– Spoiler Review –
Is Lourna Dee dead? Did Sskeer really betray his former apprentice and her Jedi friends? What is Baron Boolan doing to him if he did? All the lingering threads come to a head in issue #10, The High Republic – Phase III’s finale, a packed, exciting entry which comes with a feeling of too little, too late even despite the promise of more.
I’m going to revisit this point during in the review, as we must discuss what happened in the issue to really get to bottom of it, but The High Republic #10 – Phase III reads more like the ending of an arc than the ending of the series…for now. I was worried this would be the case once we got confirmation issue #10 was going to be the end and especially after reading issue #9, and while we have more clarity on what comes next, as the issue points readers to Tempest Breaker to continue the story, which is then followed by series’ return in The High Republic – Fear of the Jedi in 2025 (as announced at SDCC ’24), the realities of how these stories will reach fans hobble this issue’s impact. Tempest Breaker’s script book won’t come out until May 2025 currently, which is a full 5 months after the audio’s release (Tempest Runner’s script book took 8 months) and 3 months after the start of Fear of the Jedi aka at least 4 issues could be published by then! For fans with hearing impairments or neurological disorders, this has been a known problem with the audio original releases for years now, something they tried to amend a little in Phase II by making The Battle of Jedha’s script book release only a month later. Why that’s changed for Breaker is a mystery, but it wouldn’t be that big of a deal if the sequel comic wouldn’t be 3-4 issues into its story by the time it releases. This leaves fans who have to wait for the script book limited options other fans won’t have to worry about: relying on the comic to have enough context to let them not feel left out until they catch up or simply waiting for the script book before they read the comic, with the hopes they can avoid spoilers until then. This isn’t Cavan Scott’s fault, not in the least since for starters he doesn’t control publishing schedules, but it would’ve helped if this series felt more complete with its character arcs instead of just its plot, as much of what transpires here comes too late and doesn’t offer enough of a conclusion for this to feel whole on its own, which makes the publishing schedule for the next releases the big Nameless in the room. It was still an enjoyable issue with some great character reveals, so let’s uncover those but we’ll also go over how they don’t hit as satisfyingly as they could’ve.
Thanks to the tracker placed by someone aboard Baron Boolan’s stormship, Keeve Trennis, Ceret, ObraLin, and Tey Sirrek locate the Nihil Minister’s secret asteroid base and pair off in teams to scour it for Sskeer and Lourna. Ceret and Tey, who is looking after the young Yacombe girl as well, make the first discovery: Lourna Dee is alive and well and she’s joined by…TEREC!! As I was suspecting in my review of the previous issue, despite writer Cavan Scott’s reputation, the Kotabi twins’ far too frequent brushes with death made it likely Terec didn’t die, especially since this series was hinting at an interesting story developing between the once inseparable twins. Terec and Ceret have been at odds since this series began, as their recovery from the Nameless attacks has changed them both, and it’s here we learn Terec was able to shield Ceret from their pain in the explosion by cutting off their connection, something they’ve been trying since they’ve wanted it for some time now. This is such an interesting, ripe storyline to plumb, and I’m sure we might get it in Tempest Breaker, or even Fear of the Jedi, but as it comes off here, while nice to have a confirmation on what’s been driving them apart, it lacks any apparent motivation since the twins have largely been in the background with their growing separation. Is it because of their run-in with the Nameless and the recovery process? Did it start from even before that? We don’t learn those answers here, so while it’s an interesting revelation, a little more detail or time with the characters could’ve helped this feel more like one part of the larger story, a complete part by itself, and better set up what’s next, whereas now it just feels like the springboard for something more important.
As I mentioned earlier, Ceret and Tey also find Lourna, alive and well, helping Terec and trying to break out a remaining Child of the Storm. She’s the one who placed the beacon for them to follow and her happy embrace with the young Yacombe child shows how much she’s changed over the course of the series. It feels truncated due to the issue count, of course, but of the arcs in this series, hers feels the most complete within these 10 issues, as while there is still room for her to grow and repercussions she’ll face for her choices, had this been the last bit with Lourna until 2025’s Fear of the Jedi comic, I’d have been happy to wait and see more. With her having a leading role in Tempest Breaker and the upcoming comic, there’s plenty of story left for her to grow in, though of course I feel for the fans who will have to wait to see where she goes next.
