Editorial: From the Dawn of the Jedi to the New Jedi Order – Exploring the New Timeline of ‘Star Wars’ and Its Possibilities
At Star Wars Celebration Europe, Kathleen Kennedy gave the first concrete details on three new Star Wars movies and announced their directors. While little story specifics were given, we were told that two of the movies would take place in completely new points of the Star Wars timeline.
James Mangold’s project will take place waaaay back in time, in a new era dubbed “Dawn of the Jedi”, while Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s movie will push things forward after the Skywalker Saga, moving past the First Order era into the “New Jedi Order”. Fans of the Star Wars Expanded Universe (or Star Wars Legends) stories will have pricked up their ears, as these titles happen to be the names of two significant publishing initiatives which take place in almost exactly the same time periods as the announced movies. In this article, I will give a brief overview of both stories and speculate on how they could influence the upcoming films.
But before proceeding, it is worth stressing that I DO NOT believe that, because they have used the same titles, these movies will be a retelling of the old stories. One example to bear in mind is Tales of the Jedi, which many (myself included) speculated would be a reboot of the comics series of the same name, which is set 4,000 years before the films — obviously, this was not the case!
Dawn of the Jedi
What we know about the film: This story is set 25,000 years before the Skywalker Saga and tells the tale of the first-ever Jedi, who follows the way of the Force in a time of chaos. That’s all we have, but I strongly anticipate Ahch-To making an appearance as it is home to the first Jedi Temple, plus the icon for the Dawn of the Jedi era is the symbol of the Prime Jedi seen in The Last Jedi at said temple.
The Expanded Universe story: Dark Horse Comics took a big swing with John Ostrander and Jan Duursema’s Dawn of the Jedi comic series. Going back 25,000 years, it begins with the Tho Yor, mysterious pyramidal ships that gather Force users from across the galaxy and bring them to Tython, hidden in the deep core of the galaxy. These beings form an order known as the Je’daii, who practice the balance in the Force by using both the light and dark side.
When “Force Hound” Xesh reaches their world, the Je’daii discover he is an advance scout for the Rakata, an all-conquering species steeped in the dark side. With their world out of balance, the Je’daii must find a new path and discover the destiny planned for them by the Tho Yor. In addition to the comics, there was also a tie-in novel which is getting a re-release as part of Star Wars: The Essential Legends Collection on May 23rd, making it the perfect time to explore this series.
How it could tie in: For the most part, I don’t see any direct connection. James Mangold has already confirmed his story will be original and with all-new characters, so I don’t anticipate anyone from the comic showing up. And, while I would absolutely lose it if a Tho Yor appeared, it’s clear this story is centred around an individual, not an order, so that plotline will certainly be different. Another key difference is the location. Thanks to The Mandalorian, Tython is still a significant Jedi planet, but Ahch-To is now their point of origin, and all evidence points to the story being at least partly set there.
One thing that could be the same is the Rakata as an enemy. This ancient species was created as part of the backstory for the Knights of the Old Republic video game, and the comic showed them at their prime as they ravaged the galaxy. The Rakata as invaders are now canon again thanks to Andor, and, as the basic premise of the movie is “a time of chaos”, the Rakata as antagonists are wholly possible. Another aspect I’d like to see is a truly ancient time with primitive technology, such as the use of swords as weapons before the discovery of the first lightsaber.
The symbol for the era shows both light and dark — indicating that the first Jedi could also follow a path that is more balanced between the two sides of the Force.
Heir to the Empire
A brief detour on our way to the other end of the Star Wars timeline lands us on Dave Filoni’s epic crossover movie, set to tie in elements from current and upcoming Disney Plus series in a theatrical event. In the Ahsoka trailer, Grand Admiral Thrawn is named “Heir to the Empire”. These words are lifted directly from the title of the 1991 novel by Timothy Zahn which first introduced the blue-skinned villain.
Now, again, I don’t believe the upcoming project will be a direct retelling of this novel. For one thing, it largely centred on Luke, Han, and Leia, and while their appearances aren’t out of the question thanks to the digital technology we’ve seen in Rogue One and The Book of Boba Fett (among other recent Star Wars projects), I can’t see them using this technology for anything more than a brief cameo. But the overall plotline of Thrawn returning to outwit the New Republic with a series of clever attacks seems almost certain at this point. Thrawn was also interested in cloning Jedi, something strongly hinted at in The Mandalorian, so that plotline could well feature in this iteration of the story too.
New Jedi Order
Moving into the future is a new Star Wars movie directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. I was lucky enough to bump into her at Celebration, and she was full of enthusiasm about her project and absolutely delightful to speak to!
What we know about the film: This story is set 15 years after the downfall of the First Order/Sith Eternal in The Rise of Skywalker and centers around a new group of Jedi who are led by a great Jedi Master who was revealed to be none other than Rey, with Daisy Ridley reprising the role. As the Jedi Order is re-established, they will have to face new threats which rise to meet them.
The Expanded Universe story: The biggest publishing initiative of the time saw a 19-novel series pushing the galaxy into new territory. After years of battling Thrawn and other remnants of the Empire, the New Republic is finally at peace. Luke Skywalker has sought out others strong in the Force and has built his Academy on Yavin 4, with the Jedi now about 100 strong. But peace will be shattered when the Yuuzhan Vong arrive. They’re alien invaders from another galaxy who use living creatures as ships, weapons, and armour, and appear to exist outside of the Force, meaning the Jedi’s abilities have little effect on them!
The invaders inflict a heavy toll both on the galaxy and our heroes, claiming the lives of Chewbacca and many others. The New Republic is devastated, but in the end the Jedi find a way to bring victory and peace to the galaxy once more.
How it could tie in: This is an interesting one. Again, I don’t see any specific connections here, but there are a number of thematic choices that I can see happening. I imagine Rey’s Jedi Order will be a little smaller than Luke’s, though I’d like to see it well established, with Finn and possibly Temiri Blagg (broom boy) as well other Jedi Knights bringing up a new generation of Padawans. With that in mind, I also see the composition of Rey’s Jedi being much more similar to what we had in the books. In the novels, Luke’s Jedi began their training as adults as he sought out individuals with a natural connection to the Force. With Rey herself and Luke having been trained as adults, I certainly see her order being less strict on the age requirements for candidates to be accepted. That’s not to say there won’t be any younglings running around, but I expect Rey to have a core group of young adults training as Jedi… who will likely be the protagonists as she steps back to the mentor role.
The creators of the novels spoke of the need for a new type of threat. Nearly every story up to that point had centered around Imperial warlords, Dark Jedi, and threats of that type, so the Yuuzhan Vong were created to be nothing like what had come before. They had no connection to the Force, they eschewed all technology, and they were entirely xenophobic in nature. In canon storytelling, we’ve had the Empire return as the First Oder in the sequel trilogy and as the Imperial Remnant in The Mandalorian, so I can imagine Lucasfilm will be looking to put a new type of enemy on-screen. Could it be the Vong? Unlikely, but I can definitely see a more alien threat that puts even the Jedi on the back foot.
Whether they connect to the new movies or not, these are great stories that I loved reading as a young fan, and I would highly recommend checking them out. This is a very exciting time for us as we move into a bright future (and past!) for Star Wars.
A teacher from Wales in the UK, Aled has loved Star Wars ever since that Star Destroyer flew over his head and blew his mind.
