Star Wars: Escape From Valo Leans Into One Of The Franchise's Original Inspirations

This article contains spoilers for "Star Wars — The High Republic: Escape From Valo."

"Escape From Valo" is the latest novelized "Star Wars" offering in the era of "The High Republic." Written by Daniel José Older and Alyssa Wong, it follows the Jedi Padawan Ram Jomaram (previously seen in books like "The High Republic: Race to Crashpoint Tower" and "The High Republic: The Rising Storm") as he finds himself deep inside the Nihil Occlusion Zone, trapped on the planet Valo. Valo was the site of the Republic Fair — sort of an intergalactic World's Fair — and a brutal attack by the Nihil.

For those not up to date on the High Republic Era, the Nihil is a brutal band of pirates that uses secret paths in hyperspace lanes to maraud the Republic. After causing a massive calamity in hyperspace, they drew the attention of the Jedi, who became their sworn enemies. Upon attacking the Republic Fair and destroying the Jedi's Starlight Beacon (a symbol of hope on the frontier of the Republic), the Nihil retreated into their own territory and set up an Occlusion Zone. As seen in "Star Wars — The High Republic: The Eye of Darkness", the Occlusion Zone consists of what they call a "Stormwall," which prevents any space travel across it without their leave. By creating a grouping of planets that couldn't be harassed by the Jedi or the Republic, they were able to have their own lawless space. 

Many star systems found themselves trapped in Nihil space, as did many Jedi. Ram, stuck as he is on Valo, does his best to disrupt the Nihil and help the world's innocent people by disguising himself as a vigilante named "The Scarlet Skull." When his activity inspires copycats, he's shocked to discover those copycats are really a small band of Jedi Younglings who have been living in the remains of the old Zoo for the last year of the occupation on their own. As Ram tries to protect the Younglings, the Nihil begins closing in on them, setting them on a race to secure an important stash of bacta and medical supplies hidden at the bottom of a lake.

"Escape From Valo" includes a  lot of touchstones to other parts of the "Star Wars" tapestry, including characters that are descendants of characters we met in the second phase of "The High Republic" — namely Maz Kanata's pirate gang from the Dark Horse Comics series "High Republic Adventures," which was also written by Older. The idea of the Scarlet Skulls came from these comics as well; they were a brutal gang that cut out the tongues of those initiated. Their name strikes fear in the hearts of those who hear it, and that's exactly why Ram chose that name. Even Therm Scissorpunch — everyone's favorite lobster-clawed scoundrel who first appeared in "Solo: A Star Wars Story" — and Dexter Jettster from "Attack of the Clones" get cameos here, as they were also part of Maz's original crew in those comics.

With the Younglings taking refuge in the Zoo on Valo, there were opportunities to incorporate many animals from the "Star Wars" saga and interact with the characters. These include Nexu, Acklays (including baby Acklay!), and Reeks, all seen in "Attack of the Clones," as well as Kryknas, the spider-creatures from "Star Wars Rebels," and Vulptices, the crystal foxes from "The Last Jedi." It was a really terrific way to connect a lot of disparate pieces from the "Star Wars" saga in a place that made sense.

My favorite inclusion to other bits of "Star Wars" in the book is the phrase "That's so wizard!" First uttered by Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker in "The Phantom Menace," it became a popular exclamation among "Star Wars" fans and is about as perfect a phrase for kids as anything. Reading Jedi Younglings use the phrase is enough to put a smile on my face and probably yours too.