Black Cloak #5: Holy fucking crap. I did *not* see that coming.
I'll start by saying that McClaren is on fire throughout this issue. I don't know how long it took her to get the floating staircase right in Phinneas II's apartment, but I want her to know that I see her and it's amazing.
The issue begins with Phinneas and his son, Devaki, on one couch and Phaedra and Nix on the facing one. Phinneas apparently didn't know Phaedra knew he was her biological father, so they don't have the warm relationship I hoped they had when they met at the end of last issue.
Phaedra informs Phinneas that the Kiros Three are plotting against him, though Phinneas isn't particularly concerned as they've been plotting against him for years. He respects humans, calling them some of the "brightest, most clever and most surprising of any beings living in Kiros," but frets that their short lifespans make them "ruthless, short-sighted, and desperate." (Fair.) To his mind, a human-ruled Kiros would be a disaster. He expresses relief the elves are in charge, though Phaedra bursts that bubble when she reveals the Queen murdered Freyal.
Phinneas is appalled, since he knows the Queen loved Freyal "more than almost anything." Phaedra points out the "almost" is the operative word there, though she agrees that the Queen loved Freyal. She starts by saying that she doesn't think the Kiros Three are involved in the plot but merely taking advantage of a good hand. Phaedra asks Phinneas what secret he thinks Freyal was hiding that the Queen would kill him to keep secret. Phinneas responds that he doesn't have that kind of power, because - and, oof, this one had to hit Phaedra between the eyes - if he did, nothing in Kiros would've kept him from her. Leaving that statement hanging, he announces that he'll fetch someone who might know the answer.
While he's gone, Devaki brings Phaedra to a beautiful painting that isn't, as Phaedra says, "a print." Devaki confirms that it's an original and tells her what he's going to do will be awkward but worth it. He places her hand on the painting, informing her that only four prints in the world can activate it. He encourages her to guess the passcode, which she does: Phaedra. (Again, oof.) Suddenly, Phaedra experiences a flood of memories, some of which I think involve her. Phinneas returns and tells Devaki that he shouldn't have shown Phaedra the painting as a grief-stricken Phaedra just stares at him.
Before Phinneas can explain, Phaedra and Nix pull their guns since Ividor, one of the elven wizards from previous issues, is standing next to him. Ividor refuses to put up his hands, and Phinneas tells him to show them what he's holding because they all have the same problem. He warns them that they might not like what they're going to see and opens his hands: he's holding a baby taka. OMG.
Ividor reveals that he found the taka in the bowels of the castle, in an area "long closed off" but where people are now working in secret. Phaedra asks, "On what?", to which Ividor responds, "I'd say that's our million-credit question, detective." Indeed. Phaedra tells the group that she has a plan that'll get them all killed if not court-martialed, and they're all game. (Devaki smiles eagerly, so we totally love him.) Ividor then departs.
In a literal example of Chekhov's gun, Phaedra inquires about the gun Devaki is holding, which is emphemeral. Devaki explains that he and his father crafted it: it made of magic and is as powerful as the magic channeled through it. Phaedra and Nix leave (via Nix flying and carrying Phaedra), and Nix tells her that he likes her brother and father. She confesses that she likes them, too.
Nix asks if they're going straight to the North Tower, and Phaedra says no. Since the seers and lookouts guarding the castle would easily notice people entering via the abandoned North Tower, she instead has them mingle into the crowd at a party in front of the West Tower. The party is spectacular (Nix is appalled at some people wearing mechanical wings), and Phaedra directs Nix to a blind spot. They enter an abandoned room in the Tower, move a stone, and follow a secret passage to a closet, where Phaedra finds clothes for them so they can blend more easily. They look...ridiculous, in the best possible way. It's like cyberpunk meets fantasy? It's hilarious, and I hope McClaren had as much fun drawing it as I did looking at it.
The pair make their way to an elevator and, in another beautifully drawn sequence, through a series of passages to stairs under the North Tower (which, for reasons Thompson still hasn't told us, Phaedra says has been abandoned since she was a child). They enter a cavern that almost looks like a Death Star inside, with a large mechanical object that resembles a heart hooked to a variety of pipes and tubes, all hanging over a blood-stained altar. Nix expresses surprise that it wasn't more securely locked, but Phaedra says the people up there likely don't come down here since they don't want to know it exists.
Of course, they run into Hadrian, Phaedra's brother, who McClaren makes look like an '80s movie bully. Phaedra dismisses his attempts to engage her, and they eventually handcuff him. They find what Phaedra describes as a broom closet, where she hopes to drop Hadrian so they can investigate. Suddenly the taka leaps from her cloak and gets all excited. They find a door, prompting Nix to comment, "Door in a 'closet.' Not a good sign." They open the door to find a lab full of takas and large crystals.
Holy fucking shit, are the elves sacrificing takas?!?
Dragon Age: The Missing #4: I don't know what I want to say about this one. I generally have a low bar for these mini-series, and this one gets over it almost solely due to Varric's presence. But the plot is thin at best.
It turns out the Venatori were trailing Varric and Harding because Solas freed some of their slaves and attacked some of their sites, stealing artifacts from them. The main goal of this issue is clearly the introduction of Neve Gallus, an "investigator" who works with a group called the Shadow Dragons, who are seemingly Tevinter do-gooders. Neve leads Varric and Harding to one of the slaves who Solas freed, who informs them that the slaves aren't working for Solas anymore since he's leaving town. When the slave mentions off-hand that the rest of the freed slaves are meeting that night to discuss what they should do next, Varric and Harding realize the Venatori probably think the elves are working for Solas just like they did. They decide to let Solas slip through their fingers in order to protect the slaves from what the Venatoria, who they expect will try to recapture them.
Varric and Harding realize at the end that Solas knew they'd help the elves instead of chasing him. As a result, he realizes all his goals: the elves are safe, the Venatori aren't on his tail, and he escaped Varric and Harding. They realize that they need to chase Solas who he doesn't know as well as them, cueing up "Dragon Age: Dreadwolf."
Star Wars: Darth Vader #34: I'm not really sure what happened here, to be honest.
Vader seemingly kills Sabé after she refuses to hate and, thus, refuses to chose between power and suffering. But Pak doesn't really explain why Vader is so focused on Sabé choosing one at this point in time. In fact, he's really facing more pressing problems. Before her "death," Sabé has a vision that, to her mind, confirms Anakin still has good in him, though Pak doesn't explain how Sabé is suddenly having visions.
The issue ends with Vader taking out a Rebel party who stumbles upon him and takes their shot to kill him. Vader seemed to know the Rebels were coming, though I don't know how he did as it feels totally random when it happens. I thought Sabé brought him to a deserted planet so he couldn't hurt anyone? Whatever.
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