Star Wars is finally exploring the consequences of one of the Jedi’s greatest failures. For a thousand generations, the Jedi served as champions of the Republic. And yet, for all that’s the case, they weren’t always successful in their mission as peacekeepers. The perfect example was told in Phase I of Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The High Republic transmedia initiative, in which a group of pirates known as the Nihil launched a devastating attack on an outpost called Starlight Beacon. Situated in the Outer Rim, Starlight was intended to improve navigation across the galactic rim by serving as something of a hyperspace lighthouse. The Nihil, who objected to the imposition of order in the galaxy, managed to bring down Starlight Beacon over the planet Eiram.
The destruction of Starlight Beacon was one of the Jedi’s greatest failures, but Lucasfilm has avoided exploring its consequences – simply because Star Wars: The High Republic Phase II stepped back in time. All that is changing, however, in an excerpt from the upcoming Star Wars anthology, For Light & Life. Published by Entertainment Weekly, the excerpt – taken from Claudia Gray’s “After the Fall” – finally reveals the scale of the tragedy. It can be read in full on EW.
Starlight Beacon’s Fall Devastated Eiram
EIram is an important world on the Outer Rim, one that had been caught in a “Forever War” with its neighboring planet E’ronoh – a conflict only brought to an end by the Jedi. The fall of Starlight Beacon was another tragedy, though, because it fell from the heavens with all the force of a crashing meteor. The Jedi used the power of the Force to guide the crashing station into the ocean, but this naturally generated an impact wave. It devastated the coastal city of Barraza, killing hundreds.
But it’s impossible to say how many lives were lost, because Starlight Beacon was almost a city in its own right. The Jedi – who had served as protectors of the Republic for so long – found themselves desperately calling out for help. Worse still, the Nihil unleashed Force predators called the Levelers (or, sometimes, the Nameless). These monsters stripped Jedi of the Force, and left even the most experienced Jedi Masters vulnerable. For Life and Light will apparently reveal the fate of some beloved Jedi of the High Republic Era.
The anthology will be published on April 4, and it will be a must-read for anyone who’s been following the story of Star Wars: The High Republic. Phase II is coming to an end, having revealed the truth about the Levelers, and now Phase III will return to the time after Starlight Beacon’s fall. It will be exciting to see what comes next for the Star Wars galaxy.
