Star Wars Legacy #15 Review: Case Closed

The latest arc of Star Wars Legacy has mainly involved two intersecting plotlines: the accusation that Ania Solo had killed a Jedi Knight and the pursuit of Ania for that crime, first by her old flame Ramid and then by a mysterious bounty hunter. Both of those stories come to a conclusion in Star Wars Legacy #15. However, in the process, one of the characters in the series faces severe consequences, and it’s not whom it might seem.     Ania Solo has maintained her innocence since it was revealed in the comic that she was wanted for the murder of the Knight. There also was the sense that she probably didn’t do it because it would be a major swerve to portray the main character as a Jedi killer. The question was who did do it. Ultimately, the answer isn’t that important. The killer of the Knight is revealed to be someone who has not had a previous role in the series and, to my knowledge, doesn’t have any larger role in the Star Wars universe.   The how, on the other hand, is still pretty interesting. Following a jail break, someone took over Ania’s identity and ultimately killed the Jedi. Since the real Ania had gone into hiding, it was easy for this woman to impersonate Ania. It was only after Ania resurfaced, saving Jedi Master Yalta Val in the first arc of Star Wars: Legacy, that this person adopted the bounty hunter identity. So it turns out the person chasing Ania is not trying to bring her to justice (or collect a bounty) but rather frame her for the murder.     Ultimately, Ania is brought before an Imperial tribunal for her crimes, but the Master Val and the former Jedi Jao Assam come to her defense, having enough evidence to overturn her case. However, it is also revealed that Ania was in a prison in the first place for murder. She brushes this aside, saying “He totally deserved it!” This is an interesting moral balancing act by writers Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman, making Ania still be a killer but making it defensible since as readers we’re mostly fine brushing this aside. We assume she’s honest, it was necessary, and he wasn’t a Jedi.   The majority of Star Wars Legacy #15 is action and hand-to-hand battles between Ania or Jao and the bounty hunter. These are handled wonderfully by Hardman. The fights are inventive and unpredictable. In spite of the fact that there is relatively little dialog for pages at a time, the scenes are still tense and thrilling. Both Ania and Jao get great moments in the defeat of the bounty hunter, with Ania using the hunter’s own ship to dispose of her.     The end of the issue, which shows the tribunal, is a little less successful, as there is a lot of expository revelations, most of which we already know. It’s somewhat like the end of an episode of Law & Order if it was set in space. And yet there is a surprise twist after Ania has been released. Jao’s return, which supplies important evidence, comes at his own freedom. Since Jao is a deserter, his return means that he is arrested and faces a death sentence, setting up a compelling problem for the next issue (or issues), one that directly impacts Ania and her crewmates.