Published: January 19, 2022
Rating: T
Writer: Cavan Scott
Artist: Ario Anindito
Inker: Mark Morales
Colourist: Carlos Lopez
Letterer: VC’s Ariana Maher
Book Design: Carlos Lao
Cover Artist: Phil Noto
The synopsis;
THE BATTLE FOR NO-SPACE! Since MARCHION RO attacked the Republic Fair on VALO, everything has been leading to this moment. Now it’s THE JEDI’s turn to strike the heart of THE NIHIL. AVAR KRISS VS. LOURNA DEE. JEDI VS. NIHIL. JEDI VS. JEDI. A line is about to be crossed!
The review;
Striding purposefully down a ship’s hallway, blaster bolts scattering harmlessly in her path, Avar Kriss’s entrance on Noto’s direct cover is fantastically reminiscent of Darth Vader’s hallway scene from Rogue One. Anindito’s variant is then a shocking close-up of a lightsaber duel between Avar and her fellow Jedi, Keeve Trennis, which raises so many questions its begging fans to pick up the comic. Finally, Pham’s explosive variant showcases an ominous Lourna Dee in full mech-armour, wielding a crackling red vibro-sword.
Jedi Marshal Avar Kriss has gone AWOL! After the atrocities committed by the Nihil on Valor and Xais, Kriss has decided to lead a mission to No-Space, the hideout of the Nihil, without the permission of the Council. Determined to stop Tempest Runner, Lourna Dee, before any more Jedi come to harm, she leads the raid without mercy. However, are her actions the will of the Force or is the Dark Side whispering to the Marshal? And can young Jedi Knight Keeve Trennis save her before it’s too late?
Star Wars has always been about poetry; everything links together. While the events of The High Republic are set two hundred years before Episode I, history is repeating itself in Cavan Scott’s writing for The High Republic #13. Avar Kriss has held the Jedi together through the Great Disaster. She’s been a bastion of hope for Starlight Beacon. Her song within the Force has been so strong. And yet here she is, dancing with the Dark Side, showing no remorse for her actions, as she plunders the main hideout of the Nihil. Scott has taken the Jedi’s greatest hero of this golden era, and is making her fall, though it’s currently unclear just where she’ll land.
This is not the Avar fans have come to love and admire. Slowly, over the last several comics, she’s been growing more and more frustrated by the inaction of the Jedi Council against the threat of the Nihil. Even turning her back on her friend and fellow Master, Stellan Gios. While Stellan has been advising caution, Avar wants to fight. Just like Anakin Skywalker will come to do over two hundred years later. When she leads the charge into the Nihil’s Great Hall, she intends to take no quarter, and her actions are cloaked in darkness. Avar’s fight with Lourna Dee is the climax that fans have been eagerly waiting for, but will it be to the cost of Avar’s connection with the light?
In The Rising Storm, also by Scott, fans got to see how Elzar Mann struggled to fight the Nihil without embracing the Dark Side, even if for just a moment. It shows how great a threat the Nihil really are, if two of the strongest Jedi of their generation are willing to let go of their core tenets. How this is affecting them isn’t yet answered, but Elzar was certainly left with a lot of regret. Avar seems beyond this in The High Republic #13, as her anger towards Lourna is now something very personal. Emotions cloud the judgement of any Jedi, and that’s exactly what’s happening in this issue.
What’s even worse is that Keeve can see what’s happening to Avar and is trying to stop it. First by attempting to reason with the Marshal, hoping she’ll see sense. Unfortunately, that doesn’t go to plan, and instead the two trade blows in a fight similar to Anakin and Obi-Wan’s during Revenge of the Sith. It’s devastating for Keeve, who is only trying to stop Avar from becoming the very thing she’s trying to destroy. Avar is not evil like the Nihil, but how she metes out justice will affect so much.
This is reflected in Anindito’s artwork, which cuts Avar in a more angular and aggressive style. Her expressions are angrier, and her eyes are often cast in shadow throughout the panels. Lourna, however, is even scarier in the comic, with her sharpened teeth and yellowed eyes. While she’s briefly been seen before in this series, Anindito has much more to work with this time, showing off Lourna’s battle scars overall deadliness. The sequence when Jedi fights Nihil is just an entire feast for the eyes and feels very fast to read, plus it seems over too quickly even though it’s several pages long.
Yet, in true Cavan Scott style, this issue doesn’t have a neat conclusion. As Avar stands to take down Lourna permanently, the comic ends at a cliffhanger. Will Avar kill the Twi’lek? Or is there a Jedi who may be able to stop her downfall to the Dark Side? It’s going to be an agonising wait for fans to find out in The High Republic #14.
Availability;
Star Wars: The High Republic #13 was published January 17, 2022 by Marvel Comics. This issue retails at $3.99 and is available via The Marvel App and from all good comic book stores.
