Comics A/V Star Wars Adventures & SWA: Forces of Destiny comics (IDW)

Continuity hounds may enjoy issue #18's installment of "Flight of the Falcon," in which

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we learn how Ducain managed to steal the Falcon from Han. Along the way we get direct references to Aftermath: Life Debt and Battlefront II, including a return to Vardos and a surprise appearance by a certain member of Inferno Squad, and visit what appear to be Christophsis and Canto Bight. Plus, thanks to a note in the TFA:VD we now know approximately when Han lost the Falcon - sometime around 9 ABY (a.k.a. 25 years before TFA). It's a really good story that retains the SWA tone while tying nicely into the rest of the continuity.

 

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I assumed the FO officer was meant to be an existing character, but couldn't place him; he's Gideon Hask? And what's the VD note that suggests 9 ABY? It could restrict storytelling in that era if the Falcon's gone for that long.

EDIT: Oh, the note about Maz not having seen Han for 25 years. Hum. I always felt like that'd be something the canon would overlook. And Han's hair seems to be going gray in this comic, so I wouldn't assume it was actually intended to be so early as 9 ABY.

 

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I think it is Gideon - the art isn't entirely clear about it but the clue is that they're meeting on Vardos.

Regarding the timing of the theft: it can't happen earlier than 7 ABY (since Han still owned the Falcon in Last Shot) or later than 9 ABY (since it happens shortly after a visit from Han to Maz's castle, and the TFA:VD tells us Han and Maz hadn't seen each other for 25 years prior to TFA). The comic could, I suppose, be read in a way that places a lengthier period of time between when Han makes Ducain his copilot and when Ducain steals the Falcon, but I think that strains the text and doesn't appear to be what the writer intended.

 

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Gideon wouldn't necessarily stay on Vardos though, would he? Especially as it's at least four years after that mission in Battlefront II. But yes, I assume it's meant to be him, if anyone. That does raise questions as to whether he's First Order or not, though, which the text seems to imply.

See my edit above on the VD point. I'm not sure if that 25 years note will be (or is being) stuck to. It's a long time for no Han+Falcon stories in a prime bit of timeline real estate, and it definitely looks like Han's going gray in the art.

 

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Does it seem weird to anyone else that Bazine and Ducain are supposed to be meeting on Jakku but there are trees and grass? Given the stacked stone and wood in the background, my assumption was that Ducain was helping rebuild Maz's castle until I was reminded that Proxima said he'd be on Jakku. Maybe Bazine went there first and someone told her Ducain went to Takodana?
I'm choosing to ignore the 25 year note in the VD because I feel like this story should be later. Just for my headcanon at least.

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Yep, I found that odd. Definitely not Jakku. It's an easy enough fix as you say, but still a strange lack of cohesion between the two issues.

 

Don't want to come off as too negative over one minor continuity flub. Overall I enjoyed the story and I'm looking forward to the conclusion.
Also, I wouldn't mind seeing some more Ducain stories. Would be neat to flesh out the underworld in the era between trilogies.

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I'm not overly bothered by it, but since we’re griping about continuity issues:

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In the newest “Flight of the Falcon” story, Bazine is pointed toward Hondo on Batuu by Lady Proxima, but Lando’s Luck shows us an anonymous agent selling her that same information following her rendez-vous with Rinetta. The mental gymnastics to make this work out aren’t too strenuous (maybe Bazine stopped by Vixnix on her way to Black Spire and the informant only confirmed what she already knew). All the same, it gives the impression that the two arms of the FotF multimedia project weren’t in especially close communication.

 

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True. Another thing to consider, however, is Ducain's appearance throughout the story. He grows from young man to adulthood during the period he possesses the Falcon, which could be any number of years but I think the implication we're supposed to take away is that a significant amount of time goes by. We also have to leave room on the timeline for the Irving Boys to own it and for it to sit dilapidated on Jakku for "years."

It's entirely possible that the 25-year thing has already gone away or was overlooked by the writer and Story Group, no doubt. And I do agree that this places the theft surprisingly early in the post-ROTJ timeline. In lieu of additional clarification and in light of what we presently know, though, I can't help but conclude that the 9 ABY date makes some sense.

 

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I didn't read Life Debt or play Battlefront II. Can you go into detail on those references in this comic? Which one contains a reference to Vardos and what's Inferno Squad, that's from Battlefront II, right? Also, who is Christophsis?

 

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I don't recall the specific Life Debt reference, but Battlefront II features the planet Vardos in a couple of levels (it's the planet Ducain meets the First Order officer on, with the red trees and gray tower), and yes, the game features Inferno Squad led by Iden Versio, whose homeworld is Vardos. Athulla, where the officer asks Ducain to bring the weapons, is also from the game.

Christophsis is the crystal planet from The Clone Wars film and a few episodes, where we first meet Ahsoka. It's the planet where Ducain steals the Falcon.