As the Nameless effect strengthens, Keeve and ObraLin realize they are getting closer to Boolan and therefore Sskeer, and while we still don’t know exactly how Keeve’s fighting their effect, she manages to deal with it enough to find her former Master willfully being experimented on by Boolan! I’d had my suspicions Ssker might’ve gone with Boolan willingly, as Lourna couldn’t be persuaded but the broken psyche of Sskeer might, though why he did so last issue remained elusive to me. Turns out, Boolan promised he could fix Sskeer of the Magrak syndrome, giving him access to the Force again, though what Boolan got in return is still a mystery by the end of this issue. It’s an interesting bargain and, given Sskeer’s descent into madness and inability to retain himself due to his disease, causing him to hurt fellow Jedi even, it makes sense he would want to be cured of it, and him making such a selfish, non-Jedi choice fits with his current state. He chooses to save Keeve over being cured in the end, turning Boolan’s gadgets against him to control the Nameless, but the whole situation regarding his desire to be fixed and choosing against it feels like something to be revisited in the coming stories. Why he felt he needs the Force again and how he justified access to the Force was worth sacrificing his Jedi principals over isn’t explored, nor is choosing Keeve over himself putting him on a better path, so much like Terec’s story of the desire for self-identity, Sskeer’s story of his thirst to be whole ends up surface deep, like the plot got us here more than the character himself. There of course will be more to come with Sskeer in the two upcoming releases, but this is more of a springboard moment, as we’re just getting into the good stuff with Sskeer, hearing from him and learning what he wants, and now, depending on what fans can enjoy, it might be a while before they get to see where Sskeer goes from here.
As for Keeve, despite her being able to function around the Nameless, she’s still affected by them, as the woman who frequently saves her enemies is more than eager to take down Boolan if it means saving Sskeer. Despite his desire to be free of his disease, Sskeer tries to stop her as he knows how she feels under the Nameless’ effects and he doesn’t want her to lose herself and her principals like he did. Her perilous situation with a Nameless creature helps him and she sort of returns to herself by the end, eager to get back to the Republic, and the Order, and help Sskeer and bring her team of misfits with her…as well as the captured Baron Boolan! Keeve’s arc also doesn’t feel complete her, as we see her continuously choose to be a Jedi Master, despite her slip here, and come out a little more confident than she was at the start. It’s everything I’d hope to see from Keeve as a Master, but as I mentioned in my previous review, Keeve feels more like Avar Kriss did in the Phase I series, as while we started with narration boxes for her, they’ve gone away and now I’m eager for something to explore Keeve’s inner monologue to understand more of her choices and how this is all affecting her, as it’s not totally clear by the end of this series.
Closing out the series on art is Jim Towe, joined by the usual Jim Campbell on colors and Ariana Maher for lettering. The sequence when Sskeer snaps out of his restraints, grabs a Nameless by the tail, and swings it like a little kitten was a real delight, it starts off with a little sound FX from Maher of Sskeer snapping his chains, Towe adding a little distorted movement effect to the hand to give it a sense of speed and power, and ends with Campbell switching the background color from a blue to a yellow with orange tailed flame look in the next panel. In it, we see Sskeer reaching out, his words so matter of fact from Maher, no shouting despite the action colors in the background, his hand outstretched towards the reader and in its grasp, the Nameless’ tail! The biggest panel on the page is a full shot of the aftermath, Sskeer tossing the creature into a wall, which seems like it’s hanging weightless in the air from the Force of Sskeer’s throw, it’s impact with the wall causing sparks and a crunchy SFX to go with it. The close-up of Boolan at the bottom of the page conveys a lot of his anger over what’s Sskeer’s done, especially the one under the magnifying glass, while the spark on his head piece makes his anger electric, even though his words are coming from a vocal box. It’s a small but cute moment, but the three panels of the Yacombe girl running towards Lourna, embracing her, and the former Nihil Tempest Runner embracing her back are pretty touching and, like I said earlier, do a great job of showing her growth. The panel when the young girl (really hope we get a name the next time she appears in a story!) embraces Lourna, she’s got nothing but surprise for the moment, momentarily unsure what to do, but the way she gets down and properly embraces her back in the next panel, a nice spotlight on the two, is such a huge difference from her menacing returning at the beginning of the series, you’d not be crazy to ask if they were still the same person.
Here are a few other things:
- In September, Scott will bring Kelnacca from The Acolyte onto the page in a special one-shot…and then in 2025 the Wookiee Jedi Master will join the Fear of the Jedi series!
- It’s a packed High Republic month! Also out today (8/7) is The High Republic Adventures #8 – Phase III from Dark Horse; 8/13 brings us The Edge of Balance Vol. 3 manga; Young Jedi Adventures season two drops 8/14; currently The High Republic Adventures #9 – Phase III is slated for 8/21; while lastly The High Republic: Beware the Nameless middle grade novel is out 8/27!
The High Republic #10 – Phase III is an exciting issue, with plenty of interesting moments for our characters setting up what comes next, but the eye on the future robs this of its full potential impact.
+ Sskeer’s ultimate decision and Terec’s wants
+ Loved seeing Nameless ordered/thrown around by Jedi
– Characters didn’t get the time they deserve to make these moments hit more
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Bluesky, Twitter @MynockManor, and Instagram @mynockmanor.
THE HIGH REPUBLIC – PHASE III REVIEWS
Children of the Storm: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 — The Hunted: #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9