The comic follows the adventures of Keeve Trennis, a recently minted Jedi Knight, after the events of the Great Disaster as she is stationed aboard the Starlight Beacon. Under the leadership of Jedi Master and Marshal of Starlight Avar Kriss, Keeve works alongside her former Master Sskeer, the bond twins Ceret and Terec, and many other Jedi to keep the peace on the frontier in the face of threats by the Nihil and Drengir.
The comic was followed by two limited series Star Wars The High Republic Trail Of Shadows and Star Wars: The High Republic - Eye of the Storm.
The series has been collected in three trade paperbacks:
- Vol.1: There is no Fear (#1-5)
- Vol.2: The Heart of Drengir (#6-10)
- Vol.3: Jedi's End (#11-15 and Eye of the Storm #1-2)
A prequel series, Star Wars: The High Republic (2022), began in October 2022.
Tropes in this comic include:
- Arc Villain:
- The Drengir and their leader, the Great Progenitor, are the main antagonists of the first and second arc in the comic.
- After the events of the Republic Fair, Lourna Dee becomes the lead villain among the Nihil during the Hunt for the Eye arc (with the Jedi mistaking her for the actual leader of the Nihil).
- Asshole Victim:
- Kalo Sulman, the speaker for the colonists on Sedri Minor, who made a deal with the Hutts for protection and threatened the other colonists into keeping quiet about their own disappearing, tries to make a run for it when the colonists finally confront him over it... only to get eaten by a Drengir, the very same creatures responsible for the disappearances.
- Myarga, who was perfectly willing to ravage populated worlds just to exterminate the Drengir, gets captured by the Nihil and subject to Cold-Blooded Torture. When Keeve tries to save her while undercover, Myarga rats her out to the Nihil and derails the mission. Not long after, she is executed by Lourna Dee.
- Body Horror: Issue #4 reveals that the dead Hutt had Drengir spores inside of it, which eventually grow out of the cadaver in gruesome fashion.
- Book Ends: The cover of the first issue features a small picture of Starlight Beacon. The last issue's cover is the exact same as the first issue, but this time, Starlight Beacon is in flames.
- Canon Immigrant:
- In Issue #2, Sskeer exclaims "Surik's blade!", Surik being the surname of the Exile, also known as Meetra Surik.
- Nagnol was a toxic natural gas. Its properties made it capable of disrupting starship sensors, and in large doses it was fatal to even members of the Hutt species. It actually appeared in the Legends story, Captain Threepio.
- Combat Tentacles: At the near end of Issue 2, Ceret is attack by what appears to be a plant-like tentacle, revealed in the next issue as belonging to a Drengir.
- Continuity Nod:
- In the first issue, Keeve is pestered by some Ximpi, a small flying goblin species previously seen in the Lando, Poe Dameron, and Doctor Aphra comics. Lando and Poe Dameron were both written by fellow The High Republic writer Charles Soule.
- Keeve is knighted by Avar the same way Kanan and Cal were, though the chant is slightly different and longer.Avar: [ignites lightsaber] Keeve Trennis, by the right of the Council, by the will of the Force, I name thee Jedi, Knight of the Republic— [cuts Keeve's padawan braid] —Protector of the Light.
- Issue 9 mentions the world of Ashas Rine, which is presumably related to the similarly-named world of Ashas Ree. Ashas Ree was recanonized in Star Wars Resistance, being the home of an ancient Sith temple housing a dangerous Sith relic.
- Convenient Coma: During the hunt for the Eye of the Nihil, Lourna Dee exposes Terec to the Great Leveler, forcing them and Ceret (via their bond link) to go into a hibernation trance so they don't suffer the same fate as Loden Greatstorm. They reawaken in the final issue, during the fall of Starlight Beacon, to save Keeve from being sucked out into space and escape the doomed station along with her.
