test content
Logo
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc
Options
Star Wars Episode 6.5: Shattered Empire (a canonical, non-spoiler, prologue)
tigerofcachtice
Posts: 551 Arc User
The official trailer (no longer teasers) for Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens released this week, with lots of fans and YouTube commentators's reactions and analyses. In case you hadn't seen it:
In parallel, I had been reading Marvel Comics' prequel to the film, Shattered Empire, including its last issue just released yesterday. I'm now sharing points of interest that may relate to the upcoming film(s). This information is canon (as opposed to "Legends", where previous Expanded Universe materials now treated as non-canon).
These aren't spoilers for the film. They're setting up the film.
With so much rampant speculation, I'm sharing some confirmed information that may relate better to the film, considering this comic is a calculated tie-in by Disney, now that they own both Marvel and Lucasarts. I'm also avoiding a plot-point-by-plot-point summary in case you want to pick up Shattered Empire. It's a really fun read.
An Alliance pilot is about to retire after helping defeat the Empire in the Battle of Endor. However, because she has the (mis)fortune of crossing paths with Luke/Leia/Solo (mostly because she may have been the only sober/available pilot at the time), she goes on adventures where she unknowingly sees the clues that lead up to The Force Awakens.
The following is what she discovers with them in the months after Endor.
The Empire is defeated, but its armies and territories are vast, and there are holdouts that won't surrender because they want to fight to the last Storm Trooper, because they are in denial...or they actually believe news of the Emperor's death is false propaganda from Rebel terrorists. There's sporadic warfare for months/decades to come.
In fact, for a fallen empire, the Empire is transmitting a lot of information after its defeat. There's too much data for simple orders to "stand down/surrender". They're like complex plans for a new Operation from the Emperor, who is of course a master schemer whose machinations may take years to unfold, even though he's now dead (...or is he?)
Luke/Leia/Solo begin their new career paths during this time.
Solo seems to be in charge of military operations to take out the remnants alongside Chewbacca. He personally leads a squad of commandos, apparently using his smuggling savvy for covert operations. He also insists on calling C3PO "Goldenrod" from now on.
Codename: Goldenrod actually turns out to be pretty useful in the most unpredictable manner...like always. As a protocol droid for diplomacy, he is programmed to be good at figuring out new languages, which includes deciphering the encrypted messages the Imperial remnants are transmitting.
Leia, being a former Senator, becomes an ambassador to unite the Empire's former planets to reform a new Republic...kind of like Hilary Clinton. Leia also does something interesting. Walking into a jet hangar on her 1st diplomatic mission, she senses a presence, very strongly suggesting she really IS Force-sensitive after all.
Luke is mysterious, maybe taking a page from Yoda's and Obi-Wan's playbook. Whereas Solo and Leia are clearly coordinating with the rest of the New Republic...Luke likes his secrecy, doing his own thing. His own thing seems to be restoring the Jedi quietly, like sneaking into an Imperial holdout base to enter a secret lab for something that held significance to Force users that even the Imperial commander there can't understand. As he's the last living Force user and he likes to operate in shadows, it's no surprise the Dark Side, the Jedi, would become mere "stories".
The above events were seen from the perspective of the Rebel pilot mentioned at the start.
Her whole thing was she's "2 weeks away from retirement". Her husband was part of Solo's commandos, so she volunteered to fly with Solo. Her flight commander gave her a safe, cushy gig, so she got assigned to Leia's diplomatic transport. Then she was basically waiting out her tour of duty when Luke needed someone for his secret mission. All this JUST happened before she's supposed to give up being a Rebel pilot.
Was it just coincidence? Or does the Force move in mysterious ways?
Luke seems to suspect something, but never says anything explicitly, and he simply asks her what's up. Though clearly dedicated to the Alliance, she has another obligation: she has a baby son that she hasn't seen since the Battle for Endor. Luke seems to understand, even more than she does, and goes so far as to give her part of the priceless Force-related objects they just liberated to take home.
