Star Wars, Vol. 9: The Path of Light

Star Wars (2020)

by Charles Soule, Jethro Morales (Illustrator), Madibek Musabekov (Illustrator)

The end of an era approaches, as Marvel begins to set the stage in the comics for STAR WARS: EPISODE VI — RETURN OF THE JEDI!

Charles Soule weaves together threads from years of storytelling, as he presents the grand finale of Marvel’s second blockbuster era of STAR WARS! The timeframe between THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and RETURN OF THE JEDI has almost been filled…but there are still a few surprising twists and turns yet to come!

COLLECTING: Star Wars (2020) 46-50

Genres: Star Wars, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Marvel, Fiction, Fantasy

112 pages, Paperback

First published December 3, 2024

About the author

Charles Soule is a #1 New York Times-bestselling novelist, comics author, screenwriter, musician, and lapsed attorney. He has written some of the most prominent stories of the last decade for Marvel, DC and Lucasfilm in addition to his own work, such as his comics Curse Words, Letter 44 and Undiscovered Country, and his original novels Light of the Jedi, The Endless Vessel, The Oracle Year and Anyone. He lives in New York.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Soule man does it again, a solid (if somewhat abbreviated) volume set in the aftermath of Lando's trial and featuring an interesting interweaving of different time periods via the second part's framing device of Luke teaching a lesson based on one of his wartime experiences to his nephew Ben Solo.


If he'd stuck to Force-juggling the Galaxy may have become a happier place.

I'm guessing the next volume will be the conclusion to this run bridging The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, I've seen online the next series featuring the time of New Republic is already underway, I am hopeful it will be a rich vein of storytelling connecting the various TV shows with the Sequel films and beyond!

[Khurram · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to give this book 4.5 stars, but having Luke actually doing stuff and not being made to look weak or secondary pushed this up to 5 stars from me.

Leia is having dreams of her roles and identity. This will bring her against a nemesis she thought long gone.

An older (supposedly in the Disney universe) wiser Jedi Master Luke Skywalker tells a story of a dangerous and potentially catastrophic decision he and his friends once took. Though ot was gor the greater good did them make the correct decision?

Is this the end of this era between the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi? I will have to wait and see. The book finishes with a varient covers gallery.

[Anna Quilter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The end of this STAR WARS run....concludes with some interesting stories..from various ages.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series finally wraps up. Not a bad ending, but really not a strong one either. I liked this series, but really thought this wave of Star Wars titles were tied in together a little too closely. I'm a completist, so there was a LOT of issues to read in order to get the full stories. Not really a fan of how it was done, but it was all pretty decent at least.

[Bernardo Martinho · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fitting conclusion to this run. The first two issues, which follow an adventure between Leia and Luke, felt almost like a sequel to the Princess Leia (2015) comic. Since that was one of the first Star Wars comics I read within the new canon, it was exciting to see direct connections to that story and characters, making the experience even more enjoyable.

I particularly enjoyed the conclusion of Leia’s arc. The narrative allowed her to evolve from the determined leader we see in The Empire Strikes Back to the compassionate and caring figure in Return of the Jedi. It beautifully highlights that her life cannot and should not be solely about the Rebellion. At the same time, we got to see Luke being the badass and wise Jedi he proved to be in Episode VI.

The final issue stood out as a standalone story, focusing on a lesson taught by an older Jedi Master Luke to young Ben Solo. This dynamic was exciting to see, and the story itself was a kind of celebration of various eras, taking place within the same timeline as the rest of the run but featuring connections spanning from the High Republic to the sequels.

