on Christophsis, Dr. Cuata. A giant creature from the planet’s depths interrupted their journey, but he rescued them from the beast. Dr. Cuata is an eccentric Pantoran, who talks with the dozens of kyber he has around his neck, and it’s through him and Gretta that Luke (and by extension us readers at home) learns far more about lightsabers and kyber than he (and we) ever would from his ancient Jedi texts. Charles Soule has slowly been building out kyber lore and this next step is just as fascinating as all that’s come before, and then some. Cuata schools Luke on the connection between the lightsaber wielder and the kyber within the weapon, helping him understand why his first two sabers felt more like tools than as an extension of himself, as well as pointing out how they choose the wielder as much as a Jedi or Sith would, which leads to moments like the Skywalker lightsaber zooming into Rey’s hands instead of Kylo’s. He also learns more about purifying kyber, which we first saw Ahsoka Tano do in the novel Ahsoka, after it’s been bled, the process of a dark sider corrupting their kyber, as Soule first showed us in the pages of his Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith comic (and we’ve recently seen on screen in Jedi: Survivor). Gretta has the details of the process Luke must take, as the Fallanassi were recruited by the Jedi to purify kyber after the Sith fell millennia ago, using a ritual where, instead of pouring rage and anger into the kyber to bleed it, they poured hope and joy into it to offset the Sith’s work, which she refers to as a healing, not a battle. The process can be painful, as one has to connect to the dark side user who bled it, and can leave those who are successful changed. Luke attempts it and is unsuccessful, but what happens is a rather thrilling process with connections to Soule’s previous works. Afterwards, Luke’s asked to connect with a raw kyber by Cuata, see what happens, but he puts Luke’s life in danger in the process, though it leads to another big and intriguing moment! So, you know, us readers might side with Cuata and think this is all worth the risk for some intriguing Force lore and exploration!
When Luke tries to purify the bled crystal, he’s mentally transported into a giant lair, where Sith Eternal markings adorn the walls and dozens commingle before a Sith on her throne. She confronts Luke, speaking directly to him, telling him there’s no pain and rage in her hall, menacingly revealing she doesn’t want to be healed, grabbing Luke and trying to use his power, his ability…only for him to be transported elsewhere, now in a strange body, a mouthless avatar with swirling blue and white making up his being, while the metallic parts he has with him, his hand and lightsaber, are stark white and outlined in red, abnormal to the rest of his body. For many readers, this might be something new, but it’s actually familiar to fans of Soule’s previous work, as we saw Vader in much the same way when he meditated/worked with Lord Momin on Fortress Vader in Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith! Though in his meditation, Vader’s made up of swirling red, not blue, with his metallic parts white as well, while the only blue in the landscape around this meditation form being little butterflies in the background. Whereas Vader’s plane is stormy, Luke’s is calm and still, besides the storm raging in the distance around…Vader’s Castle on Mustafar! Vader regards Luke and he ignites his blade, but an overwhelming blast forces him out and back into the real world. Was that actually Vader and he sensed Luke, pushing him out of his mind? Was this all some type of vision? Either way, it was really cool to see such a connection between these stories, years apart, largely left up to us to interpret. I have a good feeling this was actually in Vader’s mind, somehow, and man, are kybers even more interesting than ever before if they can connect people like this.
As for when Luke’s given the raw kyber and asked to connect, he finds himself before Yoda. As far as Luke’s concerned, this isn’t actually Yoda, but a figment of his imagination, so he’s pretty open and honest with the old Jedi Master, leaving us to maybe believe Luke’s right and this isn’t Yoda, even if the Jedi Master gives us nothing to assume it can’t be him. As a fan of Star Wars Rebels, I had no illusions this was actually Yoda, here via the Force, as it reminded me of when Ezra Bridger and Yoda talked when the young Jedi was in the Lothal Temple, and by their conversation’s end, after Luke ‘leaves’ and returns to the real world, we stick around just a little longer to see Yoda and the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi discuss Luke. What happens when Luke gets back is a huge moment for the comics to have, but to get there, I absolutely want to quick discuss the conversations he has with Yoda and then Yoda’s with Obi-Wan.
With Yoda, Luke lets his frustrations out about his perceived lack of specifics and guidance in his training, though this all stems more from his own choice to leave Yoda early and save his friends than anything Yoda did and didn’t do, but Yoda dismisses these feelings and points out every Jedi will walk their own path, they must, to be who and what they and the Force need them to be. He basically calls Luke out for never coming to visit, despite Luke claiming Yoda never responded to him, but how could the Jedi Master respond if he was never truly called, as Luke actually didn’t want to speak to him. Yoda warns him a decision looms, one within himself, and only then a Jedi can he be. Luke’s not ready to confront the truth of Yoda’s words, of having to confront Vader again and the truth he is Luke’s father, and calls their conversation pointless and he’ll learn more from the ancient texts instead, saying he’ll leave. Yoda lets Luke go, but due to the Force Wave, where the Force is either very strong or non-existent (after the events of Hidden Empire #5), he can’t quite leave, and after a hilarious line from Yoda making fun of him for it, he points out to Luke, despite the Wave, the Force is always there; Yoda’s line revealing this simple truth sounded like Leia’s advice everyone mentions in The Last Jedi, and I hope it was on purpose by Soule. Will this help Luke combat its effects until it finally ends? And when will it end? As Luke leaves, Obi-Wan’s Ghost appears, saying the young Jedi isn’t ready yet, but Yoda says otherwise, that he still needs to learn more of course, but he’ll be ready when the time comes. When Luke awakes in the real world, the raw kyber has changed: it’s glowing green! That’s right, we got to see Luke get the green kyber which will eventually be used to create his lightsaber, as seen in Return of the Jedi and beyond!!! I’ve been curious, ever since the solicitations first started mentioning kyber crystals for these issues, if we might end this series with Luke building his lightsaber, finally canonizing the deleted scene from the film and this, to me at least, confirms just an idea. It would be a really neat way to end the series!
