Review – The Weapon of a Jedi Master In Marvel’s Galaxy’s Edge #2
The mystery surrounding Dok-Ondar’s artifacts in the Black Spire Outpost thickens considerably in this issue. In classic episodic Star Wars storytelling, as soon as we get an answer two more questions pop-up. There are a lot of roads leading to Batuu, but the story presented in the second issue of Galaxy’s Edge goes all the way back to the Clone Wars, touches on a familiar bounty hunter, and possibly gives some insight into what Force-related artifact Dok-Ondar is so terrified by the First Order taking possession of. SPOILERS AHEAD….
Well, that got my attention. What I love about Galaxy’s Edge so far is how quickly writer Ethan Sacks throws us into the story, at any point. This issue jumps around a lot in terms of time periods but there’s no mistaking what this is. Ki-Adi-Mundi being shot down on Mygeeto in the midst of Order 66 is somewhat of a prologue to the story within this issue. We know from Grakkus the Hutt that Jedi tools and artifacts became very valuable as soon as the Jedi were all but extinguished from the galaxy. On one hand, it was probably due to the scarcity of that knowledge but, I also imagine Sheev Palpatine paid a pretty penny for anything Force-related to put aboard his private yacht, Imperialis. The whole purpose of reliving this nightmarish moment of the Clone Wars is to establish while the Jedi Master didn’t survive Mygeeto, his lightsaber did.
And who gave this jerk permission to remove his helmet? The First Order troops are conducting a shakedown on Dok-Ondar but the Ithorian stands his ground. It’s a declaration of sorts by the First Order troops that their regime is on the move and will not be stopped. Granted, this takes place before The Force Awakens (I’m assuming), so the galaxy is still in the dark about how lethal a threat this fascist regime presents. As these little twerps harass Dok-Ondar, our relic hunters watch through a recording device they dropped amongst the knick-knacks in the previous issue and wait for any detail of their prize to slip.
They are counting on Dok-Andor trying to move the mystery artifact so the First Order don’t get their hands on it. Doesn’t seem like Ki-Adi-Mundi’s lightsaber is what they are looking for. If you remember from the previous issue, Dok-Andor is terrified of it falling into the hands of the First Order. I’m still of the belief it’s Anakin/Luke/Rey’s lightsaber. The trio of hunters also let us know they have tangled with the First Order before and are sure the tyrannical organization will remember them if they happen to have a close encounter. Changeling Remex is especially concerned, but the humanoid Kendoh just so subtly drops that she’s from Serenno and wants to get her family fortune back and that’s her main concern. Wonder if there’s a Dooku connection, especially after listening to Cavan Scott’s excellent Lost Jedi a couple weeks ago. Also, Kendoh mentions the relic they are searching for is in two-parts and hints they may already have one of the parts. This is really intriguing. As they watch on, Dok-Andor offers to tell the story of how Ki-Adi-Mundi’s lightsaber came into his collection.
We’ve seen a lot Rodians appear in Star Wars, but here’s the Rodian, Greedo himself! He’s on Mygeeto at a point in time much closer to A New Hope. Greedo is on a mission from Jabba the Hutt to infiltrate the facilities of the Banking Clan. We see the Banking Clan has kept Ki-Adi-Mundi’s lightsaber as a trophy of sorts. Greedo is just as cocky as he was in Mos Eisley, scoffing at how Jabba would usually hire Boba Fett for a job of this importance but it’s a chance for the Rodian to prove himself. Greedo has just launched an attack on the Banking Clan and they’re freaking out, so he swoops in to finish the job from his assassin’s nest.
I couldn’t decide between typing ‘prophetic’ or ‘famous last words’. Sacks is having a little fun with the historic debate before we were arguing about The Last Jedi or #ReyLo. Thanks to the wonderful art by Will Sliney and colorist Dono Sánchez-Almara we see Greedo is a very effective bounty hunter and why Han shot first. Looks like Greedo made it known he was good with a blaster.
So, that frame above explains what Jabba wants from Greedo. Pretty interesting concept of the Empire employing Lobot-like beings to randomly generate security codes for their network. Wonder if any Bothans ever tangled with these cyborgs? Still, I thought it was an original concept and haven’t heard of this yet in canon. The wicked ingenuity of the Empire never ceases to amaze me. Unfortunately, Greedo’s exit plan doesn’t work out and this being ends up falling to his death. He does manage to pick up a lightsaber he hopes to give Jabba to compensate. Yeah, uh, good luck with that.
As I said, this issue jumps around and after we hear the tale of Greedo’s misadventures, we’re back on Black Spire as Wooro picks a fight with a Wookiee. Only an Aqualish would be so bold. The familiar vehicles surrounding them are souvenirs (I’m not joking) for sale in the marketplace of Black Spire, which I bet look just like the ones fans will tangibly experience in a few months. Wooro wins the fight and calls for enforcement, claiming the Wookiee is with the Resistance. We do know from Lou Anders’ Pirate’s Price that Chewbacca and Rey eventually make it to Batuu beyond The Last Jedi, so I wonder if other Wookiees have found refuge on this far out world. We jump back to Greedo’s predicament, which is owing Jabba the Hutt one master codebreaker and no way to pay.
Just as Jabba was about to throw Greedo to his favorite pet, a visiting Dok-Andor offers to pay a good price to the Hutt for the relic. Jabba agrees, but he has one more job for Greedo and I think I know where he’s headed.
Makes me wonder if Jabba felt he was sending Greedo to his death, given that Jabba considers Han the best-of-the-best in terms of smugglers. Either way, farewell, Greedo. It was nice to see your last adventure.
Um…wow! So, a couple of things to breakdown and I’m not sure where to start. The Wookiee tussle was a ruse on Wooro’s parts to stir up more suspicion of the Resistance having a presence on Batuu and Black Spire. The First Order return demanding to know what the Resistance would want with a lightsaber. I guess Kylo and Snoke forgot to include them on the company memo. When they leave, Dok-Andor is clearly shaken and decides they need to move the SITH RELIC as soon as the First Order take their spies off of them. That’s right…Sith Relic. Now, I’m still holding up hope this is the Skywalker/Rey saber and the other part of this is something to do with Darth Vader (perhaps that warped mask Kylo Ren communes with). I’m betting this series will explain how both came to be and that the last act of this trio will be to separate them for some reason…maybe one we’ll discover in The Rise of Skywalker. Take that with a heaping dash of cinnamon, but that’s my prediction.
Loving this series so far. These issues have done a great job of giving us a little history, tossing in some Easter eggs, and setting the stage for the world of Batuu. I can also tell writer Ethan Sacks is having a lot of fun with these books. Predictions aside, I can’t wait to see where this trio end up and what this Sith relic is, even if my theory is wrong.
RATING: 8/10
Kyle Larson lives in Portland, Oregon. When he's not running trails, he's reading and writing.
