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 | Returning to the Roots of Star Wars |
 Warning: The following blog is from a user who believes Mace Windu is dead and should be dead, the Jedi shouldn't have "fought back more" against Order 66 troopers, and that Luke truly was the "Last Hope". If you can't tolerate those statements, please move along. 
Blog Summary: I want a return to Star Wars in the Empire era as it was a decade ago, not another Prequel era clone.
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Take a moment to glance at the picture to the right.
Notice anything different about it from most of anything involving Star Wars in the past 5 or 6 years?
Not a lightsaber in sight.
Don't get me wrong here, Jedi and the force are a massive part of Star Wars... But if many Jedi are around after Episode III, Luke as the "Last Hope" and Obi-Wan's "Before the Dark Times... Before the Empire" statement loses focus and effect.
Thus as a card-carrying Original Trilogy fan (but one that still enjoys the Prequels mind you) this has been a blog I've been intending to write since entry 1. Thus it's also the first one to earn a "Favorite Entry" mark since November of last year.
The point here is that George Lucas does indeed seem to dictate the ebb and flow of the Expanded Universe.
Post 1990 we have books in a similar vein to the Original Trilogy, some Jedism, some blasterwork, and some piloting. We even get a whole series devoted to the pilots, X-Wing.
Flash forward 8 years and we get Shadows of the Empire, presumably created with Lucas blessing more so than other EU (I can't find the source, but supposedly he said he would have made a movie like Shadows of the Empire if he had the time back in the 80's). Still in the vein of the OT, perhaps more so due to not a single lightsaber showing up in the videogame adaptation. This was also spurred by the Special Edition releases by Lucas, thus Lucas dictating the EU.
One more year forward and we get the Prequel invasion. One year after that we enter into the multi-year series The New Jedi Order... Focus on Jedi in the films seems to equal a complete focus on Jedi in the novels... Even if they take place decades after the Prequels. Jedi in the highest levels of the Star Wars universe filters down. Even if it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
"Oh no! They can't be felt through the Force! That means our 100 or less Jedi can't fight them at complete efficiency. The Galaxy of Trillions is dooooomed!" *cough*
Now flash forward 6 final years to today. We get a book line announced "Legacy of the Force" likely continuing along the same Jedicentric viewpoint of the New Jedi Order. However we also have simply "Legacy" a comic series announced far outside of the current timeline with a pirate Skywalker as the main character, though from the title we can assume he does at some point pick up his Skywalker Legacy?
Now look ahead another year or so. Star Wars TV, with George Lucas at the helm for the first season. So basically the real question here is this... Will it be set shortly after Episode III with the dozens (sigh) of Jedi that survived Order 66, thus prolonging the Jedicentric viewpoint currently enforced by almost all Star Wars venues, or will he set it closer to Episode IV, with the Jedi extinct, their fire gone out of the universe and a focus on Rebels, smugglers, bounty hunters, and the Galactic Empire?
The Expanded Universe seems to follow Lucas' beck and call, mirroring his attitudes. So I think it's safe to say, depending on what road he follows with Star Wars TV will effect whether Obi-Wan Kenobi costumes sell out in Halloween '07 and onward... Or a return to Han Soloesque characters being what's hot.
Ok so that covers my visions of the future. Now let's cover something many blog writers of today seems to be forgetting (though most of those writers probably haven't read this far anyway. Kudos if you're still reading!), what are my opinions on the possible outcomes? Yes, amazingly clicking on the "Read comments" button down below your blog shouldn't be required reading. Just a... Comments section. The QA section after your speech. This concludes my mini-rant on blogging 
Star Wars continues it's completely Jedi-centric road:
Well I suppose I'll feel the same way I do today.
Star Wars returns to a tale of Galactic Struggle, Rebels vs the oppressive Empire:
*Lights up some fireworks* Woo! 
Seriously now... I'd be thrilled. Jedi aren't special anymore. Everyone and his cousin is a Jedi nowadays. Even if you aren't a Jedi you're in constant danger of becoming one. I want one or two Jedi in Star Wars TV that only use their lightsaber or the Force in extreme circum_stances. I want that to be a special important moment, like it was in the Original Trilogy. I want their to be a real sense of danger in being a Jedi that luckily has been reflected properly in Dark Lord: Rise of Darth Vader, in which several Jedi give up their lightsabers and hide their powers because using them is more dangerous than not. The Jedi in Star Wars TV fighting a Dark Jedi or even letting loose on a bunch of Stormtroopers with his glowstick should be a season finale event, not something that happens in every episode.
