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New revelations about the Great Leveler could indicate the direction of the Star Wars: The High Republic subseries’ second phase.
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Star Wars: The High Republic: Trail of Shadows #1-5, Star Wars: The High Republic: The Rising Storm and Star Wars: The High Republic: The Fallen Star, on sale now.
The Great Leveler, a creature that used psychic attacks to devour fear and turn its Force sensitive victims to dust, has terrorized the Jedi throughout the second and third waves of the Star Wars: The High Republic subseries. Throughout their reign of terror, the levelers have been shrouded in mysteries of the Jedi’s past. In the Star Wars: The High Republic: Trail of Shadows miniseries, Nihil scientist Dr. Uttersond finally answered some questions about the levelers, but his answers open the door for more questions. Both Uttersond’s answers and clues from the miniseries’ past issues show that the key to discovering how to defeat the levelers is in the Jedi’s past and may be part of the focus of the subseries’ second wave.
The Great Levelers first appeared in Cavan Scott’s Star Wars: The High Republic: The Rising Storm, which detailed the Nihil Leader Marchion Ro’s quest to obtain the Great Leveler who had been imprisoned away. While the audience was made aware that the Great Leveler was an ancient creature who could only be controlled through the use of an artifact that Marchion Ro obtained, the Jedi were in the dark about anything about the creature, its origins and its abilities.
These mysteries seem to be partially solved in Star Wars: The High Republic: Trail of Shadows #5 by Daniel José Older, David Wachter, Giada Marchiso, VC’s Joe Sabino, David Lopez, David Baldeón, Israel Silva and Carlos Lao. Dr. Uttersond, a Nihil scientist, explained that the creatures that have been referred to as the Great Levelers also have been known as the “Shrii-Ka-Rai: Eaters of the Force or simply the Nameless.” Uttersond also finally revealed the existence of the control artifact to the Jedi. While half of Uttersond’s information was information the audience already knew, the official names of the creatures provided a bit more context for the creatures. These names suggested that, rather than just attacking with the Force and devouring fear, the creatures instead somehow were able to annihilate and digest the Force itself.
Later, when Emerick Caphtor and Sian Holt arrived at the Starlight Beacon to try to help save some of the survivors, Sian, who is not Force-sensitive, described the Shrii-Ka-Rai as “long, sort of desiccated, with sharp claws, twitching slightly.” While the creature was never fully shown, the Jedi were able to get a severed hand of the creature to study in the future. While some flashes of the Shrii-Ka-Rai were shown on page, they were mixed with Emerick’s hallucinations of an old Jedi Master, Vidyarvrikt, who terrified him as a child; therefore, the images of the creature’s eyes and pieces of their faces may not be accurate. Still, between Uttersond’s confessions and this new physical evidence, the Jedi are in a better position to understand the Shrii-Ka-Rai going forward.
Even so, these revelations raise more questions. Why do the Jedi have no information on the Shrii-Ka-Rai readily available? Emerick did have some memories of an ancient nursery rhyme sung to him by Jedi Master Vidyarvrikt, the origin of Emerick’s terrified hallucinations in Star Wars: The High Republic: Trail of Shadows #1 by by Daniel José Older, David Wachter, Giada Marchisio, and VC’s Joe Sabino. Also, the information parchment Uttersond used to learn about the Shrii-Ka-Rai was written by “one who was once a Jedi.” These facts indicated that the Jedi had encountered the Shrii-Ka-Rai before. Thus, the question remains whether the Jedi were responsible for burying information about the Shrii-Ka-Rai or if other forces removed this information from the Jedi’s archives for unknown reasons.
Answers to questions about the Shrii-Ka-Rai may be coming in Phase Two of the Star Wars: The High Republic subseries. Earlier this year, in “The High Republic Anniversary Special” of the Star Wars: The High Republic Show, the authors of the project revealed that Phase Two would actually take place over a hundred years before the events of Phase One. Therefore, Phase Two’s “Quest of the Jedi” might focus in part in battling the Shrii-Ka-Rai of the past and potentially burying that information for future generations, finally answering questions about the Shrii-Ka-Rai’s origins, relationship with the Force and ways to defeat them.
Ultimately, Star Wars: The High Republic: Trail of Shadows #5 revealed some information about the Great Levelers or Shrii-Ka-Rai, but the issue’s unanswered questions might signal the focus of future High Republic era content. The potential ability of the Shrii-Ka-Rai to eat or destroy the Force itself could have repercussions throughout the Star Wars franchise, especially if they resurface in a later era. Phase Two of the Star Wars: The High Republic subseries might finally reveal the full details of the Shrii-Ka-Rai’s abilities and their history with the Jedi of eras past and ultimately answer why the Jedi have kept this part of their history buried, at their own peril.
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