– Spoiler Review –
Chaos spreads across the streets of Jedha as Force users are mysteriously affected by some unseen menace, making for a somewhat chaotic but still entertaining The High Republic #5 – Phase II.
Vildar’s second brush with death at the end of issue #3 has definitely help him change from his over-assumptive ways, as out of all the people affected by the unseen (literally this issue) Leveler, he manages to help calm Sorcerers of Tund representative Tarna, despite the terrifying version he has of the Tund who decimated his village when he was young. It’s quite the step up, Vildar helping to spread calm, to not immediately react to the first thing people see, and think things through, and I hope he can keep this up for the remainder of the series. Or will his next near-death experience set him back, as an explosion rocks the Path of the Open Hand compound Matty and Vildar find themselves outside of next, their part of the issue ending with Matty unsure of Vildar’s location in the resulting destruction.
Jedi Knight Oliviah Zeveron, along with her Master Leebon, are also caught in the initial fracas following the Herald’s inciting speech and the Leveler’s compounding of the problem, though Oliviah is quick to sense there’s something or someone near by who did this to them. She sets off to chase this feeling down, which we see is the Mother, the leader of the Path of the Open Hand, walking calmly away from the scene. Oliviah doesn’t quite catch up with her, but the two lock eyes and Oliviah has a shocking flashback to being a youngling at what looks like a home, not the Jedi Temple. Are the two related? Why, yes they are! Revealed in the Mother’s Characters of The High Republic video, she’s named Elicia Zeveron…the same last name as Oliviah! My assumption has been Elicia is Oliviah’s mother, her title with the Path being an obvious one in plain sight, though there’s the possibility they are sisters (and the flashback doesn’t quite confirm either way). Regardless of their relation, the Jedi tearing Oliviah away from Elicia (or choosing to just take Elicia if they were sister) feels like proper motivation for all her actions so far, and the Path’s rhetoric of the Force must be free would fit well for her hatred of the Jedi for how they’ve wronged in the past. If you hadn’t watched the Mother’s video, this might be your first time interacting with the possibility these two are related, of which this flashback is just hint enough to peak anyone’s interest in where this connection will go.
In the end, the Mother disappears into the crowd after Oliviah is shocked by the memory, and she doesn’t have time to deal with it before Master Leebon hologram calls her to join her in protecting the Protector, the giant Jedi statue we first saw in Rogue One that’s fallen over already. How or why Leebon knows to be out of the city and by the statue, which is where we first met Oliviah as she meditated in issue #1’s backup story, remains a mystery, as the Jedi Master promises to fill Oliviah in but the situation gets out of hand and the charges bring the giant statue falling their way! I seriously need to know how Leebon knew to be out there, as it feels so random and so sudden for her to have been with the group and then calling Oliviah moments later to chat. It’s not the only part I was left a little confused on, as once again the lack of mention of the Battle of Jedha unfolding around them literally at the same time seems…so disconnected, story-wise. A bystander thinks the Path’s compound was hit by mortars, which might be our first hint of the larger battle sweeping across the Holy City, which is quite surprising given how The Battle of Jedha audiobook describes the battle, especially with the Eiram and E’ronoh ships hovering over the city or the battle droids and whatnot stomping through the city, it seems hard to believe no one around them is aware of the peace talks and them crumbling. In fact, the statue falls down towards the end of the battle, when both sides converge on the main square against the Jedi and Guardians of the Whills trying to hold the line, so clearly the battle should be in full swing now if the statue goes down this issue.
Speaking of the Guardians, they are protecting their temple from looters, not going out and helping the city, yet in the audiobook they are out fighting in the streets, losing a large number to protect the innocent citizens. Are we just seeing the group which decides to stay and not fight? Tey’s little droid Skoot uses the Guardians’ distraction by the Temple invaders to free Tey, who is eager to escape and put this all behind him. But Tey is a good being, deciding against his best instincts to help the Guardians with the invaders, who happen to be looking for a “rod.” The Nameless are controlled by the mysterious rods, one of which Yana Ro has in her possession at the moment, so are they paying these invaders to take another one so the Path has total control over the beasts? Either way, it was great to see Tey prove his captors wrong and I hope it’ll be enough for them to see how they’ve made an unfair judgment against him.
On art again is Andrea Broccardo, with Frank William as colorist and Ariana Maher on lettering, delivering some beautiful art for all the chaos in the issue. In particular, I liked the panel from Vildar’s point-of-view, as there’s the creepy Sorcerer who destroyed Vildar’s village in the top of panel, as if that’s the original dominating thing he saw when looking at Tarna again (like he did in issue #1), but flames leak from his eyes, drawing us down to Tarna in middle of the frame, where the flame visually cuts him in half. Vildar is waking up to the truth of what he’s seeing, no longer an overwhelming version of the old Sorcerer, but just one who takes up some of his thoughts, the fear not as strong now, as one half of Tarna looks like the representative we know and the other like the deadly one from Vildar’s past. The ghastly flames swirl out from his explosive reaction to the “monsters” around him, innocent citizens thrown everywhere, while Vildar’s concerns he’ll kill everyone like before hang at the edges, like letterer Maher is both letting the art take focus but trying to tell us how less convicted Vildar is of his fear this time. William’s colors, the yellow and oranges or the explosives fire from Tarna are bright and overwhelming, like the power of his fear is being to those around him, while the subtle differences in the split image, from the darker robes or the creepy red eye of the older sorcerer, do a lot to quickly identify this is two different versions being presented to us. I really liked how Suralee’s vines permeate the panels for awhile, slithering at the edges or locking down characters, while the dense crowds aided the feeling of chaos. Tey’s face as he decides to stop running, to help out the Guardians despite how they’ve treated him, almost ashamed at himself at first, but his usual air of confidence comes back over him, a puff of arrogance escaping his mouth like he’s now the reluctant hero, which I guess he really is, considering he didn’t have to help, didn’t have to save them. Maher’s SFX marks his heroic leap into the scene, his funny dialogue pulling our attention down to Archivist Oranalli’s surprise it’s Tey coming in for the rescue.
Here are a few other things:
- Cavan Scott’s writing for both Phase I and Phase II of The High Republic comic led to him claiming two of the Top 5 Moments spots in my 2022 Star Wars Comics Year-in-Review!
- Oliviah stars a little more heavily, and her past hinted at, this issue, so it’s only fitting she’s the star of this issue’s Black History Month variant cover, which I included above! Next issue will have Matty on the cover for the Women’s History Month variants.
- There are still two issues of The High Republic – Phase II to hit comic shelves next, but always check our High Republic page and the release schedule to see when the next entry is coming out (I do my best to have it updated as soon as I hear of any delays). If there aren’t many delays, the series, and most of Phase II, should wrap up May/June, giving us a 6/5 month break before Phase III begins!
The High Republic #5 – Phase II is a little too chaotic for its own good, but it maneuvers all the pieces where they need to be for the final half of the 10-issue run.
+ Oliviah’s flashback
+ Vildar really improving
+ Art even helps show his improvement
– Chaos and lack of cohesiveness is showing
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 | #4