Galaxy’s Edge #5 Review

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All the mystery around Dok-Ondar, the Sword of Khashyun, and Kendoh’s gang is resolved in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge #5.

Warning: This article contains plot points for Galaxy’s Edge #5.

Galaxy’s Edge #5

Story: Ethan Sacks | Art: Will Sliney | Color: Dono Sánchez-Almara with Protobunker | Lettering: VC’s Travis Lanham | Cover Artist: Tommy Lee Edwards | Production Designer: Anthony Gambino | Assistant Editor: Tom Groneman | Editor: Mark Paniccia

Galaxy’s Edge #5 picks up the story right where Galaxy’s Edge #4 left off. First Order stormtroopers have cornered Dok-Ondar, Kendoh, and her associates in Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities. The stormtroopers are aware of Kendoh’s identity and threaten both her and Dok-Ondar for apparently harboring criminals. By the end of Galaxy’s Edge #5, Kendoh makes her escape from Batuu and Black Spire Outpost. However, she doesn’t get quite the prize she bargained for as the identity of her benefactor is revealed and the story of the Sword of Khashyun is completed.

The Benefactor

In discussing Galaxy’s Edge #5, it makes sense to just get the identity of Kendoh’s benefactor out of the way at the beginning of the discussion. Throughout the Galaxy’s Edge series, the identity of Kendoh’s mysterious and unknown benefactor has lurked in the background of the story as an elusive unknown, rich puppet-master. Kendoh’s goal was to retrieve the hilt of the Sword of Khashyun, unite it with the blade, and then turn it over for a big payday. To that end, she spied on Dok-Ondar’s den of antiquities and tried to hire Hondo Ohnaka to help her with the heist. In the end though, Kendoh’s job turned out to be one large con. The twist is that the con was on her and her gang.

Galaxy’s Edge #5 revealed that Kendoh’s benefactor was none other than Dok-Ondar. himself The reveal isn’t quite as dramatic as that of the identity of Keyser Söze in The Usual Suspects, but just as Kendoh, Remex, and Wooro think they have gotten away with Dok’s half of the sword, they learn they have been conned. Their benefactor was Dok-Ondar all along. The job he offered them was simply a ruse to get them to bring the sword’s blade to Black Spire Outpost on Batuu rather than sell it elsewhere.

The Con

Dok-Ondar’s plan throughout this series was quite clever. He already had the hilt for the Sword of Khashyun. How he and Doctor Aphra tried to acquire the sword was told in Galaxy’s Edge #4. However, he needed the blade. The two pieces of the sword were largely worthless by themselves, but they were invaluable together. What better way than to insure Kendoh wouldn’t sell it to someone else than to offer a job to steal the other piece she needed? The trick was getting her to actually bring the blade itself without arousing suspicions. So, he hired her, but didn’t reveal his identity. He kept her suspicions at bay by playing innocent and telling stories of how he acquired other rare antiquities in his ship, including the sarlacc from Galaxy’s Edge #1, the Jedi lightsaber from Galaxy’s Edge #2, and a Jedi relic from the Temple of the Whills on Jedha in Galaxy’s Edge #3.

Coincidentally, all those items played a key role in Kendoh’s escape from the Den of Antiquities and the stormtroopers. Kendoh even made reference to Dok’s many stories of their acquisition as she used them to get past the First Order. However, that in fact was also part of Dok’s plan. Kendoh got away with the hilt. Dok-Ondar was now the victim of a heist, and Kendoh and her associates were responsible and they just fled with his property. Or, did they?

