Star Wars The High Republic: Light of the Jedi

The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It’s an energy field created by all living things.

Until. . . .

Project Luminous is an interconnected Multimedia story set 200 - 400 years before The Skywalker Saga revolving around the Jedi scouting the Unknown Regions.

Quote:

these stories would be separate, but also connected, similar to the MCU

THE ERA

• “The High Republic” is set around 200 years before The Phantom Menace .
• “It’s a golden time,” says Michael Siglain, Creative Director, Lucasfilm. “A time of peace and prosperity… a time when the Jedi really are galactic guardians, stewards of peace and justice.”
• The Jedi of the High Republic era are like the Jedi Knights of the Round Table.
• There is a Wild West element to the era. The galaxy is not as “settled” as it is during the Skywalker Saga. It is also a time of “greatly expanded Jedi activity.” The Jedi play a law enforcement type role.
• The borders of the Republic will be threatened by a new villain. The new villains are called the Nihil (Nile) and they are described as being like “space Vikings.” Their motto? “You can’t take it with you, but we can take it from you.” They are designed to be very different from the Empire and the First Order. “They’re not a bunch of uniformed soldiers serving a higher purpose.” Something much more “punk rock.” “They’re unified, but they’re also all out for themselves.” The Nihil are said to be able to use hyperspace in a very dangerous way.
• We may see a middle-aged Yoda, in his prime.
• Star Wars isn’t just about the Jedi. We will also see new smugglers, and new bounty hunters.
• There will be a core group of heroes that will expand over time.

More images

Five of the Jedi characters concept art

It's an interesting concept, but I still think it's way to close to Phantom Menace. People in Star Wars have the memories of goldfish based on what some of the writers would have us believe at times.

I like all of the concept art except for Jedi Rafa. I seriously looks like they just gave concept art of Rafa a lightsaber and Jedi robes, then called it a day.

I've started a game set in that era, thanks for the links to concept art, I have to build everything! Not sure if I'm going with the whole Nihm thing, or if I'm going for a Disillusionated Jedi who corrupts other Jedis. I might use him as the force behind the Nihm; that might be interesting.

6 hours ago, aljovin said:

I've started a game set in that era, thanks for the links to concept art, I have to build everything! Not sure if I'm going with the whole Nihm thing, or if I'm going for a Disillusionated Jedi who corrupts other Jedis. I might use him as the force behind the Nihm; that might be interesting.

That's very cool. I'm contemplating doing something similar once my group finishes the current AoR campaign (which is unlikely to happen until sometime 2022, I guess). So, in my case, I'll get to read quite a few books and comics before tackling this.

In your case, however, I think I would just go for something simple and straight forward, putting a drama in some backwater Outer Rim system where whatever developments take place in the upcoming books etc. doesn't necessarily impact the local matters too much. Perhaps the PCs are Jedi (with company) dispatched from the Beacon space station thingy to look into the disappearance of a Jedi-Marshal or whatever, who were supposed to keep rivaling settler factions from clashing on a newly-settled world. Then you could explore what little we know about the High Republic setting thus far, and go your own with the rest.

Good luck, and do share your ideas and how the campaign develops

I actually ran a mini-campaign in this era, before Project Luminous was announced. Once more High Republic content comes out, I might revisit that campaign and expand upon it quite a bit. Though, I'll need to make a few changes here and there, I'm sure.

Interesting write up from Kotaku yesterday...

https://io9.gizmodo.com/star-wars-the-high-republic-is-as-refreshing-as-it-is-1845851811

Picking up my hard copy of Light of the Jedi after I clock out from work this afternoon. Might get the middle grades book, A Test of Courage , too. Light of the Jedi audiobook is already downloaded and ready to go.

On 7/5/2020 at 3:51 PM, Imperial Advisor Arem Heshvaun said:

[starts rant - not directed at Heshvaun, but at TPTB behind SW]

"A Jedi Knight at aged fifteen"?!?!?

I know that they want to appeal to younger audiences, but this "youth enablement" in GFFA is getting ridiculous. If she's human/human-equivalent (I see that she's mirialan according to the art), then she's not finished developing psychologically, etc. at age 15. There's no way that a 15-year old should be given the status and independence that accompanies the title "Jedi Knight".*

Not a Jedi Knight. Maybe an unusually mature Senior Padawan ... no, not even that. This character should be no more than a Junior Padawan, one who is then separated from the adult Jedi due to plot reasons. That would be acceptable.

