Star Wars: The High Republic: Trail of Shadows #2
EMERICK AND SIAN FACE TOTAL AN-NIHIL-ATION!
As dead ends and loose threads mount in Jedi Master Emerick Caphtor’s investigation, he’s called to Coruscant, where Chancellor Soh introduces him to his new partner: private eye Sian Holt.
Together, they must go undercover to infiltrate one of the most crime-riddled and dangerous planets in the galaxy. Will Emerick’s duty to the Republic get in the way of Sian’s personal vendetta? Time’s running out to close this case…and what do the Nihil have to do with any of this?!
Writer: Daniel José Olderi
Artist: David Wachter
Letterer: Joe Sabino
Colorist: Giada Marchisio
Cover artist: David López
Publication date: November 24, 2021
With the Jedi shook to their core by the Nihil attack on Loden Greatstorm and his grizzly death, investigators are brought in to find out as much as they can about this terrifying, fear-inducing attack, but even the most diligent professionals can only maker so much ground before they hit a dead end and months after the attack Emerick Caphtor is struggling with his task. That is, until Chancellor Lina Soh summon Caphtor and Sian Holt to her office in the Republic Executive Building, telling them they are to work together on the investigation. Initially reticent, Holt is surprised to learn that not only is Emerick working on the case of her partner Kefar Branto’s death, but that he was on an undercover mission for the Republic, investigating the black market sale of a valuable Nihil weapon.
We switch worlds from Coruscant to Vorzyd V where a Republic Pau’an undercover agent makes contact with the sellers agent, a murdered called Arathab Fal, but when the agent asks to clarify the legitimacy of the weapon, Far calls his own bosses three hulking Nihil barge in. In that same sector, Emerick and Sian arrive, Holt explaining her true motivations as they both dress for the mission at hand down in the slums of Efavan, while Far reports back about the Nihil arriving. Holt and Caphtor arrive at the crime scene, faking their way in and finding the murdered Pau’an in a smashed up room.
Reports arrive of a firefight and we move across tow to the Nihil battling Far, joined shortly by Caphtor and Holt who takes down one of the Nihil and then watch as Far escapes on a swoop. Caphtors droid manages to flick a tracker onto the swoop and relays that information via comm to an unseen Stellan Gios, telling him he believes he has found the mastermind behind the dreaded Nihil weapon.
With so much going on in the post The Rising Storm galaxy and plot threads weaving like Krykna webs, it would be easy for issues like this to run away with the finer details and forget to tell an interesting story, but thankfully DJ Older is a far better storyteller than that, touching all the bases while still propelling the plot as Holt and Caphtor begin a working relationship of convenience – how do you say no to the Supreme Chancellor? – as they hunt for clues. The art by David Wachter is very easy on the eye, while the colours by Giada Marchisio are well-chosen, all complimenting that snappy, busy storyline by Older. In what could easily have become a superfluous spin-off title, Trail of Shadows is developing nicely into an important The High Republic read, showing there’s more to the Jedi than simply tapping into the Force, even they have to do grunt work sometimes.
Star Wars: The High Republic: Trail Of Shadows #3 (Wu Variant) @ ForbiddenPlanet.com
