Warning: SPOILERS for Star Wars: Empire Ascendant
In the new Star Wars trilogy, there is no pilot better than Poe Dameron. But the connection between the Resistance's top pilot and Luke Skywalker, best of the Rebellion, goes much deeper. In fact, without Luke... Poe may have never joined the Resistance at all.
A new age of Marvel Comics is about to begin, as the timeline leaps between the fourth and fifth episodes, starting fresh with Star Wars #1, Darth Vader #1, and more taking place immediately after the events of The Empire Strikes Back. But first, there's Star Wars: Empire Ascendant #1, a small collection of stories taking place before Empire begins. One such story, set during the construction of the Rebel base on Hoth, features Poe Dameron's parents in a previously unknown crisis.
The first Star Wars series ended after 75 issues with the Rebel Alliance finally finding a planet remote enough to call home. Needing a covert base of operations, the rebels settle on the icy planet of Hoth, featured at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back. Complete with a shield generator to protect from orbital strikes, Echo Base seems like the perfect place for the Rebellion to lay low and plan the Empire's downfall. Empire Ascendant shows an important pair of rebels helping to build such an important base, whose son will one day continue their fight. Even if they fall victim to the ice.
The story, "An Echo of Victory" by Charles Soule and Luke Ross, reveals that none other than Shara Bey and Kes Dameron, Rebel fighters and parents of Poe Dameron, helped build Echo Base. Having limited resources, Kes and Shara use a modified A-Wing laser gun to bore tunnels in the frozen walls in lieu of standard mining equipment. As a result, the laser runs too strong and causes a cave-in, leaving Shara and Kes trapped with no way out. Believing that the Rebellion wouldn't damage the critical walls and infrastructure needed in order to save them, Kes suggest that they send a message to their son.
Opening a holo of young Poe Dameron, Kes and Shara tell their son that they love him, and that one day he might wonder why the two of them chose to fight. They say that they wanted him to live in a galaxy of peace and freedom. However, as they record, Kes feels hopeless. He says that they won't win, and that the Empire won't ever fall. Shara tries to counter, and Kes asks her what makes her think that they even have a chance. At that verymoment, a lightsaber cuts through the ice, and the couple are saved by none other than Luke Skywalker and Chewbacca.
Kes is understandably incredulous, realizing the hours and energy already spent constructing the base will now have to be repeated, putting lives in danger. Leia responds by saying there was never a choice at all -- that Shara and Kes are just as much a part of the Rebellion as anyone else, and therefore worth saving. Later, Kes tells Shara that he now knows that the Rebellion will succeed and win.
Win they do, and when evil rises again, their son Poe carries on their fight, becoming a general of the Resistance and bringing peace to the galaxy, just as his parents did. It's a clever legacy and satisfying connection between the original and sequel trilogies. And to think: that legacy was almost cut short by an icy cave-in on Hoth. Especially with this story in mind, Empire Ascendant does a great job of setting the stage for what's ahead for Marvel's upcoming Star Wars series.
Star Wars: Empire Ascendant is on shelves now, with the all new Star Wars #1 coming January 1st.