SWBC: All the books and comics revealed at Star Wars Celebration
Plus: All the Essential Legends books released so far, and what's coming next.
All the best books and comics revealed at Star Wars Celebration
The wins just keep coming for Star Wars book fans. Throughout the latest seasons of The Bad Batch and The Mandalorian, there have been plenty of nods and connections to the books we’ve read and loved. And with Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023 last week, there were two whole panels dedicated to revealing what’s coming next in the pages of our favorite galaxy’s books and comics.
All the book and comic news you may have missed at Star Wars Celebration:
The High Republic Phase 3 is titled Trials of the Jedi. This phase is a return to the characters and storylines of Phase 1 — 200 years before the events of the Skywalker saga.
Phase 3 kicks off on Nov. 14, 2023, with George Mann’s adult novel The Eye of Darkness.
The next books in the first wave of Phase 3 include Escape from Valo by Daniel José Older and Alyssa Wong, and Defy the Storm by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland.
Phase 3 will have three adult novels, three young adult novels, and three middle-grade novels spread out over the next two years. Charles Soule — who kicked off The High Republic with Light of the Jedi — will write the last adult novel, Trials of the Jedi in spring 2025.
The High Republic comics return with the Marvel flagship series written by Cavan Scott and The High Republic Adventures by Daniel José Older. Both return in December.
MORE: Full breakdown of all The High Republic news from Star Wars Celebration
The Lucasfilm Publishing panel revealed The Art of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor cover art and new details about Star Wars Timelines (April 25).
New books were also announced — Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook and The Secrets of the Wookiees.
The Marvel panel saw the reveal of the next crossover event — Dark Droids. The event will have a main limited run series as well as spinoff stories in the other Marvel Star Wars comics — set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
MORE: All the books and comics announced at Star Wars Celebration, and when you can read them
The essential guide to the Essential Legends Collection
Even with all the new and wonderful Star Wars books being published, there will always be something special about the books that came before them — specifically, the former Expanded Universe of stories published before Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2015.
But with the Essential Legends Collection, which started two years ago, more and more fans are falling in love with or being reintroduced to Star Wars Legends books. So far, there are more than a dozen Legends books that have been rereleased with new cover art and in a much more reader-friendly trade paperback format.
The Old Republic: Deceived
The Old Republic: Revan
Darth Bane trilogy (Path of Destruction, Rule of Two, Dynasty of Evil)
Darth Plagueis
Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter
Shatterpoint
Kenobi
Death Troopers
Thrawn trilogy (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command)
X-Wing: Rogue Squadron
X-Wing: Wedge’s Gamble
X-Wing: The Krytos Trap
X-Wing: The Bacta War
And here are the Essential Legends books coming soon:
May 23
Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void
Republic Commando: Hard Contact
Yoda: Dark Rendezvous
Aug. 15
The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance
Republic Commando: Triple Zero
Outbound Flight
Survivor’s Quest
*Spoilers ahead for The Mandalorin season 3, episode 7*
The Mandalorian season 3, episode 7
In just one scene, The Mandalorian helped set up the future of Star Wars and the next 30 years on the timeline.
In that scene, the Imperial Shadow Council leaps off the pages of Aftermath: Life Debt and onto the screen. In the episode, “The Spies,” Moff Gideon speaks before the council, which includes Admiral Pellaeon and Commandant Brendol Hux.
Pellaeon is present in both Legends and new canon as the right hand mand and staunch follower of Grand Admiral Thrawn. He even name-drops Thrawn during the meeting, insisting that the brilliant Chiss will return imminently.
Hux, you’ll remember, is the father of Armitage Hux of First Order and sequel fame. There are also mentions of a Project Necromancer, which very likely has something to do with cloning and the late Emperor Palpatine.
This Shadow Council meeting alone teases to other post-Endor projects like Ahsoka, Skeleton Crew, and the Dave Filoni film, as well as further connects to elements in the sequel trilogy — which is set decades later.
Some more thoughts from my review for Winter is Coming:
It's finally all coming together in The Mandalorian season 3's penultimate episodes. After some fun but disjointed episodes in the junior season, all of the plotlines and teases have led to this moment: the return of Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) and his machinations to rule Mandalore and keep the Empire alive.
The episode also helps set up key plot points in future post-Endor projects like Ahsoka and Skeleton Crew and has elements that connect this era to the events of The Force Awakens.
The sequence with the Shadow Council in live-action is a key moment for the future of Star Wars as a franchise and the next three decades on the timeline. With the name-drop of Thrawn — who Pellaeon insists will return any moment like a blue-skinned, red-eyed Jesus — The Mandalorian solidifies itself as a core precursor to the events coming in Ahsoka.
Those who watched "The Spies" early at Star Wars Celebration lauded the episode as the best of the season and one of the best of the series overall. It's hard not to see why, as it felt like the stories, characters, and villains were finally coming together to move the plot forward into a grand finale.
It's just too bad that it took this long to get here.
Star Wars books and comics out this week
April 12
The High Republic Adventures #4
Doctor Aphra #30
Return of the Jedi: Ewoks #1
The High Republic #8
Bounty Hunters #33
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