Comic Review - Farzala Tarabal Is Forced to Make a Difficult Decision in "Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures" #17
Last week saw the release of the 17th issue in Phase III of Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures from Dark Horse Comics, and below are my brief recap and thoughts on this installment.
Earlier today I reviewed Marvel Comics’ Star Wars: The High Republic - Fear of the Jedi #3, which showed us the battle raging in space over the planet Eriadu, and Dark Horse’s The High Republic Adventures (2023) #17 brings us back down to the surface, where the Jedi are scrambling to defend Bri-Phrang City from the Nihil forces controlled by the villainous Warden. Jedi Knight Farzala Tarabal watches over the battlefield from an artillery command tower and makes the call to evacuate the city before the Warden can attack its lava reactor core, devastating the entire region. But the evacuation causes a bit of a panic among the citizens of Eriadu, and other Jedi like Master Yaddle have to monitor the crowds to make sure nobody gets injured in the ensuing chaos.
Yaddle has a conversation with Ishnar Ti-Kharatal, the former head of security for Skarabda the Hutt, and tells her to ask Farzala via communicator if there’s any other way to deal with this tumultuous situation. Here’s where we learn that Ishnar is apparently deeply in love with Farzala, and has been ever since they met on Nal Hutta many issues ago. I guess I’m sort of ashamed to admit I didn’t even remember Ishnar’s name before this point or that she and Farzala had made any sort of connection at all, so this moment fell flat for me, and the worst part is I’m not even really sure if that’s my fault or writer Daniel Jose Older’s for not making it more obvious earlier in the story. Anyway, Ishnar gives Farzala a deep, passionate speech, which only serves to trigger him falling more deeply into the vision of devastation he’s been experiencing during the battle. Chasing a figure in the distance of the burning rubble, Farzala realizes it’s his old master Obratuk, wielding a half-dozen lightsabers.
In the reactor core chamber, Yaddle, Ishnar, Qort, and the injured youngling Zint are attacked by the assassin droid from previous issues, while in his vision Farzala duels with Obratuk. This sequence reminded me a lot of the Ahsoka Tano / Anakin Skywalker duel in the World Between Worlds from Star Wars: Ahsoka, and like there it culminates in Farzala coming to a realization– he is too attached to certainty to act without fear. That particular epiphany resonated with me personally, so I’m glad Older took as much time as he did getting there (it was honestly worth the build-up, in my opinion). In the reactor core, the Jedi are pleased to be assisted by the sudden arrival of Ram Jomaram and Kildo, fresh off another adventure that will probably be further documented elsewhere in Phase III of The High Republic.
And on the final page, Farzala awakens from his vision and makes the decision to reverse his order to evacuate Bri-Phrang City, instead telling his Jedi and Republic allies to bring the fight to the air and protect the Arkorayal Cabaret Cantina at all costs. “Today we save Eriadu together!" he announces into his communicator as this issue draws to a close. I enjoyed this chapter overall (artist Harvey Tolibao’s style works best in busy, anarchic battle sequences) though I do think it was a little misleading for Dark Horse to put “The War Ends HERE!" in big capital letters on the cover, considering it ends with another cliffhanger while the Battle of Eriadu still rages on. I believe there are three issues left to go in this run, plus The High Republic Adventures - The Battle of Eriadu one-shot (which I will be reviewing next), so there’s still some story left to tell. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, and it’d be cool if Dark Horse’s marketing department didn’t either.
Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures #17 is available now wherever comic books are sold.