The Casual Star Wars Fan's Guide To The High Republic, Setting Of The Acolyte

"Star Wars: The Acolyte" creator Leslye Headland has done something that many thought might've been impossible: creating a "Star Wars" story that you can dive into without any preparation or knowledge of any other parts of the franchise's lore. You definitely do not need to know a lot of minutiae in order to gain enjoyment out of "The Acolyte" (watch the trailer here). 

Having said that, there are deeper connections to the "Star Wars" lore that you don't need to know, but it certainly adds to the enjoyment of the show. One of the most significant details in that respect is the knowledge of the time period the series is capping off, along with the struggles of the Jedi and the galaxy itself over the previous couple of hundred years in the "Star Wars" universe. Allow this, then, to be your guide to the ins and outs of the High Republic era.

For the duration of the High Republic era we've seen, the Jedi were the classic peacekeepers Obi-Wan Kenobi told us they were in "Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope." ("For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic," to quote him verbatim.) They're much more like Samurai of old, though, or distant sheriffs in one-horse towns, left to their own devices and spread out across the galaxy. Sure, there were plenty based on Coruscant, but the expansion of the Republic required much more of these "local" sheriffs. Hyperspace prospectors criss-crossed the galaxy looking for the safest routes through known space to ensure people could travel faster. Communication was also really difficult; communications buoys and relays had to be set up across the galaxy. (Imagine a telegram network with cut lines all over the place.) 

Then, about 100 years before "The Acolyte," the Jedi and the Republic created something called the Starlight Beacon. It was a space station and communications relay that sat out on the frontier of the Republic and allow them to respond to threats in this under-patrolled part of the galaxy while also connecting them to the core systems.

Unfortunately, a great disaster happened.

Marauding in unregulated hyperspace lanes during this period were the Nihil, a deadly pack of pirates who had a long history of ill-deeds against the Jedi. Their origins date back another hundred or more years, as does their hate of the Jedi. When the Nihil accidentally destroyed a ship in hyperspace, pieces of it started flying across the galaxy and crashing on planets near and far, leaving devastation in its wake. This set up a confrontation and lengthy conflict between them and the Jedi.

The Nihil had a secret weapon — creatures they dubbed the Nameless, which could "eat" the Force from Jedi and leave them ashen husks — and used these abilities to destroy the Starlight Beacon and wreak havoc across the galaxy. The Jedi fought back and battled the Nihil to a standstill, but they eventually created something called an Occlusion Zone, walling off a large portion of the galaxy and denying everyone but them the ability to leave or return. However, while the High Republic books show the Jedi managing this particular crisis, it's also obvious that the larger galaxy has been ravaged by war, crisis, and subjugation by the Nihil.

The Nihil threat is clearly ancient history when the prequel trilogy gets underway and even more so by the time the "Reign of the Empire" rolls around in the "Star Wars" timeline. In fact, there have been hints of Nihil artifacts peppered throughout some of the storytelling in the more modern eras of "Star Wars" since the High Republic initiative began.

So what happened in-between then?

With "The Acolyte" taking place at about the mid-point between the conflict with the Nihil and the events of " Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace", that history isn't so ancient and the wounds are likely still fresh in the galaxy. The show also features individuals who lived through that trauma, including Vernestra Rwoh, the only character on "The Acolyte" so far who has appeared in any of the High Republic books. She was a young girl and newly-minted Jedi Knight when the conflict with the Nihil broke out, and she clearly carries some scars with her as an older Jedi on the show. There's a chance that other characters who lived through that period will pop up on the series too, not least of all long-lived members of the Jedi Council like Yarael Poof, Yaddle, Oppo Rancissis, and, of course, Yoda.

Despite that raw trauma from the conflict, it seems as though the galaxy has moved forward, although the technology is still a little out of date for what we might be used to. However, with "The Acolyte" being billed as the very end of the High Republic era, that means there will have to be a significant turning point during the show that begins the slow decay of the Jedi (paving the way to their destruction at the hands of Darth Sidious and Order 66).

For those who want to explore more of the High Republic era, there are many ways to do that, starting with the novel "Light of the Jedi" by Charles Soule. There are also audio dramas, young adult books, cartoons, and even portions of the "Jedi: Survivor" video game set during the High Republic to give you a better taste of the sort of galaxy we're dealing with in "The Acolyte."

"Star Wars: The Acolyte" premieres new episodes on Tuesdays on Disney+.