Lost Tribe of the Sith: Spiral #3 Review

Lost Tribe of the Sith: Spiral #3

Writer: John Jackson Miller

Penciller: Andrea Mutti

Inker: Pierluigi Baldassini

Colorist: Michael Atiyeh

Cover Artist: Paul Renaud

The Sith castaways who founded the Tribe on Kesh always assumed they were the only visitors to the primitive planet.  In fact, others have arrived before—and as the rebel Spinner and protector of order Takara Hilts have discovered, they’re still there!

Fleeing from an expedition to Kesh’s polar icecap, Spinner and Hilts discover the Doomed, an enclave of Force users. The product of an ancient truce between fallen Jedi and those who followed the light, the community has stayed hidden on Kesh for thousands of years.

Spinner’s desire for revenge against the Tribe threatens to revive an ancient wound. Stealing a container holding an ancient evil feared by the Doomed, Spinner opens it. But instead of a weapon, he finds inside one of the original dark Jedi who confounded the Sith. Lord Dreypa lives!

Corax: This issue begins with the background of Spinner’s family and their enslavement by the Lost Tribe.  This honestly surprised me, mainly because I was unaware how much I cared.  John has a unique way of crafting details and background info on the characters that take them from point A to point B by filling in all the gaps and making them as real as possible.

Synlah: With the background on Spinner’s family revealed, you can certainly understand Spinner’s resentment towards the Lost Tribe.  If he ever wants to be anything besides a subservient slave, his only choice is to align with Dreypa.  And while Dreypa’s memory isn’t all it could be after 4,000 years in the oubliette, it’s enough to start demonstrating that he’s far beyond the capabilities of the Lost Tribe.  Dreypa’s demonstration of his power in the city of Eorm quickly causes the inhabitants to join him in a rebellion against the Lost Tribe.

Meanwhile, Kaliska and Takara escape from Dreypa’s guards.  Kaliska knows once Dreypa remembers everything, he’ll be unstoppable.  They leave on uvaks to rally The Doomed before Dreypa becomes too dangerous to contain.  Meanwhile, Dreypa and his followers confront the Lost Tribe on Marisota Floodplain and a battle ensues.  The Lost Tribe is led by the Grand Consort, Iliana, and it appears, when Dreypa and the rebels retreat to the Sessal Spire, that the Lost Tribe has them cornered in a dead end.  Unfortunately, the Lost Tribe has been isolated for too long, and have forgotten what a true Sith Lord is capable of.

Honestly, I’m really enjoying this series.  With it’s Sith versus Sith storyline, no one’s a good guy — with the possible exception of  The Doomed, but even that remains to be seen.  It’s just pure fun to watch all these bad guys having a go at each other.  I’ve got a feeling the Lost Tribe is in for a real shock, and I wonder how the introduction of Dreypa into Kesh is going to impact the Lost Tribe; if there will be and what kind of lasting effect he’ll have.  We know from FOTJ that the Lost Tribe aren’t nearly the powerful Sith they see themselves as, and I kind of entertained the idea that perhaps Dreypa was Lord Vol.  That would be such an interesting twist.

Corax: I honestly never thought of that twist! But it is fun to see all of these different things play out within the culture of one planet.  But Dreypa represents a lot of different things to the Sith of Kesh; to the Doomed he is the ultimate weapon that should never be freed.  To the Lost Tribe he is an enemy that must be defeated at all costs and to the slaves of Kesh he is a savior.  Dreypa finds himself in a very unique position that he could easily exploit even farther than he has.  But Dreypa falls into the classic example of what a Sith is, there is only power and those who have it win.  I think he is the perfect foil to Grand Lord Hilts and what he has set up on Kesh.

Synlah: Half the fun is speculating where these stories are going to go, and even though this is a  5 issue, one-shot that’s still true.  We’re 3 issues in now so the story only has a couple of issues left, but as Darth Vader and Ghost Prison proved, you can punch quite an impact in a short arc.  The first three issues have each had a startling reveal so I’m expecting the same for the remain two issues.  All in all, this is great little series, filling in a gap in Lost Tribe history.

Corax: It is a great little series and I’m sad that it’s only one arc.  I would love to see John tackle the entire history of the Lost Tribe leading up to their introduction in Fate of the Jedi.  But the speculation is a lot of fun and I’m still wondering if there is any significance to Grand Lord Hilts contemplating on time.  In a way he reminds me a lot of Darth Plagueis and wanting to defeat death.  I can’t wait for the next issue to come out just to see what will be revealed about the Lost Tribe next.

Synlah: Next issue: Leviathans!

Posted by Corax and Synlah for Roqoo Depot