– Spoiler Review –
With Eriadu on the edge of conflict but stuck in a holding pattern, The High Republic Adventures #11 – Phase III swerves over to the situation on Valo, following up on Daniel José Older and Alyssa Wong’s Escape from Valo.
While I’ve been excited to revisit Valo and the characters from Daniel José Older and Alyssa Wong’s The High Republic – Escape from Valo, it does seem to come at a strange time in the main The High Republic Adventures – Phase III storyline and makes the upcoming Wedding Spectacular potentially feel out of place as well, no matter how hyped I am for it. After initially heading to Valo, when the issue returns to Eriadu and the series’ main characters so far, there’s a bit of logistical jumping jacks which tries to make this new focus on Valo work for the series. The team of Qort, Lula Talisola, Zeen Mrala, and Farzala Tarabal are only willing to part with one Jedi to help Ram Jomaran rescue Padawan Gavi on Valo, though despite the big war on the wings in Eriadu preventing them from sparing more, there’s a lot of casual talk about the upcoming nuptials between Zeen and Lula. I am, as I said before, very hyped for the wedding, but at this point, without the full context of having read said issue (and the next two THRA issues out before 2024 ends), even if there’s such a big battle about to come, it seems somewhat disingenuous to not only spare more Jedi to help Valo but also so casually say something like, “Please come back quickly so you can see the wedding,” which makes the coming battle seem less pressing. I might be in the minority that this felt…off, for the lack of a better word, and at the end of the day this doesn’t ruin the fun of the issue, the upcoming wedding, or the series in any way, I just felt like it could’ve been handled better, maybe even having the Valo stuff be in one of the many offshoots of THRA than take over the spotlight, where Eriadu’s simmering tensions must now conveniently wait in the wings.
With my little TED Talk out of the way, Older’s script for The High Republic Adventures #11 – Phase III shines throughout with the return of Gavi, Ram, Zyle Keem, and several Phase II series stars, really helping to push aside my initial misgivings. It’s not totally clear where this takes place in regards to Beware the Nameless, the Phase III Wave II middle-grade novel where Ram was last seen, but I’m going to assume it’s afterwards, especially considering his opening chapter in the novel doesn’t discuss the events here and rather what happened directly after Escape from Valo. Ram is hanging out with Zyle Keem now, who we first met in Escape, and their crew of Drrn and Therm Scissorpunch, who were small parts of Sav Malagán’s pirate/Jedi/personal journey in THRA – Phase II, shuttling supplies and weapons across the Occlusion Zone. Ram overhears a broadcast from Gavi, who was left on Valo alongside Jedi Master Kunpar Vasivola and is using the same broadcast system Ram did to give himself and Valo’s population hope when he was trapped there, and the young Padawan’s message is layered with some not too subtle code he and Valo need help, as it seems the Nihil, including the Warden himself, are coming to the planet for reinforcements ahead of the potential battle to come on Eriadu. They’re only heading to Valo because of Gavi’s efforts to make it appear like it’s still occupied by the Nihil, a charade he’s kept up since the events of Escape. Since Zyle became friends with Gavi throughout the events of the novel, they are just as eager as Ram is to help, but the mechanical Jedi wants to pick up some friends for help first, diverting them to Eriadu. Ram is in for some big surprises, learning about Lula and Zeen’s wedding and the situation on Eriadu being volatile, and he’s told they can only spare one additional Jedi, which happens to be Farzala!
Due to Ram’s delay to Eriadu, Gavi finds himself face-to-face with the Warden before help arrives, but his ridiculous, blatantly obvious lie of a plan manages to convince the Warden he and his crew of fake Scarlet Skulls are all Nihil. His ingenious plan? Claiming they are the leaders of the resistance to the Nihil, which technically is true, but insisting they are all loyal Nihil soldiers who did it to keep tabs on the resistance, lulling the population into a false sense of security. The Warden is absolutely smitten by the idea and, well, it’s kind of hard not to be, as it’s rather tactically interesting and something the Nihil never would’ve thought of, while it leads to really funny interactions with Gavi and the Warden and really shows how far Gavi has come. Gavi’s call for help sort of backfires, as while everything seems to be going smoothly enough despite the lack of help, Ram and co’s arrival leads to the Warden seeing through the lies of the plan, as Gavi’s lieutenants join the fight Ram’s leading against the Nihil, which is in spite of everything he just told the Warden. As much as I’ve found the timing of this arc weird, I was invested by the end on the sheer audaciousness of Gavi’s ideas and my attachment to Valo from Escape and the returning characters, so I’m looking forward to seeing where Older wants to take this story. In the end, I’m most interested if we’ll see Gavi and Driggit interact before the arc is over, as Master Kunpar having to steady the young Gavi when he starts to think about his best friend again brings back the emotional complexities of their friendship which were a big part of Escape.
