Ninjak #17 reveals Roku’s true identity and her connection to Ninjak. This issue begins with Roku asking Ninjak if he knows who she really is. She tells him that the first time he saw her when he was planning on infiltrating Weaponeer wasn’t the first time they actually met. She reminds him about the woman Angelina who trained him when he was first starting out with MI-6 but was also killed because of him. Roku tells how Angelina wasn’t truly dead and instead her body was taken to the Himilayas to the Undead Monk. She was meant to be a sacrifice, an experiment that transformed her from Angelina to Roku. She continues and tells him about the Shadow Seven but how he failed to kill her as well as a final member who he didn’t even know existed. And she reveals to him that since she lost everything from her memories as Angelina to everything that occurred with the Shadow Seven she has plotted her revenge since remembering who he was to her. However, she doesn’t know that Colin was haunted by what he believed was Angelina’s death and everything he did was to avenge her. Is it too little too late or can Ninjak get through to his former partner and lover?

Matt Kindt did an excellent job examining Roku’s mental state as she was stuck from the moment of her original near death experience as Angelina and all she learned of Ninjak’s life after encountering him as Roku. It made sense for her to have so much anger towards Ninjak since she couldn’t have known all he did to avenge her death. So the explanation of her motivation was more than suffice to make sense of her plan and true goal. From tracking down his parents to including Alain in the entire plot, this was all a great way to bring these different elements together. And of course it didn’t hurt that all of this was interspersed with some intense action.

SUMMARY

Ninjak #17 successfully brings together all the story threads that have been built up throughout this series with the culmination of Roku’s true identity and the connection to Ninjak. It takes the story arc’s title, Siege of King’s Castle, and makes it more meaningful than just Ninjak’s possession’s or status and touches the core of the character. And I’m pleased with Roku’s development from a bodyguard of one of the Shadow Seven to her current state because it capitalizes on her full potential. Despite it feeling like this issue skips over a full resolution to the drastic change to Ninjak’s status quo as a result of Roku’s plan, some information Roku drops in addition to the conclusion creates so much potential for future story lines.