'Star Wars: The High Republic' Opening Crawl Revealed – Here's What Was Going On 200 Years Before The Prequels
Earlier this year, Lucasfilm revealed the identity of the mysterious project they'd been working on which had been codenamed "Project Luminous." It was Star Wars: The High Republic, a medium-spanning storytelling initiative comprised of books, comics, and potentially even video games, TV shows, and movies. In less than three months, Star Wars: The High Republic will launch with The High Republic: The Light of the Jedi, the new novel from Charles Soule set 200 years before the events of The Phantom Menace. But before we travel to much longer ago than a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far away, we can get to know the era with the newly unveiled Star Wars: The High Republic opening crawl.
StarWars.com has released the official opening crawl for Star Wars: The High Republic, which takes place during the mostly peaceful era of the High Republic, 200 years before the events of the Skywalker Saga. But peace doesn't mean there isn't evil to be fought, per the opening crawl:
The galaxy is at peace, ruled by the glorious REPUBLIC and protected by the noble and wise JEDI KNIGHTS.
As a symbol of all that is good, the Republic is about to launch STARLIGHT BEACON into the far reaches of the Outer Rim. This new space station will serve as a ray of hope for all to see.
But just as a magnificent renaissance spreads throughout the Republic, so does a frightened new adversary. Now the guardians of peace and justice must face a threat to themselves, the galaxy, and the Force itself....
The High Republic takes place in a prosperous era in which Jedi Knights serve as sort of sheriffs of the Old West, maintaining justice and order in the potentially dangerous Outer Rim region of the galaxy. We know that this interconnected narrative experiment kicks off when The Legacy Run, a ship carrying thousands of passengers, encounters an obstacle while traveling through hyperspace. Unable to maneuver around it, the ship is ripped apart, and fragments of the destroyed cargo vessel begin flying out of hyperspace at super-accelerated speeds – and they could land anywhere at any time, equally likely to crash into an Outer Rim planet as they are to burst into the Core of the galaxy on planets like Coruscant. You can read more about that event, which Soule calls the "Great Disaster," here.
The events that follow will be likely chronicled in Soule's The High Republic: The Light of the Jedi, which kicks off the multimedia event, followed by The High Republic: A Test of Courage, a new junior novel from Justina Ireland. The High Republic: The Great Jedi Rescue is also being released that day.
Star Wars: The High Republic is scheduled to launch on January 5, 2021.