Today saw the release of the third issue in Marvel Comics’ Star Wars: The Battle of Jakku – Last Stand miniseries, which is itself the 11th chapter in the 12-issue Star Wars: The Battle of Jakku macro-series. Below are my brief recap and thoughts on this penultimate installment.
The Battle of Jakku – Last Stand #3 begins with a briefing at the New Republic’s temporary headquarters on Chandrila, where Han Solo, Princess Leia, Agent Bastion, Chancellor Mon Mothma, and Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker meet to discuss strategy. Meanwhile in orbit around Jakku, Counselor Gallius Rax gives a speech to the forces of the Imperial remnant, ostensibly in order to rally the troops, although Admiral Rae Sloane has put the pieces together that Rax has betrayed the Galactic Empire. So here’s where– in the 11th of 12 issues of The Battle of Jakku– the titular Battle of Jakku actually begins. There are some well-drawn action scenes courtesy of artist Leonard Kirk, as the New Republic’s fleet is initially overwhelmed by Imperial ships– victims to a trap sprung by Rax as triple-crosser. But there are several wild cards at play here that will tip the scales in a variety of directions.
The first is Lando Calrissian arriving aboard his ship the Lady Luck with rebel pilots Jarek Yeager and Preeti in tow, and the second is a covert mission that sends Luke and Rynn Zenat to meet with the leaders of the Spice Runners of Kijimi in the hopes of dissuading them from joining Grand Moff Adelhard’s forces in the already-raging battle. Next we cut to Adelhard himself aboard the Star Destroyer Scepter, as he plans to reign terror down on both the New Republic and the Empire at Jakku, but just as he is about to put that plan into action, the capital ship is attacked by one of its own TIE fighters, piloted by New Republic operative Theresa Alern. Then writer Alex Segura cuts to the planet Souwecer, where Luke and Rynn meet with Tomasso of the Spice Runners… who turns out to be Rynn’s father. Tomasso assures the two rebels that his superior Zeva Bliss has identified members of the underworld who oppose Adelhard’s rise to power.
And in the final two pages, we learn who that particular faction is led by: pirate ruler Eleodie Maracavanya from the Star Wars: Aftermath novel trilogy. Maracavanya shows up with her own stolen Super Star Destroyer and sets upon Adelhard’s forces, before they are able to deal with Alern’s surprise attack. So while there are still a lot of interested parties at play here, it does finally feel like The Battle of Jakku is gaining some forward momentum. My major concern at the moment is whether any of this will make a lick of sense to those who have not read Chuck Wendig’s Star Wars: Aftermath – Empire’s End, and at the same time I almost wonder if this series would have been better served with Gallius Rax as the main antagonist instead of the significantly less-interesting Adelhard. They both seem to have similar goals, so why not combine their characters into one? I suppose that would leave Adelhard unaccounted for in the grander scheme of things, but seeing as how his previous appearances were (mostly) confined to video games I don’t think that would have been that big of a deal. Regardless, with one issue left I’m crossing my fingers that Segura and company are able to bring everything together satisfactorily.
Star Wars: The Battle of Jakku – Last Stand #3 is available now wherever comic books are sold.