The High Republic: Tempest Breaker Review

As The High Republic continues the journey to its ultimate finale, creators are returning to the mediums that made them household names in the initiative. Charles Soule is writing the final adult novel Trials of the Jedi, Claudia Grey is doing the same with her young adult entry Into the Light, and Justina Ireland is rounding out the middle grade stories with A Valiant Vow.

As George Lucas said all those years ago, it’s like poetry…it rhymes.

And today, Cavan Scott returns to audio drama, a medium which he has dominated in the Star Wars space, to bring us Tempest Breaker, the next installment in the tale of the fearsome Lourna Dee. From 2021’s Tempest Runner through The High Republic comics run, Scott has taken Lourna through a fair share of trials and tribulations, and Tempest Breaker carries on that tradition in spectacular fashion.

By creating a production full of vibrant characters, thrilling action, and set pieces unlike any we’ve seen in Star Wars thus far, Scott has created the best Lourna Dee story The High Republic has ever produced as well as a necessity for any fan of the initiative’s final phase.

Like many audio dramas before it, Tempest Breaker begins by setting up a frame story. High Republic journalist Rhil Dairo has been tasked with interviewing the nefarious Lourna Dee for the Republic by Chancellor Lina Soh, and through their conversation, we witness flashbacks of Lourna’s escapades that fill out the meat of the story.

At this point, frame stories like this are pretty typical in Star Wars audio dramas from Tempest Runner to non-High Republic entries like Dooku: Jedi Lost and Doctor Aphra. For many readers and listeners, the choice to include the device is purely up to personal taste, but for Tempest Breaker, the interruptions back to present day are few and far between – allowing the majority of the story to focus on Dee’s actions and relationships.

And that is exactly what we’re here for.

Lourna’s recollections begin with a slight recap of her journey through Phase I and Phase III of The High Republic as she looks back on her exile from the Nihil and her run ins with the Republic, but a vast majority of the book surrounds her encounters with Keeve Trennis as well as stories of other characters like Sskeer, Baron Boolan, and of course, Marchion Ro.

The lore required to fully appreciate these interactions isn’t exactly small, but The High Republic is traditionally at its best when it is unapologetically telling a grand, epic story, and on that front, Tempest Breaker absolutely delivers. Within Lourna’s tales lie the advancement of multiple plot lines in the initiative from the Blight terrorizing the galaxy to Baron Boolan’s Nameless experiments to Sskeer’s debilitating sickness, and there are even references to key elements of Phase II. All of these story beats are consistently brought in organically and effectively, and the result is a project that feels much more integrated into the larger narrative than previous audio dramas that were sometimes presented as entertaining side stories.

There are a plethora of scenes that emphasize the importance of the story, but the height of the dramatic tension is found in a scene that was teased in official promotional art as well as an excerpt released by Collider. Never before have we experienced such high stakes at a ball inside a Star Wars story, and the way that Scott allows this new environment to transform into an emotional battleground is masterful.

Without giving away any spoilers, the end of Tempest Breaker launches pretty perfectly into Scott’s upcoming comic finale, Fear of the Jedi. Since the first issue of The High Republic way back in 2021, the stories of Keeve Trennis, Avar Kriss, and Lourna Dee have been intertwined to say the least, and the trio is undeniably set up for their grandest story yet to come in 2025. However, the promise of the future does nothing to mitigate the impact of the present, allowing Tempest Breaker to provide a perfectly paced, engaging tale that grips you from moment one and refuses to let go.

There are certain performances in Star Wars that are so intricately tied to their characters that it is impossible to think of them without their real life counterparts. Some films are lucky to have a handful of such characters, but in Tempest Breaker, it’s basically the entire cast. Before addressing the way that Scott sculpted the arcs and evolutions of each character in the project, the performers of said characters deserve a tremendous amount of credit.

Led by Jessica Almasy’s Lourna Dee, the cast is spectacular top to bottom. Each actor infuses their performance with unrivaled dedication and skill, and even though the list of characters is relatively lengthy, there are no scenes that feel bloated or voices that feel out of place. Particular standouts are Soneela Nankani’s Keeve Trennis, Marc Thompson’s trio of Sskeer, Baron Boolan, and Marchion Ro, and Manoel Felcian’s Tey Sirrek who feels like he jumped right off of the comic page.

And a special shoutout goes out to Chloe Scott in her Star Wars debut as Padawan Faris Karan. Star Wars has always been a family affair, but it's especially wonderful to see two complementary talents within a father/daughter duo. Not too much can be said about Chloe’s performance without spoilers, but she unquestionably delivers.

