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WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for recent issues of Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures, Star Wars: The High Republic #8 and Star Wars: The High Republic: Midnight Horizon, on sale now.
The Star Wars: The High Republic subseries contains a cast of mostly new characters because the action takes place over 200 years before the events of the Skywalker saga. Still, there have been some familiar faces to ground the story in the Star Wars timeline, from Yoda to Maz Kanata to Jabba the Hutt. While they have not been the main focus of the series, they still play important roles in the events of the first phase, from guiding young Padawans in the case of Yoda and Maz to causing chaos amidst the rise of the Drengir in the case of Jabba the Hutt.
In an article for starwars.com, Kristin Baver confirmed that “Quest of the Jedi,” Phase II of the subseries, will take place 150 years before the events of Phase One, placing it even further beyond the era of the Star Wars movies. Because of this fact, most of the subseries’ new characters will not be featured in the new phase. However, there are a few existing characters that may still show up. Yoda, Maz Kanata and Jabba the Hutt may return, but some new characters from Phase One, such as Sav Malagán and Obratuk Glii could also make appearances. Examining the role each of these characters have played in the subseries thus far might reveal some of the threads that the second phase of Star Wars: The High Republic will feature.
Star Wars: The High Republic Subseries Phase Two Will Feature an Even Younger Yoda
Yoda has been one of the franchise’s most iconic characters, and he is sure to play a role in the second phase of Star Wars: The High Republic. In Phase I, Yoda focused mainly on helping train Younglings and Padawans, but he disappeared when searching for information on Marchion Ro’s quest for artifacts in Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures #5 (by Daniel José Older, Harvey Tolibao, Pow Rodrix, Jake M. Wood, Rebecca Nalty, Elizabeth Brei and Riley Farmer). Yoda finally resurfaced in Older’s Star Wars: The High Republic: Midnight Horizon, but the information he learned about the artifacts and their connection to the Great Levelers, or Nameless, still has not been revealed. Since so many of Phase I’s mysteries were rooted in the past, it makes sense on a meta level to keep Yoda out of the action; he probably would have had many of the answers simply because he has been alive so long.
In the second phase, Yoda will be approximately a little over five hundred years old, further into his youth than the Star Wars franchise has ever shown before. Yoda’s younger years may also reveal more about his species’ aging in general, which could in turn also reveal more about Grogu’s aging rate in The Mandalorian. While Yoda’s focus will likely still be on the younger generations of Jedi, he may be more active in Phase II: Quest of the Jedi, further expanding upon his legacy.
Sav Malagán’s Padawan Years Will Feature in the High Republic’s Second Phase
Daniel José Older confirmed that Sav Malagán would be featured in Phase II during the latest episode of starwars.com’s Star Wars: The High Republic Show. In Phase I of the subseries, Sav was cool under pressure and a formidable Jedi, protecting Takodana from a Nihil invasion mostly on her own before help arrived in Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures #8 (by Older, Toni Bruno, Rebecca Nalty, Jake M. Wood, Riley Farmer and Heather Antos). Her Padawan years could show how she grew to be so strong, both in the Force and in her reactions to any trials that came her way.
Sav’s role in Phase I also was deeply connected with Maz Kanata. Sav revealed that she went undercover as a pirate in Maz’s entourage during the battle of Jedha, and the two women formed a strong friendship that has lasted over a century. Sav and Maz also both served as mentors to Padawan Qort. The origin of that friendship could be a focal point of the second phase (or at least Sav’s personal journey) in the subseries.
Phase Two Could Show More of Maz Kanata’s Connection to Jedi and the Force
Even though Maz Kanata has not technically been confirmed to appear in the second phase of Star Wars: The High Republic, Sav’s confirmed role indicates that Maz will be featured as well, particularly if Sav’s time undercover serves as a major plot point. Maz has a strong sensitivity to the Force even though her methods of serving that connection were far from conventional, at least by Jedi standards.
The second phase could delve more into the Battle of Jedha and Maz’s connections with the Jedi and the Force prior to the Skywalker saga. Phase II also might reveal more about her pirate network in general and their overall role in the galaxy. Maz has served the Force possibly for longer than any other character in the Star Wars franchise, even Yoda, and future phases of the subseries could delve deeper into that history.
Like Maz Kanata and Yoda, Obratuk Glii Served the Force For Centuries
In Phase I of Star Wars: The High Republic, Jedi Master Obratuk Glii served as a negotiator for the Jedi and as Padawan Farzala Tarabal’s mentor. Because Obratuk is a Parwan, he has lived for hundreds of years, alhough some of those years have been spent hibernating. If the subseries’ second phase does not take place during one of Obratuk’s hibernation periods, then he definitely could have a strong role in the Jedi’s quest.
In particular, Obratuk mentioned that he wielded a lightsaber for every Padawan he has lost over the course of his long life in Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures #7 (by Older, Harvey Tolibao, Rebecca Nalty, Jake M. Wood, Heather Antos and Riley Farmer). The second phase might reveal how he lost those Padawans, or least introduce one (or more) of his former Padawans as a member of the Jedi Order.
Jabba the Hutt Could Wreak Havoc in the High Republic’s Phase Two
Jabba the Hutt was already trying to make a grab for power in Phase I of Star Wars: The High Republic. When the Drengir, a sentient species of carnivorous plants who wanted to devour all sentient life in the galaxy, wreaked havoc on the Outer Rim, the Hutts and the Jedi formed a shaky alliance. Jabba tried to sabotage the Jedi’s negotiations with the Hutts to gain more power for himself during this time.
Even without Jabba’s machinations, the alliance was doomed to fail. After Avar Kriss chose to capture rather than kill the Great Progenitor, the leader of the Drengir’s root mind, Myarga the Merciless dissolved the alliance in Star Wars: The High Republic #8 (by Cavan Scott, Ario Anindito, Mark Morales, Annalisa Leoni, and VC’s Ariana Maher). An even younger Jabba (who will be a little over 200 years old in Phase II) could cause even more chaos, especially since Hutt’s aging rates have not been confirmed in the current canon.
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