#mekedrix

[star-wars-comics]

Obi-Wan #4 (2022) pencil & ink by Madibek Musabekov color by Sebastian Cheng

[clonememesfrikyeah]

GUYS WHAT THE FUCK

I was reading the new Obi-Wan comic series that came out this year and- JeSUS CHRIST WHAT THE ACTUAL NAME OF FUCK DID I JUST LAY EYES UPON

⚠️TW: bones, descriptions and depictions of death, some fucked up type shit and all around horror and despair.⚠️

So the plot of this comic is obi-wan is on Tatooien reflecting about the past and this one was coming to terms with all the death caused by the war. The flash back is about when him and Anakin were sent to look for a natborn commander named Mekedrix who went missing after the republic lost the temple of Edit on Devaron and was suspected to have gone rogue and created, for lack of a better term, a terrorist group set on just killing literally everything. And oh boy did they. So when Obi-wan and Anakin get to where the base is suspected to be they confirm that yeah that’s their guy who created a rogue group dedicated to annihilating all life and their base is an ancient sith temple that’s legit oozing so much evil out of its walls that it latched onto and corrupted this traumatized non-force wielding officer. Ok so now that you get the plot, on the the real point.

THE REAL POINT IS THAT THIS MAN WENT SO CRAZY MAD OBSESSED WITH DEATH HE MADE A SWORD OUT OF BONES. AND NOT JUST ANY BONES. THE BONES OF A CLONE. BECAUSE HE THOUGHT THEY WERE THE PERFECT KILLING MACHINES AS THEY WERE MADE, BORN, LIVED AND DIED FOR THE SAKE OF DEATH. WHAT THE FUCK.

And it’s just- A LOT to process. But I feel like they just brushed over the fact that this guy was out here doing some really fucked up, sick phyco shit in favor of making Anakin and Obi-wand story sadder than it already was. Like yeah this guy was traumatized and corrupted by the dark side but I feel like he didn’t deserve the sympathy or the spotlight he got. At the end they really focused on how sad his corruption and death was, especially since he had been a good friend of Obi-wan and Anakin.

But I feel It should have focused on the horrors he committed against the platoons of clones he slaughtered for the sake of killing. Like, if you look at those slides up above the base is just littered with dead troopers, he’s legit wearing their armor in some sick gesture of admiration. But I will give the writers this; even though the main focus in the Obi-Wan comics is obviously obi-wan, they did a good job at subtly highlighting the fact that the clones were indeed slaves to the republic, forced to carry out all its dirty biddings. And the way it’s highlighted is horrific and terrifying. In life the clones were created to be weapons, used to kill, abuse by the world around them. And even in death they were defiled and disrespected like that. Mekedric made a weapon out of them, used it to kill innocents and their own brothers, used them literally down to the bone, used them as a stepping stool to obtain power and fear over others. And the only acknowledgment that kind of horror got was Anakin, filled with fury and disgust, what was his name. What had been the name of the trooper Mekederic has murdered, torn apart, reconstructed into something unrecognizable and was now holding their remains in his hand as a trophy. To which Mekedric reply’s that they were just as good as droids, they had no names, they were just things too him. That trooper had just been another nameless casualty cast aside without a second thought. And the thing is, Anakin and Obi-wan probably never said a damn word about any of it to Rex or Cody. Those troopers would have no closure, no one who mourned them, no clone would ever know the horrors that their brothers had been subjugated to. Because of this most clones would go on to never realize how trapped they were, how much they were being used, the extent of the abuse, and how nearly every natborn felt about them. They were just tools in the eyes of the republic; literal living weapons that could be mistreated however seen fit.

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

The latest issue of the Obi-Wan comic has me wanting to write SO MUCH STUFF ABOUT IT it’s insane - but I’d have to brush up on Heart of Darkness, Apocalypse Now and Shatterpoint to be halfway coherent about it!! 

But!!!!

There’s this imagery of going up the river into the jungle to confront and probably kill a man tortured by death and war into a demented agent of death - with the risk of becoming the very same thing, and with the line between hunted and hunter blurring. It’s all swamp and mist and shadow and night! It’s that classic structure that has already been used in Star Wars so well! (In Shatterpoint, which was heavily inspired by Apocalypse Now and follows the same beats and atmosphere.)

We have that same insight into the pov character's struggle with the idea of killing a comrade who has lost their way, while questioning whether adherence to peace is even possible, or if it wasn't just denial and hopeless naivety.

Going up the river is a grotesque parade of dead bodies that chills the soul - and the living share the characteristics of the dead. The person looming over the story now inspires cult-like devotion in the other lost souls. It's SUCH an effective storytelling trope and one of my favorite explorations of war! Compare this to the previous issue.

This was the 'classic' examination of war: fairly straightfoward violence with clear goals that you either achieve or die trying, followed by the contemplation of how hollow and bitter victory feels.

