It was the best of Jedi times; it was the worst of Jedi times. The successful series of books and comics under the Star Wars: The High Republic banner is telling the story of a time when the Jedi and the Republic were at the height of their power, but the Wave 3 trailer, which constitutes the final wave of content in Phase I, Light of the Jedi, shows that the good times aren’t going to last.
The narration in the Star Wars: The High Republic Wave 3 trailer might be a bit overly dramatic, but the series of novels, comics, children’s books, and YA novels has been telling a pretty dramatic story. Since launching in December of 2020, the series has told an expansive story covering a ton of characters and brought in new villains and evil for the Jedi, and others, to fight against. It has so far been received well overall across all its iterations, having both the benefits of a stacked room of talented writers and a plan for the series set up ahead of time, unlike some other arms of the franchise.
Star Wars: The High Republic Wave 3 kicked off yesterday with the release of Fallen Star by Claudia Gray. This will be followed by Daniel José Older’s Midnight Horizon, the young adult entry, and Justina Ireland’s Mission to Disaster, the middle-grade book. There is also a two-issue comic series by Charles Soule about the Nihil villain Marchion Ro called Eye of the Storm. These will all be released in time for Phase II to kick off in October 2022.
Details of Star Wars: The High Republic Phase II, Quest of the Jedi, were also announced yesterday at the 1-year anniversary celebration of The High Republic. Somewhat surprisingly, the next phase will not take place immediately after this one but instead jump further back in time by 150 years to tell a prequel saga, a bit like the prequel films did. Hopefully, this time the prequels are good.
There aren’t any release confirmations, but Cavan Scott, Daniel José Older, Justina Ireland, Claudia Gray, Charles Soule will all be returning to write in some form, and Lydia Kang, Tessa Gratton, Zoraida Córdova, and George Mann will be joining the writers room. There are more details on Phase II at the Star Wars website and some newly released concept art of Porter Engle, whom readers will know from Phase I, from one of the upcoming comics.
