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A deadly Crimson Dawn assassin can trace her name’s origins back to an infamous scene from Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters, available now from Marvel.
The Star Wars Prequel trilogy introduced a veritable treasure trove of new material into the Star Wars universe. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones in particular helped detail the origins of the Clone Army, the Separatist Alliance, and a multitude of other characters and events. It’s also host to a number of more infamous moments that have since become inside jokes amongst fans, and now one such moment has actually evolved from an eye-roll-inducing scene and into its own fully-fleshed character.
In Episode II, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his padawan Anakin Skywalker are tasked with protecting Senator Amidala on the Republic capital planet of Coruscant and to search for clues about who is operating within the shadows. While investigating a nightclub, Obi-Wan is approached by a young scoundrel and asked, “You wanna buy some death sticks?” Obi-Wan uses his Force persuasion to convince the young man that he doesn’t want to sell him death sticks and that he wants to go home and rethink his life.
While this moment has since garnered Internet infamy, it also predicts the name of one of the deadliest assassins in the Star Wars Universe, Deathstick.
Death sticks as a drug are highly addictive hallucinogenics that are created from ixetal cilona, a chemical derived from balo mushrooms. Use of the drug reduces the user’s life span significantly with each use and disrupts Force user’s connection to the Force greatly. A classic non-violent solution to a problem befitting a Jedi, this singular scene was tapped for inspiration for 2015’s iOS and Android game Star Wars: Uprising in the creation of the assassin known as Deathstick.
In Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters #14 by Ethan Sacks, Paolo Villanelli and Arif Prianto, Deathstick makes her dramatic debut as a Crimson Dawn assassin. The plot of War of the Bounty Hunters centers around Han Solo, infamous galactic scoundrel turned Rebel Alliance Hero, who is frozen in carbonite. The value of Han Solo in such an incapacitated state has every crime syndicate in the galaxy chomping at the bits to get their hands on him. Valance and Dengar, two bounty hunters that have formed an uneasy alliance, are both searching for Han Solo as well. Their search takes a turn for the worse when their only source of information is killed by Deathstick.
Deathstick has an interesting origin story. She was born to the Nightsister named Shelish, who left her home planet of Dathomir before the rest of her people were killed off. Deathstick grew up in the Outer Rim of the galaxy and began her career in crime at an early age as a hired assassin. Her lethal skills eventually led her to become the leader of the Kouhun, a group of assassins operating on Mataou. Later, she was hired by the criminal organization Crimson Dawn to hunt down Valance and Dengar, thus leading to her appearance in the comic.
While Deathstick may fit comfortably into the pre-established mold of an enigmatic assassin, her very presence allows for continued growth and exploration, and proves that even seemingly throwaway or derided moments can contribute meaningfully to the franchise. Dengar himself was a side character without spoken dialogue in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, so there’s no reason to believe that Deathstick can’t grow on her own in a similar fashion. While the fate of Deathstick is still unknown within the War of the Bounty Hunters arc, it would be fascinating to learn the full story of the daughter of a wayward Nightsister and survivor of Dathomir.
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