Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi ended with the Rebel Alliance victorious against the Galactic Empire in the Battle of Endor, the death of the Emperor and the destruction of the Death Star II, and Luke Skywalker redeeming the Sith Lord Darth Vader to turn the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker back to the light side of the Force. After Princess Leia learned that Luke is her brother, the heroes — Luke and Leia, Han Solo and Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, and the Ewoks — rejoiced and lived happily ever after… until the insidious Rise of the First Order and the end of the New Republic.
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The galaxy far, far away is exploring the post-Return of the Jedi era in the Marvel Star Wars comic trilogy The Battle of Jakku, named after the final battle of the Galactic Civil War between the New Republic and the Empire. Spanning 12 issues across three limited series — Insurgency Rising, Republic Under Siege, and Last Stand — The Battle of Jakku trilogy will fill in the gaps between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.
While Disney has told stories set during that period before — most notably in the Star Wars: Aftermath trilogy of novels by author Chuck Wendig — this week’s Star Wars: The Battle of Jakku – Insurgency Rising #1, by writer Alex Segura (Star Wars: Poe Dameron – Free Fall) and artist Leonard Kirk (Star Wars: Darth Vader – Black, White & Red), picks up in the immediate aftermath of Return of the Jedi andthe Battle of Endor.
On the forest moon of Endor, Leia kisses Han goodbye as the scoundrel-turned-Rebel general leaves with the Rebels to clean up Imperial remnants. Leia then visits Anakin Skywalker’s funeral pyre and finds the charred helmet of Darth Vader, which will one day end up in the possession of her future son: Ben Solo, a.k.a. Kylo Ren.
“Hello… father. I came to say goodbye,” Leia says. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to find here. This should be a happy moment. I should be celebrating. After years of pain, we finally have good news. But I’m stubborn. I can’t help myself. I needed to talk to you face-to-face.” While Anakin’s Force ghost appeared to Luke earlier alongside Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, Leia is left alone as she discards Vader’s helmet.
“But now I’m not sure what to say. I’m not like Luke. Luke can forgive with an ease I strain for,” she admits. “All I feel is anger — over all the things you did. The people you hurt. The people you left behind. But I’m going to set that aside for now.” As Leia looks out to the bonfire where Rebels and Ewoks rejoice in the warm glow of the firelight, her anger subsides, and she smiles. “My family is waiting.”
Meanwhile, in the Anoat Sector, an Imperial Star Destroyer fires on disabled Rebel ships. “The Empire lives on until it ceases to exist,” the Purge Trooper Commander Bragh tells Lietuenant Alaytia, who is warned against so much as uttering reports that Lord Vader and the Emperor are dead. The shadowy Imperial is Grand Moff Ubrik Adelhard, a character mentioned in Aftermath and issues of Greg Pak’s Darth Vader run and who appeared in the canon game Star Wars: Uprising.
As Grand Moff Adelhard moves to retain the Empire’s control of the Anoat Sector and the galaxy, the Sith cleric Yupe Tashu summons the Anzati woman Reyna Oskure to a meeting of the Acolytes of the Beyond on the planet Devaron. Tashu tells Oskure they must bring balance back to the galaxy in the wake of the Emperor’s defeat by smothering the still-nascent New Republic, so he sets a meeting with Grand Moff Adelhard.
“Republics are born and die. Jedi and Sith disappear and return,” Oskure says. “The flames of history are unsparing and consistent. Be careful what you and your followers pray for, Yupe Tashu. It just might happen.”
Back on Endor, Luke reveals to Leia that he sensed her feelings of anger as she visited their father’s remains. “Anger leads to darkness, Leia” Luke warns, paraphrasing the teachings of Master Yoda. “We can’t let that drive us.” She tells her brother that she’s not Anakin Skywalker. She’s not Darth Vader. And she’s not a Jedi. Luke offers to train Leia in the ways of the Force, but before she can accept, they’re interrupted with news that a Rebel pilot survived the attack in the Anoat sector.
B-wing starfighter pilot Rynn Zenat crash-lands on Endor and warns Luke and Leia that the Rebels’ victory over the Empire hours earlier “feels like everything is just getting started.” She tells them of the Imperial Grand Moff Adelhard, warning: “He’s fearless. Desperate to keep the war alive. He’ll do anything to destroy us… and restore the Empire.”
Marvel’s Star Wars: The Battle of Jakku — Insurgency Rising #1 is on sale now, and the four-issue series concludes on Nov. 6th before continuing in Star Wars: The Battle of Jakku – Republic Under Seige #1 on Nov. 20th; following another four-issue run, Star Wars: The Battle of Jakku – Last Stand #1 hits shelves on Dec. 25th.
