Writer Charles Soule’s Marvel Comics miniseries Star Wars: the High Republic – The Blade comes to an epic conclusion in issue #4, which was released earlier this week.
The High Republic – The Blade #4 picks up right where the penultimate issue left off– with Jedi Masters Porter Engle and Barash Silvain caught in the middle of a bloody conflict between two warring nations on the Gansevor, also known as the “Planet of Knives.”
Porter Engle finds himself on the battlefield out in front of the walled city of Firevale, face-to-face with the “Jedi Killer” mercenary General Viess, though of course Engle (known as the “Blade of Bardotta” later on in the Star Wars timeline) is able to defeat her in hand-to-hand combat without difficulty. Despite repeated offers to end the conflict peacefully, Viess reacts to her dueling embarrassment by ramping up hostilities on Firevale, and even massacring the forces of its opposing city who hired her in the first place. Meanwhile back in Firevale itself, Porter’s adopted sister Barash Silvain discovers a dark truth about this savage dispute– it was spurred on by the star-crossed prince and princess of their respective cities, who had planned to depose the queen and take control themselves, lying to the Jedi about their personal involvement in the process. After the truth comes to light, the princess takes to the city’s parapets to stop her people from attacking Firevale and instead turn on the ruthless mercenaries who betrayed them.
Once the dust has settled on the battlefield, with the mercenaries having fled in defeat, Barash confesses to Porter that– though she is renowned across the galaxy for her empathic abilities– she was unable to detect the deceit practiced by the members of Gansevor’s royal families. Consequently Silvain decides to take a sabbatical from the Jedi Order, sending poor Engle back to Coruscant to relay her regrets to the Jedi Council. It’s a dark turn for Porter, who is subsequently sent off to Bardotta while readers are teased with a sequel miniseries entitled The Broken Blade. Naturally I’ll be looking forward to reading that whenever it sees release, as I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed by a Star Wars comic written by Soule, and that trend continued with The Blade. His collaboration with artist Jethro Morales and colorist Jim Campbell here brought about a moving, intriguingly morally ambiguous tale that shed some light on the history of one of The High Republic’s most enigmatic characters. Without his faithful sister Barash Silvain at his side, I can’t wait to see where Porter Engle goes from here.
Star Wars: The High Republic – The Blade #4 is available now wherever comic books are sold.