Overall, this volume wasn’t a game changing, but it provided a satisfying conclusion to Charles Soule’s great run, once again delivering an engaging narrative paired with stunning artwork.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ABY (with a segment somewhere between 15-28 ABY)

This graphic novel collects issues #48-#50 of Star Wars (2020) completing this particular between Episodes V and VI arc. Issue #48, "The Path of Darkness," follows Leia as she has dark dreams of the destruction of Alderaan. But some of her people may have made it out. Working for Leia, a girl named Evaan is tasked with finding the survivors and keeping them safe. When she comes bearing bad news, Leia must investigate, and of course Luke goes with her. Issue #49, "The Path of Light," follows Luke and Leia in a trap from some raiders that Leia may have left for dead in the past. Issue #50, "The Path of Hope," is by far the most unique and exciting of this collection. It takes place across four segmented parts, starting during a time when Luke has established a new Jedi Order and is about ready to let Ben take the trials to become a Knight. To prepare him, Luke shares a story that took place in the absence of the boy's father, Han, who was still encased in carbonite at the time. This tale shows Luke returning to Gazian, where he previously encountered memory of Elzar Mann in the spongy memory fungus. This time, he encounters Azlin Rell, among others, who tells him of a device that could kill the Emperor, but is the device worth the cost?

I enjoyed the wrap-up with a focus on Luke and Leia working together. This arc ends with an air of hope on the horizon before they enter the fall of the Empire. The last issue is a nice treat, adding aspects from the future Luke and Ben, as well as exploring the same timeline the arc has been focused on. It also has a nice touch of the forbidden when it comes to a dangerous artifact, conflicting morals amongst the group, and a nice tough of the High Republic for those who are likewise invested in that era. As usual, the art is amazing. I love taking time to just admire the details of Luke. I especially enjoyed exploring the art when he is trying to get information on Gazian. While this is a decently well-rounded way to end the intercession between major film stories, it could have had just a bit more lead-up to Episode VI, but I guess they had to end somehow, somewhere. The hope they leave the reader with is a nice touch though, since "rebellions are built on hope."

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty soon Darth Vader #50 will be out and this whole connected series will be done. Star Wars is moving out of the between episodes 5 and 6 time period and moving onto right after Episode 6. I’m excited to see the Battle of Jakku fully fleshed out from planning to execution to aftermath. Once Insurgency Rising is done I’m curious to see what they do next. As for the ending of the mainline story in this period, I think they closed it off well. These last few issues are kind of just “filler” so they could reach issue #50 but I can forgive it since they stuck the landing with a nice oversized issue. I always enjoy seeing more Sequel era stuff so framing this as Luke teaching Kylo a lesson by telling a couple interconnected stories was cool.

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you’re looking to see a thrilling conclusion to this run of Star Wars comics, then you need to stop right there, turn around, and forget this particular era of Marvel Star Wars even exists because vol. 9 is quite possibly the weakest entry in the entire series since the Doctor Aphra character came along and destroyed all that was holy with this IP.

Just like the horrendous Dr. Aphra comics, Soule has ruined Star Wars with these last 5 issues, penning an absolute bore of a storyline in which Lando’s trial is concluded (surprise, he’s basically innocent of selling out the Alliance to Jabba…even though he did do it), and a horrible 2 issue arc that tries to explain events leading up to RotJ, but only feels like a total waste of ink (or digital space if you’re reading this in ebook format like I did).

Literally nothing of any importance happens in this 5 issue collection, except a bunch of wasted characters, lame storylines, and yet another instance of pointless “woke” content that had absolutely no point or purpose to the story.

The artwork was decent in 4 out of 5 issues but that wasn’t even close enough to save this ridiculously boring conclusion to Soule’s (hopefully) final run of Star Wars comics. And honestly, it’s a bummer because I had hopes that something good could come out this as Soule’s work with other Star Wars related characters tends to be decent. Here though, it’s just terrible.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles Soule rounds out his Star Wars run and the lead-up to Return of the Jedi with some throwbacks and some truly classic space opera adventures.

First, Luke and Leia are tasked with finding the missing Alderaan fleet, only to be assaulted by a long-forgotten foe (seriously, see like...the second volume?). This portion is all fairly silly, if effectively exciting. It leads up to a big dumb scene where Leia literally says "Let's go get Han." Okay! Guess I'll watch Return of the Jedi then!

