It has felt like far too long since we got another episode of The High Republic Show and it was way more than worth the wait, as Krystina Arielle continues to really dazzle as the lead of the show and she came packed to the Outer Rim with tons of The High Republic goodies: Tempest Runner, the next audiobook from Cavan Scott, follows Nihil leader Lourna Dee, we meet new characters and creatures from upcoming content, and more concept art and comic covers tease the scope of the story building and building. Check out the show above and read our summary below!
Let’s start with some of the non-news, because it deserves to be talked about as well. The show is definitely diving into spoiler territory with Arielle’s summaries, but I do enjoy it as refresher as well, so be warned before you watch. After her summary, the show has interviews with some of the art team involved with bringing The High Republic to visual life outside of the comics. Michael Siglain, Creative Director of Lucasfilm Publishing, is joined by Troy Alders, Art Director of Lucasfilm, and Jeffrey Thomas, Senior Illustration Manager for Disney Publishing, as they discuss the work that’s gone into the art side of the project, how exciting it is to be carving out this new period, and how they’ve reused concept art from various other projects for final THR content, like Marchion Ro’s helmet taken from an undisclosed project that never ended up being made. And some eagle-eyed fans noticed on Thomas’ computer screen potential concept art for what looks to be…Yaddle! Yoda of course gets all the glory, but she’d be around during this time too so it would only make sense we’d finally get to see her! After their interview, Arielle sits with Claudia Gray (Into the Dark), Daniel José Older (The High Republic Adventures), and Jennifer Heddle, Executive Editor at Disney/Lucasfilm Publishing to dive into the creepy Drengir, what it’s like to create these stories in the new timeline, Buckets of Blood, and so much. All worth a watch, folks, especially thanks to Arielle’s humor!
Cavan Scott returns to audiobooks with this fall’s Tempest Runner, which “…will follow the villainous Lourna Dee coming into her own as a leader of the Nihil marauders.” Lourna was among the many who starred in Charles Soule’s expansive, entertaining opening novel, Light of the Jedi, and we saw how she and the other Tempest Runners operated their parts of the Nihil, all while Marchion Ro’s plans and ideas changed the make-up of the group forever. Dee had a cool, high-tech ship with tons of stealth features, with even more ruthlessness to go with it, and out of all the Nihil leaders and members we met, besides Ro, she was my favorite of the book so more time with her is definitely a plus. Scott was responsible for the Dooku: Jedi Lost audiobook, which continues to grow on me as time goes on, and I’ll be curious how he’ll approach telling Dee’s story, and if he’ll borrow any of the tricks from Sarah Kuhn’s Doctor Aphra audiobook.
Meet Sylverstri Yarrow, the main character of the upcoming YA book from Justina Ireland, The High Republic: Out of the Shadows (out July 27)! She’s a cargo ship captain, the Switchback, and she “…makes her way across the galaxy with her long-time security droid as well as her Sullistan copilot, Neeto,” while according to Arielle in the THRS episode, she’ll be dealing with the Nihil, Jedi, and an ex-girlfriend! Between this little mention and the video of San Tekka husbands during the episode, it’s awesome to see so much LGBTQ+ representation on display. Out of the Shadows also stars Avon Starros, my favorite non-Jedi character of the era so far (Geode is SO CLOSE), Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh and her Padawan Imri Cantaros (from Ireland’s A Test of Courage), as well as Raeth Silas (Into the Dark).
And here’s some new concept of characters we’ve already met, and one of a Nihil monster we’ll see in April’s issue of The High Republic Adventures. Both Cohmac Vitus and Affie Hallow are from Gray’s Into the Dark, though Vitus’ concept art isn’t what I was expecting, but I like it, while Affie was already on the book’s cover so hers isn’t a surprise. As for the Bogaranth…it leaves slime in its wake, what more do you need to know!?
Lastly, there were covers for Scott’s The High Republic from Marvel (we have an interview on Wednesday with the series’ letterer, Ariana Maher!) and Older’s The High Republic Adventures. While the THRA one is neat and Jedi-rific, issue #7 of THR has our first look at a RED LIGHTSABER in The High Republic! What does it mean?! I know a comic book cover isn’t always indicative of the content within, but they wouldn’t put that on there for no reason! Can’t wait to find out in July!
Lastly, the official site’s THR page now has handy character and timeline infographic guides, which is handy given the growing depth of this era! We’ve only gotten two episode of The High Republic Show, but they’ve been full of humor, intriguing behind-the-scenes details and discussions, and some great new reveals and content. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for the THRS‘ first ever third episode!
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.