Bringing to life this newest arc is an artist brand-new to Star Wars, Caio Filipe, who is joined by series staples like Michael Atiyeh on colors and the lettering duo of Tyler Smith & Jimmy Betancourt. This being Filipe’s first issue, my initial reaction brings me back to when Toni Bruno joined the series after Harvey Tolibao’s work, as it was just so different at first it took a little to get used to. But given we’ve had more artists on the main series and the many miniseries associated with it, oftentimes with many familiar characters, I’ve grown more accustomed to new artists mid-series, and Filipe’s work was easy to get used to. In fact, out of all the artists who have had a crack at the Warden so far, Filipe’s might be my favorite, as he’s able to best give him a mix of a vampiric horror and self-important businessman, from the gnarly teeth and screaming shouts, to the haughty way he stands, as if he knows he’s offputting to others so he tries to project professionalism to seem like an equal, but he’s not afraid to use his scary visage to its full potential on underlings. The way Filipe makes the Warden’s face change to utter excitement and amusement when Gavi details his plans, a switch between a grumpy, suspicious look to wide-eye enthusiasm was a top moment of the issue, with Smith & Betancourt really playing up readers’ surprise with their big, bold choice with his word bubble’s excitement. The way he seems friendly afterwards to Gavi is a good contrast to how he was before, which makes the final page even more intimidating, as if the true horror of what the Warden is and can do seems to come out, as he’s basically all shadow-ed out, with his once kindly wide eyes now menacing lights in the darkness, his first clenching the communicator where he just heard the reality of the situation, while Gavi, with little sweat droplets, is doing his best to not react to anything he’s just heard as well. I also felt like Filipe’s ability to capture a range of emotions was impressive at times, especially when it was someone being taken aback by someone’s aggressive yelling at them, as well as the opposite end, the aggressive yelling itself and I think as this arc escalates into two more issues, there will be more opportunities for the art team to really shine.
Here are a few other things:
- I’ve added it to the release list below and to the release calendar on our High Republic page, and thankfully this wasn’t just surprise released like the last Audible Original, but we have a new High Republic Phase III audiobook on its way: Seeds of Starlight. It’ll star Tep Tep and Kildo, two other leads from Escape from Valo, alongside the new Jedi Cam Lindon, as they investigate the ruins of Starlight Beacon after people start going missing, which seems to suggest it’ll pick up the threads about the Drengir’s return due to the Great Progenitor going missing after it crashed! It’s written by George Mann and narrated by Todd Haberkorn, releasing November 14, and is part one of two!
- At the recent NYCC panels, one for Lucasfilm Publishing and the other for Dark Horse itself, we got a lot of previews at upcoming THRA content, from the Annual issue, another new one-shot, and the big connecting variant covers for the final arc of the series!!
- Upcoming High Republic releases include: November 14, 2024: Seeds of Starlight; November 20, 2024: The High Republic Adventures #12 – Phase III; November 27, 2024: The High Republic Adventures – Echoes of Fear #3 and The High Republic Adventures – Dispatches from the Occlusion Zone #2; December 3, 2024: Tempest Breaker. There’s a bunch of THRA releases later in December, so as always, check our High Republic page for the latest release schedule!
The High Republic Adventures #11 – Phase III swerves to a new story, and while I had my initial reservations, it helps readers warm up to it by the end.
+ Return of Ram, Gavi, and other friends
+ Warden really shines in Filipe’s art
– Doesn’t quite sit right to go down this arc at this moment
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 | #10