– Spoiler Review –
After four and a half years and numerous books and comics along the way, the current storytelling of the High Republic era arrives at its planned ending with Charles Soule’s The High Republic: Trials of the Jedi. Wrapping up the era much like it started, Trials of the Jedi is a thrilling, emotional, and packed finale which should leave fans satisfied, even if they’ll miss the era (for now) even more afterwards.
As the dreaded Blight continues to spread, taking whole worlds with it, and the Nihil’s Occlusion Zone remains, the Jedi Order, the Republic, and the Eye of the Nihil Marchion Ro strive to bring an end to the conflict in their own ways. For the Republic, Lina Soh faces the choice between taking up Marchion’s offer for a cure to the Blight or trust the Jedi with their own plans to stop it, all while a powder keg erupts on Eriadu and the Republic and Nihil are forced into one final battle. With the Jedi Order, they’ve gathered enough information and resources to understand the link between the Blight and the Nameless means bringing the creatures back to their home planet, Planet X, which might save the galaxy, though while the how and why are still elusive, they set out to take the dangerous journey regardless. And with Marchion, well, no one ever really knows what he wants or is planning until it’s too late, but he enters the end game of his plans, which of course means nothing good for the galaxy.
Trials of the Jedi balances all these threads well and packs plenty of action and emotional stakes to the proceedings, as it doesn’t take long to get into the big set pieces like Planet X and the Battle of Eriadu, and once Trials gets there, it doesn’t let go yet keeps the characters in the forefront to resolve many of their arcs. Whether you’re new to the initiative or a long-time reader, Trials ends as readers might expect, forecasted either by the initiative so far or the simple fact it’s a prequel, but there are surprises along the way which will elicit discussion and debate as the current publishing initiative comes to a close. I’m not totally sure what I was expecting from Trials of the Jedi before I started it, though I felt satisfied and fulfilled after all these years following along, so I’d say fans should be thinking along the lines of Return of the Jedi or The Rise of Skywalker going in, as while it does wrap everything up, it doesn’t touch on every single facet or character (nor should it) and teases some intriguing ways this ending is only just the beginning for more stories of surviving favorite and unforeseen characters alike. The fact it goes about as one might suspect reads more like a testament to the clear vision of all the Luminous authors involved than a detriment, as it’s been more about the characters and their journeys anyways, and less about the ending, which has propelled fans, and positive reaction to the initiative, since the beginning. There were a few aspects of Trials of the Jedi which didn’t click with me personally, and some character choices which seemed odd, but they are minor, and maybe due to my expectations, and not all on the book or Soule.
Without intention, Trials of the Jedi arrives into a divisive world much like Light of the Jedi did in 2021, and while the latter’s release date was one day prior to what is now just a small mark of a dark turn for America, Soule packed the story with light indeed, showing a Jedi Order at its height and Republic full of acceptance and open arms, shouting “We are all the Republic.” Those hopeful words sound so far away these days, with citizens and non-citizens alike being rounded up and processed without due process, advisors and the fascist leader of the United States himself stirring up fermenting so they can point a finger and say the bad thing they’re saying is happening is happening, as if we didn’t all just have a fresh reminder of how fascism acts this way thanks to a stunning second season of Andor. It’s falling on citizens to shout “We are all the Republic” and stand against fascist arms of the government like ICE or denounce those who will do anything to shroud their genocide, as those we’ve elected stand immobile or pander without action. By the start of Trials of the Jedi, the galaxy is darker than it was at the start of the era (much like the difference in our world since Light of the Jedi), with the Nihil’s occupation stretching beyond hope and the Blight carelessly destroying everything in its path, so to see the same light of the Jedi come back in Trials, pierce through the darkness, alongside those who call themselves member of the Republic, is a hopeful message shining through a darkness over our world. Much like Andor, I don’t think the team behind the High Republic stories had any particular government or historical actions in mind, as parts of what I described in our world above happened after Soule finished writing Trials of the Jedi, so while I imagine Soule set out with Trials to deliver a message of light and life and hope to readers, regardless of what could be unfolding in the world around us, the prescient call to unite together just goes to show how such sentiments are as timeless and naturally reoccurring against the actions which prompt their necessity. Trials reads like a fitting distillation of everything this team set out to say four years ago, not only about its galaxy, the Jedi Order, and the Republic, but also about the world at large, and it’s a wonderful legacy for publishing’s biggest initiative.
