REVIEW: Jedi Master Yaddle Senses A Troubling Chill In The Force In 'Jedi Knights' #5

Disclaimer: This review contains minor spoilers for Jedi Knights #5.

Since its inception, author Marc Guggenheim and artist Madibek Musabekov’s Jedi Knights (2025) comic series has seen the titular Knights mediate an invasion on Syrinx Prime; encounter a rogue bioengineer mass-producing monstrous Xerexi creatures on a remote moon; and face off against dinosaur-sized Kaijura after crash-landing on their home turf, all in the service of the Galactic Republic. In Jedi Knights #4, Jedi Masters Qui-Gon Jinn and Shaak-Ti remain largely on the peripheral of the comic’s main action surrounding Phaedra, whose brazen heist of the Galactic Bank of Coruscant attracts the attention of “scoundrels, criminals and bounty hunters alike,” largely because the Senator who hired Phaedra in the first place is in cahoots with none other than Outer Rim gangster, Jabba the Hutt. Qui-Gon and Shaak-Ti smartly side-step much of the drama, eventually heading Phaedra off on Ord Mantell, where they turn her over to the Benelex Marshal Service, from whom Phaedra promptly escapes with the help of none other than top-tier bounty hunter and the galaxy’s best clone daddy, Jango Fett.

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“If you’re in need of someone to kill you … don’t rely on two Jedi Knights.”

The teaser page of Jedi Knights #5 showcases the implied death of Jedi Master Yaddle at the hand of “Fallen Jedi” Count Dooku. In the shadows of Coruscant, “Shortly after the Battle of Naboo,” Yaddle and Dooku trade brief barbs regarding Dooku’s fascist leanings masquerading as “peace and order” before Dooku brandishes an ergonomic-handled, blue-bladed lightsaber above Master Yaddle’s cowed form; fade to black. Like the aforementioned Jedi Master Shaak Ti, who both perishes canonically on-screen during the Order 66 revolt of the Clone Army of the Republic against its Jedi generals, as well as by General Grievous’ four hands in a deleted scene from Revenge of the Sith (2005), Jedi Knights #5 is not Yaddle’s first canonical death. In fact, she makes a similarly heroic last stand to save Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker in the sixth book of Jude Watson’s young adult Jedi Quest series (officially Legends book canon).

Fortunately, Guggenheim has more for Yaddle to do “Before the Fall.” That is, alongside Jedi Knight Seera Longa, she is “dispatched to the Outer Rim world of Liskan to mediate a dispute between the Gillanter Corporation and the greedy Trade Federation.” Though Master Yaddle clearly sees Jedi involving themselves in such negotiations to be a necessary evil of her calling, she seems to note fondly Seera Longa’s sincere enjoyment of mediation and knack for “negotiat[ing] a trade route or arbitrat[ing] taxation policy.” This is soon put to the test while Yaddle and Seera Longa hear the accusations lobbed back and forth between Viceroy Nute Gunray and Quillan Zarro, Chief Negotiations Officer for Gillanter Corp. The “lightspeed version”: Gunray’s Trade Federation has taken one of Gillanter’s freighters “into escrow” in order to pay off alleged copious “violations” by Gillanter, including shorting the Trade Federation out of 10,000 shares of Gillanter Corp. stock.

“My understanding of the law is that it is replete with tiny ironies.”

After negotiations initially stall, Master Yaddle and Seera Longa employ creative measures to find additional leverage, including “slicing into a locked freighter” to inspect the allegedly stolen goods for themselves. As the Jedi suspect, what Zarro told them is “1,138 dynesium paracels” turns out to be a freighter full of illegal Rylothian spice. Furthermore, lurking amongst said spice is none other than Fallen Jedi Count Dooku, who insists he is merely there on behalf of the Trade Federation to “safeguard” the stolen goods from future attempts by Gillanter Corp. to recover them. Seeing Dooku’s newly fallen status through Seera Longa’s eyes provides readers with a fresh perspective, including being scandalized that Dooku still carries his aforementioned Jedi lightsaber. Likewise, Yaddle’s insistence that “Dooku remains a friend to the Order” hangs ominously from the page, given the implications of the issue’s aforementioned preview.

Master Yaddle and Seera Longa proceed to assist Count Dooku in fighting off armed Gillanter repo men, including “Wookiees of a criminal persuasion.” Given that Count Dooku is known to employ bounty hunters of all reputes during the Clone Wars, this remark doubles as an observation that he clearly files away for later use. In general, Dooku behaves as expected, faking out his Wookiee kidnappers, only for Yaddle to stay his hand when he goes to kill Lonkus, the leader; a narrative fake-out that yet preserves Yaddle’s aforementioned future sacrifice. In both cases, she is motivated by “destiny”: “The Force is my guide. It tells me to follow my instincts, to trust my feelings. And so I do.” Yaddle’s wisdom remains understated throughout the adventure; dread that her naivete is to be her undoing gradually giving way to her innermost thoughts and fears, admitted only to Seera Longa: “I don’t trust Dooku. There is a disturbance surrounding him like a shroud, something troubling that brings a chill to my soul. But I cannot deny the Force. I would sooner die.”

“I’m afraid it’s against my programming to translate profanity.”

What remains of this Jedi Knights #5 review is to weigh in on the “tiny ironies” replete within Yaddle’s pseudo-philosophical exchange with Count Dooku as they clash lightsabers (Yaddle’s is green, of course). First, Yaddle reminds Dooku that striking someone down in anger “is NOT the Jedi way,” likewise implying that Dooku has not kept the “promises” (oaths) he made to the Jedi Order; ergo, she holds little regard for his word as a Fallen (and still falling) Jedi. In response, Count Dooku alludes to “forces at work in the galaxy who do not share the Jedi’s reluctance to do what is necessary. And it will mean the end of the Jedi Order.” His words are prophetic because, of course, his secret Sith Lord boss is pulling the strings of those aforementioned forces at work in the galaxy, while Count Dooku uses the vast inherited wealth now at his disposal to help shroud his master’s dealings in the troubling chill that comes from denying the Force. 

Tragically, Master Yaddle seems to be entirely aware just how far Count Dooku has fallen, even in the early days of his servitude to the Dark Side. Perhaps she suspects that destiny means for their paths to cross again as enemies; perhaps fate means to use Yaddle’s long friendship with the Fallen Jedi as a barometer for the disintegration of Dooku’s soul. Alas, the path from broken oaths to “Then let me give you peace, Master Yaddle” is terribly short. Even so, Yaddle tells Seera Longa, “Preserving life is never regretful. Whatever the cost may prove to be.” 

Rating: ★★★★☆

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About Star Wars: Jedi Knights #5

Release Date: July 2, 2025

Written by: Marc Guggenheim

Art by: Madibek Musabekov

Cover by: R. Rahzzah

Page Count: 23

Synopsis: JEDI MASTERS SEERA LONGA AND YADDLE FACE THE DARKEST MYSTERY! Yaddle and Seera must unravel a strange situation involving the Trade Federation. Guest-starring the mysterious Count Dooku! Will Yaddle save the life of the man destined to kill her?