While Star Wars fans were thrilled to see Solo fan-favorite Qi’ra return in the War of the Bounty Hunters comics, they have also been worried about her survival. Fans have grown increasingly worried as she and Crimson Dawn continue to defy and undermine the Empire, and unlike many of the other characters who are doing the same, Qi’ra is not guaranteed to survive.
After all, she is not seen or confirmed to be alive at any story past this point in the timeline, and the audience knows her mission to bring down the Sith and the Empire cannot succeed as this is prior to Return of the Jedi.
It didn’t bode well when the Archivist said at the end of Crimson Reign #1 that “This is the story of the fall of Crimson Dawn. This story is a tragedy.” Things are even more dire at the end of Crimson Reign #5 as Emperor Palpatine now knows for certain that Qi’ra and Crimson Dawn are hunting him.
Now the question is whether Qi’ra will survive Hidden Empire, the third and final series of comics in Charles Soule’s Qi’ra trilogy. A StarWars.com exclusive preview for Hidden Empire provides further insight into whether Qi’ra might survive.
Hints that Qi’ra will survive
The biggest hint that Qi’ra will survive comes from Soule in the preview when he says, “This new story is designed to deliver the big finale to Qi’ra’s story — at least this phase of it.” He also went on to say that “As I had a character say in the very first issue of Crimson Reign, Qi’ra’s story is a tragedy. But… in a good way.”
Soule’s wording clarifies that while Hidden Empire is the big finale of the Qi’ra story he’s been telling, it is only the finale to this phase of her story. The story he’s been telling is about the return of Qi’ra and Crimson Dawn and her master plan to bring down the Sith and the Empire. While Hidden Empire is the end of that story, it sounds like it only one phase of her ongoing story in Star Wars canon.
In terms of what the Archivist said about this story being a tragedy, fans naturally assumed the worst, but that might not be the case. Perhaps Hidden Empire will show the end of Crimson Dawn and the ultimate failure of Qi’ra’s master plan. It would be a tragedy for Qi’ra to experience this failure and to see the organization she’s so carefully built be destroyed after many years of careful plannng.
Soule says the story is a tragedy in a good way. Maybe this means Qi’ra will survive and despite the failure and tragedy, she will feel a sense of liberation, able to chart a new and better path for herself that has nothing to do with crime syndicates, the Sith, or the Empire.
Hints that Qi’ra won’t survive
The Hidden Empire preview features a variant cover that shows Qi’ra and Emperor Palpatine clashing as she deflects his Force lightning. What is shown on comic covers does not always actually happen in the comic, but a confrontation between Qi’ra and Palpatine does seem likely based on where the story is headed.
Despite her training from Maul and her impressive abilities, Qi’ra is still not a Force wielder. She held her own when dueling Darth Vader in War of the Bounty Hunters, but she only narrowly escaped. If that was the case against Vader, her chances against Palpatine are even worse.
If Palpatine and Vader are to truly put an end to the threat that Crimson Dawn poses, they would not leave any loose ends, and that means killing the leader of Crimson Dawn, the one who orchestrated the plan to destroy the Sith and the Empire, and who knows dangerous secrets about them.
Soule makes mention of saying goodbye to Qi’ra, but hopefully that just means he is saying goodbye to writing her, and her story will continue in the hands of other Star Wars creators after Hidden Empire.
Do you think Qi’ra will survive the events of Star Wars: Hidden Empire? Let us know in the comments!