– Spoiler Review –
The High Republic issue #10 brings the series back after what feels like a long break, even though it’s only been a month, as I’ve been waiting on pins and needles for what Keeve Trennis will do with the impossible situation before her on her undercover mission into the Nihil! Let’s just say, the results are far more surprising and shocking than I even imagined!
Last issue’s interesting inclusion of the word ‘crusade’ fades but the big question of what the Jedi will do to stop the Nihil blight remains, because if Keeve Trennis was so adamant on saving the life of the Great Progenitor of the Drengir, is the life of Myarga the Hutt not also worth saving despite the importance of their undercover mission? Keeve and Terec both do everything they can here to ensure she survives, whether it be a distraction or messing with a improvised torture chamber, but before they are really totally pushed beyond their control, things get out of their control. Myarga the Hutt rats them out, Keeve’s decision to prevent the Hutt from killing the Progenitor coming back to haunt her, and then the wild card of the era arrives and throws everything into absolute chaos. As much as I enjoyed (see: threw angry side eyes at writer Cavan Scott) over what chaos ensued, I was a little disappointed Keeve and Terec weren’t tested further, as it feels like they get off easy from being in a truly compromising or difficult decision, and therefore don’t have to actually ever really push what it means to be a Jedi or push the golden age of Jedi into the first of many small cuts coming its way. They do end up in a situation far worse than had they committed Myarga’s murder to uphold the mission, but it still felt like we didn’t get enough time for this undercover mission to have as much weight as it could’ve, as reading these back to back won’t have the month long wait to find out what happens next to help prolong the precipice of Keeve’s decision.
Regardless, I loved Myarga blowing their cover, as it wouldn’t fit her character or her past with Keeve if she didn’t, and I was waiting all issue for the Hutt’s tail to drop. Keeve and Terec bring their lightsabers up, hoping Ceret, Avar Kriss, Sskeer and the other Jedi on the Ataraxia can make it to rescue them, but after a short fight with Zeetar in his fancy new suit and the other Nihil around them, it looks like the reinforcements won’t make it in time. In steps era wild card extraordinaire: Lourna Dee!! It’s been clear this arc took place after at least the opening part of Tempest Runner, Scott’s audio drama about Lourna Dee, where the Jedi think they’ve killed Dee during a raid, but she’s instead captured by the Republic and put through a reform prison. It ends with her still the Dee we all know, but even more ambitious and unwilling to bow to someone like Marchion Ro, picked up by Zeetar after escaping. So for her to be here in front of Keeve and Terec means this arc takes place after those events, as Lourna Dee is already on her way to usurping (or ruling alongside Ro) by getting Dr. Uttersound, who kept Ro’s Path giver Mari San Tekka alive for years (until recently, as seen in Out of the Shadows), to develop some type of weapon for her. Once Dee emerges from the shadows, already aware of the likely Jedi in their mist, she knocks out Terec and kills Myarga, and then has Uttersound bring out a box with deadly results.
In a hauntingly morbid reference to the movie Seven, Keeve screams the question on all our minds: what’s in the box?! From the look of its effects on the Jedi, it’s about as bad as I feared, as it’s either the Great Leveler itself, another Nameless creature like it, or some way of harnessing its Force quelling abilities, as it cuts Ceret and Terec off from one another and begins to turn Ceret, despite not even being there, to stone like Loden Greatstorm! We’ve seen the Drengir’s effects able to mess with both bond-twins despite their distance, but I didn’t expect it to go this far with the Leveler’s abilities. Imagine Avar Kriss, connected to all the Jedi like she was at Hetzal, and approached by the Leveler, using her connection against them…it would be a devastating moment for the Jedi Order, and for us readers, for sure! In Daniel José Older’s chilling and stellar start to the Trail of Shadows miniseries, the Jedi begin the investigation into what killed Loden and the issue begins with the petrified Loden turning to dust as catastrophically first mentioned in Scott’s The Rising Storm. I’ll be curious if events here will factor into that investigation, especially if Terec and/or Ceret end up as stone. If I thought last issue’s cliffhanger was a big one, this one is a murderous one and the drop-down box of “they know what they did” lands back at Scott.
Beyond all that chaos and terror, there’s a small moment promising Sskeer’s weakening connection to the Force has an answer. Dr. Gino’le of Starlight Beacon calls Sskeer, after we see him fail to barely lift a lightsaber with the Force, to tell him he knows why Sskeer is losing his connection. We briefly see an x-ray of Sskeer’s skeleton, so is it something in his body, potentially a fragment of the ship which torn off his arm during the events of Light of the Jedi? Or is it something from his species’ past that is getting in the way, but why now? Lots of big, looming questions to wait on for next month’s issue!
Ario Anindito and his team take another break and Georges Jeanty returns on art, with Carlos Lopez joining him as colorist, and Karl Story & Victor Olazaba as inkers, while Travis Lanham joins as letterer. I’ve enjoyed Jeanty’s work despite its differences with Anindito’s and it’s no different this issue, while both inkers impart their own stylizations but make for a cohesive issue. I particularly loved what the team did with the panel of Myarga electrocuted, her bones showing the power of the shock so strong, as it makes even more sense why she was eager to blow the Jedi cover. And Lourna Dee’s grand entrance paints her in a very imposing style, seemingly looming over the Jedi as they brought low by the pain Myarga is going through. Her series of panels knocking out Terec and shooting the Hutt are framed and drawn in such a way it seems like a casual act for her, like walking to a cantina and having a swig, adding to her ruthless demeanor. The final page, of Ceret turning to stone, is haunting, from how it’s consuming only one half of his body (maybe Terec only has one side turning too, to symbolize their symbiosis) to the eerie white purple eyes. I will say there was one panel where Avar Kriss looked more like a young girl than the woman she is today, and Sskeer looks a little scrunched, but these moments were few and far between. Carlos Lopez’s colors were a little bright for my tastes, further adding to the feeling there wasn’t enough weight to the undercover mission since it was lit more heroically than dingy and uncertain as it was in issue #9. However, from the freaky eyes on Ceret, the purple miasma surrounding them as the box is unveiled, or the electrifying blue shocking Myarga, there were several great moments. Lanham is normally letterer for the Bounty Hunters series though he matches Ariana Maher’s style a bit more than his own for big SFX moments, adding a little flair for the “vmmm” as Dee’s mysterious box opens.
Here are a few other things:
- This is one of THREE comics written by Scott releasing on 10/20/21: there’s also the start to his Rogue Squadron story in Star Wars Adventures #11 (Vol. 2) and the grand finale to Ghosts of Vader’s Castle!
- We’re only two months out from the launch of Phase I: Light of the Jedi’s Wave III, the final part of this first Phase. With all the foreboding content in the most recent comic issues, even The High Republic Adventures’ latest, and the ominous titles for the upcoming books, it looks to be darker start to 2022’s The High Republic content.
The High Republic #10 might bring the undercover mission to a quick end, what happens next ratchets up the tension to unbearable levels. As much as I want to curse Scott, why am I enjoying and looking forward to these nail-biting, emotionally charged moments so much?!?
+ Lourna Dee’s chaos inducing stroll into the story
+ Myarga blowing their cover
+ Promise of Sskeer details
– Covers quickly lifted on undercover mission
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 COMIC REVIEWS:
There Is No Fear: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 — Heart of the Drengir: #6 | #7 | #8 — The Shadow of the Nihil: #9