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wantonwinnie · 1 year

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I was fortunate enough to get the High Republic vol. 1 artbook for Christmas (!!!), and there were a lot of great quotes in it that I want to share. They relate to Jedi, meta, politics, etc. I might unpack some of them later or use them in reference to other discussions. Of course, spoilers ahead (including for Phase 1 material) if you wish to experience the tidbits for yourself alongside the art, which was also fantastic. The book itself was a great read, and I highly recommend it.

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1. The Force made manifest.

"The Force, by coming through the earth, literally manifests itself up in the air and it can't keep a shape because it’s everything. Here's the thing about the Force--maybe it’s just my interpretation of it, but I thought it was something George [Lucas] told us back on The Phantom Menace: There was no light [versus] dark side of the Force. The dark side is part of the Force. What keeps it in balance is saying no to it, allowing it to do what it does, to warn and to frighten and to guide us through our dark emotions, and then you're using all of the Force, not just one little piece, which is where the dark side always goes wrong. They're only using a piece of it. But what [the Jedi are] calling the light side is the entirety of the Force. So, let's see a place where the Force is manifest and it’s everything. It’s good, it’s bad, and it changes every second. It can't hold the form because it’s just so exuberant with life and imagination."

Artist Iain McCaig, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1) (in reference to his sketch of a planet where the Force bubbles out of the ground), p. 19.

2. Padmé and Darth Maul.

"When I was designing [for The Phantom Menace] there was no pressure really on Darth Maul to be any kind of icon. He was just a new Sith Lord. And as for Queen Amidala, it didn't matter to me and still doesn't if anyone made her the main character. She was my main character. She was the strength of the whole movie. And I needed someone that could stand up to Darth Maul . . . No matter how fearful she was, you can tell that she's going to do [the right thing], whether it’s going to kill her or not."

Iain McCaig, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1) (in reference to Padmé concept art), p. 25.

3. Jedi, technology, and attire.

"The High Republic, in relation to the prequels, is an older time technologically, but I think it’s potentially a more enlightened time . . . It’s more evolved thinking in some ways. It’s like the Jedi Order devolves while the technology evolves. [Visually,] their clothes are a little fancier, and they're a little more celebratory. Even just the fact that we have temple attire and mission attire, I think, is interesting, because it suggests this divide that maybe didn't exist so much later on."

Lucasfilm executive editor Jennifer Heddle, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), pp. 29-30.

4. Jedi accountability.

Scott looked to the Stoics and the Knights Templar to help guide him, pulling from historical records that told of Templar warriors breaking their vows. "The other Templars wouldn't drag them in front of the master of the temple, but would just take them aside and say, 'If you're going to do this, can you not rub it in everyone's faces because other people might start doing it as well?' Or, you know, 'Are you sure you should be doing this? And if you've made that choice, think bout what it means for the Order.' I think that's how the Jedi would have been as well. So, we have Jedi who are perhaps not as celibate as other Jedi. And there's nothing wrong [with that]." . . . George Lucas himself subscribed to the same idea . . . Lucas noted [in an interview] that Jedi were permitted to have sex. "Jedi Knights aren't celibate," he said at the time. "The thing that is forbidden is attachments--and possessive relationships."

Author Cavan Scott / George Lucas, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), p. 30.

5. Reflecting the reader.

"Star Wars should reflect the real world . . . It’s a galaxy far far away, but it’s being consumed by people who are in this galaxy, and everybody wants to see themselves in a story."

Author Charles Soule, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1) (in reference to diversity in characters), p. 30.

6. Queer representation.

Older was adamant that the love story arc should be dealt with directly, leaving no question in the readers' minds about how Lula and Zeen felt. It’s a welcome, straightforward approach to queer culture that has too frequently been ignored. "It’s so often just been the opposite of that . . . For so long it was nonexistent--across fantasy, across literature, across Star Wars, in everything. And then when [creators] finally started doing it, we did it very sloppily or just with too much vagueness or trying to hint at it. I have no tolerance for that type of stuff. I think it’s really cowardly. [In the past,] creators have failed queer fans by not providing accurate representation or any representation."

Author Daniel José Older, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), p. 31.

7. A Jedi's emotions.

"The Jedi aren't machines, and they're not emotionless, and they should never be emotionless . . . What they should be is controlled. They are passionate, but they control it, and the passion never goes away. Half the reason we love characters is because they are struggling with things. For me, the most believable and the most basic emotion for lots of people, myself included, is fear, because it’s driven us as a species. It’s basic flight or fight, and Jedi would have to make that choice every day."

Cavan Scott, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), p. 33.

8. Burryaga's lightsaber.

"I remember wanting the lightsaber to reflect Kashyyyk and Wookie culture, which is why it’s a more organic-looking lightsaber. I also had an idea--I wasn't entirely sure of his fighting style--for a shorter one. Then, if he wanted a broad sword, the hilt would extend, you know, for Wookie-sized hands. They ended up really liking how it looked extended and just wanted to keep it like that all the time."

