– Spoiler Review –
Starting in January 2021 with Charles Soule’s Light of the Jedi, The High Republic has captivated fans for years now with a large cast of characters, unique era and stakes, tons of representation, and so much more. With Soule’s Shadows of Starlight #1, The High Republic era reaches its third and final Phase, Trials of the Jedi, by beginning to bridge the gap between the first and third Phases with some big surprises and hints at how connected this story really has been. If this is just the opening salvo in comic book form, you can only bet what sort of a wild ride fans, new or old, will be taken on in Phase III.
Shadows of Starlight #1 picks up right after the events of Phase I’s end with Starlight Beacon’s fall and broadly fills in a few months of Jedi-focused activities in the aftermath. The Jedi Order recalls its members to Coruscant and initiates Guardian Protocols, which sees Padawans and younglings fast-tracked in combat and advancements, their Temple Outposts staffed only with droids, and basically a buddy system initiated for all members, as the threat of the Nameless is unprecedented in modern memory and their true form and purpose remain shrouded in mystery thanks to the events of Phase II (partly because Yoda and Creighton Sun did it on purpose). Not all Jedi heeded the call, leaving some stuck behind the Nihil’s Stormwall, an invisible barrier of advanced technology making movement in and out of the space it’s annexed deadly for anyone who’s not a Nihil, while many remain lost or missing, even four or more months later. Some Jedi are concerned with breaking through, mainly Elzar Mann as he takes up Stellan Gios’ role alongside Chancellor Lina Soh, while many others want to understand the Nameless threat but don’t know where to start. The only one who does know where is Yoda, and as we saw in Midnight Horizon, he seemingly found a source of information…but the who and what remained a mystery…until now, and holy kark, it’s quite the reveal.
Yoda brings his hooded friend to the Jedi Council to discuss how they can help understand the Nameless threat but doesn’t quite set them up with enough warning: the hooded figure reveals himself to be Azlin Rell, a human Jedi from Phase II!!!! Despite Phase II wrapping up 150 years ago, Azlin Rell is still alive, though the last time we saw him was in The Edge of Balance: Precedent, where he had gone insane from his run-in with the Nameless on Dalna, eventually disappearing without a trace. Through his fear, he’s embraced the dark side of the Force, though doesn’t claim to be a Sith, instead using it to prolong his life and help him take the time to understand what the Nameless are so the Jedi can stop the threat. The Council is of course shocked, if not downright offensive in these revelations, ready to attack the man who came before them unarmed due to his heretical choices. Yoda holds them back and the group decides it’s worth a shot, so Yoda starts meditating with the fallen Jedi to unlock his memories and clear the cloud of fear.
The initial session doesn’t go so well when it takes them, in a vision, back to the caves of Dalna and Azlin strikes out at Yoda, but a session months later proves far more useful, which is where Yoda sees him with a strange crystal and more Phase II characters get mentioned, like Spence and Das Leffbruk, the father/son prospecting pair that visited Planet X, aka the Nameless planet, but had trouble finding their way back afterwards (while another prospector and the Path of the Open Hand had better luck). Das eventually became a Pathfinder in that era, helping build up a comms relay and greet new planets, but rumors persisted his ancestors have some type of compass to find their way there, as seen in the Quest for Planet X! Yoda and Azlin travel there, but something is amiss, as Azlin whispers into a random Abaneedo’s ear and they head off into the bowels of the bigger ship, unawares to Yoda as the two Jedi take a shuttle to the planet. On their way down, the bigger ship suddenly losses control and begins to rapidly descend on the city they’re travelling to, eventually crashing and killing thousands. Azlin’s proud of his choice, as he cut off a path to the Nameless that could’ve been exploited, and while he’s not terribly wrong, he’s going about it a terribly wrong way. Yoda’s appalled by the choice, but Azlin is sure it was the right one, as he’s sacrificed many to help defeat the Nameless and protect all Force users already, and he believes he can see what no one else can…as he’s no longer relying on his eyes for sight, since they’ve been removed?!!! Azlin’s return is HUGE and has tons of potential in the stories ahead, especially if Yoda still considers it worth it to deal with him after this event. Given the prophecy of the Chosen One includes a tidbit about many Jedi need to be sacrificed, “…to cleanse the sin done to the nameless,” Azlin isn’t wrong about sacrifices being required. I can’t wait to see more of where Azlin and Yoda’s story goes and hopefully their journey gets focused on in an upcoming book/comic, announced or otherwise.
Overall, this is such a good primer for what’s to come in Phase III, to the point I almost wish I had read it before November’s The Eye of Darkness, the first adult novel of the Phase. I can’t say anything until the embargo date, but I will say this is such a great read for what it all starts to set in motion regarding what we’ll all see in the Phase ahead, and I imagine I’ll feel the same about issue #2, also out in November. Not reading this series before the upcoming novel won’t affect your experience, but at this point, you’re probably already reading it all anyways, right?!
