– Spoiler Review –
They fly now? With giant flying Nameless devouring Keeve Trennis’ fleet, is all hope lost to save the day at Eriadu or will Keeve and team find a way through their fear? Find out in my review of The High Republic: Fear of the Jedi #4, the series’ penultimate issue!
It didn’t help me this issue I already knew what everyone was seeing wasn’t real, rather a projection of their fears by the Child of the Storm H’tar, so it felt like it took just a little too long for our heroes to do the same, dragging out the inevitable. There’s a lot of terrifying images we get as a result though, from the ginormous flying Nameless with wings playing with Keeve’s Longbeam like a little toy or the Gaze Electric making a surprising appearance, while the characters’ reactions and process of working through the reality of the situation at least combats my concerns after the previous issue. I’d hoped the fast pace of the series could slow down and let the characters sing as they dealt with H’tar’s visions, making the Tey Sirrek sequence in issue #3 the norm for issue #4 and writer Cavan Scott does just that for this penultimate, sort of, issue! Knowing there’s July’s The High Republic: The Finale – The Beacon still to come after Fear of the Jedi ends in June alleviates some of the concerns with how compact this story has felt, so all in all, things are turning around as we head towards the end.
The issue relies on Tey Sirrek’s love for his long-dead husband, Vildar Mac, to help break H’tar’s hold on the group, which I was very happy with, while I also liked what we for other characters as well. For Keeve, she’s questioning how she can use the Force despite the giant Nameless clamped on their ship and, leading from the Gios, is able to coordinate what everyone’s seeing and help them look for the reality underneath, showing her place is at the lead, to be in command. Ai-Dan, Sskeer, and OrbaLin deal with being separated, thinking they are alone or unable to help one another, which Jedi always feel stronger when they are with the Force and the Force unites them. The most subtle of the group’s fears is Lourna Dee’s and it delighted me the most, as while she sees the Gaze Electric slamming into the Gios, she admits she’s not scared of Marchion Ro, implying she’s scared to lose Keeve Trennis! The woman has saved her countless times now, regardless of the circumstances or what Lourna’s done, and while she and Quin are together, this confirms how much she does care for Keeve! Yet it’s Tey’s inability to let go of Vildar, which caused him to cling to the Hand of Siberus to fill the void in his heart, which helps kickstart the process of seeing through H’tar’s visions. He reveals he didn’t just take the Hand, he took Vildar’s lightsaber as well, and once the ghostly Vildar doesn’t recognize the hilt, the illusion breaks for Tey and, as he cuts down the vision, he asks for forgiveness and admits he’s not well, but will try to be. Even Cibaba gets to do a little something this issue, as his past as a Child of the Storm is part of his blood now, literally, and he’s able to connect to H’tar, see she’s here and putting herself through immense pain to shroud their vision. Let’s keep up these character moments for the final two issues!
How can you not love the visual of the giant winged Nameless playing with a Longbeam by the team of artist Marika Cresta, colorist Jim Campbell, and letterer Ariana Maher?! The double-page splash is early on and both Sskeer’s Vector and Keeve’s Longbeam look so much smaller and less powerful than normal, as the Vector looks like a thin stick and the Longbeam looks like a toy model compared to the behemoth of a Nameless attached to the Gios. Maher’s sound FX for its screech reads like a mewling cry, like an animal playing with its prey, content to enjoy the spoils before tearing it apart, and gives the already creepy, pulsing mass of the Nameless an extra icky feeling. Poor OrbaLin, splitting himself too far and begins to fall apart, takes even more hits as the flying Namless, later revealed to be scav droids of course, pulls apart one of his copies’ Vector. The winged Nameless is a cooler and scarier visual than the scav droids are, while the little chunks of his gelatinous body freezing the longer he’s exposed to space, the “nameless” looming over his chair, is a chilling final image, yet the next page has the sadder one for OrbaLin, as what might be the only remaining copy, already smaller than the previous one that just got spaced, withers up into a puddle, Maher signifying this almost final form with the wispy tail of his word bubbles much more elongated for the scene, while the slurpy SFX gives it a wet sound, aiding the slippery visuals. The giant scav droid, what the flying Nameless over the Gios actually is, felt a little silly in its reveal, but it’s plain and simple design highlight how less frightening and easy it’ll be for our heroes to overcome than the tentacled flying Nameless.
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!!
- The script book for Tempest Breaker released May 13, so now’s your time to get all caught up on these characters’ journeys before the end of the era!
- I’d been hoping for more about Ai-Dan, but I missed the news the character was created to honor a young man through the Make a Wish Foundation! How amazing is that!
- “Where’s Rhil Dairo? Is she safe? Is she alright?” was a question I had last issue and she’s back for this one!!
- Don’t forget, Cavan Scott will do his best to spook us this fall with another new Star Wars horror series, this one titled Tales from the Nightlands!
- So what’s left for the High Republic? Unfortunately, yet excitedly enough, only several more 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: Fear of the Jedi #4 lets the characters cook to great effect, righting the ship as we head into the final two issues of Cavan Scott’s legendary multi-year runs!
+ Everyone has their fears to face, subtle Lourna part is a favorite
+ Now those were some creepy visuals which help make the truth less frightening
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him and the website on Bluesky.