I want my TV Jedi to be a normal person most of the time. I don't want my Jedi to be invincible. I don't want my Jedi to be perfect. I don't want my Jedi to pull his saber out anytime there's a strange noise, I want my Jedi to pull a blaster. I want the people around my Jedi (the rebels, smugglers, and common folk) to be a little estranged from him or her due to his belief in that crazy religion that Imperial propaganda says helped try to destroy the Republic and even now threatens the stability of the Grand Empire.
In short. I want somebody like Luke in Episode IV and V. A Jedi without all the grandeur and flashiness. I want a flawed Jedi. Who's hardly a Jedi as we know them in the Prequels at all. I want character focus on one or two of them, not another Jedi Order's worth with no character depth (Sorry all you Kit Fisto fans)
I want Rebels who aim to misbehave
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◄ Rive Caedo►
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http://blogs.starwars.com/rive/85 |
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jediknight2210
Where did you dig up that old fossil?
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date Posted: Feb 13, 2006 7:33 PM
Hello Rive, long time no see.
I would really like to think Lucas would make the Jedi as you envision them. The few who survive will have to adapt; they will have to completly revamp thier lives to survive as "criminals" to the newly founded empire.
I have not read Dark Lord yet but I would have to think the "stragglers" will have greatly altered thier lives to get along in the galaxy.
Also Lucas will most certainly change things up since he already has: No big characters from the Saga which means a completly diffrent POV in this TV series.
Continues...
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jediknight2210
Where did you dig up that old fossil?
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date Posted: Feb 13, 2006 7:33 PM
Another question is how many will have survived Order 66. Since Obi-wan altered the code, warning Jedi to stay away, how many will be roaming the galaxy in search of a safe haven? Are we going to see only a handful of Jedi together, or a few simultaneos(sp?) plot-lines with the Jedi ignorant to each others existance?
Hm I have enjoyed this along......I'm here to stay. Though I hope I have not managed to humiliate myself with my somewhat rusty SW mindset....
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Rive Caedo
Rive's Uncharted Settlements
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date Posted: Feb 13, 2006 7:55 PM
Woah, Andy! What a blast from um... Octoberish! Great to see you back from what I can only assume to be the outer rim?
Hm... If you start writing again I'll probably have to make space on my crowded blog roll for you again.
I hadn't considered multiple plot lines running at once... I figured it'd follow the Star Wars formula of one group of people who split into different objectives. (Luke on Dagobah, rest on Bespin), (Luke on Death Star II, Lando fighting Death Star II, Rest on Endor) etc.
It's still an interesting possiblity though that's a nice middle ground I suppose
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Son of a Bith
The Cantina Corner
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date Posted: Feb 13, 2006 8:55 PM
I think there will be some Jedi, but they will be killed. I assume (assumptions are dangerous in SW) that there that over the 19 year "Dark Times" period there will be many post-Order 66 Jedi whose numbers dwindle via Vader & Co. the closer the timeline gets to A New Hope.
McCallum said the show will be "gritty." Me likes the sound of that! Maybe the writers might even sneak in some commentary about current real-life current events and politics. That is just me though. I'm sure it will annoy some people. (who lean more towards the Right...) 
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Rive Caedo
Rive's Uncharted Settlements
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date Posted: Feb 13, 2006 9:09 PM
I think there will be some Jedi, but they will be killed.
That's good too, but they better do it quickly before people fall in love with their coolness and they have to make them live *cough*macewindu and quilanvos*cough*
McCallum said the show will be "gritty." Me likes the sound of that!
Yeah I wasn't sure I liked that... Until I saw the new Battlestar Galactica...
And now I know I'll like it
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jediknight2210
Where did you dig up that old fossil?
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date Posted: Feb 13, 2006 9:11 PM
Yeah I was definatly on the outer rim. Much has changed about me.
Yeah I guess your right about that SW formula...see I am rusty! 
It would be cool to see Lucas try something new though.
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macewindu882
Don't Go All Chewie On Me!
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date Posted: Feb 13, 2006 9:14 PM
Very interesting blog. Woah, welcome back jediknight2210!
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Son of a Bith
The Cantina Corner
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date Posted: Feb 13, 2006 10:56 PM
I haven't seen the new BG. I've heard that it takes some major liberties as far as making connections to real life struggles. (Religious zealots, "good guys" using torture, etc.) I should check it out.I am not going to touch the old BG though. Shameless rip off of both SW and ST.
