A new era of Star Wars is at hand. The movies launched one era. The comics and video games of the 90s and 2000s gave us The Old Republic. Now the era of the High Republic comes. To spread over comics and books, this new era creeps closer as the first book approaches. Finally, Light of the Jedi Chapter 1 is released.
IGN just released the first chapter of the book, and it looks incredible. You can check it out here.
Light of the Jedi Chapter 1: A First Step into a Larger World
The coolest part of this new series is that it exists in a world we think we know, yet know nothing about. We know the rough outline of the galaxy and how it works, yet everything we think we know will not come about for hundreds of years. We know the force and the Jedi, yet the wielders we know are hundreds of years from even existing (save 1 or 2). At this point in time the mighty Sith are not even a factor.
Everything from Jedi to politicians to ships come at us from the imaginations of this newly formed creative team. As this excerpt shows, the comics may be more important than ever to show us what the books describe. In this first chapter Captain Casset describes flying an Incom Z-24. Incom created ships we know like the X-wing, U-wing, Skyhoppers, ARC-170s and snowspeeders, but in the time we know the Z-95 Heaedhunter belonged to pirates as an outdated fighter. This ship we hear about is only a Z-24! Something on it will have S-foils, but beyond that who knows.
Light of the Jedi Chapter 1: Expostion, Exposition, Exposition – Holy Bantha Poodoo!
As you read this excerpt, the first thing that should stand out, at the top, is 3 hours to Impact. That forebodes something coming that won’t mix well with a freighter filled with 9,000 passengers. Titanic any one?
The first chapter then proceeds at a slow pace (not unusual for first chapters). We read lots of exposition on Captain Casset, the ship, and the passengers moving to the outer rim. I start wondering the purpose of this as it does not set up the galaxy, the Jedi or anything relevant….until what would be the last page or two.
Light of the Jedi Chapter 1: The True State of the Galaxy
Since the first announcement indicated that this series would cover The High Republic, Jedi are at peace with no real enemies we know of right now. What could threaten both? Now we know.
My comment about the Titanic was actually pretty close, yet not far enough. The freighter hits something, but what confused me was the state of the ship. Something large is in the way. What is step 1? Drop out of lightspeed. Casset makes it sound like these new space lanes and Hyperdrives might be fairly new. She speaks of not trusting them and the new lanes to the outer rim are brand new.
Casset attempts to turn the aging freighter, but if you read the comments from author Charles Soule explains it happens as read. This maneuver happens at Lightspeed! When the ship breaks apart think ‘Holdo Maneuver’ from The Last Jedi. Here is what Soule added:
“The destruction of the Legacy Run is the catalyst for a galaxy-wide disaster. Fragments of the destroyed cargo vessel begin flying out of hyperspace at super-accelerated speeds, meaning that deadly missiles of debris can appear anywhere at any time, from the Outer Rim to the Core. In this moment of crisis, the Republic turns to the guardians of peace and justice—the Jedi.”
Charles Soule
Star Wars High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule kicks off this new era January 5, 2021. Stay tuned to Thathashtagshow.com and starwars.com for more information as it comes.
