Three of the High Republic era’s most notable Jedi have finally made their Star Wars TV show debut in new episodes of Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures. The animated series, set during the High Republic era, has been doing the work to bring young audiences into the exciting universe of Star Wars, especially this era that takes place hundreds of years before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. It was previously announced that new episodes of Young Jedi Adventures would be bringing characters such as Loden Greatstorm and Bell Zettifar from the High Republic books and comics into animation, and now, their debut has at long last arrived – along with the debut of another notable Jedi.
The new episodes of Young Jedi Adventures reveal Loden, Bell, and Estala Maru, and Star Wars is celebrating their debut with a deep dive into how these characters were brought to life. Scott Cavin, one of the key architects of the High Republic era, had the opportunity to write the episode with Bell’s and Loden’s debut, and he cracked a joke about what it was like to revisit the pair. He also detailed what it was like to see Bell as a mentor, and to depict Loden as someone other than a tragic figure.
It was so good to be able to tell a story for Bell and Ember when they’re not in the middle of chaos. I get to tell a story of Bell where he is the mentor. He’s the one who has experiences that the kids look up to, especially Kai. I’ve only had one experience with Loden Greatstorm before this, and that was quite traumatic for everyone involved. It was great to be able to tell a story of him when he is the Master Loden and everyone knows and respects and loves.
As for Estala, Cavin was also excited to help bring this character to life, particularly with the involvement of Starlight Beacon itself. With the Jedi acting as the tour guide for the heroes of Young Jedi Adventures, Cavin describes this episode as an opportunity for him to do more of what he had originally wanted with Estala’s character in the High Republic comics.
One of the things we planned for the comic series, and we never had time to do, was explore Maru’s character where he has relationships with younglings and Padawans, and he’s a mentor to them. [This episode] explored that part of his life that I didn’t get chance to do myself.
Will More High Republic Jedi Soon Make Their TV Debut?
The Star Wars TV debut of Bell, Loden, and Estala is exciting for the future of the High Republic Jedi, and it could set a precedent for the upcoming live-action series The Acolyte. The Star Wars show is set to take place 100 years before The Phantom Menace, which sets it at the tail end of the High Republic era as it portrays the fall of the Jedi through the perspective of the Sith. Given that these three High Republic Jedi have just made a TV debut, it’s very possible that more Jedi of this era could go on to appear in The Acolyte, especially younger characters such as Bell himself.
Taking a character from the pages of books and comics to the screen can be difficult, but a publishing endeavor as excellent as the High Republic era deserves to have some of its most notable characters make their way into Star Wars animation and live-action. Seeing as Cobb Vanth accomplished this feat in The Mandalorian season 2, it’s certainly not out of the question to believe that more Jedi from the High Republic era can also make the leap onto Disney+. Whether it’s in more episodes of Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures or in The Acolyte, more High Republic era character debuts can likely be expected for the future of Star Wars.
