Doctor Aphra (2016) 36

For other uses, see Doctor Aphra 36.

Doctor Aphra 36 is the thirty-sixth issue of the canon comic book series Star Wars: Doctor Aphra. It was written by Simon Spurrier, illustrated by Cris Bolson and Wilton Santos, and published on September 18, 2019 by Marvel Comics. The issue contains the story "Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon Part V," in which Minister Pitina Voor reveals her manipulation of the previous events.

Publisher's summary

UNSPEAKABLE REBEL SUPERWEAPON PART V! The sinister propagandists of the COALITION FOR PROGRESS keep a vast gallery of the EMPIRE'S priceless victory trophies – and notorious thief DOCTOR APHRA just got in. But she won't get the chance to pinch anything. She's here to be initiated into the web of secret schemes she's unwittingly tangled herself in. Can you say "coup"? (IF yes: don't. Round here, there's always someone listening)

Opening crawl

UNSPEAKABLE REBEL
SUPERWEAPON
Part V 
Rogue archaeologist Doctor Aphra is known
across the galaxy as a brilliant scientist as
well as a thief and obtainer of ancient
valuable artifacts—which has earned her the
ire of both the Rebellion and Empire.

After Imperial Minister Pitina Voor placed a
bounty on her head and her sidekick, Vulaada,
Aphra offered the ancient Jedi weapon
called the FARKILLER to the Empire in
exchange for her protection, ruining the
rebels' plans to use the rifle to assassinate
the Emperor and end the war.

Now guests in Voor's headquarters, Aphra
and Vulaada have been shocked to discover
that Voor herself has been planning to overthrow the
Emperor herself....

Plot summary

Prologue

Pitina Mar-Mas Voor recounts her biography to Chelli Lona Aphra and Vulaada Klam. Born a middle-ranking princess, her parents married her to a bloviating senator on her 18th birthday. The senator gained favor with Emperor Palpatine following the rise of the Galactic Empire and was rewarded with an advisor's office. Voor's husband played a key part in the Empire's expansion, causing the deaths of thousands of soldiers and billions of credits. Unhappy with her marriage, Voor planted rumors that Darth Vader suspected her husband of sedition. Her husband subsequently committed suicide. Voor described her role in her husband's death as her first foray into the art of persuasion.

Voor also tweaked her husband's succession and curried favor with the Emperor. Within a year, she had established the Coalition for Progress and coined the three tenets of Imperial outreach. First, the Empire manipulated public fears of pirates, raiders, criminals and monsters to convince planets to accept Imperial rule. Second, the Coalition for Progress would use propaganda to convince local populations of the benefits of Imperial rule. The Coalition would also use displays of Imperial power to convince the population to fall in line.

An assassination plot

Voor admits to promoting the lie that harmony and prosperity are the rewards of Imperial rule. In truth, she concedes that the Emperor and Darth Vader use pogroms, genocides, purges and superweapons to force the Empire's population into submission. Voor tells Aphra and Klam that she has grown disillusioned with the Emperor and Vader's use of terror and violence to maintain their rule. She tells them that is why the Emperor has to go. When Klam asks why she is revealing her plot to them, Voor reassures them that she does not intend to kill them.

Voor explains that her plan involves two Royal Guards bringing the Farkiller weapon to disaffected elements in the Imperial court, who plan to stage a coup. When Aphra asks if her fellow conspirators are motivated by the goodness of their heart, Voor replies they are only motivated by ambition. Voor reveals that she plans to succeed the Emperor. Aphra cautions Voor against continuing with the plot, warning that the Emperor can sense her intentions before she acts. When Aphra suggests that the Emperor may have spies among the plotters, Voor counters that her accomplices are motivated by ambition. She believes that the Emperor won't be able to sense her plot amidst the sea of ambition and emotional predictability.

Voor tells Aphra that she hired her to obtain the Farkiller weapon because she knows that the rogue archaeologist is only motivated by self-enrichment. Voor reveals that she also made sure that the Rebel Alliance knew that Aphra had the Farkiller. When Klam asks why, Voor replies that the rebels know that Aphra cannot be trusted and will do anything to save her own skin. Voor arranged for the Empire to leak information that Aphra would be hunted unless she could somehow buy a pardon from the Empire. When Klam asks if the Rebellion took the rifle away from them even though they knew they would steal it back, Aphra responds that there never was a rebel superweapon.