That's good too, but they better do it quickly before people fall in love with their coolness and they have to make them live **cough macewindu and quinlanvos cough**
** cough bobafett darthmaul palpatine durge asajjventress cough**hack**spit**weeze**snort**sneeze**sniffle**whipe nose**
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Mando Crusader
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date Posted: Feb 14, 2006 3:07 AM
Look what happened to Kyle Katarn.He was going along minding his own business, blowing ships up and shooting bad guys with his good 'ole Bryar pistol. And then, whaddya know? He's suddenly a Jedi!!!
Same thing happened to Corran Horn and Keyan Farlander. Famous pilots who happen to be a Jedi.
Of course this was in a game/ novels and needed to be done for gameplay/ character building reasons. But I would be worried if the TV series followed the same lines.
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Mando Crusader
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date Posted: Feb 14, 2006 3:12 AM
The problem with having a Jedi would be that every time they got into a sticky situation, I'd think: " Awww, he's a Jedi a flick of the wrist and he's outta this." I don't want that to happen. I want there to be a sense of danger, of vulnerability in the characters. Otherwise by the time it gets to DVD (or whatever we'll have by then) I expect many people would stick it in, skip out half the program, get to the bit where 'the Jedi has that cool fight scene against 50 assasins' (or whatever), before moving on to the fight scene of the next episode.
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Darth Rex0
So be it....
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date Posted: Feb 14, 2006 6:21 AM
Rive these are some great points. I've always said the thing that was missing from the prequel era was a Han Solo type that said "I'm breaking the rules and what are you going to do about it?". After Episode I, I really thought Panaka might evolve into that kind of role in the interest of protecting Padme, but it was not to be. I've said before, I don't want any major charachters in the TV show and I don't want thematic plot points either. I want its own show. Maybe a cameo by a Jedi that for four shows we as the view didn't KNOW he was a Jedi, but in hiding. Or better yet, no Jedi and we can see how the REAL people (you know the ones the rebellion is fighting for?) live and deal with the Empire.
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DarthVicomte
Vicomte's Blog Extravaganza (Now Defunct)
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date Posted: Feb 14, 2006 12:44 PM
Rive, have you been looking around inside my head again? Han Solo, blasters, OT, Firefly?
Keep in mind I still liked Han when Obi was cool.............
McCallum said the show will be "gritty."
That's the thing, SW isn't gritty.
It still miffs me a bit to see people who say they like the PT better than the OT, almost like they don't see what SW is really about --and Evil Empire and Han Solo.
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Rive Caedo
Rive's Uncharted Settlements
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date Posted: Feb 14, 2006 1:58 PM
I expect many people would stick it in, skip out half the program, get to the bit where 'the Jedi has that cool fight scene against 50 assasins before moving on to the fight scene of the next episode.
Yep that's my worry too. They'll forget about character development and just have Jedi fighting the Dark Jedi/Bad Guy of the week. 
Or better yet, no Jedi and we can see how the REAL people (you know the ones the rebellion is fighting for?) live and deal with the Empire.
I think it's a bit of a stretch to just want "real people" living in the Empire... I still want heroes, just not superman
Real people would be people they run into along the way (like say... Lando if he hadn't turned into someone important)
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Rive Caedo
Rive's Uncharted Settlements
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date Posted: Feb 14, 2006 2:00 PM
Rive, have you been looking around inside my head again? Han Solo, blasters, OT, Firefly?
No of course not... On a compeltely unrelated topic re-organize your thoughts on Chewbacca, they're a bit too messy to get around right now.
That's the thing, SW isn't gritty.
I'm not sure how gritty and serious I'd like to see it go... But I do want it to deserve the title "The Dark Times" Obi-Wan gives it.
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DarthVicomte
Vicomte's Blog Extravaganza (Now Defunct)
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date Posted: Feb 14, 2006 2:53 PM
On a compeltely unrelated topic re-organize your thoughts on Chewbacca, they're a bit too messy to get around right now.
You'll find it's very hard to organize Chewbacca thoughts, same with Tazmanian Devil thoughts and Shag carpet thoughts.
The Inara section is also a bit messy, but that's more from overuse than anything else......
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Rive Caedo
Rive's Uncharted Settlements
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date Posted: Feb 14, 2006 2:55 PM
The Inara section is also a bit messy, but that's more from overuse than anything else......
