Greetings
Star Wars fans. Sorry for the delay. But I'm back now and I'm here to talk about
the final installment of Star Wars: Knight Errant: Escape, written by John Jackson Miller and drawn by Marco Castiello. Last time we saw Kerra's worst fears realized. Her parents are dead and Lord Odion has taken
possession of the Helm of Ieldis, the Sith artifact with the power to destroy
all life in the universe (even you!). But there is a glimmer of hope as Yulan's
faith in his master appears to be faltering, and all other Sith forces move to
attack Odion ensuring that he never gets to use the Helm.
The
issue begins with Daiman and the rest of the Sith in hot pursuit of Odion, who
in turn is at his orphanage facility on Vanahame. We saw at the end of part 4 that
Odion intends to use the despair of his orphan prisoners to fuel the Helm,
which draws on the suffering of others to give power to its wearer. His plan to
cause the orphans the most suffering is genius in its simplicity. Their lives
have been nothing but routine day in and day out. There has always been light
in their respective domes, dimming at the beginning of their sleep cycles and
coming back to full brightness when it's time to wake up. They always eat the
same thing at the same time. They always listen to the same holographic tutor
for their daily lessons. Every day of their lives so far has been the same. So
what would happen if that routine were violently interrupted?
Something
as simple as turning off the lights is all it takes to unleash the imagined
horrors in the mind of a child. Multiply that by thousands of children. An
ocean of despair and it's all at Odion's fingertips. The effects of the Helm
are seen immediately. Odion's disciples turn on one another. The Sith forces,
once united against Odion, now tear each other limb from limb. Kerra attempts
to free herself and strike Odion down, but to no avail. All hope seems lost
until Yulan guns down one of the men responsible for the orphans' chambers.
All
of a sudden Odion lurches forward. Something is not right with the Helm of
Ieldis. There is no longer any despair coming from the orphans, but instead a
horrible wave of relief and happiness. Odion discovers that the lights in the
orphans' chambers have been turned back on, and at Kerra's signal, Yulan frees
them from their chambers for the first time in their lives. Odion's plan has
backfired on him. What was supposed to be his well of concentrated suffering
has instead become and inferno of joy that burns him from the inside out. He
pleads with Kerra to take him from Vanahame, but she refuses, content to let
Odion suffer before the end.
After
all is said and done, the Odionate is disbanded and divided among the other
Sith Lords, with Damian coming out of it with the biggest share. Yulan is left
with the task of finding the orphans' proper homes. It would seem that being
the first adult they'd seen in their whole life caused them to imprint on him
as their father, and so he feels responsible for them. This suits him just fine
as it gives his life purpose, which it has lacked for quite a long time. And
Kerra is left to return to her job of protecting the galaxy as a Jedi Knight.
I
enjoyed the way this story arc ended. I'll admit I was a tad disappointed that
there wasn't a climactic battle between Kerra and Odion, but I can't imagine
the issue playing out any better. After reading issue 4, I was imagining all
these horrible ways that Odion was going to extract the pain and suffering from
the poor defenseless orphans. Many elaborate torture devices were contemplated
which made me feel truly terrible about myself as a person for being able to
think of them. I never thought that all he'd have to do to truly create fear
and despair in the orphans was to turn off the lights. It touched on how I used
to be afraid of the dark as a kid and made the moment feel real. It was really
uplifting then to see them saved by Yulan.
I'm
very interested to see what the next arc will bring as I hope you all are too.
Will Kerra be further tempted by the dark side in her next adventure? Guess
we'll just have to wait and see. Come back next week, Star Wars fans, for
a 2-part review of Darth Maul Death Sentence #3 & 4.
Until
then, may the Force be with you.
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