Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #5 Review

by Henry Wood

Written by Charles Soule

Illustrated by Stefano Raffaele

Colored by Nolan Woodard

Lettered by Joe Caramagna

Edited by Mikey J. Basso, Mark Paniccia, Grace Orriss & Robert Simpson

The First Order has arrived on Naboo, and it could mean only one thing: INVASION! Kylo Ren has decided to occupy his grandmother’s home planet, but dissatisfied with the Naboo’s response, he takes matters into his own hands to further his mission to kill his own past! But what is Vaneé’s role in this conflict? And what does he possibly have to gain?

Picking up from the last issue, Soule and Raffaele continue their Naboo arc of this series with Kylo Ren deep into the weeds in a conflict between the First Order and the people of Naboo. When they don’t immediately rebel against their occupiers, Kylo manipulates the populace into rebelling against the First Order to create a war for the First Order to fight. His motives being somewhat opaque, Soule does a great job of letting Kylo’s actions speak for him. It’s a good exercise in showing, not telling.

After the events of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren is spiraling and unfocused, making him easy for Vaneé to manipulate, and that’s what this book has been so far for the first story arc. Kylo Ren is still dealing with the events of his confrontation with Rey in the Supremacy Throne Room and his failure to turn him to the dark side and to defeat his former master, Luke Skywalker. Soule does a very good job at showing us a Kylo Ren who is lashing out at and looking for a target for his rage and shame.

Kylo Ren is doubting both his ability and own darkness and is desperately trying to prove himself that he is, for want of a better word, evil. He is still trying to ‘kill the past.’ He is trying to destroy all the connections to his own humanity and any semblance of happiness he once had. He is trying to project the idea that he was always this way. Vaneé, for his part, is taking advantage of that to push his own agenda, which we don’t yet know. It provides a compelling narrative that Stefano Raffaele and Nolan Woodard do a good job of bringing it to life. A lot of the imagery in this is, unintentionally I’m guessing, evocative of the Ghorman arc in Andor Season Two.

I think there’s some interesting in exploring how Naboo reacts to the First Order occupation, given its history and its importance to multiple powerful figures in the recent history of the galaxy, such as Darth Sidious and Padmé Amidala. It’s also interesting to see the attitude of the Naboo in this story, there’s a resignation to the populace that’s interesting to explore, and I hope somebody does explore it in the future.

All in all, I think Soule is doing something interesting and necessary by showing how fractured Kylo Ren still is after TLJ and how he has doubts that are deepened in Episode IX. There’s a year between those two films, and this series is Soule doing his best at shepherding Kylo Ren through that year, and making him into the character he has to be for the ending of the Skywalker Saga, and I think he’s doing an admirable job at a somewhat thankless task. My one worry is that he’s stretching out the Vaneé plot a little too long, it doesn’t feel like that’s ending anytime soon, and that has the potential to drag one for a long time.

Random Note: Vaneé makes a reference to powerful artifact that is locked in Vader’s Castle on Mustafar, which is seen in the non-canon Lego Star Wars: Terrifying Tales Disney+ Special. That special also includes the character of Ren, who Soule co-created with Will Sliney to be the leader of the Knights of Ren before Kylo takes over. It was cool to see a connection making the link come full circle in a way.