Star Wars: The High Republic readers got a taste of what's coming, as the authors of the publishing initiative gathered at a Star Wars Celebration Anaheim panel on Thursday to talk about phase 2 -- known as Quest of the Jedi -- before it kicks off later this year.

These novels, children's books and comics are set 200 years before The Phantom Menace,  the earliest movie in the Star Wars timeline. Claudia Gray's excellent The Fallen Star brought Phase 1 to a fiery conclusion earlier in 2022, and Lucasfilm surprised fans this year by revealing that phase 2 will be set 150 years before the events of phase 1.

"It's an all-new jumping on point," Lucasfilm Publishing Creative Director Michael Siglain said at the event.

Instead of the Nihil, the villains of this era will be the extremist group The Path of the Open Hand, led by The Mother. They believe no one should be using the Force, not even the Jedi Order, which is clearly going to lead to some problems.

Also creating chaos will be the Dank Graks, who are all rejects from Dark Side cults. Author Daniel José Older revealed that one of them hates Maz Kanata, revealing that the mysterious character first seen in The Force Awakens (which takes place much later in the timeline) will play a role in The High Republic.

There'll be two chancellors at this point in the timeline: Greylark and Mollo. One is focused on developing the core worlds and the other more on the Outer Rim.

A pair of new books were revealed at Thursday's panel -- Quest for Planet X by Tessa Gratton and Path of Vengeance by Cavan Scott are both scheduled to come out in spring 2023. Also coming is The Battle of Jedha, an audiobook original set to appear in January 2023 (the hardcover/ebook is scheduled for February 2023).

Writer Zoraida Cordova will formally kick off phase 2 on Oct. 4, with the novel Convergence. 

That should swiftly be followed by the first issue of Marvel's relaunched High Republic comic series, from writer Cavan Scott and artist Ario Anindito, on Oct. 5. George Mann's Quest for the Hidden City should be coming Nov. 1.

Writer Charles Soule will have a comic too: the intriguingly titled The Blade, which reveals the backstory of fan-favorite Jedi Porter Engle and is set to kick off on Nov. 2. The cover art for Cordova's novel and the first issues of these comic series was revealed Thursday.

Star Wars Celebration is a convention solely devoted to a galaxy far, far away. It's been running since 1999, when it hyped up prequel trilogy opener The Phantom Menace. This year's gathering runs from Thursday, May 26, to Sunday, May 29, in Anaheim, California. It's the first Celebration since 2019, with the planned 2020 convention having been canceled due to the pandemic.