– Spoiler Review –
The Battle of Eriadu reaches a critical stage in The High Republic Adventures #16 – Phase III, with the Nihil forces overwhelming the defenders of light and life and the situation growing dire. Find out if there’s a way through the darkness in our review!
Hope is such a prevalent theme across Star Wars, the real magic of the galaxy far, far away that fuels its heroes, and the Force, it’s hard to imagine a story without it…yet The High Republic Adventures #16 – Phase III wants you to believe it will achieve such a feat. At least it’s how it felt at the start, be it Farzala chasing the ghosts of destruction and Sevran Tarkin’s appropriate and heavy narration, but as I read through its various panels and their tribulations, it became clear writer Daniel Jose Older wasn’t poised to throw hope away, instead he was bolstering the franchise’s foundations around the concept. To do so, Older’s fit the Battle of Eriadu arc with extensive undertones of the struggles of the Palestinian people, a cause he’s been very outspoken for given the genocide perpetrated against them by Isreal (which unfortunately reignited this week). The spirit of the Palestinian people has been clear in their videos and messages throughout the heartbreaking destruction wrought against them and it felt like Older did his best to showcase such spirit and what practicing it would be like throughout issue #16. As the issue progresses, we see characters like Sevran, ready and willing to accept their path forward might be fruitless, but knows to give in to such thoughts, instead of fighting, would let the bully’s win; in Farzala’s case, he works towards pushing away his concerns about what could be and instead focuses on the here and now, living in the moment, moment by moment, accepting his actions could seal his fate thought still help those he’s fighting for; and even Sevran’s Uncle Tragkul shows what it means to stand up for your people. The scenarios these characters go through, how they grapple with the overwhelming odds, and push through, because it’s the right thing to do, to stand up to the bully, to stand up to the excessive force and destruction of an uncaring aggressor, is rousing cry of solidarity and is heavily grounded in the Saga’s undeniable theme of hope. After all, when Farzala says to Sevran he’s been flexing the muscle that is hope all his life, one could take it as a reference to the franchise and how it’s been peddling hope since the beginning.
I had my theories over who Farzala would find in the cloudy destruction he confronted at the end of the previous issue and I’m glad I wasn’t right at all. It turns out there was no one, just the smoke clouding his focus, distracting him from the here and now. Having him then rejoin the fight, taking his mind away from what he keeps seeing, pushes him back to that muscle of hope he keeps flexing. And once he finally puts the destruction away from his mind and focuses on the moment, on what he can do to helps others, even if it would mean his life to help them, he’s rewarded: the Republic fleet arrives!!* He’s still got a job before him, dealing with an old powerful defense cannon, but the Republic fleet signals a bright spot in issue that was heavy on the unlikeliness of winning against the Nihil, so their arrival is a hopeful message that better days are coming those oppressed. While the fleet’s arrival is promising, with Jedi Master Keeve Trennis and Sskeer in the skies even (we’ll see them involved starting in April’s third issue of The High Republic: Fear of the Jedi), it only enrages the Warden more, and he decides for ultimate destruction rather than duke it out in a fight, calling on his forces to target the still struggling volcanic reactor the Jedi, including Qort and Zint, were trying to stabilize. There’s hope, but one must keep fighting for it against such an uncaring enemy and I’m on the edge of my seat to see how the Jedi and Republic manage to overcome the Warden!
Continuing on art for now is Toni Bruno, with colorist Michael Atiyeh, and letterers Tyler Smith & Jimmy Betancourt. In what seems purposeful, the size differences, or lack thereof, between true allies and those who are not was a small, yet insightful visual distinction by the team. When Lula Talisola and Zeen Mrala comfort Sevran, and Tragkul surprises them by joining their efforts, in pretty much every panel on the page, every character seems to be on the same level due to the point-of-view Bruno chooses, while on the following page, when we see the Warden with other Nihil and even Val Delvardus, one the city leaders, he’s the tallest being in the room, looming over all but one unnamed character, his influence a weight on those around him. The coloring works to build this impression too, as Sevran/Tragkul are both in shades of red, lighter, and Lula/Zeen are in their wedding dresses still, teal and white colors, so they all look bright despite the darker surroundings, which adds to the oppressive feeling of the situation. With the Warden and the Nihil around him, all in a brighter room given the success of their oppression, they are in dirtier colors, with greys and browns, and heavier greens, while Delvardus’ light purple stands out, like he shouldn’t be here amongst these people. There’s another great final page on display, little Nihil strikeships behind the Warden’s bigger one as it races away from the city and over to volcanic reactor, the little ships emanating a red, creepy glow, smoke and flames pipping up from all over the city, the purple, cloudy sky feel off and dark compared to the double-page spread before it with the Republic fleet’s arrival, all while there’s an insert of the Warden, Smith & Betancourt leading us from the hopeful last page and into the Warden’s devious mind, ending on the big, shimmer letters chosen for his next target.
Here are a few other things:
- *We find out not only does the fleet arrive, but the Stormwall is finally down! It was bound to happen soon, but we’ve not had any story yet which covers how it happened. With the final young adult novel Into the Light out April 1, I strongly suspect we’ll see the Stormwall’s fall there, as between this issue’s reveal and the Insider preview of A Valiant Vow (out May 6) also revealing the Stormwall is down, it all seems to rest on the young adult novel. We’ll have a delayed review of Into the Light, as I won’t be able to start reading it right away, with one hopefully sometime in April, but as of right now you can read the first three chapters in a preview at Kobo!
- Lingering threads I’m still curious about: from issue #15, what Jackaby all told the Warden and what’s happening with Qort and Zint; issue #16 leaves us with potential off-screen deaths for some characters(!!). All the above does make one wish we were spending more time per issue with more of the cast, as some of these characters we haven’t really checked in with in the main story and moreso only in the wedding issue or the spin-off series. Either way, hopefully issue #17 won’t leave us hanging on all the above!
- With Dark Horse already including them on their site, we know the final two issues of this series will be out in June, which is when the era will sadly be over! We’ll be posting those solicitations the week of this review publishing, when the rest of the June solicits arrive.
- As always, especially as we grow ever closer to the end, here’s a list of some upcoming releases for the era: March 26: The High Republic: Fear of the Jedi #2; April 1: The High Republic: Into the Light; April 8: The Edge of Balance: Premonition; April 16: The High Republic Adventures #17 – Phase III. Keep up to date with our release schedule on our High Republic page!
The High Republic Adventures #16 – Phase III is all about the Saga’s themes of hope and perseverance, giving the Battle of Eriadu a deeper dimension and raising the stakes.
+ Hope and perseverance standing for more than what’s on the page
+ Bruno and team put allies and enemies into perspective
+ How will they finally bring this conflict to a close?!
– Wish we had a little more time with the large cast each issue
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 | #15