Star Wars (2020) #49
THE PATH OF LIGHT
After the destruction of Alderaan, a group of refugees gathered together, known as the Survivor Fleet, keeping a low profile from the Empire and checking in with the Rebellion on a regular basis.
When the group missed their check-ins, Leia, Luke and Starlight Squadron pilot Evaan Verlaine went on a mission to search for them.
Upon finding one of their ships, Luke and Leia went to investigate, stumbling right into a trap–at the hands of the presumed-dead Imperial officer Zahra….
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Jethro Morales
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Cover artist: Stephen Segovia
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publication date: August 21 2024
With the destruction of Alderaan four years prior and the survivors guilt felt by Leia Organa and the scant few fellow Alderranians who were offworld when the Death Star parked itself in orbit to enact its first major demonstration of its power, there’s little wonder that the safety of the Survivor Fleet is so important to the princess, and as we turn the page on the penultimate issue of Charles Soule’s triumphant run on the flagship title we find Leia at the mercy of the clearly unbalanced Zahra. Face scarred and missing a limb (how very Star Wars) we learn that she fought her way out of an almost impossible predicament, facing a venemous, acid-spitting creature after Leia had left her to die and managed to bring together a crew and replace her arm. Now with Leia at her mercy she plans to sell her to the Empire and regain her prior position, telling Leia that she destroyed the rest of the Survivor Fleet before we learn that another escape pod lies outside the ship, containing Luke.
Wisely she opts to leave the pod at arms length, knowing the skills and reputation of the Jedi but Luke is far to wily for that and he splits the pod with his lightsaber and traverses the icy span into the ship. Leia yells at him, telling him how Evaan left for help, and to play for time which he duly does under a hail of fire. Leia manages to attack Zahra, hitting her with a heavy pipe but doing little damage. The former Imperial wants her alive, but that doesn’t mean unharmed, and she runs Leia through the shoulder with her blade.
Fortunately for Leia and Luke, his actions had damaged the ships systems, meaning the ship was unable to jump to hyperspace – sitting ducks for the soon-to-return Rebel Alliance. Zahra’s hired goons quickly depart, blasting off and leaving Luke to capture Zahra just as her droid informs her the Rebels have arrived. She makes a run for it, leaping into a fighter and blasting off as Leia tells the Rebels to let the vessel depart… unless she attacks, which of course she does, swinging her fighter around and leaving Leia with no choice but to take the shot.
Evaan returns to the fleet and a despondent Leia, healing as she thinks on the destruction of Alderaan but brightening as Evaan tells her the lie Zahra told – the fleet is fine, her people safe and soon Leia is speaking with an old friend, Beon Beonel who explains that the people of Alderaan have decided to go their separate ways to find new worlds and homes and start again. No new Alderaan, but the spirit of the peaceful world survives.
We wrap the issue with a steadfast Leia making it very clear her future intentions, For a galaxy free of the Empire, one that can live in peace with the threat of a future resurgence quashed, and the ‘camera’ pulls back to reveal Leia is talking to Chewbacca, Luke, Threepio and Lando as she ends the issue with ‘Let’s go get Han‘.
Not an issue designed to set the world on fire or deliver momentous reveals, but despite that it does bring resolution to the survivors of Alderaan as they settle on new homes and tees up the final days before the audacious plan to rescue Han from his Tatooine prison. It’s easy to forget that at this point Luke and Leia are only 23, still kids scarred and weathered by years of constant battles and stresses. They saw more of life – good and bad – in those few years than most do in a lifetime, Luke with his simple existance on Tatooine and the travails that brings married to the death of his aunt and uncle while Leia lived a far more luxurious life, but one constrained by duty, obligation and a far broader view of the galaxy. Leia lost an entire world, but as we end issue 49 and head into the 50th and final issue it’s clear that the experiences lived by the Jedi twins in this Soule run played a huge part in preparing them both for what’s to come in Episode VI and beyond.