Then, for the oversized issue 50, Soule digs into weird Star Wars arcana, revealing a mystery box that can kill anyone for whom you have DNA. Our Rebel heroes obtain said box and ponder over using it on Palpatine (of course they do, but only when Chewbacca takes affairs into his own hands in a great scene). This is a solid sci-fi story with lots of running around the universe and thinking deep thoughts about justified murder. It's also a classic Pandora's box scenario. A real treat to round out of the series. (The framing story with Luke talking to Ben Solo at the Jedi academy feels like a cheap trick since we don't really learn anything about that timeframe.)

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
The good? Leia reuniting with Alderaan survivors and finally dedicating herself to rescuing Han. Flash-forward to Master Luke teaching Padawan Ben Solo via a story about the time they almost killed MANY people by training an assassin droid to go after Palpatine, but were able to stop it.

The bad? NOT seeing the two stories I NEEDED to hear before this run in the comics was over: 1) The building of Luke's green lightsaber, and the forming of the plan to rescue Han. (SW writing team, please make these stories available in whatever format you can!)

Overall, an okay end of run between ESB and ROTJ. Excited to see post-ROTJ comics!

[Ahdom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume delivers an exciting continuation of the saga, taking the narrative to a whole new level. I was impressed by how the series builds toward Return of the Jedi, weaving together storylines that have developed over years. Charles Soule does an excellent job of setting the stage for the climactic moments we've been anticipating, while still managing to throw in some unexpected surprises. For fans of this era of Star Wars, this volume is a satisfying culmination of Marvel's second run and offers some final twists before the iconic events of Episode VI.

[Jason Tanner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles Soule connects with the Star Wars mythology in a unique and insightful way. I haven't read every Star Wars series he's written, but I have read quite a few, and they consistently have something to say. And that's quite an accomplishment for an IP as thoroughly explored as Star Wars. That being said, Soule sometimes brushes up against the limits of what corporate will allow him to do, and that becomes a hindrance to the story.

The most egregious version of this I've come across was Rise of Kylo Ren: Soule really had to dance around the most interesting plot points -the relationships between Ben Solo, Snoke, and Luke Skywalker, because those things hadn't been determined yet by the movie people, and they sure weren't going to let *comics* take the lead on such a major storyline. (Which is a regret for everyone, I assume, because fuu-uck, Rise of Skywalker was a hot mess.) The point being, even though Soule did a nice job with the characters, the story felt stunted because the characters weren't allowed to be fully explored organically.

And, in a way, I feel similarly mixed about this volume of Star Wars. There's a point we have to get to (Jabba's palace), a few people and things to explore (droids, Crimson Dawn, Lando and Lobot, Luke's Jedi education), but there's only so far we can go before the canon breaks. Charles Soule threaded that needle beautifully, while giving us new insights into our main cast (Lando especially) and fun adventures. But it still felt like a series of side-quests at times, because the walls around the IP are always there. You can invent new heroes and villains, but they have to be dispatched in such a way that they don't step on the movie trilogy's toes. And you can't have a climactic battle with the main villains, because that comes later, in the movie.

So, what do you do? Well, Soule decided to explore. He took a deeper look on the characters. He examined the mysteries of the lore. He explored other aspects of the galaxy. He took us outside of the conventional Star Wars narrative for a little while before bringing us back.

It was a good attempt. But I would have liked even more.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

The ninth and final book of the series set between 'The Empire Strikes Back' and 'Return of the Jedi'.
In the first half of this book Princess Leia, Luke and Rebel pilot Evaan Verlaine seek out the survivors of Alderaan and are confronted by an old enemy. The second half, many years later, sees Luke teaching his apprentice Ben Solo about the discovery of a mysterious superweapon during the last days of Emperor Palpatine's reign.

The front half of this book was actually quite enjoyable, tapping into the lore built up in earlier books and bringing it back to relevance in the run-up to 'Return of the Jedi'.
I also enjoyed seeing Leia agonising over whether launching a mission to rescue Han is the responsible choice for her to make as a leader of the Rebellion. To us, watching the movie, of course the heroes divert to rescue our beloved smuggler but in-universe it does seem frivolous thing for some of the most important members of the Rebellion to do when they have an entire galaxy to save.

