The High Republic: The Edge of Balance, Vol. 3 Review

spoilers ahead!!

"In the year since Jedi Knight Lily Tora-Asi defied the Council's order to return to Coruscant, the Nihil continued to storm through the galaxy. Despite the encroaching Stormwall, Lily stands her ground and reestablishes Banchii's Jedi Temple. Banchii is not to be abandoned and its long held secrets begin to unfurl as Jedi Master Arkoff returns to connect the pieces to a mystery long buried...."

The Edge of Balance manga series has consistently been one of my favorite parts of the High Republic publishing initiative. The art is great, and the story is always enthralling, whether it's introducing us to new characters or providing context for the events of different books. Volume 3 of this manga is no different. Jedi Knight Lily Tora-Asi, Master Arkoff, and Master Sav Malagán have remained on Banchii to help rebuild after the Nihil attack, and they are joined by their old friends Ru-Ru, Silar, Viv'nia, and Nima who arrive to aid in the rebuilding of Banchii. Soon after they arrive, however, odd things begin to occur, and phantoms seem to appear out of nowhere. Will the jedi be able to discover the root of these strange occurances?

I really liked this volume! Now that we've been introduced to the main cast of characters during the first two volumes, both Precedent and this volume were able to get into the nitty-gritty of the Drengir, Nameless, and the Nihil. Lily is still a strong main character, and having her deal with the death of her padawan Keerin made for some interesting character moments. Yoda vindicating her in her decision to stay on Banchii was also neat — I guess that fucked up green pig can do something right. Additionally, watching Lily interact with Arkoff and Sav as an equal is cool, as I felt like she, despite being a Jedi Knight, was still taking on a "learner" role in their relationships in volumes 1 and 2.

My absolute favorite part of this volume was Arkoff's relationship to Azlin Rell. The former master-and-padawan duo get lots of time to reconcile their relationship, and Azlin especially gets to grow in a lot of major ways. The scene in which the two fight a Nameless together is particularly amazing, and it gives us a glimpse into how the Jedi might be able to finally defeat the Nameless, and in turn, Marchion Ro. Azlin's new mask is also awesome — in fact, his whole fit is insanely drippy. Getting to Azlin's perspective of how his use of the dark side has impacted the way he "sees" things was also neat, and made me wonder if other dark side users such as Palpatine see things in a similar way.

Now, I did really enjoy Niv Drendow's appearance here as a villain, but I almost wish he wasn't a character (hear me out). I don't really understand the need for another scientist in addition to Baron Boolan, especially when splitting their appearances makes it so that neither seems like an overwhelmingly important or scary villain. That being said, in a bubble, Niv Drendow is formidable in this volume, kidnapping Shosho (the goat) and Zimtok. Niv's relationship to the Nameless is cool, and the Shrii'ka'rai were terrifying as ever in this volume, and Azlin's ability to (apparently) dissolve the creatures was so cool. I'm very much looking forward to seeing Azlin's role in taking down the Nameless.

I touched on it briefly, but I also really liked Shosho and Sav's trip to Astenban, where they run into the cutest little force-sensitive sloth Zimtok. Let's get this straight: I would die for Zimtok. He's got moss and leaves on him — what a cutie! Sav correctly predicting Nihil movement was cool, and I hope that means the tides are turning for the Jedi in their ability to combat the Nihil's previously unpredictable attacks.

I think that I tend to hold manga to a little bit of a lower standard than other high republic books. I'm not expecting a huge story, and I almost prefer it that way: honing in on a few characters that we know and love rather than trying to wrap together every single storyline from all over the place. Volume 3 mostly drew from Volume 2 and Precedent and built on those stories rather than grabbing characters and events from other high republic media, which is what I want from a high republic story. My main criticism with Temptation of the Force was that it felt disconnected, and no one would be able to say that about any of The Edge of Balance. That being said, I do have criticisms, though they are very minor. I really enjoyed the Drengir teaming up with the Jedi to take down the Nihil, but I would've maybe liked to see more of them working together. Additionally, while the stakes of the story were fairly high, I would've liked to see the main cast in more danger at the end of the volume rather than (mostly) returning to the status quo (sorry Shosho, but you are just not important enough to me). That being said, I really enjoyed this volume! I would recommend it to people who have been keeping up with the manga series up until now, but honestly probably not anyone else. If you haven't read the rest of the manga series, this issue won't really connect with you even for someone familiar with the rest of the high republic because of how contained the manga story is. That being said, if you want to get into the manga series, I highly recommend it! 9/10, very fun read!