"Star Wars #6, The Destiny Path, Part VI" by Charles Soule

 "Star Wars #6: The Destiny Path, Part VI" written by Charles Soule, illustrated by Jesus Saiz and Arif Prianto

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SO MUCH happened in this issue!! It included about 4 different stories that all connected together. Craziness! It's been awhile since I've read an issue with this much going on. And it was wonderful! We get Luke and Verla verbally sparing, Luke traveling to an old Jedi outpost on Tempes where he comes across a familiar foe (to us at least), Vader talking to Commander Zahra about locating the various divisions of the Rebel fleet, and Luke returning to Leia in the 4th Division of the Rebel fleet where he reveals his prize. I'm telling you, it was a LOT.

We begin with Luke on Serelia in that well with water rushing in to drown him (see below), courtesy of Ferren Barr's former acolyte, Verla. And we get actual acknowledgement that this is who the woman is!!! Heck yes for canon connections!! She had a TON of quotable lines in this issue and goodness, is she bitter. I don't blame her though--she was originally trained by a deluded former Padawan who set her off on her own to fend for herself...against Inquisitors AND Vader! She knows the realities of life, she's lived those realities and has come out the other side definitely the worse for wear. She tells Luke that she is now "Free of the Force and all its vague promises." And that hits the nail on the head, doesn't it?? The Force seems to offer vague promises of destiny and true paths...but as Yoda would say, "Always in motion, the future is." Verla goes on though to explain her bitterness, "The Force is a trap. [...] It chews us up, uses us for its purposes, whatever bizarre cosmic goals it's trying to achieve and tells us it's destiny. We aren't people to it. We're just tools. Tools named Jedi and Sith." She REALLY hates the Force now! But I get it, Ferren Barr made her feel important and special and instead she was drug through the mud and made to feel utter worthlessness. She realized she wasn't destined to be a great hero, but instead was destined to run for her life, escaping evil at every turn. I deeply feel for this poor, misdirected woman. 

There's a bit of humor before all of the above deep conversation, in Luke saying, "I don't know how to catch a fish--grew up in a desert." Haha!!! Well he can certainly catch fish in his old age...and big ones at that!

And then, my heart warmed and broke simultaneously as Verla told Luke, "You're a good person. I can sense it now. [...] Maybe you've got more of your mom in you." Padme!!!! Yes, both Luke and Leia have bits of their mom in them, Leia much more so, but Luke's got her heart for sure. He's got Anakin's brash and cavalier attitude though... But still, any reference to Padme makes me smile.

Then Verla sends Luke to "an old Jedi outpost from the High Republic days" on Tempes (see below) where he fights an old familiar foe that we know all too well (I was super tempted to reveal this here because the artwork was incredible...but I didn't, cuz you know me). This part was SO sad!!! We never found out what happened to this character...I mean, he died, so we thought that was the end of him, but apparently not, Vader holds his soul, even in death. So creepy...

The rest of the issue flows seamlessly from this line of stories and sets us up wonderfully for the next arc!!! I absolutely cannot wait to see what that will bring us...