Watching a plan come together that involves the death of millions is a sight to behold.
What They Say:
Kir Kanos, the last surviving member of the Emperor’s Royal Guard, finds himself teamed with his former enemy Mirith Sinn on a mission for the New Republic. But their secret parley with an Imperial representative becomes an ambush from which some will not return! Meanwhile, the Imperial hardliners reveal their true target!
The Review:
With the penultimate issue of the series, Crimson Empire has a lot of work to do in order to put all the pieces into place for the big finale. Thankfully, they do largely accomplish this here as they move everyone where they need to be while bringing about a clearer picture of the manipulations going on. Watching how this post-Empire galaxy has worked has been interesting if a bit convoluted and a little confusing, the idea of a New Empire wanting to find a way to find a relative peace with the New Republic makes sense, even if you can envision a lot of trouble down the line as both sides set boundaries and really deal with the issues that are at hand. I’ve certainly enjoyed segments of the series but as a whole it hasn’t completely grabbed me. But here they manage to tie it all together well for what’s to come.
The opening half deals with the fallout from the previous issue well as we see both Kanos and Sinn making their way to the secret meeting and having quite the encounter with D’asta there. The idea of this group being the ones involved in trying to set an accord in secret is amusing considering their varied pasts, but it also works well since it fits the whole strange bedfellows concept. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen from the setup elsewhere, it’s all designed to fail with what Devian has in store as he’s manipulated the situation well. Watching it collapse and the fallout from it as both those in the Republic and the Empire see it as turning the tide from a potential peace to a near guaranteed war raises the tension well.
With a few things going on, watching as the various forces move into place gives it a pretty good sense of scale. While there’s a small sideplot going on involving the investigation of a base that’s been turned into a decoy, the real fun is watching as Devian’s forces move into position and you just see the scale of it. One of the things that I’ve always enjoyed within the Star Wars universe is that way it can bring about some big scale battles and that’s brought fully into view here as Devian sets things up. The artwork for it is very well done here as Paul Gulacy ties it all together beautifully, really giving it a sense that a lot of power is there and is about to be moved into full combat mode.
In Summary:
Crimson Empire has had a fairly straightforward plot when you get down to it but it’s taken a somewhat convoluted route to get there. With the distance between the this series and the previous one, it’s easy to forget certain elements and characters and how they all interact together. Things have come together well by this point and it’s pretty interesting to watch it unfold as it all moves towards the finale. The general idea of the two sides trying to forge a peace between each other is an interesting one, even if it’s ultimately doomed to failure, and I like the cast of characters involved. I just wish it had a lot more time to unfold as six issues keeps the pacing off a bit and doesn’t allow it to really draw out the characters. It’s one that I’d almost prefer more in novelized form to get the full experience and fun.
Grade: B
Readers Rating: [ratings]
