The Acolyte is the next Star Wars series to hit Disney+. Set some one hundred years before the events of The Phantom Menace, this will be the furthest back in the timeline fans will have ever gone in a live-action Star Wars project. So, what should fans know about The High Republic if they’ve never read one of the books? We got you covered!

The High Republic, currently an ongoing publishing initiative that encompasses adult, young adult, and junior fiction novels, as well as graphic novels and comics, was an era in the Star Wars canon that took place roughly between the years 500 and 100 BBY (Battle of Yavin, or the original Star Wars movie as a point of reference). It was something of a Golden Age for both the Republic and the Jedi Order, as it was an era of relative peace and expansion, with the Sith being presumed extinct and the Mandalorian Wars being long over. The galaxy had only just started understanding hyperspace travel, so being able to quickly travel through the galaxy opened up new frontiers and a mission to unify the galaxy. That peace is broken, however, with the emergence of the Nihil threat, space Vikings that pillaged and caused mayhem and death wherever they went.

The Nihil very much rejected this idea of the Republic unifying the galaxy through the hyperspace lanes and sought to derail and even put an end to this expansion. Thanks to a special prisoner, the Nihil were able to access parts of Hyperspace that the Republic had not yet been able to, giving them a distinct advantage. They would hurl broken spaceships and other debris through the hyperspace lanes, attack civilian festivities and do everything in their power to make life very difficult for the Republic’s vision.

In the books, the era features the stark contrast of the wealth and progressiveness of the Republic mixed with the rough and tumble nature of the frontier planets that had not connected to a hyperspace lane. This resulted in the Republic creating Starlight Beacon, which would give ships not connected to the overall established networks to find their way in frontier space. Piracy is a major problem in the Outer Rim (when is it not, let’s be real), leading to all kinds of nefarious beings operating out there away from the eyes of the government. This gives the stories a light-western vibe, with the Jedi roaming the frontier planets trying to keep the peace for the affluent government in the core.

The upcoming Disney+ series, The Acolyte, will take place in the twilight of the High Republic, around 100 years before The Phantom Menace. Coming from showrunner Leslye Headland, who brought us Netflix’s Russian Doll, the show is set during the twilight years of the High Republic and is apparently going to be very Sith-focused, with series co-star Dafne Keene teasing that the show features how the Sith infiltrated the Jedi. Don’t forget, at this point in the timeline, the Sith were said to be extinct, but in reality, they were simply hiding in the shadows, waiting to make their return. During their exile, they abided by Darth Bane’s Rule of Two and his Grand Plan to exact revenge against the Jedi. Being one hundred years before Phantom, we have no real idea who the Sith were at this time, we could potentially have a connection to Darth Plageuis or his master Darth Tenebrous, but chances are we’ll encounter new faces and names. On the Jedi side, I’m quite certain Yoda will make some sort of appearance. Read the full description of the show below:

In The Acolyte, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master against a dangerous warrior from his past. As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems….

Have you been reading The High Republic stories or will The Acolyte be your first foray into that era of Star Wars? Let us know!