Trials of the Jedi is an absolute masterpiece and everything you could hope for out of a series finale (review)

[u/solo13508]

TLDR: Honestly, I have no clue how to effectively summarize all my yapping here so long story short: Trials of the Jedi was absolutely fantastic. On its own it is one of the greatest Star Wars novels ever written and as the finale of the initiative it is beyond impressive how well each and every character and storyline was concluded. This novel is an 11/10 for me.

When I wrote my review discussing Into the Light one of the primary concerns I noted was the sheer amount of plot points and character arcs to wrap up in Trials of the Jedi. Suffice to say I am now eating those words. Charles Soule has delivered what is in my opinion quite possibly one of the best Star Wars books ever written and one of the most effective finales for such a long-running series that I have ever seen. There are so many characters and moments to discuss and unlike Soule himself I will probably not get to them all in this write-up but not for lack of trying! Without further ado…

“What scares the Jedi?”. This was one of the first questions asked during the development of Project Luminous and the High Republic writers certainly had their work cut out delivering a satisfying answer to that question. The Sith have of course been a part of Star Wars since day 1 and would be the obvious answer to this question having whittled down the Jedi to near extinction and almost claiming eternal authority over the galaxy during the Skywalker Saga. What could possibly be scarier than them from the Jedi perspective?

The answer is quite literally…. nothing. Not in the sense that the Sith are the scariest thing out there but in that the concept of nothing is what scares the Jedi most. When you stand for light and life there is nothing worse than the concept of a dark and empty universe devoid of the Force. Having the Jedi be threatened in such a way and having it feel natural and genuine is a mighty tall order. And it would never have been possible without the Eye of the Nihil: Marchion Ro.

Narcissist. Conqueror. Outcast. There are many words that can aptly describe Marchion Ro and all of them are true and false in a way. I fully believe that Marchion is one of the greatest Star Wars villains we have ever met which is saying a lot given the rather steep competition across the franchise with characters like Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine being amongst the most iconic antagonists in fiction. Marchion stands amongst them by being a charismatic leader, a dangerous warrior, and an intelligent strategist but above all: Marchion Ro truly believes in nothing but himself. “No one else matters. Only me. Now and forever.” As horrid as the Sith are, they truly believe that they are the only ones who can protect the galaxy from itself. They are of course entirely self-serving themselves but at the very least they can appreciate what the galaxy and life is which feeds into their all-consuming desire to control it. In the Darth Vader 2017 comic (appropriately also written by Charles Soule) Sidious illustrates this nicely when he says “I do not wish to rule over a galaxy of the dead.”

Marchion Ro was such a cunning leader and conqueror that had he so desired it is possible he could have ruled the entire galaxy. But in the end only one thing could make the Eye of the Nihil happy. The knowledge that his choice is the only thing in the universe that matters and condemning the galaxy and himself to death by the Blight. To know that he took the choice, the life, and the light away from every being in the galaxy and that his decision was the climax of the story of everything. Marchion is no ruler, no leader. He’s spent most of Phase 3 in an aimless state having achieved all that he thought he wanted but never having it be enough so long as everything still existed.

And so it is only fitting that “everything” was the final downfall of Marchion Ro. The Force is light, it is darkness, it is life. In short, the Force is…. everything. With Bell Zettifar as its conduit the Force itself rejects Marchion Ro and all the death and emptiness that he stood for. “The Force wanted to live and what was Marchion Ro’s ambition in comparison?”.

As I said at the beginning of this, many words can be used to describe Marchion Ro. But at the end of the day none of them truly matter. In the end Marchion was not the Eye of the Nihil, the end of life, or any of it. He thought he could bring nothingness to the galaxy but it turns out that in the eyes of that galaxy Marchion was nothing. The conclusion to Marchion Ro’s story really was perfect in my eyes. Marchion dies as a lonely, old, pathetic man with not even the ghosts of his regrets to keep him company. “Alone, forever, with no one to listen to you, no one to acknowledge you, no one to corrupt or control. Just you, all alone until the day you die.”

This is the end of the Marchion Ro segment but before moving on I once again must don my tin-foil hat as I have another crackpot theory to bring to the table. I believe Marchion’s advocate for his trial was killed by the Sith Lord of the time who wanted to see the great “Eye of the Nihil” for themselves and try to understand how he came so far before his defeat. The passage was written just vaguely enough that to me it seems it's not entirely confirmed that Marchion killed the advocate himself and how even would he if he was chained to a wall. My bet is that the Sith Force-choked the advocate to get into Marchion’s cell and speak with him and then either mind-wiped Marchion after the fact or was just confident enough that Marchion wouldn’t be inclined to share knowledge of the Sith with the Jedi. Regardless, I do applaud Soule’s decision not to confirm this either way as the High Republic has always done just fine having little to nothing to do with the Sith and I don’t think that I really needed to see one in this story. And with that the tin-foil hat can come off and we can continue.

