Star Wars – The High Republic #5: That Battle of Jedha

Every wave of “High Republic” stories revolves around a massive disaster, and this wave has finally been hit with its defining tragedy, The Battle of Jedha. Each time a disaster strikes there is panic and death, and the Jedi are right in the middle of it. This time it happens on a world sacred to not only the Jedi, but other spiritual bodies like The Guardians of the Whills. Each separate “High Republic” story of this first wave of the second Phase of the massive series has had its own set of characters and events that have somehow lead them all to this point. The main antagonists so far are seemingly  peaceful cultists who wish to discredit the Jedi and any Force users for daring to abuse the Living Force. In short, they are ideological terrorists who will have no trouble letting people die if they believe The Force wills it. What their actions have done helps spread mistrust of the Jedi, for whom many other Force religions have been jealous of. This all come to an explosive head in this particular issue, which makes for a perfect companion piece of the recently released “Battle of Jedha” audio drama. No “High Republic” collection will be complete without the eventual graphic novel this issue will be a part of and the book version of the “Battle of Jedha” script to also be released in the future.

One of the things the last Phase of “High Republic” did very well was to be able to have central events during the various crises that characters in other stories can also reference from different points of view in nearby locations. This issue has a few big events happen all at once. This series is unique to the other stories in this wave in that it has taken place exclusively on Jedha. In many ways all the other stories were leading to this one. When those big events of destruction happen in this issue, it seems to have an extra impact because it is many of the characters’ home. In a very different way it may seem personal to fans of the film,Rogue One, as well because they will undoubably have an emotional connection to Jedha already. In fact there are events that happen in this issue that are directly visible in that film, even though it takes place hundreds of years later. In that, the city of Jedha is constantly immersed in conflict, seemingly because of Imperial occupation. However this chapter and the greater “High Republic” saga implies that this is where all the fighting originally began and the city has just been infighting some version of that same fight ever since.

On a technical level this issue isn’t anything too special, but not at all bad. The art is good as is the depiction of action, but that has been pretty consistent in this series so far. The coloring retains the soft pastels and sandy tones befitting a desert moon. It is the story that and writing that hold the most importance in this issue. The narrative is rightfully chaotic and never stays in one place with the same charters for very long. It manages to add a ton of layers to the series all at once, and certainly plants seeds for events to follow not only in this series but the upcoming second wave of Phase II stories.