– Spoiler Review –
The penultimate episode of Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi “The Jedi Strike Back” brings all the characters back together, providing the reunion Lah Kara so desperately has sought since the original short, and ups the stakes for the big finale.
The final shuffle is upon us, as Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi readies its characters for the finale by bringing them, and all show’s various threads, together. On one hand, we finally have the reunion between Lah Zhima and Lah Kara, bringing father and daughter together for the first time since the original short aired 5 years ago. On the other, some contrivances come our way to force everyone’s hand, from a big space battle where somehow a bunch of enemy drill ships slip through to some decisions which feel forced and are reversed rather quickly. “The Jedi Strike Back” is no slouch in The Ninth Jedi series, but looking at what we’ve gotten so far, it’s easily the weakest episode in my opinion. It needed to happen, allowing the real juicy bits to remain for the finale and raising the stakes in the process, but it just doesn’t feel like it always went about it in the best way. Case in point, the forced decision and its quite reversal. Zhima urges everyone to leave him and go for Nawaam’s ship, which I guess is named Fort Dominion, saying he’ll protect the giant kyber crystal on Hy Izlan. Everyone jets off to follow his lead, but barely a few moments later, Kara’s awareness of the threat of Gennoh desire for revenge (and likely also sensing the big lumbering war machine which also attacks), means they turn around and help him anyways. This is especially weird because we’d had a flashback of a younger Zhima, watching a very young Kara horsing around with Juro, where he came to the realization he was never really alone even though he thought he was, but he chooses to be alone right after it. It’s not like Kara, Homen, Ethan, and Bee-Toh show up that much after Gennoh and Zhima being to battle, so it almost feels moot to even have them make this move both in and out of the story. Overall, “The Jedi Strike Back” is the first episode to really express any inconsistencies, and even then, though they don’t break the show any way, it’s more of nitpick by myself than anything else.
It being 5 years since the original “The Ninth Jedi” short premiered with the first Star Wars: Visions volume was something I’ve come to terms with thanks to this series releasing and being so damn good across the board. Then realizing we’ve been waiting those 5 years to see if Kara and her father would reunite, it’s a whole other pill to swallow. With the big battle roaring to life in the space outside the Aerial Temple, there isn’t as much time as either Zhima or Kara would’ve hoped for their reunion. Thankfully, the moment still felt so very earned and emotionally rewarding to see happen. Kara’s initial reaction, absolutely sobbing, felt fitting both given what she’s gone through to get to this moment and how it gels with their father/daughter bond briefly but brightly introduced in the opening short. It also felt earned within the show itself, though thanks to the big battle outside and the sense of urgency as Nawaam’s Fort Dominion starts tractor beaming the Aerial Temple to him, they unfortunately have to keep the reunion short and sweet before it’s back to galaxy-saving business. They get to discuss the tough decisions a Jedi must make and how there’s still not a great answer regarding how to help people of the galaxy without having to take a life, but they at least understand it’s not just having strength, but something more, something elusive. I’m assuming The Ninth Jedi will provide its take on a possible answer in the finale, and I’ll be curious if it’s more of what I hope Rey Skywalker will be doing with her New Jedi Order, hints at which we have in the recent novel, Legacy. Dubin from the opening episode and Lady Tafflah from Bibin return to the fold, and as Kara hands Tafflah a saber and gives Zhima one as he returns Ethan’s, the little group has their first informal meeting as a new Jedi Order, Bee-Toh, Kwana, and Homen included too. It’s an interesting group and does point to a new take on the Order, putting its symbol in the hands of those who will carry its torch by being there when the galaxy needs them, which feels like a great new take I’d love to see more of/I believe Rey could usher in as well. They don’t get to discuss plans for the future, as they have more pressing concerns, as Zhima explains just how deadly the kyber cannon could be with the pure kyber crystal in the temple: it’ll tear a whole right through the galaxy itself. Everyone takes off to play their part, with Tafflah getting to have the big morale boosting speech before the space battle opens, and then the action commences.
