– Spoiler Review –
Charles Soule’s next entry in Shadows of Starlight, which is filling in the year between Phase I and Phase III of The High Republic, takes an emotional turn as it focuses on the fallout of Stellan Gios’ death on his closest friends, Avar Kriss and Elzar Mann!
As someone who has read The Eye of Darkness, without spoiling anything, the context this issue adds to Avar Kriss and Elzar Mann’s journeys in the novel is invaluable. You could easily read the book and not feel like you missed anything if you haven’t read this issue, but seeing some of what it all mentions, and fleshing those moments out, is what makes Shadows of Starlight #2 an absolute not miss and will only serve to make the book’s events for these two characters even more emotional.
Shadows of Starlight #2 starts immediately after Starlight’s fall and covers several months of time, but the initial chunk of the issue starts with a big conversation Avar and Elzar have only a few days later. Both are dealing with the loss of Stellan, their polestar, and what they view is their part in his death, as they can’t help but feel like their actions alone are the cause. Avar makes her case first, how her actions chasing after Lourna Dee took her away from Starlight and left Stellan to take her place, her continued failures to live up to her lofty titles what brought their friend down. Elzar makes his next, revealing to Avar how he executed Chancey Yarrow before understanding the full situation, leading to the station’s collapse and Stellan’s selfless actions. Instead of them trying to help one another through these moments, they are too focused on taking the blame as a way of lessening the burden on the other, but they don’t get to talk about it much more when Avar reveals she’s not complying with the Jedi Council’s orders to return home. She thinks being a Jedi, not focusing on decisions based on what she or Elzar need while being a Jedi, is the only path forward for justice to be served against the Nihil for what they’ve done, for what they’ve stolen from them.
What follows is us seeing their earliest actions in the months which follows, with Elzar in the Republic trying to fill in Stellan’s shoes, beard and all, and Avar eventually behind the Stormwall, trapped in Nihil controlled space and looking for a way to serve justice. For Avar, she comes to Allard, where the inhabitants learn from the Nihil they’ll get along just fine as long as they accept the Jedi are their enemies now, but they still help her as she helps them. With Elzar, he grows frantic to contact Avar, to make sure she’s alright, after the Stormwall goes up. Avar’s attempts to help come undone eventually, as somehow the Nihil learn of a Jedi’s involvement with the planet and send General Viess’ (who has a starring antagonist role in Soule’s The High Republic – The Blade miniseries and returns in Darkness) Jedi hunters to track her down and teach the village a lesson. As for Elzar, with JJ-5145 aka Forfive at his side, his attempts fail, first being unable to correctly build old technology and later when Forfive does what Stellan would’ve and stops Elzar from being Elzar. However, the droid knows how important his goals of reaching out to Avar are, so he’s correctly built the old technology, and Elzar attempts to make contact one last time.
On November 5, I recorded an episode of the Star Wars Alliance podcast alongside the wonderful Katie where we reviewed The Eye of Darkness, though it’ll be out November 9, and once again without spoiling anything, I made a theory on the show about Shadows of Starlight #2 likely ending with Elzar using some type of arcane tech to contact Avar, as he mentions attempting in the year prior at one point during the book. The fact he even said it hurt him to do so, and he didn’t even know if it worked, sounded far too ripe for emotional plundering to be left untouched, and in a way, I wish I was wrong and we didn’t see it here because it’s such a great, emotional moment which only serves to make Darkness all the more powerful seeing it now. When he begins to use the tech, we flash to Avar, defeated as she watches the village be destroyed, unsure of how to proceed, and then she hears her name, in Elzar’s voice, and it inspires her, calling her to action and into the village to protect them, for Light and Life. When we check back in with Elzar, he’s eager never to use the tech again, blood coming out of his ears and nose, but he has a renewed sense of purpose, of never stopping until he can bring down the wall and save his friend and all those trapped by the Nihil. They still have plenty to work through and Darkness covers a lot of it, and then some, but this is a such a great way to pick up their story initially after the events of Phase I, as it opens the potential we’ll be getting a lot more from both of them going forward.
Ever since Doctor Aphra (Vol. 2)’s opening arc closed in 2020, I’ve hoped we’d see more of artist Marika Cresta and thankfully this year we’ve gotten more from her and she continues not to disappoint in this issue, joined by GURU-eFX on colors and Travis Lanham for lettering. For starters, I liked the changes she brings to Elzar and Avar as time, distance, and their situations take a toll. For Elzar, the sprinkling of a beard on his face, a resolve and purpose to his expressions, yet some desperation creeping in at the edges, as he tries to make contact with Avar, is a contrast to his earlier appearance in the issue, clean shaven as we’ve often seen him, while he’s sad and the weight of what happens heaps on his shoulders. I also am very glad GURU-eFX’s work solidifies Elzar as olive-skinned, whereas it was a worry among fans, and rightly so, he was being whitewashed, but there’s no mistaking the correct skin color for the character in this issue. As for Avar, she’s closer to her new concept art look by the end of the issue, a dark, dirty robe and clothes to match, no longer white and bright gold, while her diadem is gone as well. For most of the issue she’s obviously unhappy and defeated, and while some joy returns as she’s helping the village, it’s lost again as she surveys the damage the Nihil are doing. The two times she ignites a lightsaber this issue are big character moments and show her change: in the opening scene she lights up Stellan’s blade, Lanham’s sound FX small and quiet, its glow revealing her sad face, her eyes looking longingly at the blade, seeming to imply Stellan’s missing presence, and her self-imposed belief she was responsible, looms over her still, while it also feels like she’s hiding behind its light; the second scene is after she hears Elzar say her name, spurring her to action, and this time she’s holding her own lightsaber, the bigger SFX matching the bold move, high over her head, not hiding behind the light but being a beacon herself, even though the giant station that was one fell. The blade’s color cuts into the night sky and her face is hopeful, happy, not sad like when she held Stellan’s, and as she goes into the village to protect them, the coloring and position remain to make her swinging outwards with the light, being its beacon.
Here are a few other things:
- Also out today is Cavan Scott’s The High Republic – Phase III, which I’ll have a review for likely by Thursday, so Phase III overall really feels in full swing with The Eye of Darkness out next week and The High Republic Adventures – Phase III in December!
- UPDATE: We got some expanded details and looks at Stellan Gios’ lightsaber which will be available in limited quantities to own on November 17!
- Revealed last week was new concept art of our heroes and villains, while the official site’s Databank included some more new faces/updated art.
- Minecraft, the wildly popular video game, received a Star Wars expansion called Path of the Jedi, and it includes a High Republic reference with the Temple’s Kyber Arch!
- There are only two issues left, with next month’s focusing on Bell Zettifar and Ember, and January’s finale putting villainous Marchion Ro at the forefront!
The High Republic – Shadows of Starlight #2 sits you down and tears apart your emotions as we see how Avar Kriss and Elzar Mann (fail to) deal with the loss of their friend.
+ Diving into Avar Kriss and Elzar Mann emotional baggage
+ Art team delivering, especially on showing Avar becoming a beacon again
+ Setting up the journey these two still have to go
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.
THE HIGH REPUBLIC – SHADOWS OF STARLIGHT REVIEWS
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