Star Wars' Outer Rim, but they are facing terrifying new threats - including a Force cult more dangerous than anything they've encountered before.
The Path of the Open Hand are introduced in Justina Ireland's Path of Deceit. They revere the Force, but they believe it is limited in nature and scale; to draw upon the Force, to use it, is to steal power from it. According to their doctrines, the Force seeks balance above all else, and this means even the Jedi's most heroic actions are flawed. Whenever a Jedi saves a life, another person dies somewhere else in the galaxy; when a Jedi saves a world, another is lost elsewhere. Their leadership has decided there is only one way to deal with the problem; by killing all Force-s.
The Path Of The Open Hand Could Fulfill Their Mission
The Path of the Open Hand have acquired creatures called the Nameless, the most dangerous predators in the galaxy. The Nameless hunt Force-sensitives, draining them of the ability to use the Force, ultimately reducing them to calcified husks. For the Path of the Open Hand, they represent the fulfillment of every hope and dream, for they offer a weapon that can be turned against even the Jedi. With the Nameless at their side, the Path of the Open Hand do not need to fear even an army of Jedi. There are disturbing hints the Path plan to use the Nameless in direct attacks, perhaps even by launching a mission to the planet Jedha, where countless Force traditions are gathering in a Convocation.
The Path Of The Open Hand Could Accidentally Destroy The Force
The Path may believe they are protecting the balance of the Force, but in reality they threaten its very existence. Path of Deceit reveals the Jedi can sense lasting damage to the Force at the place where a Nameless has feasted; an absence, a vacuum in the Force. The Path believe the Jedi are creating voids in the Force, damaging its very fabric, but in reality the Nameless - their chosen weapons - are the cause of just that kind of damage. The Nameless have been described as the Jedi's greatest fear, and it is easy to see why; their very existence threatens the Force. It's even more concerning to imagine what the Nameless could do if they were introduced to a Force vergence.
Only the Sith could potentially hide from the Nameless, for they have mastered techniques that allow them to conceal their presence in the Force. But the Sith would not want the Path of the Open Hand to succeed in their mission, purely because the cost would be too great. The Sith desire to dominate the Force, not to destroy it; the Sith are still acting in the shadows at the time of Star Wars: The High Republic, and they would no doubt want the Jedi to succeed this time.
