Warning! Spoilers ahead for Eye of the Storm #1
Marvel Comics’ newest High Republic comic has revealed the origins of the Nihil’s Marchion Ro, giving him a backstory to rival that of a Sith Lord. Taking after his father who led the Nihil before he brutally took over, the darkness of Marchion’s life began when he was only a child, forced to prove himself as a vicious and capable leader or die in the effort. Now, as Marchion plans his next steps in the centuries before The Phantom Menace, the dark leader of the Nihil looks back to his past, explaining why he’s a leader who should be feared by all.
In Star Wars: The High Republic: Eye of the Storm #1 from writer Charles Soule and artist Guillermo Sanna, the origins of Marchion’s family are revealed first, coming from a tempest world that quite nearly destroyed its own inhabitants. However, the Ro family chose to abandon the planet to seek refuge in the stars, taking what they needed to ensure their survival and eventually taking command of the Nihil marauders. As such, it makes sense why the Nihil are patterned after inclement weather with a hierarchy of Tempests, Storms, Clouds, and Strikes. However, they all revolve around the Eye, their leader and guide who offers them pathways through hyperspace no one else in the galaxy possesses.
While the Eye was once Asgar Ro, Marchion had no choice but to prove himself to his father as a worthy successor from a very young age, being placed in a starfighter on his own against a fleet of the Nihil’s most dangerous pilots. Not only did Marchion survive this encounter, but he brutally took out several marauders with the surviving Nihil learning to fear Asgar’s son as much as Asgar himself. As such, it’s no wonder that Marchion Ro would become the next Eye after letting his father die, having little love for Asgar given his dark upbringing.
Essentially, this new Star Wars comic confirms that Marchion Ro is not to be underestimated. He’s literally been raised his whole life to lead the Nihil and he’s already taken more control over the marauders than his father ever did. While the Jedi Order might have exterminated the Sith Lords centuries ago with the rise of the High Republic as an unprecedented era of peace and prosperity, Ro is perfectly capable of bringing it all down if he isn’t stopped. As a perfect example, the new novel from Claudia Gray entitled Fallen Star is all about the Nihil successfully bringing down the High Republic’s shining symbol of hope, the orbital station known as Starlight Beacon. Not only that, but Ro also has an apex Force predator until his control known as the Leveler to aid in his extermination crusade against the Jedi.
By revealing his past, The Eye of the Storm confirms just how dangerous the Nihil’s Eye is, rivaling the Sith Lords of old. Furthermore, it certainly seems as though Marchion Ro never even had a chance to live in the light, being born to a family of immense darkness and always having the desire to rule. Becoming the Eye after his father was always inevitable, and as such his origins are perhaps some of the darkest in the Star Wars galaxy in this new High Republic issue.
