Star Wars (2020) #38
TATOOINE TREASON
Lando and the rebels aboard ”Home One” were awakened by the ship’s defenses being activated as though they were entering battle.
Lando soon learned the culprit was an unwell Lobot, whose neural implants are failing, causing not only interference with the rebel ship’s weapons systems but also lethal damage to Lobot if Lando does not do something fast.
Lando realized that the only thing that can help his friend is the Talky droid who helped Lobot once before. But Lando sold that droid, who also stored Rebellion secrets, to Jabba the Hutt….
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Madibek Musabekov
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Cover artist: Stephen Segovia
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publication date: September 6, 2023
While organic fear is to be expected during a series called Dark Droids, it’s worth remembering that there are mechanical beings who are every bit as afraid of this droid plague as any living being. That’s what we find after the scroll up in issue #38 of Star Wars, as the talky droid Lando and Lobot are desparate to find is held down, about to be punished for a minor transgression while translating for Jabba the Hutt. He makes clear to let his fellow droids know about the ancient knowledge held within his memory circuits, and just as the torture droid is about to eviscerate him with a spinning chainsaw he is stopped by droids taken by the former Spark Eternal. Talky wants no part of it, tipping molten metal towards the advancing droids and finding two Gammorrean Guards who help him by smashing the first droid they see and then leaping into the fray with their axe.
We cut to the exterior of the Palace on the Western Dune Sea as the Millennium Falcon lands and Lando and Lobot make their plans. Lando has found his old cloak closet, his beloved threads still intact. His plan is to enter the palace incognito, and we flash back to the past as Lando and a much younger Lobot do a similar thing, picking out clothes that will hide them – especially Lobot’s cranial implant which is tucked under a curly pink wig. Lobot reminds Lando that he is far from the brash, confident character Calrissian is as Lando tells Lobot in no undertain terms that they are better than ‘them’ – ‘them’ being everyone else.
We cut to now as Lando in his familiar skiff guard gear and a weak looking Lobot arrive at the great gate of Jabba’s Palace and request they be let in, Lando using the excuse that he works in Mos Espa at Jabba’s Casino and his companion has been bitten by a rockwort. The doors open and they step inside, only to be pulled into a side corridor by a fearful denizen of Jabba’s court who tells them of the destruction wrought by the droids. Lando isn’t interested, he can only focus on finding the talky droid, and so they go further in, passing Boba Fett as he himself departs and spying the carbonite frozen block of Han Solo hanging on the wall. As they walk over the grate of the rancor pit the floor opens and they tumble down, fortunately not waking the sleeping beast.
The droid they seek is hiding in the shadows, and the horsetrading begins. If they get the droid out of the palace in one piece he will help fix Lobot; Lando counters, saying if he fixes Lobot they’ll get him out in one piece. Stalemate, until the droid agrees to ‘log in’ and improve Lobot’s condition enough that he can get out unaided, just as they are not only found by a wave of the reprogrammed droids, but the rancor is now awake and angry….
Blimey, plenty happening here as Lando and Lobot visit the palace of Jabba the Hutt. There’s a Boba Fett cameo, a fun flashback (now a staple of Star Wars storytelling) a carbonite frozen Han Solo and plenty to chew over. The relationship between Lando and Lobot in the past and present is both heartwarming and sad to see, while the present and Lobots condition only exacerbates the dire situation they are in. You can’t fault Charles Soule for giving us exactly what we want to see, and while Lobot in the rancor pit was certainly not on the dance card at the start of this series, it’s a very welcome scenario indeed.
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Soule, Charles (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 23 Pages - 10/18/2023 (Publication Date) - Marvel (Publisher)