When Kara and team return to aid Zhima, but end up battling what amounts to a big-ass droideka with a nigh-impenetrable shield, we get to see the might of balance. Gennoh is General Grievous on steroids, giving Zhima a run for his money. And the big droideka puts all the other’s lives at risk. But when Kara steps up, realizing what must be done and how to get through, her father also sees the futility of dragging out the fight/no hope of Gennoh backing down. So the two focus, hollowing out their emotions, and focusing on trusting solely in the Force, what happens next to them be damned. In doing so, their blades both brighten to a blinding silver, a further interesting addition to Zhima’s unique blades. What follows is Zhima takes out Gennoh without barely trying, while Kara gets a bit of a Luke Skywalker on Crait moment, seemingly blasted to pieces but all good when the dust settles, though she now stand atop the droideka, plunging her blade into it to stop it for good. I’m hoping we’ll see these two link up again in the finale, and if it’ll help Zhima choose a different path to dealing with Nawaam, as maybe then he’ll sense his daughter’s hope of not having to kill more people. Either way, their efforts solve a short-term problem, but a bigger one arrives, as sneaky drill ships rip open the Aerial Temple and the big kyber crystal is nabbed by the tractor beam, pulled into Nawaam’s waiting grasp. Really eager to see how the series all wraps up!!
Here are a few other things:
- I’d theorized Gennoh was hiding his new form because he felt shame or hadn’t wanted it, thinking a semi-redemption arc for him would be fascinating. But I was wrong, he was purely out for revenge, which also works and feels like the choice he’d make anyways.
- Also really hoping the finale maybe explains how/why Lah Zhima showed up to Hy Izlan with a baby Kara. I feel like there’s a story there this series hasn’t seemed to worried about sharing, for some reason. It won’t matter if we don’t get it, especially if it’s really not important, but maybe they’re trying to keep such things open in case there’s ever room for more of The Ninth Jedi‘s world.
- Really hoping we get more of the space battle in the finale. We don’t need a ton, but the impressive amount of ships and their cool designs would be great to see more of!
- Speaking of the space battle, felt very Citizen’s Fleet from The Rise of Skywalker, hey? I enjoyed the little taste of what it was like for everyday individuals and citizen being part of that fleet in the small, though still important post-TRoS sections of the novel, The Last Order.
- It’s been around for 5 years but I just realized/thought of this now….Hy Izlan being the Aerial Temple, is it called that/spelt that way because “Hy” equals “High” and “Izlan” is essentially “Island” so it’s “High Island” aka a floating Aerial Temple?!
Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi “The Jedi Strike Back” might have a few small stumbles, but its big reunion and undeniably exciting set up for the finale work well enough to bury any concerns.
+ The reunion 5 real-world years in the making
+ A sense of a new Jedi Order and the set up for a big finale
+ Father-daughter lightsaber linking moment
– Some contrivances to get all the parts moving towards the finale
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him and the website on on Bluesky and Instagram @mynockmanor.
STAR WARS: VISIONS PRESENTS – THE NINTH JEDI REVIEWS:
Ep. 1: “A New Threat” | Ep. 2: “A Hidden Weapon” | Ep. 3: “Voice From the Past” | Ep. 4: “Nawaam Attacks” | Ep. 5: “The Storm of Violence” | Ep. 6: “Light of the Force” | Ep. 8: “The Ninth Jedi”
STAR WARS VISIONS REVIEWS:
Vol. 3: “The Duel: Payback” | “The Song of Four Wings” | “The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope” | “The Bounty Hunters” | “Yuko’s Treasure” | “The Lost Ones” | “The Smuggler” | “The Bird of Paradise” | “BLACK”
Vol. 2: “Sith” | “Screecher’s Reach” | “In the Stars” | “I Am Your Mother” | “Journey to the Dark Head” | “The Spy Dancer” | “The Bandits of Golak” | “The Pit” | “Aau’s Song”
Vol. 1: “The Duel” | “Tatooine Rhapsody” | “The Twins” | “The Village Bride” | “The Ninth Jedi” | “TO-B1” | “The Elder” | “Lop & Ochō” | “Akakiri”
Related Material: Takashi Okazaki (one-shot) | Peach Momoko (one-shot) | Art of Star Wars: Visions Vol. 1 (book) | Star Wars: Visions #1 (comic) | Ronin: A Visions Novel (novel)