SWBC: How The High Republic Phase 2 connects to Phase 3
Plus: Star Wars shares new character art and excerpts from "The Eye of Darkness."
Star Wars is like poetry — it rhymes
The High Republic Phase 2 — and the era overall, really — is like an album with no skips. Every single story is a banger, no matter if it directly connects to another book, comic, or phase or if it’s a thrilling enough adventure to stand on its own.
In last week’s newsletter, I shared my guide to preparing for The High Republic Phase 3, which began last month with Shadows of Starlight #1 and kicks into high gear with The Eye of Darkness novel next week. These are, of course, my recommendations and not hard and fast rules.
My main tip for heading into Phase 3 is to be fully caught up with Phase 1’s books and comics, as this new phase is a continuation of those stories. However, it’s worth expanding my advice to dig into Phase 2 if you haven’t already.
Not surprisingly, key characters and plot points from Phase 2 have made their way into Phase 3 — including in Shadows of Starlight and very much so in The Eye of Darkness.
While the new adult novel by George Mann doesn’t arrive for another week (and I still need to finish my review copy), it’s still a great time to share some characters and connections from Phases 2 and 3.
The character descriptions below do not spoil any key plot points from The Eye of Darkness. Much of the information is readily available through StarWars.com’s character databank, social media posts, and news releases.
There are, however, some minor spoilers for Phase 2.
Azlin Rell: During Phase 2, Azlin Rell is a young Jedi Knight sent to help at the Battle of Dalna. But what he found in the dark, dank caves of the Path of the Open Hand was pure terror made flesh — the Nameless. Disappearing at the end of Phase 2, Azlin ended up embracing the dark side in order to further study these mysterious Force-eating creatures. In Shadows of Starlight, Azlin returns at the request of Master Yoda in the hopes that he can help the Jedi defeat the Nihil and the Nameless.
Read more of Azlin’s story in Cataclysm, Path of Vengeance, and The Edge of Balance — Precedent.
Porter Engle: In Phase 1, the Ikkrukkian was introduced as a wisened but fierce Jedi Master who was just as known for his culinary skills as being the Blade of Bardotta. In Phase 2, we finally got to see why he got that nickname, and also his sibling relationship with Barash Silvain, whose decision to focus the rest of her life only on communing with the Force became the Barash Vow. Porter returns in Phase 3 as one of the Jedi fighting behind the Nihil’s Stormwall.
Read more of Porter’s story in Phase 2’s The Blade comic series, Phase 1’s Light of the Jedi, and Phase 3’s The Eye of Darkness.
General Viess: Viess has spent the last century or so as a vicious mercenary and purported Jedi killer, as she likes to call herself. She first appeared in The Blade comic series, where she faced off against Porter Engle — the Jedi who got away from her. Now in Phase 3, she leads the Nihil’s Ministry of Protection but is still obsessed with getting a rematch with the Blade of Bardotta.
Read more of Viess’s story in The Blade comic series and The Eye of Darkness.
Baron Boolan: While Star Wars recently formally introduced Baron Boolan as one of the key characters of Phase 3, we actually first saw the ancient Ithorian mad scientist back in Phase 2. Not a main character, but at the end of Path of Vengeance, there’s an Ithorian child who was tasked with planting bombs in the Path of the Open Hand’s compound during the Battle of Dalna. Marda Ro’s cousin, Yana, finds the young Boolan (named in the book) and takes the explosives from him. Over a hundred years later in Phase 3, Boolan is now Marchion Ro’s Minister of Advancement and is obsessed with the Nameless creatures and performing twisted experiments to understand them and their connection to the Force.
Read more of Boolan’s story in Path of Vengeance and The Eye of Darkness.
Who are you most excited to see return in Phase 3 of The High Republic? Let me know in the comments!
Where to read The Eye of Darkness excerpts
We’re still about a week out from the next new High Republic book, but luckily there are three excerpts from The Eye of Darkness to hold us over.
In an excerpt posted last month on StarWars.com, Elzar Mann reflects on the last year since the destruction of Starlight Beacon and the loss of his best friend, Stellan Gios. In Phase 3, Elzar is still wracked with grief, but he’s also spoiling for action — to do something to hit back at the Nihil where they mortally wounded both the Jedi and the Republic.
An excerpt shared by Entertainment Weekly shows the return of Avar Kriss, the former Marshal of Starlight Beacon and the Hero of Hetzal. In Phase 3, Avar is one of the Jedi trapped behind the Stormwall. In this excerpt, she inadvertently steals a ship and ropes in an Ugnaught in her scheme to reroute Nihil-stolen cargo to a planet in need.
And finally, an excerpt from Gizmodo sees the return of the Eye of the Nihil Marchion Ro as well as a certain galactic journalist whose now being forced to broadcast the Evereni villain’s propaganda. This excerpt is very spoiler-y, so I won’t give too much away about it.
Are you the type of person who wants to read excerpts and/or reviews before a book comes out? Or do you prefer to go in as blind as you can? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Star Wars books and comics out this week
Nov. 7
Scoundrels, Rebels and the Empire (trade paperback)
Nov. 8
The High Republic: Shadows of Starlight #2
The High Republic (2023) #1
Darth Vader (2020) #40
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