Enter...The Nihil! It's Star Wars: The High Republic #2!

Keeve has become a Jedi Knight but is that enough to survive the dangers of the Galaxy at large? Her former Master Sskeer is no shoulder to lean on as he struggles with his own problems in The High Republic #2 written by Cavan Scott, art by Ario Anindito, inks Mark Morales, colors by Annalisa Leoni, and letters by Ariana Maher.

Dan McMahon: We return to that Galaxy Far, Far Away! Everything is familiar but yet new and polished. The Jedi are more of bastions of hope rather than a dismantled order or an army for the republic as we see them in the films. I have been excited for more of the High Republic since I closed the last issue. I am joined by my brother, Jake. You pumped to swing some lightsabers again?

Jake McMahon: I have never been more excited to talk about Star Wars! This is the type of content I have wanted to see for a while and it just keeps getting better. In my mind, this is what the Jedi should have always been portrayed as, but that’s just my opinion. What do you think about the current direction of Jedi depiction?

DM: I am really enjoying seeing them face threats that aren’t other evil Jedi. I really do like the idea of the Nihil and facing the still sort of untouched edge of the Galaxy.

Jedi Knight Problems

DM: Keeve is one of the best Jedi that I’ve ever gotten to read. I think her demeanor is not super typical of how we see new Jedi Knights. With this being an ongoing rather than a 2 hour film, we get a lot more time to expand on how the characters are feeling. Keeve seems to be feeling a bit unsure of herself and her own abilities. Being told you’re a Knight doesn’t just instantly change your skill set to make you perfect. She is nervous about all the eyes on her. I do believe Ssker believes in her with his full heart though. How do you feel about Keeve and how she’s feeling?

JM: Keeve was extremely interesting in the first issue, but she seemed more a POV character to me in this issue of the situation with Sskeer and the twins, Ceret and Terec. How she is feeling is super relatable since it’s sort of like graduating high school and college as you go from one thing on to the next. She has that feeling we all get when moving up the ladder, we notice changes in the way others view us and wonder what is expected of us in our new position. We see that in how Keeve reflects in the way Master Sskeer is interacting with her, such as him not just calling her Keeve as he used to when she was his Padawan. Keeve explains her feelings pretty much in those terms that are easily identifiable with coming of age events. Then she goes is seemingly cut off by the Kotabi bond-twins, Ceret and Terec, whose ability to share thoughts and feelings makes them excellent Jedi, but she says she can’t compare herself to them. Personally, I find the twins to be a cool concept, but what’s your take on them?

DM: I always find characters that share like a hive mind to be super interesting. The fact that they’re both even more connected through the force is such a cool concept. They both don’t get to really get into the action that much but I would love to see how that bond translates into combat. Honestly, I think exploring new ideas of the Force is something I love a lot more since Rebels. The force isn’t something simple, it’s vast and mysterious but the power is still so untapped. Something that I also really loved about this issue was the use of the Lightsaber as a tool rather than a weapon. How do you feel about the Lightsaber being used for more than swinging?

JM: My brain goes to two things when you ask that. The first being the fact that Jedi use lightsabers to break into places a lot just cutting holes in doors and sealing doors too. The second thing is cooking, do you think using the heat of a lightsaber to cook would be efficient?

DM: I mean, sure cooked the end of Luke Skywalker’s wrist.

Sskeer Gets Sscary

DM: So last issue, we had Sskeer telling his padawan that she didn’t have to rattle off Jedi rhetoric to him. It was clear from issue one that Sskeer has some unresolved trauma from the Battle of Kur where he lost his arm. His reaction to pulling up to the destroyed ship really reads to me that he’s still a bit rattled. Coming back from one of the largest battles in his life cannot be easy especially with how much destruction he has seen. What did you think about his flashback? Did it read like PTSD to you?

JM: Oh it absolutely read like PTSD to me and the way he handled the situation on the ship is close to unhinged. He gives into more base instinct and he even says as much talking about the way his people hunt. He becomes a bit more feral in a way and the art does a great job of depicting that through his eyes going blank and colorless when dealing some damage. And the way the flashback is to a specific moment, not the entire event but that singular moment is really telling of his feelings. What do you think the series will hold for this Jedi Master?

DM: Trandoshans are natural hunters, their bodies and senses make them superior predators. That’s why you often think of them as hunters. Heck, even their goddess is called the Scorekeeper and they honor her by collecting Jagannath points through hunts. Basically when they complete a hunt, they get points to appease their goddess. Even their core beliefs revolve around violence in some way, shape, or form. That’s one of the reasons I have been so excited to see more Ssker. His entire character sort of breaks that mold as the Jedi are pretty against violence unless needed. It shows that species aren’t just made up of one type of archetype. In this issue though, we see those skills come out as Ssker loses his cool. He straight up annihilates a Nihil but continues striking the body with his Lightsaber even after he has clearly won. How’d you feel about him losing his cool and how the other Jedi treated it?

JM: So that’s hard to comment on because it was pretty much a Marshall Kriss and Keeve moment only and it’s interrupted by Terec feeling Ceret from afar get attacked. Keeve had a reaction that had emotional weight to it, but Kriss handled it how I expected a senior Jedi to react.

Nothing Ever Goes to Plan

DM: I haven’t found the time to finish the novel The Light of the Jedi yet but I know you started reading it between these 2 issues. Despite not being completely finished, do you find it sort of hard to understand some of the references in this issue like the Nihil? Or did you just take it as something you will learn as we move along?

JM: So, I am nowhere near far enough in the Light of the Jedi to pick up on anything like that, but there was nothing in the issue that felt like I needed to have read the novel to understand. What’s your opinion on the references to the novel? And what do you think is going on with the dead Hutt and barley shipment?

DM: Retaining information without something visual is super hard for me because of some memory loss stuff so learning in a prose novel is way harder for me. For me, reading the comics and picking up things is actually going to make reading the novel easier for me. I will be able to visualize and remember events a lot easier that way so I really think this was the best choice for me. But onto the Hutt, I absolutely jumped out of my seat when I saw it. My favorite corners of Star Wars are the scum and villainy of the universe. So knowing that the Hutt Cartel has some roots here was awesome other than him being dead. The Barley thing seems to be a setup for something bigger. Moving a shipment of something legal seems fishy at best. What were your thoughts on how the issue ends?

JM: So the issues ending just made me curious of how this is going forward based on the next few issues covers. I wonder how Sskeer is going to interact with this unseen, to him, enemy and how it gets to the point of the cover of the fourth issue. Will it involve his trauma or is it something different? We will have to wait till next month to find out!