Star Wars: High Republic author Justina Ireland on the new Jedi and villains

Recent articles

On Feb. 24, Lucasfilm and Disney introduced a new period of Star Wars. Called “The High Republic,” the publishing effort would incorporate adult, middle-grade, and YA fiction, in addition to comics, to inform an interconnected set of stories. Taking location 200 years prior to the occasions of The Phantom Hazard, a Pax Romana duration when the Jedi were at the top of their game, and one ravaging event splinters them in every instructions, The High Republic books are implied to feel like a cinematic event in their own.

Lucasfilm and Disney entrusted 5 authors– Cavan Scott, Claudia Gray, Daniel José Older, Charles Soule, and Justina Ireland– to deal with the Lucasfilm Story Group and a team of principle artists to picture this new world, and take canonized stories that were, for the first time in years (and perhaps ever), eliminated from the motion picture trilogies. The first 2 books to emerge from the innovative brain trust, Soule’s Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi and Ireland’s Star Wars: The High Republic: A Test of Courage, are set to debut at Star Wars Event in August and struck racks at the tail end of the summertime.

Though Lucasfilm is keeping anything looking like a spoiler under covers, Polygon had the opportunity to take a seat with Ireland, understood for books like Fear Country and Star Wars: Glow of the Resistance, to get a higher sense of The High Republic effort, and what fans ought to anticipate from A Test of Nerve. The book discovers a young Jedi called Vernestra Rwoh accompanying the boy of an ambassador through a jungle moon and a defend survival. Around the galaxy, a bigger story unfolds– as they do. Ireland strolled us through the conception of The High Republic, and what an uncharted blip on the Star Wars timeline implied for her own innovative flexibility.

[Ed. note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.]

Polygon: The required of The High Republic effort was to do something new in the Star Wars universe. What did that mean to you when you began?

Justina Ireland: You constantly desire to take it as big as you can? As big aspossible And I believe when you’re speaking about something like Star Wars that’s currently quite huge, you truly need to ask, What have not we seen? What have not we spoke about? Therefore it was truly interesting for me to check out the past and the history of the things we have actually seen the movies, what we understand to be the tradition now. We had the Expanded Universe, and a great deal of that has disappeared and individuals have been distressed about that, however I do believe it’s excellent to have the chance to state, OK, this is new ground, how do we translate this time duration? And have something that in fact is going to feed into the contemporary canon. We do not have any clashing storytelling.

I’m constantly thinking about the past and what occurred before to make things the method they remain in the contemporary period. To me Star Wars history is completely my jam. It is a total Venn diagram of all things I desire.

The Star Wars prequels faced some problem linking to the initial trilogy, and I need to picture there are lessons to gain from that. How did you and the team method composing a prequel? Do the High Republic stories feel apart and walled off even while feeding into the history we understand?

Dealing With a group of other authors who are all extremely cognizant of the sorrow a prequel brings with it was quite excellent. This is likewise totally different, totally standalone. We’re not following that very same Skywalker legend that we have actually been following for so many years. We’re informing a whole newstory I do believe being able to break new ground, and go into like parts of galaxy that that fans and readers have not seen prior to, and to be able to do that with a book effort– that’s quite interesting.

I believe the readers of Star Wars books tend to be a bit more … delighted about new things. I believe there are casual fans who, you understand, appear and out of the fandom, and I believe they appear and out for the motion pictures more than the books, so here’s hoping that they’ll come changeover with the books and socialize with us for some time. I believe doing this as a book is quite interesting due to the fact that there’s no budget on books? You can make it as as bananas as you wish to, and you do not need to attempt to backdoor your method into some CGI. You can simply compose big setpieces.

So I do believe whenever you start to go inform stories in in a fandom that’s currently quite crowded, and individuals have extremely strong viewpoints about it, you’re constantly type of like, Well how do I do this? Then part of being the thrilled part of being a developer is to state, OK, let’s see how individuals respond to this thing. In some cases that’s extremely adversely and you’re like, Well, that was a baddecision

.

However I believe individuals are going to be truly delighted by what they’re seeing, due to the fact that we have not truly seen the Jedi as being remarkable. We’ve heard a lot about them being remarkable, specifically in A New Hope, however we do not truly see that even in the prequels and Episodes 1 through 3, they’re kind of … a little jerky? They’re type of on their method down. It’s gon na be interesting to see something that you have not seen prior to.

