Obi-Wan & Anakin #5 Review

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In Obi-Wan & Anakin #5, Obi-Wan finds the Jedi solution for Carnelion IV.

Warning: this article contains spoilers for Obi-Wan & Anakin #5.

Obi-Wan & Anakin #5

Writer: Charles Soule | Artist/Cover Artist: Marco Checchetto | Colors: Andres Mossa | Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna

One of the things that is most under-appreciated about Obi-Wan is how versatile he is. He may not be as good a mechanic or starpilot as Anakin. He may not be the swordsman that Mace Windu is. He might not be as wise as Yoda or the diplomat that he is. Despite all of this, Obi-Wan is talented in many different fields. He does know people. He is humble and willing to self-evaluate. He also has the vision to penetrate the fog of a situation to find a solution. He brought his talents to bear on the crisis on Carnelion IV in issue five, and he found a solution.

This final issue, Obi-Wan & Anakin #5, finds Obi-Wan attempting to understand Sera, the Scavenger’s plan. They are interrupted by the forces of the Closed. They have arrived at Sera’s secret fortress museum and attack. Anakin, meanwhile, is being held captive by the Open. More specifically, the youth of the Open watch over him as the adults launch their own attack on Sera’s fortress. Anakin convinces Kolara and the other Open youth that they do not want to see Sera destroyed, to release him, and to take him to Sera’s temple. He arrives just in time to help Obi-Wan end a battle between the Open and Closed by repairing a communication’s device and summoning the Republic, who impose a peace on the Carnelions.

Sera had completely misunderstood the nature of the Jedi. At one point, she had seen a holorecording of what she believed to be a Jedi, and she was impressed by the power displayed. She assumed that if she could summon a Jedi to Carnelion IV, she could convince the Jedi to destroy the elders of the Open and Closed. Afterwards, she could lead the youth of the planet into rebuilding their world. However, her plan makes Obi-Wan understandably uneasy, and he asks Sera what color was the blade of the Jedi in the holo she saw. Sera replies: it was red. Obviously this wasn’t a Jedi Sera witnessed on the holo. Is the reader to believe it was a Sith? If so, why were the Sith on Carnelion IV so long ago? Did the Sith destabilize the entire world? Is this even important, or was this just a twist of fate the confused Sera?

Speaking of Sera, she has a dark side of her own. In some ways, she isn’t all that different from the Sith. She sends treasures, art, and things of beauty out to the youth of Carnelion IV to entice them with the promise of a better world. She wants to resurrect the former Carnelion IV, which had many such things of beauty. The adults do not want this art “corrupting” their young and diverting them from the task of destroying their enemies. Much like a Sith lord, Sera operates from the shadows. She hides. She plots. Much like the Sith engineered the destruction of the Jedi so that they could rise up and take control, Sera plots the destruction of Carnelion society so that she might lead it to a better age. Unfortunately for Sera, her time is running out, and she misplaces the conclusion of her plans in the hands of the Jedi—and Obi-Wan wants no part of her scheme.

Chancellor Palpatine was conspicuously absent from this issue. Over the previous four issues, he had insisted to Mace Windu that he should be allowed to mentor Anakin. Once he had Anakin alone, the Chancellor began sowing seeds of doubt with him. The Republic was mired in corruption. The Senators were complicit in the corruption. The Jedi were powerless to effect greater change in the galaxy, and the Chancellor’s hands were tied to do much about it. The Chancellor made Anakin doubt that the place he could do the most good was with the Jedi. Therefore, Anakin was ready to leave the order and find his own way.

Despite all the doubts swirling in Anakin’s heads, Obi-Wan showed him that the Jedi path was still a viable one. Just when all hope was lost, Obi-Wan found a solution for the conflict at Sera’s fortress. He had Anakin repair a communications device. With that device, Obi-Wan sent a simple message to the Republic: Carnelion IV’s atmosphere had Tibanna gas. Obi-Wan had no idea whether that was true or not. He appealed to the interests of the Republic knowing they would show up in Force in response to a message from a Jedi, and they would impose peace upon the Open and Closed until their survey. It provides all Carnelions the opportunity to get a taste of peace.

