Dass Jennir has recruited another Jedi-in-hiding to his cause, but his new potential ally reveals a traitor in their midst, and now Darth Vader is on their trail.
In Star Wars: Dark Times – A Spark Remains #3 (DarkHorse.com profile), Kai Hudorra and Dass Jennir team up to confront the insectoid Jedi Beyghor Sahdett, who has been working for the Emperor all along. Can two Jedi handle one of their former comrades, one of the better swordsmen of the order, before the violence spills over to the rest of the Uhumele crew? Spoilers ahead as we review this issue, written by Randy Stradley.
Summary: With Hudorra unmasking Sahdett as a traitor, Bomo Greenbark is again enraged that Jennir has been keeping secrets from him, leaving him unarmed in this dangerous situation. With H2 giving Hudorra a new lightsaber, the battle between the two Jedi against their former brother-in-arms begins in Hudorra’s office, but then Sahdett self-defenestrates into the casino below. The Jedi try to catch up, and Hudorra gets knocked out of the fight, and quickly beats Jennir to the ground. Mezgraf and Ko Vakier attempt to join the fight, but Sahdett lops off the Togorian’s barstool-wielding hand and then kills the Blood Carver. The casino guards attempt to corner the Verpine Jedi, but after he kills one, they back off.
Having ridden H2 down through the window, Bomo arrives and uses his mouth flash ability to temporarily blind the combatants, pulls a blaster from a guard and starts shooting at Sahdett. Distracted by Bomo’s attack, Sahdett is stabbed by Jennir, and then Force-pushed into a wall by Hudorra.
On Coruscant, assassin Falco Sang has begun upgrading his ship when he received some unexpected mechanic’s advice from Darth Vader, who also leaves him with assistant droid. Lt. Gregg gets a late night call from the Emperor and reports to Darth Vader that Dass Jennir has been located – a tip sent in by Sahdett to his master, and Vader and Gregg prepare to chase him down.
Knowing that Vader is likely coming, Hudorra calls for the casino’s evacuation, and the two Jedi interrogate their prisoner. Sahdett reveals how he came to join the Emperor, after seeing the Emperor’s power and deciding to turn on the Jedi. As he makes a final plea for his captors to serve the Emperor, Sahdett is stuck down by Master Hudorra.
Review: While the main action is the massive melee between Sahdeet and everyone else, there is also a lot of other stuff going on in this issue. We get to see an unexpected side of Darth Vader as the Anakin-who-likes-to-tinker-with-machines, giving some knowhow to Falco Sang, helping to bring their relationship to being less antagonistic, as well as giving Sang a new taste of the perks of cooperating with the Empire, instead of working outside of it. We also get to see Vader in his meditation chamber, with Gregg intruding on the Dark Lord’s me time.
Lots of little details – As a Verpine, Sahdett has always been an anomaly with his dragonfly-ish wings, and while one fell off at the end of last issue, the rest finally are lost, but not after a little aerial combat to give himself and his lightsaber an advantage in Hudorra’s office. Plus most of the Uhumele crew makes an appearance in the issue, though most are relegated to the sidelines – and they lose another crew member. The battle action is well presented, and we get to see Force powers being used in battle, something we don’t get very often in comics (sometimes hard to depict with still images).
Douglas Wheatley handles the art, with Dan Jackson providing the colors and Michael Heisler with the lettering, and this issue of Dark Times is a treat for the eyes. The lightsaber battle crackles with excitement and some cool light and color effects are used to pull the focus on Jennir slowly weakening under Sahdeet’s strength with the saber, and with the Force throwing action and of course, Bomo’s Nosaurian flash ability. We also get some great panels with a darker grittier tone as the captive Sahdeet flashes back to how he and several other Jedi encountered the Emperor, and how Sahdeet chose to survive by killing a fellow Jedi, after the Emperor demonstrated his own abilities in rapidly cutting down some Jedi combatants. Overall, lots of great art to accompany this very satisfying installment of Dark Times.
Benjamin Carre does the cover, and at first the Michael Jackson uniform costume on Dass seems incongruous, but it all makes sense, without spoiling the plot.
In the end, this was a middle issue of a five issue arc, and it didn’t feel connector-y at all! Full of plot developments and lots of action, and some neat insight into why a Jedi would join the Emperor – and how Jedi deal with their own! Big thumbs up!