Star Wars: Crimson Dawn Was Building A Better Rebel Alliance

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Star Wars: Crimson Reign #3

The latest issue of Star Wars: Crimson Reign confirms that Emila Clarke’s Qi’ra was attempting to build a better Rebel Alliance, striking at the source of the galaxy’s oppression. While the Rebels were seeking to end the Empire and its brutal grip on the galaxy since the fall of the Republic, Crimson Dawn has been looking to take out the Empire’s true rulers: the Dark Lords of the Sith. Possessing key knowledge that very few in the galaxy do, Lady Qi’ra has been manipulating events and transforming her crime syndicate into a true resistance movement, looking to disrupt the status quo of unbalanced power in the galaxy.

As confirmed in previous issues of Crimson Reign and the preceding War of the Bounty Hunters crossover, Crimson Dawn has been reborn. No longer under the leadership of the former Sith Maul, the Dawn is instead being led by his second-in-command Qi’ra (Han Solo’s first love) following the events of The Empire Strikes Back and after using the carbonized Solo to destabilize relations between the Hutts and the Empire, Crimson Dawn has been preparing its numerous agents and allies in a coordinated strike, causing chaos in the criminal underworld while also sending Emperor Palpatine himself the message that he’s not as invincible as he thinks, using an assassin to kill his whole Imperial Guard right in front of him.

Now, Crimson Dawn #3 from Charles Soule and Steven Cummings tells the tale of how Qi’ra recruited Sava Madelin Sun who eventually became Crimson Dawn’s Archivist. Once a scholar at the University of Bar’leth, Sun specialized in the study of the Force (particularly the dark side). Naturally, she is a key asset in Qi’ra’s plans to take out Darth Sidious and his apprentice Vader once and for all. As Qi’ra shares with Sun in this new issue, her focus is on ending the Sith Lords directly over the greater Empire. As such, this clarity about who truly runs the galaxy is also what sets Crimson Dawn apart from the Rebellion. Not only is Qi’ra willing to fight the Sith outright using whatever means necessary, but this uniquely direct offensive could have made the Dawn more effective than the Rebels themselves.

While Lady Qi’ra had the right intentions and the rare truth about who’s really in charge, it’s already known by Star Wars fans that Crimson Dawn will ultimately fail in their efforts. Clearly, Sidious and Vader do not meet their demise by Qi’ra’s hand. Instead, Return of the Jedi features both their ends preceding the Rebellion’s destruction of the second Death Star (at least until Palpatine’s resurrection for the sequel trilogy). Likewise, Crimson Reign has been narrated by the Archivist after an event known as ‘The Fall’, a further indication that Crimson Dawn’s mission won’t succeed. Sun’s narration in this new issue also confirms that Qi’ra will soon make critical mistakes in the face of the Sith Lords and their power.

That being said, it certainly seems as though Crimson Dawn had a solid chance to bring down the Sith. It’s hard to deny that Qi’ra’s direct approach and knowledge about the Empire’s Sith Lords thanks to Maul weren’t a key advantage that could have led to their success (despite the great danger). However, it seems as though mistakes will soon be made, leading to the Dawn’s undoing and opening the door for the Rebellion to be the ultimate victors in the Star Wars timeline.

About The Author

Kevin Erdmann
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Kevin Erdmann is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers. With a major in Cinema Studies and a minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies from the UofO, Kevin is pretty sure he’s writing for the right site. While Kevin is a huge Marvel fan, he also loves Batman because he’s Batman and is a firm believer that Han shot first. Disney also shares a big part of his fan patronage. Kevin lives in Oregon with his wonderful wife and sinister cat who is no doubt currently plotting his demise.

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