Phase II of Star Wars: The High Republic isn’t quite over just yet– there’s still a few more issues left to go of Dark Horse’s The High Republic Adventures comic book– but the Marvel side is wrapping things up this week with the release of the climactic issue #10 of its flagship The High Republic title by acclaimed writer Cavan Scott.
Star Wars: The High Republic (2022) #10 begins where the previous issue left off– in the secret Jedi vault that lies underneath the now collapsed statue of the Final Protector in the Jedha desert.
In a nice bookend to the events of The High Republic Phase II #1, the former Guardian of the Whills Tey Sirrek awakens from what we were intended to believe was his death, only to reveal that he was using his Sephi ability to stop his own heart, much like he did to Jedi Vildar Mac way back then. I’m usually bugged by fake-out death in Star Wars and other storytelling, but here it was such a clever callback to those first couple issues that I couldn’t help but appreciate it. But speaking of Vildar, Tey finds his ally having been entranced by the dark-side power held within the Hand of Siberus as the Jedi battles the Herald of the malevolent Force Cult known as the Path of the Open Hand, Werth Plouth. Tey tries to snap Vildar out of his trance, but he also has to fight off Path members Shea Ganandra and Yana Ro at the same time, along with the Force-eating beast called the Leveler. Yana is using the combined Rods of Seasons and Daybreak to control the creature, though Tey manages to snap the artifact back in half, leaving the Evereni with only one piece as she races off to find her sister Marda.
Now, it’s important to note here that many of the events of this comic were spoiled in the excellent young-adult novel Star Wars: The High Republic – Path of Vengeance, which was released at the beginning of May and was also written by Scott. But even knowing that this issue would end with Plouth in custody, Sirrek still alive, and Yana and Shea having escaped to rejoin the Path didn’t reduce my enjoyment of it whatsoever. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that I enjoyed Phase II of Marvel’s The High Republic comic just as much, if not more than, Phase I. Scott’s plotting and dialogue remain top-notch, while the gorgeous, kinetic artwork by Ario Anindito continues to draw me in more and more with each passing panel. And while we obviously got more of these characters in Path of Vengeance, I’m going to miss reading about Vildar, Matty Cathley, and Tey in the pages of this comic. Though Phase III of The High Republic promises to jump ahead in time to catch up with the characters and events we met in Phase I, I do hope that someday Lucasfilm Publishing deems it appropriate to return to this era, and to follow up on the tragic events that befell Jedha thanks to the Path of the Open Hand.
Star Wars: The High Republic #10 is available now wherever comic books are sold.