This year is shaping up to be a very exciting one for Star Wars comics, with series following prequel characters (Jedi Knights by Marc Guggenheim), original trilogy characters (Star Wars by Alex Segura), and sequel characters (Legacy of Vader by Charles Soule).
All three authors recently appeared on a Youtube interview with Alex Damon of Star Wars Explained, talking about their upcoming projects. Of particular note in the interview, Soule revealed that Kylo Ren will hunt down a survivor of Order 66 at some point in Legacy of Vader. Though he later clarified that it’s only one survivor and a very small part of the story, it’s still an exciting idea.
Set in-between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, this series explores Kylo Ren as the First Order’s Supreme Leader – but also as a troubled villain wrestling with his past. Having just been humiliated by Luke Skywalker in their encounter on Crait, Kylo seeks to prove himself against a Jedi by seeking out a survivor of the purge. It not only makes for some fun storytelling potential but also seems exactly like something that Kylo Ren would do.
Though we know of several survivors of Order 66, there are actually only a handful of options for a known survivor to show up here, given that many of their respective fates have been determined. Furthermore, given that this story is set four decades after the purge, there may be some additional limitations due to age. Because of that, it’s most likely that this will be a new character created for this series, and perhaps someone who was rather young (a padawan, maybe?) at the time of Order 66. But since it’s fun to speculate, there actually are two Jedi High Council members who have been confirmed to survive Order 66 whose fates are still unknown, and both are aliens (meaning they could have longer lifespans than humans): Oppo Rancisis and Coleman Kcaj. Rancisis would make an especially interesting candidate, as he was already quite old by the prequel trilogy, having served on the Council since the High Republic era. He is a connection point to many past eras, a respected Jedi with a long lifespan, and would be a notable target for Kylo.
Again, it’s likely to be someone new. But I’m very intrigued by seeing Kylo hunt down a survivor or Order 66 as he tries to prove himself as a worthy successor to his grandfather – the one who helped to carry out Order 66 and the Great Jedi Purge in the first place. There’s a lot of storytelling potential there, and I can’t wait to see it.
Star Wars Thoughts 