- Disability Immunity: It is revealed in the hunt for the Eye arc that Sskeer is diagosed with Magrak Syndrome, a Trandoshan-specific brain disease that causes them to regress to their more aggressive and primal instincts, explaining some of Sskeer's episodes of being The Berserker throughout the comic. In trying to slow the disease's progression, Sskeer has been losing his connection to the Force. This turns out to be a blessing in disguise when the Nihil start weaponizing the Nameless against the Jedi, as Sskeer's weakened Force connection immunizes him to the Nameless's passive Force hallucinations. This not only allows him to save Avar and Keeve from being killed by the Nameless, it allows him to more effectively hold off the Nameless than any other Jedi while everyone evacuates Starlight Beacon.
- Evil Versus Oblivion: After making it clear that the Drengir are a threat to all sentient life in the galaxy, Avar convinces Myarga to have the Hutt Cartel form a truce with the Jedi just to combat this threat.
- False Flag Operation: In Issue 9, the Jedi send Keeve and Terec to infiltrate the Nihil under the guise of being Nihil mooks needing backup after attacking Orla.
- Guilt-Free Extermination War: Defied by the Jedi in regards to their conflict with the Drengir. Despite being entities of the Dark Side and threatening to devour all non-botanical life in the galaxy, the Jedi still consider them living beings like any other. When Avar and Keeve defeat the Great Progenitor, they choose to have it imprisoned aboard Starlight Beacon. However, this puts them at odds with their situational ally Myarga, who was willing to ravage entire planets to stop the Drengir.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Keeve has imposter syndrome, admiring her heroes while looking down on herself and wondering how she could ever be as good as them.
- If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: At the end of Issue 9, the Nihil test if Keeve is really one of them by ordering her to kill a captive Myarga.
- Immediate Sequel: The first issue happens shortly after main story of Light of the Jedi before skipping to a few hours later at the dedication ceremony on the Starlight Beacon. This is indicated with the other characters being concerned that Sskeer is getting back into action so soon after losing his arm at Kur, followed by Avar being offered and accepting the position of the Marshal of Starlight.
- The Infiltration: Keeve and Terec are sent to infiltrate the Nihil in order to trace them back to their new base after the Battle of Grizal, with Ceret using the bond between them to track their location with task force aboard the Ataraxia. Their cover is blown when the captured Myarga outs them as Jedi while being tortured.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: When Avar decides to attack the Great Hall of the Nihil in Issue 13, Lourna Dee presumes that the Jedi won't make the first move. Cue the Ataraxia opening fire on the Great Hall, courtesy of an increasingly more ruthless Avar.
- Irony: Master Sskeer tells Keeve that she shouldn't simply quote ancient lore when she tried to quote the Code. Fanatic adherence to the Jedi Code was one of the flaws that led to the Order's downfall.
- Orifice Invasion: The Drengir try to feed on their prey by sticking their vines down their throats and nostrils.
- Pummeling the Corpse: After killing the Nihil, Sskeer seem to fly into a rage, keep shouting No as he began to cut the corpse into pieces.
- Single-Minded Twins: The Kotabi Terec and Ceret. Identical bond-twins who, for all intent and purpose, share the same mind, to the point where they use the word 'we' to describe themselves and can feel each other pain. Unfortunately, when the Drengir capture Ceret, they take advantage of this to spread their mind-control poison to Terec, who then spreads it to Sskeer. When Terec gets exposed to the Great Leveler, it affects Ceret as well, forcing both of them to go into a hibernative state so the calcification doesn't kill them.
- Tears of Joy: After being knighted, Keeve cries tears of happiness while standing with the other Jedi at the Starlight Beacon's dedication ceremony.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: When Keeve asks what killed the Hutt found aboard a ship raided by the Nihil, Ceret asks take your pick as from what he can tell from the body, it been stabbed, shot and even poisoned (note that Hutts are a notoriously hard-to-kill species due to their thick hides and impressive immune systems, with nagnol gas being one of the few things that can overwhelm the latter in large doses).
