Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren #3 (February 12): Soule does a good job here once again showing how Ben isn't really committed to the Dark Side. It's something we know due to the movies (particularly his internal conflict in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"), but it becomes a particular problem for him here.
After Ben tracks down the Knights on Varnack, Ren tells him that a "good death" is the price of entry into the Knights. Ben relays the story of how he killed Hennix during a fight with his former classmates.
The trio found him on Elphrona, the planet where Ben first met Ren and where he went to try to find the Knight's trail. A furious Voe attacked Ben, telling him that he was a murderer. Furious that she didn't believe that Luke attacked him, Ben throws her off the cliff where they're fighting (of course) just as Hennix approaches them to try to stop the fighting. Realizing that Voe will die from the fall, Ben uses the Force to stop her descent. But Hennix throws his lightsaber at Ben, causing Ben instinctively to send it back at Hennix. Ben immediately realizes that he can't stop the lightsaber from colliding with Hennix and save Voe. He knows that Hennix will die, but he decides to save Voe.
After Ben relays his story, Ren correctly points out Ben didn't really want to kill Hennix. He agrees to let Ben travel with the Knights for a while because he's strong "in the shadow" but also makes it clear that Ben's going to have to cough up that good death at some point.
I like Soule showing us how Ben's struggle with the Dark Side began, particularly as it forms the backbone of the third trilogy. These sorts of movie tie-in mini-series usually aren't very good, but Soule's really holding up his end of the bargain here.
Dragon Age: Blue Wraith #2 (February 19): I re-read the first issue of this series in an attempt to follow the story better, but I realize that I would probably have to re-read "Magekiller," "Knight Errant," and "Deception" to fully grasp the series’ nuances. Without that, it’s all just a jumble of plots and sub-plots, and it’s hard to tell why the characters make the decisions they do.
I still don’t understand why Vaea would leave Ser Aaron to help Tessa, as Tessa has done nothing to inspire such loyalty. Tessa claims that it’s because she’s an orphan like Tessa is, but does Vaea just really drop everything to help every orphan she meets?
Also, I’m not sure why Tessa really cares whether her father is indebted to her or not. I assume that she’s advancing some larger plan, but, if not, why not enjoy no longer being under this thumb anymore? Sure, I get her father was an asshole who crushed her spirit so she’s all calculating now. But can’t she be calculating in a way that doesn’t put her life at risk trying to save him, particularly since I'm assuming that his reputation is going to take a hit after he lost his city and got himself kidnapped?
Finally, I have no idea why Ser Aaron and company decided to follow the caravan. I assume it's because they know it has the sarcophagus, which I also assume they learn at the end of “Deception.” Even still, why do they care if someone uses it to make a powerful elf? Like, I get Callie is just hanging with the people keeping him safe, but why do Ser Aaron and Marius care? After all, Marius is a mage hunter not a powerful-elf hunter.
I'm really just here in case anything here gives us hints about the forthcoming game, because DeFilippis and Weir aren't doing anything to make me care about these characters per se.
Undiscovered Country #4 (February 19): We learn a lot in this issue.
First, Daniel has made a deal with the Destiny Man: the Destiny Man will give him the Key and Daniel will lead Uncle Sam to the door to the next zone. At that point, Daniel will provide the Destiny Man with the door’s location and, in exchange, the Destiny Man will grant Daniel free exit from the United States and “everything else [they] agreed.” What constitutes “everything else” is inevitably going to answer the question whether Daniel is a hero or a villain. Right now, he's really looking like the latter given that he's having this conversation with the Destiny Man in front of his chained companions.
Second, the Destiny Man is trying to get back to Aurora, who expelled him (from wherever she is) to prove his governing idea of “live free or die.” The Destiny Man stresses that people came out West to change, something Camuncoli underlines by emphasizing his crab and lizard hands. To the Destiny Man, it you survive in his difficult land, you deserve it. But he needs to “walk the Spiral” to prove that to Aurora.
