Keeve Trennis. Jedi Knight. What a journey for her in Phase 1. What can I say about her that I haven’t said already on social media?
Turns out, a pretty good amount.
But my journey with Keeve almost didn’t happen for one very simple reason: I almost didn’t get into the High Republic. It wasn’t out of any hate for the era. In fact, I was pretty intrigued leading into its release! But since it was exclusively a publishing initiative starting off, I didn’t think I would have time to read all the books and comics that came out. Turns out I was wrong. After reading the first two books, Light of the Jedi and A Test of Courage, I decided to check out the main High Republic comic, oddly not expecting too much from it. Turns out I was wrong.
Sensing a theme here? Yeah, me too.
The first two books had many great and distinct Jedi, such as Avar Kriss, Stellan Gios, and Vernestra Rwoh. But there was never that one “standout Jedi” for me yet.
Enter Keeve Trennis. She flew under the radar for me in terms of “Jedi to be excited about in the High Republic”', but I was still excited to see where her journey would go regardless of that.
Well, High Republic Issue 1: Trial By Ordeal completely changed my tune. I have said many a time on social media, but I will say it here once more: High Republic Issue 1 by Cavan Scott is quite possibly the best single issue of SW storytelling I’ve ever read, the 2nd best for me being, well, High Republic Issue 15: The Fall. Issue 1 was an incredibly strong introduction to Keeve and her story and it only got better.
As you can tell by now, I have a lot of love for Keeve Trennis. I liked her a lot after the first issue, but it was a few months later when I reread it where I realized she truly JUMPED off the page for me. That’s something I don’t say lightly.
We see her go from a budding yet unsure Padawan-turned-Knight to a mature and responsible Jedi Knight ready to help the Order and the galaxy at large all told in 15 issues. Throughout it, she struggles with her sense of self and what it means to be a Jedi such as when she wished that she wasn’t Knighted in Issue 7 and wasn’t given that responsibility, goes on the offensive against the Nihil albeit undercover, trains under her master Sskeer and see the wonderful friendship they develop, assists in defeating the Drengir by going into their heart to do so and struggling with the effects of the Drengir root-mind, encounters multiple Levelers and survives (but doesn’t come out of it unscathed), and clashes with the best of the Order in Avar Kriss. She goes through a lot. But even through all that, she maintains a hopeful, humorous, supportive, and resilient attitude even when it’s hard for her to do so at times.
She’s a different Jedi than what we’ve seen before in terms of her journey. Most of the Jedi, including ones in the HR, have to reckon with saving the galaxy and start out with that specific call to action whereas Keeve struggles with her place as a Jedi, which makes sense since she views the Force as a tapestry but struggles to find her own thread in it, becoming overwhelmed with everyone else’s. She has a hero's journey without the grand scale of the world on her shoulders, just the scale of her sense of Jedi self on her shoulders. We see a lot of heartbreak and struggle in her story, but also a resilient hope in her that arises amidst it as well as a responsibility to fight for the galaxy, to fight for light and life. It is an incredible arc that Cavan crafted for Keeve. There is always darkness before the dawn and we see that play out here beautifully.
Going into Wave 3, I thought her story was wonderful, but then Issues 14-15 enhanced it beautifully. In Issue 14 particularly, in one of my favorite Keeve/Sskeer moments ever, we see Keeve promise her master that she’ll pass on his legacy and even become it. But Sskeer rightfully tells her that she needs to create her own path & become her own Jedi. She can honor her master’s legacy but she shouldn’t become it at the expense of her own journey. In Issue 15, we see the first steps taken towards that, where she reflects on the destruction of Starlight while protecting and comforting the Light of the Jedi, Avar Kriss.
Keeve Trennis is my favorite High Republic Jedi because she’s the most compelling Jedi since Cal Kestis for me. I think a lesson I and others could take from her journey is that self-doubt is a part of all of us at times. But she is so devoted to the light that no matter what, she still moves on despite all the obstacles in her path, internal or external. She has a wonderful support system in the High Republic Jedi Order to help her when she’s not feeling herself which helps to show that our own friends in our lives can help pick us up when we’re not ourselves and make sure we become our best selves.
The most amazing part about Keeve’s whole story is it’s told in 15 issues. Most of the SW comics take 25 issues or so to tell one character’s story, like the multiple Vader comic series or the Aphra comics. They tell other stories alongside them but they still focus on the titular character. But the fact that Keeve’s beginning arc of her story was told so strongly and effectively in 15 issues is really a testament to Cavan’s storytelling abilities, especially with an all-new Jedi in a completely new era. He really outdid himself with Keeve’s story here.
But here’s the really neat part. Keeve’s story is not over. Where do I think it could end? Well… There is a certain name drop in Dooku; Jedi Lost, a story ALSO written by Cavan Scott. The name drop in question is a “Master Trennis” who is revealed to be a member of the Lost Twenty, which are twenty notable Jedi Masters who left the Order throughout its history. No explicit connection has been made that Keeve Trennis and the aforementioned Master Trennis are the same person. Personally, I imagine they are especially since Keeve at the end of Issue 15 gave me BIG Jedi Master vibes. But Cavan has been asked about that possible connection many times on social media, most notably on the fifth episode of the High Republic Show hosted by Krystina Arielle, and hasn’t budged on it, instead opting to tell us the full story of Keeve Trennis however he continues it.
Keeve Trennis's story has taken many unexpected and awesome turns, seeing her form into a great Jedi, a top 7 Jedi for me, and it's only just started. I genuinely cannot wait for what Cavan has in store for her moving forward.
Comments