– Spoiler Review –
As the research into helping the Jedi combat the Nameless threat looks to go cold, the tale of a Jedi and Republic Pathfinder team might just hold the most vital clue yet, as seen in the enticing The High Republic Adventures – Echoes of Fear #3!
I liked the wildness of the visuals for the ancient tale of the Sith Lord in Echoes of Fear #1 and was over-the-moon to see Barnabas Vim back and continuing his research into the Echo Stones for issue #2 (and maybe making it to Planet X?!), but I wasn’t so sure about Echoes of Fear #3 and its tale of a Pathfinders team on Vim’s tail as the penultimate issue. In cases like this, I’m always happy to be wrong, as issue #3 leads to a rousing, energizing ending which leaves me eager for the finale. Part of my reaction stems from how this issue captures some of the uniqueness of Phase II’s era, which the overall story of the Phase didn’t really get a chance to show much besides say writer George Mann’s Quest for the Hidden City or Charles Soule’s The Blade miniseries. Like those other stories, Echoes of Fear #3 introduces readers to a brand-new civilization and planet, so therefore the Pathfinder explorers getting to be explorers like originally told to us before Phase II began, and it helps open up the galaxy far, far away by making it about more than just the known planets and peoples. Better yet, the situation in the past offers some interesting conversations about interference and the Jedi’s role in the galaxy, stuff The Acolyte also explored as well, and it all ends with the promise we’ll get to see the repercussions, and likely a resolution, in the Echoes of Fear finale, now set to release in January. What really tops it all off is the rousing way in which Reath Silas, Amadeo Azzazzo, and now Cohmac Vitus’ search looks like it’ll come to an end where they’ll get to make their own impact on the era’s larger story by coming away with a key component leading up to the big finale for Phase III of The High Republic. If that’s not enough to get you eager to read this issue, then check out the rest of my analysis below!
While Vim’s story seems to be over (for now…), the search for Vim by Jedi Master Atticus Cale and his Padawan, Jadia Brink, with their Pathfinder team members Golo and Tilli, picks up where he sort of left off. They travel to Varovia, a peaceful planet according to Vim when he visited decades earlier, but when Cale and Brink arrive, they see remnants of devastating wars before landing and visiting with locals in their opulent city. As they are introduced to the local leader, they come to learn an ancient rod placed by the Tolemites thousands of years before, and a difference of opinion regarding what it meant for their people, created a rift amongst the Varovians which started a brutal civil war. Sometime shortly before Vim’s visit, the two sides found a path to a truce, with the sacred rod still locked away in the Tolemite structure, the rift between the two sides seemingly irreparable. Brink is very much a young Padawan and sees these things as reasons not to get involved, as what right do they have to try and heal the situation, whereas her Master Cale sees their investigation as a potential path to helping the Varovians, as isn’t it the Jedi way to help heal? The Jedi are often shown as symbols of Light and Life, especially in High Republic stories, but their involvement isn’t without their own bias or faults when assisting with the problems they are called to help with, and since most of the main THR story has such big stakes, especially in Phase I/III, it’s usually pretty clear whether they should be involved or not. I appreciated the debate between Master and Padawan here, as the situation isn’t so clear cut and has some nuances which, despite Cale’s good intentions, could be easily triggerable if they make the wrong move, and helped remind us the galaxy might not always want or need the Jedi’s help/or they could take their time before reacting. When one side of the two Varovian sects tips their hands, Cale’s actions end up potentially giving both sides someone else to hate than each other, and while they don’t stick around long enough to understand the repercussions of their actions, there’s the exciting realization we’ll get to see what happened since Cohmac, Reath, and Amadeo decide they must travel to Varovia for the finale!
Why do they want to travel there? As I mentioned before, the Tolemites placed a special rod in an impenetrable structure on the planet, and as we know from Mann’s Tears of the Nameless, the Tolemites are an ancient civilization who visited Planet X and brought about the Nameless and the Blight on the galaxy…and solved it, somehow. In the process of doing so, they created three control rods, which seemingly helped them take the Nameless back home, and each one used Echo Stones to do so. Two have been found and used by the Path of the Open Hand in Phase II and later the Nihil and Marchion Ro in Phase I, but one, the Rod of Ages, has been lost to time. But not much longer, as the special rod on Varovia, which Cale tried to remove when one of the sects there came to take it after he and his Padawan opened the structure, is still there, buried under the structure’s rubble despite what Cale led everyone to believe, and it’s the Rod of Ages! While Jedi like Burryaga have opened a pathway to dealing with the Nameless, which includes collaborating with non-Jedi, and Jedi Master Sskeer’s affliction has allowed him to deal with them and not be affected, having the ability to control the Nameless, to lead them somewhere, anywhere, away (like Planet X!) from the galaxy at large, would be a game-changer to the Jedi Order and the struggles with the Nihil.
