Star Wars: The High Republic
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Star Wars: The High Republic
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| Official logo | |
| Type | Multimedia publishing project |
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| Creator | Lucasfilm |
| Creative director | Michael Siglain |
| Launched | 2021.01.05 |
| Concluded | 2025.06.17 |
| Phases | 3 |
| Setting | c. 500–100 years before The Phantom Menace |
| Publishers | Del Rey, Disney–Lucasfilm Press, Marvel Comics, IDW Publishing, Dark Horse Comics, Viz Media |
Star Wars: The High Republic is a multimedia storytelling project from Lucasfilm set in the Star Wars universe. It takes place during the High Republic Era, a golden age of the Galactic Republic roughly two centuries before the events of The Phantom Menace. Rather than following a single book or film, the project tells one connected story across adult novels, young adult and children's books, comics, audio dramas, and short stories, with different writers and publishers all working from a shared outline.
The project launched on 2021.01.05 with the novel Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule and concluded on 2025.06.17 with Soule's Trials of the Jedi, the final novel of the initiative. Its story was released in three phases over four and a half years. The era it established has also reached television through the animated series Young Jedi Adventures and the live-action series The Acolyte.
1 Development✎
Lucasfilm developed the project internally under the name "All-Star Initiative" and first teased it publicly as "Project Luminous" in 2019. The company officially announced it as Star Wars: The High Republic in February 2020. The launch was originally planned for August 2020 but was pushed back to January 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The initiative was led by Michael Siglain, Director of Creative Franchise at Disney–Lucasfilm Press. Five writers, often called the project's "architects," planned the overall story together: Charles Soule, Cavan Scott, Claudia Gray, Daniel José Older, and Justina Ireland. Four more authors joined for the second phase: Zoraida Córdova, George Mann, Tessa Gratton, and Lydia Kang. A companion web series, The High Republic Show, ran alongside the books and offered interviews and behind-the-scenes looks at the project.
2 Setting✎
The High Republic Era was a time of peace and growth for the Galactic Republic. The Jedi Order stood at the height of its power, wearing white and gold robes and operating outposts across the galaxy as the Republic expanded into the Outer Rim. The centerpiece of this expansion was Starlight Beacon, a massive space station built to bring aid and order to the frontier.
The project's main threat is the Nihil, a group of marauders who use unpredictable hyperspace travel to raid Republic worlds. Their leader, Marchion Ro, also controls mysterious creatures known as the Nameless, which feed on a Jedi's connection to the Force and are one of the few things the Jedi truly fear.
3 Phases✎
3.1 Phase I: Light of the Jedi✎
The first phase ran from January 2021 to March 2022 and is set around 200 years before The Phantom Menace. It opens with the Great Hyperspace Disaster, a catastrophe engineered by the Nihil, and follows the Jedi as they respond to the crisis and dedicate Starlight Beacon. The phase ends with the Nihil bringing down the station.
3.2 Phase II: Quest of the Jedi✎
The second phase ran from October 2022 to June 2023 and jumps backward in time, taking place about 150 years before Phase I. It follows explorers and Jedi working to connect the worlds of the Outer Rim, and introduces the Path of the Open Hand, a cult that opposes all use of the Force and whose story leads to the Battle of Jedha. The phase explains the origins of the forces the Jedi face in the project's present day.
3.3 Phase III: Trials of the Jedi✎
The final phase ran from November 2023 to July 2025 and returns to the main timeline, one year after the fall of Starlight Beacon. With the Nihil controlling a walled-off region of space called the Occlusion Zone, the Jedi and the Republic fight to break through and face Marchion Ro and the Nameless. The story concluded in mid-2025 with the novel Trials of the Jedi and the one-shot comic The Finale.
4 Media✎
4.1 Novels✎
Adult novels were published by Del Rey, while young adult and junior novels came from Disney–Lucasfilm Press. Each phase opened and closed with adult novels, including Light of the Jedi (2021), The Fallen Star (2022), Convergence (2022), and Trials of the Jedi (2025). Short stories tied to the project appeared regularly in Star Wars Insider magazine.
4.2 Comics✎
Marvel Comics published the main comic line, Star Wars: The High Republic, written by Cavan Scott across all three phases. IDW Publishing released the all-ages series The High Republic Adventures for the first two phases, with the series moving to Dark Horse Comics for Phase III. Viz Media published the manga The Edge of Balance.
In 2026, the 2021 Marvel series began re-release on the WEBTOON platform as part of a partnership between Disney and WEBTOON Entertainment. This edition keeps the original story and artwork but re-composes the panels into a vertical-scroll format, with each print issue split across multiple weekly episodes.
4.3 Audio dramas✎
Three full-cast audio dramas were produced by Random House Audio: Tempest Runner (2021), The Battle of Jedha (2023), and Tempest Breaker (2024), all written by Cavan Scott.
4.4 Television✎
Two television series are set during the High Republic Era. Young Jedi Adventures (2023–2025) is an animated preschool series set during the era's height. The Acolyte (2024) is a live-action Disney+ series set near the end of the era, about 100 years after the main story, and features the High Republic character Vernestra Rwoh. It was canceled after one season.
4.5 Other✎
The Vow of Silver Dawn, an e-book released by Tencent for Chinese audiences, is set near the end of the High Republic Era. Marvel has also collected the comic line in omnibus editions, with the Phase III omnibus released in April 2026.