The Last Stage of the Con

While Kendoh was dealing with the stormtroopers, Wooroo made off with the blade of the sword. Later, Kendoh got away with the case containing the hilt. All indications were that Kendoh, Wooroo, and Remex were going to cash in with their benefactor. Then Remex seemingly returned to Dok-Ondar’s shop. However, it wasn’t Remex at all. Instead, it was Dok-Ondar’s fixer Varg, who like Remex, is a Clawdite. Varg, disguised as Remex, simply relieved Wooroo of the blade and returned it to Dok-Ondar. What Kendoh thought was a box with the hilt was actually a box of credits to pay off Kendoh and her crew, but at a rate that was less than they hoped for. In addition, Dok, relying on the eyewitness account of the First Order stormtroopers, just painted them as thieves. Furthermore, he turned over their whereabouts to the First Order and insured Kendoh and her crew would flee the planet. It was a well executed plan by the Ithorian. Dok had what he wanted, he paid less for it, he prevented Kendoh from selling the blade elsewhere, convinced the First Order he was an innocent victim, and insured Kendoh and her team would flee Batuu.

Dok’s True Colors

Over the course of Galaxy’s Edge, Dok-Ondar has come off as a complex character. At times, he mentioned investigating the murder of his parents and uncovering the mystery around their deaths. At other moments, he stressed the importance of not allowing a dark side relic like the Sword of Khashyun to fall into the hands of Kylo Ren. On the surface, he seemed rather benevolent and concerned. However, it was all a mask.

Galaxy’s Edge #5 concluded the story of how Dok-Ondar got the hilt of the sword that began in Galaxy’s Edge #4. After Dok and Doctor Aphra attempted to double cross each other decades ago, the sword was separated into two parts when Dok shot it while attempting to shoot Aphra. Aphra attempted to play Jedi and deflect the blast with the sword, and that resulted in the blade falling off the hilt. However, the blade embedded itself in the ground, and Dok couldn’t get it out before Aphra’s droids, Triple Zero and BT-1, rebooted and attacked. So, he left with only the hilt.

Dok states that he regretted his leaving ever since. Kendoh told him he need not worry because Aphra clearly got off the ancient Sith homeworld of Moraband because the blade was eventually sold to a merchant. Dok’s response eliminates any doubt that he is self-centered when he states he didn’t regret leaving Aphra behind, he regretted leaving the blade behind. Once he has both pieces, he remarks that whether the blade is cursed and evil matters not to him. He only cares about its financial value. Dok-Ondar is a breakout character from this series with his displays of cunning plans and calculated risks.

Final Thoughts on Galaxy’s Edge #5

Galaxy’s Edge #5 brings the series to a close. As a whole, the series was well paced and well thought out. Each issue brought in a character from some corner of the Star Wars galaxy and helped demonstrate how Batuu, a seemingly out of the way world on the galaxy’s edge, is actually an important interstellar port inhabited by at least one individual that has a large influence in the galactic underworld.

The Galaxy’s Edge series also serves as promotional material for the new theme parks by the same name at Disney World and Disneyland. Dok-Ondar is available in his shop in the theme parks. So are many of the artifacts featured in this series. In Galaxy’s Edge #5, as a stormtrooper lectures Dok and Kendoh on the power of the First Order, the reader sees a montage of panels featuring key locations from around Black Spire Outpost that are also in the parks, such as Docking Bay 9 with the First Order shuttle, Savi’s Workshop (where visitors can build their own lightsabers), the spaceport (where park guests can fly the Falcon), and the Resistance camp. This portion was almost a little heavy handed, but it does help establish the climate of Black Spire Outpost.

Despite being teased throughout the series as the danger that must be avoided, Kylo Ren only appears in a single panel of Galaxy’s Edge #5. Granted, Kylo was the boogieman that Dok-Ondar evoked as part of his scheme, but he came up often enough that the reader might have expected him to play a larger role in the finale.

Galaxy’s Edge also successfully created an intriguing story around non-mainstream characters. Although the likes of Han Solo and Chewbacca appeared in the opening issue of the series, Galaxy’s Edge largely relied on secondary characters from the Star Wars animated series, Galaxy’s Edge, and the comics with the addition of some brand new characters. Star Wars needs more stories that rely less on the protagonists of the films as the galaxy continues to expand.

As mentioned earlier, Galaxy’s Edge #5 successfully brings the series to a close in a satisfying matter. This is a story that will read very well when collected in a trade paperback.