– Spoiler Review –
Marchion Ro, the Nihil’s enigmatic leader, and his family’s past have been shrouded in mystery since his memorable introduction in Light of the Jedi, but the first peaks behind the curtain have finally arrived. In The High Republic – Eye of the Storm #1, the first of a special two-part series, writer Charles Soule takes us through a journey exploring the past of Ro’s people and some new insights leading to his ascension.
Split into three “Scenes,” Eye of the Storm is a unique issue in a number of ways, from its design and flow to the overall story and themes it covers, and it’s unlike anything else Star Wars comics has really done before. I’ll be curious how it all reads together, both issues, as while this felt complete in some ways, it leaves some interesting details undisclosed, leaving me curious what Part 2 could end up covering and revealing.
In the opening Scene, “The Truth,” Soule dives into the past of Ro’s people, the Evereni, and it was the most fascinating part of the issue for me. The Evereni have quite the tale, spread across countless eons, which leads them to this very specific moment and time in the galaxy of the High Republic. Their planet, a ‘tempest’ world with a constantly changing series of storms, turned the Evereni into a species always ready for change, instantly adapting to whatever Everon threw at them next, a mindset that we’ve already seen in Marchion Ro, who would rather not have a plotted plan but only a set of goals so he can be ready to adjust how he gets there as new variables appear. It’s what has made him such a remarkable and intriguing villain so far, his adaptability making him unpredictable to friends and foes alike, and helps distant him from someone like Emperor Palpatine, someone who relied heavily on set plans, despite them both wanting to take down the Republic and Jedi. As one can imagine, a tempest world, and any planet for that matter, cares not how much deference you give it, and an enormous storm destroys most of the Evereni and their way of life, setting up a series of events where they learn one truth after another about the universe and the only hope to survive in its cruel, uncaring vastness. All the truths revolve around a lack of trust, trust in their homes, their leaders, their families, and eventually, after centuries of war amongst themselves and finally leaving their home planet to enter the rest of the galaxy, their in-ability to work with others let alone themselves turning them into hunted outlaws, they find the ultimate and final thing they can trust: themselves. In Marchion, we can see these centuries of lessons distilled into his every move and decision, as he’s never trusted a single member of the Nihil but he knows how to mold and manipulate them to meet his goals and desires, because as Soule first describes the Evereni, as ‘caretakers,’ he later concludes they still are, though a warped version of it after everything. We’ve seen Marchion’s lack of trust in anything but himself already, but The Fallen Star contains one of the starker examples of it, with him replacing the crew of his ship, the Gaze Electric, with strictly droids beyond a single Nihil aide.
After thousands of generations, everything the Evereni were and can be live in Marchion, an intentional design by his grandmother Shalla and father Asgar, which Scene 2 “The Lie” dives into. Set 20 years before Light of the Jedi, we gain insight to the Ro family’s plans for the Republic, Jedi, and how to use the Nihil to fulfill them, though it remains unclear yet what exactly the Jedi and Republic did to them to earn their hatred, but I assume it’ll either be covered next issue or not until Phase II, when we go 150 years into the past, though it’s not that important to what this issue is trying to accomplish. Grandma Ro and Asgar talk about Marchion being the sharp edge to the generations of Evereni before him, with Shalla pointing out his natural instinct to befriend Mari San Tekka, the hyperspace savant, so he could use her later, while we get the creepiest way of showing his honed mindset in what’s the second most fascinating aspect of the issue for me. There are only two panels from Ro’s POV, but if it’s how he see the galaxy and those around him, it’s haunting: when he looks at Mari San Tekka and later Shalla and Asgar, the his vision is red and instead of faces, smiling or otherwise, he only sees skeletons, as if those around him are already dead to him. It’s a fascinating insight into Marchion, further confirming how little he cares about simple things or base desires, though he’ll go out of his way to make it seem like it matters as we saw in an interesting, though out-of-left-field twist seen in The Fallen Star. Knowing this is how he sees others goes back to all the truths on trust the Evereni have learned, that the only one to trust is himself, so why put any investment in others? Seeing people as skeletons, already dead, goes a long way to ensure they’ll never distort you from your purpose; it’s a chilling POV but totally natural given everything he’s meant to do and it’ll forever change the way I read or consider scenes featuring Marchion in the future.
