Hello fellow Wookieepedians! Recently, we had the opportunity to chat with Cavan Scott, who has written multiple works for Star Wars in recent years. This interview may include light spoilers for the first issue of Star Wars: The High Republic - Fear of the Jedi, The High Republic: Tempest Breaker, and Dooku: Jedi Lost.
Many thanks to him for some insights on his newest comic installments!
Q1: Sskeer's and Keeve's relationship has been very central in a lot of your stories. How do you feel their relationship grown and changed over the course of The High Republic?
A1: I think it’s now very much a relationship of trust. In a lot of ways, when we first meet Keeve, Sskeer is her entire world. She desperately wants to make him proud of her, which perhaps isn’t the most Jedi of emotions, but it’s certainly one of the most human. Their relationship isn’t just that of a teacher and pupil. It’s become more like father and daughter – and goes both ways. Sskeer has had to come to terms with the fact that Keeve has grown and now has all these responsibilities. I think she still needs him, but in a very different way. And, in turn, she’s taught him to be more vulnerable and in touch with the emotions he sought to repress for so long.
Q2: What was the hardest part of mapping out Keeve’s story and how it all ends with her leaving the Jedi Order, as first indirectly noted in Dooku: Jedi Lost?
A2: Wait? What? She’s leaving the Jedi Order? SPOILERS! However her journey ends (insert winky face here) the hardest part was making sure it felt earned. I’ve known how this run ends since the beginning of the initiative so everything I’ve done with her has been heading towards this point. I’ve always wanted it to make sense, to feel natural. Nothing about her exit from the story should feel like it’s come out of nowhere. We’ve seen her frustrations. We’ve seen her triumphs. We’ve seen her failures. And we’ve seen how she’s responded to all those moments–to her friends, to her enemies and, most importantly, herself.
Q3: In Tempest Breaker, we saw Keeve really start to show doubts about the Order and how conflict with the Nihil has changed them. What was your process for developing that emotional conflict?
A3: I didn’t want her journey to be about a single moment of realisation. It’s been a gradual process. With each and every battle. Every impossible choice she’s been forced to make. She’s seen cracks in the way the Jedi have operated throughout this conflict, about how it’s affected those she’s always looked up to. I’ve always been fascinated with the idea that the Jedi are trained from infancy. That’s a lot of pressure from an early age to walk a path which has been laid out for you. And throughout the High Republic we’ve seen how different characters thrive in that environment while others struggle when things don’t turn out how they expected.
Q4: Lourna Dee’s a character with many layers - having gone from royalty, to enslaved, to Nihil, the Hutts, and then leading her own bounty hunters’ guild. What’s been some of the inspiration behind her arc as a character?
A4: Lourna is a joy to write. She’s also pure survival. In the past, she’s allowed herself to be shaped by everyone who’s tried to use her, but no more. She’s turning things around so that she’s the one in control.
As soon as I realised what path we were taking with Lourna, I knew it was a chance to explore a different kind of redemption arc in Star Wars. Lourna has learned to take responsibility for what she’s done… more or less. She’s still very much a work in progress.
Q5: Tey Sirrek is a popular figure from Phase II that’s since returned with Phase III stories. Was bringing him forward into the Phase III timeline always part of his plans or was it something that came up later?
A5: It wasn’t necessarily the plan from day one of writing him, but it soon became obvious a) how many readers connected him, and b) how he could play into the wider story.
Tey is pure emotion, a complete and utter wildcard, someone who instinctively sees the flaws in the system and I soon realised I wanted to see him alongside our Phase one/three characters, especially since so many of the characters are exploring their place in the galaxy and asking whether they belong in their respective groups, be that Jedi, Nihil or beyond.
Q6: Kelnacca and his Padawan, Yarzion Vell, both appear in Fear of the Jedi. Having written the Kelnacca one-shot previously, how excited was he to bring them into this storyline and further develop their relationship?
A6: I always love writing Wookiees and it’s been great to add another layer to the interconnectivity of the High Republic era. As soon as we saw the early pictures from The Acolyte, we knew we had to bring Kelnacca into the fold!
Q7: With Phase III of The High Republic coming to a close, what’s one thing you hope readers take away from this project?
A7: The connection that they’ve found together! I’ve absolutely adored watching the THR fandom grow into such a strong and supportive community. It’s a period of my life that I will never, ever forget–and that’s largely due to the fans!
Q8: Thanks for sitting down with us! What social media platforms can people keep up with you and your future work?
A8: It’s probably best to sign up for my newsletter - www.cavletter.com. That’s largely my internet home these days!
