Yoda can’t catch a break or a good story as the Jedi Grand Master and Mace Windu defend Younglings from Count Dooku.

Perhaps it is a sign that this series has overstayed its welcome. Hyperspace #10 wasted The Bad Batch in comic form (when the team rarely appears in any other medium from their Disney Plus series). Hyperspace #11: A Force United written by Amanda Deibert once again wasted some popular Clone Wars characters.

The Story

Jedi Masters Yoda and Mace Windu are at an archeological dig site for Jedi artifacts and have brought along Younglings and members of the Republic, including Senator Yarua. Mace has reservations about bringing the Jedi-in-training as he senses something strong in the Force. His fears are realized when a group of mercenaries attacks the campsite. Yoda reads the mind of one of the attackers and tells Mace they must retreat and leave the artifacts as the safety of the Younglings is at stake.

Later, Mace tells Yoda they must return to find out who is behind the attack. Yoda tells Mace they must wait, and as time passes, one of the mercenaries arrives and informs them that he did not sign up to hurt children, just to take the treasures.  

Yoda and Mace follow the mercenary to the artifacts and what they know will be a trap. Dooku is waiting and confronts his former Master and colleague, defeating him and allowing time for the Younglings and Republic members to get to safety.

Unbeknown to the Jedi, Senator Yarua picks up the Jedi artifact Dooku was holding.

After eleven issues of keep-away, nothing is known about the Jedi artifact inside Viiveenn’s doll. That is a significant amount of time the Hyperspace Stories writing team has allowed to pass without context. This first Volume has done reasonably well since the series continues with a new story this year. Still, it would be interesting to see the sale units for these later issues and if interest is still high. 

The best narratives have blended story, character truths, and parallels seamlessly:

1. Dooku teaching Asaaj versus Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin
2. Quinlan Vos’s approach to fighting versus Cad Bane
3. Kylo Ren and General Hux’s priorities within the First Order

And in most of these, the Jedi artifact acts as a McGuffin to get to those character truths (in Who’s the Vos? it is more of an afterthought, but the story makes up for that). 

None of that exists here, and it is incredible how much a comic cover can lie. Viiveenn is on the cover of this issue with her doll; however, she is only in the background on a few panels. There is no conversation or action from Senator Yarua to understand his motivations for taking the Jedi artifact, which is disappointing, given that this is the inciting incident of the whole series. Why Yarua and Viiveenn are even there with the Jedi is never explained, which could have been solved easily with a line or two.

The Characters

Because this is a story-driven issue, there is nothing new for Star Wars fans who know these characters. For new and young readers, there are hints of Yoda’s patience and Mace’s skepticism. 

I wrote about Yoda and Mace Windu’s solo comic series and that Lucasfilm and the writing teams do not know what to do with these two Jedi Masters in the Disney era. They are the stars of this issue, but any Jedi Master could have stood in their place. We will finally get some much-needed dimension with a Mace Windu novel set to release in August. Still, you won’t find any depth to Mace or Yoda here, just that they value the safety of the Younglings over recovering Jedi artifacts.

Equally, Count Dooku only provides a sense of urgency to drive Yurua to take the artifact.

Canon Contribution

Bursant is the potential origin of this Jedi artifact, which we still don’t know anything about. If it appears in future Hyperspace Stories, Bursant might be worth remembering.

Jedi Master Catrine appears again from Hyperspace Stories #5: The Betrayal. She could have played a more significant part (and even taken the place of Mace) since she had already proved she could defeat Asajj. A Youngling Kiernan is briefly used as leverage by a mercenary. Since he is the only Youngling named, there is also a chance he might reappear in other stories.