Today saw the release of the debut issue in Marvel Comics’ new miniseries Star Wars: The Battle of Jakku – Republic Under Siege, which also serves as the fifth of 12 total chapters in The Battle of Jakku maxi-series. Below are my brief recap and thoughts on this installment.
The Battle of Jakku – Republic Under Siege #1 begins on the swamp planet of Lehanis (newly introduced here), where Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker and New Republic pilot Rynn Zenat (who first popped up in The Battle of Jakku – Insurgency Rising) are hunting for a Jedi artifact that they do not want to fall into the hands of the dark-side cult known as the Acolytes of the Beyond. Speaking of which, our two heroes are attacked by the Acolytes in an attempt to reclaim the Compendium that once belonged to a Jedi Master named Ky Narec– best known to Star Wars: The Clone Wars fans as Asajj Ventress’s first master before she turned to the dark side of the Force. Meanwhile on Chandrila, Senator Leia Organa Solo ponders the future of the Republic, as she receives a distress call from a Wookiee leader on Kashyyyk searching for Chewbacca and Leia’s husband Han. Here’s where The Battle of Jakku starts to overlap with the events of the second and third books in Chuck Wendig’s Star Wars: Aftermath novel trilogy, as we also hear about the Akiva Summit from the newly promoted Grand Moff Adelhard in the Anoat sector.
Adelhard is seeking to consolidate his power and bring together the remaining forces of the Galactic Empire, but there are several other high-ranking Imperial officers out there who would do the same, including Grand Admiral Sloane, who served as the chief antagonist in Aftermath. Unfortunately for Adelhard, there’s also a traitor working in his midst, who we as the readers know to be Lieutenant Alaytia, though he hasn’t quite determined that yet. But the Acolyte of the Beyond called Reyna Oskure has an inkling, and resultingly Adelhard sends Purge Trooper commander Bragh to investigate. In orbit around the planet Malastare, another officer called General Loring has entrenched himself, eliminating any rebel forces that attempt to bring him down. After Loring is approached by Adelhard to join forces, he must weed out a spy in his own crew who sends this information to the Republic. Back on Lehanis, Luke and Rynn succeed in escaping from the Acolytes with the artifact, but it’s stolen once again at the last minute by our old pal Chelli Lona Aphra, who appears in a cliffhanger splash page saying how she really should trail Skywalker more often.
This issue is divided into two parts, both written by Alex Segura (who continues on from Insurgency Rising)– the first being a continuation of the main story, illustrated by Stefano Raffaele (Star Wars: Darth Maul – Black, White & Red) and the second focusing in on Adelhard’s efforts to unite the Imperial remnant, drawn by Jethro Morales (Star Wars: The High Republic – The Blade). That back section ends with the twist that Alaytia has seemingly eliminated a captured rebel pilot who had information on Adelhard’s mole, and that Bragh has discovered this deception. That spells trouble for the poor double-agent lieutenant going forward, but I’m most excited to see how Dr. Aphra’s sudden appearance is going to alter Luke and Rynn’s path in the coming issues. There’s a lot going on here, even without Lando Calrissian showing his face inside this issue (outside of a brief flashback to the celebration after the Battle of Endor), despite being advertised as appearing on the main cover. Next week’s issue #2 will put us at the halfway point of The Battle of Jakku maxi-series, and the titular battle itself hasn’t even come close to starting yet! I’m very curious to see where all of this goes from here.
Star Wars: The Battle of Jakku – Republic Under Siege #1 is available now wherever comic books are sold.