This timeline of events contains spoilers for Star Wars: The High Republic Phase I, Phase II, and (kind of) Phase III.
Heroism. Self-discovery. A space station set to bring the distant worlds of the galaxy into the Republic. And a lawless terrorist organization determined to destroy it all through fear and hate.
When Project Luminous was announced at the 2019 Star Wars Celebration in Chicago, fans were excited to have new characters and stories. When Star Wars: The High Republic finally launched in 2021, it featured novels, comics, and audio dramas from the golden era of the Republic. This all worked together to tell a story for a new generation of Star Wars fans. We will present here a full timeline of Star Wars: The High Republic to date.
What Is The High Republic?
The High Republic takes place hundreds of years before the Skywalker Saga and introduces new heroes and villains to the Star Wars timeline. As a combination of different types of stories, The High Republic has an overarching story that spans three phases. Within each phase, three waves center around a core event, moving the story forward.
In a nice nod to the Skywalker Saga, The High Republic is constructed similarly to the film franchise. Phase I is the middle portion of the story, with Phase II serving as a prequel and Phase III being a sequel. Each story phase is considered a trilogy, with three waves constructing each phase.
Waves of The High Republic each contains one adult novel, young adult novels, junior reader stories, comic book series, and audio dramas. Contributing to The High Republic are veteran and accomplished Star Wars authors like Cavan Scott, Daniel Jose Older, Charles Soule, Claudia Gray, George Mann, and many more.
The High Republic Phase I Timeline
The Hyperspace Disaster
The first phase of The High Republic takes place 232 years before the Battle of Yavin (BBY) in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and about 200 years before The Phantom Menace. Three significant events drive the overall narrative direction of The High Republic Phase I in the timeline as we meet a new collection of characters and locations.
The first wave of Phase I surrounds the Great Hyperspace Disaster, which readers discover at the beginning of Charles Soule’s Light of the Jedi. In 232 BBY, a large transport ship collides with an object in a hyperspace lane, causing massive destruction and creating emergences — events where large pieces of the wreckage emerge from hyperspace lanes and threaten planets with collision. Jedi Masters and their Padawans desperately attempt to save millions of lives while trying to discover the nefarious cause behind the incident.
At the same time, we meet excellent Star Wars characters like Padawan Reath Silas in Into the Dark, which takes place concurrently with the events in Light of the Jedi. Silas, along with other Jedi, discovers a new threat, the Drengir, aboard a deserted space station and encounters the space pirates known as the Nihil.
At the same time that the Jedi combat the Great Hyperspace Disaster in Phase I, they are preparing to officially launch Starlight Beacon, a gigantic space station that will help make the Galactic Republic more accessible to the Outer Rim territories. As Phase I progresses, we learn that Starlight Beacon is central to why the Nihil are rising to confront the Jedi.
The Republic Fair
The second wave of Phase I surrounds the disaster at the Republic Fair, which the Nihil attacks in 231 BBY. Cavan Scott’s The Rising Storm details the Nihil attack and the heroic efforts of the Jedi and average citizens as they desperately attempt to save lives on Valo.
Marchion Ro, leader of the terrorist Nihil, is amid a power grab and restructuring of command within the organization and leads an assault on the Republic. Meanwhile, Chancellor Lina Soh believes that the Nihil threat has largely been eliminated following the events of Phase I and the great disaster, so she and the Republic are taken entirely off guard.
Starlight Beacon
Phase I concludes with the battle for Starlight Beacon, ending with the destruction of the symbol of the Republic. The Nihil have become bolder, and their attack on Starlight Beacon comes when Lina Soh and the Republic are at their weakest. Claudia Gray forms the central story of Wave 3 in Fallen Star, the final adult novel in Phase I.
Also occurring in 232-230 BBY, the events of Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures culminate in one of the best young adult novels of the initiative, Midnight Horizon. In Daniel José Older’s young adult novel, we see Reath Silas face his destiny as a Jedi Padawan in a much darker and deeper story than one might expect from a young adult novel.
Phase I ends much like The Empire Strikes Back did — with our heroes sacrificing a lot and losing even more. The destruction of Starlight Beacon and the loss of so many brave souls leaves both the Jedi and the Republic in a dangerous place as Phase III begins.
The High Republic Phase II Timeline
The Path of the Open Hand
The High Republic Phase II begins 150 years before the events of Phase I and explores the origin of the Nihil in 382 BBY.
Of all The High Republic novels released, Path of Deceit by Justina Ireland and Tessa Gratton stands out in making the Jedi relatable. Phase II is kicked off by meeting Jedi Master Zallah Macri and her Jedi Padawan, Kevmo Zink. Together, they are on Dalna investigating the theft of Force artifacts from the holy world of Jedha.
They encounter the Path of the Open Hand throughout the investigation, led by the mysterious Mother. All evidence points to the Mother, and the Jedi Master and her Padawan must play a deadly game to get to the truth. In the process, they discover how far the Mother is willing to go to keep her agenda a secret.
The Forever War
The second wave of Phase II explores the Forever War between E’ronoh and Eiram. At the same time as Jedi Master Macri and Padawan Zink are encountering the Path of the Open Hand in 382 BBY, the Forever War between Eiram and E’ronoh is raging on for a fifth year. The two planets have been in dispute for generations, and their citizens only know hate for the other.
As the heirs to the throne on both planets — Xiri and Phan-tu — form a union designed to end the conflict, the Jedi Order is tasked with protecting the leaders as they attempt to stop the violence. But unfortunately, many forces, including the Mother, are working against peace, and a deep plot unfolds in the third act that could threaten everything Xiri and Phan-tu have worked so hard to build.
Phase III Is Coming Late 2023
Star Wars: The High Republic Phase II will wrap up in the middle of 2023, and Phase III will debut in the fall. It is believed that Phase III will pick up shortly after the end of Phase I and deal with the Jedi Order responding to the Nihil and the destruction of Starlight Beacon.
