In Star Wars: The High Republic #2, a Jedi Master seems to have fallen prey to the Dark Side in a way that’s similar to Anakin Skywalker’s descent.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The High Republic #2 by Cavan Scott, Ario Anindito, Mark Morales, Annalisa Leoni & VC’s Ariana Maher, on sale now.
Star Wars: The High Republic #1 introduced the Trandoshan warrior, Sskeer, a lizard-like Jedi Master. As he trained the Padawan Keeve, he seemed to be one of the most heroic, revered mentors around on the Starlight Beacon, the Jedi’s new space station. However, after the station was dedicated and Keeve was named a Jedi, he went back to his chambers and began screaming.
This suggested something was terribly wrong and he was experiencing some sort of distress he was hoping to keep secret. Now, The High Republic #2 hints that he may very well be falling to the Dark Side.
Sskeer takes Keeve, Ceret and Terec to answer a distress call and they end up at a vessel that’s been raided. When they get in, they find poison gas, with Sskeer realizing it’s the work of the Nihil terrorists. These are the same terrorists whom he fought with at the Battle of Kur, where he lost a close friend, the Jedi known as Jora Malli, in the firefight.
As Sskeer makes moves alone to investigate, he’s ambushed by a Nihil stray who jumps down from the roof. However, Sskeer reacts quickly and slices him in half. But after his foe has been dispatched, Sskeer keeps cutting, slashing the body up while screaming. As Master Yoda has always said, this kind of anger is the path to the Dark Side, and Sskeer clearly can’t keep his emotions in check right now. Even when the juniors question him, Sskeer is dismissive, insisting death was the only way for this “coward.”
Secondly, the fact he couldn’t sense the soldier suggests his judgment was being clouded, too. This could mean that his connection to the Force has been temporarily severed, another indication that he’s truly losing himself. When he tells Marshall Kriss minutes later on a call that “these animals have no honor,” she realizes something’s off. Nonetheless, he heads off to Sedri to investigate a barley grain they found on the ship, which the Nihil clearly stole, but shockingly, he doesn’t want Keeve to accompany him.
She’s shocked over his attitude, and later, as she and Kriss hold court, the boss admits they should never have let Sskeer go off with Ceret. Kriss sensed something was off, and she thinks it has all to do with Sskeer’s lingering trauma from Kur, especially since After all, Sskeer is having visions of the battle and how he got shot up in his vessel.
This seems to be the reason why he can’t grow his hand back too, as it looks like he blames himself for Jora’s death. The guilt is turning to hatred, and it’s reminiscent of Anakin Skywalker. In fact, Sskeer’s fury evokes Anikin’s early dark turn, as he butchered the Tusken Raiders that kidnapped his mom, Shmi, in Attack of the Clones. And with the flashbacks still occurring and emotions swirling in him, Sskeer seems doomed to make some decisions that he’ll regret.
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