As the next chapter of Star Wars: The High Republic draws near, The Jedi Order and Republic Chancellor Lina Soh are going to learn that reaping can be much, much less fun than sowing.
We’ve already had plenty of teases that the next stage of The High Republic novels and comics would portend rather dire things for the titular Republic — mostly because all the new stories have very ominous titles and the only artwork we’d seen was of Starlight Beacon, the Jedi/Republic hub on the Outer Rim of the galaxy, exploding violently. But now, in new artwork revealed on StarWars.com, we know that the High Republic is going to become quite low for Starlight itself.
Because it’s going to crash, you see. Womp, womp.
The new cataclysmic artwork comes from Jama Jurabaev, and will be an exclusive wraparound cover for the out of print exclusive edition of Star Wars: The High Republic — The Fallen Star (you see what they did there), the new novel from Claudia Grey that will headline this incoming phase of novels and comics. Sure, it’s probably sad for all those Jedi to watch Starlight Beacon go down, but hey, maybe don’t let the Chancellor of the Republic become obsessed with her legacy being wrapped up in “Great Works” projects with some big colonialist vibes that put forward an image of enlightened opulence in the Republic as it expands its borders and military aims? It’s a good way to get a bunch of disgruntled folks to bloody your nose, metaphorically or otherwise. But enough about that, don’t be sad, you also get a beanie with the Jedi’s mantra “For Life and Light!” on it with every purchase!
Also revealed were two more exclusive editions of The Fallen Star for Barnes & Noble (which also includes a pull-out poster) and Target, the cover art for which you can see above, as well as one for Daniel José Older’s upcoming YA novel Star Wars: The High Republic — Midnight Horizon exclusive to Walmart, which will also feature a Q&A with the author:
The next chapter of The High Republic begins with the release of The Fallen Star on January 4, 2022.
Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the U.S., but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.