“I was once the Empire’s prisoner, and look at me now!”

“The Empire is rounding up fugitive Alderaanians! That doesn’t sit well with their Princess. But what can one woman do against an Empire?”

Read my reviews of issue #1, issue #2, and issue #3.

Last time, “Leia and her crew, the pilot Evaan and the faithful astromech R2-D2, have scored their second victory, saving the lives of Alderaanians from Sullust. Now fully aware that their ship, the Lord Junn, is harboring an Imperial spy, Leia enlists the help of her new team’s surveillance equipment to root out the traitor. In space, Evaan meets with Sullustan smuggler Nien Nunb, responsible for leading the Alderaanian survivors off of Sullust under the watch of the Empire. With the Empire gaining ground, it’s only a matter of time before they come face-to-face with Her Highness…”

If you’re a big Star Wars geek like I am, you’ll recognize Nien Nunb as the Sullustan from the end of Return of the Jedi who was hanging out with Lando. Evaan is pretty good friends with him, it seems. They’ve gone to him to get weapons – lots of weapons. Leia presents him with her mother’s chalcedony waves (instead of a medal) in a very sweet scene. Leia is presented with the spy, Tace, and Jora who nearly killed Leia and Evaan last week, is still pretty bitter about Leia’s treatment of her. Leia is very kind to Tace, who she realizes was not an intentional traitor, and gets her to reveal that the calls were coming from her sister. Leia tells Tace the calls originated from an Imperial base; Tace says that Tula never tells her anything about herself. During this conversation, Leia is wistful that she doesn’t have a sibling. Not that you know of!

Evaan suggests that their next stop be Espirion, who they have reunification talks with. Uwa tells them that the planet is “heavily militarized but open to refugees and wanderers.” During this scene, only women are present and making the important decisions, which is pretty cool. Leia promises Tace that she will reunite her with her sister. On Espirion, Uwa and Jora try to meet with Chief Beonel, except he calls Jora out on having contempt for half-Alderaanians. Uwa insists that she doesn’t speak for everyone, but Beonel asks, “How many does she speak for? And why would we put up with them?” He’s got a point. I think choosing an ambassador who actually liked the people she was going to rescue would have been a better decision, but I’m not a princess so what do I know.

During the conversation with Tula, Tace doesn’t act natural enough, and the Imperials conclude that the Rebels are onto them. They decide to put Tula in detention and “decide how to dispose of her later.” Leia gets on the comm with an Imperial officer and asks what they want in exchange for Tula, and he says that she’ll do. Jump cut to her getting dressed in her Official A New Hope White Dress. Evaan is horrified that she would do this, but Leia points out that she’s “got to show that I’m willing to sacrifice myself for the least of us.” What’s the Princess got up her sleeve? You’ll have to read the issue to find out! I really enjoyed this one; there was humor and the promise of a fantastic final issue. I can’t wait until the conclusion!

Get issue #4 from Comixology, Marvel, or your local comic book store for $3.99. Issue #5 comes out on June 24th!

Written by: Mark Waid
Art and Cover by: Terry Dodson
22 Pages