– Spoiler Review –
Alyssa Wong returns to The High Republic era one last time with The High Republic Adventures Phase III – The Battle of Eriadu, a one-shot comic which focuses in on the complicated story of friends on either side of the war and their confrontation in its waning moments. An emotional, yet hopeful entry, Wong steers Gavi and Driggit’s tale of friendship, broken and fractured, to a fitting conclusion.
I wasn’t really putting it together how many of the recent releases have been final entries for various Luminous authors, but they have all been fitting final showings, much like with Alyssa Wong’s The High Republic Adventures Phase III – The Battle of Eriadu. Gavi Takitaken and Driggit Parse’s tale of fractured friendship all began in the pages of Wong and Daniel José Older’s Escape from Valo, out January 2024. Since then, Alyssa Wong has returned to these characters, mainly Driggit, in their other High Republic works, be it the “Chronicles of Corellia” shorts for Star Wars Insider, The High Republic Adventures: Dispatches from the Occlusion Zone #2, and most recently a short story in The High Republic Adventures Phase III Annual, as well as including Ruu, their original character from Tales of Light and Life, in stories as well, carving out a niche for characters and story to cover. Gavi’s been in the pages of Older’s The High Republic Adventures – Phase III run, so the co-authors have split them up and developed the two, all their work leading towards this very issue, where the two friends must confront one another one last time. Given all this history, I’d say you might want to make sure you’ve read at least the comic issues, and would very highly recommend the Insider shorts due to the interior thoughts explaining character decisions with extra depth (consider your local library/Libby for those or all the above), but I feel like what Wong achieves here should be more than enough for even fans who’ve only read Escape from Valo to hit an emotional reaction to what happens between Gavi and Driggit.
As I’ve said in my reviews of the previous Driggit starring issues, her story’s been one to watch, as the Jedi fleeing into the hills and leaving Valo to Nihil occupation left her what felt like no choice: join the Nihil and destroy them from the inside out, no matter the cost. Since her introduction, where she even stabs Gavi with her blade to help push him away so she can do what she must, it’s not always been clear she’s still eager to take down the Nihil, her actions calling into questions her goals. But the more recent stories have returned clarity and The Battle of Eriadu begins with her stating what she thinks is an inescapable reality to what comes next, that she will die as she takes down the Nihil and the Warden. On the flip side, while Gavi’s trauma from Driggit stabbing him hasn’t subsided, he’s been focusing on keeping Valo safe and helping where he can once they’ve beaten back another Nihil assault on the planet, and by the start of The Battle of Eriadu, he’s all but assumed he’d never sense his old friend again. Yet in the midst of the big battle on Eriadu, his tendrils pick up Driggit and he’s eager to rush to her, to help her, despite everything, but it feels like the right thing to do. With Driggit ready to die to finish her mission, will his arrival only cause more issues or help her see there’s another way, she doesn’t have to do this alone? I won’t lie, got emotional when they first meet, especially as the art team brings to life a series’ staple of melding two narrative boxes into one, while Driggit’s inability to accept Gavi’s forgiveness, to accept the part of her she thinks died could still be alive, ensures the rich tapestry of her journey isn’t so easily brushed away with a simple happy ending. Of course I’d like this all wrapped up with a neat bow, but The Battle of Eriadu‘s ending is far more fitting and understandable, and leaves me curious if we’ll get any additional closure between these two in the main run or if this is where we’ll have to leave things as the era’s Phase III comes to a close…though all these teases Phase III is the only just the ending of the current High Republic story, and Alyssa Wong teased they are working on something unannounced at the recent Publishing Panel*, you never know!
