Is Doctor Aphra Possessed By The Sith?
What has Star Wars’ disaster lesbian gotten herself into this time? The ongoing Doctor Aphra comic, written by Alyssa Wong, has been following Chelli Lona Aphra as she works for Domina Tagge of the Tagge Corporation following the events of The Empire Strikes Back. On her various jobs for Domina, Aphra is joined by on-again, off-again friend, and/or love interest Sana Starros. Much like the previous Doctor Aphra series, the bounty hunters have found themselves in a variety of chaotic scenarios, from escaping a swarm of galactic parasites alongside Durge to retrieving Black Sun intel from an auction including Darth Vader. But this latest storyline may just take the cake in terms of Aphra’s trademark bizarreness.
The past few issues of Alyssa Wong’s Doctor Aphra find Aphra and Starros on the trail of their former friend from the University of Bar’leth; Kho Phon Farrus. In their first meeting at the university, Kho was helped by Aphra when their Imperial chain code used their deadname rather than their correct name, fabricating a story for Kho which helped them become a university student. However, Aphra would go on to abuse Kho’s newly-gained trust by having them help with stealing an artifact from Sava Iglan’tine Nos and leaving them to take the fall for the act. Years later, Kho would return with a need for revenge against Aphra, as well as a plan involving an ancient cult known as the Ascendent. The Ascendent was a group of dark side worshippers who, while not Force-sensitive themselves, built technology that could simulate Force abilities.
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After being attacked by Kho on Coruscant, Aphra and Starros would go on to track down Kho to the very university where they first became friends. They soon found Kho, alongside Iglan’tine Nos, in a cavern beneath the university. This cavern contained the Ascendent artifact which Kho was primarily after. This artifact was the Spark Eternal, which was rumored to grant people eternal life. During the ensuing struggle, Aphra managed to get her hands on the Spark Eternal, which proceeded to kill her and possess her body. An otherworldly voice then spoke through Aphra’s mouth, claiming itself to be “eternal”.
The comic’s latest issue shows that Aphra is still conscious within her body, but is being controlled by whoever is currently possessing her. The Spark Eternal also protects Aphra from death, automatically healing any injuries she receives. With no clear way of freeing Aphra, Starros reluctantly retreats with Kho before they’re taken in by Boushh and his crew, who are also working for Domina Tagge. Upon returning to Domina, Starros explains that the Spark Eternal is using Aphra’s memories to get what they want. Therefore, the best way to find Aphra is to bring in the people who know Aphra and her previous life the most, from her family members to her ex-lovers. This includes Magna Tolvan, whom Aphra was romantically involved with until Aphra wiped their memory to protect them from Darth Vader.
So the question now is this: who exactly is possessing Aphra? All we know at the moment is that the spirit possessing her is a part of the Spark Eternal and seems to be connected with the dark side. But we also know that the Ascendent were not Force users themselves. So perhaps the Spark Eternal was infused with the soul of an ancient dark side user; or perhaps, more specifically, an ancient Sith Lord. Perhaps there was a Sith who was imprisoned by the Ascendant and used as the basis for their Force-replicating technology. Could that imprisoned Sith now be possessing Aphra? If so, what exactly are they using her for? Are they planning to reactivate another device that will make them even more powerful? Or are they going to transfer their essence from Aphra to their old body to regain their full power?
Whatever the Spark Eternal is planning on doing, they clearly need Aphra’s memories to accomplish their goal. This makes sense since Aphra is an archaeologist who has likely stumbled upon quite a few Force-related artifacts. Could one of those artifacts possibly be the former body of the Spark Eternal? In any case, Aphra is now in quite the predicament. Plus with us now being so far into Alyssa Wong’s comic run, I wouldn’t be surprised if we were building towards Doctor Aphra’s explosive conclusion. However Aphra will get out of this situation, it will likely be, much like the dark side, unnatural.
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