Star Wars: Allegiance #1 Review

2K

The Resistance doesn’t stand a chance against the First Order without new allies. Leia, Rose, and Rey set out to find some in Star Wars: Allegiance #1.

Warning: This article contains plot points for Star Wars: Allegiance #1.

Allegiance #1

Writer: Ethan Sacks | Artist: Luke Ross | Colorist: Lee Loughridge | Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles | Cover Artist: Marco Checcheto | Assistant Editor: Tom Groneman | Editor: Mark Paniccia

The Rise of Skywalker is fast approaching its release in theaters, and with it comes the Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the official publishing initiative of Lucasfilm in conjunction with Marvel, Del Rey, and other publishing partners. While not every title released during the initiative ties directly into the upcoming movie, some do. The benefit is that Star Wars fans are beginning to receive new content focusing on the heroes and villains of the sequel trilogy from a mostly unexplored territory. In this case, it is the time between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. Star Wars: Allegiance falls helps fill that space in the timeline. In Allegiance #1, Leia begins building a new coalition of allies to challenge the First Order.

Evil Spreads Across the Galaxy

Even though the Resistance was nearly wiped out in The Last Jedi, the First Order, particularly Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, knows they are still a threat. The opening pages of Allegiance #1 prove this. Tah’Nuhna is an ice planet in the Mid Rim of the galaxy. The First Order traced a Resistance transmission to the planet, and on that information alone determined that Tah’Nuhna must be destroyed. Their leader pleaded with General Hux for mercy. After all, they are a neutral world that offers aid to anyone that asks for it.

Another subtle point about this scene: the First Order has invaded the Mid Rim. In the prior films, the First Order’s domain was the Unknown Regions and the Outer Rim. Just as Rey predicted in her attempt to recruit Luke Skywalker back to the Resistance’s cause, they have begun overrunning the galaxy. There is no Republic to stop them.

Survivor’s Guilt

On the garbage planet of Anoat, Lt. Connix reports to General Organa that they just received the general distress signal from Tah’Nuhna about the First Order’s attack. Leia is understandably distressed and remarks that after the destruction of Alderaan, she vowed to never let “would-be conquerors” destroy another world. Yet, she has seen the First Order destroy Hosnian Prime and now Tah’Nuhna along with other unmentioned or unknown worlds. She has to act.

Leia’s advisor, General Jonato, recommends evacuating from Anoat as he fears the First Order will soon track them down there. Leia has other ideas. She knows that they need allies, supplies, and weapons. So, she sets out to find some of each. However, she isn’t going it alone and recruits Rey and Rose Tico to help.

Not Just a Scavenger

Allegiance #1 demonstrates that setting up a base on a garbage planet has its benefits and drawbacks. On the plus side, the presence of all the trash and scrap has made it difficult for the First Order to find the Resistance there. The downside is that it is a garbage planet, and nobody really wants to live among the trash. It is, however, a place that someone with Rey’s background can excel. After all, Rey lived most of her life as a scavenger in the deserts of Jakku. Although the ruins of Star Destroyers littered the landscape, she had to compete for a limited amount of resources. Anoat, on the other hand, is an entire planet filled with junk. It must be a goldmine for her.

Rey is more than just a scavenger though. She is the heir to the Jedi. In Allegiance #1, she takes a break from scavenging generator parts to challenge a monster. Rey seemingly treats the confrontation as a test of her abilities. There are a few notable details about this battle. First, Rey isn’t using her lightsaber. She is armed with her staff and the blaster that Han Solo gave her on Takodana. This suggests that she hasn’t yet repaired the lightsaber after it split in half during her confrontation with Kylo Ren in The Last Jedi. Second, Rey is experiencing something of a personal crisis. She believes she is a disappointment to the Resistance. Why is that exactly? Is it because she couldn’t recruit Luke Skywalker to the cause? Or, is her issue that she hasn’t mastered the Force yet to her satisfaction? It is difficult to say, although she experiences trouble focusing to the extent that it interferes with her ability to summon the Force against the monster she is sparring with. Eventually her fight ends when the Millennium Falcon arrives to carry her off on Leia’s mission.

Prime Targets

Leia, Rey, and Rose aren’t the only ones with a mission in Allegiance #1. Poe, BB-8, and Finn find themselves on the Wayward Comet Refueling Station. Finn ends up in a bar brawl while Poe meets with a contact that has the location of a decommissioned New Republic impound where the Resistance might find a useful cache of weapons. As they get ready to make their exit from the station, Finn inadvertently bumps into a cantina patron. After Finn and the patron make their apologies, the patron reveals himself to be Remex, a member of Kendoh’s crew that made their debut in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. 

Track Down Every Lead

Unfortunately for Finn and Poe, Kendoh’s interest in them isn’t friendly. Although they realize there is a risk, Kendoh order’s Basso, a member of her crew, to contact the First Order. Naturally, Finn and Poe have a bounty on their heads and Kendoh wants to collect. A First Order operative relays the information to General Hux. However, Hux is initially dismissive of the report as a rumor unworthy of their attention. Kylo Ren happens to be nearby though. He has a different opinion on the matter.

In the Empire Strikes Back, then Captain Piett relays information gathered from a probe droid suggesting the Rebels may be on Hoth to Admiral Ozzel. Ozzel was unimpressed with this mere lead and demanded proof. Vader then stepped in and recognized the images for what they were: pictures of the Rebel’s secret base. This scene in Allegiance #1 is similar to that. Kylo Ren has immense resources at his disposal. He intends to use them to crush the Resistance once and for all. Hux has no choice but to come around to his way of thinking even if he has severe disdain for the likes of mercenaries and bounty hunters.

Final Thoughts on Allegiance #1

Allegiance #1 ends on a somber note. Leia, Rey, and Rose arrive on Mon Cala and they don’t receive the warm welcome they were expecting. Nossor Ri, a Quarren isolationist, angrily confronts Leia about her arrival after all the death she brought with her in the past. Nossor Ri goes all the way back to the Clone Wars and initially supported the Separatists. The “death” he refers to is undoubtedly the mutiny against the Empire that Leia helped engineer during the Galactic Civil War when the Mon Cala fleet became part of the Rebel navy. This mission is going to be more difficult than Leia hoped.

Allegiance #1 is a promising start to the series. Alliance building is not going to be an easy task. Even with the threat of the First Order looming over the galaxy, old rivals are still taking every opportunity to settle old grudges. Along the way, many of the characters are faced with settling issues looming in the background. Despite her years of fighting tyranny, Leia has lingering guilt about the effect of her actions on the rest of the galaxy. Rey has doubts about her abilities as a Jedi and her role in the Resistance. The galaxy is counting on them though, and how these character arcs are resolved will go a long way towards determining their success.