Star Wars: The High Republic Comic Book Issue 2 Review – Master Sskeer Meltdown

We checked out the second issue of Cavan Scott’s The High Republic comic book run, so check out the recap and review video below.

Script

The second issue of Cavan Scott’s The High Republic is out now, and it thrusts Keeve Trennis into her first mission as a fully fledged Jedi Knight. A Knight that I think I’m really starting to enjoy thanks to her being the main point of view for this comic book run. 

Keeve is joined on her mission by Master Sskeer, who in my opinion brings a great sense of mystery to this issue, but more on that later, and the Jedi twins known as Cerat and Terac, who have a Dyad-like bond through the force that lets them feel each other’s thoughts and physical experiences. 

The Jedi arrive at a distress call to find a civilian ship in complete disarray and littered with death. It’s immediately clear that the ship was attacked by the Nihil, the big bads of the High Republic era. 

One can instantly realize how evil this group is when it’s revealed that they gas their targets before taking over a ship. 

Unfortunately for Sskeer, he’s battled the Nihil before, and it’s made clear that the experience has changed him for the worse. He begins having violent flashbacks to his battle, which concerns the rest of the team, but since he’s the Master, none of the others really step in to do anything about his behavior. 

While split up Keeve and Terac stumble upon the owner of the ship, who is a mutilated Hutt, and as you can see his entire gang of Gamorrean guards and Niktos were slaughtered too. The Nihil definitely don’t screw around.

In fact, while Keeve is relaying her find to Sskeer, he and Terac are attacked by a leftover Nihil. 

This is where Sskeer really starts to go off the rails for a Jedi Master. Once he catches wind of the attacker he hunts him down in no time and chops him in half. But, due to whatever is driving him insane, he begins to mutilate the Nihil members corpse as if he were Kylo Ren slashing up a command console. I mean it was even more violent than what I imagine Anakin did to the Sand people, so clearly Sskeer is starting to breakdown from whatever happened to him when he lost his arm fighting the Nihil. 

After this troubling event the Jedi contact the Starlight beacon to update Avar Kriss o what they found. She decides to send Sskeer and Cerat to a planet to investigate the crops that were found on the attacked ship, and commands Keeve and Terac to wait for her arrival. 

I appreciated how easily she sensed that Sskeer was off kilter when he starting calling the Nihil animals, and reminded him to not demonize their enemies as it’s not the Jedi way. Like I said, Sskeer feels very Anakin like at this moment, in particular the Anakin that just killed a band of Sand People. 

We also got a neat little bit of canon or an easter egg if you will when it’s revealed that Bacta was just starting to be used at this point in time, and that it was a miracle salve replacing an old solution known as Rejuv. 

Anyway, on Sedaris Minor Sskeer and Ceret aren’t given the warmest welcome by the locals, so you can tell something is up, and that something seems to be quite nefarious. 

So much so that Ceret feels a pull into the barley fields but before he knows it a monster-like tentacle appears, and while the issue cuts back to Keeve and Avar, it’s pretty clear that something bad is about to happen to the Twin Jedi. 

Back on the attacked ship, Avar learns from Keeve that Sskeer sliced and diced the Nihil like a madman, which greatly concerns Avar. She ultimately reveals that she should’ve known better about Skeer, because he hasn’t been the same since the Battle of Kur. 

At this same time, Terec, the other Jedi twin screams out in pain, which we as readers know is a result of Ceret being attacked on another planet. 

Avar reaches out to Skeer to check on Cerat but he’s too late. By the time he reaches his location Cerat is nowhere to be found, and his saber is left lodged in the mud. 

While I’m still warming up to this era and all the new characters, I’m definitely digging the mystery tone that surrounds this comic book series. Master Sskeer in particular keeps me wanting to turn pages to find out what the hell is going on with him, so I do appreciate the little drips of madness we got in Issue 2. 

I’m also becoming a fan of Keeve, I dig the way she internally monologues, and you can tell that she’s not your typical stuffy Jedi. I have a feeling she’s going to have to face a hard choice with her former Master, so I look forward to seeing how she handles her emotions and the force moving forward. 

I have a feeling Keeve Trannis will be one of the more memorable new High Repulic Era Jedis, and these first two issues have done a good job at laying a foundation for the type of hero that she will inevitably become. 

Make sure to tune into the next episode of the Star Wars Time Show in which myself and my co-host Nick will fully breakdown this issue and give our thoughts on it as a whole.

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