– Spoiler Review –
In The High Republic #4 – Phase II, the stakes take a hair-raising turn for Vildar and Matty as the Path of the Open Hand stirs the boiling tensions to a frenzy on Jedha, ending on another cliffhanger I can’t wait to see Cavan Scott and team pull us through next!
In the aftermath of the explosion in the Guardians of the Whills’ Temple of the Kyber, Tey Sirrek finds himself arrested and Vilar Mac recovering from his wounds, but he seems to have gone through a change. Since we’ve met Vildar in issue #1, and most recently when he turned around and noticed Tey holding the bomb, he’s been quick to assume about everything, but he must’ve hit is head or something because now he’s talking sense. Everyone seems set to believe Tey was to blame for the bomb, but now Vildar’s not willing to give into his assumptions, even going so far as to admit his previous errors and defend Tey against the Convocation. Matty’s been a little more understanding when it comes to Tey, maybe since they both often find themselves not listened to by others, and she joins Vildar in the accused’s defense. The Convocation seems content to let the Guardians handle the investigation, even with their biases towards Tey, all in the name of keeping things quiet and not trying to spread panic, going so far to call the explosion a gas leak essentially so that the Festival of Balance can continue unhindered. Vildar and Matty are dismissed, talking finally with Matty’s Master Leebon (yay, another alien Jedi!), revealing the need to seem impartial to keep the tenuous peace and balance, as they are just one sect of the Force among many on Jedha so they can’t help the Guardians’ investigation unless asked. While Vildar might finally understand his initial impression could be a hinderance to how he’s been operating, if there’s one thing I don’t think changed after his brush with another death, it’s his desire to charge headfirst into a problem and worry about the consequences later, but he might not get the chance to interfere in Tey’s defense…
As they are leaving the meeting, in walks Werth Plouth, the Herald of Force cult the Path of the Open Hand, which has been pestering the Jedi and their ways since the opening novel of Phase II, Path of Deceit. The Herald is here to make a case for disbanding the Convocation, claiming they all abuse the Force in their own ways, since the Path believes the Force must be free and using it leads to butterfly effects across the galaxy. But like any good religious sect who believes themselves superior and is using their faith to grasp for power, the Herald makes his arguments against everyone’s usage of the Force but won’t hear or listen to any reasonable response. Even when Representative Kilan T’Dara from the Church of the Force offers to wait for them to provide proof of their claims on how the Force works, considering there’s a millennia of evidence that’s not how the Force works, the Herald claims it’ll be dismissed out of hand. It exposes his bad faith arguments, but he takes it a step further when he leaves the building and begins to address a growing crowd outside the Convocation, stirring them up in a frenzy by manipulating the truth to best serve his side and his arguments, while attempts to silence him are only fuel for the fire, false calls of persecution helping carry the scene out of control (and giving this US resident some uncomfortable reminders of the Republican mindset and actions). If you’ve listened to The Battle of Jedha audiobook already, then you’ve actually heard this speech, though where it lacked some context, this issue adds what’s needed to help fill out the scene more, like the meeting the Herald has with the Convocation and that Yana Ro (conspicuously not named this issue) is with him, stilling carrying the Rod of Seasons (she’s only mentioned in the audiobook). The context isn’t needed to enjoy the audiobook version of the speech and its resulting aftermath, but it does make it better overall, and knowing more details thanks to just art alone here makes me like this version of the scene better than the one in the audiobook.
