Star Wars (2020) #47
THE TRIAL OF LANDO CALRISSIAN, PART 4:
SENTENCING
As Lando stands trial for traitorous crimes before top Rebellion leaders, a mysterious group captured Mon Mothma from her remote location!
Lando then provided information to the Rebellion about the mercenaries. At Chewbacca’s request, he accompanied the mission to rescue Mothma.
Now Mothma is back to safety and is ready to continue Lando’s trial….
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Madibek Musabekov
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Cover artist: Stephen Segovia
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publication date: June 5 2024
What do you do when you’ve made mistakes, tried hard to rectify them while protecting your friends but find your loyalty to one person in particular superceedes all others? That’s where we find Lando Calrissian aboard Home One at the start of issue 47, pondering on a predicament that has essentially seen him framed as (Re)public enemy number one. We see a GNK Droid waddle up to his cell, and activate a noxious gas that quickly starts to choke Lando. Fortunately for Lando, his lawyers droid Three-Ell comes along and not only stops the GNK droid but also pulls Lando out, only to quickly be held at gunpoint as Rebel troopers arrive. Georgio arrives and is none too happy, scolding the troopers and checking on Lando and wondering if the upper brass – Madine specifically – have ordered this attempt on his life.
We return to the trial and an unusual sight, Mon Mothma in her military dress and she sits with Ackbar and Madine to continue the trial and quickly it restarts as Ackbar acknowledges the incident with Lando, blaming the recent events of Dark Droids, while Georgio wonders whether it was an accident, or a case of wanting to dispose of the evidence. Madine is consistent in his distain for Calrissian as georgio calls her first witness – Lobot.
Lobot explains what Lando did to rescue and save him, explaining one of his main traits, his loyalty. Ackbar is incredulous, but Lobot explains how once Lando gives his loyalty, then that’s something he won’t break, and how that loyalty has a hierarchy; he’s known Lobot the longest, so that meant his loyalty to the Alliance had to be put aside to protect Lobot in his hour of need.
As Lobot finishes answering, Georgio tells Lando this is his last chance and he makes his play, telling Leia about how he visited Jabba’s palace and knows how to get Han Solo out. Madine reads his words as emotional blackmail but Lando simply wants Lobot to be ok, he knows he is done. Satisfied that Leia will keep her word to protect Lobot, he takes the stand but instead of quietly accepting his fate he lets loose, reminding the entire proceedings that they’re all criminals who would be executed on sight by the Empire, and signing off by reminding them that he’s Lando Calrissian and they were lucky to have him.
We arrive at the closing remarks, and Georgio drops another inconvenient truth. Lando is a Rebel hero, and a popular one at that. The trial has been kept a secret, and she suggests to the court that they need to find a way to live with what he did, something he admitted to right from the off. They break for five minutes and return, finding Calrissian guity and sentencing him to paying 250 million credits in restitution, which he can pay off with his actions, or until such a time as the war is over. We end the issue with Georgio leaving Home One as Lando wonders how much of the recent events – Mothma’s kidnapping, the attempt on his life – were orchestrated by her to influence the ruling. She admits nothing, reminding him that at 250 million he’s worth more than Mothma and tells him to get in touch should he ever need her help again.
Another great issue, and a satisfying conclusion to a trial that while dubious in nature (a rebellion of volunteers and willing participants being run in such a way initially didn’t sit right) has been expertly handled to such a degree that coming out of the trial it makes far more sense. In a machine like the Empire, staff are so expendable it’s likely there is no due process or rule of law, so the fact there’s a formal process to the proceedings says far more for the Rebellion than first impressions may have lended.
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Soule, Charles (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 22 Pages - 07/17/2024 (Publication Date) - Marvel (Publisher)
