Welcome to the June 2015 Star Wars Canon Update!
This month saw new releases in comics, and, wait for the dramatic buildup, the kind of
sort of return of Rebels!
So let’s dive right in.
In Star Wars #6, Boba Fett and Luke battle.
But Luke is blind, which I think is great, since it lets them have a history without
Luke recognizing him in Empire or Jedi.
Luke is forced to use his limited training of deflecting objects while he can’t see
to defend himself, and is again saved when Boba Fett is hit in the back.
It looks like Luke inadvertently knocked Fett out by using the Force to throw that box at
him.
This definitely shows progress.
In Heir to the Jedi, which takes place before the comic, Luke struggled to move a noodle.
We also learn that box contained the journal of Obi-Wan.
I’m sure that will help Luke move along his path to mastering the Force.
In Han and Leia’s storyline, they hide out from the TIE fighters, but that mysterious
bounty hunter catches up to them and is revealed to be Han’s wife!
That development seems to be a point of contention among fans, but I for one enjoy it.
Maybe Han just had a drunk night in whatever the Star Wars version of Vegas is, woke up
married, and ran off.
Also, I’m forced to go back on a complaint I had about issue #5.
It makes perfect sense that his wife would have some knowledge of his hideouts, and it
doesn’t seem so coincidental.
The last few frames of the issue were fantastic.
Fett tells Vader the name of the pilot is Skywalker, and Vader’s rage begins to get
the better of him.
What’s going on in his mind right then?
Fortunately, issue 6 of Darth Vader answers that exact questions, but we’ll get there
in a second.
Vader faces off against his potential replacements in a battle to the death, every man for himself.
Once one so-called apprentice is killed, Palpatine decides to make use of the rest to destroy
his enemies.
He demands that they not kill each other, or if they do, make sure that he doesn’t
find out about it.
When Vader protests, the Emperor proclaims that the way of the Sith is strength.
Whoever survives will prove to be the strongest.
I loved that exchange.
It seemed very much inspired from the Sith training in Darth Bane.
At the Sith academy, they had a similar rule prohibiting the murder of other students.
But if a student were to wind up dead and there were no witnesses, the Sith teachers
would let it go.
Back to Darth Vader, we get the same scene of Fett revealing Luke’s name to Vader.
I love how intertwined the Vader comic and the main Star Wars comic feel right now.
I love seeing the same scene from two different perspectives.
I love knowing what Vader is up to when we aren’t seeing him in the main Star Wars
arc.
I hope that as new books and films come out they will have this same feel.
I enjoy feeling rewarded for reading both comics, and I hope that same feeling will
be experienced when Episode VII comes out.
In the third issue of Kanan, we jump back into the cliffhanger of the last issue with
Kanan surrounded by a swarm of Imperial starfighters.
Which he then escapes without much trouble at all.
That was my one gripe with this issue, was that he escaped way too easily, and winds
up on the exact planet he left.
It was a completely pointless detour just to provide a cliffhanger.
Otherwise, I’m still really enjoying this series.
Kanan meets back up with Kasmir, who takes him under his wing.
We get the origin story of the pony tail, and Kanan is already starting to dip into
some morally gray areas.
I really feel like we’re getting to see why Kanan feels so ill-prepared to train Ezra.
Not only was he not able to complete his own training, but he’s basically having to abandon
all of his Jedi teachings to survive.
This issue ends with Kanan and Kasmir getting caught stealing, and Kasmir throwing Kanan
under the bus.
Which is probably another situation that will be solved in the first few frames of the next
issue.
Princess Leia is still the weak comic to me.
Which I find odd.
With only five planned issues, I would think that they would really have a strong story.
I mean I’ve enjoyed bits and pieces of it, but the whole plot just seems like filler.
In this issue, Leia gives herself to the Empire in return for the Alderaanian Imperial.
I don’t have much else to say about it, because there’s not really anything happening
that impacts the rest of the universe.
But I’ll make sure to cover the entire series when it wraps up next month.
But for now let’s move on to television, because Rebels Season 2 returned this month.
We still have to wait until the Fall for the next episode, but the Siege of Lothal was
an excellent taste of what’s to come.
Darth Vader draws out the crew of the Ghost, and uses them to find their Rebel cell’s
command ship.
During his attack, Ahsoka reaches out in the Force to learn Vader’s identity.
It’s not confirmed, but heavily implied that she knows what her former master has
become, and Vader definitely knows that Ahsoka is still alive.
Season 2 has sufficiently raised the stakes from season 1, and I am so psyched to see
the full-on return of the show.
If you want to see more about the references and easter eggs from the Siege of Lothal,
check out this video!
And that wraps up June.
Next month we’ll get to see the end of the Princess Leia comic, new issues of Star Wars,
Darth Vader, and Kanan, and the new novel Dark Disciple.
Until then, check out the other videos on my channel, and subscribe for new Star Wars
videos every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!
Thanks for watching, and may the Force be with you!