Review – ‘Thrawn: Alliances’ #4 Makes a Baffling Choice That Threatens the Series
Let’s rip the band-aid off. Marvel, you’re better than this. Thrawn: Alliances #4 contains the strangest and most baffling editorial choice from Marvel Star Wars in quite some time.
Heading into this miniseries’ final issue, I knew it had a lot of ground to cover after issue #3. At the same time, Timothy Zahn and Jody Houser’s Thrawn: Alliances adaptation has progressed at a breakneck pace, so there was a chance they could bring it all together. Unfortunately, someone thought it would be a good idea to hide the fact that this adaptation was actually a trial run all along.
There is no ending. Instead, this last issue ends at a random, non-distinct point without a sense of finality. It’s a poor cliffhanger that doesn’t have a guaranteed next chapter. The fate of this series now inexplicably lies in the hands of Marvel and whether they give Zahn and Houser more issues to finish their story. Confusing, concerning, and downright unnecessary.
This is Thrawn. If you are Lucasfilm and Timothy Zahn, why would you be okay with this strategy regarding one of your golden geese? And I understand the comic industry is complicated, but if you’re Marvel, why would you play games when these Star Wars adaptations already don’t do gangbusters on sales charts?
In addition, reframing the entire four-issue run has another unfortunate side effect, uncovering other problems I previously overlooked. Let’s get this over with.
Right away, it became crystal clear that this adaptation only works as a companion piece to the novel. In the last issue, Padmé was in the middle of a crash landing on Mokivj. But you can forget any dramatic tension associated with that as this issue opens with her already at the Separatist base. As I was reading this issue, I couldn’t shake the feeling that if I hadn’t read Zahn’s novel, I’d have no idea what was happening.
The series’ flow has been chaotic, but previously, I thought it was to erase the fluff present in any book. Streamlining a Zahn novel is a herculean task, making the maker’s input nice to have in the room. Looking back, I wish we could go back and let the dual storylines breathe a bit. The past dynamic between Thrawn and Anakin hasn’t been explored enough, hampered further by a lack of intentionality in the present-day storyline. There is an evident lack of direction in these four issues. Why are the Grysk so dangerous? Their threat will sell Marvel on continuing this series, so what are they doing here?
My favorite part of this comic remains the characterizations of Thrawn and Darth Vader. This Thrawn trilogy shines when it challenges his commitment to the Empire, and the Sith Lord is the perfect foil for that. The art continues to be strong, pitting each figure in a commanding position when they need to be. These are two tough personas to capture — Vader’s might against Thrawn’s mind — and Pat Olliffe and Andrea Di Vito will get their flowers from me no matter the struggles of the writing.
Once again, the most frustrating part is the ending, which raises several questions. In the past, Duke Solha captures Thrawn and Anakin. In the present, Thrawn calls for a trip to Mokivj moments after a tense conversation with Vader. Then it’s over… huh?
Knowing you only have four issues to play with, why end here? As a writer, why pace your narrative to end at a point where character arcs are unresolved? It’s confounding that neither Zahn nor Houser stopped to think about finding a satisfying thematic point to wrap things up, just in case Marvel doesn’t let them continue.
This situation with Thrawn: Alliances has to be a wake-up call. I understand taking a punt on something and seeing the response, but this is yet another Star Wars adaptation that Marvel has bungled. Badly. What makes it sad is the fact that things started with such promise. This is not a good look in an age where trust is waning, especially after the creatively bankrupt adaptations of The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi. If more is on the horizon, I’ll happily read it. That still doesn’t change the fact that this fake-out finale strategy is a disgrace. All that’s needed is another issue or two, so why are we playing games that don’t need to be played? Why are we self-inflicting avoidable wounds?
RATING: 3/10
Nate uses his love for Star Wars and movies in general as a way to cope with the pain of being a Minnesota sports fan. When he's not at the theater, you can usually find Nate reading a comic, listening to an audiobook, or playing a Mario video game for the 1,000th time.
