The High Republic, Star Wars' five-year experiment in creating interconnected storytelling across multiple media, officially ended 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 released. Subtitled "The Beacon," the one-shot comic issue marked the end of Disney and Lucasfilm's publishing initiative, The High Republic, which also ended the interconnected universe's Phase 3.
Cavan Scott, an author and mastermind behind the High Republic's storytelling, wrote the issue. 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 were already 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.
Despite the initiative only being around for half a decade, The High Republic managed to achieve quite a lot with its storytelling in just a few years.
The History of Bringing The High Republic to Life
The first piece of content 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.
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.
The High Republic was first announced in February 2020. All fans knew about it was that it would be a series of novels and comic books, a publishing-only initiative, set 200 years before The Phantom Menace. It would stand completely on its own, not directly connecting to any other projects in the galaxy far, far away.
As time passed, fans learned 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 before 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 part of the publishing initiative.
The High Republic managed to achieve much in the galaxy far, far away that the Star Wars franchise had not managed to in years, though the era was not without its drawbacks.
The Good & the Bad of The High Republic
Like any franchise or group of stories, The High Republic had its share of highs and lows. Some parts of the initiative were handled better than others, but Lucasfilm can study everything that The High Republic did 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 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 set in different eras in the galaxy far, far away, and The High Republic pioneered this.
Another major positive of the initiative was that it brought together a core group of writers and allowed them creative freedom to build the entire High Republic franchise. Instead of The High Republic being entirely overseen by Lucasfilm or one person, the five-writer group could 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, which is true. Some of the outlines of certain novels, particularly in Phase I, were quite similar to the concepts of other novels.
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 fans would have to read every novel (even if they were middle-grade or young adult novels) and comic and listen to each audio drama to get a proper understanding of the whole story.
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 book rather than include different kinds of stories 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. However, that does not mean the company will stop telling stories about the time period or that characters introduced in the stories will never appear 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 somehow. Star Wars has historically found great success with its animated TV shows, the most notable being The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels. Telling the story of The High Republic in live-action would take a lot of movies and Disney+ shows, and, frankly, it would just be too expensive.
However, if done correctly, an animated series using The Clone Wars or Rebels animation style to bring the High Republic novels and comics to life could potentially be a major win for Lucasfilm.
It is also possible that an animated series featuring the characters from The High Republic era will be released. Still, it would tell new stories instead of ones established throughout the initiative.
The High Republic will most likely be explored again. It may not receive the same treatment it received during the five-year experiment, but it would be shocking if it didn't return.
