Details on new "Heir to The Empire" anniversary edition

[SD70ACe]

Wow, two decades already?! Someone get me my walker.

Anyway, I hope nothing gets rewritten in order to better fit with later material. This trilogy should stand alone and untouched; it was perfect the first time, and editing will only cheapen it.

 

[Admiral_Young]

^ It doesn't sound like it will get rewritten...I think that would have been announced in the article.

 

[Set Harth]

They could always rewrite any erroneous Clone Wars timeline references and leave everything else intact.

 

[Owain Taggart]

They could always rewrite any erroneous Clone Wars timeline references and leave everything else intact.

Well, here's the thing. It wasn't erroneous when it was first written, until Lucas went and did the prequels. In fact, like I said earlier, I don't see them as erroneous at all. I see them as details from a different viewpoint.

 

[Set Harth]

It wasn't erroneous when it was first written, until Lucas went and did the prequels.

There's a mistake in Dark Force Rising which was essentially a mistake even before the prequels, because it had dark side Vader running around before Luke's conception.

 

[Skywalker]

I don't think they'll "Special Edition" the Thrawn trilogy, more likely there'll just be annotations explaining the discrepancies and Zahn's view of the Clone Wars at the time.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

It wasn't erroneous when it was first written, until Lucas went and did the prequels.

There's a mistake in Dark Force Rising which was essentially a mistake even before the prequels, because it had dark side Vader running around before Luke's conception.

That wasn't a mistake at the time. The original movies don't state one way or the other when Luke and Leia were conceived in relation to Anakin turning to the Dark Side. It's a completely legitimate interpretation of the original films that after Obi-Wan and Anakin fought together in the Clone Wars, Anakin turned to the Dark Side of the Force and became Darth Vader, he met the mother of his children and conceived children with her, then had a climactic battle with Obi-Wan that left him broken and forced him to become a cyborg to survive.

 

[P0sitr0nic]

Which, technically, is correct, except for when he met Padme. He was Darth Vader before Luke or Leia were born.

 

[milo bloom]

I would love to see that - not that it will happen. It did add a ton of depth to the franchise and frankly was head and shoulders above the actual sequels (prequels) that we got from Lucas.

Yeah, exactly. It's not likely to happen, but if it did, it's not as if the reasons for the Clone War can't be fixed. I actually liked his reasons for it far more than what we got in the prequels, but it could just as easily be explained as a differing point of view from someone who actually participated in them, which again gives it more depth and makes it more interesting, just like different people will have different experiences while serving in the same war. Afterall, it's not as if the Clone War is funneled to one single location. Realistically, you'd have different people experiencing different things in different locations.

I wish instead of this book they were producing a 3 movie DTV animated version of the trilogy. Use the same people/tech producing the Clone Wars series. Make each movie 4-5 episodes long in length.

That was one of the first things I thought of when Clone Wars series came out and did well. I'd also love to see animated movies of Splinter of the Mind's Eye, Shadows of the Empire and the Dark Empire Trilogy.

 

[Bishop76]

Yeah, I don't think there's any need to rewrite any of this. Plus, it fits better into my personal canon which completely ignores the prequels anyway.

 

[CorporalClegg]

I don't blame you for giving up on SW lit, but I still think the Thrawn trilogy is the best of the bunch.

Yeah, same here. In fact, it's the only Star Wars lit I have. I got into an argument with some people over the merit of the Thrawn trilogy when I mentioned somewhere else that I'd like to see them made into movies if Lucas were to decide to make sequels to the original trilogy. Their argument was that it was too sci-fi for Star Wars and not fantasy enough like the rest of the franchise, and that seriously made me raise my eyebrows. But you know what? That's actually why I like them so much. They attempt to give some much needed depth to the franchise by giving a different point of view. And also, they're novels, so what do they expect novels to be without writing about the technology. In the end, it's all bickering over nothing, and it's laughable.

I agree with this. This TT was excellent. Then the whole thing went strait in to the crapper. "As the Galaxy Far Far Away Turns..." Great.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Which, technically, is correct, except for when he met Padme. He was Darth Vader before Luke or Leia were born.

But that's a detail that wasn't specifically stated until the prequels, so technically even that isn't wrong since it was written before any of those details were set in stone.

 

[Admiral_Young]

This is probably what the commentary will address...the changes that were made later after the novels were written. As I said before if there would have been an announcement in the article saying that "corrections" would be included in the new edition.

 

[Admiral Shran]

It wasn't erroneous when it was first written, until Lucas went and did the prequels.

There's a mistake in Dark Force Rising which was essentially a mistake even before the prequels, because it had dark side Vader running around before Luke's conception.

That wasn't a mistake at the time. The original movies don't state one way or the other when Luke and Leia were conceived in relation to Anakin turning to the Dark Side. It's a completely legitimate interpretation of the original films that after Obi-Wan and Anakin fought together in the Clone Wars, Anakin turned to the Dark Side of the Force and became Darth Vader, he met the mother of his children and conceived children with her, then had a climactic battle with Obi-Wan that left him broken and forced him to become a cyborg to survive.

That's the way I always saw it in the pre-prequel days (oh, what good days those were). I always assumed that Vader was ancient, not in his late thirties or early forties at the time of A New Hope. Then again, I never thought Obi-Wan was as young as his mid-fifties either.

