The High Republic: Path of Vengeance Review

Spoilers Ahead!!!

"This enthralling follow up to Path of Deceit finds cousins Marda and Yana Ro bound by blood but driven apart by faith"

Path of Vengeance by Cavan Scott is the thrilling conclusion to phase 2 of The High Republic multimedia publishing initiative, and wowie does it wrap up quite a bit! The book follows Marda and Yana Ro during the events of The Battle of Jedha and Cataclysm, along with a few of the jedi that we first met in the High Republic comic run such as Oliviah Zeveron and Matty Cathley. As the Jedi begin to unearth the truth about the Path of the Open Hand's involvement in the attack on Jedha and the war between Eiram and E'ronoh, multiple groups of Jedi travel to Dalna. Meanwhile, Marda travels to Planet X with Sunshine Dobbs and few other path members to gather more Nameless eggs, and Yana breaks the Herald out of prison on Jedha.

I think that Marda's journey was the most intriguing part of the book, as we see her wrestle with the death of Kevmo and the Mother's ever-tightening grip on the path's disciples. She still talks to Kevmo as if he were next to her, even seeing him and hearing him respond to her, demonstrating the extent that his death has had on her mental health. As Marda gets closer to Bokana, she starts to slowly become more sane, but Bokana's "betrayal" and eventual death fully cements Marda's madness as she returns from Planet X. The Mother's indoctrination in combination with the weight of society's disdain toward the Evereni drives Marda to lash out in rage against anyone who stands in the way of the Force, including, as she perceives, her cousin Yana.

Speaking of Yana, her story was also an outstanding part of this book. She never truly had faith in the path, and Kor's death in Path of Deceit fully cemented her hatred for the Mother. Her personal connection to the Herald, however, grants her the chance to stop the Mother, though she is horrified to realize that Marda is leading the attack on the Jedi. Seeing Yana and the Jedi work together made for an interesting dynamic, and I enjoyed the way that they never fully trusted each other. I like that Marda and Yana make up at the end, despite them going their seperate ways. I'd be interested to see more Yana content after this story to see what she gets up to

While I really enjoyed the story, there were some parts, especially toward the end, that didn't quite stick the landing for me. The scene where the Mother is in custody by the Jedi after the Night of Sorrows fell very flat for me. I felt that Scott could've left a little more to the reader's intuition instead of blatantly having the Jedi characters provide exposition about the Mother. Further, I didn't think that the big reveal that Elecia is Oliviah's long lost sister was unnecessary. The explanation provided for Elecia's disdain for the Jedi stood alright on its own, and I don't think that a familial connection, especially to a character that we know so little about, was needed.

Despite some reservations I had about the conclusion, Path of Vengeance was a satisfying end to The High Republic phase 2. It gave a lot of closure to story threads from earlier in the phase, and set up a lot of possibilities as we go into phase 3. Overall, 8/10, very enjoyable!