– Spoiler Review –
When missing and presumed Jedi are rumored to be alive and well on a Nihil prison ship, the Republic Defense Coalition and the Eriadu Jedi team up to uncover the truth in another fun yet so chillingly good The High Republic Adventures #4 – Phase III!
In the opening issue, it focused on Zeen Mrala and her quest to find Lula Talisola, while the next two it focused a lot on Lula’s lingering trauma and trying to remember who she was and what happened to her, and in issue #4 of The High Republic Adventures – Phase III, the series returns to Zeen’s side of the story more. Though she’s not the only one in focus, as the series goes back to a well-worn but always expertly used trick, as it shows us Farzala Tarabal’s parallel journey alongside Zeen’s, as both embrace the desire to no longer repress a part of themselves, damning the consequences for holding them back. For Zeen, now that she has the love of her life back, alive, a year (and two weeks!) of figuring out what to say and how to say it have prepared her for exactly this moment, and she decides she won’t hold back this time, as the last time she did they were separated and she had no guarantee Lula would be alive. She puts aside those feelings and those words only because of their upcoming mission: a joint assault on the Nihil prison ship their unlikely contacts, bizarrely fun RA-G3 and smuggler Argomon, have indicated holds some of their missing friends. As Zeen readies to reveal these truths, Lula’s certainly looking more and more like a Jedi, as she lets her time as a warlord go, burning her outfit, but the way she cares for Zeen as well remains, from her still noticing how Zeen’s tendrils denote her mood. While Lula’s still figuring out who she is and what she wants to be going forward, as she already knows the Mikkian loves her, Zeen isn’t worried about revealing what she wants and its effect on such a decision because she’s prepared for whatever the answer might be, accepting it and moving on. Will Lula remain a Jedi, be the Jedi Knight she always wanted to be, or chose a life with Zeen, leaving it all behind? Would Lula before amnesia make the same choice as Lula after, or will she gain back enough memories to make such a choice? And how will Lula, and the Jedi who have come to consider Zeen one of their own, react if Zeen walks, which she promises to do if Lula chooses the Jedi? Will she actually walk? Will I stop asking questions? The only thing I have an answer for at this moment is how I won’t be ready for whatever happens between these two.
As Zeen prepares to no longer censure herself for someone else’s benefit, Farzala does as well, though in a similarly volatile yet far different situation. As revealed at the end of last issue, Farzala is alive, but stuck on a Nihil prison ship, which left almost as many questions as I asked above. Fear not, I’m not asking anymore though, as we quickly learn not only why Farzala is still aboard…and that he’s not alone! In prison with him are Jedi Master Torban “Buckets of Blood” Buck, former Hutt enforcer Ishnar Ti-Kharatal, and Padawan Bindal Sep! While we don’t learn how they ended up on the ship, we know why they’re still on it: the Nihil Warden running it is sadistic, as he not only promised to kill all the Jedi aboard, but if anyone would escape, say a lone Jedi attempting to get help, he’d kill one prisoner every day until they were caught again. These threats have kept Farzala and team subdued, waiting for the right time, and thanks to RA-G3’s spy network and the smuggler helping her, they know the time is finally here and their friends are coming to rescue them. It’s good timing too, as Niv Drendow Apruk, who starred first in Daniel José Older and Alyssa Wong’s Escape from Valo, is prepared to use his baby Nameless creatures to suss out the Jedi amongst the prisoners. As the Jedi begin to feel the effects, though not as strongly as if they were full grown creatures, Farzala hatches their plan, calling Niv Drendow a Jedi to create a distraction. The others give their best “I am Spartacus” impressions and reveal they are Jedi, and in all the confusion, Farzala a chance to Force push the little Nameless pups away, though chaos ensues inside the prison as the battle outside erupts. Farzala jumps away, out into the crowd, having finally shown the Nihil, and his fellow prisoners, who they are and how they can help. It’s a risky moment, as there’s no going back, but Farzala and his fellow Jedi are done hiding who they are inside out of fear, showing the might of speaking up and being oneself, regardless of what those around you threaten to do.