This is the next step - there's no longer anything to fight for or against. Violence and death have become the very fabric of the world rather than an anomaly that can be rectified. Moral considerations have no weight and actions have no effect. The road is a river - you can't stray from it, and it only leads to one place, death (whether you want it or not. Anakin didn't want to kill Mekedrix, but he does). As Mekedrix says:

There's no point in virtue or honor or courage anymore, as all roads lead to death.

And the only way to escape this apocalyptic and perilous night and go back to the sunrise of the last issue (the sunrise that Obi-Wan kept seeking) is even more death.

It's so bleak but SO POWERFUL and effective. I'm not kidding, as means of conveying a tragedy go it's next to the perfect trope.

Going back to the cult-like aspect, with people being warped into symbols...

(I wish they'd make Shatterpoint into a movie just for this comparison. THE COMIC STRIP LOOKS LIKE ACTUAL FOOTAGE)

I'm going insane over these personifications of the outcome of war, shrouded in shadows and stripped of personhood that you find in desecrated old Temples.

People who can't connect to their names anymore or are robbed of their faces by the shadows or robbed of their health or cannot talk at all anymore (Shatterpoint). Obi-Wan keeps trying to remind Mekedrix that identity and life are what give nature and death meaning, but THE NIGHT IS JUST TOO DARK.

The art is SO GOOD. THIS IS THE FACE OBI-WAN MAKES WHEN HE KNOWS SOMEBODY IS LOST

From the very beginning of the story he KNOWS he won't save Mekedrix just like everybody who goes up the river into the Temple KNOWS what they'll find will be far beyond any hope of rescue. The question with that trope is never - will we bring this person home? - but what will we be when we come back?

I LOVE LOVE LOVE THAT WHAT DEFINES OBI-WAN IS THAT HE'S DEMONSTRABLY INSANELY RESILIENT TO THIS FORM OF HORROR. The original trope has the pov character coming back irreparably tainted. The variation in Shatterpoint has Mace's faith hanging by a string - by the end, he's beaten, bruised, exhausted and thoroughly tired of it all, and it costs him incredible pain and every last reserve of strength he has to make it through. But in this comic, Obi-Wan's crisis was last issue, when he could still see the sun, more so than in this one.

In this issue he's Anakin's rock and he's more focused on Mekedrix's despair than his own. HE'S CENTERED AND MOTIVATED BY THE THOUGHT OF PULLING PEOPLE OUT OF THE DARKNESS WHEN NOBODY CAN SEE THE LIGHT.

I don't even know where I'm going with all of this except that!!!!! The parallels and contrasts between William and Mace and Obi-Wan!!!! And Kurtz and Kar Vastor and Depa and Mekedrix!!!!!! The ART!!!!! THE POV CHARACTER NARRATING HIS JOURNEY UP THE RIVER INTO THE JUNGLE!!!!! THE IDEA OF A STORY ABOUT SEEKING A PERSON THAT TELLS YOU MORE ABOUT THE SEEKER THAN THE PERSON SOUGHT!!!!!!!! I just. It's good.

[comicwaren]

From Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi #004, “The Sun Sets and It Rises”

Art by Madibek Musabekov and Sebastian Chang

Written by Christopher Cantwell

[gffa]

I AM LOSING MY MIND. "If we just accept this man is beyond saving, then what hope is there for a fractured Republic once this war ends?" Anakin Skywalker screams.  That he refuses to just kill his way through anyone who is on the opposite side from him. (This is exactly what Darth Vader will become.) That Obi-Wan agrees the Jedi are not assassins, that they will have to kill people in the course of their lives, but that they don’t just go around murdering people indiscriminately.  They will do everything they can to reach someone who is lost to them, but you still go in with the understanding that you may be forced to kill them. (This is exactly what George Lucas says Obi-Wan is preparing Luke for in ROTJ.) Names have meaning, Obi-Wan argues.  The lives we live are what give meaning to the galaxy.  If all you are is death, what use do these names have for you, when you so clearly react to them? (”That name no longer has any meaning for me,” Darth Vader will say.) Obi-Wan holds Mekedrix and puts a steadying hand on Anakin’s shoulder, reaches out with a lifeline for someone who is suffering because of an inevitable death. (As Luke will hold Anakin, while Obi-Wan reaches out to help Anakin to the other side.) HELP, I AM SUFFERING BECAUSE OF STAR WARS.

[mformarsala]

I've just read Star Wars: Obi-Wan #3 and I have a lot of thoughts and feelings so here they are (spoilers!)

1) Obi-Wan in long robs!!

2) Holly shit Obi-Wan still has his old armor

3) Does that mean Obi-Wan never learned about the chips????

4) I just love to see Cody's role and competency acknowledged.

5) See, this takes place after Christophsis so it's not the first battle Obi-Wan has with 212th or with Cody as his 2nd-in-command. Meaning Obi-Wan is thinking about shinies. And about Cody. Perhaps because he is another authority figure that feels responsible for the lives they are going to lose tomorrow.

6) He-he, Glory (im sorry)

7) Obi-Wan canonically loses himself in the view and in his thoughts and Cody has to save him.

