Review: There’s a Wild Chase on Jedha in Marvel’s The High Republic #2
The High Republic continues its return to our bookshelves with the second edition of the titular comic series: The High Republic. Cavan Scott brought the heat with the first issue, but he took a much lighter approach in the second. The first issue ended when Vildar Mac seemed to drop dead with Padawan Matthea Cathley left standing stunned. A mysterious figure claiming to be a dark side user with knowledge of arcane powers stopped Vildar’s heart with a single touch. It was undoubtedly the cliffhanger to leave your first issue on, and this one picks up right where it left off.
Ultimately, I enjoyed this one, but I haven’t found myself connecting to the characters as quickly as I did the first High Republic comic go around. I’m sure I will come around, but I’m not there yet. The direction of the comic is exciting, and Path of Deceit readers already know part of the answer to the looming mystery surrounding this The High Republic series. In regard to the mysterious character in this one, we received several answers, but this comic serves as a setup for the third issue.
Now, let’s get into it.
Spoilers ahead…
The High Republic #2 begins with another flashback into Vildar’s past. Who this mysterious dark side user from his childhood is, I have no clue. I’m sure we will learn more about this looming presence in the future, but for now, it appears we have to keep waiting.
Vildar’s journey with death didn’t last long. He sprung quickly to life in the opening pages of this one. Gasping for air, barely able to stand, he stumbled his way toward the door of the building. Matty was concerned, but Vildar was hell-bent on finding the one who did this to him. The one who claimed to know the ancient rite of Morichro and seems to have killed once already.
Rather than retreat to the convocation chambers or the Temple of the Whills, Vildar wants to find the killer. In a stunning display of power, he communes with the Force to see an image of where the killer is heading. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything like this before. He was able to will the Force to show him someone’s location. He told Matty it isn’t always accurate, but I was impressed, nonetheless.
This image of Vildar displaying his prowess as a Force user is one of my favorites in the comic. It not only fuses several images with a tremendous amount of color, but Vildar also pops off the page as his desperation to find the mysterious figure is overwhelming.
After Vildar describes what he sees in his vision, Matty knows where to go. They make their way to The Enlightenment. An establishment owned by one Kardon; a curious, multi-armed, bug-like creature with a heavy appetite for profit.
On their way to Kardon’s establishment, the Jedi encounter a group of people belonging to the Path of the Open Hand. The Path has been lightly sprinkled into these comics so far, and for readers who haven’t read Path of Deceit, I will just say this: the Path is a cult made up of Force believers whose mission is to “liberate the Force” from those who would abuse it. For instance, using the Force in the way the Jedi do is considered an atrocity. They believe if you are to use the Force in one place, it retroactively takes the Force away from another, leaving destruction and death in its wake.
Vildar and Matty encounter a leader of the group proselytizing in the streets. Matty is beckoned to by both the leader and members of the crowd. Telling Matty to heed the message or suffer the consequences, the Path shows that subtlety is not their greatest strength with this type of messaging. The Path is going to loom large over everything to come.
Once arriving at Kardon’s, the picture of the story becomes a bit clearer. It turns out our mysterious foe is no dark side user at all. Vildar makes a fool of himself in front of everyone as he tries to attack who we now know as Tey Sirrek at first sight. Sirrek hasn’t killed anyone. He claims he was trying to help. He is no dark-side user, but his people developed a survival technique that temporarily knocks potential predators onto their backs.
Sirrek considers himself a champion of the people and a hero to the oppressed. He claims the one who died came to him for help, and he’s trying to figure out who is behind it. Beyond this death, several Force artifacts have turned up stolen in recent weeks. Sirrek is determined to find out who is behind it and why. To do this, he doesn’t seem to think the Jedi can be of any help. He leaves Kardon’s establishment despite Vildar saying they should work together.
Despite Sirrek’s insistence, they don’t need each other, Vildar thinks differently. He and Matty set off in pursuit. The two of them find him engaged in a semi-hostile conversation with someone who might be in the market for objects like the stolen ones. He whips out Vildar’s lightsaber in an attempt to sell it. This comes as another blow to Vildar’s ego, as he is played the fool again by the sneaky Tey Sirrek. Matty and Vildar’s dynamic was hilarious in the final half of this one. You could hear the audible sigh Vildar gave out as Matty asked him if that was indeed his saber.
After Sirrek’s potential buyer doesn’t express any interest in the lightsaber, Sirrek notices an artifact made from kyber in his bag. The scene quickly gets hostile between the two after this discovery, and Vildar wastes no time leaping into the fray. He uses the Force to dislodge the blaster from the would-be attacker’s hand, but fails to see the blaster hidden up his other sleeve. Before the assailant can kill Mac, Sirrek leaps in front of him and saves his life.
They know where they must go now. The Temple of Kyber is the only place where the artifact could originate. They hope the temple might provide them with the answer to who is behind all of these mysterious thefts. The Guardians, however, don’t take too kindly to the visitors.
The second issue of The High Republic ends with the Guardians surrounding the trio. It looks as if the Guardians surrounding them are wielding blasters quite similar to what we saw Chirrut Îmwe wielded in Rogue One.
Rating: 6/10
Finding ways to nonchalantly incorporate Star Wars quotes into 8th grade classroom, Tyler lives and breathes Star Wars. His morning tradition is sending the latest number in the countdown for different Star Wars projects and loves engaging in uplifting Star Wars dialogue. If you are passionate about Star Wars you can follow him on Twitter at TyBrad5.
