Back in April we got our first look at some of the new characters who will feature in The High Republic, and on Thursday Star Wars unveiled another one
We are introduced to a Trandoshan Jedi named Sskeer, who sounds like a more complicated Jedi than we’re used to. Here’s the way that author Cavan Scott explained him to StarWars.com:
“Sskeer plays a major role in the Marvel Comics ongoing and is an absolute joy to write. He’s a gruff, opinionated Trandoshan who has been around the block more times than he cares to remember. Loyal, but brutally honest, you can always be sure Sskeer will tell you exactly what’s on his mind…or so Avar Kriss and his fellow Jedi think. That’s all about to change. This is a Jedi Master with a secret that is tearing him apart.”
I’m very curious what that secret is, and it sounds like Sskeer is loyal to the Jedi Order but rougher around the edges than many of the kidner Jedi we’ve become used to. Of course several hundred years later there would be other Jedi who took a harsher tone, and I’m guessing it will be a bit less common in this High Republic era. Anyway, the big part about this description is to me the fact that he’s keeping a secret that’s tearing him apart, and so I can only assume that it’ll become a significant plot point somewhere along the line.
So we’ve now been introduced to the Jedi Avar Kriss, Loden Greatstorm, Keeve Trennis, Stellan Gios, Vernestra “Vern” Rwoh, and Sskeer. It seems that Kriss in particular could be a main character of the era, as she’s mentioned quite a bit – and in this latest article, we got more artwork of her as well as a new description from Lucasfilm Publishing creative director Michael Siglain:
“She’s a wise and compassionate Jedi Master who plays a major role in the Great Disaster that opens the story. … The answer to the question, who is the ‘Hero of Hetzal’, which we’d teased? It’s Avar Kriss. But the answer to why is she the “Hero of Hetzal” can be found in Light of the Jedi this January.”
Lastly, we get a description of a group known as the San Tekkas from author Charles Soule:
“Once just a family of hard-scrabble hyperspace prospectors seeking valuable routes in the outer reaches of the galaxy, the San Tekka clan has become a dynasty, at the forefront of technologies and techniques that let Chancellor Lina Soh’s great galactic Republic continue to expand safely to new areas. Overseen by scions Marlon and Vellis San Tekka, the clan operates in close conjunction with the Republic, and becomes crucial to its response to the Great Disaster. But the San Tekkas have a secret…their rise did not come without cost.”
So it sounds like this is a group not made up of Jedi but is a clan that holds significant power in the galaxy. Of course, for Star Wars fans, the name “San Tekka” seems like too much to be a coincidence, since we already know of Lor San Tekka. Operating in the years leading up to The Force Awakens, he befriended both Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, and he actually helped the former discover the location of the first Jedi Temple on Ahch-To. Later, after Skywalker had gone into exile, Organa solicited Lor San Tekka’s help in tracking down her brother’s location. Lor San Tekka was killed by Kylo Ren, but not until he was able to give a crucial piece of the map to Organa’s Resistance. He was not a Jedi but studied the Force, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s a descendant of this powerful clan.
Star Wars Thoughts 