– Spoiler Review –
While they’ve unmasked the horrors around them as trickery, is it too late for Keeve Trennis and her Stormwall Defense Fleet to hold back the Nihil reinforcements from Eriadu? Find out how the big battle ends, and what it means for our heroes going forward, in our review of The High Republic: Fear of the Jedi #5!
While July’s The High Republic: The Finale – The Beacon is still ahead to deal with the fallout from the events of Fear of the Jedi #5, this final issue works well as an ending to the current storylines, putting my initial unease with the brevity of the series to rest; never doubt Cavan Scott! There’s a lot of pressure on The Finale – The Beacon but he’s proved himself time and time again and I’m very much looking forward to what will be an emotional final issue. And we know it’ll be emotional not only from Dooku: Jedi Lost’s long seeded tease, but also from Fear of the Jedi #5, as Keeve Trennis’ plea to the citizens of the galaxy who have been under the Nihil’s rule captures the character’s vulnerability, while the actions which bring the battle to an end proves victory looks different for everyone. If you’re concerned about reading this before Charles Soule’s June 17 novel, Trials of the Jedi, while this does reveal the end of the Nihil, in a sense, it’s not much without the book’s greater context, so this is a nice tease for one of many aspects Trials will cover. I’ll have my full review of it on the Manor June 17!*
There are plenty of examples throughout Fear of the Jedi of Keeve’s already simmering discontentment with the Order and her urgency with saving all Light and Life, but the series’ biggest examples hit this issue, though while I wish it had been more of a focus, I’m glad the other characters from Scott’s repertoire weren’t sidelined, which could’ve been the case had these five issues been more about Keeve anyways. It’s these two big examples in issue #5 which set the stage for Keeve’s final appearance in the current High Republic storytelling and we’ll start with her speech! I really enjoyed this moment, as the normally quiet and reserved Jedi Master shares her vulnerabilities attempting to call for help. But it’s not just hers on display, as she mentions she’s afraid just like anyone else, it’s also the Order’s, as while they can do extraordinary things with the Force, they are just beings as well, with flaws and problems of their own, and they need others to help them too; something we’ve seen work well against the Nameless. By being so open to help, of showing they are just beings too, the tagline of Republic Chancellor Lina Soh, “We are all the Republic” leaves slogan territory and becomes manifest. It also felt like a comment from Scott himself, of how now, more than ever, we must band together to help those who can’t help themselves and also join together against injustices and fight back, as one. To see fighting together in action with the arrival of a smattering of reinforcements gives us a taste of what it could be like to band together and put differences aside.
Helping others is exactly what Keeve strives to do, even her ‘enemies,’ so she’s pushing the entire issue for them to uncover H’tar, the Child of the Storm projecting all the scary visions, and bring her down without violence. Master Cibaba uses his connection with H’tar to find her, which leads to the woman projecting herself inside the Gios, talking to him and even Velko. As the Fear Machine tears her apart, her resistance worsening the situation, she makes a plea for Cibaba to help her, no matter if it means her death or not, and while Keeve and Cibaba push for saving her, Lourna Dee takes the shot and destroys the ship and H’tar with it. While it seems like a practical choice, as the Nihil ships fly away afterwards, ending the threat of them reinforcing and overwhelming the Republic forces over Eriadu, we learn they’re fleeing because the Nihil surrendered (yes, you’ll need to read Trials for the full details on how that happened!!), so had Lourna waited, could they have had a chance to save H’tar? It’s a question which seems to hang over the joyous victory celebrations and hugs, Velko giving one to Keeve, as both Trennis and Cibaba have tears in their eyes over H’tar’s death despite the victory. Was the victory worth losing her, as Cibaba’s proven they can undo Baron Boolan’s work and bring those he’s corrupted back to the light? It’s a question which hangs over the ending and will wait in the wings for resolution in July 30’s The High Republic: The Finale – The Beacon.
Remaining on art for issue #5, and will do so for the Finale issue, is Marika Creta, Jim Campbell on colors, and Ariana Maher lettering. There are various levels of Keeve in Fear #5 and the art team does a great job showcasing those extremes, which better lets her vulnerability or disappointment show. It starts with Keeve showing off her skills with a saber, a cool panel where we see her progress from left to right, slicing through scav droids, the green of her saber illuminating even against a luminously blue, action background, Maher guiding us along with sound FXs and a final word bubble. As she begins her speech, there’s a hardness to her face, matching the seriousness of the situation before them, yet we also get a look at her holding herself as she admits her fear, and having these two sides of her so close to one another on the page makes Keeve feel even more relatable. The team does this with H’tar as well, whose first appearance this issue is frightening, Velko shouting in terror as the woman is suddenly standing behind her, and H’tar is presented as menacing, with deep shadows and a set, emotionless expression on her face, which later gives way to a close-up of her sneer as the final panel of said page. Then as H’tar pleads with Cibaba to help her, we see her pupils for once, instead of a mask with white, scary eyes, they look like anyone else’s eyes now, and gone is her sneer and menacing shadows, but she’s well-lit in the scene and her face looks younger, sadder, then before. She looks like someone who needs saving.
Here are a few other things:
- It’s June, so you know that means Pride Month variants are here!! Betsy Cola’s Mother Koril, from The Acolyte, is on Fear of the Jedi #5, see above!
- *I gave my briefest, spoiler-free thoughts about Trials of the Jedi on Bluesky, but one thing I’ll add here is I wish certain aspects of this issue got a mention in the book, but I’m not going to elaborate that until June 17.
- As for who shows up to help Keeve and team? The Togruta, who have been sticklers about joining the fight and I wish this era spent time on their society than passing comments, as their arrival could’ve hit with more umph; the Hutts, via Skarabda’s return to the story; the Mon Cala fleet, another species I’d have loved to have more from in this era; and even Master Kelnacca and his Padawan, Yarzion Vell.
- 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 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 #5 brings the plot to an entertaining conclusion, but dangles character arcs to wrap up in the big Finale issue yet to come.
+ Victory looks different for everyone
+ Keeve’s speech
+ Art team capturing dueling facets of a character to make the swings even more impactful
– Glad we’re getting one more issue, wish a little more resolution happened here
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him and the website on Bluesky.
THE HIGH REPUBLIC – FEAR OF THE JEDI REVIEWS
#1 | #2 | #3 | #4