Regarding the characters themselves, this may be the best story that Lourna Dee and Keeve Trennis have ever been given, and that’s saying quite a lot. Lourna’s arc is the definite star of the project, and despite Scott crafting her journey over the last three years, he still manages to insert some welcome surprises that enrich the story beautifully. Likewise, the journey of Keeve from reluctant Padawan to powerful Master has been incredible to witness, and her role in Tempest Breaker simultaneously shows how far she’s come since that fateful introduction with Sskeer and how much doubt still lingers inside her about the future of the Jedi.

The reminder of the lost Master Trennis is never far from our minds, after all.

And then there’s Marchion Ro who exhibits his customary flare every moment he’s able. Since his introduction in Light of the Jedi, Ro has remained one of the most intriguing villains in the history of Star Wars, and his scenes in Tempest Breaker continue his streak of unrelentingly viciousness. When the High Republic concludes, the only blemish on Ro’s record will perhaps be that he somehow didn’t get enough stories.

Finally, the unlikely duo of Sskeer and Baron Boolan round out the MVPs of Tempest Breaker - not only because they are played by the same man in what must have been insane recording sessions, but because their respective arcs showcase the true depth of the galactic suffering present in the High Republic. Sskeer’s sickness presented in Phase I continues to plague him, and his constant effort to remain in the service of the light is as laudable as it is heartbreaking. Boolan, on the other hand, keeps the audience guessing as his true machinations and motivations continuously shift all the way through to the end of the tale. Throw in some fascinating connections to Phase II for all of the longtime fans, and these two provide the final piece of a spectacular puzzle.

Balancing characters within an audio drama can be an extremely daunting task - especially in one that’s supposedly focused on the orbit of a singular protagonist, but with Tempest Breaker, Scott assembles a cast that not only lives up to the high bar set by previous High Republic entries, but greatly exceeds it.

After so many fantastic High Republic stories from The Rising Storm to Path of Vengeance to Tempest Runner and more, Cavan Scott’s skill as a Star Wars storyteller is undeniable. The way that he crafts a narrative is clear, engaging, and occasionally devastating, but there is something truly special that occurs when he gets to play with his favorite toys.

Scott has been crafting the stories of both Lourna Dee and Keeve Trennis since their respective introductions to The High Republic, and throughout Tempest Breaker, you can viscerally feel how much he loves them. Writers are often said to enjoy a certain amount of ownership over their characters, but Scott’s relationship with his protagonists appears to be less of an ownership and more of a guardianship. It’s almost as though Lourna and Keeve have the stories they need to tell, and Scott acts as a steward to ensure they’re told as clearly and completely as possible, and because of that layer of responsibility, the craft and passion is multiplied tenfold.

As said above, Tempest Breaker feels much more definitely integrated in the story of Phase III than its predecessor was with Phase I, and because of that, Scott’s writing and plotting appears to have an extra layer of stakes throughout. This is not just a story of Lourna Dee and her legacy, because there’s also the Blight to consider as well as the future of the Nameless, the consequences of Marchion Ro’s conquest, and Keeve’s belief in the validity of the Jedi as a whole.

It gets very heavy, to say the least, and Scott’s history with and respect for the characters allows him to write scenes of appropriate depth and intensity to provide the surroundings for the tough conversations that need to happen and the intense reveals that need to come to light.

At this point, Scott’s future Star Wars career outside of The High Republic is unknown, but if his Phase III comics finale continues the quality of craft he has displayed with Tempest Breaker and the rest of his catalogue, we will hope that he continues his work in a galaxy far, far away for many years to come.

Tempest Breaker is perhaps the most consistently engaging and exciting audio drama The High Republic has seen thus far. From the first scene, the production quality instantly transports the listener into the depths of space to witness a saga that has been building in the background for the last few years, and the results are simply a blast to enjoy from top to bottom.

The audio drama strikes a delicate balance of previous references, current story beats, and the creation of a foundation for the future that keeps the whole thing kinetically engaging no matter if there are blaster bolts flying back and forth or witty jabs being exchanged in the middle of the dance floor. All of these moments are strung together by an unrivaled audio production team that creates soundscapes directly out of the films and music that rises and falls alongside the emotions of every single character. 

It’s a production you can’t experience in any other way.

However, entertainment value is experienced at its maximum when you’re fully aware of the surrounding situations, and because of the vast amount of lore packed into the foundation of Tempest Breaker, there is a slight risk that some listeners may miss out on some key references. Scott does a more than admirable job of recapping Lourna Dee’s adventures that led to this point throughout the first two phases, but in order to fully experience the depth of Tempest Breaker, a background that includes The High Republic stories through Temptation of the Force and as much of the Phase III comics run as possible is highly recommended.

But even for those that may have forgotten some storytelling elements of the last few years, it’s hard to imagine experiencing the whole of Tempest Breaker without a smile on your face.