It’s been just over two months since the last The High Republic Show and a little over a month since Phase I wrapped up its story, so it’s been quiet in the era of The High Republic for fans (unless those rumors of a live-action TV show are true…), but even this newest batch of details and interviews is enough to breathe life back into the discussion ahead of Star Wars Celebration and likely a lot of news there. In the latest show, host Krystina Arielle sums up the finale to Phase I, talks with the new authors joining the project, interviews with some creatives about the finale, and some scant and surprising details about Phase II!
My favorite part of the latest THRS, besides new details and reveals of course, was having the new High Republic authors on! It was great to hear from Zoraida Córdova, Tessa Gratton, Lydia Kang, and George Mann, finally getting to chance to appear on the show and basically introduce themselves to fans if they weren’t already familiar with them or their work, discussing Star Wars bona-fides, their reaction to learning they were joining the team, what about Star Wars’ themes they enjoy most, and more. It’s lovely to hear from them and them hype up excitement for their contributions to the upcoming story of Phase II: Quest of the Jedi and I’m looking forward to when Arielle starts interviewing them about their releases and fan questions can come to them! I’m curious to see how they integrate into the High Republic team and what new angles and perspectives they can bring to the story, but also, Lydia, if you have some spare crochet Grogu’s…I’d love to have one, the one you showed off in the video was ADORABLE.
For the interview portion, Charles Soule, Justina Ireland, and Robert Simpson (Senior Editor at Lucasfilm Publishing) joined Arielle to discuss a wide breadth of topic. Soule talks about how and why they wanted to make Marchion Ro stand out throughout Phase I, with the author’s comic miniseries diving into his history finally, Ireland talks about finding the perfect balance she somehow always finds for making the middle grade books accessible and just as daring as the other age-range content (hint: treating children like people!), while Simpson extols the virtues of the comics and manga he’s been working on, which leads to an important moment highlight Keeve Trennis’ hair and how important of a symbol that can be culturally. The question regarding all the food in the era lead to a discussion about the importance and universal nature of food, while a question by Tim Owens later in the show led to a whole host of other creatives and behind-the-scenes players telling us their favorite snacks; life is truly better with food, folks. As always, check out the whole show for a lot of great viewpoints on Star Wars and this era specifically.
So now it’s time to discuss the reveals! The cover for Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland’s young adult novel, Path of Deceit, was shown off (hello new blue logo!) and holy mynocks is it gorgeous (here’s a textless version), while we learned some details about its story and characters. UPDATE: The artist who created the cover, Corey Brickley, shared some BTS on the process of making it! According to Arielle on the show, Path of Deceit takes place on Dalna, a planet we’ve known would feature in Phase II for some time now, especially after Ireland’s Mission to Disaster in Phase I, Wave III, and it centers on the group The Path of the Open Hand, extremists who don’t believe anyone should use the Force, and things get complicated when one of the Path falls for a Jedi Padawan. There’s some precedent for this extremist group, as Zeen Mrala was a member of the Elders of the Path (as seen in The High Republic Adventures and Midnight Horizon), a group which felt the same way about the Force, and it’s very likely they are the remains of this Path of the Open Hand after what all goes down on Dalna. In fact, the Jedi and Dalnans were VERY secretive about what happened on the planet in the past between the Jedi and the locals in Mission to Disaster, so the idea it all stems from star-crossed lovers isn’t that far-fetched. As for the characters on Path of Deceit’s beautiful cover, one is a Pantoran Jedi (I’m assuming the aforementioned Padawan someone falls for), then Mother, the leader of the Path of the Open Hand, and lastly…Marada Ro?! That’s right folks, another Ro (with concept art!), like Marchion and Asgar and Shalla after her, but instead of a vengeful Evereni, she’s quiet and peaceful. Considering her last name is Ro, that won’t last forever, but I CANNOT wait to learn more about her and how she gets us to Marchion. Is she the member of the Open Hand who falls for the Jedi Padawan? Is this why the Ro’s hate the Jedi so much?! While Phase II starts in October, Disney Book’s site shows a November 1 release date for Path of Deceit, which tracks with how Phase I released content: adult and middle-grade novel and then young adult a month or so later.
Expect far more details about Phase II, and maybe beyond or other High Republic-related content, next month at Star Wars Celebration. I won’t be there (breaking my streak!), but we’ll have all the details as they come in on the Manor regardless!
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.