The newest episode of Star Wars: The High Republic Show gave fans a first look at many of the covers for the novels and comics in the High Republic’s upcoming third wave.
This is the final wave of the High Republic’s first phase known as Light of the Jedi and will pave the way for the second phase in the publishing initiative, Quest of the Jedi.
While the titles and authors for Wave 3 had already been revealed, little else was known about these stories. Thanks to the stunning cover art, fans know now about some of the main characters who will be featured in these stories, along with some tantalizing clues about the plots of the next tales in the High Republic era.
The Fallen Star
This adult novel by Claudia Gray acts as a sequel to The Rising Storm. The cover features familiar characters such as Indeera Stoke, Stellan Gios, Burryaga, Bell Zettifar, and Orla Jareni.
The ominous title — along with the breaking glass and fiery background of the cover–certainly doesn’t bode well. All these elements add to the theory that The Fallen Star could include the destruction of the Starlight Beacon.
As one of the prominent point of view characters in Light of the Jedi and The Rising Storm, it looks like Bell will continue to be a mainstay of the adult novels, which isn’t much of a surprise after the transformative and heartbreaking experiences he endured in The Rising Storm.
Orla was introduced in the Y.A. novel Into The Dark by Claudia Gray and also appeared in the Marvel High Republic comics. It is exciting to see Orla crossing over into the various mediums of High Republic storytelling and for Claudia Gray to return to a character that she originally introduced.
Everyone wants more of the Wookiee Burryaga and his appearance on the cover hopefully means he will have a bigger role than ever before.
After their important roles in The Rising Storm, continuing the stories of Ty Yorrick and Stellan Gios only feels right, especially with Ty Yorrick’s story being fleshed out more in The Monster of Temple Peak comics.
Midnight Horizon
The cover art for Daniel José Older’s Y.A. novel Midnight Horizon features Jedi Padawan Reath Silas and Jedi Master Cohmac Vitus walking on a seemingly sinister planet.
The two characters were introduced and forged a connection with each other in Into the Dark and returned in Justina Ireland’s Y.A. novel Out of the Shadows.
While they played important roles in Out of the Shadows, their stories felt secondary to Sylvestri Yarrow and Vernestra Rwoh. If the cover is any indication, Reath and Cohmac’s relationship and their individual character development will be taking center stage again in Midnight Horizon.
Mission To Disaster
Justina Ireland introduced fans to Vernesta Rwoh and Imri Cantaros in A Test of Courage and continued their story in major ways in Out of the Shadows. The cover for Mission to Disaster shows that Vernestra and Imri will continue to be integral in Justina Ireland’s novels.
Vernestra and Imri will have their work cut out for them again as the cover shows them facing creatures that look like many-eyed crocodiles, which will surely be only one of the many challenges that this well-developed pair face in this story.
Eye of the Storm
Charles Soule’s two-shot comic series will reveal more about the High Republic’s main villain Marchion Ro. The two most intriguing details of the cover for the first comic issue are the yellow lightsaber and the rare look at Marchion’s face.
The yellow lightsaber belongs to Loden Greatsorm. While there will probably be some flashbacks to Marchion’s origin in Eye of the Storm, the lightsaber means that much of the story will take place in between Light of the Jedi and The Rising Storm as it was during this period that Marchion had Loden’s lightsaber in his possession while Loden remained his captive.
The look at Marchion’s face hopefully means that the audience will learn more about his backstory and the deeper motivations that fuel his nefarious schemes against the Jedi and the Republic.
Marvel’s The High Republic
Issue #13 of Star Wars: The High Republic has the Marshal of Starlight Beacon — Avar Kriss — with her green lightsaber ignited as she faces a barrage of blaster bolts. Despite dealing with the Drengir threat, Avar still has the Nihil and many other challenges to face.
Issue #1 of Star Wars: Trail of Shadows hasn’t been released yet, but fans have already seen covers for the first few issues and now have a look at the cover for issue #4. The crime noir story looks like it will get dark as the cover highlights Jedi Emerick Caphtor with a terrifying monster behind him.
The High Republic Adventures
During The High Republic Show, host Krystina Arielle shared that all five High Republic authors helped write the upcoming 2021 annual issue. Cover A shows familiar faces like Chancellor Lina Soh, Lourna Dee, and Affie Hollow, while Cover B has legendary Jedi Master and chef Porter Engle facing some Nihil.
Krystina Arielle also shared that fan-favorite Geode would be part of the annual comic. This unlikely grouping of characters will surely make for a surprising and highly entertaining story.
The cover for issue 11 features many familiar characters from previous issues of The High Republic Adventures, such as Farzala, Lula Talisola, Zeen Mrala, and Buckets of Blood, all of whom will likely team up again.
The Edge of Balance and concept art
Volume 1 of the manga Edge of Balance debuted earlier in September, and now fans have a glimpse at the cover for Volume 2. Daniel José Older is collaborating on the writing with Shima Shinya for this volume.
To top off all of these tantalizing covers, concept art was shared for two additional Nihil characters. (You can see that at the bottom of this StarWars.com article.) One is a Quarren Commander named Kara Xoo while the other is Doctor Mkampa, a character who appears to have cybernetic enhancements. With some of the key Nihil characters killed off, the inclusion of new Nihil is welcome and will add new perspectives to the villainous group.
Which upcoming High Republic story are you looking forward to the most? Let us know in the comments!