Star Wars is often only as good as its villains. For the ongoing High Republic publishing initiative, everything circles back to one man: Marchion Ro, Eye of the Nihil. Throughout the saga, the band of marauders has produced some iconic baddies that fans have glommed on to. Heading into Phase 3, it’s shaping up to be more of the same but with a twist. The days of the Tempest Runners are gone, and in their stead are the Ministers, who have surprising ties to Phase 2.
StarWars.com shared concept art and spoke with a few authors about how these Nihil will impact Phase 3. Elsewhere, they shared a brief video explaining where things are at, which you can watch below before we dive further.
bring on the Star Wars: The High Republic villainy pic.twitter.com/AQuCATE3Al
— Star Wars (@starwars) November 15, 2023
Beginning with Marchion Ro (whose concept art you can get a closer look at here), he is at a peculiar place in his story. He’s grappling with a new reality that, throughout George Mann’s novel, you are never sure how he feels about. Is he okay with being king? Is he scared to lose everything? And if the answer to either question is yes, who will suffer so he can keep his pride?
But some also get to reap the rewards of Ro’s insanity. Baron Boolan, the Minister of Advancement, is perhaps this phase’s most interesting inclusion. When reading The Eye of Darkness, I had assumed the Ithorian mad scientist was a new character, but that is not the case. Nothing gets by Star Wars fans, and it has now been confirmed that Boolan was present during the Battle of Dalna, the culminating event of Phase 2. In Cavan Scott’s Path of Vengeance, Boolan, a mere child at the time, was tasked by the Mother of the Path of the Open Hand to plant thermal detonators to erase the Path compound from existence. Thankfully, Marda and Yana Ro stopped him. Now, that child has become a leader in the Nihil, and Scott isn’t done with him.
Boolan has already made his presence felt with his creations, the Children of the Storm, in Scott’s The High Republic #1. We still don’t know much about what he does to his subjects. Still, as Scott describes, he performs “excruciatingly painful experiments that turn ordinary Force users into vicious berserkers and hunters.” I’d be remiss not to mention his obsession with the Nameless on top of that and what that could mean for the Jedi.
Phase 1 villains, such as Lourna Dee and Pan Eyta, became known for perpetually butting heads with Marchion Ro. While Boolan’s presence in The Eye of Darkness is small, there’s a sense that inherent distrust between Nihil leaders will continue. Scott even alludes to further dissent:
“He has secret bases throughout the Occlusion Zone filled with the results of his labors and prowled by the sinister Children of the Storm, who answer only to Marchion Ro. Or, do they?”
Another one underneath Boolan’s wing is his protege, Niv Drendow Apruk. Daniel José Older had this to say:
“[Niv Drendow] is unfortunately a super genius in the field of demented biological research, a fact about him that Baron Boolan immediately picked up on, taking the young Niv Drendow under his creepy wing as an apprentice back on Vrant Tarnum… The good news is, Niv Drendow is pretty terrible at just about everything else in life. He’s not street savvy. His charisma is in the negative tens. He’s a mediocre tactician at best. But he’s ruthless, sometimes cunning, and willing to do whatever it takes to get his experiments done, and that alone has taken him quite far.”
If Apruk sounds like fodder, you’re probably right. But Alyssa Wong took to Twitter/X to confirm Apruk will be a villain in the upcoming middle-grade novel Escape from Valo, making his likely inevitable quick downfall all the sweeter when kids get to do it.
Lastly is General Viess. Returning from Charles Soule’s The Blade miniseries, Viess is now the Nihil’s Minister of Protection. In The Eye of Darkness, her old rivalry with Jedi Master Porter Engle is renewed. If you read the Phase 2 series, you know she is a formidable foe. Tessa Gratton (Path of Deceit, Defy the Storm) added:
“Viess is a ruthless mercenary who’s haunted the Outer Rim for decades, and has a history of antagonizing Jedi… She didn’t need to be recruited to run the Ministry of Protection — she volunteered, earning her place at Ro’s side by sacrificing an entire planet to the Nihil.”
The new regime of the Nihil promises to be difficult for the Jedi to conquer, as both Boolan and Viess offer something unique to complicate their lives. I guess that’s why former Tempest Runner Lourna Dee wants to fight the good fight and help out if the ending of The High Republic #1 is anything to go by. Maybe.
Phase 3 is just getting going, and we’re learning more about the final phase of the High Republic almost every day. December will see the return of Dark Horse’s The High Republic Adventures, where another new villain, Tartak Vil, will emerge. And one last mention of The Eye of Darkness, which is available now. You can read our non-spoiler review here.
Nate uses his love for Star Wars and movies in general as a way to cope with the pain of being a Minnesota sports fan. When he’s not at the theater, you can usually find Nate reading a comic, listening to an audiobook, or playing a Mario video game for the 1,000th time.