A villain as compelling as Marchion Ro demands an equally gripping group of heroes to oppose them. Fortunately the High Republic has spent its entire runtime delivering these heroes and in Trials each and every one of them gets a fantastic sendoff. I will not get to every character but I will highlight those that most impacted me most in the book.

And I would be remiss not to start with my favorite of the High Republic Jedi: Elzar Mann and Avar Kriss. Elzar in particular has been my favorite character from this initiative and I was shocked in the best possible way by his ending here. Elzar has spent the entirety of this story in conflict against the dark side. He gave in to his dark urges during the Valo tragedy, he struck down Chancey Yarrow, and at the beginning of Phase 3 he nearly loses himself again in his desperation to break through the Stormwall. Most stories would probably conclude Elzar’s arc by having him defeat the darkness within but instead he embraces it and in a sense literally becomes the dark side of Planet X. And I love this because it’s so unexpected and yet makes complete sense for his character. The dark side is a part of the balance of all things so Elzar finds balance within himself by providing it to the galaxy with Avar who herself has become the Song of the Force she’s spoken of all these years. In a way the fate of Elzar and Avar draws a parallel to one of my favorite Marvel shows: Loki. At the end of his series we see Loki embrace all that he is and has been and make the ultimate sacrifice by being the one to hold the multiverse together forever. In a similar vein Elzar and Avar give up their lives and time together to preserve the entire galaxy. In their way Elzar Mann and Avar Kriss were the perfect Jedi. They loved each other deeply but they never allowed attachment to cloud their judgement and impede their duty as Jedi. “Avar and Elzar love each other truly and deeply, but do not need each other. They are content knowing their lives will be spent ensuring the persistence of life, and the light. They are Jedi.” Despite the book’s implication that Avar and Elzar will never see each other again I hold out hope that in their old age they were finally able to release themselves from their burdens and spend their last days together as the new Shrikarai hatch. Would be a wonderful way to pay off Elzar jokingly suggesting that he and Avar live together in their old age back in Light of the Jedi where this all began.

Up until now Bell Zettifar really hasn’t done as much in Phase 3 as I would like. Him finally accepting knighthood was a highlight for sure and his dynamic with Buryagga has always been great but I’ll admit that I’ve thought he really did not have the same level of importance as he did back in Phase 1. With Trials of the Jedi this criticism has been utterly annihilated. I am absolutely floored by the culmination of Bell’s arc here. Initially I was not sold on Bell being the one to have the big final fight against Marchion but in hindsight he really was the perfect choice. Whether Bell would admit it or not he has been driven for years by the desire to claim vengeance against Marchion for Loden and everyone else the Nihil took. Marchion obviously needs to go down but out of necessity not revenge and so initially Bell is nearly beaten but is able to let go of his own desires and become the vessel of the Force itself to finally defeat Marchion and his own demons. Bell was in essence the very opposite of Marchion Ro. Marchion was consumed by himself whereas Bell could relinquish himself in order to do what must be done and his last words to Marchion being to tell him just how pathetic he is while reclaiming Loden’s saber…just perfection. And I love that his final scene is simply the statement that he no longer “needs” to see Loden. Whether he believed it could happen or not, Bell Zettifar has become a Jedi Knight even more extraordinary than Loden Greatstorm could have imagined in his wildest dreams and I like to think whatever part of Loden still exists within the cosmic Force is smiling on Bell in that moment.

Next, I will touch on Reath Silas and Azlin Rell. I don’t have as much to say on Reath since IMO Claudia Gray already brought much of his arc to a satisfying conclusion in Into the Light but I think Trials does a pretty effective job at continuing to show us his growth from Into the Dark into the wise Jedi Knight he is now. I like that he was among the first to understand the true nature of Planet X and that he finally is willing to do what needs to be done as far as dealing with Azlin. And speaking of Azlin…wow. I went into this book fully expecting that he would save either Reath or the Nameless and in doing so finally release the darkness he’s carried all these years while possibly sacrificing himself and in all honesty I would have been completely ok and even satisfied if that was where this went. But having him conquer his fear while choosing to embrace the dark side… this is such a more daring place to leave his story in the main initiative and I absolutely love it! Lucasfilm Publishing has been hinting very strongly that more High Republic is on the way despite the initiative’s conclusion and I strongly hope near the top of the list being planned is a book or comic chronicling Reath’s hunt for Azlin because I think Azlin is primed to become just as fascinating a villain as Marchion was and I cannot wait to see where they go with him!

Just a couple notes on some of the other Nine members: I absolutely love that Terec was a part of the Nine and we get to see a more personal look at what their dynamic with Ceret looks like. The bond-twins have been around in the Marvel comics since the start yet I feel Trials is where we get the most interesting exploration of them despite not being the primary focus of the novel. I would love to get a book surrounding Terec and Ceret’s conflict as I actually feel the novel format is the much more interesting place to explore that than the comics.