The back half of the book is, sadly, much less engaging. We get a new super-powerful Force-weapon that pops up out of nowhere and disappears back into irrelevance immediately thereafter, we get another pointless sidequest that diverts the momentum away from the build-up to the climax of the war and, perhaps worst of all, it's all told in a flashback from the Sequel Era which feels like it's just setting up whatever Soule's next Star Wars project is.

This series as a whole started really well, with the Rebels reeling in the aftermath of Hoth, but rapidly got sidetracked by a series of increasingly tawdry, often inane and absolutely unnecessary crossover events.
Unfortunately, that tone of tawdry, inane and unnecessary is the vibe with which the series ends.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t keep a very close eye on what’s happening with these comics on the publishing and development side, so I was pretty bummed to learn that this TPB is the culmination point of Soule’s run on Star Wars (for now?). Some solid art design from Morales and Musabekov, each with their own distinct qualities that don’t feel wholly dissimilar from one another either. Ben Solo is maybe the weakest character writing of the bunch, but Luke and Leia both feel earnest and engaging to read as characters who are making decisions within the experiences they’ve had to this point. Lando’s interaction with the Naboo desk clerk is just…fantastic. Reminds me a bit of Andor. Love a moment in these books where the plot gets moved forward through dialogue and not through violence or explosions or a chase. Sad to see this series come to an end, but curious to see how long they can run this next series that’s going to be set post-RotJ. Would LOVE to see if anyone can finally make some connections between OT and ST.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okayish ending to the whole run and I love how it focuses on Leia in one story as she has to save this group of remaining Alderaniaans who were off planet at the time of destruction so survived, and well Zahra returns from the first couple of volumes and she was a great foil to Leia during the course of the run and I love how it resolves!

And then the thing with Luke teaching Ben about the ways of the force and also narrating the incident of how he went to this planet Gazian and learnt of ways to kill palpatine from THR era and you know those plot points but realized the device that they could use would kill millions and the lesson was don't defeat the evil in such a way and this ties into what happened to him and how he became Kylo ren, so there is foreshadowing to that and it actually connects to this run at large and ends in a great way!

So fun volume overall and loved this ending to this whole run and its been awesome and a great filler b/w episode 5 and 6!!

[LEONY · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good ending to the 2020 mainline Star Wars run. Charles Soule's stories always resonate with me, and that holds true for this final set of issues. I particularly liked issue #50, which had an extended length and gave us a cool glimpse into Ben Solo's training under Luke before he falls to the dark side. Overall, the characterization of Luke and Leia is done very well, and while the 2020 runs have had their ups and downs, I think it was a very enjoyable experience.

My only critiques with these final issues are that Zahra coming back felt like a bit too much, especially since it felt of little consequence to the overall story. Moreover, the mcguffin in issue #50 was too far-farfetched and powerful. Though I suppose there's room to believe that the story was embellished by Luke somewhat.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25
Time truly flies. It feels like it wasn't that long ago that this series started. But 2020 is a long time ago now. A lot has changed in the world and in my personal life since then.

This also marks the end of the OT run for the main Star Wars title. 10 years for that. I remember that clearly as well.

This run wasn't my favorite. But it was steady. Some issues were excellent. Soule's scope was certainly ambitious.

I would like if Marvel had more titles with long runs like this. A common criticism of Marvel books. But there are also more happening that do do this than people realize.

Gonna miss the OT adventures. Though it would be excellent if they spent a lot of time covering post-ROTJ OT group as they did for other eras. This 50 issue series covered only 1 year.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leia discovers that the last of the Alderaanians may still have survived, hiding out in a fleet of ships. but so has an enemy she thought was dead. Flash forward several years after Return of the Jedi, Luke tells apprentice Ben Solo a story of a device that was found with the potential to put and end to Palpatine once and for all.
Both stories were interesting, though it was bit odd to see the time jump to Luke training Ben. The artwork was abysmal though - not that the penciling itself was bad, but whoever did the art had no idea how to make their character actually look like the actors they were based on. Had I not know this was a Star Wars comic, I might never have known who Luke, Leia and Lando were supposed to be.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent conclusion to this series, though it does feel as if we're in a holding pattern between the end of the Trial of Lando and the end of the book. We get to revisit a few places and plot threads, as well as a flashforward to Luke and Ben Solo, but overall this is just 'okay'. I think it might have just been that Marvel wanted to end on a milestone issue, so we got some arbitrary stuff to fill gaps here, rather than letting Soule's story end organically.

