Palpatine And Darth Vader Confront Crimson Dawn In ‘Star Wars: Hidden Empire’ #4

Star Wars

Mar 4

The dawn has come. Star Wars: Hidden Empire #4 picks up with Darth Vader immediately after his confrontation with the Orphans. On his way to confront Qi’ra and end her plan to kill the Emperor, he is met by Palpatine himself, who engages his apprentice in a sparring match to ready him for the upcoming battle. As they duel, Darth Sidious reminds Vader that if a Sith spirit is indeed locked in the Fermata Cage, they would need to destroy it as there could only be two Sith at a time. Palpatine also admits to admiring Qi’ra’s tenacity and regrets having to kill her as she could have been a strong asset to the Empire.

Back with the Archivist, she calls Qi’ra and admits that while she is still committed to destroying the Sith, she also has to acknowledge that their plan has a significantly lower chance of succeeding. Qi’ra, however, assures the Archivist that they have more than enough to open the Cage and assassinate the Emperor. Deciding to see their plan through, the Archivist says there is an ancient space station with plentiful light and dark side energy that should be enough to unlock the Cage. Qi’ra approves of the plan and orders to Archivist to do what she has to do. After hanging up, Qi’ra is asked by Cadeliah why she remains so confident despite everything going against her.

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Who Or What Was Crimson Dawn

To this, Qi’ra reiterates that she is willing to sacrifice everything at her disposal to dethrone Darth Sidious. She then contacts the Knights of Ren aboard their Night Buzzard, much to the knights’ annoyance. Despite the knights initially wanting no part in the rest of Qi’ra’s plan, Qi’ra reminds them that since they broke into the fortress of Darth Vader, they would now be hunted by the Sith for the rest of their lives unless they aided in Palpatine’s demise. Left with few options, the Knights agree to help Crimson Dawn one last time.

As she prepares to leave, Qi’ra gives Cadeliah a recording of a message and asks her to play it should she and the rest of Crimson Dawn not make it out alive. Before leaving, Qi’ra contacts one more of her agents and asks them to meet with her and Crimson Dawn for their final confrontation against the Empire. Qi’ra then stands before her entire following at the Dawnfall Base and gives them all a rousing speech, reminding them of their place in Palpatine’s galaxy and that they can break free of their oppression together.

Qi’ra’s entire Crimson Dawn fleet then heads out to face the Empire at the station where the Archivist has taken the Fermata Cage; the Amaxine Station. As the Archivist tries to open the Cage, she sees an Imperial fleet appear overhead, which is soon met by Crimson Dawn. With the fleets engaged in combat, Sidious and Vader decide to take their own shuttle to the station below and deal with Qi’ra personally. Once they land on the station, they draw their lightsabers and prepare to destroy Qi’ra and Crimson Dawn once and for all.

Hidden Empire #4 excerpt — Image Source: YouTube

Hidden Empire #4 does an excellent job of building up the climax of the miniseries. With Sidious and Vader confronting Crimson Dawn and Qi’ra preparing to unleash the Sith spirit on the future home of Supreme Leader Snoke, the final issue of Hidden Empire is definitely going to shake things up in the Star Wars galaxy. Plus with Qi’ra’s survival and the fate of Crimson Dawn up in the air, the stakes feel remarkably high. Even though we know that Sidious and Vader can’t die here, the mystery of the Sith spirit and the future of the Amaxine station is still compelling enough to make us want to find out what happens next. This final battle between the Empire and Crimson Dawn is going to be epic and will likely steer us towards the climax of the current batch of Star Wars comics. The dawn is fast approaching. So let’s hope Qi’ra doesn't fly too close to the sun.

Rating: 9/10

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