– Spoiler Review –
The High Republic – The Edge of Balance: Premonition might seem like a side-story from the main events of the manga series, but like Precedent before it, Daniel José Older steers this Yoda-centric tale into an engaging and important entry, while Haining delivers exceptional artwork which accentuates the story’s many strengths, making this a can’t-miss!
Picking up from a moment towards the end of The Edge of Balance Vol. 3, Premonition finds Yoda fulfilling his promise to Lily Tora-Asi, dropping off the younglings Nima and Viv’nia to a Banchiian village to be protected from the Nihil attack, but sensing a disturbance in the Force, he leaves the planet to track it down. Finding a stranded space station being the source of the disturbance, Yoda’s investigation turns up children displaced from their mother, yet the true dangers on board don’t take long to reveal themselves, escalating the situation into a direction I wasn’t expecting but totally intrigued and thrilled by! Precedent, as I mentioned before, was an off-shoot of The Edge of Balance story which has some surprising connections to the larger story, some we didn’t learn about until Phase III, like when Azlin Rell made his return, and Premonition ends up feeling much the same, bringing in a fascinating new concept I wished we got to see more of and some revelations about the Nameless that we’ve come to understand in other works but we see first-hand here. On writer Daniel José Older’s story alone, as well as being one of the few High Republic stories to feature Yoda, Premonition is worth the price of admission, but Haining’s illustrations are all sorts of frightening and mesmerizing to the point you won’t want to miss out!
We’ll start by unpacking the story, which Premonition and TEoB Vol. 4 both take place prior to Into the Light, and I see no better place to kick this off than to discuss Yoda himself. Look, I get some of his choices, like hiding the Nameless from Dalna’s Night of Sorrows history books, aren’t the best and I can understand why fans have turned against him, but the little green dude has lived a long life and his time in the High Republic so far hasn’t made me feel more one way or another. Premonition pushed the needle just a strand of his very fine hair towards ‘love’ for me, as he’s put through the absolute ringer at times but his efforts, even as the Great Leveler stalks him and feeds on his fear and connection to the Force, and results prove why he’s long been a Jedi Master many generations have looked up to and wanted to learn from. Throughout the story, Yoda makes the choice to put his life on the line to save others several times, including even the antagonistic aspects of the story, and it’s so interesting to see how natural this decision is to him, as while other Jedi we follow in this era have had to work their way up to it or finally understand in their final moments, for Yoda it’s second nature. He’s also shown how he is willing to learn, as even he might forget the meaning of a lesson or himself become too arrogant in his abilities, and his slow but gradual understanding of Burryaga’s methods to show empathy to the Nameless bring us to a surprising and exciting moment, one which points us towards the ultimate goal of bringing this conflict to an end. You can teach an ol’ Jedi Master new tricks! I also really liked the interactions between Yoda and Marchion Ro, who is watching and taunting from a distance, and it made me wish we had more of this Marchion, gloating and spreading his arrogance, as he’s been a somewhat more remove presence throughout the era, especially big chunks of Phase III. I’ll be curious if Premonition will change fans’ feelings on Yoda or not, as they’ll get to see him take several big hits, so there’s joy to be found for those who don’t necessarily like him, and then watch him prove why he’s such a Master in the first place.
