– Spoiler Review –
In Star Wars #46 (Vol. 2), Lando Calrissian’s trial takes a pause in the proceedings as he joins the team following his lead on the kidnapped Mon Mothma’s location, though as this arc has proven already, it’s the conversations within which make this story sing.
This trial over Lando’s misdeeds says as much about him as it does about those bringing it against him, as we saw in last issue when Leia takes the stand and she gets to speak her peace but be faced with the reality of what brought Lando to do what he did on Cloud City. Issue #46 is our chance to explore Mon Mothma, and while it’s outside the confines of the court, it certainly pertains to it. Mon has had a great resurgence as of late, first in Star Wars Rebels, as we saw her speak up against the Empire, in the books post-Return of the Jedi, and now on TV with Andor, showing the behind-the-scenes actions she was taking in secret before coming out publicly. Season two of Andor, likely out 2025, will finish that journey and take her involvement up to and likely during what we saw in Rebels, but the way Charles Soule writes his script for her conversation with the kidnapper, it leaves room for the show to expand while also focuses on something it likely couldn’t override. We begin the issue with Mon being approached by Hachi, one of the Scarabi mercenaries, who wants a friendly chat with the former Senator to better understand why she’s part of the Rebellion. What I wasn’t expecting, and absolutely loved seeing, was how Mon follows up on her statement to Hachi about conversations being how she makes her way in the galaxy. Hachi doesn’t want the company line though, so Mon’s initial statements don’t totally impress, but she begins to rope the mercenary in with a story about a peach to help explain why she’d give up her wealth and position to help others. It’s what Mon does next though which truly impresses, as she begins to take apart Hachi’s life, bit by bit, like the Empire does to everyone, and at first I wasn’t getting where she was going with it, and Hachi was growing more and more upset, but the moment it clicks what Mon’s attempting was nothing short of perfection. We learn a little about Hachi herself along the way, from how their mercenary existence is how she gets by and she has a wife, but her questions to Mon, the desire to understand, point to someone who maybe wants something more from life. Seeing Mon Mothma in action this way, where the Jedi have the Force and she has her words, it’s clear why she’s such a threat to the Empire, as she knows how to appeal to anyone, showing the horrors of the ruling regimen’s mundanity and indifference to everyone’s feelings can sneak up on people and dismantle them, piece by piece, until there’s nothing left; It’s a potent cocktail and it tells us a lot about Mon’s worldview and why she’ll always strive to win with words first, actions second. The fact she manages to get through to Hachi, who begins to doubt what her group has done, speaks volumes to Mon’s effectiveness, especially since much of this issue beforehand is all about building up the dangerousness of the Scarabi as a whole, though the fact one of Hachi’s own kills her for her doubts does maintain such an image.
As Mon nearly talks her way out of her situation, General Madine, Admiral Ackbar, and Princess Leia hatch a plan to deal with Chewbacca’s information on the Scarabi, which is really Lando’s info but his furry acquaintance did as asked and obscured the truth. Kes Dameron volunteers his Pathfinders for the mission to explore all the Scarabi safe houses, though he asks a surprising question, at least initially for me, but it certainly makes sense once Madine answers it by telling Kes he has the authority to do whatever it takes to prevent Mon Mothma from falling into enemy hands; I didn’t quite think killing Mon was on the table probably because of her plot armor, but to safe guard the group’s secrets, it makes sense, though I’m curious if she knows or has agreed to such measures. Either way, as Kes sets out, Chewbacca just has one request: Lando join them. Madine’s really resistant to the idea, going so far as to threaten he’ll be throwing Lando out the airlock when he returns anyways, but with a few conditions he’s allowed to go. There’s a fun scene of them going against a droideka, a nice little nod to The Phantom Menace’s 25th Anniversary, but as time begins to run out, we see them coming up empty with each safe house. When they locate it, there’s no need to see the action sequence of Kes and his team breaking through the Scarabi, as interesting as it might’ve been with the mercenaries’ wing-suits, since what we do see is far more consequential. Lando’s the one to find Mon and there’s some hostility from her towards him, her assuming he’s going to kill her, but while Chewbacca has his bowcaster to Lando’s back, he proceeds to tell Mon how important being a rebel is to him now and how important he knows she is to the cause. He throws in the hope she’ll make some overtures on his expense, but he just wants to make she’s back and works her magic to lead them to their win. When she gets back to the fleet, Mon wastes no time and wants to immediately continue the trial! With Mon potentially in Lando’s corner is a big get, if she pulls through, though I imagine it’ll take more than her to get Lando out of trouble, so I’ll be interested to see what advocate Georgio pulls out of her sleeves to bring this thing home (as the trial arc ends next issue).
Continuing on art is Madibek Musabekov, Rachelle Rosenberg for colors, and Clayton Cowles lettering and, as they’ve done before, they bring some great dynamism to the conversations which take up much of the issue. When the issue begins, Mon’s often looks like we’d expect, stately, despite the cuts on her face or disheveled hair, with a calm demeanor and mostly expressionless look, while Rosenberg offers up lighter colors on and around her face. When Mon begins to playact as what the Empire does to people, Musabekov brings an almost Dark Droids-level creepiness to her face, accentuating the cuts and sharper angles, making her look emancipated a little, in a scary way, while Rosenberg dulls the coloring of her face and makes the panels behind her darker, adding to the menacing turn, while Cowles pushes away her word bubbles, as if to denote disinterest like she’s talking about the Empire employs. You can see how much this change and Mon’s words are affected Hachi, the anger growing more intense on her face, a viciousness coming out especially when Musabekov closes in and only shows half her face, the yellowish/orange background from Rosenberg giving a restless, ready-to-burst energy to the panels. When Lando finds Mon, he’s initially in the same uncertainty colors, the yellow/orange background, but he quickly moves into the teal-like background when he’s allowed to speak for himself, not when others are speaking about him, but Chewie remains in such a colored background, tense and waiting to see what Lando has to say. When it’s clear they are all on the same page, the Rebellion is important to them all, the final background color of the scene is a mixture of the two, a pea green.
Here are a few other things:
- We unfortunately don’t have any updates on what’s all to come yet for this series when this era hits the final stretch before Return of the Jedi, first teased in the solicitation of the upcoming 9th trade paperback release (which collects issues #46-50), but I hope they’ll take the time to reveal how much more is left and tease what might come next sooner than later.
- The 2024 Pride Cover in June for this series will feature Ruu, first introduced in The High Republic: Tales of Light and Life!
Star Wars #46 (Vol. 2) revels in the power of words as Mon Mothma showcases her abilities while Lando makes his play to help win his trial.
+ Mon Mothma’s super power…
+ Lando’s confession
+ …which gets a compelling treatment from the art team
– Not enough time with the Scarabi as a whole
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Bluesky, Twitter @MynockManor, and Instagram @mynockmanor.
STAR WARS (Vol. 2)
The Destiny Path: #1-6 — Operation Starlight: #7-11 — War of the Bounty Hunters: #12-18 — Crimson Reign: #19-24 — Special Issue: #25 — The Path to Victory: #26-30 — Quests of the Force: #31 | #32 | #33 | #34 | #35 | #36 — Dark Droids: #37 | #38 | #39 | #40 | #41 — #42 | #43 — Trial of Lando Calrissian: #44 | #45