Star Wars #9 (December 9): This issue is fun. I mean, sure, a Red Shirt sacrifices himself so the Rebellion can survive, yadda yadda yadda. But, it's mostly just fun. Soule uses a MacGuffin in the form of an old protocol droid that speaks a long-dead language as a way to pull some folks off the bench - including Poe Dameron's father Kes - and send them on a heist mission. Lando and Lobot are also conscripted to help, and Soule uses their participation as a reminder that no one - and I mean, no one - trusts Lando. In the end, the team gets the droid, but its processors are corrupted, frustrating Threepio's plan to use them as the basis of the new Rebel code. Poor Threepio. His one shining moment...
Star Wars: Darth Vader #8 (December 16): This issue is fascinating. We learn the creature that we saw at the end of last issue is called the Eye of Webbish Bogg. It's a creature of the Force, though I'm not sure if it's specifically of the Dark Side or just generally of the Force. At any rate, as it sends attackers at Vader, it peppers him with questions about how he's been a pawn in many, many people's games. I hadn't really thought of Vader in that way, though the flashbacks that he has to Obi-Wan, the Emperor, and Luke really underline how little control he's had over his narrative lately (if ever). As the Eye says, "Or has your choice been chosen for you? Or have you been chosen? If you could choose, would you be chosen? If you've been chosen who cares what you choose?
The Last God #11 (December 23): And here I thought they might win. I mean, Kennedy Johnson made it pretty clear that this story wasn't going to have a happy ending for everyone. But, I thought maybe one of the kids might survive the encounter with Mol Uhltep.
Cyanthe and Eyvindr have a lovely moment, as Eyvindr admits that, as a slave-cradle child, he dreamt that Cyanthe and Tyr would come claim them as their son one day. Cyanthe admits that she knew that he was Tyr's son, from the way that he wielded his axe alone. She apologizes to him, saying that it would've been better if he had never heard their names.
This conversation is occurring as Haakon brings the fellowship (or, at least, what remains of it) to the Well of Endings, a place where the Author of All Things casts out the creations that he found displeasing. He could never remake them again, and history would forget them as if they never existed. Haakon plans to push them into the well, noting they exist at this point only to fulfill Mol Uhltep's prophecy. Kolba is appalled, and Cyanthe orders him to stop. Haakon admits that he takes no joy in killing them and tells Cyanthe that it's her fault.
Then, Mol Uhltep reveals himself by taking over Cyanthe, attacking Haakon for presuming again to try to kill him. But, Shyf shines brightly, using her magic to dispel Mol Uhltep. Cyanthe is amazed that Shyf rid her of Mol Uhltep's influence. Answering a question that I had several issues ago, Shyf reveals that she's a vessel for Ang Luthia's, the Author of All Things', power. He's the only one to defeat Mol Uhltep, and Skol reveals that it's how they'll defeat him again. Cyanthe is annoyed Skol is going to save them again, and Haakon begs for forgiveness for almost killing her.
Haakon joins the fellowship, and they make their way to the Black Stair. Eyvindr and Valko also share a lovely moment, and I should've known their fates just from that. Upon approaching the Stair, Skol, Tyr, and Veikko await them. They're willing to let everyone but Haakon pass until Skol sees Kolba and demands that they all die. Before the battle, Haakon had used Fey magic to give Eyvindr a magic arm as well as one of his hammers. He implores Eyvindr to be more than his father, to which he responds "Yes," as he leaps into the fray. Cyanthe asks Kolba how the creatures knew him, and he doesn't know. Veikko admits to Valko that she always saw the Black Crown above him and purposely held back his advancement in the Ferrymen's ranks so he'd never come to the Stair. Valko cuts off her head, and she warns him that his use of Ruarc's blade to save Eyvindr spread Ruarc's corruption to him, just as it did her when she saved Eyvindr on the bridge. Meanwhile, Cyanthe and Shadow make short work of Tyr as Kolba and Shyf take out Skol.
As they advance up the Stair, Haakon tells Eyvindr that he was also a slave of the Penaunqua tribe, to whom his great love belonged. Haakon promises to speak more of it when they're done, and they reach the Fells Pyre. As Mol Uhltep arrives, Skol thanks everyone for getting her there and begins to explode to destroy him. But, Valko is suddenly corrupted and runs through Skol with his sword. Cyanthe kills Valko to stop him, but she's too late as Skol is dead. Suddenly, Eyvindr's missing arm grows thorns, and he becomes the Last God's avatar, swearing to return Cain Anuun to the Void.
So, yeah, it doesn't look like it's going to turn out well for the gang.