The battle outside the ship is complicated by all the prisoners being out in a shield-sealed courtyard, mimicking the Nihil’s No Space base, as knocking out its various systems would expose all those innocents to the cold vacuum of space. And the best way to destroy the prison ship’s deadly armaments only happens if they knock out the shields, so what looked like an overwhelming assault turns into a dance in space, the Republic and Jedi just trying to survive. It’s Argomon who helps break the stalemate, remembering not only where they dock with the ship, but that they still have their access card, which should help them enter without lowering the shields. Lula and Zeen are with Argomon and go storming in, making easy work of the Nihil aboard, the two a sight to behold working together, but the dastardly Warden has an terrible idea fairy up his sleeve: lower the shields and space the prisoners. I didn’t think he’d go through with it or our heroes would get to him in time to belay that order, but The High Republic Adventures #4 – Phase III goes for the frigid ending instead, as the Jedi are unable to get there in time before the Warden, with Niv Drendow and Driggit alongside him, gives the command and Farzala, Buckets, Ishnar, Bindal, and all the other prisoners are left in the vacuum of space! This feels more like a cliffhanger Cavan Scott would pull in his Marvel series, so having Older pull it here comes a bit as a surprise and leaves no choice but to request: stop learning from Scott, Older!
Trusty series regulars like colorist Michael Atiyeh and letterers Jimmy Betancourt & Tyler Smith return, but they are joined by a brand new to Star Wars artist: Elisa Romboli! We’ve had so many great artists on the series so far and Romboli lives up to their past examples, making me glad she took over and hopeful her time on this series won’t be her last in the galaxy far, far away. You get a great sense of what she’ll be bringing to her time on the series in the opening page alone, as I adore the way she draws Zeen and Lula’s faces on it, with the final two insert panels the ones I was really drawn to, as Zeen’s face just screams missed opportunities of things unsaid, the pain on not being able to find the words she wants and knows to say to Lula expressed in the way she hangs her head and tendrils, her frown drooping, while for Lula, she gives off the air of someone who thinks what they are doing and what they are saying are the same thing, but they know otherwise. The image of Lula standing before her burning warlord outfit, the flames licking high and furious, Atiyeh’s colors giving its glow a warm finality, this part of Lula is being put to rest, but that we only see her as a shadow due to the blaring fire says there’s still more for her to unpack, she’s not fully sure of herself just yet, while Zeen we see in full color, it matching how she is sure of herself as we see her as she is here. Their feelings and care for one another are apparent even in the next scene, a briefing on the prison attack plan, as we see Zeen still disappointed she couldn’t say what she wanted to and Lula picking up on it, eventually asking her what’s wrong. I really enjoyed how the team overall made the prison ship’s courtyard feel grandiose, and not simply because one could see the vastness of the galaxy, but the way the pyramid structure holding where the containment shield shoots out from both looked like an ancient Mayan temple where standing below it made one look up at the sun/those standing at the top, equating the two, as if they are the center of the solar system, as if once stepping inside, prisoners are reminded how the Nihil on stage are the center of their existence. Atiyeh really brightens up the red emanating from the tip and radiating out the sides, like a chart of lines, making it hard to look away, while Romboli always shifts the perspective so us readers at home must gaze up towards the shield sun, feeling like we’re inside too, while Betancourt & Smith never let a dialogue or narration box be placed above the tip of the shield, as if it say nothing can be better than it.
Here are a few other things:
- After how much I came to enjoy Driggit’s complicated past and path forward, and Niv Drendow’s superiority complex, in Escape from Valo, it was a little disappointing how little we actually get of them here so far. It’s really only Niv Drendow’s obsession over the Nameless, upset his pets were Force punted away and will also find themselves out in vacuum, which gets touched on, and if you haven’t read the awesome book, they’d not appear as anything terribly special yet. This series isn’t about them, but I hope their time here can get a chance to be a little more memorable.
- We met a few new characters this issue, if only briefly: Padawan Iric Lams and their Master, Fleur Ridleg; Jedi Master Tani Briwill and their Padawan Eoin Gorcan, who was first seen, and obsessed over by some, in a panel of Shadows of Starlight #1.
- There’s another The High Republic Adventures issue out this month, but it’s actually a one-shot called Crash Landing, where we focus on Crash and crew, who we were reintroduced to briefly in previous THRA issue!
- Another merchandising rollout has begun on the official Star Wars site and the opening batch of items includes a series of FREE POSTERS OF PHASE III VILLAINS BY PHIL NOTO!!! Some reading my all caps shouts and go download them!
The High Republic Adventures #4 – Phase III shows the power of being oneself all while bringing back familiar faces only to potentially take them away again in an excellent cliffhanger.
+ Don’t suppress yourself for others message
+ Warden’s tricks make this anything but easy
+ Romboli’s work lives up to the series’ pedigree
– Driggit and Niv Drendow could use a little more panel time
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 book 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
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