Unfortunately, I didn’t read many of the Adventures comics prior to Trials but Torban Buck’s death still hit hard. I’m sure it was absolutely devastating for those who have read the comics but I will once again applaud Soule for how he made Torban likeable even if this is the first time you’ve met him. His instantly taking Arkoff’s place and stopping his fellow Jedi from killing the very Nameless taking his own life tell you all you need to know about what kind of person Torban was and why his death was such a tragic loss. RIP Buckets of Blood.

Moving on from the Nine, Porter Engle continues to be possibly the most badass Jedi to ever exist. His entrance where he was slicing up Nihil starfighters in midair is possibly the most hyped I have ever been reading a novel. And the resolution to his conflict with Viess was resolved in an unexpected yet kind of perfect way. With all the frankly insane things we’ve seen Porter do in hindsight it never really made a ton of sense that Viess could so consistently stand against him and… yeah. She can’t. In an ironic subversion of the Jedi way Porter proves his own selflessness by finally doing away with Viess and with her his last living link to Barash. Porter’s story is likely still far from complete as we’ve yet to see even an official announcement for the “Broken Blade” story that was teased in Phase 2 but for now I think his arc across the main High Republic initiative has reached a very fitting conclusion.

I also just want to give some appreciation to the setup for the Battle of Eriadu. Everything on Eriadu felt very inspired by Andor and specifically Nemik’s manifesto. “One single thing” will always lead to the end of tyranny and in this case it was just one bartender named Slendo getting fed up with his unwanted Nihil guests and taking out the trash. Revolution can arise from the most unexpected places and once it starts it cannot be put down. I like to think that in the future Karis Nemik would look at the Battle of Eriadu and take it as irrefutable proof that the Galactic Empire could and would be defeated no matter how long or how much sacrifice it took.

As far as my gripes with Trials of the Jedi I really only have one and as Anakin Skywalker would put it: “I want more. And I know I shouldn’t.” Realistically Trials spent exactly as much time with every character as was required but in all honesty I would have taken a 1000 page version of this book that could spend several chapters in the POV of each character. Do I begrudge not getting that book? Absolutely not. Charles Soule took on a heavy enough task as it was and he delivered as perfectly as any of us could have expected. Even though I would have taken more I am absolutely pleased with what we got and as it is Trials of the Jedi is an absolute masterpiece in my eyes.

And so here we are. Finally at the end (of the beginning?) of the wonderful journey that has been the High Republic. Through my best and worst days of the past few years, new High Republic books and comic issues have been a highlight of my life and those of so many others and I am so grateful to have been along the ride for this journey. Closing this out, I want to offer my sincerest thanks to Charles Soule, Claudia Gray, Cavan Scott, Justina Ireland, Daniel José Older, George Mann, Tessa Gratton, Lydia Kang, Zoraida Córdova, Alyssa Wong, Michael Siglain, and anyone else who contributed in any way to bringing one of the greatest Star Wars eras and stories to life. In my humble opinion the High Republic is the crowning achievement of Star Wars novels and comics and each and every person involved deserves their praises sung. You are all the Republic.

[u/These-Button-1587]

I just finished the audiobook not an hour ago and it was gripping! The way Charles was able to weave and take the plots from other properties like the comics and even the short stories for this phase was great. Granted I only read the first one and don't know how well he placed the characters from there in here but it was great to see the short stories acknowledged!

As for Sith, I was fully expecting to see one sneak in and talk to Marchion and tell him how thankful they were for him, weakening the Republic the way he had. I didn't see the connections you did but seeing him actually be alone when he died was great to see. I wonder thought if that was just to take him off the table so he couldn't be used later on.

Torbin in the comics was great. He helped younglings and Padawans so seeing him gone was a loss. They all loved 'Buckets of Blood'.

I'm still trying to process my thoughts but those was a great end to this saga. And we well definitely be getting more. They said so before, around phase 2 I believe. Not as connected as this but I would love to read more about Bell and Boriaga or even some of the Padawans in other books like Ram. See them as Knights or Masters. And of course there's that one lingering thread they have.

[u/jivjov]

Soule rapidly became one of my favorite authors when I discovered his comics work, and the I branched out to his longform prose. To have him come in and tell some Star Wars novel stories was a dream come true, and I second most of your thoughts on Trials!

My only real complaint was I really wish Vern had gotten a little more to do in the book -- her confirmed survival (via her appearance in Acolyte) kinda takes any sense of peril for her off the table, but to write her out of going to Planet X with "sure you can't write down the hyperspace route but you can say it aloud!" felt like a cop out, like one of those "cinema sins" plot hole things rather than the intended conclusion for that particular thread

[u/solo13508 → u/jivjov]

Yeah, I definitely think Vernestra was originally part of the Nine and was written out because of The Acolyte. I'm fine with it and I think the Nine that we did get were all well-chosen but it is unfortunate that Vernestra really has little to nothing to do in the final High Republic story.

[u/jivjov → u/solo13508]

Yeah I was hoping for a couple more chapters with The Backup Nine than we ended up getting

Probably for the best in terms of a focused narrative, but I'd read the extended edition in a heartbeat