'Light of the Jedi' Will Explain How Palpatine Cut the Jedi Off from the Force
Light of the Jedi spoilers follow.
Star Wars might have taken a large step into the past with its new High Republic series, but the series still has something to discover about the Skywalker Saga.
Set around 200 years before The Phantom Menace, the High Republic era kicks off in dramatic fashion as the Jedi – including a (slightly) younger Yoda – band together to save the Hetzal system from destruction after a ship falls apart in hyperspace.
Light of the Jedi outlines this heroic effort and the subsequent investigation into how the disaster came about, ending with a dark cliffhanger that also solves a major unanswered mystery from the prequel trilogy about how the Jedi were cut off from the Force.
Major spoilers are ahead for Light of the Jedi, so look away now if you're staying spoiler-free and haven't read the book yet.
It's revealed that the disaster was the work of the series' main villains, the Nihil, and their leading member Marchion Ro who holds the title of Eye of the Nihil, like his father before him.
The Nihil are divided into three Tempests, each led by a Tempest Runner, and alongside the Tempest Runners is the Eye of the Nihil. The Eye is the only one who has access to the hyperspace Paths (a secret method of traveling hyperspace at incredibly fast speeds) and when a Tempest Runner wants to carry out a job, they have to ask the Eye for the Paths.
When it comes to carrying out a job, the Tempest Runners and the Eye have to come to a majority decision and in the event of a tie, the Eye has a double vote. Basically, it's like Strictly Come Dancing and the Eye is Shirley Ballas.
However, Marchion Ro has bigger goals than just being the Eye and wants to be the default leader of the entire Nihil, so the hyperspace disaster was the first step in obtaining this personal goal. It brings the Nihil into the sights of the Jedi and, initially, the Eye sets up his most troublesome Tempest Runner, Kassav, as the orchestrator of the disaster.
This leads to Kassav's death and Marchion Ro intimidates the other two Tempest Runners into accepting his increased control of the Nihil. The next stage of his plan is unclear, but Light of the Jedi's dark conclusion reveals that it involves Loden Greatstorm, a prominent Jedi Knight, who Marchion Ro has captured.
The Nihil capture Loden Greatstorm when the Eye manufactures a Jedi rescue of a wealthy family on Elphrona, tricking the Jedi into thinking they wanted the family to ransom when Marchion Ro just wanted them to capture a Jedi.
It's likely a ploy to get the Jedi to come after the Nihil, but until that happens, Marchion Ro is keeping Loden Greatstorm in captivity on the Nihil's flagship, the Gaze Electric. It's no ordinary cell, though, as the Jedi Knight is surrounded by seven other cells holding random prisoners who are shocked at random intervals.
"Their job is to fill this entire deck with pain and anger and fear. Makes it hard for you to think, doesn't it? Hard for you to call on the Force," Marchion Ro taunts. "You don't imprison Jedi behind bars. You do it with pain."
It seems like a throwaway moment that shows the High Republic's main villain isn't to be messed with, but this actually solves a long-running mystery about the prequel trilogy and the Jedi's weakened state.
In Attack of the Clones, Mace Windu admits that "our ability to use the Force has diminished" and while it's long been established Palpatine was behind it, it was never clear how the Sith Lord was doing it. Now it seems as though Palpatine was creating chaos in the galaxy in order to affect the Jedi.
After all, Attack of the Clones ends with the Clone Wars underway – and that was a period of great turmoil in the galaxy. The Jedi would have been surrounded by the kind of "pain and anger and fear" that Marchion Ro creates for Loden Greatstorm, so it's no surprise that the Jedi in the prequel trilogy can't operate to the peak of their powers.
Given it's Star Wars, we can't rule out a surprise connection between the Nihil and Palpatine to be revealed during the High Republic series. The real identity of Marchion Ro and his family is teased during the Light of the Jedi, so it's a mystery that will likely be addressed later on.
Despite the years between Marchion Ro and Palpatine, surely we've learnt by now to not rule out any surprise Palpatine family links?
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