After eleven issues of watching familiar Star Wars characters navigate the problems of their time, we are at the end of the doll’s journey. The end is back with Viiveenn in issue #4, but “The Little Things” finally reveals what Jedi artifact Senator Yarua placed in the doll. The reveal is natural, using a background character from the Original Trilogy.

The Story

A refugee ship in the Outer Rim is under attack by a Star Destroyer. Engineer Evans Basch buys time for evacuees to reach the planet below but comes across a young girl, Tobie, who needs help getting into an escape pod. Tobie forgets her Wookiee doll, and before the escape pod takes off, Basch promises to find her and return the doll. 

After shooting a few TIEs to give Tobie a clear path to the surface world, Basch manages to get into the last escape pod and in a medcenter. When he awakes, Basch tries to find the little girl with no luck but promises to try again after his new assignment: the engineer for the Millennium Falcon during the Battle of Endor.

After the battle and during the celebrations, Leia notices the doll is damaged and comments on her old Wookiee doll. As she takes a closer look, she sees the artifact inside. Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, and Basch realize the artifact contains a map leading to various ancient Jedi locations across the galaxy.

Basch takes it as a sign and leaves the doll with Leia, who donates it to refugee kids and sets it on the path back to Viiveenn.

Narratively, it is refreshing that where the doll ends up is not the ending of this series. By the time the doll reaches Viiveenn, the artifact is potentially with Rey (more on that later). 

Surprisingly, the Battle of Endor is not the focus of this issue, and even though the doll is featured more, it is woven into the story seamlessly. One of the reasons for this is that the doll is not the catalyst for the primary conflict. Basch just happens to be assigned to the Millennium Falcon. Finding the doll’s owner is secondary and is not the primary driver of his motivations. Once the artifact’s contents are revealed, Basch seems content with leaving it in Leia’s hands.

Tobie is not seen again which lends a touch of bittersweetness for Basch. But, then again, that is also true of the doll’s journey thus far: it is never in the same place for too long because it is not yet home.

The Characters

With the Battle of Endor condensed to three pages, this story belongs to Basch. “The Little Things” is the only story where a background character gets the main storyline. Basch first appeared in that Battle of Endor sequence in Return of the Jedi, but the character is only on screen for a short time, which gave writer Cecil Castelluca a blank slate to build a character arc. 

Wisely, Castelluca gets straight to the point, showcasing Basch’s heroics by placing him in the chaos of a sinking ship. Basch’s focus on giving people more time to escape and his initial persistence in reuniting Tobie with her doll is symbolic of many Rebel characters, that selflessness that makes them prime candidates of endurance against the Empire. The rest of the cast, Lando, Han, Leia, and Luke, all check the box on what you would expect from them during this time. 

And credit goes to Cecil Castelluca for recognizing that it is okay for grownups to talk to stuffed animals or other inanimate objects.

Canon Contributions

While Basch first appeared in Return of the Jedi, he is named for the first time in this issue. 

The artifact’s secrets have been revealed, but there still is one significant mystery: where is the artifact currently in canon? When Rey gives the doll to Viiveenn in issue #4, Luke is already one with the Force. If Rey took Luke’s possessions, then she has the artifact. Or perhaps the artifact was destroyed when Kylo Ren turned to the dark side and killed Luke’s students. 

Tobie is the same species as the junk trader in issue #10 and the shop owner on Hylanth in issue #2, which makes sense with the story’s progression. 

Previously, I mentioned inconsistencies with how characters are drawn versus when these occur in the timeline. For example, Anakin is drawn close to Revenge of the Sith in issue #10 even though the events heavily imply that they occurred before issue #5, where he is drawn closer to Attack of the Clones. There are similar inconsistencies with Viiveenn and Rey, but these shouldn’t take away from the enjoyment of younger readers. However, they make it more difficult to pin the timeline of events down.

Hyperspace Stories Event Order

Fall of the Jedi

• #11
• #01
• #10 
• #05
• #10
• #09

Reign of the Empire

• #06
• #07

Age of Rebellion

• #02
• #12

Rise of the First Order

• #08
• #03
• #04