Lor San Tekka Stuck In The Middle In Marvel’s Star Wars: Poe Dameron #24

Lor San Tekka has sure been having a hard time not ending up in someone’s holding cell or having a blaster pointed at him. The galactic explorer with the only knowledge of where Jedi Master Luke Skywalker’s location, is being shuttled by Terrex to the First Order. The Resistance, lead by General Organa, is doing their best to get to Tekka, but as Terrex’s plan is revealed, all parties are running out of time. SPOILERS AHEAD….

 

 

Aboard the Raddus, the Resistance has regrouped after their battle on Cato Neimoidia, and Poe is looking to get his X-Wing repaired. As Poe and BB-8 try to figure out where to start, as well as trying to enlist BeeBee’s girlfriend Ivee, Leia breaks the repair assessment with a call to gather Black Squadron for the next step in tracking down Lor San Tekka, who was just snatched up from them by Terrex.

 

 

Leia makes it clear there is no time to mess around. She risked some precious family heirlooms as a distraction to track down Lor San Tekka and has placed a tracker on them so when Terrex drops out of hyperspace they’ll know right where he is. Black Squadron is told to mount up and be ready to jump to hyperspace as soon as the tracker appears on their scopes. The pilots jump in their ships and get ready to where the next hyperlane will lead them.

 

 

Terrex sucks. There’s no getting around that. As far as Star Wars villains go, he’s not the most evil or dangerous, but he’s certainly the most mean-spirited. The man went from Imperial patriot to First Order lackey and has been distilled into the true persona underneath it all–a bully. Just to be a jerk, Terrex ejects Padme Amidala’s wardrobe into space. Lor San Tekka, a man as familiar with his history as most devout Star Wars fans, mentions to his captor what a petty thing this is to do. Not to mention disrespectful to a great historical figure and hero of the galaxy. The words are wasted on Terrex, obviously, as the only thing he’s concerned about is getting rid of any tracker that Leia planted and causing the general grief. As Padme’s gowns are scuttled in hyperspace, Terrex and Lor San Tekka continue their voyage to rendezvous with the First Order. Terrex is still trying to fight his cybernetic restraint, and Lor actually tries to empathize with Terrex, who still grieves the loss of the Empire. Although Terrex admits he actually likes Lor San Tekka and sees their similarities, he’ll still use him and the fate of Luke Skywalker to further his own ambitions.

 

 

As Black Squadron flanks the Raddus, preparing to jump to hyperspace on a moment’s notice, Snap and Kare decide to reevaluate their decision to take a break from their relationship. They decide that if they find Lor San Tekka they’ll reconsider their “Jedi” decision not to form attachment in a romantic relationship. This sub-plot is getting a little old, in my opinion. I don’t feel terribly invested in either character and the appearance of this dynamic has been a little uneven. I feel like it could be consistently explored, but the fact that it only pops up every few issues makes it seem more distracting than anything. Don’t get me wrong, I’d be happy for these two, just kind of bored with interpersonal melodrama of Black Squadron. Especially when there are characters like Jessika who have a much more interesting and traumatic past that could be explored.

 

 

Terrex arrives to meet with Captain Phasma herself aboard the Absolution. Hey canon nerds (I can say that because I am one), this has been the Hux’s ship and it’s where all the drama between the Cardinal and Phasma went down in Delilah S. Dawson’s novel, Phasma. Just thought it’s cool to finally see the ship we’ve heard a lot about and that Phasma keeps herself stationed there, since it was the beginning of her role as a First Order enforcer.

 

 

As you can see, Terrex is primarily concerned with getting his restraint off. That’s the jumping off point to even start negotiations with Phasma about handing over Lor San Tekka, as he’s hidden the old man at an undisclosed location to keep the First Order from just taking him. Kudos to series’ artist Angel Unzueta as Terrex looks more and more maniacal in each frame. Some of them even look like as hysterical and psychotic as the Joker, indicating Terrex is clearly a man who has been pushed to the edge. Phasma agrees and Terrex is taken to the medical bay of the Absolution.

 

 

As the Black Squadron continues to wait for the tracking signal, Jessika has a disturbing realization. With the amount of time they’ve been waiting, the ship Terrex stole from Leia should actually be out of fuel at this point and they should have picked up the tracking signal long ago. She’s not exactly sure, but suspects Terrex is long gone and has already delivered Lor San Tekka to the First Order. When she relays this to Poe, he seems to think there is still a little time, leaving a glimmer of hope for the Resistance and the fate of Luke Skywalker.

