Star Wars #26 Infinity's End 4 (of 4) Scripting: Pat Mills Pencilling: Ram?n F. Bachs Inking: Raul Fernandez Coloring: Dave McCaig Lettering: Vickie Williams Cover: Andrew Robinson, Matt Hollingsworth Released: 01/31/2001 Reviewed by: JF Boivin (12/24/2009) SUMMARY: Quinlan Vos, Ros Lai and the Givin slave Yag Shushin are aboard a subterine being pursued by Dathomir witch Vonya. They are headed towards the Infinity Gate and Vonya is trying to prevent them. A premature explosion from proton torpedoes breaks off the pursuit, making the witches think that Quin's ship was destroyed. Zalem, the matriarch of the witch clan, finally manages to open the Star Chamber and disembarks into the stellar control station. With help from a Kwi prisoner, Zalem manages to redirect the infinity wave towards Coruscant and get rid of her enemies the Jedi. Meanwhile, Quin and Ros Lai try to enter the Chamber and are again attacked by Vonya. Yag is killed in the attacks but Quin exacts revenge on his friend. Once they enter the chamber and Ros Lai kills her own mother, she then reveals her true intentions to Quin: to take over leadership of the clan from her mother. Using his new status as temple guardian, Quin activates an ancient defense system and defeats the witches in time to reverse the wave towards the Star Chamber. Quin escapes to hyperspace just in time, bringing Ros Lai with him to Coruscant as a prisoner.

[final cover] [preview cover]

THE STORY

After all the setup about the maleling slaves and stealing a subterine ship, the story gets resolved rather quickly. There are two underground "space" battles, the Star Chamber is finally opened, and Zalem's goal to destroy Coruscant is revealed. Ros Lai's betrayal is no surprise, as she has been pretty up-front with her intentions from the get-go. What is surprising is that Quin trusted her. Or did he? Maybe he didn't have a choice and was counting on Ros to kill Zalem, which she does rather effectively. The stellar wave arriving to Coruscant so quickly and the Jedi seeing it in orbit borders on exagerration, but who knew that Quin would be responsible for single-handedly saving the most densely-populated planet of the Core Worlds? The fact that this event is kind of brushed off later on and that no one did anything to prevent it aside from sending a lone Jedi also belittles the Republic. This story makes it seem like the Galaxy is controlled only by the Jedi, and only two of them at that (only Mace Windu and Saesee Tiin have been following this event throughout the story). And also, if the Infinity Wave was redirected towards its source by Quin, how come only the spherical control station is destroyed and not the entire planet? It's just a little bit far-fetched I think. It's too bad also that Yag dies and Quin came back to Coruscant with Ros Lai instead. I will echo Saesee Tiin's words: why did Quin save her when she tried to kill him twice? And why did he bring her to Coruscant instead of leaving her on Dathomir? I guess maybe future stories will reveal that.

THE ART

Again very stylishly visual artwork. The Infinity Gate itself is a sphere made up of hexagons, which gives it a strange cosmic look I guess. The Kwi slave that Zalem brings into the control chamber with his brain exposed and electrodes in it is a pretty gruesome sight. Overall, this series has a distinct cartoony look that gives it some character. It is a lot different than Jan Duursema's more realistic approach, which I don't think would have fit with the tone of this story anyway.

CONCLUSIONS

Coruscant is saved from the Infinity Wave.

Rating: 6 / 10