During Scene 2, Asgar believes it’s time to begin using the Nihil as Shalla and her own mother intended, but Shalla’s still reticent, believing the time isn’t right yet considering the might of the Jedi. Asgar doesn’t care, and likely sees the world much like his son, killing his mother, though it’s unclear if he, Shalla, or any of the Ro’s know yet about the Leveler and its ilk, the creatures that have turned Jedi to dust, which would’ve helped prompt Asgar’s desire to start their grand vision against the Republic and Jedi. Knowing the Nihil as is don’t trust/like him, Tempest Runners like Kassav and Pan Eyta already in power, he decides a demonstration is in order to gain their trust and get them ready for the next step of the Evereni’s grand plan: send as many storms as they want into space and kill Marchion, alone in a single fighter. It sounds easy to the Runners, but this is when Asgar reveals Mari’s Paths, the special hyperspace coordinates/jumps only she can make, as Marchion lays waste to the other fighters thanks to her impressive hyperspace capabilities. Marchion continues to kill the Nihil despite Asgar telling him to stand down, and it’s only when he threatens to have him killed Marchion relents, both of their actions highlighting how the Nihil are only a means to an end for them. That Ro and his family want them to do as they please, just taking their spoils, is quite “The Lie” indeed.
The final Scene, “The Kill” is the shortest, covering a moment originally in the audiobook original Tempest Runner: Asgar’s death and Marchion taking over as the Eye of the Storm. In the audiobook we learn it’s Lourna Dee who kills Asgar, but Marchion delivers the final blow, and while the Runners thought Marchion would be easier to deal with, it doesn’t take long for them to see it might be a mistake, Marchion donning his father’s helmet and telling them he has a plan. It’s a little more brutal and Marchion’s words more final in Tempest Runner, but the final image of the comic, of the Jedi lost in a miasma of red, sends a similar message. Will we finally see/learn how these Ro of the Evereni gained access to the Leveler and other Nameless like it in the next issue? We’ll find out in February, but for now know that Soule has teased issue #2 is about the future.
Besides The High Republic comic letterer Ariana Maher, the art team for Eye of the Storm is new to me: Guillermo Sanna on art with Jim Campbell on colors. Everything in Sanna’s art feels chaotic yet purposeful, almost like the Evereni themselves, and I especially appreciated the styling in “The Truth” section, as Everon breathed like a tempest world, its swirling storms and gigantic lightning, and that sensibility carries on to much of the art from then on. When Marchion tears into the Nihil with the Battle Paths on his side, the green swirl of the Paths reminds me a lot of the storms of Everon, while the final image of the Jedi, though red, had its own artistic similarities. As I mentioned earlier, the unsettling POV panels for Marchion, the red by Campbell reminding me a Terminator’s POV, while the skeleton-like appearances only make Marchion’s impassive face all the more imposing. Soule once said the face we saw in The High Republic Adventures #5, the first time Marchion was unmasked, was not by accident, as if he purposefully looked chiseled and hunky as many thirsters seem to think, and his comment makes more sense now, as his face is always a performance, his POV the only truth we’ll ever outwardly get from him. I also liked how the art was able to convey, in a panel or less, the truths the Evereni did and did not learn to trust, with the one about trusting themselves the most memorable, the lone Evereni, their new friends dead from the poisoned wine on the ground around them, their face blank yet purposeful, much like how we see Marchion’s in the next scene only a few panels later. Maher’s dynamic SFX ensure that chaotic feeling remains, the sudden THUD for Shalla’s death or the explosions in the Nihil v Marchion battle, while the narration heavy opening almost seemed easy for her to plot out, ensuring the Evereni’s story was easy to follow visually and making the narration not feel heavy-handed or all encompassing.
Here are a few other things:
- It’s now very clear to see where the Nihil’s storm-related branding comes from: the Evereni’s past, words and phrases like tempest and great storm being so vital to their story.
- There was a recent article from Inverse that further explores the rightful backlash (join us with the BlackoutStarWarsEclipse hashtag!) to the High Republic-set video game, Star Wars Eclipse.
The High Republic – Eye of the Storm #1 is wholly unique experience, full of a intriguing dive into the history of the Evereni, Marchion Ro, and how it all has lead to this moment for the Ro family.
+ The Evereni’s story…
+ …and how it informs everything we know about Marchion Ro already
+ Chaotic, but purposeful art feels like it was done by the Evereni
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.