Voor reveals that Magna Tolvan convinced the Rebel Alliance to create disinformation about the Farkiller superweapon, never suspecting that Voor was manipulating her. Gazing at Coruscant, Voor believes that the shuttle carrying the Farkiller weapon would be near the Imperial Palace. Voor believes that the rebels would have planted something deadly inside the Farkiller weapon but thinks that the Emperor's eagerness to obtain an ancient Jedi artifact would cause him to let his guard down. Klam thinks that Voor's plan is too convoluted but the propaganda minister is confident her plan will succeed.

Aphra speculates that the assassination weapon is not a bomb but rather an ion pulse or a stun bomb that would incapacitate everyone in the Emperor's throne room. She thinks that with the Emperor incapacitated, members of his court would attempt to take over. Aphra recalls her late mother Lona Aphra's words that there are no goodies or baddies but that everything is defined by power. Voor agrees with Aphra's assessment of her plan. Aphra speculates that Rebel forces would take advantage of the Emperor's incapacitation to launch an attack and that Voor's true plot is for her allies to apprehend the rebels. Voor would then frame the assassination of the Emperor as part of a terror attack by the Rebel Alliance, which she foils.

Voor admits this is her plan and asks Aphra how she figured it out. Aphra responds that she never believed the story about the fake rebel superweapon and says that Tolvan let her go too easily. When Klam expresses confusion, Aphra explains that everyone was using her before drinking a glass of wine. When Voor asks Aphra why she still went along with the plan, Aphra replies that Voor would have used someone else and that delivering the weapon was the only way to get a pardon. When Aphra asks Voor how she knew that Aphra would not simply take the artifact and run, Voor reminds Aphra that she knows everything about Aphra.

Voor warns Aphra that the Empire will hunt her and everyone she holds dear should she play up. Aphra talks about Lona's advice that being important is just an addiction that would get one killed. Aphra credits her mother with teaching her to be a survivor. Aphra adds that her mother told her that the best that anyone can hope for is do right by the people they love.

Unravelling Voor's plot

Aphra counters that Voor's plan has failed. She tells Voor that the Emperor is being evacuated to somewhere safe and that her co-conspirators are being rounded up. She believes that the shuttle carrying the Farkiller weapon was shot down before it could reach the Imperial Palace. Aphra adds that the Rebel Alliance are aware of her plan because she hijacked a secret camera using a slicing kit hidden in her cloak. She explains that Krrsantan helped relay the transmission to the wider galaxy. Klam expresses surprise that Aphra outwitted Voor and saved the Emperor.

When Voor expresses surprise that Aphra cares about something, Aphra counters that foiling her assassination attempt is her revenge for Voor's indirect role in killing her mother by sending criminals to attack their homestead. As stormtroopers and Imperial officers enter the room, Voor angrily condemns Aphra for sabotaging her plot to end the Emperor's rule. While Imperial personnel drag Voor away, Aphra tells Klam to smile for the cameras.

Lord Vader enters the room and executes Voor with his lighstaber. Realizing that Vader is here, Aphra uses her body to shield Klam and tells her not to look. However, Lord Vader instead tells Aphra to rise because the Empire has need of her.

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  • Bird (In flashback(s))
    • Nuna (In flashback(s))
  • Rancor (Appears in hologram)

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Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Marvel-TemplateLogo Star Wars: Doctor Aphra (2016) #36 on Marvel Comics' official website (backup link)
  2. ↑ Star Wars: Timelines dates the events of issues 32 to 36 of the Star Wars: Doctor Aphra comic-book series to around 2 ABY. Therefore Doctor Aphra 36 must take place around 2 ABY.

External links

SWDoctorAphra2017-Logo
Aphra: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6
The Screaming Citadel: 7 · 8
The Enormous Profit: 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13
Remastered: 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19
The Catastrophe Con: 20 · 21 · 22 · 23 · 24 · 25
Worst Among Equals: 26 · 27 · 28 · 29 · 30 · 31
Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon: 32 · 33 · 34 · 35 · 36
A Rogue's End: 37 · 38 · 39 · 40
Trade paperbacks
1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · The Screaming Citadel
Other
Annual 1 · Annual 2 · Annual 3 · Hardcover 1 · Omnibus
Related media
Doctor Aphra (2020) · Doctor Aphra – Chaos Agent
Audiobook Original (script) · Epilogue
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