– Spoiler Review –
As the Nihil blockade Eriadu, the ruling families struggle to make a choice, though it all seems to rest on the unlikely shoulders of Sevran Tarkin, a friend to the Jedi. In The High Republic Adventures #10 – Phase III, Tarkin family squabbles take center stage with a rather surprising result!
As we slowly learned one of the prisoners with Farzala Tarabal was a member of the Tarkin family, Sevran Tarkin, we’ve also started meeting other members of the family line: First it was Sevran’s kindly old grandmother, Lady Krevlin, who bonded with the sweet little youngling Zint; then in a bit of politicking, we met Sevran’s uncle, Tragkul, who wasn’t fully on board with the Nihil presence but wasn’t helping matters with his fear-mongering; and lastly Sevran’s twin brother, Navaj, seemingly a renegade who didn’t have much connection with the family at large. Lady Krevlin and Navaj came to Farzala’s aide to help him step up and speak with Eriadu’s ruling council about the Jedi’s presence and what it would mean to ally with the Nihil. It’s been an intriguing slow-burn getting to know the family and surprising, yet delightful to see them bucking the usual trend of Tarkins we know and being friendly to the Jedi/not eager to have the Nihil in their lives. In The High Republic Adventures #10 – Phase III has Tragkul, who already expressed issue with the Republic’s performance since the Hyperspace Disaster but wasn’t totally thrilled with the proposals put forth by the Nihil’s emissary, the Warden, still on the fence over what to do. Val, a member of a different ruling family, points out fighting the Nihil will be disastrous, and wants Tragkul to get his family to line up in support of the marauders so they can all live to fight another day. It’s not an ideal mindset to have, but understandable given the circumstances despite us being told not shown the city’s reactions/issues with the Nihil occupation, as updates from Lula Talisola, Zeen Mrala, Farzala, Qort, Crash Ongwa, Argomon, and even 5A-G3 make the prospect of holding out, fleeing, or fighting seem dire. In fact, Crash’s recent shipment of goods after the events of The High Republic Adventures: Crash and Burn can only go so far, so without a force to fight back or a place to take civilians, it’s not looking good for opposition to the Nihil. Will the Jedi be aligned with what the ruling families, including the Tarkins, end up deciding?
To move Eriadu along either way, Sevran’s promised to deal with her uncle’s stonewalling of her return to the family proper, which sees her engage in a time-honored family tradition: hunting veermoks on the treacherous Carrion Spike. This particular tradition was first introduced to fans 10 years ago in the novel Tarkin, where we saw Wilhuff Tarkin’s own participation in it, and it’s been a feature of Eriadu and Wilhuff-related stories ever since. But whereas Tragkul lays claim to killing one and Wilhuff actually does a century later, Sevran finds herself taking a different route: befriending one of the veermoks! Lady Krevlin has Zint fetch Sevran’s friends, Lula and Zeen, and they rush out to the Spike to see if they can help her, only to find a veermok carrying the wayward Tarkin! Sevran’s desire to befriend the veermok leads to Lula and Zeen pointing out it’s a very Jedi-like thing for her to do, only cementing in our mind and theirs she is a friend to them and the Jedi. As Navaj confronts Tragkul back in the city, fighting his decision to acquiesce to the Nihil, Sevran rides her new veermok friend in and levels her boastful uncle’s ego, revealing the truth of his claims and allowing her to rise to her rightful position, officially back in the family and in control! But the issue swerves in the most entertaining way, as once Sevran’s in control, she kindly thanks Lula and Zeen for their help…and then asks them to leave, as what comes next is Tarkin family business! Could she actually decide to side with the Nihil somehow? What do they all want? Were the Jedi wrong to trust a Tarkin and we’ll find she falls into the family stereotype? Everything seemed poised to make us think all was well with Sevran and the Tarkins, as the Jedi were befriending them, so I appreciate writer Daniel José Older pulling the rug out from under us and leaving us with a cliffhanger about their choice.
Returning on art is Toni Bruno, Michael Atiyeh on colors, and Jimmy Betancourt & Tyler Smith lettering. Bruno does a great job with expressions and even in Tragkul’s limited close-ups, he once again conveys the older Tarkin’s stubbornness, which makes his later capitulation when Sevran arrives even more satisfying, as his crumbling posture and submissive look are such a change of pace. Atiyeh’s colors also offer a story to the Tarkin situation, as Tragkul’s many initial scenes are him captured by a sunset, as if to say change is coming regardless of being on the fence, then when Navaj confronts him the sky is monochromatic blue, not one way or another, but when Sevran ascends and kicks out the Jedi, we see a normal sunny sky behind them, even with some clouds, showing a new day has risen on Eriadu. Smith & Betancourt also make sure this hits us as hard as it hits Lula and Zeen, as Sevran’s shout of “…Tarkin family business!” is a bold red, stretching the confines of the speech bubble, while Bruno has Sevran, Navaj, Krevlin, and the body guards arranged in a defensive pose, aligned almost, with the POV having us beneath them, adding weight to her shout and the sudden change of tone. The overall look of the veermoks allows Bruno to switch them easily from gentleness to fierceness, as we see them being peaceful before Sevran disturbs them and later the anger and protectiveness when she rushes in for a kill. Their design definitely reminded me of primates I’ve seen at zoos, especially with Atiyeh’s color choices, while it’s clear there’s strength in their broad shoulders and big muscles, but as we see one cradle Sevran like a baby, it’s not all for strength but for nurturing too.
Here are a few other things:
- Besides this release, the final High Republic story out in September is George Mann’s young adult novel Tears of the Nameless on 9/24 and then October has a number of THRA stories, including the conclusion of the Saber for Hire miniseries (finally!): October 9 (my birthday!) will have The High Republic Adventures – Dispatches from the Occlusion Zone #2, The High Republic Adventures – Echoes of Fear #2, AND The High Republic Adventures – Saber for Hire #4; 10/16 is The High Republic Adventures #11– Phase III , where Ram Jomaram and younglings from Older and Alyssa Wong’s Escape from Valo will make an appearance; while Star Wars Insider 228 is out 10/29 with another High Republic short story, from Alyssa Wong again, which might just follow-up on the shocking events in Crash and Burn…and/or just deal with Ruu, we’ll see! (look into Libby, at least here in the US, as a way to read those!).
- And don’t forget, the big wedding spectacular issue for Lula and Zeen is on its way in December!!!
The High Republic Adventures #10 – Phase III has fun with our expectations in the best way possible, leaving us with plenty of questions for what will come next!
+ Tarkin Family Business indeed!
+ Art team communicating the changes to allies
– Not seeing beyond the Tarkins and our Jedi regarding the Nihil’s occupation
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.
DISCLOSURE: I received a copy of this comic from the publisher at no charge in order to provide an early review. However, this did not affect the overall review content. All opinions are my own.
THE HIGH REPUBLIC ADVENTURES – PHASE III REVIEWS
Vol. 1: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 — Vol. 2: #6 | #7 | #8 | #9