It seems Master Yoda is about to go missing in Star Wars: The High Republic. The Skywalker saga has come to an end, and Star Wars is expanding across other mediums. One of the most intriguing initiatives is Star Wars: The High Republic, a transmedia narrative primarily told by Lucasfilm Publishing, weaving a single story through books and comics.
The so-called "High Republic Era" peaked some 200 years before the events of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, a time when the Jedi Order were at their greatest, and the Republic was pressing on to explore the Outer Rim of the galaxy. While the Sith were still active, they were still building power, and the Jedi found themselves facing other threats, ranging from a group of space pirates called the Nihil to ferocious dark side creatures known as the Drengir. As told in IDW's Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures comic, Master Yoda was on the Outer Rim, training Padawans and leading the charge against the Nihil.
Lucasfilm has hinted something is about to go terribly wrong for Master Yoda. They've released an exclusive excerpt from Daniel José Older's upcoming middle-grade novel, Race to Crashpoint Tower, which features all the characters from IDW's comic book range. Disturbingly, it seems Master Yoda has gone missing as a result of his investigations into the Nihil - abandoning his students, leaving his fellow Jedi Masters bewildered at his disappearance.
It's entirely possible Master Yoda has followed the promptings of the Force, and has gone on a mission he hasn't told anyone about; indeed, perhaps IDW's Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures will chronicle that mission, allowing the rest of its cast to jump into Race to Crashpoint Tower. But it's also possible Yoda has been captured by the Nihil. The Nihil know how to cut Jedi off from the Force, by surrounding them with pain and suffering, and they've already successfully captured one skilled and experienced Jedi Master. Such a development would certainly serve to emphasize just how dangerous the Nihil really are, justifying their role as one of the primary villains of the High Republic Era.
Meanwhile, it's exciting to see Star Wars: The High Republic really is a true transmedia story - one in which characters and concepts transition straight from one medium to another. Star Wars was a forerunner in transmedia, expanding from the big screen in a tie-in book published in 1978, but traditionally these have been side-stories that stand separately. This approach is much more carefully structured, and as a result, it has a lot more potential. It will be fascinating to see how Star Wars: The High Republic continues to develop.
Source: Lucasfilm