Concept art of Vernestra Rwoh, the main character of Test of Nerve
Image: Disney Lucasfilm Press.

The Jedi remain in an intriguing area in the Prequel Trilogy due to the fact that they’re viewed as honorable and smart, however you’re right, they’re likewise their own worst opponents. What does it imply that the Jedi are remarkable throughout The High Republic?

I believe a great deal of what we have actually seen is the contrast to Camelot, whether that’s the Camelot of the King Arthur folklore or the Camelot of the 1960 s. Those are both extremely intriguing period to check out due to the fact that even in Camelot there were issues. Despite the fact that we yap about Camelot and John F. Kennedy, that was likewise the height of the Civil liberties motion, that’s when individuals are like, “We have actually been through a great deal of the nation.” There are individuals who are more equivalent than others. Even in the Camelot of King Arthur, you still have factions that were extremely dissatisfied with what was goingon I do believe, even in something that’s thought about a time of peace and stability, there’s constantly going to be those factions who are dissatisfied whether it’s due to the fact that of inequality, or if it’s due to the fact that of a viewed small, or whatever it takes place to be.

It’s going to be interesting to see Jedi who are positive in their function in the galaxy and positive in the manner in which they understand they’re doing the best thing. There’s that minute [in Phantom Menace] where Qui-Gon leaves Shmi shackled and takes Anakan and everybody’s type of like … how can you be an excellent Jedi, an ethically excellent force in the galaxy if you want to disregard to some sort of oppression like that? And those are a few of the concerns I believe a great deal of us wish to speak about in our storytelling– what does it imply to be excellent? What does it imply to do the best thing? How do you do that and weigh that versus your promises and, and, and a bigger calling. The books offer us a little more freedom to do that storytelling, we get a little more subtlety on the page then we would get always in a minute of screen time. I’m anticipating like diving into the concerns and asking myself and of the characters that I’m dealing with.

The High Republic has its origins in a throwaway line from A New Hope in which Obi-Wan recommendations the Jedi’shistory Is The High Republic built on a comparable quantity of history? Will we feel where the Jedi have originated from?

When I’m storytelling,

I’m constantly believing back and bringing in little information. Our day-to-day discussions are constantly referencing thepast Like I live in Maryland, and so you can’t drive down the highway without seeing a historic marker. And it’s like “Here on this date, some basic you have actually never ever become aware of and his Confederate soldiers combated Union soldiers,” and it’s like, wow, that thing occurred here, and now it’s simply an Arby’s.

Time is type of amorphous in the Star Wars galaxy. You can make a timeline, however there’s constantly new storytelling and [time is] constantly type of hand-wavy. And we’ve had discussions about like, “What do you believe would have been taking place 100 years prior to this, or 200 years ago? What is the history of a location?” Among the things that was excellent about The Clone Wars [TV series] is that it did a great deal of that structure of locations you had not remained in the galaxy and offered you a bit ofhistory There was a great deal of tradition that was built from what was at first dismissed as a kids animation and wound up ending up being like a big piece of canon.

[Considering the Star Wars timeline] is like Ghostbusters, to generate a various fandom. As long as you’re not crossing streams, whatever’s most likely going to be all right. And after that if you do cross streams, you need to type of describe that away. Everybody’s going to be conscious as they’re constructing their stories. We’re incredibly collective. We spoke with each other every day about stories.

The High Republic story team (L to R): Justina Ireland, Cavan Scott, Daniel José Older, Charles Soule, Mike Siglain, and Claudia Gray
Image: Disney Lucasfilm Press.

Mentioning time, when does Test of Nerve occur in relation to the other books? Charles’ Light of the Republic sounded like a core text that kicks things off.

It’s sort of the very same period. I believe Charles’ book covers a longer period than mine. I can inform you, in book time, my story is just like a number of weeks. As far as total story time, it takes location in show with Charles’ book. Everybody is type of reeling from a anevent We do not understand what that is. I think it’s made everybody a little on edge.

Your previous Star Wars book Spark of the Resistance is an actually rousing adventure with Rey, Rose, Poe, BB-8 and a couple of characters who never ever appear anywhere else due to the fact that, in the end, Expanded Universe books can’t leave a damage in the canon. Do you feel a new flexibility composing within the world of The High Republic?