* I'm only giving "14-year old" Amidala a pass because she was surrounded by adult advisors on a civilised planet, the laws of which she had to follow. Plus the plot requirement that she eventually falls in love with Anakin, and the TPTB obviously didn't want too large an age gap between them. *rolls eyes*

2 hours ago, Bellona said:

I know that they want to appeal to younger audiences, but this "youth enablement" in GFFA is getting ridiculous. If she's human/human-equivalent (I see that she's mirialan according to the art), then she's not finished developing psychologically, etc. at age 15. There's no way that a 15-year old should be given the status and independence that accompanies the title "Jedi Knight".*

I have to agree. The teenage protagonist trope that we get in a lot of films and TV shows really does grate on me because - while the world-building requires suspension of disbelief - it produces unbelievable personalities and characters that it's just too hard for me to see past. A 15 year old who has passed the trials and can be trusted with involvement in military or political matters? Who can do that alone?

I suppose that in the Royal Navy of the British Empire boys as young as 13 would be enlisted for training as an officer, but they wouldn't have a fully commissioned rank until they were 18, let alone the seniority to operate without a superior.

2 hours ago, Bellona said:

Not a Jedi Knight. Maybe an unusually mature Senior Padawan ... no, not even that. This character should be no more than a Junior Padawan, one who is then separated from the adult Jedi due to plot reasons. That would be acceptable.

This is the setup that they had in Knight Errant (I've only read the book, not the comic book series) and even then she was a pretty mature 18-19 year old who had only just become a jedi knight and gets separated from her master behind enemy lines in the Sith Empire. It worked well, because she was unprepared for the circumstance she found herself in and is constantly being tested and confronted with new evils. You distinctly get the impression that she's had her whole world view tainted by her circumstance too, and anyone less mature or prepared would easily fall or give up.

10 hours ago, Bellona said:

[starts rant - not directed at Heshvaun, but at TPTB behind SW]

"A Jedi Knight at aged fifteen"?!?!?

I know that they want to appeal to younger audiences, but this "youth enablement" in GFFA is getting ridiculous. If she's human/human-equivalent (I see that she's mirialan according to the art), then she's not finished developing psychologically, etc. at age 15. There's no way that a 15-year old should be given the status and independence that accompanies the title "Jedi Knight".*

Not a Jedi Knight. Maybe an unusually mature Senior Padawan ... no, not even that. This character should be no more than a Junior Padawan, one who is then separated from the adult Jedi due to plot reasons. That would be acceptable.

* I'm only giving "14-year old" Amidala a pass because she was surrounded by adult advisors on a civilised planet, the laws of which she had to follow. Plus the plot requirement that she eventually falls in love with Anakin, and the TPTB obviously didn't want too large an age gap between them. *rolls eyes*

Ahsoka was accepted as a Padawan at 14, and was considered advanced for her age. Jedi Knight at fifteen is just... absurd.

38 minutes ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

Ahsoka was accepted as a Padawan at 14, and was considered advanced for her age. Jedi Knight at fifteen is just... absurd.

Keep in mind that this happened 250ish years after the High Republic timeline. Between the visuals, what I’ve gotten from the first few chapters of Light of the Jedi , and what the authors have said in the run-up to release, the HR-era Jedi aren’t as insular and dogmatic as they are by the prequel era.

I haven’t picked up A Test of Courage yet, but in Monday’s online event, it appears that there will be a few young Jedi who’ve recently been granted the title of Knight, and those appear to largely be contained to the middle grades books (and perhaps the IDW “Adventures” comic). I’m curious to see if these are relatively isolated incidents, and/or if that may play into the larger stories of the High Republic, and be part of what leads to the change in how the Jedi function.

4 minutes ago, Nytwyng said:

Keep in mind that this happened 250ish years after the High Republic timeline. Between the visuals, what I’ve gotten from the first few chapters of Light of the Jedi , and what the authors have said in the run-up to release, the HR-era Jedi aren’t as insular and dogmatic as they are by the prequel era.

Maybe they aren't as "insular and dogmatic" but they are certainly a whole lot stupider. A 15-year old Jedi knight? Yikes.

36 minutes ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

Maybe they aren't as "insular and dogmatic" but they are certainly a whole lot stupider. A 15-year old Jedi knight? Yikes.