 

 

Terrex is looking nicely scarred, though I don’t think he’ll mind. Phasma’s figured out that the deal with Terrex continues to be pay-to-play. All he wanted was the restraint removed, and a suit of Stormtrooper armor, and Terrex will be on his way. I wouldn’t say Phasma is hopeful Terrex will transmit Lor San Tekka’s location, but she’s smart enough to know the First Order has no choice but to go along with his game. Something tells me Phasma will have a trick of her own, as she doesn’t suffer fools lightly, and Terrex is most certainly that despite the way he carries himself. He’s clever to a point, but I’d bet he’s playing checkers, while Phasma is playing chess.

 

 

The small window of hope Poe held out for has closed. Jessika’s calculations about Leia’s stolen ship running out of fuel have run their course and the only conclusion they can come to is that the First Order must have Lor San Tekka. Leia’s not giving up though, she’s determined to continue the search for Lor, as well as her brother. Poe and the Black Squadron vow to continue the search as well. Just as they thought their lead on Lor dried up, they get an unexpected communication on a secrete Resistance frequency. It’s Terrex.

 

 

Terrex is done picking sides, but I could have told you that after a few issues of reading him. The man is soulless and whatever morals he had died with the Empire. His game just got a lot more complicated: he’s leading the Resistance and the First Order to the location of Lor San Tekka. The Resistance and First Order are going to come face-to-face to claim their prize. At this point, we have to remember this is pre-TFA, and neither the Resistance or the First Order is authorized to engage one another. The Republic is still skeptical and confused about what the First Order actually is, and there’s no doubt Snoke is trying to keep things quiet so Starkiller Base can strike the deathblow surprise attack. My first thought was that Terrex dumped Lor San Tekka on Jakku and this is the lead-in to the beginning of The Force Awakens. Nope.

 

 

Terrex literally left Lor San Tekka’s fate floating amongst the stars. I feel bad for the old man, especially because things are not going to get better for him. It should be interesting to see if the gloves are going to come off for the First Order and the Resistance. It’s a great set-up for the last issue of this “Legend Found” arc.

 

Another solid issue by Charles Soule. I can tell he’s having a lot of fun with this, even though we are approaching the limits of this series. I have no idea where it’s going to go after Jakku, but Soule’s done a great job adding a backstory our very first moments of the Sequel Trilogy. I have a lot of faith if this series keeps going he’ll come up with some great stories. Let’s just hope Black Squadron gets a proper showing in Episode IX, as I felt their presence was missed in The Last Jedi. My minor complaint about the Snap/Kare romance rollercoaster is very nitpick of an overall consistent, fun series. I always look forward to getting my hands on the latest issue of Poe Dameron.

 

RATING: 7/10

 

 

 

 

+ posts

Kyle Larson lives in Portland, Oregon. When he's not running trails, he's reading and writing.

Kyle Larson

Kyle Larson lives in Portland, Oregon. When he's not running trails, he's reading and writing.

10 thoughts on “Lor San Tekka Stuck In The Middle In Marvel’s Star Wars: Poe Dameron #24

  • February 19, 2018 at 10:00 pm
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    Does this explain how Tekka obtained the portion of the map that he gave to Poe in TFA? I’m confused about how that whole map thing played out

    • February 21, 2018 at 5:00 am
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      It looks like this comic book series is planned to end with Poe and Tekka on Jaaku. (Last scene will probably be Tekka giving Poe the map.) So I expect this series to explain the map.

  • February 19, 2018 at 10:30 pm
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    Yeah where were black squadron in TLJ!? Especially considering it starts right after TFA! Their presence wasn’t just missed they’ve completely vanished. No sign of them, no mention of them. They didn’t even reappear at the end when Leia put out the call for help.

    • February 20, 2018 at 8:20 pm
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      They were with The Knights of Ren…

    • February 22, 2018 at 12:18 am
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      “According to the Visual Dictionary, most of the pilots who remained after the Starkiller Base attack were sent to other evacuation points across the galaxy, or on other missions at the time of the fleet’s escape from D’Qar. So yes, there’s a good chance the likes of Snap Wexley and Jess Pava are still alive—and maybe not everything is quite so dire for the Resistance’s numbers heading into Episode IX.”

      https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-biggest-revelations-from-the-last-jedis-official-gu-1821407270

      • February 22, 2018 at 1:20 am
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        Ok that’s interesting thanks. I think a mention of that in the movie would have been good though. I haven’t got the visual dictionary and I’m sure others haven’t either. It just looks like they were forgotten about.

  • February 20, 2018 at 2:19 am
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    It’s not a bad series if you ignore the character of Poe altogether. Boring guy.

  • February 20, 2018 at 6:28 pm
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    Pass this series out on long flights….everyone will be asleep

    • February 21, 2018 at 4:58 am
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      Feels like they’re stretching things out until the end of this series when it should link up with Poe and Tekka on Jaaku just before the opening scene of TFA.

      • February 21, 2018 at 5:33 am
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        stretching it very thin…

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