Star Wars The High Republic: Escape From Valo Thoughts
Ram Jomaram ages out of middle grade as Valo becomes a battleground for an identity crisis amid Nihil’s occupation.
Daniel José Older and Alyssa Wong kick off Phase Three Middle-Grade, which has previously set the tone and leading players for that thread of the overall story.
Justina Ireland set a high bar with A Test of Courage, introducing Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh, Padawan Imri Kantaros, Avon Starros, Honesty Weft, and J-6. Those characters played a significant part in Phase One and will likely play essential parts in Phase Three. I mention A Test of Courage because they share many similarities that are not executed quite as well in Escape from Valo.
There are some great quotes and insight into being a child soldier and how war can quickly derail perceived destiny, but much of it feels unearned, thanks to some undercooked characters.
**Mild Spoilers for Escape from Valo**
The Story
Two and a half years after the attack at the Republic Fair on Valo in the capital, Lonisa City, Nihil Commander Vark Tarplan gets an unfortunate surprise while finalizing for the Dark Fair (an unsubtle evil version of the Republic Fair) when an explosion destroys a docking station. The Scarlett Skull, a mysterious vigilante who wields a red lightsaber, claims the act but runs into three other do-gooders who also wield lightsabers. Through circumstance, Ram Jomaram, the real Scarlett Skull, finds himself the caretaker of three Younglings: Gavi, Tep Tep, and Kildo, whom Ram has inspired to fight against the Nihil and for Valo. The three are the last surviving members of the Jedi Order in Valo, along with Master Kunpar, who is captured by the Nihil (unaware that he is a Jedi).
When Zabrak pirate Zyle Keem splits from their crew to pursue the downed scientific research vessel from the Nihil’s attack on the Republic affair, they are saved by the four Jedi. Zyle reveals that the ship has scientific innovations that could help people in the Occlusion Zone (and give them a lot of credits), particularly bacta. Deciding it’s worth the risk, the team under the command of Ram must battle Vark and his crew, which includes the Youngling’s old friend Driggit Sparse, to retrieve the bacta and avoid being the next victims of a genetically modified Nameless creature.
While Ram struggles with becoming a leader, Gavi struggles in silence from losing his connection to the Force, his loss of his friend Driggit to the Nihil, and his feelings for Kildo.
It is a simple plot, and the story moves quickly enough (there are even cuts from the action we would otherwise see in the YA or adult novels. And yet, the book is lacking the soul of A Test of Courage and Race to Crashpoint Tower.
A majority of the story revolves around the found family of Ram, Gavi, Tep Tep, Kildo, and Zyle, forming the modern version of the Scarlett Skulls; however, there was an opportunity to connect the mythology behind the Scarlett Skull Cult. The group, first mentioned in Older’s Midnight Horizon, was an assassin squad of children and teens active in the Corellian sector before 382 BBY. They also took vows of silence by removing their tongues.
The parallels with Younglings and Padawans in the Jedi Order are there: a group of powerful youth who try to remove themselves from temptations they perceive would destroy them (the Skulls removed their tongues, the Jedi removed attachments) only to end up extinct. Of course, this never happened during the High Republic for the Jedi Order and only came close during the Imperial Reign and Rise of the First Order. However, since Older introduced this canon element, it would have been great to get more lore info by drawing deeper comparisons between the Skulls, the Jedi, and the Nihil.
One cannot ignore that the Skulls were considered a cult, yet the Jedi Order has largely avoided that distinction, even though it could be viewed as a cult. You are indoctrinated as a baby, and your whole identity is wrapped up in the Force, so the possibility of a life outside that would seem terrifying. The Nihil, where Driggit finds herself, also fits into the definition of a cult, especially since Marchion Ro took complete control.
I can see why Lucasfilm paired Older and Wong together here. Their quirky sense of humor is injected throughout the book (Wong is the primary writer for Doctor Aphra (2020) and Deadpool (2022) comics and the audio drama. And that humor is most evident in Ram and Zyle (although Ram has mellowed with age and experience).
The Characters
Speaking of Ram-even though he is not entirely sidelined, his journey is not the primary one of Escape from Valo. Having run successful missions, he is viewed by the Younglings as an adult even though he is still a Padawan. Still unsure of himself in a charming but sometimes overbearing way, Ram gets ahold of his fears to work through the group’s challenges. Ram has a weight of self-doubt that is both realistic and ridiculous, but I think it is a safe bet that Ram will become a Jedi Knight before the end of Phase Three, as he has more than proven himself.
