Star Wars: The High Republic #4 just revived the galaxy’s most sinister gang, pulling the Nihil and Jedi into what seems to be a nasty turf war.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The High Republic #4 by Cavan Scott, Ario Anindito, Mark Morales, Annalisa Leoni & VC’s Ariana Maher, on sale now.
Star Wars: The High Republic has proven to the Jedi that sinister forces are indeed roving the galaxy right under their noses. Despite having the Starlight Beacon ship to police the cosmos, the Jedi have found a new war with the Nihil brewing. That conflict has taken the Order members Keeve, Sskeer, Ceret and Avar Kriss, to Sedri Minor, where they suddenly find themselves under the attack of the plant-like monsters known as the Drengir.
While Star Wars: The High Republic #4 gets the soldiers over this botanic hurdle, the final page takes an even more shocking turn by reviving the galaxy’s most sinister gang: the Hutt Cartel.
The bombshell comes after Keeve convinces her master, Sskeer, to stave off a possession by the Drengir and help his colleagues out as the vines try to possess them too. Luckily, Sskeer snaps out of the hold and helps them escape, but as they chop down the leafy monsters, they realize someone sold the planet out to keep the Drengir a secret.
This takes them to Kal, who’s in charge of the farmland above the surface, but just as they try to pry information out, a war vessel appears. Sskeer orders them to draw their lightsabers since he can sense a disturbance in the Force. We then see a mysterious warlord Hutt emerging with Gamorrean and battle rancors, ready for battle. Kal makes it clear these villains hold the real power, which confirms he struck some sort of bargain. The villains are adamant the planet belongs to them due to the deal and that the Jedi will have to be purged for trespassing.
This follows up on Claudia Gray’s Into the Dark novel where the Hutt Carel was working in the shadows, getting the Jedi to take down the mob known as the Directorate. This destabilized the Outer Rim, which allowed the cartel to move in to take over the economy. In the years that followed, they’d become so influential that the Republic and Empire would broker uneasy truces with them as they knew the Hutts could help in terms of weapons, soldiers and getting secrets from the likes of Jabba.
Here, we’re seeing the start of how they began building this monopoly and it seems as if it all has to do with a certain valuable grain. It’s why a dead Hutt was found on a ship by the Jedi and taken back for experimentation on the Starship Beacon. It looks like that crime scene was the Nihi trying to encroach on the cartel’s territory and products, kicking off a turf war. Now, the Jedi are right in the middle, and the Hutts have come with heavy firepower to protect their investment.
About The Author
