Review: ‘Star Wars’ #34 – Luke Searches For Kyber Crystals in ‘The Broken Saber of Skywalker’
With the Kezarat Colony arc over, the mainline Star Wars comic seems finally ready to continue building toward the events of Return of the Jedi. In order to do that, it needs to answer the biggest mystery from the classic film — how did Luke build his green lightsaber?
Issue #34, The Broken Saber of Skywalker, begins to answer that question as Luke embarks on a quest to build his own lightsaber, after the yellow one discovered earlier in this Star Wars run was broken by the killdroid in the previous issue. Even after R2’s best repair job, the blade is temperamental at best but while Luke lacks the knowledge to build one, he does know that he needs a new kyber crystal.
That’s the quest he embarks upon, as he journeys to an unexpected but familiar planet for fans of The Clone Wars. The story does take a while to get going, but it picks up once Luke actually heads off on his quest. The quieter moments are still entertaining, though — how can it not be when the subject matter is kyber crystals?
Judging by the issue’s cliffhanger, it feels like this arc is just getting started. Let’s hope the payoff is as big as it promises to be.
Spoilers ahead…
The issue picks up with Luke feeling a little lost. His connection to the Force feels temperamental — presumably related to his internal conflict over his relationship with Darth Vader, but I’m not sure if we’re supposed to believe the events of Hidden Empire are at fault as well — and his lightsaber is broken and unreliable.
His Jedi text provides little advice on how to build a lightsaber — it refers the reader to the texts written by one Professor Huyang, a very welcome nod to David Tennant’s droid instructor from The Clone Wars ahead of his return in Ahsoka later this year — preferring to focus on a Jedi’s personal bond with their chosen crystal instead.
It’s all useful knowledge for Luke, but not what he needs right now. Interestingly, he notes that he never felt much of a connection to either Anakin’s lightsaber or this yellow one, confirming how important it is to build his own one.
Despite Leia’s gentle protestations, he decides to leave with R2-D2 to search for a kyber crystal. Since Ilum is currently locked down by the Empire, he ventures to Christophsis instead, a planet I never really thought I’d see again post-Clone Wars. Fans of The Clone Wars movie and other episodes of the show will remember the Battle of Christophsis well; both Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka fought here during the war.
I never really considered that the planet would be rich in kyber crystals, but I suppose it makes sense given that it’s covered in crystal formations. It’s always fun when planets from past stories reappear further in the timeline, and this is no exception. We don’t visit the city, with Luke wisely landing at a mining outpost out of the way from prying eyes.
He enters the local cantina and subtly enquires about where to find kyber crystals, only for everyone in the bar to be instantly killed by a green-haired woman named Gretta. Luke is horrified, even when Gretta explains that the barman and his patrons were intending on handing him over to the Empire to claim the bounty on Jedi. The two don’t see eye to eye, with Luke struggling to get past the cold blooded murder of it all.
Gretta reveals she’s a Fallanassi, a group of Force sensitives who have their origins in Legends. Her decision to massacre everyone in the bar is an interesting twist considering that the Fallanassi were pacifists in Legends. In another departure from Legends lore, she says her people were all killed on Jedha, which would darken even the strongest of pacifist hearts. Interestingly, in canon the Fallanassi are best known for inventing the Force technique of projecting an illusion of oneself across the galaxy, that same technique Luke uses in The Last Jedi.
Gretta also mentions she’s looking for a man named Cuata, an expert on kyber crystals who’s been hiding on Christophsis ever since the Empire first started recruiting to build the first Death Star. After a brief attack from a random monster that evoked the surprise attack in The Mandalorian‘s penultimate episode The Spies — unessential to the story and clearly inserted to give the comic some action — Luke is saved by a mysterious goggled man. This is presumably Cuata himself, but his identity is left a mystery for now.
This highly anticipated arc of the Star Wars comic series has gotten off to a good start. Hopefully Luke’s trip to Christophsis will lean further into the mystery surrounding kyber crystals in the next installment and build off this solid foundation.
Rating: 7/10
Josh is a huge Star Wars fan, who has spent far too much time wondering if any Star Wars character could defeat Thanos with all the Infinity Stones.