One of the most intriguing aspects to Premonition to me was the Brezark, a Quarren Nihil in charge of the ‘abandoned’ station, and his too short time made me wish we’d seen him in other stories or got more like his throughout the era. Brezark is Force-sensitive but never was picked up by the Order, and having lived in the Outer Rim, became a mercenary and animal-trapper, eventually catching the attention of the Eye of the Storm himself, coming to work for the Nihil. Despite his sensitivity, Marchion has him working alongside not just any Nameless, but the Great Leveler itself, setting a situation to lure a Jedi to the station and kill them. Brezark might not be as strong in the Force as Yoda or a trained Jedi, but he’s affected by the creature as well, his torment part of what brought Yoda to the station in the first place. He’s ruthless, dangling innocents in front of Yoda to force the Jedi Master to sacrifice himself, and the friction with Marchion, due to his Force-sensitivity, makes him eager to please the Eye, and the effects of the Nameless put him on edge and skittish as well. What was it like growing up Force-sensitivity, diving into a life of crime, and what could compel him to join the Nihil, a group notorious for killing Jedi with crazy creatures? How many others out there are like Brezark? And how has Marchion treated him or those like him, trying to join, in the past as well? There’s a rich potential for more stories like Brezark’s, and while his ends before we really get to know him here, he leaves me wishing there had been more like him along the way. It reminds me a lot of the “Mother” of the Path of the Open Hand from Phase II, who’s connection to a Jedi was revealed far too late and made what we got feel like a missed opportunity, because as Phase III is practically over, there’s not much hope for more interesting situations like Brezark’s to make it to the page.
The art in The Edge of Balance manga series has always been stellar and unique and Haining’s work for Premonition is more of the same, if not at times on a different level. With Yoda alone, which is no small task to keep drawing the little hermit panel after panel at a consistent manner, I liked the softer face she gives him, making him seem a little younger given he’s around 700 or so now, yet keeps a determined, emotionless expression on him at most times, like he would as the Master he is. It makes the first time the Nameless effect hits him all the more effective, as he looks aged, his skin bumpy and wrinklier, and his eyes, blacked out, dripping, with narrow pupils, aid his expressive shock, while parts of his face and hands melt away. There’s some great usage of shadows to depict him as well, like when he’s starring down the Great Leveler, goading it into his trap, the shadow of his head takes up more than half of the page, making him appear larger than the big creature coming his way, or even a few pages before, the light casts a longer shadow on the wall next to him, revealing the might within the small Jedi. The manga art in previous entries has often produced nightmare-level images that have haunted me at night, but Haining’s is quite possibly the most frightening yet, as I can confirm I had a nightmares a few nights in a row after reading this. Her work with the Nameless effect on people is not just horrifying, with goopy and vicious tendrils taking over pages or the way she makes characters melt, but it’s often trippy, each panel depicting them in a new and more bizarre way, especially in the standoff scene with Brezark, as he sees it with a sarlacc-like toothy mouth around a being wearing armor, wielding a chain, and made out of smokey-blackness, while Yoda sees an impossible creature made out of limbs of various species, its contorted posture and melting skin something you can almost hear. Much like a consistent Yoda allows his fear-filled moments to really strike the reader, the constant weird images make the one when Yoda connects with the Great Leveler startling, as if one is reading a story in a whole other genre, hinting at the true future of the story as we head into the final months.
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Here are a few other things:
- Love coffee? Chai? A really good café/coffee shop? And want some fun Star Wars themed coffee goodness for the month of May?! Well, if you happen to be in the greater Chicago area, make your way to Folklore Coffee in Lemont, IL, as one of our best friends owns Folklore and we collaborated on a special Star Wars menu for May!!! The Froth is strong with these specials!!
- Premonition came out April 8 but it’s been a busy month so I only recently got to reading it and obviously reviewing it. The Edge of Balance Vol. 4, the final manga entry of Phase III, came out April 22, yet I got to reading it much sooner so expect a review early May!
- But what’s still in store in the final few months of the era? Here’s some upcoming releases: May 6, 2025: A Valiant Vow; May 13, 2025: Tempest Breaker (script book); May 21, 2025: The High Republic Adventures #18 – Phase III; The High Republic – Fear of the Jedi #4. June 4, 2025: The High Republic – Fear of the Jedi #5. Keep up to date with our release schedule on our High Republic page!
The High Republic – The Edge of Balance: Premonition is a win for Yoda, I’m sorry to say for some fans, and makes for an enjoyable little story with big ideas.
+ Yoda proving why he’s been a Jedi Master for so long (besides his age!)
+ Potential of Brezark…
+ Haining’s art catches you off-guard in the best way possible
– …yet it’s a reminder we won’t see such potential
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him and the website on Bluesky.