Star Wars: The High Republic #8
THE HIGH REPUBLIC
HEART OF THE DRENGIR
CHAPTER III: The Root of Terror
As the galaxy prepared to celebrate the REPUBLIC FAIR on Valo, a fierce battle rages in the depths of Wild Space.
Marshal Avar Kriss has gathered a task force of Jedi and Hutt enforcers to take the fight to the evil DRENGIR, targeting the source of their power on the forest world of Mulita.
Jedi and Hutt stand shoulder to shoulder in battle, but there is no sign of troubled Jedi Knight Keeve Trennis….
Writer: Cavan Scott
Penciller: Ario Anindito
Inker: Mark Morales
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Colorist: Annalisa Leoni
Cover artist: Phil Noto
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publication date: August 11, 2021
We open with a tense conversation between Master Sskeer and Master Esstala far away on Starlight Beacon as their differing focuses – Sskeer’s on the Drengir threat and Esstala’s on the imminent Republic Fair – mean the much-needed Jedi reinforcements will be tied up, and as the line fails and we swing to Mulita the intent of the phrase ‘all the fun of the fair‘ couldn’t be more distant. Jedi pile into battle against the dreaded root of the Drengir alongside rancor-riding Hutts, giving artist Ario Anindito the chance to lay down a stunning splash page as enemy forces clash. The battle isn’t going well, the friction between Jedi and Hutts evident and made worse when the Drengir bring in their own battle beasts. The fight looks lost, until Keeve Trennis returns with fellow warrior Orla Jareni, a pale white woman who has a personal history with Sskeer. Keeve is told of Avar heading towards the Great Progenitor, something she believes is a mistake and she’s right as the GP arrives, a captured Avar in its grip.
However, the Great Progenitor has made an error. By using Avar to connect all the Jedi in a mini hive mind, she has enabled them to work together, cutting it off from the root mind it had only recently reconnected with after a long imprisonment at the hands of the sith. Naturally the Hutts want to end the Drengir, but the Jedi stop them, protecting life as Master Kriss says. They imprison the Great Progenitor in a powerful field with a plan to take it to Starlight Beacon and vowing to protect it even from the vengeful Hutts.
An interesting end as the temporary union between Hutts and Jedi comes to and end, and as communication with Starlight is restored we’re hurled into the events of The Rising Storm as a clearly stunned Esstrala tells them that the Nihil have returned, and in their murderous rage they couldn’t be stopped as they attacked the fair.
An interesting way to end the Drengir threat, by imprisoning it just as the sith had done centuries before. With the Hutts onside for the first time in forever, they leave angry and hungry for blood after a face off that only highlights the difference between the Jedi of this era and the Jedi we get to know later. There’s a whiff of Star Trek: The Next Generation here, when the Enterprise held the key that would ened the Borg, but instead gave them the chance to live, a decision that would haunt the Federation for many years to come. Here, we have no idea if the Drengir will return – on the grand scale of The High Republic they feel like the B villains to the far more prominent Nihil, despite the high probability that the Drengir have taken far more lives across the galaxy. However, that end moment from The Rising Storm is a vivid reminder that the galaxy is in turmoil, and a timely crossover with a book that really got folks talking.
As ever Cavan Scott delivers a tidy tale, standing on its own while threading into other stories and Ario Anindito in concert with inker Mark Morales and colorist Annalisa Leoni absolutely smashes it, a feast for the eyes as the era builds and builds. Never anything other than an engrossing read as we now move into the post-Republic Fair / THAT moment at the end of The Rising Storm era.
Star Wars: High Republic #9 (Pagulayan Variant) @ ForbiddenPlanet.com