Artist Jeffrey Thomas, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), p. 67.

9. Porter Engle.

"[He] wants to be friends with you, but it’s for people to get close to him, and he finds it hard to get close to other people, and it’s very isolating. He's a character who I love, and I think his design reflects that. He's more beard than man, but he's this Jedi that has been part of the Order for 300 years and has done everything. He's an utter legend. When he gets reactivated in the story because the Nihil come calling, he becomes absolutely terrifying. I don't think you want to be anywhere near a guy like that when he is [in active combat]. The sad thing about Porter Engle is that he knows that. There's a reason he decided to go be a cook . . . I wanted [him] to feel like a happy cook because that's the version that he really wants to be And that's teh version I think people really connect with."

Author Charles Soule, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), p. 95.

10. Preserving hope.

"The storytelling of Star Wars that we've all grown to know and love has been about the defending and reclaiming of hope . . . The High Republic begins in an era where hope is abundant, where harmony is abundant. The people of the original trilogy era are longing after something that's been gone for a very long time. And in the High Republic, it’s not gone yet, and then it starts to be taken away little by little by forces that confuse and frighten and terrify common people and Jedi alike. So I think the hope that's growing out of this story is: how do we preserve what we love?"

Senior editor Robert Simpson, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), p. 139.

11. Marchion Ro's relatability.

"Hannibal Lecter is scary because he's us, you know? . . . He looks like us, but there's something that's off behind his eyes. I have this term for people that you meet in your life who are just off: spider people. That was my inspiration. Bu they can also kind of turn on the charm when they want to, like flipping a switch, and it’s very unsettling and very creepy. The other word for them is sociopaths. SO I wanted Marchion Ro to be somebody who you have this sense of unease when you're around them, but you can have a beer with them. It’s more just like the minute that you're out of the room, their face goes blank . . . What's important for a villain is that you can relate to his motivations and his choices. This is somebody that you're going to understand and identify with in some horrible way."

Charles Soule, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), p. 140.

12. Star Wars design philosophy.

A key tenet in Star Wars design requires every hero, villain, ship, and place to be readable at a glance and easily replicated by a child capable of sketching only the most basic shapes. The densely populated worlds are often explored at a breakneck place, with little time to stop and stare. Behind the scenes, those working on vetting the designs for The High Republic adhered to a three-second rule, "understanding at a glance," [Creative Art Manager Phil] Szostak said. "Everything's got to be good or evil and it has to be read clearly," added concept artist Grant Griffin.

The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), p. 166.

13. Jedi vector design.

Created for Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, this sleek starfighter was the inspiration behind the Jedi Vector, with one small change. Instead of a socket for an astromech droid, the cockpits of the Vectors are elongated to allow room for Jedi masters to travel with their apprentices. "The Jedi, especially in this era, aren't necessarily looking for a starfighter that's going to be suitable for war because there is no war, no enemy that they're fighting . . . It’s a time of peace. And so, I think a ship like the Vector is kind of appropriate for this time. You see it from a distance: here come the Jedi. You know, it’s not just [some] boxy, utilitarian ship."

Phil Szostak, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1) (in reference to an unused Republic "skyfighter" sketch), p. 174.

14. The point of storytelling.

"It’s actually the purpose of stories, particularly the ones that are set on far-off worlds and strange fantasy lands . . . Number 1: We want to escape in hard times. Number 2: We want to have fun again and remember that there's fun in the world. And Star Wars, always at its best, was fun. And Number 3: We actually do want to talk about everything going on, but we can't do it directly. So, if you do it inside a story, it can't possibly be talking about you, yet it is exactly talking about everything--pandemics and genocides and destroying planets--in this world. You don't have to be offended by it right away. You can enjoy it first, which is a good way to teach anything."

Iain McCaig, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), p. 201.

15. Corellian ignorance.

The insurrection at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, directly informed a scene in Older's [Midnight Horizon] featuring a Nihil masquerade ball in Coronet City, as the upper echelon of Corellia show they are woefully blind to reality. "It’s a place where people are very much no on the lookout for the Nihil. You know, there's just a given understanding that the Nihil are not going to be able to get a foothold that deep into the core of the galaxy. And so they have been lulled into a false sense of safety, and because of that, they truly don't see it coming when that exact thing happens . . . That's very much a story about fascism and the rise of fascism anywhere, but including what we were seeing. Very specifically, there is this moment where they throw a big party and it’s such a joke to everybody that people dress up as the Nihil--totally out of touch, dressing up as the people that are actually taking down Starlight. And there are actual Nihil infiltrators in that crowd in the party dressed like themselves. They've infiltrated the police. They've infiltrated the politicians. It’s actually very easy for them to then just go ahead and rule there. And that's what we saw on January 6th, a very obvious and violent example of that."

Daniel José Older, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), p. 205.

#the high republic art #the high republic #the high republic spoilers #the force #padme amidala #darth maul #jedi #jedi order #burryaga agaburry #porter engle #marchion ro #midnight horizon #quote dump #reference #star wars #my posts

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