Star Wars Visions – Takashi Okazaki #1
The Ronin walks his path, slaying Sith with his droid by his side.
This is a vision of how their paths first crossed….
TAKASHI OKAZAKI RETURNS TO THE WORLD OF THE RONIN ONCE MORE!
We’ve seen THE RONIN as a Sith slayer…but who was the Ronin before?
See the early history of THE RONIN and his SITH origins in this one-of-a-kind VISIONS Special!
Featuring THE RONIN from the first season of the hit Disney+ series, STAR WARS: VISIONS!
Writer: Takashi Okazak
Artist: Takashi Okazak
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Colorist: Takashi Okazak
Cover artist: Takashi Okazak
Editor: Daniel Khazem
Release Date: March 20, 2024
Heading off into the worlds of Star Wars Visions once again, this time we join writer / artist Takashi Okazak who delves into the past and history of the Ronin character from the first season of Star Wars Visions. It’s an unusual read but a rewarding one that unfolds as the story develops, revealing motivations and character details that pay off near the end of the issue.
We open with two very Artoo and Threepio-like droids wandering the wastelands, the bleached skeleton of a creature lying behind them as they bicker in classic droid and counterpart style, and as we do the eye is drawn to a distant cliff where an old warrior and his R5 droid face a familiar foe – the Ronin. They are at a holy place, so the old man moves to take their encounter elsewhere, asking the droid to bear witness but the Ronin is impatient and attacks and the two of them fall off the cliff edge, red blades ignited. The old man gets the better of the first encounter and the two engage, blades flashing as the battle spills from the shore and into the water, the old man perching on a tree as the Ronin gathers himself.
Here we take our first dip into the past and that same cliff, a crashed Blockade Runner lying against it, a Star Destroyer upended in the ocean. It’s peaceful, and we see a wicker-wrapped droid wash up on the shore, Moses style. He’s taken in and accepted by the townsfolk, treated more like a pet than a servant and we watch this prosperous village live and enjoy life as over the years, the population dwindling until there is only the old man and the droid left. As he sleeps, the old man has a vision, of a younger warrior and the droid travelling together, and here we learn why the population has died off. There’s pollution (presumably from the crashed ships), and the old man believes he doesn’t have long to live, telling the droid of his dream.
Back in the present the fight continues, the droid watching the two warriors battle in the water, steam hissing off their blades until the Ronin gets the best of the old man – who is a Sith – and he falls. The Ronin pulls the body from the water and watches as the droid tries to wake his slain master, and we see later that night as a pyre burns the body, the Ronin praying silently as the droid implacably watches on.
We once more return to the past as the old man finishes telling the droid of his dream and a figure approaches, challenging him to a duel. It’s the Ronin, and as he steps to face him he tells the droid that should anything happen to him to follow the Ronin as his new master, and back in the present the Ronin walks from the pyre, asking the droid if he will join him and finally places the conical wicker hat once worn by the old man on the dome of the R5 droid and together they leave the cliff and on to the future as we bookend the issue with the bickering droids continuing their journey through the desert.
I wasn’t at all sure I’d get much from this standalone issue, but a first read quickly led to a second and a much fuller appreciation of the tale crafted by Takashi Okazak. Visually lavish, told in swathes of white, grey, black and red (sound familiar?) it contains a full story telling the origins of their meeting as well as the fall of a prosperous community ravaged by war and the stain it leaves behind. While it’s a side quest in the larger Star Wars story, there’s increasing value in such stories. The mainline ‘canon’ storytelling is always the primary focus, but to tell extra stories as evocative and memorable as this certainly has its merits.
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Soule, Charles (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 23 Pages - 12/27/2023 (Publication Date) - Marvel (Publisher)
