The High Republic, Star Wars' five-year-long experiment in creating interconnected storytelling across multiple mediums, has officially come to an end with the release of a one-shot comic. The High Republic began in 2021 and, in the coming years, led to more than two dozen novels, over 100 comic book issues, and more being released within that timeline.
On July 30, 2025, The High Republic: The Finale was officially released. Subtitled "The Beacon," the one-shot comic issue marked the end of Disney and Lucasfilm's publishing initiative known as The High Republic, meaning that it also brought an end to the interconnected universe's Phase 3.
The issue was written by Cavan Scott, an author and mastermind behind the High Republic's storytelling. Its official synopsis teased that "one last celebration" will take place, "a decision is made," and that there will be "a fate sealed:"
"THE END OF THE BEGINNING! The final battle between the Jedi and the Nihil has been fought, sacrifices have been made and the dust settles. As friends and allies gather for one last celebration, a decision is made, and a fate sealed. Guest-starring faces from across the best-selling multimedia initiative. All roads lead to Dalna."
Multiple variant covers for the issue have already been revealed, including one of Anakin Skywalker and Count Dooku during their duel on General Grievous' The Invisible Hand during Revenge of the Sith for the film's 20th anniversary (read about some of the theater merch that was released for the movie's 20th anniversary here).
As mentioned, the comic's release is officially bringing the High Republic publishing initiative to a close. That does not mean the era will never be explored in Star Wars media in the future, just that the interconnected story known as The High Republic is now over.
The History of Bringing the High Republic to Life
The first piece of content to be released within The High Republic was a novel titled Light of the Jedi. It was written by Charles Soule, one of the other masterminds behind the initiative.
However, before that, the High Republic was known as Project Luminous, which was started in September 2018 when a group of Star Wars authors, including Claudia Gray, Charles Soule, Cavan Scott, Justina Ireland, and Daniel José Older, visited Skywalker Ranch. While there, Lucasfilm filled the group in on its plans, but reinforced that the group would be given an entirely clean slate to tell an overarching story.
In February 2020, The High Republic was first announced. All fans knew about it was that it would be a series of novels and comic books, that it would be a publishing-only initiative, that it would be set 200 years before The Phantom Menace, and that it would stand completely on its own, not directly connecting to any other projects in the galaxy far, far away.
As time went on, fans learned more and more about The High Republic. Eventually, it was confirmed that the overarching story would be broken up into phases, just like other interconnected franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Phase I, titled "Light of the Jedi," included five short stories, three novels, three young adult novels, three middle-grade novels, two young reader books, six different comic book runs, two reference books, one audio drama, and two web series. Phase I began in January 2021 and lasted until March 2022.
Phase II, titled "Quest of the Jedi," was set 150 years prior to Light of the Jedi, so it served as a bit of a prequel to the franchise. Quest of the Jedi included five short stories, two novels, two young adult novels, two middle-grade novels, two comic runs, one manga, and one audio drama. Phase II began in October 2022 and ended in May 2023.
Phase III, titled "Trials of the Jedi," returned to the timeline established in Phase I. It included three novels, two young adult novels, three middle-grade novels, three comic runs, and one audio drama. Phase III began in October 2023 and ended with The High Republic: The Finale on July 30, 2025.
It is worth noting that other Star Wars projects have been set during the High Republic era. For example, Disney+'s The Acolyte and Young Jedi Adventures take place within the High Republic era. However, they are not a part of the publishing initiative.
The Good and the Bad of The High Republic
Like any franchise or group of stories, The High Republic had its share of both highs and lows. Some parts of the initiative were handled better than others, but everything that The High Republic did can be studied by Lucasfilm in the future.
One of the best parts of The High Republic is that it was set in an era of the Star Wars galaxy that was completely untapped in canon. For some reason, Lucasfilm wants to continue telling stories within the same 50-year period during the Skywalker Saga.
Fans have made it clear that they would like to see other stories in the galaxy far, far away set in different eras, and The High Republic was a pioneer in making that happen.
Another major positive of the initiative was that it brought a core group of writers together and allowed them creative freedom to build the entire High Republic franchise. Instead of The High Republic being something entirely overseen by Lucasfilm or by one person, the five-writer group was able to craft the story the way they wanted.
In the future, for even films, TV shows, or other overarching in-universe franchises like the MandoVerse, Lucasfilm could look at how teamwork and creative freedom worked so well for The High Republic, and maybe the company could use that strategy again.
However, The High Republic was not without its flaws. Some fans have claimed that the storytelling within the franchise could become a bit repetitive at times, which is true. Some of the outlines of certain novels, in particular, were quite similar to the concept of other novels, specifically in Phase I.
Arguably, another lowlight of the overarching story is that, at times, it became too tightly connected. Interconnectivity is a good thing, and it made The High Republic successful. The initiative would not have been what it was without being so tightly knit.
However, due to projects being released in so many different ways, it felt like, in order to get a true understanding of the full story, fans would have to read every novel (even if they were middle-grade or young adult novels), comic, and listen to every audio drama.
If Lucasfilm opts to create another interconnected franchise like The High Republic again, it may be a better idea to limit it to one type of novel and comic books rather than include different types of novels and audio dramas as well.
Is The High Republic Really Over?
The High Republic: The Finale marked the end of Lucasfilm's five-year initiative. That does not mean that the company will stop telling stories in the time period, or that characters introduced in the stories will never show up again.
The High Republic was a success for Lucasfilm, and there is no denying that. It would not be a surprise if Lucasfilm were to announce a new comic series set in the High Republic, or even a standalone novel where readers could catch up with their favorite characters.
However, it is also possible that The High Republic could be adapted in some way. Star Wars has historically found a lot of success with its animated TV shows, with the most notable being The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels. It would take a lot of movies and Disney+ shows to tell the story of the High Republic in live-action, and, frankly, it would just be too expensive.
However, an animated series with The Clone Wars or Rebels animation style bringing the High Republic novels and comics to life could potentially be a major win for Lucasfilm, if done correctly.
It is also possible that an animated series could be released that includes the characters from the High Republic era, but tells new stories instead of ones established throughout the initiative.
Most likely, The High Republic will be explored again. It may not be given the same treatment it was during the five-year experiment, but it would be shocking if it didn't return.
