Star Wars: The Halcyon Legacy is a five-issue Star Wars limited series from Marvel Comics, centered on the Halcyon luxury starcruiser. The series is a Merchandise-Driven tie-in, intended to promote the now-closed Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser hotel at Walt Disney World. It's written by Ethan Sacks, with art by Will Sliney and color art by Rachelle Rosenberg.
As a Framing Device, the story features Shorr Komrrin and his granddaughter Cimina taking a vacation on the Halcyon during the First Order/Resistance conflict. They are attacked by Crimson Jack, a pirate who hopes to capture a Resistance spy on board. To keep the passengers calm, the droid D3-O9 tells stories of all the incidents the Halcyon has survived in its nearly 275 years of existence.
Issue 1 takes place during the High Republic era when the Halcyon is just ten years old. It centers on Nib Assek and her padawan Burry, who rescue the ship from Nihil pirates. The lightsaber training pod on the ship was built in their honor.
The first issue was released February 02, 2022.
Tropes in this comic book series include:
- All There in the Manual: The Nihil leader in the first issue, who has No Name Given in this series, is Zeetar, a pre-existing villain from the High Republic stories. You'd need to read some of the other books or comics to recognise him and know his name, though.
- Are We There Yet?: Cimina gets the first line on the first page of the first issue, an "Are we there yet?" aimed at her grandfather, asking if the launch pod has reached the Halcyon yet. It arrives a few seconds later, on the following page.
- The Artifact: The whole comic itself is arguably this. Since it was made with the express intention of promoting the Galactic Starcrusier Hotel and establishing its place in the Star Wars universe. With the hotel shut down, it leaves the comic series in an awkward position.
- Bad Boss:
- In the first issue's flashback story, set in the High Republic era, the Nihil leader Zeetar thanks a Thisspiassian minion for reaching the Halcyon's bridge and transmitting the codes - and then remotely electrocutes him. The Thisspiassian didn't know it, but the plan didn't allow time for him to return to their ship - and the Nihil couldn't risk him being captured alive and revealing what had been stolen.
- In the third issue's framing sequence, one of Crimson Jack's pirates comments that Captain Keevan's the best pilot he's ever seen. We don't see exactly what Jack does to him, but two panels later he's lying on the floor and groaning in pain.
- The Bus Came Back: In issue 5, Bossk makes his first chronological appearance since Return of the Jedi, revealed to have escaped Jabba's exploding sail barge and is still part of T'onga's crew.
- Green-Skinned Space Babe: Captain Keevan, the captain of the Halcyon during the Sequel Trilogy era, is a Pantoran and has blue skin.
- Foreshadowing: In the first issue, D3-O9 remembers Shorr from when he took a trip on the Halcyon as a boy. The third issue shows him in the Clone Wars era, caught up in a battle between Anakin Skywalker and Asajj Ventress.
- Framing Device: The droid D3-O9 tells stories of the ship's history to cheer up Cimina while a First Order-aligned pirate tries to capture a Resistance spy on board.
- Happy Ending Override: In Issue 2, D3-O9 seems to end the story about Zam Wessell and Aurra Sing about going on to live happily ever after following their mission on the Halcyon... only to then point out that both of them went on to die horrible deaths.
- Merchandise-Driven: The comics were meant to promote the then-upcoming Galactic Starcruiser hotel.
- Mini-Mecha: As usual for him, Zeetar uses one to hijack the ship.
- No Name Given: The Nihil leader Zeetar, an existing villain from the High Republic stories, is the antagonist in the first issue's flashback. However, he's never identified by name in this series, making his identity an All There in the Manual reveal.
- Red Herring: The crew assumes the Nihil pirates are after Shug's hyperspace compass. In reality, they're after codes stored on the bridge computer, though the crew never finds out.
- Rotating Protagonist: Each of the flashback stories has a Time Skip and a different protagonist. D3-09 is the only character who's a constant feature.
- Splash Panel: The first view of the Halcyon itself is a double splash page, which helps to emphasise how grand - and how central to the story - the titular starcruiser is.
- Time Skip: Each of the flashback stories has a different protagonist, and each one is much closer to the present time than the previous story. Only D3-09 and the Halcyon are comstant features.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
- The Nihil leader Zeetar remotely electrocutes one of his crew members after he infiltrates the bridge and steals the information they need, as he doesn't have time to escape and cannot be captured.
- In the Clone Wars era story, Asajj Ventress kills the defecting senator she was escorting as soon as it's clear they won't get away.
