Two weeks ago, Marvel Comics concluded its ten-issue Star Wars: Yoda miniseries, and due to having taken a vacation I just got around to reading it today. Now that I’ve finished it, I regret waiting so long to pick it up.
Yoda #10, by the returning writer Cavan Scott (of Marvel’s main Star Wars: The High Republic comic) begins with what at first appears to be a flashback to the events of its first arc, with the title character on the planet of Turrak in the Outer Rim. But things quickly take a turn for the surreal, with the Death Star appearing in the sky over the planet, and both Yoda and the reader quickly realizing that this is not a flashback but a horrific nightmare, with zombie-like visions of young Anakin Skywalker and Qui-Gon Jinn also showing up. When Yoda snaps back to reality, he finds himself in his hut on Dagobah during his exile, conversing with the Force ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi. The recently deceased Jedi Master leads Yoda to the location we will later know as the Dark Side Cave, where Luke Skywalker will soon face a mirror image of himself in his father Darth Vader’s armor. It’s pretty cool to see Yoda’s first encounter with the cave, but once Obi-Wan convinces him to go inside things get even more interesting. Yoda faces off with a vision of his former Padawan Count Dooku and learns that Dooku was the one responsible for Yaddle’s death (see the Disney+ animated miniseries Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi for details on that occurrence).
Scott also uses Yoda’s journey into the Dark Side Cave as an opportunity to bring in Keeve Trennis, a Jedi character from The High Republic, and teases a dark outcome for her own path in that story. A climactic showdown with Emperor Palpatine and a final lesson from Bree Menaren, the Scalvi boy from Turrak, leads Yoda to finally accept his own history and fate, and prepares him for Luke’s arrival during the events of The Empire Strikes Back. This is a wonderful, introspective issue that really gives the reader an insight into Yoda’s frame of mind during this period of the Jedi Master’s life, and Scott’s writing pairs wonderfully with artist Ibraim Roberson’s gorgeous illustrations. I think this is the first time across all ten issues that I could really see the emotions of Frank Oz’s Yoda puppetry shining through in the artwork, and both Roberson and colorist Neeraj Menon deserve a lot of credit for that particular effect. Plus, this installment really felt like it tied together the various arcs of Star Wars: Yoda by delivering on the threads introduced by Scott and his fellow writers on the title, Jody Houser and Marc Guggenheim. I honestly wasn’t sure what to make of this series until the final issue drove the point home, and now that it’s complete I can definitely recommend it as a whole. Speaking of which, it will be reissued as a trade paperback in December, so that might be the perfect opportunity to grab it for yourself, if you haven’t already.
Star Wars: Yoda #10 is available now wherever comic books are sold.