Spoilers for Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #26!In a galaxy far, far away, only a select few Star Wars characters are Force users that have the ability to heal from any injury, with a new kind of healing power just revealed in comics that blows restoring oneself via the Force out of the water by a large margin!
A kind of healing seen in the most recent issue of Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, this series follows the story of a fan-favorite galactic archeologist that never seems to know what’s good for her, despite her committing any number of questionable acts to try and prove otherwise. Recently possessed by the Spark Eternal, a piece of Ascendant technology that mimics the Dark Side of the Force and corrupts its user entirely, the usually uncatchable Doctor Aphra is now trapped in her own mind while this ancient evil controls her outer body, putting her friends in the real world through hell in the process.
Written by Alyssa Wong and illustrated by Minkyu Jung, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #26 quickly sees the Spark-possessed Doctor Aphra gain the upper hand in a battle against Sana Starros, Kho Phon Farrus, Magna Tolvan, and others as they attempt to break their friend (and sometime lover) out of her evil stupor. After breaking her leg in the aftermath of a giant blast of Ascendant energy she uses to free herself from Kho Phon Farrus’ Sith-like clutches, Spark-Aphra shows why her way of healing is better than the Force's in more ways than one, while simultaneously proving that using the Force for every scenario isn’t always the best nor most effective option.
Doctor Aphra Has A Better Way to Heal Than Using the Force!
Rising from the ground after the Ascendant energy dissipates, Spark-Aphra limps along on broken bones, barely phased by her misfortune of mobility, only to then touch the pulsing red light on her chest for a quick pick-me-up that immediately works wonders. Using the Spark’s tremendous power on her leg, Spark-Aphra heals her shattered bones in a matter of seconds, making this particular piece of Ascendant tech a far better and quicker option than using the notoriously slow and still rare ability known as Force Healing; the power of which has famously been used by both Star Wars’ Grogu, Kylo Ren, and Rey Skywalker, to name a few.
And while Force Healing has always been a powerful, if not slightly counterintuitive route to take when needing a patch-up in the field of battle, the Spark’s power easily demonstrates that tech-based healing is way more useful in combat, and is something that Jedi and Sith alike should probably look into more. Sure, there’s still the whole “getting corrupted by something that's barely understood by even the smartest beings in the galaxy” thing to worry about, yet in the wide world of Star Wars, it's a small price to pay for some, especially if it means staying healthy and spry for as long as humanly possible.
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #26 is now available from Marvel Comics.