Yoda Resolves A War In ‘Star Wars: Yoda’ #1-3

Star Wars

Feb 4

Yoda is the latest comic series from longtime Star Wars writers Cavan Scott, Marc Guggenheim, and Jodie Houser. Composed of three-issue-long story arcs, the miniseries follows the titular Jedi Master on different adventures throughout his Jedi career. The first of the arcs, Light and Life, by Cavan Scott, takes place during the age of the High Republic. While seated on the Jedi Council, Yoda receives a distress call from the planet Turrak. The message is from a people known as the Scalvi, whose villages are being raided by the neighboring Crulkon. Even though the Council insists on Yoda allowing another Jedi to handle the matter, Yoda decides to travel to Turrak and resolve the dispute personally.

Upon arriving, Yoda meets a local Scalvi child named Bree, from whom he learns about the Crulkon’s raids. While a few of the other Scalvi doubt Yoda’s ability to help them due to his size, Yoda soon gets a chance to prove himself when the Crulkon storm the Scalvi’s village. Under the command of Riak, the Crulkon set fire to the village and attempted to take everything the Scalvi had. Fortunately, Yoda is able to fight them off easily as the Scalvi rally behind him. Outmatched, Riak orders the Crulkon to retreat as Yoda proclaims that the Scalvi are under his protection. Yoda then contacts the Council and says he will stay on the planet until the raids are officially ended.

RELATED:

Featured

Bryce Dallas Howard Is Excited To Be Back In The Directors Chair For 'The Mandalorian' Season 3

As he stays with the Scalvi, Yoda becomes accustomed to their lifestyles and cultures. He even learns how to play a tiny Scalvi instrument called a Taratti. Bree is eager to fight the Crulkon again, though Yoda advises him to resist jumping headlong into a fight. However, Yoda disappears from the village, leading Bree to gather his friends and conduct a search party to find the old Jedi. Sneaking into one of the Crulkon’s bases of operation, they eventually find Yoda, along with a few kidnapped Scalvi kids. This discovery sends Bree into a rage as he and his fellow Scalvi lead an all-out attack on the Crulkon and free Yoda with his own lightsaber. The group is soon confronted by Riak himself, who fights Bree hand-to-hand. Yoda tells Bree to take a moment and collect himself, but in his anger, Bree uses Yoda’s lightsaber to stab Riak through the chest, killing him and forcing the Crulkon to retreat.

As the rest of the Scalvi celebrate Bree’s victory, Yoda sadly laments that he has allowed himself to be captured in order to test Bree. But Bree ultimately failed the test by ending the dispute with unnecessary violence. Feeling defeated and with nothing left to do on Turrak, Yoda decides to leave the planet and return to Coruscant.

Decades later, the dispute between the Scalvi and the Crulkon flares up again, leading Yoda to return to Turrak one final time. In the years since Bree has grown up and had a family of his own. Though the rest of the Scalvi see him as the hero who ended the Crulkon’s raids on their villages, Bree feels he failed Yoda’s test. So when Yoda returns to the village to see Bree and his family, Bree feels like he has been given another chance to prove Yoda wrong. Though this time, the dispute between the Scalvi and the Crulkon is exasperated by the Scalvi themselves, who break into a Crulkon hideout and kidnap Milok, the daughter of Riak, and his surviving wife, Klask. When Klask learns of Milok’s kidnapping, she leads a full-on attack on the Scalvi village.

Before the fighting can resume, Bree intervenes to stop his people from aggressing. As Yoda watches from afar, Bree explains that he’s come to understand the Crulkon’s motives. They have been starving, and the Scalvi hoarded most of Turrak’s food for themselves. Bree claims that if the Scalvi and the Crulkon can learn to share their world’s goods among themselves, they can avoid further bloodshed. Approaching Klask, Bree says that the Crulkon are their neighbors and will be treated as such from now on. Klask agrees and orders her own people to stand down so they can begin negotiations.

Over the following months, Bree and Klask work out an arrangement so that each of their people will receive adequate food and resources without either hoarding more than the other. As he prepares to say goodbye to the Scalvi and Crulkon, Yoda contacts one of his former pupils, Jedi Master Pra-Tre Veter. Yoda informs Veter that he helped the people of Turrak to resolve their dispute. To this, Veter repeats one of Yoda’s oldest Jedi lessons. “Even in the darkest night, the light will shine. All we need is patience and trust.” Yoda agrees and plays his Taratti as the Scalvi and Crulkon laugh and bond over an equally shared meal.

Light and Life is an excellent first arc in the Yoda miniseries. The dispute between the Scalvi and the Crulkon is well constructed and does an excellent job demonstrating the struggles that Bree and Klask’s people face. I also like the decision of having Yoda leave Bree to grapple with his mistake as he grows older until he finally understands what he has to do. In addition, the artwork is excellent, and Cavan Scott perfectly captures Yoda’s voice while making each new character distinctive and understandable in their motivations. I’m excited to see how each subsequent arc in this comic explores the different aspects of Yoda’s character and the lessons he teaches those he meets along the way.

Rating: 9/10

READ NEXT:

Featured