Warning! Spoilers ahead for Star Wars: The High Republic - The Monster of Temple Peak #1!
IDW Publishing just introduced a former Padawan named Ty Yorrick who defected from the Jedi Order to embrace the less noble albeit badass profession of hunting and slaughtering monsters for money. The Tholothian monster hunter originally debuted in the High Republic novel The Rising Storm and has now made her first appearance in Star Wars comics.
Although Ty's current trade is quite unusual for someone who originally studied to become a Jedi, her character's rejection of the Jedi way is much deeper than her current employment status. The most compelling shift is undoubtedly her utilization of Verazeen stones to help her make decisions. Jedi are trained to trust their feelings in the Force, but now she instead relies on superstition. When told that she will have to one day make decisions for herself, she says, "Why bother when the universe can decide for itself?" And then there's the time when a client wishes the Force to be with her, to which she replies bluntly with, "Whatever."
Although she was previously revealed in the novel, the comic series The Monster of Temple Peak is beginning to explore how Ty came to reject the Jedi way to later embrace the life of a monster hunter. This is accomplished through flashbacks strewn throughout Star Wars: The High Republic - The Monster of Temple Peak #1 by writer Cavan Scott and artist Rachael Stott. It's made evident early on that Ty may not have chosen outright to leave the Jedi Order and that she could have very well been the victim of peer pressure to someone of bad influence. One scene shows another Padawan named Klias urging a less than enthused Ty to skip out on evening meditation. Conversely, another clue suggests that she may have gotten too emotionally attached to her problematic friend by how she holds his hand. Although the Jedi of the High Republic were more lax with their own forming relationships, they still discouraged attachments.
Regardless of what thrust her onto this unusual path, being a monster hunter is clearly not as lucrative as being a bounty hunter for Ty is currently strapped for credits to the point where the integrity of her ship is in question. Unfortunately for her, Ty's first job in the debut issue of The Monster of Temple Peak ends in failure when she's forced to slaughter her target that had to be brought in alive to protect a defenseless onlooker. Even worse, it was all apparently part of an illegal enterprise, for when she presents the slain beast to her employer, a group of actual Jedi ambush the operation.
Although not a creation of IDW, the publisher's use of Ty is just another clear example of good decision-making as part of its ongoing effective strategy and contributions to Star Wars' overall High Republic effort. While Marvel continues to flounder by featuring unappealing characters like Keeve Trennis, IDW Publishing has chosen to star a more compelling cast such as the polarizing and even provocative Geode from the books and Zeen Mrala from the comic High Republic Adventures. There's nothing more intriguing than a rogue Jedi-gone-monster hunter who holds such an obvious disdain for Jedi rituals and beliefs. But there are other subtleties to Ty Yorrick that add more depth to an already complex character, such as her reliance on superstition. A possible interpretation could be that she needed to fill the void lost to her when she rejected the Jedi's way of interacting with the Force. Because Ty Yorrick can no longer rely on the Force like she once did, now she must turn to superstition instead, showing just how much the Force was a part of her existence before her possible fall from grace.