While Trials covers a lot of characters, Phase III’s thrusting of Elzar Mann and Avar Kriss into the spotlight doesn’t let up within, starting with them picked for the initial Luminous Nine crew travelling to Planet X, the Nameless home world, even though the Order knows of their extracurricular activities. Soule does a good job of alternating their POVs, allowing us insight to their feelings for one another and the decisions they face and ultimately make once they arrive on Planet X, making them feel even more like a pair than ever before. I particularly enjoyed the return to their separate takes on the Force, with Avar’s Song of the Force playing an integral and eye-opening part of Trials’ resolution. I’ve been anxious to see how their relationship would play into their actions in Trials, especially since we’re in an era where the light of the Jedi shines the brightest, and it was refreshing to see it not devolve into a mess, but rather be exactly what’s needed for the situation on hand. It’s rare we get to see Jedi who share such attachment-filled feelings and yet be able to put them aside, for Light and Life, time and time again, something which felt only possible in this era and I hope, maybe one day, like in Rey’s New Jedi Order, we can see this be nurtured again. Their relationship as a focal point in Trials only heightens their bittersweet endings, one of a few parts which brought me tears, but happy tears nonetheless.
Having been one of the key characters for Soule’s Light of the Jedi and his story in Tales of Light and Life, as well as a reliable main character ever since, Jedi Knight Bell Zettifar, also one of the initial Luminous Nine, goes on a fascinating journey despite the turmoil of the team’s objectives. Bell straddles a dark line as he pursues justice for his Jedi Master, Loden Greatstorm, straining and pushing constant companions, the ever-reliable charhound Ember (I loved her one POV section!!), and Burryaga, the empathetic Jedi Knight whose abilities have led the Jedi Order to attempt this dangerous mission in the first place. Bell has come a long way since Phase I and the way Soule ties together all his appearances, honors them, and finds a way to test the Jedi Knight one more time ended up being my favorite part of Trials, and launched Bell to top tier character status. Burry’s own rise since his return, helped by Bell’s stubbornness, has been a joy to watch, especially in the Temptation of the Force and the Kashyyyk focused Into the Light, and he gets one more chance to show the depth of his empathy and how far he’s willing to go to use it to save light and life. Bell and Burry, the best of buds since the Wookiee’s rescue, have their particular strengths strained by their own goals and choices, and how Burry helps Bell, and the other way around, as well as Ember, all contribute to some of my favorite sections of Trials.
Also joining the Luminous Nine are Reath Silas and Azlin Rell, two characters intertwined since Azlin’s chilling return in Soule’s Shadows of Starlight. Both have weaved in and out of other stories for Phase III, including the not-to-be-missed The Edge of Balance manga series, Echoes of Fear, and the recent Into the Light as well, and the way the two have affected one another as Reath looked to unlock the dark and broken man’s mind for the mysteries of the Nameless and related artifacts has been fascinating. Soule ensures their fascinating dynamic takes some surprising turns, making all the push and pull between them throughout the Phase, as well as Azlin’s story and Reath’s progress with himself and his Master, more than worth it, and how things wrap up will be a big point of discussion; it made my theories about where and what the next big publishing initiative could focus on feel more likely. While back and forth on how much she wants to be involved in the Order, especially after some fascinating developments comics like Saber for Hire or Dispatches from the Occlusion Zone, Ty Yorrick is amongst the Luminous Nine too, thanks to her monster hunting prowess. Her ability to connect with what most people consider monsters, as well as her tracking abilities and rules outside of the Order’s, make her a formidable asset and she really stood her own amongst the usual book heavy-hitter characters, Soule ensuring all of Cavan Scott’s hard work with the character was honored. How she’s embroiled in Azlin and Reath’s story elevated all three characters in Trials.
Rounding out the Luminous Nine are Jedi Knight Terec and Jedi Master Torban “Buckets of Blood,” or more recently just “Buckets,” Buck. I’ve missed the Kobati bond-twin pair of Terec and Ceret in Marvel’s final The High Republic comics, though I’m glad they got to be in such a crucial release, providing a higher awareness of the characters and their LGBTQIA+ representation. The big reason Terec is part of the initial Nine is a smart and intriguing way of using their bond with Ceret, while I was happy Soule continued to develop and touch on the pair’s fracturing despite their innate bond. Torban primarily resides in Dark Horse’s The High Republic Adventures series so having him back in prose, hearing his medical mind dissect certain situations, like what leads to Burryaga replacing a different Luminous Nine or some wicked moments after they arrive on Planet X, really do the character justice.