For that son will grow to be a major character in the upcoming films.
His name is Poe Dameron. It's actually hinted at from the start of the comic, that her husband was Sgt. Dameron of Solo's Pathfinders. Like his mother, he's a skilled pilot, and you catch a glimpse of him in the trailer at about 1:30 patting our new Jedi on the shoulder:
When the Force is calling to you, just let it in.
-----
I have avoided any important spoilers in case you want to read the comic. The only thing may be how Poe Dameron is the Shattered Empire's protagonist's son, but that clue is dangled in your face from Issue 1. Or maybe how Codename: Goldenrod is awesome (but you've always known that).
The best part of Shattered Empire, of course, seeing the trajectory Luke/Leia/Solo take from Episode VI, so you can see where they end up in Episode VII. I had many moments where I felt, "It's interesting they'd do that...but of course they would," because their characterisation remains true to the films.
The pleasant surprise, however, is what Luke/Leia/Solo reveal in their quiet moments (well, Han doesn't have those, he only does loud moments). As in, what do they do when they don't think the camera's on them?
Leia is writing letters, but quietly reveals the burden she's been carrying since The Empire Strikes Back I think. Luke is even more fascinating; he's working to become a Jedi Master. What's the difference? Well, he's starting to see things like Kenobi and Yoda did, in that it's no longer about HIS quest (he's already completed that), but to help others with THEIRS. He's deliberately stepping back from being the Hero to become the Hero Maker, and that transition is very interesting. There's so much more to Luke to share, but I'm going to stop myself here as I'm afraid I'll go on and on.
IMHO the Shattered Empire, which is only 4 issues, is well worth getting...perhaps the only decent comic from Marvel all year (as the actual Marvel Secret Wars crossover has been truly horrendous). It explains away a lot of the fan speculations, but continues the dialogue with better questions. The series assumes you've seen all the Star Wars films, but you don't have to be a superfan to enjoy them. There are a lot of subtle details, but you don't need to keep Wookiepedia open or anything like that. If you're just slightly curious, see if you can pick up the last issue, Issue 4, in your local corner store.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGbxmsDFVnEIn parallel, I had been reading Marvel Comics' prequel to the film, Shattered Empire, including its last issue just released yesterday. I'm now sharing points of interest that may relate to the upcoming film(s). This information is canon (as opposed to "Legends", where previous Expanded Universe materials now treated as non-canon).
These aren't spoilers for the film. They're setting up the film.
With so much rampant speculation, I'm sharing some confirmed information that may relate better to the film, considering this comic is a calculated tie-in by Disney, now that they own both Marvel and Lucasarts. I'm also avoiding a plot-point-by-plot-point summary in case you want to pick up Shattered Empire. It's a really fun read.
Highlights from Episode 6.5: Shattered Empire
An Alliance pilot is about to retire after helping defeat the Empire in the Battle of Endor. However, because she has the (mis)fortune of crossing paths with Luke/Leia/Solo (mostly because she may have been the only sober/available pilot at the time), she goes on adventures where she unknowingly sees the clues that lead up to The Force Awakens.
The following is what she discovers with them in the months after Endor.
The Empire is defeated, but its armies and territories are vast, and there are holdouts that won't surrender because they want to fight to the last Storm Trooper, because they are in denial...or they actually believe news of the Emperor's death is false propaganda from Rebel terrorists. There's sporadic warfare for months/decades to come.
In fact, for a fallen empire, the Empire is transmitting a lot of information after its defeat. There's too much data for simple orders to "stand down/surrender". They're like complex plans for a new Operation from the Emperor, who is of course a master schemer whose machinations may take years to unfold, even though he's now dead (...or is he?)
Luke/Leia/Solo begin their new career paths during this time.
Solo seems to be in charge of military operations to take out the remnants alongside Chewbacca. He personally leads a squad of commandos, apparently using his smuggling savvy for covert operations. He also insists on calling C3PO "Goldenrod" from now on.
