This’ll be a brief review but I can’t not cover what is essentially the epilogue of the first Phase of the High Republic era. In two longer-than-normal comic issues it explores not only Marchion Ro’s backstory but the backstory of his entire race, plus a nice glimpse into what he was doing in between the books. Let’s take a look!
The first issue is split in three “acts”, the first of which looks at Ro’s species: the Evereni. They evolved on a hellish planet full of non-stop storms, barely managing to survive on floating platforms until their penchant for treachery got the better of them and they began warring with each other until there we so few left on such an increasingly hostile world that the survivors fled into the wider galaxy, where they then faced near extinction due to soon gaining a bad rep for, you guessed it, constantly betraying others to gain power. It’s a fun backstory and makes the Nihil’s naming convention being based on storm imagery make sense!
Hmmmm… Looks lovely. No wonder everyone raised there ended up being grumpy! … and homicidal?
Act II shows us Marchion’s father Asgar Ro create the Nihil from the Gaze Electric along side his mother Shalla. His father was very much the “if my son isn’t strong enough to replace me I’ll kill him” type and unsurprisingly it ends with Ro watching on as Lourna Dee kills his father and then happily takes his place as the new head of the Nihil. Lastly Act III shows Marchion gaining the trust of all his Nihil by planning the attack that kicked off the whole High Republic era in Light of the Jedi. It’s a fun issue, especially the first two parts.
Father of the year.
The second issue focuses on Ro torturing a random mushroom-looking Jedi seemingly for the fun of it, going over his plans across the three main books, including a long sequence where he collects the other Nameless creatures from the same planet he got the Leveller from in the second book, but using a bunch of followers to take the brunt of the beating. It ends with him finally breaking the Mushroom Jedi by showing him Starlight Beacon breaking apart and then declaring his ultimate victory…
Overall Thoughts:
To be continued! … After a lengthy flashback “Phase”. Oh well, if you’re reading this in a few years time you can pick the story right back up!
No spoiler section due to it being part backstory, part recap-with-new-material, but while it would be easy to disregard “Eye of the Storm” as throw-away filler it does such a great job at what it set out to do that I recommend it. Ro really is a great villain and this only cements it. Roll of Phase 3!
Hogan Reviews 