As for Planet X and solving the puzzle of the Nameless, the answers in Trials are satisfying and offer interesting revelations. I feel like the depictions of Planet X in Path of Vengeance were my preferred, but the new and puzzling places the Luminous Nine explore within it make for a fuller and even more intriguing collective understanding of the planet. The truth of the Nameless and how it fairs against the Nameless prophecy are interesting, reminding readers prophecies are always open to interpretation, though I really enjoyed the revelations and it’ll add a new layer to rereads of the entire initiative. Overall, Trials left me wishing we would’ve had more time on Planet X, even though a huge chunk of the book takes place there, but the needs of the story meant contending page space with the Battle of Eriadu and a few Interludes along the way.
Marchion Ro’s POV parts in Trials, and what he gets up to against our heroes, were full of his usual surprises, fascinating mindset, and cold-blooded tactics. He’s always been a character I’d have liked peeled back a few more layers on, whether that’s diving into more Evereni lore/history or more time with his POV to better get a sense of his calculating mind, but Soule makes sure this appearance will be long remembered, as he’s involved in some new and surprising situations until the very end. How his story wraps up felt fitting, given how it’s a reflection of the era’s rallying cry and the sense of unity the authors have cultivated over the years, and I’d say Marchion will go down as one of the all-time memorable villains of the franchise.
With the Battle of Eriadu, I appreciated the return of Joss and Pika Adren, whose Phase III appearances were in Lydia Kang’s “Tales from the Occlusion” Star Wars Insider stories, Admiral Kronara of the Republic Defense Fleet, as well as Jedi Masters Kantam Sy and Emerick Caphtor, and Tarkin family members Navaj and Sevran. The non-Jedi POV and focus in these sections brought a much needed variety of perspectives to events and better exemplified the sense of “We are all the Republic, as we see non-Jedi, big and small, contributing to the fight against the Nihil. The Adren’s sections capture the frenzy of the battle there, while Kronara’s parts offer a larger perspective and make the battle feel more significant on a galactic scale. Given I’ve been reading The High Republic Adventures – Phase III, which has been focused on the Battle of Eriadu since issue #14 and the city of Bri-Phrang ever since issue #1, it was disappointing the city only gets a passing mention and feels insignificant to the battle, while the depiction of Sevran feels so divorced from the character in the comic, as she barely acknowledges the Jedi or that she was just at a big special wonderful wedding, though her brother Navaj seemed more like what we’ve met before, though he’s been more limited in the comics. Jedi Master Keeve Trennis is also helping with her fleet over Eriadu and, while I enjoyed the simple but more specific reference to her role in the combat, the fact her great speech in Fear of the Jedi #5 isn’t even mentioned also felt off. I get a lot of this could be down to the publishing process and things shifting, changing, or not finalized in time, but given this initiative has been so good at this before, and does good elsewhere in Trials even, it was a strange place to miss on these moments.
What it doesn’t miss on is the Porter Engle and Nihil General Abediah Viess conflict during the Battle of Eriadu, an absolute standout part of Trials amongst the sea of other big and memorable standout moments. When Porter enters the story, it’s in such an outlandish yet totally normal way for him, I was hooting and hollering, and it’s clear Soule has a special connection to the character, as these scenes sing in a unique and memorable way. Viess gets her due in her POV sections and how her conflict with Porter plays out, leading to a duel fans will long remember. I’m even more curious about Soule’s eventual The Broken Blade miniseries after these fantastic scenes.
The last characters I want to discuss are Ghirra Starros and Lina Soh, one the fallen Republic Senator who sided with the Nihil and the other the Chancellor of the Republic. Ghirra’s parts highlight how I wish we’d have had more Nihil POVs throughout the initiative, but how she deals with the developments with the Nihil and Republic conflict shows why she’s survived so long, yet why her daughter has taken the actions she has to distance herself. As for Lina, it wouldn’t have felt right without her perspective, and I found the direction she takes and her reaction to the conflict’s conclusion very intriguing, and a bit of a surprise, as it’s one of the best ways yet we see seeds laid for the Prequels. These two bring a much needed, and often underused and explored, political viewpoint to Trials.