Undiscovered Country #11 (December 23): OMG, you think you know where this issue is going, but that last page is a fucking doozy.
The issue begins with the corpse-like figure that we saw at the end of last issue confirming that she's Dr. Jain. Ace and Valentina are appalled when she says that she's excited to show them the beauty of what they're doing in Unity, and she ignores their complaints as she wraps them in the same circuitry attached to the dangling brains and her coffin. She then calls to Sam, whom she notes didn't seem like himself for a moment. He blames it on the Destiny Man's "brief" infection.
In Unity City, Chang is telling everyone how amazing the connection to Unity was. Daniel expresses concern over how easily Dr. Jain took control over him, and the Destiny Man's infection attacks Dr. Jain before she can explain more. She fights off the infection and then hands Charlotte Unity's key: a first-generation iPod. (Heh.) She reveals that, when the team decides which zone along the Spiral has the most to offer the world, the team can alert Aurora of its choice. Aurora will then bring the team to its headquarters and give them "what you request to take back to the world." (It's presumably the Sky cure, but I have my doubts.) Jain offers to show the team the truth about Unity, but Charlotte refuses to see it without Ace and Valentina. Dr. Jain tells her that they're already linked. Chang talks about how he was raised in a Jakarta slum and became a diplomat because he survived by conning people. He asks them to give Unity a chance given the beauty of what he saw. They all agree, and Dr. Jain extends the circuity around them.
Meanwhile, the Destiny Man fights against Dr. Jain, telling her that Aurora admitted him, something that Dr. Jain finds impossible.
In the Metaverse (more on that later), Ace and Val inform the team of Dr. Jain using children to power Unity. She appears at that point to give a long-winded explanation about how America's innovations - the airplane, the automobile, the internet - were all innovations that connected us in ways that allowed us more space. "We talk on the phone and don't have to see each other." America was the perfect place for these innovations: "To be part of a connected system, to give what must be given, and then to retreat to whatever life one wants to make for oneself." It's basically a typical megalomaniacal TED talk on steroids.
Dr. Jain explains the neurolink technology required more bio-power than Unity could generate and, as we saw, she was thwarted when she tried to pull from other zones. Unity's citizens then made two decisions. First, at the age of seventy, people plugged their bodies into the engine and their minds into the server (hence, the Dr. Jain that we saw in the U.S. Capitol). More terrifyingly, they created a mandate that all second children would be given to the system at birth. It would be a continuation of the womb, where they lived in eternal bliss. Ace and Val immediately take issue, arguing that happiness comes from experience. Before they can debate the issue, the Destiny Man again distracts Dr. Jain. She then delivers another bad Silicon Valley pitch.
I have to stop here to say that Snyder and Soule get this part perfect. It's exactly what Mark Zuckerberg would say if he were caught harvesting children's brains to power the Metaverse. Like, exactly. The fact that Snyder and Soule wrote this issue before Facebook became Meta is another creepy example of how predictive they are.
Jain releases the team, and Ace and Valentina are inexplicably now in Unity City with them. Chang not unreasonably suggests they choose Unity because they could probably create the cure there, and Janet -- also not unreasonably -- suggests that it seems hard to bet that they're going to find something better than Unity as they walk the Spiral. Valentina mentions the children, though Ace (also not unreasonably) mentions that technology always needs more power than its given. It's Charlotte though who provides the argument that sways them: if Aurora -- and not the empires -- picked them, then it probably makes sense to head straight for Aurora, to walk the entire Spiral. Daniel and Valentina agree that they've been thinking the same thing, and Ace, Chang, and Janet don't object when they say that they want to move to the next zone.
Before they move, Daniel tells Lottie that they may never hear their parents message. She tells him that she wants to hear it from them and then hugs him, apologizing for not believing him. It's a lovely and overdue moment. Dr. Jain then reveals that the reason that Ace and Valentina are with them is that she's kept them all in the Metaverse while moving their bodies to the U.S. Capitol. They'll become part of the system while living out their days in peace. She'll have "her" versions of them pick Unity so that her tech will finally move beyond the Second Sealing's wall and "the world will be in Unity." Creepy? Oh, most definitely.
We end with an interesting post-script, where we learn that the Juneau Event entailed the United States in 2041 (or Year 12 after the Sealing) firing a weapon that poured enough energy into Alaska to scour the state clean. What the fuck was happening in Alaska that the United States considered it such a threat? I can't wait to hear!
Also Read: Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #8 (December 23); Dungeons & Dragons: At the Spine of the World #2 (December 30)
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