But it’s Gavi’s journey as a survivor of the Nameless that brings something new to the table. Like Bell Zettifar, he witnesses his Master turning into a husk. Because of that, he loses his connection to the Force but does not tell his friends, blaming himself for their many close calls on the run. And so, a place that has been the only home Gavi has known, full of special memories, has become a nightmare and constant reminder of his perceived failures as a Jedi initiate.
His disconnection from the Force is also not the only secret Gavi is keeping from his friends: he has been repairing a Nihil shuttle to leave Valo, a place they are all connected to, and his feelings for Kildo, which makes Gavi another great queer character for young readers. It is a testament to how far this franchise has come on the publishing side that Gavi is the best character in the novel (perhaps the best new character introduced in Phase Three thus far). Where he ends up, and Valo as a whole makes things interesting for the rest of the phase.
Unfortunately, his fellow young heroes are not as well served, and two are almost pointless. Next to Gavi, Zyle has the most character development, which is established early through his family tree. He is a descendant of the Force-sensitive pirate, Saya Keem, from The High Republic Adventures. While it is a neat easter egg, it is repeatedly brought up through Zyle’s stories of their grandmother, who acts as a north star for them and Gavi to the point of exhaustion. But it is a way to bring lessons from elders to these kids who are on their own for most of the novel. Zyle is another non-binary character in the middle-grade series, joining Sky Graf from Quest for Planet X in Phase Two. Graf’s identity and struggle with defining themselves are more prevalent in that book (Zyle being non-binary hardly factors into his character other than they/them pronouns).
Driggit Parse’s potential doesn’t fully form until the third act, but it is a shift in a direction that might surprise readers and make her character’s future quite compelling. We also get a vital setup from Driggit’s mother of why her daughter joined the Nihil, initially to protect the people of Lonisa City. She is a better contemporary of Nan, who might be my least favorite character in The High Republic, so I would not complain about seeing more of her.
As for the other antagonists, villains have never been the best part of middle-grade stories (except for Dr. Mkampa in Mission to Disaster). Vark is an idiot, often outsmarted by his crew, specifically Driggit. Things get even worse when an Umbarian teenager named Niv Drendow, who is the middle-grade representative of Doctor Boolan, arrives with his Nameless pet. Correction-this character might be my new least favorite. And the future does not look promising for me to change my tune toward him.
But Tep Tep and Kildo might be the least developed secondary heroes in the entire middle-grade series of books. The Alcedian Younglings participate in most of the action throughout the novel yet get little to do. Tep Tep is a publishing version of Lys from Young Jedi Adventures (also taking place during The High Republic). She has an affinity for animals, and her emotions trigger them, which, of course, comes in handy in the 11th hour and serves her sole purpose. Then there is Kildo, the object of Gavi’s affection, but we never really understand why Gavi is in love with the Alcedian. Everything we learn about Kildo (his natural Force talents but struggle with focus) is through Gavi’s point of view. And, because Gavi’s feelings for Kildo are a significant motivating factor for Gavi’s actions, this lack of development hurts the story more than it should.
Canon Contributions
The book does have actual adults: Master Kunpar, Zyle’s mother, Tanana, and her crew, the Dank Graks (which includes Therm Scissorpunch). The Dank Graks originated from ex-dark side cult members and have been active for at least 150 years. Whether they are around during the Skywalker Saga remains to be discovered, but could they be related to the origin of dank farrik?
There is an underlying dismissal of the Sith as a thing of the past, which could set up the environment we will see in The Acolyte series that takes place at the end of The High Republic.
We get more information on the type of experiments mentioned in The Eye of Darkness that Boolan is conducting on the Nameless and potential weaknesses that the Jedi could exploit.
Overall, Escape from Valo struggles to give all its characters enough time to make an impression, really focusing on Ram and Gavi. However, while this is the last novel Older is writing in The High Republic, it will not be the last time we hear from these characters as things are set in motion for their stories to continue.
The group is set to return in the next middle-grade novel, Beware the Nameless, by Zoraida Córdova. With Córdova having written one of the best YA Star Wars novels ( Crash of Fate) and one of the best books in Phase Two ( Convergence), the Scarlett Skulls are in the best hands moving forward.
Originally published at http://creditsandcanon.com