Also returning to the series, though she has a few more covers to come on the main run, is artist Elisa Romboli, with Dan Jackson on colors, while the usual suspects of Tyler Smith & Jimmy Betancourt are here for lettering. Last time Romboli provided interiors was back for The High Republic Adventures – Phase III’s #4 & #5, providing some lovely imagery between her two issues as Lula Talisola and Zeen Mrala confronted their feelings for one another, and there’s more memorable imagery in her return. Romboli establishes a baseline for Gavi and Driggit early on, their determination for their respective causes etched across their faces, with Driggit’s harsher than Gavi’s given she’s expecting to die, while Jackson accentuates a specific color over each of their sections, with Driggit’s more doused in reds and Gavi surrounded or lit by blues, like his blade or the tendrils he sees the Force through, which the letterers get in on with their respective narration bubbles. These are small things, readers might even just put them in the background of importance, but these flare up as the two getting closer and closer on their collision course, which leads to a great single page of the two colliding, the surprise they share provided so much depth due to all the work I was describing. In the middle of the page, it looks like they are on two different planets and their run-in is a collision of worlds that never expected to cross, as little broken bits of the background seem to come from their two worlds colliding, while Jackson’s colors are so heavy on the reds and blues, there’s a clear line where their mindsets and worlds live, plus the letterers employ THRA’s signature move of a melded narration bubble, same dialogue, colors of the two characters blending, showing how aligned they are despite what it looks like on the rest of the page. It’s such a great way to highlight the different paths they are on but how connected they are, despite their directions, and for most of the remaining issue, the background colors reflect their reconnection by remaining neutral. Highlights of blues and reds pop up here and there, like when Driggit’s swinging Gavi’s lightsaber to help him help others, though some red is still featured on her face regardless of the closeness of the blue blade, showing they’ve gotten close but it’s still not a complete return to their previous level of connection. Gavi’s tendrils being wavy threads he can hold onto, be guided by, was another fun visual, taking the unique way the High Republic Order Jedi all look at the Force and making it manifest, something we’ve not seen a ton of in visual mediums despite the different descriptors used in prose by characters. And Alys “Crash” Ongwa’s outfit, the duster jacket, suspenders, tactical boots, rugged brown pants, and little pink bowtie matching her hair was such a fun design, makes me wonder if, given this might be the last time they write for the character based off of them, if Wong had any say in the outfit upgrade or not.
Here are a few other things:
- Ruu doesn’t get much of an appearance, but it felt like it helps Driggit remember how they both found forgiveness with one another and helped her start her path to communicating Nihil plans to the Republic. Emelsine Tarkin, who’s caring friendship with Driggit was revealed in Dispatches from the Occlusion Zone #2, also appears this issue, as we see how deep their friendship has grown, maybe into something more, given intense her concern for the other young woman.
- A payoff to the Eviscerator storyline, those deadly drill ships revived by the Warden for his Eriadu campaign, feels like a worthy outcome for Driggit’s time with the enemy.
- *For the Publishing Panel at Celebration Japan 2025, there were some High Republic reveals still up their sleeves as we head into the final few months, like how there’s a Finale issue set for late July.
- Speaking of July, originally the main The High Republic Adventures – Phase III was set to finish in June, but issue #19 slipped into late June and the final issue, #20, dropped into July. Hopefully these issues don’t move much more!
- So what’s left for the High Republic in 2025? Here’s a list of some upcoming releases: April 30, 2025: The High Republic Adventures #17 – Phase III; The High Republic – Fear of the Jedi #3; May 6, 2025: A Valiant Vow; May 13, 2025: Tempest Breaker (script book); May 21, 2025: The High Republic Adventures #18 – Phase III; The High Republic – Fear of the Jedi #4. Keep up to date with our release schedule on our High Republic page!
The High Republic Adventures Phase III: The Battle of Eriadu marks a fitting crescendo for the tales of Gavi and Driggit, as both Alyssa Wong and the art team with Elisa Romboli give it their all in their final High Republic work!
+ Driggit and Gavi’s storyline crescendos with a fitting ending, at least for now, for them
+ Tendrils and emotions mark some good artwork!
– Might make one feel left out a little due to the developments happening in different mediums/issues
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