It was always my belief that Vader had fathered Luke and Leia long after turning to the dark side, possibly even after he put the suit on.

Yeah, I don't think there's any need to rewrite any of this. Plus, it fits better into my personal canon which completely ignores the prequels anyway.

Great minds think alike.

 

[Admiral_Young]

How would Anakin be able to have sex with the suit on? It's the only thing keeping him alive. We've seen what he looks like with it off, he's totally managed. That being said he could still probably perform if he wanted to but I doubt it.

 

[Admiral Shran]

I guess I always assumed he and his wife did the deed in his bubble mechanism on the Super Star Destroyer where he could take the suit off.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

That wasn't a mistake at the time. The original movies don't state one way or the other when Luke and Leia were conceived in relation to Anakin turning to the Dark Side. It's a completely legitimate interpretation of the original films that after Obi-Wan and Anakin fought together in the Clone Wars, Anakin turned to the Dark Side of the Force and became Darth Vader, he met the mother of his children and conceived children with her, then had a climactic battle with Obi-Wan that left him broken and forced him to become a cyborg to survive.

That's the way I always saw it in the pre-prequel days (oh, what good days those were). I always assumed that Vader was ancient, not in his late thirties or early forties at the time of A New Hope. Then again, I never thought Obi-Wan was as young as his mid-fifties either.

Right there with you, Shran.

The original movies are utterly silent on when the Clone Wars happened. (Indeed, there's only that line or two of dialogue in Star Wars about them.) It wasn't unreasonable to think, before 1999, that the Clone Wars happened forty or fifty years before the events of Star Wars. Well, maybe twenty-five, given the ages of Luke and Leia at the start of the trilogy. The point is, there could easily have been a decade between the Clone Wars and the birth of Luke and Leia. Obi-Wan's climactic battle with Anakin on Mustafar didn't have to happen at the same time as the Clone Wars -- or the birth of the twins.

That's not to say there aren't good reasons for linking them all, as Lucas did in Revenge of the Sith, because there are -- it makes for a cleaner narrative. But I also think it's the least interesting solution to the story. Zahn's ideas were far more imaginative.

I guess I always assumed he and his wife did the deed in his bubble mechanism on the Super Star Destroyer where he could take the suit off.

Also, it's worth remembering that, until Revenge of the Sith (or, arguably, Shadows of the Empire, we didn't know truly how damaged Vader was beneath the suit. Yes, there's Obi-Wan's line in Jedi, "He's more machine than man now," but that doesn't mean that Vader was always like that. Vader's suit was, at least as it was originally conceived, no different than the Stormtrooper suits.

 

[Set Harth]

How would Anakin be able to have sex with the suit on? It's the only thing keeping him alive. We've seen what he looks like with it off, he's totally managed. That being said he could still probably perform if he wanted to but I doubt it.

Exactly. Zahn simply made a mistake. Mistakes in SW books go all the way back to Splinter of the Mind's Eye and Han Solo and the Lost Legacy. The timeline suggested by Zahn, while theoretically and technically possible, does not fit the situation implied by the ROTJ script. Padme procreating with the well-established Sith Vader is unlikely and seems to go against even her OT characterization.

It wasn't unreasonable to think, before 1999, that the Clone Wars happened forty or fifty years before the events of Star Wars.

Wait for it...

Well, maybe twenty-five, given the ages of Luke and Leia at the start of the trilogy.

Which is nineteen, Mark Hamill's actual age at the time notwithstanding.

But I also think it's the least interesting solution to the story.

That's true, in the sense that a car wreck is more interesting than normal traffic.

I always assumed that Vader was ancient, not in his late thirties or early forties at the time of A New Hope.

A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Mistakes in SW books go all the way back to Splinter of the Mind's Eye and Han Solo and the Lost Legacy.

I have a difficult time saying that anything in Splinter is a mistake, given how much of it was based on Lucas' direct input. That Lucas decided to go in a different direction vis a vis the parentage of both Luke and Leia in Empire and Jedi isn't a mistake on Foster's part; Lucas simply changed his mind about certain things.

The timeline suggested by Zahn, while theoretically and technically possible, does not fit the situation implied by the ROTJ script. Padme procreating with the established Sith Vader is unlikely and seems to go against even her OT characterization.

What OT characterization for Padme?

And based on Attack of the Clones and precisely when Padme gets turned on by Anakin, I think it's safe to say that Padme is someone who clearly gets off on evil.

Well, maybe twenty-five, given the ages of Luke and Leia at the start of the trilogy.

Which is nineteen, Mark Hamill's actual age at the time notwithstanding.

I'll take your word for it. I had it in my mind that Luke was supposed to be sixteen at the start of Star Wars.

 

[Bishop76]

What OT characterization for Padme?

Too true - That she was beautiful and sad? That was pretty much it... unless you consider the prequels canon, in which case there was no characterization in the OT because clearly Leia was then talking about Mrs. Organa.

I'll take your word for it. I had it in my mind that Luke was supposed to be sixteen at the start of Star Wars.

I'm pretty sure that 16 or 17 was supposed to be the age of the twins at the beginning of ANH, but who knows what the bloated one thinks now - he probably changed his mind somewhere in the prequel trilogy or the cartoon.