Third, Sandoval informs the team that she didn’t understand why they were chosen for the mission so she’s been researching it since Bukowksi approached her. She then reviews why they're all such odd choices. She reveals that Charlotte has Sky but she isn’t contagious only because she got an expensive vaccine. That said, Sandoval says that she’ll start showing symptoms soon. As we know, Daniel is a wanted man and Ace isn’t mentally stable. Sandoval was fired for looking into the story that the Alliance really is poisoning the quarantine zones and implies that Janet and Chang are suspect.
After finishing his talk with the Destiny Man, Daniel leaves, taking Charlotte with him. Sandoval uses Buzz (her drone) to help the team escape. She then informs them that Uncle Sam sent her a text message: it shows a list with all their names on it, saying they were the ones to be sent to America. Aurora signed it. “Aurora” is not coincidentally the first word engraved on the Golden Spike (i.e., the Key). It also seems pretty likely that Aurora is an AI.
Valentina’s new mission is to track down Uncle Sam and get him to tell them what he knows. Since Daniel and Lottie are also headed to rendezvous with him, it should be a helluva reunion.
The Last God #5 (February 26): Kennedy Johnson reveals most of the last mysteries not related to what happened on the Black Stair 30 years ago in this issue, setting the stage for a helluva run to issue #12.
In the past, the companions pass to the other side of the portal with Skol, entering a haunting realm. On the winding floating staircase that serves as their path, they pass portals to other worlds. The portals feel like Chekhov's gun to me: Skol says that she doesn't have the power to open them while Cyanthe suggests they go through one, since nowhere could be as horrible as Cain Anuun. Skol leads them to the Book of Ages, which is a platform where petitioners can ask questions. She asks the Book about the Plague of Flowers, particularly how to kill it.
The Book informs us that the gods’ parent was Ang Luthia who manifested one day. He created worlds to stave off the Void, which stared at him hungrily. Then, after failed attempts to create other beings like him, he realized that he needed to infuse his own lifeforce into the entities. He created: Mol Anwe ("Firstborn" and "Of Light") from a star; Mol Uvanya ("Of Things That Grow") from the wind, rain, and soil; Mol Kalakto ("Of the Thing Made") from stone; Mol Rangma ("Of Flame") from fire; and Mol Choresh ("Of Knowledge" and "Of Riddles").
Prompted by a question from Mol Choresh, Ang Luthia tells his children never to mention or think about what lies beyond Cain Anuun. But one day they find the Black Stair, which, unlike everything else in Cain Anuun, Ang Luthia didn’t make. There, they encounter the Void for the first time. They're frightened, but before they leave they hear the whimpers of a faceless, formless animal, neither alive nor dead. (I imagined Voldemort in Charring Cross Station here.) Feeling sorry for it, Mol Anwe gives it some of its essence, like Ang Luthia had, and creates Mol Uhltep, “Of the Void.”
They return down the Black Stair, where Ang Luthia is waiting for them after realizing that they left Cain Anuun and stepped into the Void when he could no longer sense them, as if they had ceased to exist. Ang Luthia realizes that the Void has found a way into Cain Anuun, and Mol Uhltep immediately strikes at him "with the pent-up rage and hunger of eons." With his dying power, Ang Luthia renders Mol Uhltep into two and sends both pieces back into the Void. The remaining gods build a pyre, sending Ang Luthia's burning body into the sky so that he may always watch over his work. Mol Kalakto then bulids a second pyre atop the Black Stair -- the Fells Pyre -- to hold Ang Luthia's heart, which will burn forever and bar Mol Uhltep's return.
The gods age. Before she dies, Mol Anwe infuses her flesh and essence into one final song and creates the Fey, which means "Gift." The other gods also create races upon their death, some unwillingly. The Flowering Dead are somehow Mol Uhltep's children, "born of the broken, twisted corpses of his kin."
Enraged by what he saw, Tyr cries that Borl the Storm God created the world and that Freyth was his only son. I'm guessing "Borl" is probably Mol Uvanya. Veikko claims that the Spirit Mother created the world. She's harder to guess, but I'm going to say either Mol Anwe or Mol Uvanya. But, both acknowledge that their religions include stories of the Black Stair, with Tyr noting that Freyth used it to enter the Underworld to hunt Naga.