8) Cody is protecting Obi-Wan's head.

9) They are so foul for this one. I straight up had to stop reading after "last night" and compose myself. Airo, baby boy, I love you, you did not die, we have collectively adopted you. Now every fic about 212th has to have Airo (right? right???)

10) The banner and the jedi symbol being the same color is Poetic.

11) ..Obi-Wan feels clones die on the battlefield (i think im gonna be sick)

12) Obi-Wan calls clones people

13) Cody turning to check on his general

14) Pieta. I feel like besides immediate tragedy there is a far-reaching narrative parallel with the clones that are brought into the world to die for others and Obi-Wan that can do nothing but love them.

15) Clones and jedi are meant for each other.

16) I just know that this came up later as part of Cody's argument to keep wrestling Obi-Wan into the armor ("we could have lost you, general")

17) There is no strategic reason for Obi-Wan to carry the banner.

18) As far as I understand commander Mekedrix is career military. And this panel is a juxtaposition of his views and those of jedi. Where Mekedrix is trained to focus on strategy and the big picture as the means to work and cope under the implicit assumption that there will be casualties under his orders, Obi-Wan is unable to turn away from the loss of life.

19) (he reminds me of namor)

20) I.. Obi-Wan needed to watch the sunrise and then Cody with the sun on his armor came to check on him. Cody was really a stronghold that helped Obi-Wan get through the war.

21) Cody is reaching for Obi-Wan.

In conclusion:

[gffa]

I AM GOING TO THROW UP FROM FEELINGS ABOUT THIS ISSUE. It’s a little hard to capture in just a handful of panels, but the heart of this issue really rests on Obi-Wan’s relationship with Anakin, in this moment during the Clone Wars, but also as a parallel for their greater relationship. There’s a sandstorm brewing over Tatooine and it’s been howling in the distance for three issues and now it’s finally here.  The vaporators that Obi-Wan has repaired so many times are shattered anew, there’s a cold that dims the warmth of the planet, there’s a darkness descending over him in his home there. All of this sets the mood for the flashback Obi-Wan thinks of, that time he and Anakin were sent on a super top-secret mission to hunt down a rogue agent who has turned to anger and fear and hopelessness, that all that matters to him now is death of anyone he comes across.  Republic clones or Separatists leaders, guilty or innocent people, it doesn’t matter, he cuts down everyone. Obi-Wan speaks to him in philosophical riddles, about how names matter, the names of the people in front of him, the names of his friends, the name of himself.  He reminds Mekedrix of his homeworld and the sunrises there, how life is what gives the sunrise meaning, that it doesn’t just exist in the galaxy, but that life gives it purpose. We don’t know if Mekedrix was really going to kill Obi-Wan or not, if he was just trying to get a reaction, but most likely he was just trying to find a way to end this, to get back to the sunrise.  And it’s Anakin who steps in, who kills him with his lightsaber and he’s devastated by his actions, that the killing still bothers him, especially when he sees that Mekedrix wasn’t serious. Obi-Wan comforts him, “It’s all right, Anakin, you did nothing wrong.  He is home. Let us return ours,” he says with a comforting hand on Anakin’s shoulder, and older Obi-Wan’s narration says, “The light will shine again once the storm passes.” AND I AM GOING TO THROW UP FROM FEELINGS ABOUT ANAKIN SKYWALKER’S JOURNEY AND OBI-WAN’S CARE FOR HIM. That Mekedrix wanted to die (like Vader will want to die), that he killed indiscriminately (like Vader killed indiscriminately), that he was trying to cut down an Obi-Wan who was trying to reach him by giving him philosophical riddles that were meant to give him pause and make him think (like Obi-Wan did for Vader on the Death Star), that Anakin throws himself between someone he loves and the danger to him (like he will do for Luke to save him from Sidious), and how it makes me think of how Lucas said that Obi-Wan and Yoda were the ones to help Anakin become a Force Ghost, that I imagine it went similar to this.  Anakin has done wrong by that point, but he still wants to return to his sunrise, and Obi-Wan is there to put a hand on his shoulder, to say, “Let’s return home.” to him, and Anakin will clutch at Obi-Wan’s hand on his shoulder and have the same expression here.

The storm will have passed and Anakin’s light will shine once again. This issue is a remix of Obi-Wan’s relationship with the course of Anakin’s life, it’s a kaleidoscope version of what Obi-Wan has experienced already and will experience once he gets to the Death Star. And through it all you can feel Obi-Wan’s sorrow, his bone-deep weariness of death and loss, but also his compassion and hope still shining for the galaxy, you can still feel his love for Anakin Skywalker. This issue is just as much about Anakin Skywalker as it is about Obi-Wan Kenobi, because that’s kind of the point, that you cannot separate Anakin’s story from Obi-Wan’s story when you look at the grand scheme of things.  Nor can you separate Obi-Wan’s compassion and hope for the galaxy from his story, nor his love for Anakin Skywalker from his story.  These are all fundamental elements of who Obi-Wan Kenobi is.