I am hopeful for the future though, because we're finally getting into mostly uncharted territory after this.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 2 out of 5]

The two stories in this volume revisit older stories, one of them not from this series but from the Princess Leia miniseries - which I did not like, because Leia was not written in character. She manages to remain in character this time though. The other story has Luke returning to the planet that records people's memories, though mainly it's designed to present our heroes with a moral quandary. Interesting, I suppose. But hardly what you'd expect for the end of a series. A whimper, not a bang.

[Stephen Hamilton · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointing conclusion to the run. The Alderaanian two-parter was fun but essentially pointless and there was talk of rescuing Han Solo but this volume in no way leads into Return of the Jedi. There’s no preparatory planning, no explanation for Luke replacing his yellow-bladed lightsaber (although we know from the previous volume that he has a green kyber crystal) and no explanation for Leia acquiring the Boussh costume. Not at all what I was expecting/hoping for.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded down to 3 stars

Star Wars Vol. 9 The Path of Light collects issues 48-50 of the Marvel Comics series written by Charles Soule, art by Jethro Morales and Madibek Musabekov, and colors by Rachelle Rosenberg.

Leia and Luke go to the last known spot of the secret Alderaan Survivor Fleet after they have gone silent and missed their last three scheduled check ins.

Marvel’s second volume of Star Wars comics since the Disney era relaunch comes to an end with a story that spans generations. Jedi Master Luke Skywalker invokes a tale of warning to his student Ben Solo about the dangers of fighting evil with evil, recounting a time where Luke, Leia, Lando, Chewie, Threepio, and Artoo discovered an ancient weapon that had the power to assassinate anyone in the universe, but with vast consequences.

Overall the post-ESB era of the “Star Wars” comic was a mixed bag. It was too event heavy with many of the events not even being that good (looking at your War of the Bounty Hunters and Dark Droids). How in the world did we not get an issue of Luke building his new lightsaber? But the best part of this era was Lando and his redemption as a Rebel hero. I’m so ready to explore the post-ROTJ era in comics as there is a wealth of time to cover.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s really the end of an era in more ways than one. It’s the end of the story set between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi that the comics have been telling for the past few years.

But it’s also the end of an era for Charles Soule in Star Wars. I haven’t heard whether he’ll be writing another Star Wars comic but I hope he does because I have enjoyed it.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm glad we got to return to the fungus planet one last time for the wrap-up to this run of Star Wars. It's a tall order to cook up a satisfying ending when constrained by the fact that the series has to lead directly into Return of the Jedi, so I won't fault this volume too much for fading away. I guess that's preferential to burning out sometimes.

[Aisling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall such a good run. I will think about Soule’s storytelling here for a long time. I wish there was less of a focus on crossovers, but at least I can say that they were handled well and genuinely fun to read. Give this man whatever he wants!!

[Martijn Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

This final installment of the star wars comic run taking place between episode 5 and 6 is precisely that. A closing to a comicrun wich certainly had is moment but was overall to long and busy with fixing the mess created by episode 9.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kind of big fun, pure Star Wars story that is best served by the medium of comics. It was a great way for this series to conclude, and I liked the way it weaved in High Republic connections in a way that you didn't need to know anything, but made the story even more fun if you did.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually, Soule is a lot better at filling in the interstitial gaps between the big events we're all familiar with. But this volume just seemed kind of off--inconsequential and even a bit silly (Commander Zahra's last stand). Hopefully, things get better next time.

[Nunya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of course it was true, Ben. All of it.