Star Wars: Shattered Empire collects the four issue mini-series written by Greg Rucka with art by Marco Checchetto, Angel Unzueta, and Emilio Laiso.
Synopsis
Shara Bey at the Endor celebration.
The Emperor and Darth Vader are dead, the second Death Star is destroyed; but the war is not over as the remnant of the Empire enact Operation: Cinder, Palpatine’s contingency plan to carry out retaliation against his enemies even after his own death. Shara Bey and her husband Kes Dameron have survived the Battle of Endor; although they long to settle down and return to their son Poe, Kes continues to serve as part of Han Solo’s strike team and Shara remains with Green Squadron as an A-Wing pilot. The Rebels learn of the Empire’s plan the day after their victory on Endor while taking out an Imperial holdout on the other side of the planet (moon). A little later, after Shara has participated in the battle of Cawa City on Sterdic IV, she is assigned to pilot Princess Leia to Naboo where she asks for the Queen’s support in re-forming the Senate. The Imperials arrive shortly after they do and begin scouring the planet as part of Palpatine’s revenge. Meanwhile, Han, Kes, and their team take over an ISB black site and learn more details of Cinder, including the fact that Naboo is currently under attack. As Leia, Shara, and the Queen engage the Empire above the planet, Han and Nien Nunb arrive with part of the fleet to render assistance.
Cinder continues to burn three months after Endor, but Kes and Shara are being mustered out of the Rebel Alliance within a week. Luke wants Shara to accompany him to Vetine where he intends to retrieve something the Emperor stole a long time ago. She disguises herself as ISB officer Alecia Beck and enters the base on the pretense of a surprise inspection. With Luke posing as her bodyguard, they get to the heart of the base and we see that Luke’s goal was two small trees, “all that remains of the tree that grew at the heart of the Jedi Temple”. When their ruse (their clever attempt to trick) is discovered they fight their way out and manage to escape with the trees unscathed. Luke gives one of the trees to Shara and we see her plant it outside her and Kes’s new home on Yavin IV.
Review
Palpatine finds a way to be even creepier after death.
Shattered Empire is a bit frustrating; not the story or art themselves, I think they are quite good. No, Shattered Empire becomes frustrating when you start thinking about what it should have been rather than what it was. It was 4 issues long, whereas most SW mini-series are 5 to 6 issues long. Why? Well, it was marketed as part of the Journey to The Force Awakens so maybe they wanted to get the single issues and the collected edition out before December of 2015. Okay, but what you get in this book lends virtually nothing to The Force Awakens aside from trivia about Poe Dameron. It doesn’t really contribute any world-building to TFA, not directly anyway; again I say, this is not a complaint directed at the story itself but rather at how it was marketed. I hold writer Greg Rucka in pretty high esteem based on what I’ve read of his work on Batman (No Man’s Land, Bruce Wayne-Fugitive), and I think he comes through with a good story here. We pick up right as the second Death Star is destroyed and Luke escapes in the shuttle and end three months later. Shara and Kes are well developed characters (Shara more so than Kes) and main cast heroes are handled quite well. The problem is that is tries to cover too much and comes off as a little disjointed. You don’t really have a single story that spans the 4 issues. The first three quarters is various operations against the Empire leading up to the Battle over Naboo, and then the last quarter is the story with Luke and Shara retrieving the Force Tree. It feels like an epilogue; and then you get to thinking how much better this would be if it were 6 issues, or better yet, a novel (Rucka is a novelist as well). I can’t speak for fandom at large, but I think, for a lot of us, Shattered Empire (in a longer and more detailed format) is what we were hoping to get with Aftermath. Well, it’s not what we got, at least not until you get to the third book in the trilogy; but that’s not Shattered Empire’s fault. You did your part Shattered Empire, now get some rest. Take an Ambien, fire off a couple of tweets, and hit the—no, wait!!
Notes
Shara is recruited by Luke for a special mission.
In another story (the novel Before the Awakening also by Greg Rucka) it is established that Shara Bey died 6 years after the Battle of Endor. Although not seen, Poe Dameron is mentioned and, according to other sources, is about 2 years old at the time of this story.
Shara and Kes have been with the Rebellion since before the Battle of Hoth.
One of Shara’s squad mates is the Duros L’ulo L’ampar (Green 2, later Green Leader); years later he will be a member of the Resistance flying with Poe and re-appears in the Poe Dameron comic series.
The Battle of Naboo is also depicted in Star Wars Battlefront II.
Nien Nunb appears co-piloting the Mellcrawler II with Lando during the Battle of Naboo. The Mellcrawler was the name of his ship when we saw him in his pre-Rebellion days in the Princess Leia mini-series.
I’ve read rumors that parts of Episode IX will take place on Yavin IV. Does this mean Poe will be reunited with his boyhood tree? Will we see his father still living there?
Shattered Empire was collected in a trade paperback as well as a hardcover edition. The hardcover edition also collects the one shot C-3PO: The Phantom Limb.
Comic Pack Wish List:
Shara and Kes of course. L’ulo maybe? Palpatine’s sentinel droid would be cool.
Score:
Judged by what it is, rather than what it could have or should have been, this is an excellent story. 4 Skulls.