Hauled into the prisons within the Temple of Kyber, Tey at least gets to hear Vildar begin to question his assumptions before one of the Guardians finds his earpiece and destroys it. After that, he’s stuck talking to himself, believing no one will ever listen to him and his fate is already sealed. It’s sad to see him so down on his luck about his situation, so hopefully Vildar and Matty can help him out. Like I said earlier though, they might not have a lot of luck, as the Herald isn’t alone when he visits the Convocation and begins to whip up the crowd. Alongside him is both the hyperspace prospector Sunshine Dobbs and more importantly, though not named at all in the issue, Yana Ro, who holds onto the all-important Rod of Seasons. Why is it important? It lets her control the creature lurking at the outskirts of the crowd: the Great Leveler!!!!! That’s right, the Nameless are here to cause trouble and Yana summons it as the situation gets worse, Vildar, Matty, Jedi Knight Oliviah Zeveron,* and Sorcerers of Tund representative Tarna Miak out in the crowd trying to quell the unrest. We’ve seen how it effects Jedi before and it seems to effect Tarna about the same, turning the faces of those around him into monstrous visions, causing him to send out an explosive shockwave that ends the issue!! Talk about a cliffhanger!
Much like Oliviah and the Convocation jumping into the main story after appearing in the opening issue’s backup story, so too does artist Andrea Broccardo, taking over for Ario Anindito for the moment, while colorist Frank William and letterer Ariana Maher remain. It was nice to have Broccardo’s art already rendering some of these characters, as while his style isn’t anything drastically different compared to Anindito’s, rather it’s complimentary, it made the transition to a different artist that much easier. I really liked his work on the Herald, taking what we know of a smiling Nautolan like Kit Fisto and turning it into a sneering, teeth-heavy look, making him menacing on his facial expressions alone, so when he does actually smile, you knows it’s nothing good. William’s colors deepen the shadows of his sneering face, providing more darkness to his menacing demeanor. Broccardo’s rendition of the Great Leveler, the spiky back and Cthulhu-like tentacled face is chilling, especially with how William gives it an inky black look, splotches of a light blue to help define its boney body, heightening the creepy experience of seeing one at the outskirts of the crowd, ready to cause chaos. The best panel had to be the big scary one in Tarna’s POV, the citizens around him turning into monstruous, growing long, slithery tongues, giant sharp teeth, and menacing red soul-less eyes, where Maher’s word bubble of Tarna calling them monsters hangs at the bottom in bold, allowing Broccardo and William’s work to shine in displaying what Tarna might be seeing in the Nameless-effected state. Maher’s SFX are always wonderfully dynamic but the one for the Great Leveler is eerie and unnerving, matching the close-up on its spooky face, as it has all sorts of little scratchy, sharp edges, while the one for Vildar igniting his lightsaber is hectic and rising, almost as if it’s sharp and quick to ignite, fanning the flames of the slowly rioting crowd.
Here are a few other things:
- While I appreciated the crossover with the audiobook, considering The Battle of Jedha literally consumes the Holy City where Vildar and Mac’s story takes place, it still feels a bit too disconnected for my liking. Particularly, the fact the Convocation doesn’t mention the peace treaty talks between Eiram and E’ronoh being hosted at the city is a big surprise, as it would make sense to include it here since covering up this explosion also helps dispel the growing tensions there from the initial explosion at the summit. The fact this series hasn’t even acknowledged the peace treaty signing is happening in the city, when it seems like a big deal for the city in the audiobook, feels off compared to the usual connectivity this era and its writers display. Maybe that’ll change in the coming issues, but regardless, the audiobook never once made a reference to Vildar and Matty, with interactions at the Enlightenment bar in it almost making it seem like Kradon hadn’t met any other Jedi recently, so it’s just been a bit strange how this has been handled all around. In the end, it doesn’t affect enjoyment of either story, mind you, but reading it all makes it hard to ignore the way these aren’t overlapping.
- *In case you didn’t know, Oliviah Zeveron shares the same last name as the Path of the Open Hand’s leader, the Mother aka Elecia Zeveron. I’ve been assuming Elecia was her mother since we first learned the information, though you can bet their potential relation will be important in the story going forward, especially since Phase II wraps up in a few months.
The High Republic #4 – Phase II whips the story up into a frenzy much like the Herald does, leaving us on another nail-biting cliffhanger.
+ Stakes skyrocket
+ Vildar coming to terms with his problems
+ Creepy good art as the Nameless arrive!
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.
THE HIGH REPUBLIC – PHASE II REVIEWS
Balance of the Force: #1 | #2 | #3