The strange adventures of Jedi Knight Keeve Trennis continue in the High Republic! Her mission took her, Jedi Master Sskeer, and twin Jedi Ceret and Terec to a lost ship. There they encounter one of the Nihil. This leads down to Sedri Minor where Ceret is suddenly taken. Chapter 3 of “There is No Fear”, “Down Below”, is by Cavan Scott and Ario Anindito. The regular cover by Phil Noto has Keeve with her double bladed lightsaber about to enter a hole with tendrils spilling out, in the background is the red, screaming face of Ceret. On the ship, Terec strikes out at Sskeer, Jedi Master Avar Kriss uses the Force to calm Terec drooling at the mouth.
On the ship, Terec strikes out at Sskeer, Jedi Master Avar Kriss uses the Force to calm Terec drooling at the mouth. The twins are connected so Cerec has fallen to the mysterious threat. Sskeer knocks out Terec and Avar wonders why he went violent with the Nihil. The narration is by Keeve standing watch at the cruiser’s steps. She is met by a young boy, Bartol, and the Rodian farmers note that the Vratixian barley, useful for making bacta, are rotting now. The burly, Kal Sulman, appears, he is an Artiodac, the species was introduced in Force Awakens (2015) in the form of Maz’s chef, Strono “Cookie” Tuggs. He dismisses the farmer’s fears and sends them away. Keeve leaves to investigate on her own.
She senses something and ignites her double bladed lightsaber. It is only Bartol who leads her to find his missing friend Julus. Sskeer detects the Dark Side of the Force. They find a large sinkhole with red tendrils. Bartol leaps down, but Sskeer slowly drops him down with the Force. At the ship, Avar believes the Dark Side has taken Ceret and Terec. Sskeer tries to apologize. Avar contacts her command base, the Starlight Beacon. Estala notes they are doing an autopsy on the dead Hutt, nasty. Avar is interrupted by Kal Sulman who doesn’t want the Jedi there. She goes with Kal to check on Keeve. In the tunnel, lit by Keeve’s lightsaber, she hears a dark voice and is weakened by it. Bartol runs ahead and then screams.
Keeve joins him and sees that Ceret is found by roots like Alien cocoons and also young Julus. The looming horror is perfect. Keeve lowers the bodies and says that Julus is “one with the Force.” Sad. Keeve checks on Ceret and pulls a tendril from his ear. He recovers enough to warn Keeve. A root takes hold of Bartol and Keeve severs it with her lightsaber. Ceret says “no meat” is safe. The Jedi twins are a great way to bring in threats to different people in far away places. This leads to a splash page of the Drengir, a mass of tendrils, leaves, and toothed mouth, this immediately made me think, “Little Shop, Little Shop of Horrors”! They were seen in the comic book, The Rise of Kylo Ren #2 (2020) and formerly introduced in the short story, “A Bitter Harvest” (2020) by George Mann.
Terec has also recovered, Sskeer tries to calm him with the Force, but he spits out black pollen(?) that infects Jedi Master Sskeer! Ceret takes hold of Bartol, while Keeve strikes the Drengir with her lightsaber. The Drengir considers Keeve food. There is a thump at the tunnel roof. A lightsaber cuts through it. Then in an amazing splash page, Avar slices through the Drengir and lands with her lightsaber, impressive. This is not a victory since there are more Drengir and even more deadlier surprise! Star Wars: High Republic #3 gives some nice horror elements with a plant creature that corrupts with the Dark Side, they are really “Mean Green Mothers from Outer Space”!
Three Lightsabers out of Five!
#StarWarsHighRepublic, #DownBelow, #Bartol, #KalSulman, #Drengir
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