Star Wars Confirms Jedi Almost Killed The Galaxy Before Sith Returned
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Star Wars: The Eye of the Storm #2 and Star Wars: The High Republic #15!
The leader of the Nihil Marchion Ro recently made a surprising claim about his enemies, the ancient Jedi that implies they are to blame for all of the destruction that almost befell the Star Wars galaxy long before Palpatine resurrected the Sith with Darth Vader.
During the High Republic era, Ro of the marauding Nihil pirates learns about terrifying creatures known as the Nameless that once preyed upon Force-sensitive individuals and takes control of these monsters to use against the Jedi to help bring down the Galactic Republic. Many of the attacks are successful, with the victimized Jedi either falling into a catatonic state or turning to dust. But Ro makes a startling claim that the Jedi were once aware of the Nameless and decided to suppress the knowledge of these beasts for currently undisclosed reasons, in Star Wars: The Eye of the Storm #2 by writer Charles Soule and penciler Guillermo Sanna.
This information is damning, especially as the Nihil's use of the Nameless as an anti-Jedi weapon has been gradual, slowly gaining momentum for multiple issues that span various series across Marvel and IDW Publishing. It can be inferred that had the Jedi not suppressed the knowledge of the Nameless then the Order during the High Republic would have known what they were dealing with and possibly come up with countermeasures against them - if one hadn't been discovered already during this respite when the Nameless weren't active. In fact, early issues in both Marvel and IDW reveal that many high-ranking Jedi were under the false impression that the rumblings about Jedi turning to dust were most likely baseless rumors, which, undoubtedly, belated their response time in dealing with them.
The true capability and effectiveness of the Nameless against the Jedi eventually comes to a head when Ro unleashes these Force-preying monsters aboard Starlight Beacon, a Jedi space station that symbolized the true light of hope in the galaxy in Star Wars: The High Republic #15 by writer Cavan Scott, artist Ario Anindito, inker Mark Morales and Victor Olazaba, colorist Carlos Lopez and letterer Ariana Maher. The height of the Galactic Republic, the High Republic era represented a time that was defined by great expansion and exploration. And as Starlight was built in one of the galaxy's few unexplored dark zones to help guide travelers wandering through this dangerous section of space, this station fully embodied the success of the republic as well as the Jedi who were also experiencing their own golden age.
The fall of Starlight Beacon, therefore, signified the end of what was truly the greatest moment of peace in the Star Wars galaxy. And that failure was made possible by the deadly precision of the Nameless against the Jedi - who could have had the means to defend against them and save the galaxy but chose instead to suppress the truth.