WARNING! This article contains spoilers for Star Wars: The High Republic: The Fear of the Jedi #4In the world of Star Wars, the next terrifying threat is always looming around the corner waiting to be unearthed. Among those are creations that wreak unimaginable havoc, such as the Death Star. However, the comics just introduced a weapon that trumps any other and poses a serious threat to the galaxy.

The High Republic: The Fear of the Jedi #4, written by Cavan Scott with art by Marika Cresta, places Jedi Marshal Keeve Trennis in a precarious situation aboard her spacecraft, the Tempest Breaker.

Along with a former Guardian of the Whills and the entire Republic Stormwall Defense Fleet, the of the Tempest Breaker are attacked by a Nihil army and the massive winged creatures they command. However, it is not the winged monsters that pose a threat; it is the sudden appearance of a dead Jedi that signals not only confusion, but extreme danger.

Keeve Trennis And Her Crew Are Confronted By Their Deepest Fears

The High Republic: Fear Of The Jedi, Written By Cavan Scott With Art By Marika Cresta

Tey Sirrek, a man who once protected the kyber temple on Jedha as a Guardian of the Whills, finds himself face-to-face with someone he never expected: his late husband, Jedi Knight Vildar Mac. Though Tey is taken aback, he engages in battle with Vildar’s ghost, who unleashes brutal attacks in the form of Force lightning. As Tey holds Vildar back with Vildar’s own lightsaber, he communicates with Keeve Trennis, asking her what she and the rest of the crew are physically seeing outside the ship. While some, including Keeve, see the winged monsters known as the Nameless, others see different monsters of equal size and ferocity.

Keeve quickly puts the puzzle pieces together and figures out exactly what is happening just as Tey says it out loud: they are not actually being attacked by these monsters, enemies, or long-dead ghosts; they are being mentally assaulted by their own worst fears. Keeve deduces that the visions are being produced by a “Child of the Storm” named H’Tar; a Force-sensitive humanoid who was brutally experimented on by a Nihil mad scientist. Cibaba, a member of Keeve’s crew, is able to connect mentally with H’Tar, finding her attached to machines that drain and augment her ability to create fearscapes.

The Nihil Discovered A Way To Weaponize H'Tar's Force Powers

Though H’Tar Is A Sentient Being, She Becomes Nothing More Than A Means To An End For The Nihil

Cibaba explains that he and H’Tar are connected due to the fact that both were experimented on by the Nihil scientist, Baron Boolan, and upon seeing H’Tar in his mind’s eye, realizes that the Nihil have found a way to weaponize her. H’Tar possesses a unique Force ability to conjure a lifelike vision of what one fears the most. This ability, in Nihil hands, is not only dangerous, but terrifying on both personal and galaxy-wide levels. Though Cibaba notes that H’Tar created the machine she is connected to, the implication is that H’Tar is not connected to it by her own free will.

In the hands of the Nihil, H'Tar is more than just a weapon; she's a psychological terror machine, capable of dismantling entire fleets and societies from within by preying on their most vulnerable points.

H'Tar represents a truly terrifying new paradigm in galactic warfare. Her unique Force ability to manifest an individual's deepest fears into physically damaging illusions transcends any conventional weapon, as it attacks the very minds and souls of her victims. This personal and debilitating attack shatters morale, turning allies against their own perceived horrors. In the hands of the Nihil, H'Tar is more than just a weapon; she's a psychological terror machine, capable of dismantling entire fleets and societies from within by preying on their most vulnerable points, making her a threat far more devastating than anything the Star Wars galaxy has faced before.

Star Wars: The High Republic: Fear of the Jedi #4 is available now.