Star Wars Star Wars - General Discussion / Legends / Comics

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148 pages into Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn. People say this book/trilogy is the best Legends/Expanded Universe dished up. If that's true I won't be reading any others. It's okay.

It's also 30 years old lol. It kick started it all but that's like watching Episode IV and thinking the rest of Star Wars isn't worth it because it's a pretty simplistic flick.
 
148 pages into Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn. People say this book/trilogy is the best Legends/Expanded Universe dished up. If that's true I won't be reading any others. It's okay.
I haven't read it but I've heard people say the Thrawn trilogy would not have made a good ST because it isn't action packed or epic enough. Despite claims to the contrary that it would've been an awesome ST, having read the plot summaries of the trilogy it does sound like it would've been better suited to a TV series.

It looks like we're going to get a soft Thrawn reboot anyhow and that to me is more exciting than retelling the same story. I don't like the ST but totally understand why Disney didn't make the Thrawn trilogy, besides Hamill etc were too old to play those characters. They could have re-casted them but imo TFA made so much money because everyone knew the original actors were coming back.

I would've asked Lucas if he had any ideas for a story 30+ years after ROTJ; I'd be surprised if he didn't, but it sounds like they didn't follow up. I'm not sure if Arndt's story actually followed Lucas treatments or not but it doesn't sound like it, because according to Lucas, Luke ends up rebuilding the order by the end of Episode 9 as opposed to going into exile and dying in 8.
 

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I haven't read it but I've heard people say the Thrawn trilogy would not have made a good ST because it isn't action packed or epic enough. Despite claims to the contrary that it would've been an awesome ST, having read the plot summaries of the trilogy it does sound like it would've been better suited to a TV series.

It looks like we're going to get a soft Thrawn reboot anyhow and that to me is more exciting than retelling the same story. I don't like the ST but totally understand why Disney didn't make the Thrawn trilogy, besides Hamill etc were too old to play those characters. They could have re-casted them but imo TFA made so much money because everyone knew the original actors were coming back.

I would've asked Lucas if he had any ideas for a story 30+ years after ROTJ; I'd be surprised if he didn't, but it sounds like they didn't follow up. I'm not sure if Arndt's story actually followed Lucas treatments or not but it doesn't sound like it, because according to Lucas, Luke ends up rebuilding the order by the end of Episode 9 as opposed to going into exile and dying in 8.

They did ask him, one of the conditions of the purchase was they consider his outline for 7-9 and they didn't.
 
Yeah I meant if they asked him about story ideas 30+ years after ROTJ not his outline for 7-9 which was about 5-10 years post ROTJ.

Not quite sure I'm following. His draft for 7-9 was also set about 30 years later. They read them and then disregarded them.

During a Tribeca Film Festival panel in 2015, Lucas explained that his trilogy idea would have more or less picked up the mantle laid down by the Expanded Universe novels. Lucas wanted his sequels to represent yet another generational change. “The original saga was about the father, the children, and the grandchildren,” Lucas said during the panel.

Along with a return from the original cast, which we got in Disney’s sequel trilogy as well, Lucas’ sequels supposedly covered the stories of Anakin’s two grandchildren, who were supposed to be around 20 in the films, so it wasn’t “Phantom Menace again.” In the book, The Art of The Force Awakens, one of the characters, a Jedi named Kira, is described as a “loner, hothead, gear-headed, badass.” The other teen was most often referred to as Sam, and mostly appears depicted with a blaster, which seems to indicate that he didn’t have Force powers himself. Kira and Sam eventually morphed into Rey and some of Finn, which makes sense: Lucas had been developing his sequel movies with the help of screenwriter Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3), who went on to receive a writing credit for The Force Awakens, the first of Disney’s trilogy.

 
I haven't read it but I've heard people say the Thrawn trilogy would not have made a good ST because it isn't action packed or epic enough. Despite claims to the contrary that it would've been an awesome ST, having read the plot summaries of the trilogy it does sound like it would've been better suited to a TV series.

