The Acolyte‘s Intriguing New High Republic Connection, Explained

One 100 years earlier the events of The Phantom Menace, Star Wars‘ latest streaming series The Acolyte presents america with the process extremity of a constituent in Star Wars chronology known arsenic the epoch of the High Republic. Itself named for the transmedia initiative that began successful 2021, overmuch of the events of that inaugural person taken spot astir different period adjacent earlier The Acolyte, giving america a unsmooth timeframe for however the postulation far, acold away—and successful peculiar the Jedi Order and the Republic—has changed from the apex of this punctuation unquote “golden age” to the transitory diminution we spot successful the show. But this week’s episode besides gave america a much intriguing nonstop nexus to the High Republic books… 1 that raises a fewer much questions astir what The Acolyte is saying astir these institutions.

Early connected successful “Choice”—which flashes backmost 16 years anterior to the events of the remainder of The Acolyte—we conscionable a radical of 4 Jedi tasked with a probe ngo connected the satellite of Brendok, the satellite wherever duplicate sisters Osha and Mae grew up. At the time, however, those 4 Jedi (Sol, Indara, Indara’s padawan apprentice Torbin, and the Wookiee Kelnacca) believed that Brendok was wholly uninhabited, with Indara explaining to her padawan that Brendok had antecedently been catalogued by the Jedi and the Republic arsenic a lifeless world, aft being ravaged by a “hyperspace disaster” a period prior.

The catastrophe Indara refers to—the Great Hyperspace Disaster—is a cardinal lawsuit that kicked disconnected the first question of High Republic books and comics successful 2021. Largely explored successful the Charles Soule novel Light of the Jedi, the catastrophe occurs erstwhile a transport ship, the Legacy Run, breaks up mid-hyperspace jump. The Legacy Run, already a period aged by the clip of the accident, shears itself isolated attempting to debar what its unit believed to beryllium unexpected debris on its hyperspace route, but was successful actuality different ship, a raider belonging to the piratical Nihil, utilizing antecedently chartless and uncharted hyperspace leap paths.

Not lone were seemingly each hands connected board—including 9,000 colonists moving to the borderline of Republic abstraction successful the Outer Rim Territories—lost, by breaking isolated portion inactive traveling astatine lightspeed, fragments of the vessel re-entered realspace astatine unpredictable locations on Legacy Run‘s intended hyperspace route. This debris would re-enter realspace astir maintaining the velocity it had achieved traveling successful hyperspace successful events known arsenic “emergences,” becoming deadly meteors of molten slag that could look astatine immoderate time, astir anyplace crossed the Outer Rim, and laic discarded to full worlds and systems successful a adjacent instance.

Millions of radical died during the emergences, with worlds crossed the Outer Rim affected. Hyperspace question crossed the fringes of Republic territory was concisely paused by its Supreme Chancellor, Lina Soh, and the Jedi Order, operating from the Republic’s precocious built Outer Rim bid station, Starlight Beacon, rendered aid. The Jedi’s superior alleviation ngo focused connected the Hetzal system—a cardinal cultivation root for the Republic and particularly for the then-nascent medicinal substance, bacta—that was particularly threatened by the emergences, safeguarding overmuch of Hetzal Prime and its moons from full disaster.

©Harvey Tolibao, Rebecca Nalty, and Jake M. Wood/Dark Horse Comics

According to Indara, Brendok was impacted by 1 of these emergences—rendering the satellite wholly uninhabitable, and near unsocial by the Jedi and the Republic successful the aftermath of the disaster. Sometime implicit the adjacent period however, earthy beingness returned to Brendok, on with it a coven of witches and Force users who built their ain nine retired of mining facilities that were abandoned erstwhile Brendok was impacted by an emergence. The Brendok coven survived connected the satellite successful isolation for years, chartless by wider galactic society, until its beingness was discovered by the 4 Jedi we conscionable successful The Acolyte.

Those Jedi were determination to analyse however earthy beingness had re-emerged connected the planet, surmising that astatine immoderate constituent successful the past century—perhaps arsenic a effect to the sheer earthy demolition Brendok indispensable person endured during the interaction of the emergence—the satellite became location to what is known arsenic a “vergence” successful the Force. A highly almighty and concentrated coalescence of the Force itself, vergences could halfway astir a determination similar Brendok oregon adjacent a singular idiosyncratic similar it yet would with Anakin Skywalker, reflecting an past Jedi prophecy astir a chosen fig who would beryllium almighty capable to bring equilibrium to the Force’s disparate airy and acheronian aspects.

The attraction of Force energies could manifest beingness itself, arsenic the Jedi discovered successful the flora that had regrown connected Brendok… or, successful the lawsuit of the coven, could beryllium harnessed alongside different spiritual magics and practices to help make sentient life successful the signifier Osha and Mae: duplicate sisters whose biology revealed that they were akin to the tone of a singular being divided crossed 2 carnal forms

Aside from being a amusive Easter ovum to link the archetypal High Republic books to The Acolyte, the reply is astir apt not overmuch directly. After all, the events of the Great Hyperspace Disaster are present firmly successful the past by the clip of The Acolyte, and those events are chiefly much important due to the fact that of the Force vergence that manifested connected Brendok successful its wake, alternatively than needfully their literal, nonstop impact.

Instead, the lawsuit is chiefly absorbing for what it says astir the Republic itself and the Jedi Order a 100 years down the line, reflective of the increasing stagnation that would yet laic some institutions debased different 100 years aft successful the events of the Star Wars prequels. That some the Jedi and the Republic abandoned Brendok successful its entirety aft the emergence is simply a fascinating idea: if a anterior mining installation was inactive near lasting good capable the coven could travel on and inhabit it, it’s wide that the satellite was not completely destroyed by the emergence, truthful adjacent declaring it wholly lifeless seems similar a determination made by lax attraction oregon for focusing priorities elsewhere during alleviation efforts. But it’s successful that lax attraction that the coven managed to thrive, and fixed that the Jedi lone returned to Brendok erstwhile it erstwhile again became perchance of involvement and exploitation again done its regrown flora (and, done the vergence, exploitable done a spiritual assets arsenic well) it speaks to the benignant of motivation rigor some the Republic and the Order itself present look successful this contiguous moment.

For a century, Brendok was thing to these large powers, until it showed that it could perchance go thing again to them—ignorant to the needs of communities that thrived without their engagement determination for years and years. How that plays into the mode those 4 Jedi reacted to the coven’s beingness connected Brendok weaves further into The Acolyte‘s critique of these expansive institutions, and however yet adjacent the champion intentions tin pave a roadworthy to acheronian and tragedy.

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