The High Republic Adventures Bakeoff (∞/5) by Daniel José Older

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Ain’t no bake off like a High Republic bakeoff, because a High Republic bakeoff tells a story. The High Republic Adventures Bakeoff one-shot is probably one of the most wholesome things I have ever read in my life. Daniel José Older completely sold me on the Kantam/Torban ship that I didn’t really see the hype for until I read this and was like, ‘oh, they really are a cute duo’. Maybe I had the beginnings of those thoughts with the Rumble Race, but we can’t be 100% certain. I just think that the way that Kantam was drawn looking at Torban… there is something there. We know Daniel José Older likes feeding the Queer fans of Star Wars with his delightful works, so why can’t… Kantuckets (?) be canon too?

Anyway, in addition to the one-shot, High Republic Twitter had its own little bakeoff, hosted by my lovely friend and Books and Beacons co-host, Lil, and that was such a fun day, seeing what everyone was baking in the hype. The story in this one-shot alone is a full five stars, but the added amazingness of how the fandom hyped it more makes it 10/5 stars. Double the perfection.

I simply love in the beginning when Torban and Kantam are going over safe baking procedures in a way that just felt so natural to me. And Porter Engle, our beloved maker of the nine-egg stew, going to crack the eggs just felt so in character to me in a way that I don’t think I have ever felt when talking about a character doing something like cracking eggs. How does that relate to character? Because the nine-egg stew is associated with Porter, that’s why. I stand by it.

The story within the story, the one that Kantam and Buckets told while making Master Yoda’s recipe, takes place during the big event of wave one of the phase, the Great Disaster, which ultimately led to the Nihil being put on the radar of the Republic. It’s always fun to me to learn more about what different characters are doing during these key moments, I like for my favourites to be accounted for, and that is perfectly normal. While the story that they’re telling is serious, it very much speaks to who the Jedi are. They are willing to put their own lives on the line to save others, at all times. It’s a good story for Padawans to hear from their Masters because of the lessons that can be learned from moments like this, even if they are scary. And the best way to offset the scary is to make it all fun, so the baking helps with that. If I was a Padawan, I would like to learn from Master Buck and Master Sy because they teach in the tastiest way ever.

Even if one isn’t completely caught up on The High Republic Adventures comics, which I highly recommend doing as we come to the final issue, I do recommend reading this one-shot because of how it fits in the timeline outside of the main High Republic Adventures story. The Nihil don’t appear in this one at all, and it was a nice break. We got to see the characters having fun, we got to have fun, and once again, Daniel José Older delivered in a way that had a major impact.

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