"The High Republic #10: The Shadow of the Nihil, Chapter 2: Out of Balance, Out of Time" by Cavan Scott

"The High Republic #10: The Shadow of the Nihil, Chapter 2: Out of Balance, Out of Time" written by Cavan Scott. illustrated by Georges Jeanty, Carlos Lopez, Karl Story, and Victor Olazaba

Well, the jig is up pretty darn quickly in this issue--Terec and Keeve are revealed to be Jedi in the Nihil's midst courtesy of Myarga the Hutt. So the undercover mission lasted for an issue and a half?? I'm sorry, but this is lame. We're given the makings of a really introspective and soul-searching ride through Keeve's character development and it's all brought up super short. I have to say, I love Cavan Scott's work, but at this point I'm definitely leaning toward "High Republic Adventures" being my favorite of the two series. It's not that the adult series isn't exploring hard-hitting issues, it's that it's briefly touching on these issues and not truly delving deep. It all just feels very surface to me which is unfortunate. 

We start off where we ended last issue--the Nihil Warcloud Forge on Xais--and Keeve is mentally reeling from being asked to kill Myarga, who was a Jedi ally during the fight against the Drengir. She even comes up with a plan to delay the inevitable so that she can potentially save Myarga. She notes to Zeetar (the Talpini Tempest Runner with the mech suit) that the Jedi fighting against the Drengir were working with a Hutt and poses the possibility that this Hutt is her and that they should interrogate her first. Unfortunately, Myarga either doesn't realize Keeve is trying to help or simply doesn't care because, as I mentioned above, she outs the two Jedi within seemingly minutes of coming face to face with them. (See some of the torture the Hutt goes through during all this below.)

There are a couple of juicy bits though, so the intrigue part of the story is in full swing. 1) Dr. Gino'le tells Sskeer that the tests he ran on the Trandoshan revealed why he's losing his connection to the Force!!! I cannot wait for this to be explained!...it wasn't in this issue unfortunately. 2) It appears that the Leveler has been deployed as Keeve and Terec seem completely immobilized by whatever box Lourna Dee brings out and opens up (see below). Yes, Lourna Dee is very alive and well despite what the Jedi think (see her pictured below). Ceret (Terec's bond-twin--they feel what each other are feeling and hear what each other are thinking) begins to freak out on the Jedi flagship, the Ataraxia, as the Jedi zoom to Xais to aid Keeve and Terec. He freaks out because the Leveler has gotten to Ceret, and as we know from The Rising Storm, the Leveler plunges its victims into horror and darkness and then turns them into stone...which is what very visibly and quite terrifyingly happens to Ceret. One can only imagine that Terec is experiencing the same terror. Avar tries to help Ceret, "Ceret, we can help you. Let me listen to your song." But he's too far gone, "No...you cannot. It's a lie...all of it. There is no balance. No peace... There is only pain." Yikes!!! (See him turning to stone below.)

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Trivia:

-Nagnol is a very toxic chemical that can be administered as a poisonous aerosol.

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This Leveler thing is spooky as hell and I am super curious as to how the Jedi are going to be able to defeat such an incredibly powerful foe... Guess we'll see!!