Legacy #7 Broken Part 6 Story: John Ostrander, Jan Duursema Script: John Ostrander Pencils: Jan Duursema Inking: Dan Parsons Coloring: Brad Anderson Lettering: Michael David Thomas Cover: Adam Hughes Released: 01/10/2007 Reviewed by: JF Boivin (08/04/2007) SUMMARY: Bounty hunter Cade Skywalker uses a lightsaber to fight off the Sith Lord Darth Nihl, while two Jedi and two Imperial Knights get the fatally wounded Princess Marasiah Fel inside the Mynock. Cade then helps Master Shado Vao fight off Darth Talon as they both get aboard the ship as it takes off. They On the way to Bastion, the new headquarters of the former Emperor Roan Fel, Cade uses the Force to bring the Princess back from the brink of death. Even though her father is extremely grateful to have Marasiah returned safely, Cade and the two Jedi cannot forget what the Emperor did to the Jedi Academy on Ossus and so they sneak away during the night and take-off to follow their own destiny.

[final cover] [preview cover]

THE STORY

Picking up from where last issue left off, Cade has taken up the fallen Princess' lightsaber, which he hasn't touched since he quit his Jedi training seven years earlier (issue #1), and fights a skeptical Darth Nihl. During the fight, Cade reveals that Nihl was the one who killed his father Kol Skywalker and since Cade's not a Jedi anymore he doesn't follow their rules of not using the Force for revenge. I think Nihl takes him a bit more seriously after that, but they both know that Cade is not stong enough to kill the Sith. However, with Jariah Syn offering a momentary distraction, Cade succeeds in literally kicking Nihl in the face and throw him off a cliff. Then he rejoins Shado Vao who is fighting with Darth Talon. While all this was going on, the Jedi Wolf Sazen and the two Imperial Knights were able to get aboard the Mynock with the dying Princess Sia. Together, Wolf and Cade fight Talon off and board the ship as well. In a scene reminescent of another scene that was cut from The Phantom Menace (where Darth Maul tried to jump aboard the Queen's Starship as it was taking off from Tatooine only to be kicked off by Qui-Gon Jinn), Antares Draco pushes Talon off the ramp as the Mynock is lifting off from Vendaxa.

Now safely aboard the ship, Antares suggests they all go to Bastion and return the Princess to her father. Cade takes it upon himself to do what he did for his own Master and cure the Princess' fatal wound. But first, he has to go through Antares who doesn't trust him into even touching her. After the way Antares treats him, and even throws him a punch, I wouldn't have gone on to save the Princess. But Cade persists and then he is warned by his Master that in order to save her, he has to touch the Dark Side once again, which is always dangerous. But Cade is determined to do it, as he believes the Princess is the one person who can rally the people against the Sith Empire so Wolf says that he won't try to stop him. It also helps that she suffered the wound in the first place by saving his life in the last issue. Cade succesfully heals her but it leaves him undetectable to the Force as if he took away his own life, and also gives him the trademark yellow-red Sith eyes.

Once on Bastion, the crew of the Mynock and the two Jedi are greeted with thanks (not so with the two Imperial Knights who disobeyed the former Emperor's orders) and offered hospitality. But during the first night, Cade sneaks away from his bed as he wants to abandon his former crewmates and beging a new life. On the way to his ship, he meets the two Jedi who have similar goals, since they blame Fel for the massacre at Ossus (which was ordered while he was still Emperor but controlled by the Sith) and so Cade offers them a ride off-planet. Meanwhile, back on Coruscant Darth Talon reports her failure to Emperor Krayt. But instead of killing her, he is pleased with the information she brought that a Skywalker is still alive and orders Talon to capture him and bring him in alive. Also, apparently Moff Konrad Rus (which we last saw in issue #5) has learned from his acolyte Astraal Vao who was also a passenger on the Mynock that Roan Fel is on Bastion. I guess now the Moff's loyalties are now clear as Krayt learned that information from him and probably will mount some kind of attack against his most hated enemy.

"Broken" comes to a close, resolving all the issues but leaving the way open for further explorations of Cade Skywalker's adventures. This story arc had it all: political intrigue, lightsaber fights pitting Jedi against Sith Lords, a starship battle, and intriguing characters. But there are still a lot of unanswered questions which will be addressed sooner than later, at least accoring to editor Randy Stradley's closing words on the page reserved for a future letters column.

THE ART

One thing I noticed in this issue is the consitency in the likenesses of the characters from one panel to the next. It feels like Duursema is using models for reference, because each of them look exactly the same way no matter which angle they are seen from or which emotion they are displaying. The colors also play a major role in every issue. I especially love the sexy-looking Darth Talon. There seems to be a mistake in the coloring of page 19 however: as Cade gets out of bed, he leaves behind a sleeping woman who is colored like Princess Sia... but shouldn't it be Deliah Blue? If Cade slept with the Princess I'm sure Antares would have something to say about it.

The cover with Luke Skywalker's ghost does not have much to do with this issue, but I guess with the advance solicitations it would have given up too much information too soon and spoiled a major plot point. (The cover for this issue was revealed at the same time as issue #3 was coming out.) Still, it's an erie image and still fits with the overall "Broken" story arc.

CONCLUSIONS

The first chapter is over, but it's only the first one in this galaxy-spanning saga of this future era of Star Wars!

Rating: 7 / 10 Recommended