Star Wars: Jedi Knights #8
THROUGH YOUNGLING EYES
It is a time of relative peace. While Supreme Chancellor Valorum and the Galactic Senate oversee democracy across the Galactic Republic, thousands of JEDI KNIGHTS maintain peace and justice on countless worlds.
The Jedi are masters of THE FORCE, the invisible energy field that permeates and connects all living things, granting those who know how to wield it incredible abilities.
Every day, new children with the potential to use the Force are born throughout the galaxy….
Writer: Marc Guggenheim
Artist: Madibek Musabekov
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Colourist: Luis Guerrero
Cover artist: Madibek Musabekov
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publication date: October 22 2025
Issue 8 of Jedi Knights changes up the angle from which we watch the misisons of the jedi, taking us from our familiar adult point of view to that of a child, in this case a young girl called Soona from the beautiful world of Kiranno. We watch as she’s told she has the necessary talent in the Force to become a youngling and start her ascent to full Jedihood, and see the two young Jedi who have visited Kiranno – Seera Longa and Berem Khana – as they make sure Soona understands that to accept their offer is to leave everything – everything – behind, and fully give herself to her lifes work, that of training to be a Jedi. We watch as Soona tells her parents, who are both proud and heartbroken, and much like Anakin as he left Shmi behind on Tatooine see them fade into the distance as she enters a T-6 Jedi Shuttle and leave Kiranno, leaping into hyperspace as they race across the galaxy to Coruscant.
Not long into their travels and a distress signal, travellers in need of desparate assistance, and with no other Jedi ship near they take the mission and drop out of hyperspace, telling Soona to stay on the ship while they go and help. However, it’s soon clear that this is no ordinary mission. We hear blaster fire and the buzz of lightsabers, and as Soona leaves the ship (all seen from her height, through her eyes) we’re faced with the two young Jedi fighting for their lives, blaster fire raining down on them. Seera tells Soona to go back to the ship, but she is struck and falls, as does Berem and as quickly as that, Soona is lost. There was no distress call at all, it was pirates, luring in good samaritans, and the last thing Soona sees before she is knocked into unconsciousness is a fierce looking male Togruta.
Soona wakes to a rescue, a hooded Jedi Knight slicing through enemies and iron bars, breaking her out, and they run until they once again encounter the togrutan pirate leader who reaches to grab Soona, but somehow, from somewhere she uses the Force to hurl him high and long, down to his demise in a move that at her age with her lack of training she shouldn’t be able to do. She reaches out, lifts the lightsaber of the fallen Jedi, the sight of which stops the pirates long enough for the hooded Jedi to reveal himself. It’s Kelleran Beq, and he praises her bravery as we cut to Coruscant and Soona gazing out at the skyline of the city.
Beq and Master Yoda enter, Yoda holding a lightsaber composed of parts from both fallen Jedi, and while she isn’t given the lightsaber quite yet, Yoda asks if she is ready to begin as the issue ends.
Surprising, intriguing, illuminating and oh so beautifully drawn by Madibek Musabekov who may just have delivered his best Star Wars work to date, the issue is a sidestep from the previous issues but one that asks many questions. Who is Soona, and how was she identified? Who are the pirates, and what will Beq’s role in her progress be? Yes, in other runs it could be described as a filler issue, but this is Star Wars – everything is relevant, everything counts and matters, so bookmark this as one to remember and return to as Soona seems set to be a character we’ll see more of, and with Beq and Yoda involved two very welcome masters who will guide her towards her future…however short that might be.