Codename: Goldenrod actually turns out to be pretty useful in the most unpredictable manner...like always. As a protocol droid for diplomacy, he is programmed to be good at figuring out new languages, which includes deciphering the encrypted messages the Imperial remnants are transmitting.
Leia, being a former Senator, becomes an ambassador to unite the Empire's former planets to reform a new Republic...kind of like Hilary Clinton. Leia also does something interesting. Walking into a jet hangar on her 1st diplomatic mission, she senses a presence, very strongly suggesting she really IS Force-sensitive after all.
Luke is mysterious, maybe taking a page from Yoda's and Obi-Wan's playbook. Whereas Solo and Leia are clearly coordinating with the rest of the New Republic...Luke likes his secrecy, doing his own thing. His own thing seems to be restoring the Jedi quietly, like sneaking into an Imperial holdout base to enter a secret lab for something that held significance to Force users that even the Imperial commander there can't understand. As he's the last living Force user and he likes to operate in shadows, it's no surprise the Dark Side, the Jedi, would become mere "stories".
The above events were seen from the perspective of the Rebel pilot mentioned at the start.
Her whole thing was she's "2 weeks away from retirement". Her husband was part of Solo's commandos, so she volunteered to fly with Solo. Her flight commander gave her a safe, cushy gig, so she got assigned to Leia's diplomatic transport. Then she was basically waiting out her tour of duty when Luke needed someone for his secret mission. All this JUST happened before she's supposed to give up being a Rebel pilot.
Was it just coincidence? Or does the Force move in mysterious ways?
Luke seems to suspect something, but never says anything explicitly, and he simply asks her what's up. Though clearly dedicated to the Alliance, she has another obligation: she has a baby son that she hasn't seen since the Battle for Endor. Luke seems to understand, even more than she does, and goes so far as to give her part of the priceless Force-related objects they just liberated to take home.
For that son will grow to be a major character in the upcoming films.
His name is Poe Dameron. It's actually hinted at from the start of the comic, that her husband was Sgt. Dameron of Solo's Pathfinders. Like his mother, he's a skilled pilot, and you catch a glimpse of him in the trailer at about 1:30 patting our new Jedi on the shoulder:
When the Force is calling to you, just let it in.
-----
I have avoided any important spoilers in case you want to read the comic. The only thing may be how Poe Dameron is the Shattered Empire's protagonist's son, but that clue is dangled in your face from Issue 1. Or maybe how Codename: Goldenrod is awesome (but you've always known that).
The best part of Shattered Empire, of course, seeing the trajectory Luke/Leia/Solo take from Episode VI, so you can see where they end up in Episode VII. I had many moments where I felt, "It's interesting they'd do that...but of course they would," because their characterisation remains true to the films.
The pleasant surprise, however, is what Luke/Leia/Solo reveal in their quiet moments (well, Han doesn't have those, he only does loud moments). As in, what do they do when they don't think the camera's on them?
Leia is writing letters, but quietly reveals the burden she's been carrying since The Empire Strikes Back I think. Luke is even more fascinating; he's working to become a Jedi Master. What's the difference? Well, he's starting to see things like Kenobi and Yoda did, in that it's no longer about HIS quest (he's already completed that), but to help others with THEIRS. He's deliberately stepping back from being the Hero to become the Hero Maker, and that transition is very interesting. There's so much more to Luke to share, but I'm going to stop myself here as I'm afraid I'll go on and on.
IMHO the Shattered Empire, which is only 4 issues, is well worth getting...perhaps the only decent comic from Marvel all year (as the actual Marvel Secret Wars crossover has been truly horrendous). It explains away a lot of the fan speculations, but continues the dialogue with better questions. The series assumes you've seen all the Star Wars films, but you don't have to be a superfan to enjoy them. There are a lot of subtle details, but you don't need to keep Wookiepedia open or anything like that. If you're just slightly curious, see if you can pick up the last issue, Issue 4, in your local corner store.
0
Comments
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
And if it was a joke, I don't see it.
I stopped reading at that point.
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!