Star Wars‘ new enemies, the Drengir, could still exist after the Skywalker saga. The Star Wars franchise is famed for the battle between the light and dark sides of the Force, characterized by the Jedi and the Sith. But the latest transmedia initiative, Star Wars: The High Republic, is set 200 years before the Sith stepped out of the shadows in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Consequently, it introduces some terrifying new threats and villains to the Star Wars galaxy.
Claudia Gray’s High Republic novel Into The Dark introduces the biggest of these threats, the Drengir, a race of carnivorous plant-creatures who are stepped in the dark side. They are sentient plantlife, and they have no trace of emotions like empathy and compassion, simply viewing mammalian species as “meat” to be devoured. The Drengir are apparently based on a single planet, but in Into The Dark they attempted to use an ancient hyperspace pod network to spread across the galaxy. One Jedi Padawan attempts to prevent them doing this by scattering the pods – but he never checked to make sure they were empty, and solicits for Star Wars: The High Republic #3 suggests some of them had Drengir seeds in them.
It’s reasonable to assume the Jedi will ultimately defeat the Drengir, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the threat will be ended. But just because the Jedi will inevitably deal with the seeds, it doesn’t mean they will ever manage to rediscover the mysterious Drengir homeworld, which sounds to be hidden in the depths of the Unknown Regions. And if that is indeed the case, then the Drengir could well return after the Skywalker era.
The future of the Star Wars franchise appears to lie in the Unknown Regions, which played a key role in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. It is entirely possible the new galactic government will decide to explore the Unknown Regions – there may be other Jedi or Sith worlds concealed there – and if so they could unwittingly stumble upon the Drengir. These aliens do not possess space technology of their own, but they are ruthless and intelligent, and quite capable of figuring out how to fly any starship they manage to procure.
The Star Wars franchise has always been known for skipping around the timeline, and it would be entirely appropriate for Lucasfilm to use Star Wars: The High Republic to literally seed the next major galactic threat. And these would be a terror very much unlike the Sith, a dark side presence who possess the power to break the Jedi and who – if allowed to master space flight themselves – would eradicate all mammalian life in the galaxy.
Key Release Dates
Rogue Squadron
Release Date:2023-12-22