Each issue will not only focus on different characters, but it comes with different artists as well! Shadows of Starlight #1 has Ibraim Roberson, Fer Sifuentes-Sujo as colorist, and Travis Lanham lettering to convey both the big, terrible moment of Starlight’s fall to the wild and strange antics of Azlin Rell. It’s quite the start, the opening page the burning Starlight Beacon, tons of ship watching the symbol of the Republic and Jedi Order falling to its doom, followed by a double splash page, showing its initial devastating impact, the relief efforts, and the Jedi returning to the Coruscant Temple. It sort of gives readers a sense of the scope and scale of the issue, as well as how dire this event was viewed and permeates everything which will follow in the issue’s pages. Sifuentes-Sujo’s colors are hellfire with the burning station and moody as it crashes into the ocean, muted during the recovery efforts, and even the halls of the Jedi Temple feel not as shiny as they have in the past, the situation bringing shadows to everything. Considering how…different Azlin looks from his Phase II visage, I quite enjoyed how, during their first meditation session, we get an image of him with his lightsaber drawn back on Dalna, the fear of being back leading him to ignite his blade and go angry at the approaching Nameless, followed by an image of him in the issue’s present, holding one of the Temple Guard’s blades, in the same position, as this helps merge the two depictions/ages of the character together. One of my favorite pages is the double of Yoda walking through Azlin’s memories combined with tales of the present, in other parts of the galaxy, to show how important their work is, that it’ll effect a great deal if they can complete it faster. It almost makes you think things will go well when the mention of the Leffbruks seems to point to a path forward, as it cuts off the images from elsewhere and pulls us back to their mission, highlighting Yoda’s claim the path might just be enough. The image of Yoda in Azlin’s memories, sort of in the background, walking through, standing outside and watching, was also just a fun visual on its own. Lanham has his work cut out for him, letting all this awesome artwork sing but also making the issue’s heavy text flow right and he really brings it all together for an engaging time, despite all the dialogue. As much as he keeps sound FX and word bubbles out of the way, one sequence really highlighted his subtleties, which is when the ship goes crashing into the city. The SFX for the crash is devastatingly large, the biggest of the issue in fact, and it really makes readers focus on the ship’s impact, while Yoda’s simple words “Such…loss,” hovers over the fire of the destruction, showing how little his words are able to convey about what just happened. The final panel, Azlin’s revealing his missing eyes yet smiling after all he’s done, is disturbing in its simplicity and really sets a dark tone for what is yet to come in Phase III: Trials of the Jedi. Before we close out, I do have to mention, and for now I can only assume it was an honest mistake not only on Roberson’s part, but maybe by the whole editing team, but regrettable no one caught it: the depiction of Regald Cole’s face in the wall of missing Jedi, as seen in the Temple, is based off of a fan’s artwork of the character, mocked up to look like an official piece, instead of official artwork, and doesn’t offer any credit to the fan creator. Hopefully they work something out.
Here are a few other things:
- Reath Silas is with Ady Sun’Zee, who I am overjoyed to finally see make the jump from Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge VR series to the pages of main story of the era!! Her journey in both Part 1 and Part 2 of Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge, while short, offer some Jedi fun to the VR game while also going in some interesting psychological directions. It was promised we’d see her eventually, so I’m glad it’s so early in Phase III, as maybe we can see more of her in the stories ahead!
- There’s a scene where we learn the Order’s Master blade maker, who designs all the intricate hilts of the era, has to stop doing so to make them faster and in bulk, considering so many more Jedi will need them as they are rushed into training or promoted faster. It’s a small scene, but it puts us towards the bland, design-less sabers most of the Jedi Order has in the Prequel era, as while there will be some peace and maybe they can make them beautiful again for a little bit, it doesn’t look to be going that way.
- Also in the scene…Kirak Infil’a! Soule first introduced the Jedi character in his Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith series as a formidable foe for the newly christened and suited Sith Lord. Kirak only survived the initial purge thanks to taking the Barash Vow, which was started by Porter Engle’s ‘sister’ Barash Silvain, as seen in the events of Soule’s The High Republic – The Blade miniseries! Talk about full circle with Kirak now in the High Republic!
- In Soule’s latest newsletter, he revealed three younglings reacting not so favorably to the news they’ll be fast tracked are the same ones who will star next week’s (as of this publishing) Jedi Brave in Every Way, which he co-wrote with his daughter, Rosemary! Can’t wait to check it out!
- Don’t forget about the Tales of Light and Life collection, as it not only builds up story around some favorite Phase II characters, but it revisits Phase I characters and story, bridging the gap in a few ways as well. Also, it’s an absolute joy from start to finish!
- We got our first glimpse at the interiors for Marvel’s The High Republic – Phase III comic from Cavan Scott and Ario Anindito!
- Our very own Legendary Adventures connoisseur, Chris, guest appeared on the comics-focused podcast Star Wars Splash Page to discuss the issue! He gives some great insight, filling in how this is already hinting at how we get to the prequels, among other things. Give it a listen!
Shadows of Starlight #1 has no right being this explosively good, all while it shows Phase III won’t be pulling any punches with bringing the initiative all together.
+ Setting the stage for what’s to come
+ Azlin Rell reveal and all its potential
+ Connecting eras
+ Great scope, especially thanks to art
– Art referencing issue
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.