It looks like we're going to get a soft Thrawn reboot anyhow and that to me is more exciting than retelling the same story. I don't like the ST but totally understand why Disney didn't make the Thrawn trilogy, besides Hamill etc were too old to play those characters. They could have re-casted them but imo TFA made so much money because everyone knew the original actors were coming back.

I would've asked Lucas if he had any ideas for a story 30+ years after ROTJ; I'd be surprised if he didn't, but it sounds like they didn't follow up. I'm not sure if Arndt's story actually followed Lucas treatments or not but it doesn't sound like it, because according to Lucas, Luke ends up rebuilding the order by the end of Episode 9 as opposed to going into exile and dying in 8.
Disagree completely that it's not epic enough; Zahn was always one of the few authors whose stories felt like Star Wars, not just a tie-in

That doesn't mean you could have adapted it to screen easily, it includes a bit more political intrigue and machinations for the average two-hour blockbuster.
 
Not quite sure I'm following. His draft for 7-9 was also set about 30 years later. They read them and then disregarded them.



Hmm, I thought Lucas trilogy was about Darth Maul becoming godfather of the crime world and Darth Talon being the new Vader, then stuff about Midichlorians and Whills, Luke putting the word out and having 50-100 new Jedi and rebuilding the order, Leia being the Chosen One and becoming Chancellor.

The whole setting was supposed to be post-Empire based on post-Iraq war style, and what you do after you've won the war. It didn't sound like it was more than 5-10 years post ROTJ. I think Luke's Jedi were just children. You'd think after 30 years the Jedi would be up and running again. But if Lucas' treatments were 30+ years after ROTJ, then it's even more baffling why they didn't use them.

Edit: shit I forgot about how much hate Lucas got because of the prequels, that’s why they didn’t use his stories. Maybe the ST is the trilogy the angry vocal fans deserved.
 
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Hmm, I thought Lucas trilogy was about Darth Maul becoming godfather of the crime world and Darth Talon being the new Vader, then stuff about Midichlorians and Whills, Luke putting the word out and having 50-100 new Jedi and rebuilding the order, Leia being the Chosen One and becoming Chancellor.

The whole setting was supposed to be post-Empire based on post-Iraq war style, and what you do after you've won the war. It didn't sound like it was more than 5-10 years post ROTJ. I think Luke's Jedi were just children. You'd think after 30 years the Jedi would be up and running again. But if Lucas' treatments were 30+ years after ROTJ, then it's even more baffling why they didn't use them.

Edit: s**t I forgot about how much hate Lucas got because of the prequels, that’s why they didn’t use his stories. Maybe the ST is the trilogy the angry vocal fans deserved.
I recall reading some article about his plan and it was a weird deep dive into
Midichlorians. Not really baffling at all. George Lucas is not an all-time great storyteller, he captured lightning in a bottle once and it’s paid off his whole life. Has a couple of pretty good films in there as well. Plus some dross. Good for him and good for us that he nailed that one idea.
 
I recall reading some article about his plan and it was a weird deep dive into
Midichlorians. Not really baffling at all. George Lucas is not an all-time great storyteller, he captured lightning in a bottle once and it’s paid off his whole life. Has a couple of pretty good films in there as well. Plus some dross. Good for him and good for us that he nailed that one idea.
Sure but at least he had an outline, Disney were making shit up as they went.
 
Finished ROTJ the other night.

Quite sad, really, how Anakin's story ended up.. didn't amount to all that much, which I guess is the whole point. He could have been quite the powerful figure if he'd stayed on the right side.
 

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One of, if not my favourite SW book, canon or not.

Yeah it's great, was just clarifying in case the poster was after the 'official story'.
 
Just saw Top Gun Maverick for the first time tonight. Wow, what a great sequel, should’ve gone to see it in cinemas. Maverick is what Luke Skywalker should have been, the star pupil becomes the master teacher.