Anakin is shocked. He is surprised that the Republic would respond just because Obi-Wan called to say Tibanna gas was present in the atmosphere. Obi-Wan corrects him. They didn’t respond to Obi-Wan Kenobi, they responded to the call from a Jedi. It was about his connection to the Order that allowed him to accomplish something bigger. It is an interesting solution that could not work just anywhere. For instance, this wouldn’t have worked on Naboo. For one, the Republic already knew Naboo. It was a member world of the Republic. Second, Naboo was directly in conflict with another member, the Trade Federation. The Trade Federation had representation and could refute Naboo’s claims of aggression and invasion.

If anything, this comic paired with a The Phantom Menace demonstrates the limits of a Jedi’s influence. Qui-Gon evidently didn’t believe that his word would be accepted as proof of the invasion by the Trade Federation. Otherwise, all he would have needed to do was inform the Senate of the situation on Naboo. Obi-Wan appealed to the base instincts and greed of the Republic. He told them Carnelion IV had what they wanted: a valuable resource. If anything, his status as a Jedi allowed his message to get through.

This issue also highlights the depth of Obi-Wan’s loyalties. He swore to Qui-Gon that he would train Anakin. He reaffirmed his oath to Yoda. The wizened Jedi Master pointed out to Obi-Wan that this oath had consequences. If Anakin left the Order, and Obi-Wan honored his word to Qui-Gon, that meant that Obi-Wan too would have to leave the Order. Yoda reminds him that the Jedi Temple and its ways are only for teaching Jedi. Although Obi-Wan may have begun to train Anakin solely based on the word he gave to Qui-Gon, he has developed a loyalty to his student. Obi-Wan is genuinely frustrated by his perceived failure with Anakin. However, he refuses to let Anakin go it alone.

This series is now concluded. There were two highlights of the series. The first was how Chancellor Palpatine first began to mentor Anakin. Through his mentorship, the Chancellor was able to influence the young Jedi and play upon his sensitivity to injustice and frustration with the Jedi. The second highlight was an opportunity to see how Obi-Wan and Anakin worked as master and apprentice. There was precious little of this relationship seen in the movies or other canon sources. Obi-Wan and Anakin had scenes together in Attack of the Clones, but those came at the end of Anakin’s training as a Padawan. The rest of the story on Carnelion IV was enjoyable. The reveal of the answer as to who sent the signal to the Jedi from Carnelion IV was not as exciting as one might have hoped, but issue five sets up other potential stories. Overall, this was a good miniseries that will be known for how it sets up the relationships between Obi-Wan and Anakin, Anakin and the Jedi Order, and Anakin and Chancellor Palpatine for Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

Obi-Wan & Anakin #5 Favorite Panel:

Soule wrote a consistently good story from issue one to issue five. Obi-Wan was who you would expect him to be, and Anakin was portrayed as you would suspect, but he still had a few surprises. He managed to convince the youth of the Open to take him to Sera’s fortress so that he might rescue Obi-Wan and demonstrated leadership and diplomacy. However, he was also a little naïve, which was consistent with his portrayal in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. There are so many good narrative panels, it is hard to pick one for that reason.

Checchetto’s art shines throughout the series. He did an excellent job of taking two Jedi and plopping them down in a war torn world. He successfully combined the aesthetic of Star Wars with a steam punk vibe. On top of that, Soule’s writing allowed for alien monsters on the surface that helped give this book that Star Wars other world shine. Kolara was excellently illustrated. She is young, and she has potential as a character for future Star Wars stories.  Checchetto also created an excellent Yoda. The most unique thing about this series was the machinery of the Carnelion’s. Therefore, I have chosen a panel featuring the battle mechs of the Open for this week’s favorite panel.