Luke Skywalker is an unflinchingly loyal friend, and Star Wars #13 further attests to this fact as he sets his sights on rescuing Han Solo from the clutches of Boba Fett. During Star Wars’ War of The Bounty Hunters event, Luke Skywalker once again proves that his greatest strength is his devotion to the people closest to him.
Previous books, comics, and the original trilogy substantiate Luke’s deep care and concern for his closest friends and allies. In Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Luke famously leaves Dagobah before his training is complete after being plagued with visions of Leia and Han in trouble. While Luke was ultimately unable to save Han from being frozen in carbonite and taken away by Boba Fett, his attempt was no less valiant. Luke’s rush into the jaws of danger to save his friends while postponing his training cost him a limb and cemented one of the rebellion’s worst symbolic and strategic losses with the capture of Han Solo. Star Wars #13 shows that while Luke has continued his martial and spiritual Jedi training, he would dive headlong into Imperial territory to rescue his friends again in a heartbeat.
In a preview for the upcoming Star Wars #13 by writer Charles Soule and artist Ramon Rosanas, Luke continues to hone his Jedi skills aboard the rebel fleet in deep space. His training goes smoothly enough, as he practices lightsaber strikes and blaster deflects using his High Republic lightsaber. He is quickly interrupted by C-3PO and R2-D2, who have some information to share regarding the planet where Luke found his new blade. The pair of droids, however, find themselves interrupted as well when Chewbacca comes along and says that he has heard from a contact in Nar Shadda that Boba Fett has been sighted, presumably still in tow of the captured and frozen in carbonite Han Solo. Without a second thought, Luke agrees to come along and follow the lead to rescue Han.
As the War of The Bounty Hunters takes place between Episode V and VI, we see Luke in the process of training and maturing through his Jedi training. While he continues to practice with his lightsaber and the Force, he is also continuing his research and studies into the Jedi Order’s scattered legacy, notably obtaining his new Jedi Temple Guard Lightsaber on the planet of Elphrona. Additionally, Luke’s fighting skills have increased drastically, demonstrated as he deflects a blaster shot from a training drone while talking to C-3PO. Despite all this growth in the physical and mental aspects of Jedi training, his emotions continue to rail against the Jedi Order’s key tenet to avoid personal attachment to others in order to achieve true inner peace. In a flashback to a conversation with Yoda, Luke appears to remember that while he continues to improve as a swordsman and a Force-user, he still appears to lack the inner peace both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda attribute as a key aspect of the Jedi identity. As a Skywalker, however, this guiding principle of the Jedi Order feels more like a suggestion and does not deter Luke from abandoning his training yet again to try to save his friend.
Luke Skywalker might still be growing to be the Jedi he becomes in Star Wars Episode VI, yet his staunch attachment to his friends remains undeterred. Upon hearing that Han Solo may be still within Boba Fett’s custody on Nar Shadda, Luke abandons his Jedi training for the second time and rushes off to rescue his friend. While Luke Skywalker knows that his Jedi training is ultimately the key to defeating the Empire, finding and freeing a certain scruffy-looking nerf herder is more immediately important to the Jedi-in-training. Star Wars #13 goes on sale May 12 in print and digital.