As Phase II of The High Republic officially kicks off in October, The High Republic Show returned to discuss what’s different about this further jump into the past and what fans can expect and what they should be paying attention to, while also offering the usual exclusive reveals we’ve come to love and expect. Find out what all the goodies are below!
Considering usual host Krystina Arielle recently had a child, she’s rightfully enjoying maternity leave and This Week! in Star Wars host Kristin Baver stepped in, a wonderful replacement for the time being! She kicked off the episode with a recap of the NYCC The High Republic panel and a fun segment talking with fans and many of the authors who showed up for the event. The cosplay was neat to see, from Avar Kriss to Doctor Aphra, while hearing the authors, especially the newest Luminous additions, were so lovingly welcomed by the fans is everything I wanted to hear. They deserve it!
This latest High Republic Show featured the first full round table in person, which included guests like Rob Simpson, Publishing Senior Editor, Kelsey Sharpe, Junior Creative Executive, and Phil Szostak, Creative Art Manager! As I mentioned earlier, they spend a good time going over Phase II: Quest of the Jedi and what’s different about this part of the era, like we’ve heard from previous panels and videos, but this is an excellent refresher and a good place to tune in if you’re interested in the era/starting it up here. Some of the specifics I enjoyed learning or hearing from the group include:
A lot of hype for the dynamic between Vildar Mac and Matty from The High Republic – Phase II comic, which came out just this week! I had a lot of fun reading about these two in the surprising, stellar first issue and it sounds like we’re in for even more, despite that shocking ending! For Vildar, they talked about how he’s a storied, older Jedi who comes to Jedha thinking he knows everything…and quickly finds out he doesn’t, which is where Matty comes in, a Jedi Knight with the Order for some time who acts as a local guide for Vildar through Jedha who isn’t afraid to use her voice, though she feels her elders are holding her back.
- Artists for the comic were given unused and unseen concept art of Jedha to help them bring the planet to life, and it shows in the beautiful art by Ario Anindito!
- Since Phase II is 150 years before even Phase I, they delved into the little ways they devolved the looks for the era, like giving the Jedi more subdued outfits than the bright, gold ones in Phase I and something more rugged so they could blend in. I noticed the Jedi robes were darker, but I didn’t quite put it together the significance of it.
- The Pathfinder ships, seen in several of the Phase II High Republic animation videos, are from unused Resistance concept art from Episodes VII and VIII!
- They talk a lot about the Path of the Open Hand, the Force cult led by the Mother who believes the Force should be free, while teasing all the connections it has to Phase I stuff, like the Nameless and the Ro family (aka Marchion Ro!). If you’ve read Path of Deceit, which we highly recommend here on the site, you’ll get a good taste of how things are going to connect
And speaking about the Open Hand…there’s a new video out about them that no context spoils PoD a little.
As for the reveals, lets first start with some new information on The Edge of Balance: Precedent, the Phase II iteration of the manga tied into the era! We learned at NYCC it would follow a Wookiee and, well, it shouldn’t be a surprise it’s Arkoff, the Jedi Master featured in the Phase I Edge of Balance Volumes, though now we’ll see him as a Jedi Knight. But even more interesting is how we’ll learn his past is not only connected to the Battle of Dalna (something happening at the end of Phase II, but also Marchion Ro!? The mangas have been awesome additions to the era and this sounds like the most exciting one yet!
As for art, how about that young Yaddle?!!? Like, hey, she’s looking well for her age during Phase II and I’d love to see her and Yoda interact a bit during this timeframe! We do know she’ll be important to the end of Phase II and feature in Cataclysm, out next April! The next is Sky Graf, a member of the hyperspace prospecting family who is search of Planet X, which looks to be the Nameless planet Marchion Ro visited to grab more of the creatures to later attack Starlight Beacon in Phase I and also where Sunshine Dobbs got an interesting gem from for the Path of the Open Hand’s Mother (read about that in Path of Deceit). We’ve already seen Sky on the Quest of Planet X cover, but now we know their name! We also got more art of Sav Malagán, the star of upcoming The High Republic Adventures – Phase II, trying out a pirate uniform to fit in with Maz Kanata and her crew. And lastly, but certainly not least, is our first look at Barash Silvian, who has been described as Porter Engle’s sister but we know now that’s only true from a certain point of view, as she’s actually a Jedi honor bound to him and has known him since childhood. The two go out into the frontier to protect settlers and will be the focus of the upcoming The High Republic – The Blade miniseries, which has been delayed a bit and begins its first issue this December.
Want more, how about some new glimpses inside Baver’s upcoming The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic Vol. 1, a behind-the-scenes look into the making of Phase I! It’s out November 8 and already promises to have quite the detailed look into the process of bringing this new era to life.
Lastly, some covers for The High Republic – Phase II and The Blade to close out the round-up. You can check out our High Republic page for the latest news, reviews, and release calendar to see what’s coming next, while Baver promised The High Republic Show‘s return in December!
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.