In the present, Cyanthe appeals to Skol to help them so that they can be rid of each other. For her part, Skol sees victory over the Last God as wiping away their sins and finally deserving the songs that the peasants sing about them. During their conversation, Skol hints at Hakkon and Grey’s fate, noting she had no items from Hakkon to put at her shrine to the heroes and also no quarrel with him. She mentions “poor old Grey” so clearly something not-great happened to him.
Meanwhile, Valko claims Skol made Shyf from her unspent years, though I have to wonder why Skol didn't just stop herself from aging. Skol refers to Shyf as a weapon, so she must have some plan that she herself couldn't realize. (Does she send Shyf into the Void at some point in the future fight?) Evyindr tires of Valko's sniping and threatens him, leading to Shyf to stop them before they come to blows, noting that "it's not time for any of that."
Meanwhile, Shyf shows Valko and Eyvindr what Veikko already knows, that the essences of Aelvan lives fuel the Guild's power, including the Pinnacle’s Shield Wall, the only thing keeping back the Flowering Dead. Valko is appalled that the Ferryman King would allow Skol to do so, and Eyvindr is mortified that he defended Shyf to Valko given she was part of such evil. Realizing the danger, Skol teleports to the basement with Cyanthe and Veikko, and Valko pledges to destroy the tower collecting the Aelvan essences. Veikko prevents Skol from killing Valko, but he hurls his sword to Eyvindr, who strikes down the tower. The Flowering Dead then realize they can enter the Pinnacle.
Honestly, at this point, I'm pretty much rooting for the Dead here, at least when it comes to destroying the Pinnacle.
Star Wars #3 (February 26): So, we not only learn what Zahra's beef with Leia is in this issue but also that she be CRAY-ZY.
When Vader gave her responsibility for hunting down the Rebellion, Zahra had the Fortitude, an Imperial Star Destroyer damaged in the Death Star explosion, resurrected as the Tarkin's Will. She then staffed it exclusively with people who lost someone in the explosion, as she did. She pledges to her second-in-command here that one day she will whisper the name of the person she lost in Leia's ear as she cuts her throat. (I'm going to say lesbian. Zahra has some lesbian energy here.)
Zahra isn't the only one in this issue on a mission, though. Lando, Leia, and Luke (I never realized just how many "L" names we have) arrive on Cloud City with their own agendas. Lando is there to save Lobot (more "L" names!), which I was glad to see since I assumed his mission was there to sell out the Rebellion to Jabba (or, at least, was only there to sell out the Rebellion). Luke is trying to find his lightsaber, and Leia is trying to figure out how to de-carbonite-ize Han.
Of course, it doesn't go according to plan. Lando uses Lobot to stop Cloud City from properly venting the radioactive mining by-product, sending Stormtroopers his way. (I'm not quite sure what his plan was, since you don't usually create a diversion that leads the people you're trying to divert right to you.) He asks Luke for help, but Luke is confronted with mountains of mechanical junk in his search for his lightsaber. (I'm also not sure what he was expecting. Did he think it was just going to be sitting on top of a desk in the lost-and-found office?) In the room where Han was frozen, Stormtroopers stun Leia as she's inspecting the equipment.
When told that the Stormtroopers have possibly captured a rebel, the station's commander, Captain Tranch, dismisses Leia's capture as "trivial" since he doesn't know who it is. He orders his subordinate to follow orders and send the prisoner to the nearest Imperial Security Bureau office for interrogation. We're then treated not only to some pretty hilarious Stormtrooper banter (reminiscent of Adam Pally and Jason Sudeikis' banter in "The Mandalorian") but also the sight of a carbonite-ized Leia!
All in all, it's a great issue. Soule makes it clear that the trio is acting pretty recklessly here, overconfident in the ability to pull a fast one on the Empire. In fact, I was glad to see both Lando and Leia in trouble given how they thought they could just waltz through Cloud City. I guess sometime Stormtroopers do actually hit the target!
Also Read: Dungeons & Dragons: Infernal Tides #2
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