Review: Shocking Developments Come up Short in ‘The High Republic’ #6
Another dose of High Republic came and went this week with issue #6 of the titular comic run from Marvel. Normally, you see me hop over here and write about how glorious everything to do with the High Republic is. While I stand by every comment I’ve ever made on the greatest era in Star Wars, I must say this is the first issue in the run that didn’t make a ton of sense and felt undeserved. Massive character moments were coming out of nowhere, with little to no answers given, and it felt like a whole lot of shock value was being thrown simply for the sake of it. Cavan Scott is a fantastic author and a brilliant Star Wars writer, but this comic wasn’t a win despite how much I wanted it to be.
Little to no Keeve, Lourna, and Sskeer was a tough pill to swallow, but not entirely unexpected after Tey Sirrek was revealed in the last issue. We knew the focal point would shift there, and it did. However, the story they chose to tell seemed out of place for what was needed. There were some massive story beats to come out of this week, and I want to dive into them head-on.
Spoilers Ahead…
For starters, Tey Sirrek has the Hand of Siberius and uses it to kill one of the Nameless. The bond twins, Teret and Ceret, were on guard rather than being eternally grateful to Tey because it’s not every day you see an ancient weapon of the Sith roaming around. I wonder what was going through their minds because, in their eyes, the Sith have been “extinct” for quite some time, and suddenly, here is an ancient artifact of theirs being used to help them. Couple this with the fact they see Tey has a Jedi lightsaber clipped onto his hip, and the moment just went from tense to “oh boy, it’s about to go down” for the bond twins.
We notice right away by the way Tey is speaking and the look of the lightsaber that it once belonged to Vildar Mac. If you have been closely following every phase of the High Republic comics, you know exactly who that is. If not, just know there was a strong bond built between the two throughout Phase II of this comic run. However, I am not sure anyone knew just how strong of a bond.
To explain himself, we get a flashback sequence from the High Republic Phase II era. Back in the Holy City of Jedha, we land about one year after the climactic events of the previous comic run. Tey now has a seat on the Convocation of the Force and believes he is the best choice to send to deal with a rogue Force-sensitive Naldi who can manipulate fire. He spent time among the people both as a Guardian of the Whills and as, well, a thief. Which the Convocation has no problem reminding him about, of course. That, and his “tenuous at best” relationship with the Force.
Instead, the Convocation wants to send Lady Sirene, an esteemed Fallanassi sitting on the council. Of course, she hasn’t been to this district of Jedha City in years, and Tey is worried the people won’t trust her because they don’t know her. However, the Convocation is pretty firm in their selection. Even Vildar, who is closer to Tey than anyone, is comfortable with the selection and openly voices his opinion against Tey.
This sticks a wedge between the two and leads to a few interesting tidbits of information. First, we learn that Matty Cathley (Vildar’s Padawan) has been gone for a while. Tey mentions that he should have just left with her because she had his back, trusted, and understood him. The second tidbit is when one of the Convocation members asks Vildar if there was “trouble at home?” He responds with “nothing we can’t handle”. Of course, I thought this concerned their friendship, but it means oh so much more.
Yes, what I am alluding to is that Vildar and Tey are romantically involved. The moment where that is revealed comes after Tey commits a few rebellious acts.
First, he steals the Hand of Siberus from the Guardians of the Whills. Shout out to the thief who can’t stop thieving. Poor Tey just can’t stop himself from wanting to help out as much as he can. He doesn’t always think of the consequences of his actions — a jump head-first kind of Sephi.
Next, he not only steals the Hand of Siberus but uses it with plenty of gusto. The Naldi Force-wielder unleashes havoc on the poor townspeople and Lady Sirene before Tey shows up. Seriously, this look from the comic is wild. A giant lion using the Force to throw fireballs around, basically? Sign me up for that.
Tey uses the Hand to take the dude out. However, it looked like he might take it another step too far before Vildar came dashing onto the scene. Holding Tey down with his lightsaber pointed at his chest, he commands him to take the Hand off. This was a tense moment between the two. I was worried something might happen and Vildar would get killed randomly at this moment, but nothing like that happened. It took some menacing looks from Vildar, but Tey eventually took the Sith weapon off.
Now, let’s dive into that big reveal. The final pages of the flashback hold a very emotional conversation between the two where Vildar asks Tey to trust him and lean on him as he has. Then, it jumps right into Vildar, planting a big one on Tey. While I like both of these characters, I was floored when Scott chose to go here with these two. I was so shocked by this big moment that I went back and read Phase II comics and re-read this comic multiple times, looking for clues to hint at this relationship, or at least the attraction between the two.
I must say I think Scott dropped the ball here. It’s not that these two shouldn’t ever be together; this arc felt totally undeserved. I couldn’t find anything that remotely led us to believe they would be romantically involved. The closest we get to hinting at this is when the Convocation member spoke the line of “problems at home” to Vildar I mentioned earlier. Other than a deep friendship, there’s nothing to indicate the feelings these two may have for each other.
Another moment that struck me as odd now is Tey’s line about how he should’ve left with Matty. First, the dynamics of that relationship are curious to me now that we know about Vildar and Tey. This whole conversation is one big mess. Also, we completely skirt over why Matty is gone in the first place. That’s the only mention she gets in the entirety of the flashback. Next, we don’t even dive into the relationship at all. It just simply serves as an “oh, they are together, by the way” without any sort of legitimate build-up to that moment. There’s nothing that indicates why Vildar would teach Tey to master the Hand of Siberus, and his having his lightsaber over a hundred years later is an unanswered question as well.
I am unsure how Scott assumed the readers would be able to simply take in this massive romantic drop and not offer up anything in terms of character dynamics and storytelling to enhance the new developments further.
Ultimately, I felt like this was thrown in without much thought into how the story has been developed so far. There are so many fabulous romantic entanglements in this era. I pretty much adore them all. However, this simply felt like Scott either going for shock value in a big comic issue or simply just glossing over some massive details.
The final pages of the comic take us out of the flashback and into the present. Keeve, Sskeer, and Lourna have returned and are introduced to Tey. Sskeer is heartbroken over nearly killing Master Goonral, and the young Yacombe child he was protecting is not exactly thrilled with meeting the bond twins. The issue ends with the child Force-launching one of them off the page.
The next issue where they are all going to be together is exciting. There is so much distrust layered within this group. No one knows Tey or his intentions. I’m sure Goonral and others will be weary of Sskeer. Lourna Dee is Lourna Dee. No further explanation is needed there. Terec and Ceret have been having issues with trust and connection for some time now, and there is a Force-using Yacombe child throwing some of them around with the Force. It’s going to be a wild ride. After a disappointing 6th issue, I am looking forward to continuing with the main storyline.
Rating: 4/10
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.
