Last week saw the release of the fourth and final issue of the Star Wars: The High Republic – Shadows of Starlight miniseries from Marvel Comics, and now that I’m back from vacation I’ve given my brief recap and thoughts on this installment below.
So far in Shadows of Starlight, we’ve gotten stories about Master Yoda, Avar Kriss and Elzar Mann, and Bell Zettifar and his Wookiee pal Burryaga, all filling in the one-year gap between The High Republic Phases I and III. And with this final issue, writer Charles Soule zooms in on the villain Marchion Ro– the leader of the ruthless band of marauders known as the Nihil– during this period. We see Ro and his follows reveling in their success after the destruction of the Republic and Jedi Order’s space station Starlight Beacon, and the parties continue for months, all while Marchion’s advisor/lover Ghirra Starros whispers in his ear that he needs to do something more to secure his legacy. Then we get the tale of how General Viess (who first popped up in Phase II) comes to work for the Nihil, as she uses an invasion of her adopted home planet of Sarumo to leverage favor with Marchion Ro.
The third act of this comic concerns the Ithorian called Boolan– who we knew as a “little” member of the Path of the Open Hand cult– now incarcerated in a New Republic prison facility that the Nihil have just taken over. Marchion Ro approaches Boolan in his cell and they have a very interesting conversation that leads to the Ithorian becoming the marauders’ Minister of Advancement. So by the end of the issue, Ro has assembled a skilled team and has also come fairly close to setting up an actual government at the insistence of Starros (not to mention the fact that the Nihil have captured one of those pesky Jedi sneaking around the Occlusion Zone), but is he fully satisfied? An epilogue on the planet Hetzal, setting up the events of the novel Star Wars: The High Republic – The Eye of Darkness leads us to believe that he isn’t.
This is another extremely compelling issue of Shadows of Starlight, and as usual Soule completely knocks it out of the park when it comes to the dialogue and overall narrative. The art by pencillers/inkers David Messina and Jethro Morales, plus colorist Mattia Iacono is also excellent, pulling the reader into the action and fully immersing them in A Galaxy Far, Far Away. And now that we’ve been entirely caught up on that missing year before the start of Phase III, I’m actually going to miss Shadows of Starlight a whole bunch. Fortunately we’ve still got the main The High Republic comic from writer Cavan Scott to enjoy, not to mention a number of other titles in both prose and comic form in this ambitious publishing initiative. Meanwhile, Soule continues his work on Marvel’s flagship Star Wars title, and will be penning the final novel in Phase III, entitled Star Wars: The High Republic – Trials of the Jedi, coming in 2025.
Star Wars: The High Republic – Shadows of Starlight #4 is available now wherever comic books are sold.