I believe, in the fandom, there’s this viewed concept of Story Group as like the traffic polices of storytelling, however for me, it’s nottrue They have actually constantly been more like an encyclopedia of storytelling, more like, “This is what the tradition will inform you.” I constantly described them as like my pocket Yodas. They’re going to inform you, “OK, if you wish to utilize this, this is how it would be phrased” and I for me, I have actually never ever had a problem with that. When it comes time for story, I like having somebody on my side. You have your editor, however then to have an additional group of individuals who wish to see you be successful, and wish to see you inform something that follows the rest of the world-building, for me, as an author, is truly where I wish to be, specifically when I’m composing franchise work.

Concept art of The Starlight Beacon, a secret space station in the High Republic stories
Image: Disney Lucasfilm Press.

For A Test of Nerve, we created our own characters. Whatever was done from scratch. I produced characters for both Lando’s Luck and Glow of the Resistance, however this was the first time where all the characters that are on my page are characters that I created myself. A few of them are characters that you’ll see in other media that other developers on the effort created. I could likewise state: OK, who do I who do I desire to believe about? Who are the individuals that occupy this galaxy that should have a story informed? OK, I have this individual, like, what would their journey to the galaxy appearance like? What are the things they’re going to deal with? What are the concerns and challenges that they’re going to have?

In YA, we constantly speak about [the theme of] where we suit the world, or in this case, the galaxy. For middle-grade, we constantly desire to ask that concern: Where do I fit into in my family? Therefore [in Test of Courage], I truly wished to inform inform a story about discovered family, and what it implies to to belong in this excellent splendid galaxy, and simply be a kid. Since you simply desire to be a kid, be a typical kid attempting to live your life and possibly interesting things take place that you’re not all set for. Test of Nerve is truly about essential middle-grade storytelling, and bringing it into the Star Wars galaxy.

What are the stakes like in your book when you’re not not composing towards a new Star Wars motion picture?

If you’re a reader and you get a book, you do not understand who’s going to make it to the end of the book. Flat out, individuals might pass away. That’s going to take place. Since we do not need to be valuable, we do not need to conserve any person, we do not need to be a little piece of a character arc. We can include the whole character arc because book. I do believe readers are going to feel that as they choose up these offerings and they see someone they liked start the story possibly does not make it. Suddenly it’s like, “Oh, crap, what do I do now? Like I need to in fact handle that.” For me as a reader, when I understand that that’s what the stakes are, that any person might not make it to the next episode in a TELEVISION show or the next chapter in the book, I tend to hold on to my favorites a little more difficult. Therefore I’m hoping that that assists readers like form a much deeper connection, to truly be familiar with these characters and provide an opportunity.

Inform us more about Vernestra Rwoh, the essential character in your book and The HighRepublic How old is she, considering she needed to operate in a middle-grade title?

Vernestra’s 16, so she’s most likely on the older end for middle-grade– the majority of middle grade characters tend to be in between like 12, 13,14 Vernestra has an obstacle, in that she is a full Jedi. She’s extremely young: most 16- year-olds in the Jedi Order are padawans still. She took her screening early, so she’s a little bit of a prodigy. She does not understand any person else who is as young as she is so she type of protrudes, and that offers her her own set of of sort of obstacles to handle. How is she a Jedi Knight in this order that is being led by incredible Jedi? In her period, obviously they have the tradition of the earlier Jedi, so she has that recommendation. How does she fit into that space when she’s expected to be acting like an adult for the many part, however she’s still, age-wise, a kid? It’s truly that push pull of that for her. Like what does that mean for her to be a Jedi?

Concept art on show at the High Republic expose event
Image: Matt Patches/Polygon.

What did you deal with principle artists to establish for this world? That side of the effort sounded distinct.

We returned and forth a lot with principle artists. We would simply email back and forth with [Disney Publishing’s] Mike Siglain, who’s kind of our team coach. He would ask us to do bit simply profile– quite comparable to what you would provide for art notes on covers of books.

So we got to do that with our characters, however we likewise needed to do that with the looks of the period. Among the things that everyone on the Greater Republic effort likes to speak about is that all the ships and whatever in Star Wars are drab and old and broken down, since that’s what takes place when you’re at war for like 30 years. You do not get opportunity to repair things! Therefore, among the things that we spoke about was what our looks would be. And we began speaking about like that golden era sci-fi like the ’50 s and ’60 s and the streamlined lines of a glossy spaceship. If this is a time of excellent peace, then we’re going to satisfy the Republic and developers and the individuals who occupy the world and who are structure new cool things.