Beyond my issues with connective tissue of Eriadu, I had a few other places where Trials didn’t fully click for me. On the smaller side was the treatment of Vernestra Rwoh who, despite what felt like all this build up to her getting this special hyperspace Path and all The Acolyte did to say she was legendary amongst the order centuries later, she’s sidelined in Trials and doesn’t have much to do. The reasoning the Order uses makes sense in-universe, but from a reader/fan perspective, and while some of this is from her being my one of top five favorites of the initiative, it doesn’t track and leaves questions on why her sideline is so abrupt. I’m really glad I read The Acolyte: Wayseeker before Trials, as while its spoilers are minor for this book, it’s a much better way to unpack the character’s story following this era’s events than how it closed out here. It’s not on Trials to provide everyone an ending, but it took a moment to adjust to the realization, besides the teased “Phase More” content to come, some of the final appearances of people’s favorites were exactly that in Phase III. On the bigger side, the Interlude chapters, which I understand the point of and what they were trying to do, did not work for me and almost took me out of the book. It’s a combination of things, part of it being my disappointment of it taking away from the characters I cared about, but it’s more about the descriptions, and lack thereof, which didn’t work the most. The Interludes follow a regular family on a new planet as they deal with the onset of the Blight, though they aren’t described as any particular species or race, while we also learn the teenage son wears headphones, there’s a Barko the House Mouse toy which seems to close a reference to Mickey Mouse, and their vehicle sounds like a station wagon in space. It’s hard not to take the lack of physical descriptors and the details about their lives mirroring ours and not fall into the well-researched phenomena of seeing these characters as a white human family, and one in our galaxy, not far, far away, both of which made these feel even more divorced from the narrative, not connected as designed. In fact, while I enjoyed At Attin in Skeleton Crew, as it made sense in-universe and ended up being a fun design, this felt like taking away the Star Wars-ness of that planet until we’re in our world. The point of the Interludes easily could’ve been met with a family of clearly described characters, on a familiar planet, or even with familiar faces, which is why I was left disappointed in the choice as some of these issues could’ve been easily avoided, though your mileage may vary. Overall, the collective issues I had with Trials don’t add up to anything close to ruining my enjoyment of it, but they bear discussion.
Here are a few other things:
- I also received the audio release by Random House Audio, narrated by Marc Thompson! There’s something to be said about his tireless work, but it’s been lovely to hear him bring these final confrontations and revelations to life, as he’s earned these moments just as much as the writers have had making them. Another great production and fans won’t be disappointed if listening!
- As I alluded to earlier, while Phase III wraps up in the next month with a few more comic releases, Lucasfilm Publishing’s Creative Director Michael Siglain teased a “Phase More” is on its way, so expect some of Trials’ lingering threads to maybe see continuation in more books and comics in the years to come!! This tease came in a wonderful digital roundtable chat with most of the Luminous authors from the initiative, exactly what I’ve been missing since The High Republic Show made its quiet departure from our lives. Make sure to check it out!
- Also in the roundtable, this mind-numbing stat: “Twenty-five novels, 139 comic book issues, 22 short stories, six original manga graphic novels, and five audio originals. All released in just four years.” Let that sink!!! And we’ve covered basically all of that on the Manor, which is about 50 distinct releases a year?! Phew, I need to lay down.
- When pre-ordering Trials of the Jedi, fans were able to submit proof of this to Charles Soule and he’d write a special piece of dialogue from one of nine characters! His ranking fluctuated and I’ll try to update this if he releases new stats, but at the start of June, Azlin Rell was 9th (it was who I picked!) and Avar Kriss was #1.
- There are atill THREE High Republic releases left!! Here’s the current dates: June 25, 2025: The High Republic Adventures #19 – Phase III; July 16, 2025: The High Republic Adventures #20 – Phase III; July 30, 2025: The High Republic: The Finale – The Beacon.
Charles Soule’s The High Republic: Trials of the Jedi had what seemed like an impossible task before it, much like his opening novel in 2021, yet he once again knocks it out of the atmosphere, with a rousing conclusion which brings readers the emotions they’re accustomed from the initiative, and while some parts didn’t quite work for me, it’s still an ending I was satisfied with in many regards.
+ Satisfying conclusion to years of story
+ Avar and Elzar’s arc
+ Bell’s journey and those alongside him
+ Planet X explored and Marchion’s fate
+ “We are all the Republic” screams from its heart and its themes/events
+ And sets up what could come next in the “Phase More”
– Eriadu section doesn’t feel as connected to other stories
– My mileage varied on the Interludes
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him and the website on Bluesky.
DISCLOSURE: I received a copy of this book from the publisher at no charge in order to provide an early review. However, this did not affect the overall review content. All opinions are my own.