Warning: spoilers for Obi-Wan #4 are ahead. The dark side of the Force corrupts numerous Force-users throughout the Star Wars franchise, but the Obi-Wan series shows that it can even affect ordinary beings. The Force is ubiquitous in the Star Wars galaxy and while few beings become powerful Force users like Jedi, the fundamental energy field exists in all life. With this in mind, Obi-Wan showcases that the corrupting influence of the dark side can also exist in a non-Force user.
Using the Force requires extensive training and discipline, necessitating its users to hone their body and mind before they can tap into the cosmic energy field. The dark side, however, grants seemingly immeasurable power to those who give in to its temptations, but they pay for this dearly. Using the dark side corrupts beings into monstrous megalomaniacal versions of themselves, and while the deadliest dark side users are the Sith Lords, they are not the only ones who surrender to the dark side’s power.
In issue 4 of Obi-Wan, by Christopher Cantwell and Madibek Musabekov, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker encounter a former non-Clone Republic officer, Commander Mekedrix, on Ando. Their former ally descended into madness, and brutally killed Clone Troopers and Separatist non-combatants alike as the leader of the “Death Wind.” Mekedrix and his followers are headquartered in an ancient Sith Temple from the age of the Jedi-Sith War, and Obi-Wan’s inner monologue suggests that Mekedrix’s new home is perhaps tied to his madness. Mekedrix was likely driven to this state by the horrors he witnessed throughout the Clone Wars, but the dark side, which permeated the galaxy as Palpatine’s master plan came closer to completion, may have exacerbated this. In any case, the sinister dark side energies of the Ando Sith Temple exacerbated Mekedrix’s madness.
Although the Jedi Knights and Clone Troopers were undeniably heroes, the Clone Wars is ultimately a ruse orchestrated by Palpatine to eradicate the Jedi and convert the Republic into a Sith-led authoritarian regime. By controlling both sides of the Clone Wars and forcing the Jedi Knights into military officer roles and using his powers to cloud their vision, Palpatine’s dark side energy may have spread throughout the galaxy and grown stronger in already dark side-saturated locales, such as the Sith Temple. Assuming that Mekedrix became a murderous nihilist as a result of the Clone Wars itself, these behaviors would no doubt draw him to the violent energy of the temple, which would only amplify his new mentality.
Beings who are powerful enough to become Jedi or Sith are relatively rare in the Star Wars galaxy, but everyone is technically capable of using the Force, given proper training and discipline. This mentality informs the philosophies of the Legends-era New Jedi Order, which was open to training anyone, but it also aligns with the Legends continuity’s tendency to include beings artificially imbued with the dark side’s power (such as the Imperial Remnant’s Reborn warriors). Mekedrix may not have been a trained Force user, but his madness might have been directly caused (or at least worsened) but the empowered dark side of the Force in the Star Wars prequel era.
Obi-Wan #4 is available now from Marvel Comics.