As far as I'm concerned that's your corner of your mind. I'm staying out of that one
Besides, I'm a Kaylee man for the most part.
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Darth Vader
Meditation Chamber
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date Posted: Feb 14, 2006 3:19 PM
It can only be that way or will suck IMO. If the series will be about a minor character, I hope it's not a Jedi. But even if it's not, I'm pretty sure there will be lots of Jedi around. The difference here is that they will be hiding and running away (like in Dark Lord).
If George left the Rebel Alliance creation scenes in ROTS I would have thought the series would be about them. Maybe Mon Mothma and even Bail as guest star.
If it will be set between ROTS and ANH, I would like to see the early rebels rather than bounty hunters. VERY few Jedi and of course one or two cameos from Vader and Sidious.
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Son of a Bith
The Cantina Corner
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date Posted: Feb 14, 2006 4:55 PM
That's the thing. Star Wars isn't gritty.
I know what you mean Vicomte. It isn't gritty in the Quentin Tarantino definition of the word, but under it's own definition. The Empire Strikes Back is gritty, but in the Star Wars sense of the word.
I seriously doubt the show will have CSI-esque gore and Nip/Tick style sexual gratuity.
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jkthunder
Seven Pieces
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date Posted: Feb 14, 2006 5:06 PM
since the main theme of the TV show will allegedly be more about the formation of the rebellion, im thinking that it wont be hells bells jedi centric. id like to see subtle subplots come up sometimes involving jedi in hiding, but would also like to see non-jedi force sensitives struggle with hiding their abilities. sort of remeniscent of witch burning.
and i agree, i hope there will be little or no lightsabers... only on rare occasions. like i said above, the idea is that the jedi are in hiding.
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jkthunder
Seven Pieces
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date Posted: Feb 14, 2006 5:22 PM
not going to touch the old BG though. Shameless rip off of both SW and ST
i hear the mini-movie BG pilot was great (and not just from rive), still havent seen it yet, just a few episodes. still having trouble accepting that starbuck is a GIRL! 
Look what happened to Kyle Katarn.
LOOK at kyle katarn! i didnt even think of that! wonder if he'll find a place in the TV show? he'd have to be pretty young. which leads me to think about the empire. it would be interesting to see equal time in the TV show go into the further building of the empire and the non-clone recruiting process etc..
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Rive Caedo
Rive's Uncharted Settlements
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date Posted: Feb 14, 2006 8:16 PM
i hear the mini-movie BG pilot was great (and not just from rive), still havent seen it yet, just a few episodes. still having trouble accepting that starbuck is a GIRL!
She may be a girl, but she's a cigar smoking, drinking, yelling, cylon blasting girl
Wouldn't it be hard for a Jedi to not feel the force?
Maybe, but they don't have to control it.
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Darth Rex0
So be it....
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date Posted: Feb 15, 2006 5:23 AM
I think it's a bit of a stretch to just want "real people" living in the Empire... I still want heroes, just not superman
Real people would be people they run into along the way (like say... Lando if he hadn't turned into someone important)
I agree, my badly stated point was ordinary people who have to do heroic things to live in the Empire.
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Kenobi-fan
The Jundland Wastes Journal
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date Posted: Feb 15, 2006 10:31 AM
Great Blog! Wow! Exactly!!! Jedi-centric...great word. Star Wars is about civil war, million to one odds, and desperate rescues. It's about 'average' people fighting for what they believe in against an incredible foe using guts as much as weapons to achieve victory. It's about 'pieces of junk' and scrappy droids pulling your butt out of the fire. I fell in love with the Jedi precisely because they were an arcane group at the time of the OT - it was a society of special magic and secret wisdom. It was best like that. As you do, I hope the television speaks to the smugglers and bounty hunters and the silent mutterings of rebellion.
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Master_Kenobi17
Takin Over For Talon
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date Posted: Feb 15, 2006 12:53 PM
Hmm. I think a great season finale would be a minor character, who is unknown to most as a former Jedi, siting at home 'reading the paper with his coffee' when stormtroopers bust the door in and he picks up his lightsaber from its hiding place, looks at the troopers, and ignites it. The show ends, and the commercials stating that the next season will pick up next year arrive.
I want it to be someone who hasnt been dropping clues all along though, like Shephard Book.
Anyway, yeah, I'm kinda Jedid out now, I like the OT backstories, which is probably why I love the 'Tales' books so much. (Jabba's Palace is kind of slow reading, though. Definitely recommend Bounty Hunters and Mos Eisley Cantina).