This was such a cool series of moments and Force lore, once again showing Soule cannot stop delivering when he focuses on Luke and his journey in the Force. I felt the issue ended in a slightly weird place, however, with both Dr. Cuata and Gretta. For Cuata, I liked he was more eager to learn what happens if someone can’t come out of connecting with a kyber crystal rather than caring about the individual, that science was more his concern than anything else, so in a way it’s a very good thing he didn’t join up with the Empire, as he’d never let someone like Galen Erso mess up a project like the Death Star. Luke isn’t happy Cuata put his life on the line, and while he thanks him for helping understand lightsaber and kyber stuff, he takes the green and red crystals and never wants to see him again, but Cuata’s final lines make it seem like we’ll see him again. Maybe. There’s no hints in the solicitations yet for any return, and I’m curious what he’d hope to do, use Luke for more experiments? As for Gretta, after her great introduction, she feels more like a resource than a character this issue, and the two seemingly part, her going her own way and Luke on more adventures to figure things out. Hopefully she’s going with him, as it would be disappointing this is the last we see from her!
This was a big issue and the art team of Madibek Musabekov, colorist Rachelle Rosenberg, and letterer Clayton Cowles swung it out of orbit! In the scenes where the kyber takes Luke to some crazy places, the initial shock of the giant hall, with the lady Sith sitting on the throne, hits us as much as it does Luke, his surprised “What?” by Cowles almost lost in the sea of people before the throne, Luke the Waldo of the panel. It’s a big panel, almost taking up the full page, and the perspective is far overhead the scene, where we see dozens of people milling about, red guards at its edges, the Sith Eternal symbol gracing the walls, big structures ring the throne room area, giving the space a claustrophobic feel despite how big it is. Rosenberg’s colors make the feeling hard to ignore, the dark edges of the room feel like there’s nothing beyond their shadows, while the red tinting on everything is foreboding, especially the glowing pyramid structure behind the Sith Lady’s throne. The lady herself, and her cute little hounds (which sort of look like black Embers aka charhounds), has such a sinister smile as she approaches Luke it made my skin crawl, while the ghastly faces on the people around her show this is anything but ordinary vision. Even better yet is how closely Musabekov matches Giuseppe Camuncoli’s art for the mindscape of Vader, I almost wondered if Camuncoli guest-starred here! The swirling body of Luke is almost plucked right from the Vader series and how he looked there, while Rosenberg’s colors look to match what little blue was in those panels in the butterflies and applied it to Luke’s form. As a double page spread, there’s little dialogue but it’s rather clear what happens from the angry way Musabekov draws Vader, red filling in the details where black dominates the panel, such a contrast to Luke’s blue form. The SFX for Luke entering is big and loud, as if he’s transcending planes, but the one when Vader forces Luke out is bigger still, showing how much more powerful Vader still is compared to Luke. As for other aspects, Dr. Cuata has such a great look, from his tattered clothes, always one goggles, and necklace of mutli-colored kyber, but it’s in the way Musabekov draws him you can tell he’s all about science and not worried much about people, the disinterested way he regards Luke and Gretta for the most part, the way he cocks his head to listen to his kyber, to the lack of a smile until science is being done. My favorite little thing this issue is the green surrounding Luke as he reaches out to connect with the raw kyber, foreshadowing how it’ll turn green when he’s done!
Here are a few other things:
- It’s June, so the Pride Month covers are back!! You can see this issue’s above, featuring Andor‘s power couple, Vel Sartha and Cinta Kaz!!
- Charles Soule’s fourth novel released this week, an original one titled The Endless Vessel. I haven’t started reading it yet, but I have my copy, and if it’s anything like his previous works, it’s going to be well-worth a read. If you haven’t picked up his previous original novels, The Oracle Year and Anyone, I highly suggest doing so, while I imagine if you’re reading this review and comic, you probably already read his third novel: The High Republic – Light of the Jedi!
- Madibek Musabekov takes a break in the next issue, with has been described as Top Gun: Star Wars, starring the Millennium Falcon! After that, he returns as the series delves into the Dark Droids crossover event.
Star Wars #35 (Vol. 2) explores some exciting lore for kybers, the Force, and just how Luke got his green lightsaber crystal, all done in his signature way that leaves room for more expansion, while the art team rises to the challenge of the wild adventure Luke goes on!
+ Luke’s visions, from ancient Sith, Vader’s mindscape, and Yoda chats!
+ Seeing Luke get his green kyber crystal!
+ Lots of intriguing new lore
+ Art team understands the assignment, and then some!
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.
STAR WARS (Vol. 2)
The Destiny Path: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 / Arc Review — The Will of Tarkin: #7 | #8/Arc Review — Operation Starlight: #9 | #10 | #11 | #12 — War of the Bounty Hunters: #13 | #14 | #15 | #16 | #17 | #18 — Crimson Reign: #19 | #20 | #21 | #22 | #23 | #24 — Special Issue: #25 — The Path to Victory: #26 | #27 | #28 | #29 | #30 — Quests of the Force: #31 | #32 | #33 | #34