Zeb Larson reviews Descender #11…
“MACHINE MOON” Conclusion TIM-21 discovers the secret at the heart of the Robot Resistance and it will change the course of his quest forever.
Descender #11 is an issue of betrayals and increasingly deep stakes for all of our characters. Lemire and Nguyen have spent a long time developing the backstory of this universe, which I’ll admit had grown a bit thin for me in the last few issues. The constant stream of introductions and new people removed a lot of the tension, though I’ll concede it was useful for making the universe feel fleshed out. This issue though caps the second story arc off nicely, and reintroduces some needed anxiety after a lot of exposition. I will be discussing spoilers from here on out, so consider yourself forewarned.
Psius and the other robots of Hardwire work to understand Tim 21’s dream, believing that it will lead them to a lost server containing the memories of all the dead robots. Quon and Telsa are quarantined in the asteroid, which of course Telsa will have none of. In trying to break out though, they discover something far more disturbing about Hardwire. Desperate to save his own skin, Quon offers up a secret of his own that might keep him alive for a little bit longer. Andy’s having troubles of his own, finding a friend that might help him only for a familiar enemy to swoop in. Elsewhere, Tim-22 lets Tim-21 know he really feels about him (not in a warm and fuzzy way).
For fans of Mass Effect, the vibes from this issue are going to feel very familiar. Robots worshipping a far more-powerful (and inscrutable) robot? Check. Of course, like the Geth in Mass Effect, it may be that Hardwire is worshipping something that they don’t fully understand. Are the Harvesters really gods, or are they tools? Thus far, they have yet to speak or offer any demands: they seem more robotic than many of the actual robots we’ve seen thus far. Either way, no good can come of what they’re planning, and the UGC is still hopelessly flat-footed in all of this.
The twist that Tim-22 doesn’t want to share the stage with his counterpart isn’t a particularly shocking one: the moment that a duplicate was introduced, they were already destined to eventually be at odds. I’m still not feeling particularly engaged with Andy’s storyline, at least not yet. I have faith that Lemire and Nguyen will eventually weave that thread together, but getting there has not been as interesting a journey. This is a familiar problem: when you’re watching once character look for somebody else and the audience knows where they are, the middle section of the journey has trouble staying interesting. We are set up for that to change in the next arc though, so I’m willing to give it another chance.
As we approach Descender’s third arc, I feel like we’re back on track again. Genocide and war are good for building dramatic tension, and Quon is once again staring down the barrel of a gun. Tim isn’t in much better shape either. All of the characters are going to have to hit the ground running if they want to stay alive, and if humanity is going to survive, the UGC is going to have to step up as well. Should make for good reading.
Rating: 8.5/10
Zeb Larson
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Originally published March 10, 2016. Updated April 14, 2018.
