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The Rise of Skywalker was a big deal for many reasons. It ended the sequel trilogies of films that started with The Force Awakens in 2015, and it also closed out the Skywalker saga era of Star Wars. The movies that began with Luke Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-Wan, won’t be the basis for more movies going forward. Rumors suggest that a new set of films will revolve around the High Republic era of the Star Wars galaxy. What does that mean, and will we see any familiar faces?

Master Yoda facing off against Count Dooku in 'Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.'
Master Yoda facing off against Count Dooku in ‘Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones’ | Lucasfilm

The High Republic is about 400 years before the Skywalker saga

A rumor published by the site, Making Star Wars, claim the High Republic era is the next frontier for Star Wars. It was originally shared by the site Ziro.hu. While it is only a he-said-she-said scenario, this is an exciting time of Star Wars lore that the current films and TV shows haven’t even touched. According to Forbes, this part in the timeline is 600 years after Darth Bane set up the Sith Rule of Two. The Jedi also exist, but it’s 400 years before any of the Skywalker saga films. 

Ziro.hu states these High Republic movies will mimic the MCU in a way, with stories that are “separate, but also connected” to the stories we know. It would have a new group of Jedi that each have their own unique abilities, kind of like superheroes. This is an interesting approach when you take into account that Kevin Feige is set to develop a Star Wars movie, too. The site also claims a video game set in the High Republic era will introduce the concept to fans first, before a movie. 

Yoda is the only face fans will recognize

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UUQIIOO8RM

As stated above, Yoda is the only Jedi fans will know from the popular Star Wars movies. By the time he dies in Return of the Jedi, he’s around 900 years old. So he’ll be a younger-looking Yoda, but still older than the Child (sorry to crush your dreams for a Baby Yoda 2.0). 

This timeline and younger Yoda go in line with the trilogy D.B. Weiss and David Benioff were supposed to helm. Their trilogy was allegedly going to focus on the origin of the Jedi, according to ScreenRant. Even though the High Republic era isn’t the start of the Jedi Knights, it’s closer to their origin than when we saw them in the Skywalker saga of Star Wars. 

A new comic hints at this storyline

As Inverse reported, the latest comic, Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren #2, has Luke Skywalker and Ben Solo traveling to a planet called Elphrona in the Unknown Region. In a panel posted on Reddit, explorer Lor San Tekka mentions that one of the Jedi outposts they’re traveling to is from the High Republic era. “It was a time of greatly expanded Jedi activity throughout the galaxy,” he told Luke. 

The Rise of Kylo Ren #2 features Luke, Ben, and Lor San Tekka visiting what Lor refers to as a ‘High Republic Era’ Jedi outpost. First *official* hint at the HR era films to come? from StarWarsLeaks

Reddit user u/KoopalingArmy points out that this line “matches up perfectly with reports that the HR [High Republic] era content focuses on Jedi exploring the Unknown Regions.” The fact that this comic dropped on Jan. 8 and the rumors started from a blog post from days prior is very illuminating. 

Considering the Legends comics and stories of Star Wars are no longer canon, there’s a vast period of older, and future, arcs and lore that no longer exist. Going backward in time to this High Republic era not only allows for some great storytelling, but it can also introduce the current Star Wars canon so much.

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