Star Wars: The High Republic Reveals a Pivotal Skywalker Saga Villain Origin

Star Wars: The High Republic is offering fans a look at a new era of the franchise - far removed from the one they know in love. Set 200 years before the events of the Skywalker Saga, The High Republic is truly a part of the franchise that has little obligation to what's come before. However, even with the great span of time between The High Republic and Skywalker Saga, there are still some fun connective threads to be found. In the new novel Star Wars: The High Republic - Into The Dark, we get a story that ends with the reveal of a key origin story moment, for some pivotal Skywalker Saga villains!

Warning: Star Wars: The High Republic - Into The Dark SPOILERS Follow!

Star Wars: The High Republic - Into The Dark sees three main Jedi characters get caught up in a battle against both the dark side and an army of space pirates, aboard a remote and forgotten station in the edges of Republic territory. The situation is especially triggering for two of the Jedi Knights - Orla Jareni and Cohmac Vitus - who were bonded decades earlier by a similar mission that went sideways and became a desperate battle with galactic criminals.

One subplot of Into The Dark follows a flashback storyline to Orla and Cohmac's tragic mission from the past. The two were just Padawans accompanying their respective masters on a mission to rescue the rulers of two feuding planets, who had been kidnapped. The perpetrators of the crime turn out to be the Directorate crime syndicate, led by the ruthless Lasat leader Lord Isamer. The Jedi weren't prepared for the trap Isamer had laid out for them, and their shuttle was shot down on the moon where the Directorate was based, killing Cohmac's master in the process. Cohmac and Orla and Jedi Master Laret Soveral fought their way through the brutal terrain of the moon (and its monsters) to reach the Directorate, Lord Isamer, and the two hostage monarchs. When the final attack comes, The Jedi manage to take out the Directorate and kill Isamer - but not before Isamer kills one of the monarchs and forever changes the course of history in the Outer Rim Territories.

The epilogue to Into The Dark's flashback story reveals the real perpetrators behind the kidnapping plot: The Hutt Cartel. As it turns out, The Hutts had hired the Directorate to destabilize the situation between the two feuding planets in the Outer Rim, knowing the crime syndicate would attract too much heat. The information the Jedi recover from the Isamer's hideout leads to the entire Directorate being dismantled, creating a crime syndicate power vacuum in the Outer Rim that will eventually be filled by the Hutt Cartel:

"Now the only major criminal syndicate in that area of space was no more. So whenever the Hutts decided to move in - be that one year later, or twenty-five - nothing would stand in their way."

By the time of the Clone Wars, the Hutt Cartel is the undisputed criminal power in the Outer Rim territories. The cruel and ruthless reign of Jabba The Hutt on Tatooine helped shape the lives of both Anakin and Luke Skywalker. The Hutts were also pivotal in helping Darth Sidious conquer the galaxy and establish the Galactic Empire.

However, the new Star Wars: The High Republic #2 comic makes it clear that The Hutt Cartel didn't have an easy transition into power: 25 years after Orla and Cohmac taking out The Directorate, the Jedi discover the Hutts in a brutal power-struggle with The High Republic's new space pirates The Nihil. That conflict is still unfolding... but we kind of know how it ends, no?

Star Wars: The High Republic is on sale in comic and book formats. You can order them here on Amazon.

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