Doctor Aphra #25 Review: Aphras Friends Mount a Rescue Mission in Devastation

This issue of Doctor Aphra was an exciting one, with Sana Starros & Co. finally mounting their rescue mission to free Aphra from the Spark Eternal. Devastation gives us plenty of time with the Spark Eternal on the outside, while also providing us with more time with Chelli and Miril to give us more answers about the Spark and the sword it was building in the last issue.



There's plenty of action as the group enact their plan while Just Lucky and Ariole flee the Spark on the Vermillion. With Triple Zero and Beetee-One getting in on the action too, there's plenty of humor to go around.



It all adds up to a highly entertaining issue of Doctor Aphra. This is the best the series has been for a while now.



Spoilers ahead...







I'd been waiting to see what the Spark would do with Just Lucky and Ariole, and while it would've been nice to see it truly unleash on them, what we got instead was still plenty entertaining. The Spark has them on the backfoot when it receives a call from Kho Phon Farrus on the Archivist's personal comm. The AI is so arrogant that it lets Just Lucky and Ariole escape while it listens to Farrus' call, confident that it will catch up to them sooner or later.



It turns out that Farrus' call is the first step of Sana Starros' plan to get them access to the Vermillion. She realizes that between Chelli's memories and Crimson Dawn's databanks, the Spark knows pretty much everything about them all, so they need to play their roles to make it believe they're playing into its hands before they can truly strike.



Sana's plan itself plays out like clockwork. They board the Vermillion, and the Spark believes it has their plan all figured out when it busts Farrus in the Archivist's office. Little does it know, Farrus is key to the whole thing. Just as Sana and the others burst into the office, Farrus uses their Ascendant tech to wrench down a chandelier on top of Aphra's possessed body.







When the Spark reaches for what it believes is the Whip of Sorrows on Farrus' belt, she discovers that it's simply a dud lightsaber handle. Instead, Sana wraps the real whip around Aphra's body, trapping the Spark inside. And with that, the gang have the upper hand. It does seem as though the Spark has been beaten too easily, but I suspect that this maneuver is too good to be true. It's likely that the Spark will show us its true power in the next issue, just when we think it's beaten.



Nevertheless, it was still fun watching Sana walk everyone through the plan just like a good heist story (though those usually end with the plan falling apart), and there's some fun banter between the group, particularly with the two droids. I loved watching Triple Zero filling us in on what he and Beetee-One have been up to since Aphra dropped them off all that time ago, as the demented protocol droid lamented the lack of things to kill on their new planet. They clearly had a lot of fun storming the Vermillion, delightfully slaughtering each guard that crossed them. It's great to have them back in the mix again.







Meanwhile, inside the Spark Eternal we're treated to more conversations between Doctor Aphra and Miril, the Chadra-Fan leader of the Ascendant. I like the balance this episode struck, moving things along in the real world while continuing to give us insight via Chelli and Miril's conversation.



It turns out that Miril is shocked at the Spark's actions, claiming that it was never supposed to become the malevolent machine it is now. I appreciate this clarification as the Ascendant always seemed too nice to create something as evil as the Spark Eternal, so it makes sense that Miril simply miscalculated somewhere along the way. This is another good example of why it's never a good idea to mess with the dark side of the Force, or even replicate it.



Miril reveals that the Spark doesn't have an 'off switch' so it's unclear if Chelli is able to do anything to free herself of the Spark from the inside, though presumably she will find some way to cause some problems that help her friends free her from the outside.



One thing that I did love is the additional detail around the ancient sword that the Spark created. It turns out it was a weapon that Miril had been working on that was made using cortosis alloy.







Anyone familiar with Legends Star Wars stories will recognise the name cortosis. The material was common back in Legends, a non-Force user's main defence against lightsabers, able to disrupt the blade's energy and deactivate it with a single touch, as demonstrated in this issue. It was used prominently in those stories, but the alloy has been conspicuous in its absence from most canon Star Wars stories so far.



This isn't its first appearance -- it's made some minor appearances in the Hera/Kanan novel A New Dawn, the Thrawn: Alliances novel, a War of the Bounty Hunters issue, and the Star Wars Uprising mobile game already -- but I appreciate its inclusion nevertheless. Cortosis was arguably overused back in Legends, but I do miss it in the canon stories. While I don't expect any lightsabers to pop up here, I miss the fear it always struck in the hearts of the heroes who came up against it, and that sword looks plenty fearsome.



Issue #25 of Doctor Aphra is more of the series at its best, with tense action, witty banter, and new insight into ancient Star Wars lore. I didn't want this one to end.






<p style='text-align: center;']Rating: 8/10</p>






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