Darth Vader Faces Off With An Unexpected Opponent
Epic!
Spoilers Ahead for Darth Vader #13, Wars of the Bounty Hunters #3, and Star Wars #16
We have always thought Darth Vader was invincible. In the original trilogy, many try to go up against him only to fail. With the power of the Dark Side of the Force, he could easily overwhelm his opponents with sheer power. Recently in Darth Vader #13, we discovered that Darth Vader’s cybernetic parts making up his life supporting armor have a weakness that could be exploited. With a simple device (and a certain secret code), Darth Vader’s armor could be hacked and controlled by a device. With the device in his hand, IG-88 came close to forcing Darth Vader’s right limb holding the dangerous lightsaber very close to his neck. Only through sheer willpower was he able to reach through the Force and pull the device from the droid, saving his life at the last moment.
In the preview for the upcoming Star Wars #16, which comes out this week, we see an unexpected opponent fighting toe-to-toe with the Dark Lord of the Sith. It is not Luke, as the cover suggests. It is not any hidden Jedi or Sith. It is none other than Qi’Ra, Han Solo’s former paramour, and current leader of the Crimson Dawn syndicate.
RELATED: Darth Vader's Secret Weakness That No One Ever Knew About
From Solo: A Star Wars Story, and previous comic issues in the Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters crossover event, we could see how cunning and capable Qi’Ra is. She had come a long way from one of the Corellian street gangs to become lieutenant of the Crimson Dawn. After Crimson Dawn leader Dryden Vos’s death at her hands in Solo, she took over as the face of Crimson Dawn. The end of Solo showed us that Maul was the actual hidden leader of Crimson Dawn. However, his fate is unknown in the current War of the Bounty Hunters miniseries. Could he still be pulling the strings from behind the scene or is Qi’Ra calling the shots now. With the carbonite-frozen Han Solo in her possession, she had called for underworld leaders around the galaxy to convene and bid on the infamous smuggler.
After threatening and forcing his way to gaining an invitation to this “Scoundrel’s Ball,” it appears Darth Vader will not let anyone stand in his way of getting his hands on Han Solo. The only person who dares to stand up to him is Qi’Ra. In the preview of War of the Bounty Hunters #3, her subordinate voices concern about Darth Vader’s presence at the auction. However, Qi’Ra does not seem concerned. She calmly comments “I know how to handle a Sith Lord.” What gives her such confidence to go up against one of the most feared men in the universe?
The action continues in Star Wars #16, with Qi’Ra crossing blades with Darth Vader. With what appears to be some sort of energy swords, or perhaps special vibroswords, she is able to parry and seems to hold her own against Vader’s aggressive lightsaber strikes. She is skilled enough to avoid getting cut down in the first blow. From Solo, we know that she receives training in the hand-to-hand combat art of Teras Kasi, which was created to fight Jedi. It appears Maul was a practitioner of this combat form, and taught it to Dryden Vos, who then passed down the knowledge to Qi’Ra. Furthermore, we saw Maul telling Qi’Ra at the end of the film that they would be working very closely together. Could she be Force-sensitive? Did Maul train her in the Sith ways? Solo did not reveal this information outright. Perhaps we will find out more about Qi’Ra and what has transpired with her and Crimson Dawn since the events of Solo.
The War of the Bounty Hunters storylines are finally converging together.
Both War of the Bounty Hunters #3 and Star Wars #16 are out August 18, 2021.
READ NEXT: Major Lightsaber Weakness Revealed
Written By Apinya Wong
Source(s): StarWars.com
Syndicated From Culture Slate
About the Creator
Keep reading
More stories from Culture Slate and writers in Futurism and other communities.
‘Star Wars Resistance’ Is The Best Animated Series And Here’s Why
When Star Wars Rebels finished back in 2018, many wondered just what would replace it. The answer would come in the show Star Wars Resistance. Set before The Force Awakens, the story took place on a platform in the Outer Rim called the Colossus. Here we would follow Kazuda Xiono as he was assigned by Poe Dameron to check out the platform and see why it might be important to the First Order. During his adventure he met a wide array of people from Jarek Yeager, Tam Ryvora, and Torra Doza. Though it only lasted for two seasons, Resistance created a series that was quite unique both in story and stylized animation. It has to be the best animated Star Wars series thus far, and here is why.
By Culture Slate3 years ago in Futurism
Human Evolution and Climate Change
The Question An oft asked question relates to how humans and every other species on the planet will or will not adapt to the new environmental conditions that climate change will quite probably (and arguably already has) impose across much of the globe. For other species the answer is fairly obvious, they will either adapt or they will perish. As has been the case throughout all of earth’s history, evolution through natural selection requires that those with the traits that are best adapted to reproduce will do so and so pass them on, especially when pressed by changes in the environment. Many argue that the changes we are seeing or will soon see as a result of climate change are occurring too rapidly for many species to adapt. In essence that evolution cannot keep up with the pace of change. Mutations simply cannot occur frequently enough to supply a wide enough variety of phenotypes of different varieties to allow for at least one that can survive the new conditions any given species may find itself in. Rapid changes are the hardest for the longest lived (excluding microorganisms), and slowest reproducing creatures to deal with, and they face the greatest threat of massive population decrease or even extinction. I happen to think that adaptation can happen much faster than is typically believed, but am not naïve enough to think that even a greatly accelerated adaptation or mutation process will be enough to save all or even most animal species from the threat of habitat loss or change brought about by global warming.
By Everyday Junglist7 days ago in Futurism
1977
1977 - I remember the year like it was today. Newly nineteen and newlyweds. Your hair was like goldenrod. Your dress framed your body perfectly. Your lips sang to me all the way down the aisle. We were young and smart, not dumb, I think. You are still my sweet everything after all these years. It brings tears to my eyes when I think about how well we still suit each other. You make familiar look gorgeous! Thank you for trusting me and caring for me the way you always do. I sometimes get lost with dreams but you always do the best to make those dreams reality.
By Rowan Finley 4 days ago in Poets
Comments
There are no comments for this story
Be the first to respond and start the conversation.