Star Wars Vol. 11: The Scourging of Shu-Torun was written by Kieron Gillen with art by Andrea Broccardo and Angel Unzueta and was published by Marvel on August 20, 2019.
Synopsis
Leia and Han infiltrate the Queen's inner sanctum.
Princess Leia, having suffered a stunning betrayal by Queen Trios launches a counter-attack on the Queen’s beloved homeworld. Will Shu-Torun, with its picturesque rivers of deadly lava and burning embers of who knows what floating through the air, be reduced to an unsightly slag heap? Leia insists that it is not about personal revenge; and maybe it’s not for her, but the allies she enlists to help, Benthic and the Partisans, want an eye for an eye in retaliation for the destruction of Jedha.
Review
Leia vs. Trios
Kieron Gillen’s near four and a half year uninterrupted run of writing Star Wars comics comes to an end with the Scourging of Shu-Torun. Gillen has had a bigger impact than any other single writer on Marvel’s new run of SW comics (second place would have to go to Charles Soule). When Gillen took over the main title he brought the character of Trios over from his Vader series to provide a fascinating counterpoint to Princess Leia. Leia fights the Empire to insure that no other planet meets the same fate as Alderaan. Trios sides with the Empire to insure that Shu-Torun does not become the next Alderaan. Trios is not a hero, but she’s not a villain either. She prioritizes the survival of her planet over all else; and one wonders if she gives a thought to the fact that the resources she provides to the Empire have fueled the loss of countless lives on other planets. I imagine that, if the thought does cross her mind, it is quickly snuffed out by that familiar refrain: Shu-Torun will survive. But, in betraying the Rebellion, Trios may have made an enemy who is just as capable of raining destruction upon her planet and its people as the Empire.
Now that's a knife.
Leia begins her task by recruiting Benthic and the surviving Partisans from Jedha and the shapeshifter Tunga Arpagion (from the Mon Cala storyline). She says that her plan is to simply permanently disable Shu-Torun’s production capabilities, making it useless to the Empire. She insists that it is not about personal revenge or incurring a significant loss of life; and no reason to doubt her comes up in the story. That’s kind of a shame. I was hoping that Leia would at least be tempted to deliver the same level of destruction to Shu-Torun that Trios helped deliver to the Rebel Fleet. It really seemed like that’s where we were headed in the previous storyline, The Escape. Of course, in the end it is right that Leia doesn’t want to destroy the planet utterly, but I would have liked for her to be tempted to. Leia’s potential dark side is not something that has really been explored that I know of; at least not in the new canon. In a completely not shocking turn of events, it is Benthic and the Partisans who decide to break from the plan and pursue their own agenda, which is to turn Shu-Torun into a counterpart to Jedha.
In the end, on the way to check out a place called Hoth
While Luke and R2 are trapped in the planet’s spike with them; Trios storms the royal retreat where Han, Leia, and company have taken control of the planet. The fight between Leia and Trios is well executed withTrios meeting her end quite poignantly. I plowed through about 60% of this book wishing it was a different story; but by the time it really hits high gear, and right up to the end, it’s an exciting and touching story. Leia’s speech to Benthic and his turn back may not have been 100% convincing, but she had to save the planet, especially after she killed Trios. Ultimately, the story is satisfying even if I would have preferred the journey to the end had played out a little differently. There are some nice little touches in here; like when the gang goes to get Tunga and he’s putting on a play that uses McQuarrie concept visuals, or when Han and Benthic have a conversation that references their previous encounter when Benthic was a Cloud Rider. The Art? The usual; just like last time, some of it is terrible, some not so bad. None of it is so bad that you don’t know what you’re looking at, so that’s something.
Notes
Cmdr. Kanchar from the Ashes of Jedha story returns and is killed by Vader. That’s fine. I wasn’t overly impressed.
Comic Pack Wish List:
Tunga, Isopter cult members, and, for what will probably be the last time, I request Trios.
Score:
I wavered between 3 and 4. I’m tired of the inconsistent art so 3 Skulls
