– Spoiler Review –
Eriadu, the Republic, and the Jedi unite to stop the Warden and the Nihil from destroying countless lives, but what lives will they lose in the process? Or can sacrifices be avoided? Find out in our review of The High Republic Adventures #18 – Phase III, another thrilling yet heady entry in the big Battle of Eriadu storyline.
Just when things looked to be turning around for Farzala Tarabal mentally, conquering his inner turmoil by battling and talking with an imagined version of his old master, the Battle of Eriadu and the Nihil’s devious Warden find new ways to strain the young Jedi Knight. While the evacuation of Bri Phrang City is nearly complete, the Arkorayal and its volcanic reactor are still at threat of destruction, which would take away the city many call home. The only solution to the problem of the Warden and his destructive tactics? The massive anti-aircraft cannon Farzala now controls seems to be the only answer, yet its blast is so large, annihilation will come to anything in its path, which would include all his friends and loved ones in the sky around it, trying to stop the Warden in the stolen Star Hopper before he destroys the city. While Farzala has been dreaming about being together with his friends, laughing and smiling on the Star Hopper again and this conflict behind them, it looks less and less likely to happen. He’s very hesitant to take the shot if he needs to and it pangs him more to hear Sevran Tarkin, Lula Talisola, Zeen Mrala, and Argomon accept their deaths if it means preventing any more destruction by the Warden. He might have conquered his own internal issues, but now he has the fate of his friends, of his dreams, of the war ahead, in the balance. Can Farzala catch a break?!
In a way, he gets a momentary reprieve from the choice thanks to the actions of Jackaby Snell, Grandma Snell, and 5A-G3! Jackaby’s Grandmother imprisonment by the Warden led to Jackaby selling secrets to the Nihil, though the choice weighs on him as the war goes on, and it’s after a conversation with the delightfully absurd 5A which prompts him to make up for what he’s done. Jackaby initiates a shield around the Arkorayal, and his grandmother, bad mouthing the Warden just like he deserves as he tries to bark commands at his troops, makes her move after the shield’s distraction, jumping of the Star Hopper with a Nihil in tow as a shield!! It’s some funny and wild stuff, as she ends up falling onto the speeder Jackaby and 5A, who outfitted it with a deadly assortment of weaponry, have taken to the skies to fight the Nihil and hope to rescue her. It’s been a bit since we’ve had some great 5A manic energy, so I was very thankful we got as much as we did here, as well as watching Jackaby try to make things right and his grandma be the toughest of all grandmas, which were a delight to have amongst the heavier content with Farzala.
It’s been a while since we’ve been left worrying over characters’ fates due to a cliffhanger, but The High Republic Adventures #18 – Phase III brings the practice back. With the shield up and the pressure on the Star Hopper intensifying, the Warden takes a drastic action, seeing no way out, and orders the ship to smash into the shield, hoping the resulting explosion will leave behind the destruction he’s been so desperate to bring to Eriadu. With the fate of all those before him and all those with him on his shoulders, Farzala takes the shot, the expansive blast taking out the Star Hopper but…who else?!?! And who survived?!?! One could look at the covers for the final two issues and have a few guesses, but covers don’t always directly depict events within an issue, so we’ll have to wait until June to find out! I have a good feeling many won’t die, and while that might mess with some of the stakes of his final arc, it wouldn’t ruin anything and who doesn’t want a happy ending anyways?!
On art is the always wonderful Harvey Tolibao, colorist Michael Atiyeh, and letterers Jimmy Betancourt & Tyler Smith! No one quite does a hectic bit of battle magic like Tolibao, as the second page alone provides all the intensity we’re reading in the dialogue to the fight in the skies, the city far below, little blocks of various colors, while directly in our POV are Nihil ships and Vectors swooping through the insert panels, bright explosions and vibrant laser blasts thanks to Atiyeh colors, while Betancourt & Smith guide us through the chaos, both letting readers experience the frantic nature of the battle yet see the pattern to get through it. Also, Lavalox has her tongue wiggling in excitement over lasers, we are so back! 5A is a hard droid to carry through its manic and wild personality, yet Tolibao swirls her center eye different ways and plays around with gestures via the arms, while Atiyeh varies the intensity of the eye’s glow and even the letterers get in on the action, especially with her big cackle over all the guns she upgraded to the speeder ship they take! Granny Snell is mostly in the background but Smith & Betancourt give the word bubbles of her biting diss track of the Warden the same importance, so she feels even bigger in the room than she looks, though the glee she has when she jumps out the Hopper, taking the Nihil watching over her with her, is wonderful to behold, a victory even as chaos reigns in the panel behind her fall. The fact the issue ends with two double-pages, one with a dour mood thanks to the lighting and all the dead Jedi behind Farzala and the other a worrying explosive blast with coloring which leaves you unsure and frightened at the power he’s just unleashed, and a splash page, which has a broken insert panel which all but confirms the Warden is finally dead, feels like the fitting crescendo to the longest battle we’ve seen in the series.
Here are a few other things:
- Love coffee? Chai? A really good café/coffee shop? And want some fun Star Wars themed coffee goodness for the month of May?! Well, if you happen to be in the greater Chicago area, make your way to Folklore Coffee in Lemont, IL, as one of our best friends owns Folklore and we collaborated on a special Star Wars menu for May!!! The Froth is strong with these specials!!
- Remember how I’ve been trying to figure out where we’d see the Stormwall fall? Having finished A Valiant Vow, by Justina Ireland, I can confirm it’s not there so it leaves only one other release: Trials of the Jedi, which must mean the book starts sometime before the onset of this arc in THRA.
- So what’s left for the High Republic? It doesn’t quite seem real, how close we are to the end, until I see the short list of the current dates for the final releases: June 4, 2025: The High Republic – Fear of the Jedi #5; June 17, 2025: Trials of the Jedi; June 25, 2025: The High Republic Adventures #19 – Phase III; July 16, 2025: The High Republic Adventures #20 – Phase III; July 30, 2025: The High Republic: The Finale – The Beacon.
The High Republic Adventures #18 – Phase III leaves us hanging on an emotional hook, though it provides some much needed levity before getting there. Only two issues left!!
+ The levity of the Snells and 5A-G3!
+ Farzala still going through the ringer and makes a big choice
+ Matching the insanity and the emotional in the art
– Cliffhanger of fates and how it could take some away from the arc
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 | #16 | #17