The High Republic (2022) #6
THE HIGH REPUBLIC
BATTLE FOR THE FORCE
Chapter I: THE DAY THE STATUE FELL
Death has come to Jedha. Spurned by the Convocation, Werth Plouth, Herald of the Path of the Open Hand, takes to the streets to incite a riot. As he speaks, a Nameless terror sweeps over the crowd, sparking horrific visions in anyone capable of touching the Force.
Nearby, masked raiders break into the Temple of Kyber, giving disgraced Guardian of the Whills, Tey Sirrek, the opportunity he needs to escape his prison cell. His liberty proves short-lived as the Guardian turned thief is forced to protect those who had locked him away.
Meanwhile, Jedi Vildar Mac tries to help those trapped in a collapsing almshouse, only to get buried himself when explosions shift the building’s foundations. And during this time, Oliviah Zeveron and Master Leebon race to protect the gigantic statue of a Jedi warrior that has stood silently in Jedha’s frozen desert for centuries.
But they arrive too late, and the statue begans to fall….
Writer: Cavan Scott
Artist: Andrea Broccardo
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Colorist: Frank William
Cover artist: Yanick Paquette, Alejandro Sanchez
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publication date: March 8, 2023
As we rolled out of the last issue, the iconic Jedi statue we first saw in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story began to fall and as issue 6 folds back its impressive cover we find the statue smashing on the ground as the unrest on Jedha is seen from a variety of angles. Master Leebon and Oliviah Zeveron escape unharmed, but back in the city Jedi Matthea Cathley is trying her best to raise the rubble of the destroyed Path of the Open Hand Almshouse, but with tensions high her use of the Force is seen as the cause of its collapse, and she is attacked by the townsfolk. Under the rubble, Vildar Mac is trapped, using the Force to hold the rubble while inside he is castigated for using the very Force that’s keeping them all alive as one of them attempts to crawl through the rubble to get help.
Tey Sirrek is battling away against a number of adversaries who are chasing the Rod of Daybreak, which Tey claims he doesn’t have, but his anger is triggered when the order is given to lock down the temple just as Tey learns Vildar and Matty are at the Almshouse, and his help is clearly needed. Asking just what it is the Guardians of the Whills are meant to protect, people or property, we switch back to Vildar struggling under the rubble, still being challenged negatively but also positively as he remembers his childhood and the faith put in him by his Master who believed he could push his skills further. He is almost at breaking point, the rubble beginning to crumble as a crack of light appears and he spies the face of Tey peering through, the Guardians of the Whills with him.
The people now out of the Almshouse, Vildar tells Matty he isn’t strong enough to hold any longer, but she asks the others to join in and despite not being Force users they chant ‘I am one with the Force and the Force is with me‘ and with their support he manages to escape. With the Guardians of the Whills help, they opt to take the injured somewhere safe – Enlightenment, the bar run by Kradon Minst and guarded by the hulking Twinkle Sisters. Kradon is keen to close the doors, but using the Force Vildar keeps them open, reminding him that Enlightenment was in Kradon’s own words ‘a haven, a sanctuary‘ and we end as the injured make their way inside.
We appear to be racing through the second Phase of The High Republic, a time period I hope is revisited in the future as there are storytelling opportunities in and around the era that would certainly benefit from deeper investigation. The Jedi are viewed very differently, while locations like Jedha – familiar from Rogue One and seen here in ‘another galaxy, another time‘ – form the perfect backdrop. Six issues in and these characters are memorable and relatable; the eagerness of Matty, the weariness and uncertainty of Vildar, the ‘trying harder’ Tey, and with Phase 3 laid out recently at Celebration Europe we could soon be leaving these characters behind in an increasingly busy era of Star Wars where there’s every chance we won’t come this way again for a long time. That would be a shame.
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Scott, Cavan (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 23 Pages - 03/29/2023 (Publication Date) - Marvel (Publisher)