That was among the things that was truly interesting was to be able to style. If you take a look at the [Jedi], they’re not using the practical monk’s bathrobes that we see in Episode 1, they are using good attire, cream color, which does not provide itself to getting filthy! They’re out there being their own elegant selves. Therefore I do believe that was interesting to be able to state, This is what we understand about Star Wars, let’s alter that a bit. As readers concern the books and then they check out the various, various offerings, they’re going to get various pieces of those worlds. Test of Nerve exists in a far sector of the galaxy. A lot of the other books are going to be closer to inside the the inner rim and what we understand now is the external rim, and like you’re going to get to see parts of the galaxy and storytelling that they have not seen prior to.

How did you get to play with the villains you’ve produced for the High Republic world?

The villains have actually constantly been sort of big scale, like the First Order or the Empire, and so that provides itself to big storytelling. It’s truly hard to have like these extremely individual stories when the stakes are, you understand, the flexibility of the galaxy? I’m unfortunate today, however the galaxy is at stake!

The Nihil on the cover of Marvel’s High Republic book
Image: Lucasfilm Ltd./ Marvel Comics.

However with the Nihil, who are these Space Pirates, marauders, and are type of simply creating chaos in various parts of the galaxy, you do have an opportunity to encapsulate smaller sized storytelling. Often the the point of the story is simply survival. Or in some cases the point of the story is: How is this one character going to respond to this extremely enclosed event? The Nihil undoubtedly are bad. They’re pirates– pirates are bad. Even the Pirates of the Caribbean are not excellent. What does that imply? How bad are they? They’re going to be the worst. These are characters who simply do not care. And their slogan is “if you can’t take it with you, we can take it from you.”

Therefore I do believe you’re visiting minutes … it’s not always this fight for the light side of the forest versus the dark stated previously, it’s actually survival, and it’s actually “How do we make it through in a world where individuals are going to show up and essentially * s*it up?” That provides itself to various kinds of storytelling. Readers are going to feel that. There will be those their discussions of what it implies to be a Jedi, and what is the light side, what is the force, and how does one link to that because higher sense of the galaxy, however at the end of the day, it’s actually going be like, “These are the bad men, and we need to combat them, and we need to combat them due to the fact that they are bad.” Individuals are going to get to see some truly cool “oh s*it” minutes with these characters.

Do you have a preferred side of Star Wars that you aspired to funnel into Test of Nerve? Were you seeking to right space battles, lightsaber battles, android anxiety attack …

It’s simply all *ing cool, man. It’s Star Wars. It’s such a big thing! Somebody’s like, “Do you wish to have the ability to shoot lasers or have a magic plasma sword?” I’m like, “Yes, both.” There’s absolutely nothing about Star Wars that isn’t cool. Even the things you wind up not taste, it’s still embeded in space!

For instance: podraces. I keep in mind when Episode 1 came out, everybody was extremely mad about the podracing scenes. They’re like, “What’s the point of that?” It’s simply *ing cool. It’s a kid racing things that make no damn sense. They do not look like they should work simply based on what we understand of physics and science? It’s simply *ing cool. And I believe there’s something to be stated for s*it that’s simply cool. You get principle art, and they’re like, “Which one do you desire?” And I’m type of like, “I do not care. They’re all cool.” Like there are no bad responses. It’s like heading out to consume Mexican food. There are no bad responses at a Mexicanrestaurant Star Wars is like the fandom equivalent of Mexican food, which is likewise my individual preferred food, so I think if you like Chinese food that might be a replacement. Orburgers The only bad hamburger is the one that offers you gastrointestinal disorder, however you’re like “It offered me gastrointestinal disorder, however it was a quite all right hamburger.” I liked it. There’s no bad. Since it would make my life much easier, I want there was.

Does podracing exist in the High Republic?

I hope so. It needs to! No, spoiler, there’s no podracing [in my book]. Now I have a goal for the next book.

Do you see Test of Nerve as the start of a series following Vernestra?

I understand absolutely nothing other than I’m constantly all set to compose the next Star Wars book. I am all set. I have a schedule that I will clear for another Star Wars book. Yeah, there are a couple of things that I am as delighted about as composing Star Wars books.

Star Wars: The Hight Republic: A Test of Nerve is now offered for pre-order.

Neela
Neela
I work as the Content Writer for Gaming Ideology. I play Quake like professionally. I love to write about games and have been writing about them for two years.

Leave a Reply