Welcome to Dans on Fandoms. I’m Dan.
Issue 2 of Cavan Scott’s High Republic comic series recently dropped and it
was another fun and intriguing issue, especially regarding our homie, Sskeer.
I’ve got some thoughts on what might be happening with him that we’ll get to shortly,
but for now let’s recap what happened in the issue and dive into some of my thoughts.
Newly anointed Jedi Knight, Keeve Trennis, her former master, Sskeer,
and Jedi Knights Terec and Ceret are in the Galactic Frontier of the Outer Rim Territories,
making their way to the Kazlin System, after Starlight Beacon picked up a distress signal
from a ship that had come under attack. Terec and Ceret are Kotabi bond twins,
which means the siblings essentially share the same mind and thoughts, and can even feel emotions
and pain that the other sibling is feeling. When the Jedi arrive in the Kazlin System,
they discover the wreckage of the ship, but can sense survivors.
They then board the decimated ship, discover poisonous gas inside, realize the Nihil are
to blame for what's transpired here, and the group split into pairs to investigate.
Sskeer, however, soon finds himself flashing back to the Battle of Kur, where shrapnel flew into
his Jedi Vector and chopped off his arm, which is currently in the process of growing back.
As the Jedi venture deeper into the bowels of the ship, Keeve and Ceret discover the bodies
of a dead Hutt and several Niktos and Gamorreans. Meanwhile, Sskeer and Terec continue their search
and discover small amounts of a crop, specifically some kind of Barley,
which raises the question-what were the Hutts up to and why were the Nihil interested?
Before they know it, however, Sskeer and Terec come under fire and Terec is hit in
the gut, which Ceret is also able to feel. Sskeer hunts down the Nihil attacker, and,
although he can’t sense the marauder, finds him and judo chops this dude into oblivion.
I mean, my guy just goes ham on this Nihil and chops him up. Something is clearly up with Sskeer.
So, what exactly is going on with Sskeer? Well, I think two things are happening with
Sskeer-1) our boy definitely is having PTSD following the Battle of Kur and
the loss of his arm, causing Sskeer to take his anger and aggression out
on this Nihil because of what happened to him. Regardless of the fact that Trandoshans can regrow
limbs, that would still be a traumatic experience, especially when coupled
with fighting in a large battle where his Jedi brethren and members of the Republic
Defense Coalition were also killed or injured. We also have to remember that the Jedi of the
High Republic are WAY different from the Jedi of the Prequels.The galaxy has been at peace
for a very long time, and the Jedi of the High Republic are way less violent and militarized
than the prequel era Jedi, which further hammers home the point that Sskeer isn’t doing well.
Additionally, at the conclusion of Issue 1, following the opening of Starlight Beacon,
we saw Sskeer retreat to a secluded part of the Beacon and scream out in horror.
I believe this connects back to the ending of Light of the Jedi.
I’m gonna talk about Light of the Jedi so spoilers ahead. Turn back now if
you don’t want anything spoiled. At the end of Light of the Jedi,
following the opening of Starlight Beacon, Jedi Master Elzar Mann has a terrible vision
in the force where he saw Jedi fighting awful battles against some kind of darkside beings,
and Jedi were being horribly mutilated and killed. The timeline of Elzar Mann’s force vision lines up
with the ending of issue 1 of The High Republic, so I believe Sskeer had the
same force vision that Elzar Mann had. When coupled with the trauma and injury
he sustained during the Battle of Kur in Light of the Jedi, I believe this is why
we’re seeing Sskeer lash out in this way. Sskeer could be distraught realizing that
his force vision may become a reality and he’s acting out because of it, and maybe he feels
hopeless that he might not be able to prevent the horrible fate he believes will befall the Jedi.
I’m sure we’ll eventually find out why Sskeer is acting the way he is,
but I’m thinking it’s because of those reasons. Anyway, back to the issue...With the assistance
of Starlight Beacon, the Jedi are able to figure out that the barley crop-called
Vratixia- is a key ingredient in that new miracle treatment-Bacta-and that the destroyed
ship had most recently traveled from the Sedri system, most likely from the colony Sedri Minor.
Ceret and Sskeer travel to Sedri Minor, while Keeve and Terec stay behind to wait
for my homegirls Avar Kriss and Vernestra Rwoh to arrive on the decimated ship.
When Avar and Vernestra arrive, Avar becomes extremely worried
about Sskeer and what he did to the Nihil. Once Ceret and Sskeer land on Sedri Minor,
they meet locals who tell them the Republic isn’t welcome, before Ceret is pulled away by a
suspicious Rodian hanging out in the barley field. Ceret is then attacked by some weird looking
creature, which Terec is able to feel, prompting Sskeer to
try to run and save him, but to no avail. Sskeer only finds Ceret’s lightsaber, with
Ceret nowhere to be found, concluding the issue. Although I enjoyed issue 1 a little bit more,
issue 2 was still really entertaining. I’m very interested to see what’s plaguing
Sskeer and why the Hutts are interested in a crop that’s used for making Bacta.
Are they trying to create their own version and sell it on the black market?
And how do the Nihil play into this? It’ll be interesting to see how things play out.
Also, shout out to colorist Annalisa Leoni who’s done a fantastic job in the series thus far.
The colors used in each of the issues have been superb and there've been multiple times
where I found myself enamored with the choice of colors used in panels throughout the comic.
Issue 3 drops next month and I can’t wait to continue the story.
But what did you guys think about issue 2 of The High Republic and what do you
think is going on with Sskeer? Let us know down in the comments.
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