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Aurin_Starkiller
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date Posted: Feb 15, 2006 6:48 PM
Hello those of you who remember the good old days...
Rive, although I don't agree with you on some of your points, I have to say that your blogs are always well thought-out. Thanks for the read, I enjoyed it.
As for the TV series, I would have to agree with a lot of you. While I still think that the Jedi are awesome, it would be a pleasant change to look more into depth of those characters who cannot look to the Force for the solution of every problem. If I ever get around to writing the Star Wars novels I want to write, you can bet there will be a some of those characters involved. Although there will still be some Jedi-like characters, the Force will always be with us.
God Bless,
May the Force grant you peace of mind...
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Aurin_Starkiller
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date Posted: Feb 15, 2006 6:53 PM
Just a question...
Why are there so many fans out there who don't like some of the characters, like Mace Windu, Boba and Jango Fett, Darth Maul, Palpatine, etc? I find that these characters bring a unique element to the Star Wars saga that has captured many a fan's mind. I know everyone won't like every character, but these guys get a lot of negative vibes thrown their way.
Just a thought, don't burn me for it...
God Bless,
May the Force grant you wisdom...
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Diviner525
In the Flesh
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date Posted: Feb 15, 2006 7:45 PM
Even if you aren't a Jedi you're in constant danger of becoming one.
ha! Great line! And yes, the Prequels have made being a Jedi far too familiar. It would be cool for the tv series to address Jedi as being extremely rare (as in the OT). Very, very few lightsabers and a whole lotta regular folks just plain putting their lives on the line for a growing Rebellion against the Empire.
Perhaps some sub-plots could be: the dread of droids after the Clone Wars, some conspiracies on Alderaan, or the gradual transitions into becoming Stormtroopers.
(cont)
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Diviner525
In the Flesh
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date Posted: Feb 15, 2006 7:51 PM
Rive just so ya know, I check your blog regularly - don't always comment, but I'm reading along.
I usually only have evenings to check out blogs (although I sometimes sneak a peak at work, shhhh), so most times when I show up to a blog, someone has already commented something similar to my response (lol as Kenobi-fan did in the "Didn't Make Front Page" blog). After all, sometimes I feel like I'm joining the conversation after everyone else has left the room. Uhm, kinda like this for example.
Oh well. Anyways, keep up the good bloggery!
D525.
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Darth Rex0
So be it....
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date Posted: Feb 16, 2006 3:29 PM
I feel like I'm joining the conversation after everyone else has left the room.
Not that you will probably ever see this Diviner, but I think your comments are extremely valuable even if you aren't "in the room". Sometimes having the over view of seeing everything comments and all after it happened gives you a chance for a more in depth comment or shed new light someone hasn't thought of because of "comment tangents".
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Rive Caedo
Rive's Uncharted Settlements
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date Posted: Feb 17, 2006 6:23 PM
ha! Great line!
Woo, someone noticed my favorite line in the blog
Rive just so ya know, I check your blog regularly - don't always comment, but I'm reading along.
Good to know! I sort of wish we could view who's viewing/viewed our blog. I'd feel less like I'm shouting in the dark on some of my blogs that don't have much to comment about
After all, sometimes I feel like I'm joining the conversation after everyone else has left the room. Uhm, kinda like this for example.
Thanks to my inbox informing me of comments, I never leave the room. Not for long anyway
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jkelly
There Is No Conflict
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date Posted: Feb 18, 2006 3:17 PM
I would agree with you. I loved the Rebels on Hoth ... ill-equipped and pitifully few, but willing to throw caution to the wind (in a Solo-esque manner) and jump on the legs of an AT-AT in a vain attempt to stop the onward progress. I like the TV show to go in this "A-Team" sort of vein. Hopefully ...
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Rive Caedo
Rive's Uncharted Settlements
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date Posted: Feb 18, 2006 3:35 PM
In 16 BBY a crack commando unit was sent to the cell block for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum-security detention block to the Corellian underground..... Today, still wanted by the Empire, they survive as soldiers of fortune.
If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the Rebellion.
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Diviner525
In the Flesh
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date Posted: Feb 27, 2006 10:17 PM
Ha! Darth Rex0, being the goober that I am, I decided to check back thru some of Rive's older blogs - and I did see your comment.
Anyways, thanks for the nice words. Very cool of you to write that.
D525.
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