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Review: Star Wars #25 Takes a Break to Show Stories Across The Skywalker Saga

Discussion in 'SWNN News Feed' started by SWNN Probe, Jul 22, 2022.

  1. SWNN Probe

    SWNN Probe Seeker

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    With the Commander Zahra arc wrapped up, the mainline Star Wars comic has taken a short break this month to celebrate Charles Soule's 100th Star Wars script. Issue 25 is an anthology instead, comprising four short stories spanning the prequel trilogy and the sequel trilogy.



    Some of the stories are more interesting than others, as is often the way with anthologies, but there are some good tidbits to sink your teeth into nonetheless. The cover is a bit misleading too; it features both The Grand Inquisitor and The Seventh Sister, but neither characters make an appearance in any of the stories, so I'm not sure why they were included.



    Obi-Wan and Anakin - The Lesson



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    The first story shows Obi-Wan imparting another lesson on to Anakin, the same one that Qui-Gon apparently taught him when he was a padawan. While sparring, Anakin asks Obi-Wan why the Jedi only use lightsabers as their weapons, when kyber crystals could conceivably power any weapon, including spears and blasters.



    Obi-Wan answers that it is because the Jedi do not wish to be seen as warriors or destroyers, that swinging a lightsaber is a much more deliberate decision than firing a blaster and it is important that their foes realize that if a Jedi is swinging their blade at them, it is because they have made a pre-meditated decision to strike and have thought it through.



    Anakin then points out that Sith also use lightsabers. Obi-Wan posits that the reason for that is because the Sith want to prove they anything the Jedi can do, they can do better. But we learn in the next story that that's not quite the case.



    This story gave some interesting insight into the Jedi Order, which I appreciate. It's definitely one of the highlights of the issue for me, though I find it difficult to believe that Obi-Wan went to the trouble of designing a cool new weapon (two short sabers attached to some string to be twirled around in each hand). It seems contradictory to everything we know about Obi-Wan as a padawan; the boy who rigidly followed the Jedi Code and disapproved of most things Qui-Gon did because they didn't adhere to it, probably wouldn't want to design a brand new weapon to make him stand out from the other padawans.



    Overall it's a good story that tells us more about how the Jedi think, so for that I'm willing to forgive this apparent inconsistency.



    Darth Vader - The Lesson



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    This story is much shorter, mirroring the previous one. Set right after Revenge of the Sith (judging by the scarred buildings in the background), Sidious challenges Vader to a duel in Coruscant's Works District. Sidious wipes the floor with his new padawan and admonishes him for fighting 'like a Jedi'.



    He teaches him that Sith use all of the dark side as a weapon - not just their lightsabers - sending a chunk of debris flying into his face as an example. It informs a lot of why we see Vader use so much of the environment in battle, which is particularly gratifying. He then reveals that the lightsaber is merely a symbol of their power, a bright flame that merely lets their enemy see them coming and strike fear into their hearts (Rogue One's hallway fight scene comes to mind).



    It's much shorter, but it serves as a nice counterpoint to the lesson Obi-Wan imparts to Anakin.



    Kylo Ren - See you around, kid



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    The third story stars Kylo Ren and is seemingly set right after The Last Jedi. It appears that Kylo doesn't realise that Luke Skywalker is now dead, and is searching old haunts to goad his old master into showing up so he can actually beat him.



    He travels back to Crait, then Elphrona, before finally revisiting Luke's old Jedi temple on Ossus (though that's curiously not labelled in the story). Kylo claims that he can feel Luke's presence, like he's watching from a distance. This could be paranoia, but it does seem likely that Luke would keep tabs on his nephew after becoming one with the Force. As someone who desperately wanted Force Ghost Luke following Kylo Ren around in The Rise of Skywalker, I'm inclined to believe this is the case.



    The story shows that Kylo is still obsessed with his former master and is intent on hunting him down after his humiliation at The Battle of Crait. Not realizing that his old master is already dead and frustrated that he can't find him, Kylo instead orders the ruins of his temple on Ossus to be blasted from orbit. If he can't kill his old master, he can at least obliterate his legacy.



    We get another bit of insight into just how volatile and rage-filled Kylo Ren is. While it doesn't necessarily tell us anything new about who Kylo Ren is as a person, it is interesting to see what he was focused on after the events of The Last Jedi.



    Poe Dameron - A Eulogy for Snap



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    Your mileage on this one probably depends a lot on how much you care about Snap Wexley. Set right after the events of The Rise of Skywalker, Poe Dameron and the other pilots of Black Squadron gather around a fire to celebrate the life of Snap.



    They all say some nice words, usually along the lines of how great a guy he was, and offer some stories of ways he helped each of them. Though I have read the Aftermath trilogy where Temmin 'Snap' Wexley is a main character, I can't say I've ever cared about him a great deal. I appreciated the reference to Mister Bones, the crazy B-1 Battle Droid that Temmin built as a boy, but there wasn't much else here that I found interesting.



    A nice enough story, but clearly the weakest of the bunch.



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    Overall, I'd say the Obi-Wan and Anakin and Kylo Ren stories were the highlights of this issue. The Vader one was good too but I wish it wasn't so short. It's a shame the issue had to end on a fairly dull story by comparison. I look forward to finally getting back to Luke Skywalker's story in Star Wars #26!


    <p style='text-align: center;']Rating: 7/10</p>


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    #1 SWNN Probe, Jul 22, 2022
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2022
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