Star Wars (2020) #33
ESCAPE FROM NO-SPACE
With nothing to do but sit in their quarters and think, Chewbacca came up with a plan to escape using the Nihil Path engine.
The plan was brought to Captain Blythe, who remained skeptical but offered support to help with retrieving the Path engine from the Rebels’ ship, which was being attacked by Killdroids, putting not only the Path engine in danger but the Jedi text as well.
In an effort to save both, Luke Skywalker rocketed off toward the ship to fight the droids but was caught in their clutches, having his hand and lightsaber crushed….
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Madibek Musabekov
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Cover artist: Stephen Segovia and Rain Beredo
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publication date: April 5, 2023
We ended last issue with Luke racing back to the ship to get the ancient Jedi book that had been left behind, but running into trouble and start issue #33 the same, his lightsaber and hand crushed by one of the Killdroids, hurled to the ground in a panic as he looks at his damaged apendage. He’s about to be ended, and as Holdo and Lando race through the droids to help him, he finds calm, using the Force with his good hand to lift the Killdroids off their feet – all of the droids that is – and smashing them into the ground. The book now back in his hand he collapses, the exertions too much as we skip forward to the Kezarat Colony as Lando checks in on Luke, thanking him for saving them by destroying the droids and getting the Path Engine. Luke doesn’t understand quite how he accessed the Force so strongly, but with his lightsaber destroyed and Vader on his mind, he knows what he has to do.
They reunite, Leia checking on Lukes hand as Captain Blythe realises that they indeed have a Path Engine and soon addresses his people, telling them there’s a way back to the wider galaxy for them, and steps back to allow Lando and Leia to explain to his people the state of the galaxy and their part in it. How this group of ‘heroes’ are technically criminals, fighting against a despotic Empire, and that the galaxy they may return to is a far more dangerous place than No-Space. Blythe looks pensive as we see Lando and Holdo converse, Holdo appreciating Lando’s honest words while he reminds her that his carefully curated ‘reputation’ is a tool he uses and not the reality of who Lando is. He asks her if she’ll stay behind in No-Space with him, lead a quiet uncomplicated life, but Holdo has unfinished business as we cut to Blythe and Leia coming to an agreement – some will leave, others will stay in the now Killdroid free Great Hall, and no one will ever know about the colony.
They shake hands and we cut to all of the ships literally tied together, using the single Path Engine to carry them home. Lobot uses his impressive skills to co-ordinate the vessels and Captain Blythe watches, making the interesting observation that is the plan fails, they may never know, as the return of the Path Engine is the only thing that can take them out of No-Space should they chose to do so in the future. It’s a bumpy ride, one that looks set to fail but they make it, separating the net linking the ships as they see the Rebel fleet, the coaxium and Tibanna the colony had now freely given to the Alliance.
A quiet moment between Holdo and Lando sees Amilyn notice that Lando referred to the Rebels as ‘us’, a small moment that even he didn’t notice before we head to the final scene as Luke and Leia talk, Luke explaining the current ebb and flow in his connection to the Force, something leia leaps on – if Luke is experiencing the Force this way, perhaps Vader and the Emperor are too, and we roll out with Artoo giving Luke his battered but repaired yellow-bladed lightsaber, staing that to face Darth Vader again he will need to construct a new one.
Another quality issue, the small character moments as key as the broader strokes. We’re really racing towards Return of the Jedi now; the fleet fuelled, Mon Mothma brought into the equation, Luke’s gree-bladed lightsaber on the horizon, Lando fully onboard with the Rebellion and willing to show what he’s really made of. We’ve said it before and will undoubtedly say it again, Charles Soule has divined what makes these characters tick, finding the wrinkles that in isolation seem obvious but in concert play as sweetly as a John Williams motif to take us to where we found these characters in Return of the Jedi.
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Soule, Charles (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 21 Pages - 05/03/2023 (Publication Date) - Marvel (Publisher)
