– Spoiler Review –
Ty Yorrick provides some actual monster hunting in The High Republic Adventures — The Monster of Temple Peak #2, though what she finds forces her to forge connections and confront the past she’s so eager to hide from, as the mystery in the present and the past only deepens.
Ty Yorrick’s reluctance to forge connections with anyone is clear from her standoff-ish nature, her unwillingness to nickname her companion droids, and how quickly she’s ready to push away Drewen, the young Segredo who interrupted her gundark fight in the opening issue and has since followed her to Loreth. Considering she was once part of the Jedi Order, had a Jedi Master and even a friend named Kilas Teradine, what causes her to become so withdrawn she even decides self-banishment from the Jedi Order? It’s a compelling mystery considering how shrouded in secrecy her past and the moment is, as when the Jedi Order runs into her again on Valo during The Rising Storm, there’s no known records of her they can access. While more hints begin to unravel regarding the fateful moment everything changes for her (more on that in a moment), watching her deal with Drewen now reveals her better nature, helpfully baked into her by the Jedi Order, but also how eager she is to avoid any close connections least she be burnt and hurt again. It’s a lonely life, even with two sassy droids who are still eager to help her in a tight spot, and it was nice to see Drewen’s presence warm on her enough to keep him around, even if she had a convenient excuse. She’s even less interested in having Drewen around because he thinks she’s a Jedi, something she’s vehement about not being, and he wants her to train him in the Force, and the last thing someone who doesn’t want to be a Jedi or think about having been one wants is to train someone in the Force. Having the foresight of her connection to Elzar Mann on Valo, of her new focus and autonomy, it’ll be interesting to see just how badly things go with Kilas in the past that brings her to the level she’s at now, because whatever happened still affects her to this day, as evident when she drops Pela due to her faltering connection to the Force. Moments like that, even though I feel like Pela will somehow survive the accidental drop, hopefully serve to show her the faulty choice she’s making by turning her back on the Force, as someone who was seasoned and focused would’ve prevented Pela’s potential plunge, so why does she feel like she doesn’t need to be a Jedi anymore? Even if she’s never truly a Jedi again, I hope she realizes the need to work with them to help herself grow through the Force, though I’m sure she’ll be able to do a lot on her own, she just needs a little guidance.
Drewen, who via a type of mind trick itself can make himself invisible, tracked down Ty to train as a Jedi in a vain attempt to not be so helpless again, as when marauders (I’m assuming Nihil) ransacked his peaceful village, the momentary distraction of the Great Hyperspace Disaster allowed his brother to sacrifice himself so Drewen could live. Since his brother spoke so highly of the Jedi, why not hope to be one as well to protect himself in the future? As for why Pela shows up in the middle of the night, rushing Ty and trying to shoot her, remains to be seen, but as I said in my review of issue #1, there’s something fishy with the farmers and myself and Ty don’t seem to believe they are simple moof-milkers, though it seems like Pela’s intentions are to protect these terrifying Gretelax, hence her devil eyes at Ty at the end of issue #1 and now her attack to stop her now in issue #2. For someone who doesn’t want to make connections, and whose mindset of being alone doesn’t quite help her with forming an animal bond anymore like she used to (though we know she spectacularly will during the attack on Valo), she sure attracts the lost and the lonely and the misunderstood. It’s fun to see her interactions with these two, even if it’s a hostile one with Pela, as it shows the depth of empathy and how she’s all gruff exterior with a hidden friendliness inside, drown by past traumas. The same thing appears in her relationship with her droids, as while she might not care to nickname them (despite Ty being a nickname for herself), to make friends with them, there’s a clear history and familiarity to their communications, as the hilarious opening attests to as they work together to help Ty free herself from a rock weavers sticky web.
In the past, we pick up with Kilas Teradine and Tylera Yorrick’s hike to a hidden Yallow Shrine, where Tylera almost falls from the mountain but Kilas catches her, all while standing sideways on the mountain! He’s got some great points about going on this forbidden quest, as his Master already taught him tricks from non-Jedi Force users, hence his ability to stand on the cliff-face of a mountain, and why limit themselves to Jedi teachings when there’s obviously so much more out there? And the Yallow Shrine, seemingly connected to the dark side, to the Sith somehow, well it’s even better to know your enemies before you face them, right? Tylera seems reluctant despite his good points, but there’s not much she can do now, as abandoning him would leave her with a guilty conscious if he never made it back, while his points are valid enough, what’s the worst that could happen? I love the sequence after they cut their way into the Shrine, as while the booby-traps are a sign the plan is a bad idea, the spooky reflective rocks around them behold truly haunting figures, just as Kilas does the biggest no-no and jinxes them by saying there’s nothing inside that can hurt them. He might be right, but it might be something there that makes them hurt one another, as I imagine will happen. We’ll find out soon enough in the next two issues!
Rachael Stott’s art, with Vita Efremova & Nicola Righi providing paints, and Johanna Nattalie’s production & design all together continues to amaze. As always, I’m a big fan of the little things so one panel that really stood out to be, and made me laugh, was Ty’s creased brow and dagger eyes, as Drewen’s line about how she won’t even know he’s there clearly not being the case as he’s already in the middle of his life story. I also really appreciate the team’s usage of shadow to draw out more emotion from a character’s face or feelings in the moment, like Drewen’s remembrance of his brother or Ty’s cold shoulder, silently doing her best not to show any reaction to Drewen’s endless questions about her time as a Jedi; it’s natural to look away or hide one’s face from others in moments where they ask hard questions of you, whereas comic art seemingly always has character’s faces visible to provide context to a character’s thoughts/actions/dialogue, but the absence of their face can speak volumes as well. The strange, reflective rocks within the Shrine were a neat effect by the team, as first they show multiple Kilas’ from many different angles, but they switch to spooky faces the next, and as much as it’s a reflective thing, it almost feels like a mirror from the way the team drew and colored the scenes; I can’t wait to see what’s behind these images or what weird Force stuff we’ll get to see as Kilas and Tylera continue into the Shrine. One of the more striking pages is a relatively simple one, but it’s the empty space that primarily fills it that helps the moment hit home: when Ty drops Pela, there’s just a full page of the moment, Ty and Drewen barely visible on the ledge, the darkness of the sky around the mountain eating up the majority of the page, Ty’s “No!” thought bubble lined in red and breaking through, punctuating the tragedy of the moment; the usage of shadows on Ty’s face is heavy afterwards, to show her disappointment in herself. But new suns arise on the last page and the journey continues, Ty rushing forward to avoid looking back again.
Here are a few other things:
- Another non-Jedi sect of Force users Kilas’ Master trained him on: the Zeffo! For fans of Jedi: Fallen Order, this was a nice little breadcrumb for the game’s ancient tombs players get to raid.
More glimpses into Ty’s past help make her lonely present hit home in this second issue of The High Republic Adventures – The Monster of Temple Peak.
+ Ty’s reluctance to forge connections explored more
+ Jedi past tips the iceberg of what happened
+ Art team’s shadows and usage of empty space
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
THE HIGH REPUBLIC ADVENTURES — THE MONSTER OF TEMPLE PEAK REVIEWS
#1