The season finale of The High Republic Show reveals Phase II secrets

The High Republic Show released its season finale this week, an 21-minute holiday spectacular complete with a Phase II reading guide, an author roundtable, and exclusive reveals. (Cute Starlight Beacon Christmas ornaments also made an appearance!)

After Krystina Arielle serenaded us with a perfect High Republic rendition of “Deck the Halls”, she gave every High Republic fan the perfect Christmas gift–Phase II secrets. You can watch the full video here and read our highlights from this episode below.

In what order should you read Phase II stories?

Krystina lets viewers know that if they haven’t picked up any of the new releases yet, that “any book you decide to start with in Phase II is the right book to start with.” But if you’re someone who wants a little guidance, she recommends this order:

• Quest for the Hidden City by George Mann
• Path of Deceit by Justina Ireland and Tessa Gratton
• Convergence by Zoraida Cordova
• The High Republic Adventures (2022) comics written by Daniel Jose Older
• The High Republic (2022) comics written by Cavan Scott

Yet another exciting Phase II author roundtable!

Star Wars can’t seem to get enough of author roundtables, and neither can we! Following the wonderful article “Fragile Peace” by Kelly Knox, we get another discussion of what’s to come in Phase II. Krystina is joined by authors Charles Soule and Zoraida Cordova, along with Lucasfilm Publishing editor Emeli Juhlin to talk about their favorite characters and upcoming projects.

Emeli explains that since The High Republic is “set up to mirror the approach of the Skywalker Saga”, we should “think of [Phase II stories] as the Prequels.” This second part of THR dives a little further into character backstories but is still a new jumping off point.

Zoraida Cordova talks about her novel Convergence, and how the Forever War between Eiram and E’ronoh affects the galaxy. She also discusses the role of The Path of the Open Hand, a Force cult which was first introduced in Path of Deceit.

"When you have nowhere else to go, if somebody offers you gifts freely given…at first it seems like a boon and like a good idea, and you don’t realize that you’re sort of getting ensnared into this like spider’s web, and that’s how we see how The Path works in the shadows."

Charles Soule presents his thoughts on The Blade #1, which releases on December 28th and reveals the backstory to a fan-favorite character: Porter Engle.

"[The Blade] is him in his prime, and it’s a story about how he begins to transition from this swashbuckling, lightsaber super-duelist to being the person who has everything we see him burdened with in Phase I."

When asked to describe The Blade in three words, Soule offers: “Lightsabers, lightsabers, and stew.” This comic promises to be quite the adventure!

Exclusive High Republic cover reveals!

Lastly, we got Christmas presents to remember in the form of comic reveals for upcoming issues, including:

• The cover for The High Republic Adventures #3 – releases February 15, 2023.
• Interior pages for The High Republic #3 – releases December 28, 2022.
• A variant cover for The High Republic #5 with Jedi Vildar Mac – releases February 8, 2023.
• The cover for The High Republic #6 of Jedi Vildar Mac using the Force to hold back back pillars on Jedha – releases March 8, 2023.
• The cover for The High Republic #7 with a group shot of some favorite Phase II characters – releases March 22, 2023.

Along with all of these amazing comic secrets, the cover for a new High Republic Character Encyclopedia was dropped! This book of over 250 characters will be written by Amy Richau and Megan Crouse and is coming our way in 2023. You can get a closer look at these exclusive reveals here.

What an incredible holiday spectacular from The High Republic Show, which drops every other month on YouTube. The High Republic Phase II continues with new stories at the end of this month.