Which is where it could potentially play into the change in how the Jedi function. Contextually, it appears that the Republic has been in a sort of golden age of peace and prosperity. Is there much other than ceremonial and aid duties for the Jedi to perform? They’re flashier in form and appearance, as seen in the available artwork. Not saying that, “Hey, kid! Ya done good. You’re a Knight now!” is all that swift a move, but that perhaps being so freewheeling with advancement is one of the things that they made a conscious change regarding. The stories may tell us.

Or, the kids in question could just be super-prodigies. (One mentioned in Monday’s stream is a mechanic who just wants to fix things and tinker, he’s less interested in the “typical” Jedi Knight functions.)

Or, it’s just working within the tropes of the middle grades fiction market. 😁 (I remember back in 7th grade, reading a middle grades murder mystery that made a point of having the lead character specifically drink coffee and smoke at 15/16 to present an illusion of “maturity.”)

I’m picking up A Test of Courage tonight, but won’t start it til I’m done with Light of the Jedi . Looking at the audiobook info, Test should be about a 4-5 hour read. I’m still curious to see if the lead’s Knight status has any impact in the overall story, or if it’s just using a trope. Not to mention what sort of similar/dissimilar paradigm might be at play in Claudia Gray’s upcoming YA High Republic book.

I read through all of A Test of Courage, and honestly I don't see what the big deal is. She's explicitly called out as extremely young for a Jedi Knight, an absolute rarity. Many refer to her as the youngest Knight in recent times, or possibly ever. It's not like they're promoting every teenager to the rank of Knight. It's just typical YA writing tropes. Have the main character be a teen to make them more relatable to the target audience, but make them just as capable as all the adult characters around them.

And someone already brought up the example of Queen Amidala in Episode I. If someone who is 14 is considered old enough to rule a planet, I don't see the big deal of having a 15 year old be a Jedi Knight. Jedi have even more advisors, resources, sources of knowledge and guidance than Padme would have. You just can't judge Star Wars characters the same way you judge people in the real world. Star Wars has consistently shown that younger characters can still be extremely advanced in education and maturity, in both Legends and now in Canon.

4 hours ago, Underachiever599 said:

I read through all of A Test of Courage, and honestly I don't see what the big deal is. She's explicitly called out as extremely young for a Jedi Knight, an absolute rarity. Many refer to her as the youngest Knight in recent times, or possibly ever. It's not like they're promoting every teenager to the rank of Knight. It's just typical YA writing tropes. Have the main character be a teen to make them more relatable to the target audience, but make them just as capable as all the adult characters around them.

And someone already brought up the example of Queen Amidala in Episode I. If someone who is 14 is considered old enough to rule a planet, I don't see the big deal of having a 15 year old be a Jedi Knight. Jedi have even more advisors, resources, sources of knowledge and guidance than Padme would have. You just can't judge Star Wars characters the same way you judge people in the real world. Star Wars has consistently shown that younger characters can still be extremely advanced in education and maturity, in both Legends and now in Canon.

( Bolding mine.)

First bolded section: which is exactly that to which I object. Just because it's a trope doesn't make it acceptable thinking in reality. (I certainly wouldn't want to give a teenager a lethal weapon and a title with authority, and then send them off unsupervised into a warzone.) It would have been a lot more acceptable if the character in question was still a padawan.

Second bolded section: exactly how many adult advisors and resources does such a "Jedi Knight" have when out of contact on a solo mission among hostiles? (And it was I who brought up Amidala - notably with rolled eyes.)

Star Wars is full of dumb crap that will give pause to reasonable people. Suspension of disbelief is constantly strained until it finally breaks. I'm surprised it took so long for this terrible trope to get under your skin.

Speaking of dumb crap...

Went to pick up the first issue of the comic last night. The standard edition - on release day - was already marked up (depending on store) to anywhere from $8-20. The variants started at $13 and went up to at least $30.

Reactivated my pull list at my regular store while I was at it, so such things don't happen going forward.

23 hours ago, HappyDaze said:

Star Wars is full of dumb crap that will give pause to reasonable people. Suspension of disbelief is constantly strained until it finally breaks. I'm surprised it took so long for this terrible trope to get under your skin.

The "unbelievably capable youth who lucks out despite all adversity" trope has always bothered me.

Unless they're living in a dystopia/in horrible circumstances, my automatic reaction has always been "Where are the responsible adults?!?"

2 hours ago, Bellona said:

"Where are the responsible adults?!?"

If it were a roleplaying game, the lazy-crap answer is "The adults aren't the PCs; only you can do XYZ" as if this should just be accepted despite how it hurts the verisimilitude of the setting.