That could’ve been a great episode 7, Luke preparing his best older students for a dangerous mission on the outer edges of space, with Leia acting as the recruiter and Han coming in to teach the Jedi how to fly because the Force can’t do it all for you.

You get your reunion, respect given to the original cast, an introduction to the new characters and a set up for the sequels.
 
Nah.

Too cheesy.

Maverick is an instant classic, a 10/10 film, but I don't like the idea of Luke being such a flawless warrior heroic type.

The issue with Luke is he was a supporting character in one movie and a minor character in another, in a while trilogy. Ffs Leia done more in TROS than him, and she died before it started filming!

Luke needed to be damaged and confused after he failed to return the Jedi and lost Kylo, he just needed a better ending and a more tangible role in the story, and he needed a better reason to **** up than Kylos bad dream. In isolation I like his scenes in TLJ, but in the bigger picture, it's all awful. All of it. And the consistency between films is just garbage.

Not like Maverick. Maverick was awesome

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There was no reason for Luke to damaged and broken tho. The Empire was defeated, a tyrannical regime overthrown, thus a new era of peace and democracy. Luke flourishing in peace and harmony with a new Jedi academy, the galactic republic ruling, no imminent threats.

Just because Disney/Abrams decided to rehash the First Order as surrogate Empire to thus paint an image of a broken Luke doesnt validate its existence, that whole storyline.

Like, ok, there COULD be new threats, or a new threat, other hungry entities looking to fill the void of the Empire, like the First Order itself.

But it would've made far more sense then to enter episode 7 showing the galaxy in relative harmony, Luke happy teaching new Jedi, including nephew Ben Solo, who is displaying signs of teetering between dark and light thruout episode 7, and it worries Luke

And THEN, in episode 8, introduce Snoke as that hungry entity seeking to fill the void, has been watching from afar, and starts to seduce Ben Solo, who starts to form a little rebellious clique inside Luke's academy, so that by end of episode 8 we see the Knights of Ren destroy the academy, turn shatter Luke's world, cause problems between Luke and Leia, and Leia and Hans marriage, as he commits to the dark side as Snoke's apprentice as cliffhanger to end episode 8.

Then for episode 9, we see that whole storyline play out to resolution. You could still have Kylo killing Snoke, because he falls for Rey and wants her to rule with him. You could have her say no like she did, or say yes for the woah.

Btw, you could still have a Poe, Rey, Finn introduced in episode 7 that moves along with the story above
 
It would've made more sense and better story to SHOW it all, as it happens....Luke's fall from harmony to shattered man, show his academy torched, show Snoke seducing Ben, show Ben and his friends turn into the KoR, show him turn to the dark, show that effect on the relationships of Luke, Leia, Han, and thus show the adventures of Rey, Finn, Poe becoming the new trio.
 
It would've made more sense and better story to SHOW it all, as it happens....Luke's fall from harmony to shattered man, show his academy torched, show Snoke seducing Ben, show Ben and his friends turn into the KoR, show him turn to the dark, show that effect on the relationships of Luke, Leia, Han, and thus show the adventures of Rey, Finn, Poe becoming the new trio.
Yep. And Snoke could’ve been linked to the mission in the Top Gun esquires intro I talked about. Not a figure of the First Order but an alien empire from outer space that Palpatine built the second Death Star to prepare for.

Could have had Poe as the hot shot pilot who’s the sole survivor of the x-wing teams failed attempt at the mission Leia sends them on in the beginning. Rey and Finn as students of Luke’s with the scavenger nobody and ex-stormtrooper backstories respectively.

A part of Ben’s fall could have been jealousy against Finn for being close to Rey and jealous of Rey for showing more potential than him.

But the building blocks were there to start off on a good note, go dark in 8, and some sort of alliance team to prevail in 9.
 

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