In Star Wars: The High Republic #6, old holovids of Jedi Master Tal Bota highlight the differences between heroism in legends and in reality.
WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures #6, on sale now.
Throughout the eras, Star Wars has depicted young Jedi idolizing heroes and antiheroes of old, for better and for worse. Luke Skywalker’s original journey involves him coming to terms with the fact that his idea of his father is wrong and that his initial Jedi hero, Obi-Wan Kenobi, only told him the truth from a certain point of view. Ben Solo’s fall is tied to his glorification of his grandfather, Darth Vader’s fall to the Dark side and actions with the Empire. In the Star Wars: The High Republic subseries, the focus on Padawans allows more space to show how young Jedi are shaped by those who came before them. In Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures #6, Padawan Farzala Tarabal reflects on how he idolized Jedi Master Tal Bota growing up, but he comes to realize that the reality of war is far different than anything found on the holovid screen.
While Lula Talisola, Zeen Mrala and Krix Kamarat were the main focus of the series’ first arc, Farzala takes the spotlight in Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures #6 by Daniel José Older, Harvey Tolibao, Pow Rodrix, Jake M. Wood, Rebecca Nalty, Elizabeth Brei, Heather Antos and Riley Farmer. At the beginning of the issue, Farzala watches holovids depicting the adventures of Jedi Master Tal Bota, an ancient Jedi hero. Farzala states that Tal Bota was depicted as a “single brave knight facing down hordes of Sith henchmen. Pulling cruisers out of the sky! All by himself! The greatest Jedi ever!” The holovids glamorized the fighting between the Jedi and the Sith and set the example of a lone hero as the ideal Jedi Knight.
Farzala’s admiration for Tal Bota holovids pinpoint crucial aspects of his character, namely his own lack of faith in his abilities to be the main hero or star of the Order. He states, “Lula and I used to argue about which one of us would grow up to be the new Master Bota (even though we both knew it’d be her!)” While this memory is an adorable show of Farzala’s support of one of his best friends, he also automatically assumes that he himself is not capable of being a contender for the role. However, Farzala’s reluctance to envision himself as the main hero might also indicate that the life of a lone hero is not one that he truly wants for himself and that he prefers to work as part of a team. Farzala also reveals that neither he nor Lula ever believed that they would actually have to fight, which reflects just how peaceful the High Republic was before the Great Disaster and the awakening of the Drengir.
Farzala focuses on Tal Bota because he is learning the reality of war as the Nihil and the Drengir wreak havoc throughout the Outer Rim. In this arc, Farzala, Qort, Jedi Master Obratuk and the crew of the Vessel travel to Nal Hutta to attempt more negotiations with the Hutts to further solidify their alliance with the Jedi against the Drengir. This mission quickly goes awry due to Obratuk’s surprise hibernation, and Farzala finds himself thrust into a leadership position he does not feel ready for. Farzala shows false bravado at first when he volunteers to take Obratuk’s place in the negotiations. He and Leox Gyasi, the Vessel’s pilot, attend the negotiations, leaving Qort behind with Geode, the ship’s navigator, Affie Hollow, the ship’s owner, and the sleeping Obratuk.
Farzala almost immediately begins to feel like he is failing in the negotiator role, but the negotiations fall apart through no fault of Farzala’s own. Instead, Jabba the Hutt hires mercenaries to take over the Vessel and attack the meeting, framing the Jedi for betrayal. Due to Jabba the Hutt’s sabotage, Farzala and his team are captured by different factions as the Drengir begin to attack. At the end of the issue, Farzala returns to his reflections on Tal Bota, reaffirming that he knew that most of Tal Bota’s adventures were exaggerated or made up for the holovid screen. While Tal Bota’s adventures were exciting, Farzala states, “They don’t tell you of course…that all being out there on your own really means…is that you’re alone.” The issue ends with the image of Farzala imprisoned on his own and uncertain of his future, a far cry from the images of Tal Bota’s adventures that began the arc.
Thus, throughout the course of the issue, Farzala reflects that while he used to dream about growing up to be a hero like Tal Bota, the actual reality is far harder and more lonely than he imagined. Older uses Tal Bota’s to highlight Farzala’s own insecurities. In the process, Older also set up an arc where Farzala begins to see himself as more of a leader instead of a Padawan on the sidelines while still acknowledging that the lone hero is not the only path for a Jedi Knight.
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