With the new comic series dedicated to the universe of Star Wars, aka The High Republic, readers were transported to an era set 200 years before the events seen in the prequel trilogy, during which the direct confrontation between the Light and Dark Side of the Force was not so overwhelming, and the Jedi Order. it was very powerful.
Starting from these premises, the story develops mainly around young Padawans and Jedi Knights, who find themselves however having to face mysterious threats, such as the Drengir who appeared even before in the comic series in the novel Into The Dark. Drengirs are very peculiar creatures, gigantic plants capable of manipulating the minds of young Jedi, and deeply linked to the Dark Side of the Force, as some of the protagonists will discover, and in a recent interview the screenwriter Cavan Scott he wanted to present the idea that convinced him to create them.
The first thing to point out is that both Scott and the other authors have always been fascinated by the idea, seen in the Empire Strikes Back, that there are portions of the natural world that can be negatively influenced by the Dark Side. “And I was fascinated from the idea that the Force could also come from the settings and from what surrounds us, and that’s what brought it all together. And there are places that are clear, bright. But there are also dark places. And that detail would encompass everything, there would be bright nature and dark nature. “ These were Scott’s words to the question regarding the original idea, and the author then added:
“We know this from legends and folklore. The Jedi Temple on the planet Coruscant is built on a place linked to the Dark Side, which has happened in the real world for many churches, built in areas where there were places of pagan belief systems. For this they were sanctified … I have a degree in theology, I am interested in folklore. It’s the kind of thing that gets me excited. So I love the idea that there is this concern that the dark side in nature may reach people.”
Recall that the first chapter of The Light of the Jedi is available online, and we leave you to the new symbiote introduced in the Screaming Citadel series.