There's also a reference to the clone trooper Kix from the Crimson Corsair short story, when the Devaronian is talking about a clone trooper who knows the location of lost treasure.

 

Though speaking of the latter,

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doesn't that also not quite make sense, given that Kix was the lost treasure that the pirates were trying to find?

 

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Could be a "telephone" situation. Rumor spreads, the actual narrative gets a bit muddy.

 

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Yup. And, if this is set around 9 ABY, then Kix won't be found for another couple of decades, so it's purely rumour at that point.

 

Well dang guys I haven't gotten to reading this series yet, but this is what the last couple of pages sounds like:

Proxima sends Bazine to Jakku so she goes to a planet that's the spitting image of Takodana.
Ducain had the Millennium Falcon for a gazillion years, not counting the time the Irving Boys had it, or the many years it sat on Jakku.
Kix told a story about the lost treasure he knows about which was really himself, decades before he was discovered.

I.....................................wow.

 

That's about the size of it.

To be fair, I think we've exaggerated those issues (if they're even issues at all). Proxima says Ducain's on Jakku, but turns out a person doesn't just stay on one planet forever? Sure, so he hopped over to the nearby Takodana before Bazine found him. 25 years seems like a long time for Han to be Falcon-less, but that's what canon's saying for now, so it's not actually a continuity issue. And the reference to a clone trooper who knows about lost treasure might not even be about Kix anyway.

 

The Life Debt reference I was referring to was the plot point of

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Chewie having returned to Kashyyyk to be with his family, which had its origins in that novel and continued through Last Shot.

Above and beyond anything relating to the continuity, the story is actually really good. Michael Moreci does great stuff in eight pages or however many pages he had to make Ducain an interesting and even sympathetic character, and one I actually hope we'll see more of in the future.

 

From IDW's May solicitations:

STAR WARS ADVENTURES #22

Spoiler: publisher's summary + cover

(W) Elsa Charretier, Pierrick Colinet (A/CA) Elsa Charretier
In Shops: May 08, 2019

After losing the man she loves to a bounty hunter, Princess Leia embarks on a dangerous mission with R2-D2 and C-3PO in this exciting tale set just after The Empire Strikes Back! The second of three issues spotlighting the Original Trilogy! Variant cover by Eisner Award winner Michael Avon Oeming, co-creator of Powers!

STAR WARS ADVENTURES ANNUAL 2019

Spoiler: publisher's summary only

(W) Cavan Scott (A) Mauricet (CA) Stan Sakai
In Shops: May 22, 2019

A daring rescue mission leads Lando—and his new friend Jaxxon—to the seat of Imperial power, where they must recover an important artifact that will inspire a planet to drive the Empire from their home. Special feature-length tale starring Lando and Jaxxon!

!!

 

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Ah right; that was established back in the TFA Visual Dictionary, so it didn't stand out as something specific to Life Debt, although that's obviously where Chewie makes the decision to stay. I suppose that plus the potential theft-date of 9 ABY mean Han, Chewie, and the Falcon aren't going to be on adventures together from around 4 ABY until sometime after 28 ABY, which is a shame for future content... and I wonder if that'll be stuck to.

But yes, I agree that it's actually a decent story, and Ducain's now become a more promising character, I think.

 

My first thought on reading it was that it was a reference to a very obscure SWG short story!

Also, how certain can we be that it was Christophis, as the planet wasn't named in the story?

Although I do agree that the aging of Ducain certainly does tie in with 9aby being the year the Falcon was stolen, and considering the vents of the Aftermath trilogy it would make sense that Chewie would want to spend some time at home with his family. And if Han was seperated from his ship for 25 years, then it just gives the "We're home" scene some extra punch

 

The shot of the planet matches its appearance in The Clone Wars, and the general environment/backdrops fit, too. Vardos isn't named either, but that's just as recognizable from previous material.

 

It's been said before, but the Jaxxon renaissance is so completely surreal to watch as someone who grew up with essentially mindless punchlines about the original Star Wars comics having a "big green rabbit".

 

Although again, that being said, it also makes it odd that Ducain tried to kill Han and Chewie during the framing story of Smuggler's Run, which by all accounts seems to be set very close to TFA and so after Ducain decided to make amends with Han.

 

People keep talking about how unfortunate it is that there’s not going to be years and years of Han and Chewie having adventures on the Falcon. Well, instead there can be years and years of Han and Chewie having adventures on the Eravana!


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Chewie's off with his family until Han and Leia split, which has to be after 28 ABY. The Visual Dictionary also says Han used other ships until settling on the Eravana, so we don't know the exact timeframe for when he gets that. Mainly it's the idea that Han and Chewie aren't hanging out for almost thirty years, and Han doesn't even have the Falcon for twenty-five of those now. It's not bad, necessarily, but it seems like an odd choice, and I wonder how long it'll stick, especially if/when we start getting animated/live-action series set in the New Republic era where seeing Han and Chewie blasting about in the Falcon could be a big and obvious draw.