The Great Disaster Of The High Republic Era Explained By 'Star Wars' Authors

Star Wars is about to enter a new era on the publishing side. We are so used to thinking of the franchise as a film franchise, or even a TV franchise. But of course, books and comics have depicted many great stories. And with some synergy between writers, it looks like we are in for a great ride that will expand the timeline of the canon as we know it so far.

Last weekend saw the event of New York City-Comic Con, which had to be virtual for obvious reasons. On Thursday, October 8, there was a virtual panel about the upcoming publishing project Star Wars: The High Republic, which is set about 200 years before The Phantom Menace. Some of the writers who have been working on the project were present to shed a bit of light on what to expect.

We had heard previously of The Great Disaster, the event that jumpstarts the plot of The High Republic. This event is featured in the first chapter of Charles Soule's novel Light of the Jedi, which will be released on January 5. The first chapter was released online last June as a preview of what is to come, and it describes a cargo ship called the Legacy Run colliding with an object while in hyperspace. This chapter did a great job at showing the people aboard and raising the stakes. We got a sense of how the incident affects ordinary people and endangers their lives, even killing them. The collision causes the resulting debris to fire away at light speed throughout the galaxy, causing problems for people on various planets.

During the virtual panel, Michael Siglain, the Director of Creative Franchise at Disney-Lucasfilm Press, reaffirmed that this incident really drives the story of the series. The Great Disaster disrupts the state of peace and prosperity in the galaxy, and the citizens who cry for help have the Jedi sent to them. Regarding familiar Jedi, we know that Yoda will be part of this series.

Writer Daniel Jose Older, who is writing The High Republic Adventures comic series that is targeted for younger readers, spoke of Yoda's actions during the Great Disaster. As the incident happens, Yoda is training Jedi Padawans at the Jedi Temple. In the comic series, he and the Padawans will be responding to some of the different "fallouts" resulting from the incident. It seems that this will be an opportunity for different Padawans to be showcased. And of course, it should be interesting seeing what makes this younger Yoda different from how we see him in the stories that take place a couple of centuries later. This may give us a sense of how many people are needed to respond to the Great Disaster.

While the writers did not reveal too much, it sounds like The High Republic will present fans with another side of the galaxy far, far away as we delve a bit further back into its history. I, for one, am excited to see what this new era adds to the overall lore.

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Source(s): Dork Side of the Force