The art teams for issue #3 consist of Vincenzo Federici, alongside Michael Atiyeh on colors, for the “present” set story, while newcomers Giorgia Sposito on art and Francesco Segala coloring for the “past” story, while the usual Tyler Smith & Jimmy Betancourt provide lettering for both. Federici brings us the world-weary Cohmac Vitus and his rugged, non-Jedi look, full of browns and a purple/blue shirt, is such a stark contrast to the golden and white robes Reath and Amadeo wear, so thanks to Atiyeh colors I couldn’t get over how much he stuck out compared to them. While it makes him seem different from them, the way Reath and Amadeo look up to him, respect him, and listen to him shows that while a Jedi can leave the Order, but the Order will never truly leave a Jedi behind. In the past set story, both Giorgia Sposito and Francesco Segala make their Star Wars debut and leave quite the memorable impression. Speaking of contrasts, Sposito really plays up the barren, war-torn land the Pathfinder team flies over, as it’s a great field of sand full of broken machines, recalling scenes from The Force Awakens and Jakku’s debris, and only a few panels later when they land, the opulent, ornate, and high-peaked city feels like such a whiplash, as if there could’ve never been anything as deadly as the sandy fields suggest. Segala’s colors help in this regard, as he really accentuates the sandy look of the war-torn regions and slightly colored shadows of objects in the distance help keep us focused on it, so when we first get a glimpse at the city, the purple of it all, though understated, really makes it pop compared to everything else we’ve seen on Varovia. There’s a really neat distortion effect used twice during the issue, first when Cale and Brink open the doors of the Tolemite structure and second when Cale swings his blade at the encased Rod of Ages. Everything about Planet X, which the Echo Stones seem to come from, is strange and unique, so adding this effect to these moments helps bring out some of the strangeness, as it looks and feels unlike anything else via the distortion. Smith and Betancourt make the impending collapse of the building housing the Rod feel like it’s about to shake the pages you’re reading, with thick, almost rocky sound FXs which get increasingly louder as the team tries to escape. The designs of the Varovians is neat, with the big tooth sticking out from their bottom lip, combined with their larger size, reminded me of rhinos, especially when we see them in battle armor, while the three eyes and sunken noses gave them that alien flare.
Here are a few other things:
- This issue clears up some confusion on my end regarding the control rods, as all three are Tolemite constructed and the ones being used currently by the Nihil, and not constructed by/with the Echo Stone fragments spread across the galaxy by Barnabas Vim and his Padawan, Vix Fonnick (unless the stone fragments were used to power the rods, if the previous rock fragments had ever been removed over the thousands of years since the Tolemites created and used them).
- George Mann also had the surprise release of the next Audible Original, The High Republic: Seeds of Starlight, which is part one of two, with narration by Todd Haberkorn. It picks up some fun threads about a certain threat from Phase I and the downed Starlight Beacon and has been pretty enjoyable so far, even if I haven’t been the biggest fan of the narration choices for some characters, especially Tep Tep. However, I really wish the story wasn’t locked away on Audible, especially given Amazon’s owner’s penchant for fascism, while it also excludes fans who can’t enjoy audio-only stories since there’s no scriptbook in sight.
- And this is a list of what’s coming out soon for The High Republic: December 3, 2024: Tempest Breaker (embargo was up 11/26 but I haven’t finished listening yet); December 18, 2024: The High Republic Adventures – Dispatches from the Occlusion Zone #3, The High Republic Adventures #13 – Phase III, and The High Republic Adventures – The Wedding Spectacular; January 8, 2025: The High Republic Adventures – Echoes of Fear #4; January 14, 2025: The High Republic Adventures #14 – Phase III. Keep up to date with our release schedule on our High Republic page!
The High Republic Adventures: Echoes of Fear #3 makes for a rousing penultimate issue with an engaging story in the past and a promising set up for the finale.
+ Past opens some good questions/results which the present seems set to answer/deal with
+ Sposito and Segala are masters of contrasts and Federico gets in on the game too
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: ECHOES OF FEAR MINISERIES REVIEW
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