Dark Empire 5

Dark Empire 5 was the fifth issue of the six-part Star Wars: Dark Empire series of comics. It was released on August 18, 1992 by Dark Horse Comics.

Publisher's summary

Captured by the Emperor, Leia discovers that he holds hostage an even greater treasure: a mysterious and intelligent artifact called the Jedi Holocron. With both the Holocron and Luke Skywalker under his control, there's no limit to what the Emperor can do! Written by Tom Veitch, with painted art by Cam Kennedy and painted cover by Dave Dorman. Don't miss out on the hottest series this side of Tatooine!

Opening crawl

BOOK 5:
EMPEROR REBORN 
As the Emperor's World Devastators continue to savage the Alliance, Princess Leia and Han Solo embark on a quest to free Luke Skywalker from the grasp of the Dark Side.

With Chewbacca and C-3PO, Han and Leia journey to an ancient spaceport moon, refuge of Corellian smugglers. There they encounter bounty hunter Boba Fett, who survived being swallowed by the Sarlacc on Tatooine.

Thanks to Han's old friends: ''Salla Zend'' and ''Shug Ninx'', the Millennium Falcon and its crew escape to hyperspace aboard Salla's ''Starlight Intruder'' – a hot rod freighter licensed to haul military cargo to the Deep Galactic Core.

Boba Fett pursues the ''Intruder'', but meets disaster over Byss – the Emperor's throne world – when he attempts to sneak past the planet's security shields.

Once in port, Leia uses her Jedi powers to guide the Millennium Falcon to the citadel where Luke now reigns as the Emperor's protégé. A vicious fight ensues, but according to plan, Ninx and Salla save the Falcon – and Leia, Han, Chewbacca, and C-3PO allow themselves to be captured.

Brought at last into the presence of Emperor Palpatine and his Supreme Commander Luke Skywalker, Leia makes a valiant attempt to save luke [sic], using her intensifying control of the Force.

But the Emperor cannot be overcome so easily. He gives Leia a painful demonstration of his ever-expanding power, crowing in triumph that he has finally captured the last of the Jedi!

Plot summary

After arriving on Byss and missing Fett by a long shot, Leia piloted the Falcon to the Emperor's citadel. After she, C-3PO, Han and Chewbacca got off, Salla and Shug took the Falcon to a safe place. The four were brought before the Emperor and Luke. Despite trying to fight back, Leia was rendered unconscious and was brought to Palpatine's quarters to be turned. There, she discovered that he held hostage an even greater treasure: a mysterious and intelligent artifact called the Jedi Holocron, which the Emperor had stolen during the Great Jedi Purge from Ashka Boda. With both the Holocron and Luke Skywalker under his control, the Emperor appeared to reign supreme in the Force. He revealed that he planned to overshadow Leia's third child stirring in her womb as his next new body. In anger, Leia toppled Palpatine from his bed and stole the Holocron. She found Luke, who claimed he was free of the dark side, despite his eyes continuing to shine yellow. Meanwhile, Shug and Salla gained control of a Hunter Killer patrol droid to blast Han and Chewie free. After being joined by Leia, Luke and the droids, the Falcon took off from Byss. However, Luke revealed that he had cast an illusory projection of himself to make them believe he had boarded so they would escape.

The real Luke Skywalker then marched into the clone lab during Palpatine's last few moments before the transition. When he revealed his purpose, Palpatine allowed his current incarnation to die, hoping to reach one of the clones before Luke destroyed them all. Skywalker went on a destructive spree through the lab, hoping to beat Palpatine to the clones. But he missed one.

The newly resurrected Palpatine scoffed at Luke's attempts to vanquish him. When Luke attempted to subdue Palpatine, the Sith Lord seized one of the lightsabers he kept stored in the lab and engaged Luke. Despite his valiant efforts, Luke was disarmed and held at blade-point. Palpatine completed Skywalker's turn to the dark side, reducing him to an obedient watchdog.

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Legacy

The events of Emperor Reborn were adapted in the Dark Empire (audio) radio drama, which featured the music of John Williams' score from the films, as well as a voice cast that included Billy Dee Williams reprising his role as Lando Calrissian.

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Collected in

Appearances

By type
Characters Organisms Droid models Events Locations
Organizations and titles Sentient species Vehicles and vessels Weapons and technology Miscellanea

Characters

Droid models

Events

Locations

Organizations and titles

Sentient species

Vehicles and vessels

Weapons and technology

Miscellanea

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Marvel-TemplateLogo Star Wars: Dark Empire (1991) #5 on Marvel Comics' official website (backup link)
  2. ↑ Star Wars: The Comics Companion

External links

The Dark Empire trilogy
Comics
Star Wars: Dark Empire: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6
Star Wars: Dark Empire II: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6
Star Wars: Empire's End: 1 · 2
Collected editions
Dark Empire · Dark Empire II
Empire's End · Dark Empire Trilogy
Legends Epic Collection · Legends Omnibus
Audiobooks
Dark Empire · Dark Empire II · Empire's End
Dark Empire: The Collector's Edition
Related material
Endnotes · Lightsider · Sourcebook · Handbook
The Making of Dark Empire: Part I · Part II · Part III
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