– Spoiler Review –
As the Battle of Eriadu rages on, The High Republic Adventures #15 – Phase III points the series towards asking not just who will win, but the how, why, and what’s sacrificed along the way.
While Farzala Tarabal rising to the challenge of leading the efforts of the Republic and their friends against the Warden and his Nihil forces was a rousing finale to issue #14, the lingering concerns he has about the destruction he keeps sensing takes center stage in issue #15. Farzala is still committed to fighting the Nihil, no matter what, and even is buoyed by Sav Malagan’s presence, but even when a smidgen of success in dealing with the Bogaranth and Nihil fighter problems comes to an end, he can’t get the destruction he’s sensing out of his head. It’s difficult for me to see Farzala growing ever more hopeless, though still clinging to his vision of all his friends on the Star Hopper again, but it would be irresponsible to make such a climactic battle for the era ever seem too easy for the Jedi, as it wouldn’t be interesting to either read or for our characters. It’s also important to show the cost of conflict, even in an all-ages format, as the world is no stranger to wars and writer Daniel José Older’s unbroken commitment to give voice to Palestinians and the horrors they have and continue to face both helps immortalize their struggles via Star Wars’ long, stories history of allegories to current events and forces readers to realize how they should be responding and regarding their struggles. It makes Farzala’s nearly broken spirit and the big setbacks they face even more real and heartfelt, and if this pulls at your heart in any way, so too should what’s happening to the people here in the real-world with us. How Farzala’s able to pull through this funk will be a story to watch, while I am very intrigued to learn who he has arrived to the battlefield, hidden by smoke and flames, at the end of the issue. Master Torban “Buckets of Blood” Buck? Yoda? Or someone on the Nihil’s side, hence Farzala’s visions of destruction?
Despite the injuries he sustained, Qort is still pushing himself to help in any way possible, which is assisting Yaddle and other Jedi stabilizing the lava reactor core under Bri-Phrang City. This is a thread from Older’s Dispatches from the Occlusion Zone #1, and while reading it isn’t necessary to understand what’s going on here since it’s clear it would be catastrophic if the Jedi fail, but it’s somewhat surprising since as it’s not totally explained if you haven’t read the issue. Regardless, it’s more about what happens next than the why which is far more interesting anyways. With Qort straining himself and the battle above preventing more Jedi to come and help, when it’s revealed some facet of the reactor needs attention but is in a very small space, Zint sees this as her chance to help and give Qort the break he urgently needs. To use all her strength, Zint chooses to do something dangerous: remove her mask. As we learned back in Phase I, the Aloxians wear their Vonduun masks to regulate their emotions, but it lessens their strength, so while she might only have it off for a moment, the repercussions for Zint could be large. After she helps align everything, the lack of her mask already hits, as she starts screaming, looking angry, and Qort jumps into action to put her mask back on. Given how weak he was, all the effort he put into saving Zint from herself begs the question: will Qort be able to recover? Will Farzala get his dream of all his friends together or will he have to be okay with losing one? This is an unexpected development and, while I can only hope for Qort to make it, one never knows what Older has up his sleeves given we’re nearing the end of the series, with only 5 issues left!!
Where the reactor core problem was a little out of nowhere, the reveal there’s a traitor amongst the Republic’s forces seemed very random, but how Older handles the character’s actions and motivations more than makes up for it. Turns out Jackaby Snell, who owns the Cabaret Cantina Zeen Mrala was singing her heart out at and has been a gathering place for the Republic and Jedi before and after the Stormwall swept past Eriadu, is suppling the Warden with insider information. As for why, the Warden is holding Jackaby’s mother hostage, threatening to kill her, but she’s defiant and urging her son to do the same, as she’d rather die than capitulate to the Nihil. While we don’t learn what he shares with the Warden, Jackaby doesn’t listen to his mother, so it’ll be interesting to see if he gives false info or what he says will threaten the Republic and Jedi’s efforts.
After kicking off the big battle, Harvey Tolibao passes the baton back to Toni Bruno, while Michael Atiyeh and Jimmy Betancourt & Tyler Smith remain as colorist and letterers, respectively.We haven’t seen a single bogaranth, let alone three now, in four years yet they’ve never looked more terrifying. I’m not sure if it’s the way Bruno draws their sharp, pointy teeth, their buggy eyes, or their T-Rex-like upper arms, or maybe if it’s from Atiyeh’s colors, be it the purple and heavy sky to their almost blood-like brown and plenty of shadows on the skin of the creatures. There’s a cool parallel even drawn, literally, later in the issue, as there’s a panel where the two bogaranths loom in the distance over the image of a downed ship and it recalls the Battle of Hoth, where the creatures are the AT-AT’s and the downed Eviscerator is Luke’s snowspeeder…a Jedi does come out of the ship, even! The big collision of bogaranths, when the Nihil bring one of their own and mess with the Jedi controlled one, is an apocalyptic sight, the initial clash seen from a distance with a big sound FX from Smith & Betancourt, and then it gets a whole one-page moment, with the next SFX being a similar size despite the closer view giving us a good idea of how loud and dangerous this moment is. Below the collision, where we see Jedi and their allies jumping away, is a moody scene of the battle, where it’s hard to tell who is who but it looks like a skirmish where even these titans clashing above them will do little difference to their struggles. The final page is one to be seen, as while I could talk a whole lot about it, from how close it feels to some of the more gruesome images we saw coming from the brave souls in Palestine to its end-of-the-world/hell colors and blowing destruction imagery, but you need to see it all first for yourself.
Here are a few other things:
- Tera Sinube’s surprise return to the series via an Eviscerator ship, helping take out the others the Nihil was about to bring to the table, was a neat moment!
- Don’t forget, we got the cover for Charles Soule’s Trials of the Jedi, the final novel of the era, while The Edge of Balance Vol. 4‘s cover was just revealed this week!
- It’s hard to fathom we’re barely over 4 months from the ending of this Phase/era, so to help keep you up to date on what’s still to come before the end, here’s a brief list of some upcoming stories: February 19: The High Republic: Fear of the Jedi #1; March 19: The High Republic Adventures #16 – Phase III; March 26: The High Republic: Fear of the Jedi #2; April 1: The High Republic: Into the Light. Keep up to date with our release schedule on our High Republic page!
The High Republic Adventures #15 – Phase III makes it clear the series will deal with the full breadth of the conflict, all-ages or not.
+ Farzala’s struggles and how they speak for more than just him
+ Qort and Zint’s dilemmas
+ Bruno and team captures both the highs and lows
– Certain events seem a little out of nowhere
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him and the website on Bluesky.
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 — Vol. 3: #11 | #12 | #13 — Vol. 4: #14