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Shadow (NOT Shadows) of the Empire (Spoilers Acceptable)

That's the end of the discussion right there.
No, it isn't, and you have no right to declare that.

If this were some aspect of fandom you care about, you'd expect that your opinion would be respected, but just because it's something you don't care about (and in your case, I suspect because it is something that I specifically have expressed concern about), you dismiss it out of hand. Hell, honestly, I don't care except that I know that it was pointlessly disrespectful to people who do (and that, completely disregarding that or the EU, it's just a poor choice for the name, story-wise). I would expect *a little* more fellowship among the fandoms in this regard, but I guess I should know better.

At this point, I have literally no idea what you're trying to say.
 
Was never going to happen.
Probably not.
It's like when people say "Why wasn't John Blake named Dick Grayson?"
No, this is worse - at least with the John Blake thing, there was a reason: They intended him being Robin to be something they would do a sneaky reveal with. Too many people would have recognized the name "Dick Grayson". "Ben Solo", on the other hand, could just as easily have been "Bail Solo" or any number of other names, and it wouldn't matter a bit - unless there's some similar reveal coming that relies on that name, but I certainly can't imagine what that would be. And I can imagine a lot. ;)
 
I have read and purchased virtually everything even tangentially connected to the EU. I memorized various arcana, backstories and Decipher CCG cards. I argued about minor characters, helped create esoteric EU costumes for fan events, blah, blah, blah.
When Disney torpedoed the EU, at first I was outraged, but then about 30 seconds later I felt a profound sense of relief. The EU was overwhelmingly complex, and had for the past 10 years or so been actively punching the "fandom" in the collective nuts - churning out an overwhelming amount of vaguely or directly insulting crappy material. The EU had little to no continuity, little to no respect for the intelligence of the "superfan" that would buy all the poodoo, and was in danger of smothering the franchise. Disney saw that and said "Enough." They started over fresh and clean, and although the new "EU" stuff that has been released has varied in quality, it's still a manageable amount.

But the greatest benefit from the EU dump was that the new films DIDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT TRIPPING OVER SOME ARCANE DETAIL that only a few supernerds knew about.

They didn't have to worry about family names, food names, animal names, etc.

It made going to Episode VII a refreshing experience, because I had no idea what was going to happen, I had no idea who was who and what was what. It was awesome!

I salute Disney and the Star Wars team for starting over, and for using a great name like Ben for Hipster Darth Kylo.

They are doing all the right things in my book, and I trust that they will continue to do so.
 
When Disney torpedoed the EU, at first I was outraged, but then about 30 seconds later I felt a profound sense of relief.

I agree. I was initially peeved that I'd be losing (although not really since the books/comics are still available to buy!) the EU, but in terms of post-RotJ, the last thing I really enjoyed was the New Jedi Order (not perfect, but daring and original). The books since then have been fairly terrible with a few exceptions.

I am still sad that there's no KOTOR, but I suspect that, or at least parts of it, will end up back in canon. Then again, canon or not, I can always play the game so it's not some huge loss.
 
I just have friends who are superfans, and I know how much of their time, money, and lives they have put into it, and regardless of how any of us might feel about whether or not that's a worthwhile thing for them to do, I would hope we can feel bad for them when their efforts have been not just negated, but actually slapped in the face.

Which naming Kylo Ren "Ben Solo" did, in my opinion. If Abrams was ignorant of that fact because he only watched the movies, fine, but he should have had someone around who could tell him that that was actually going to anger a portion of the fandom, for no real good reason
You can't be serious.
I can be, and I am. From the perspective of Disney, alienating the fandom for *no REAL* creative reason could have an unnecessary potential negative effect on their investment. And I mean, c'mon - one would have thought there would be someone involved in making *the new Star Wars movie* that would have known that, whether Abrams intentionally sought out an EU expert or not!
Doesn't look like it did. So they must have made the right call.

What name do you think Han knew him as? Probably "Ben".
What, you mean for the few hours he knew him before he got struck down by Vader? Or for the years after when pretty much *everyone* except Luke who talked about the sacrifice he made - including Han's wife - would have called him "Obi-Wan"? I'm sure a case could be made for the name if someone tried really hard, but it's needless, when using "Bail" or even "Anakin" would have had much more straight-forward reasoning, and they *could* have actually thrown a bone to the EU people and gotten *positive* response from it if they had called him "Jacen".
I think "Ben" would be the name they used. That's what Luke called him and I think everyone would follow his lead. Luke knew him as Ben. Han knew him as Ben. Leia didn't know him, he was just a name in her Dad's Rolodex. She might want to honor the man who was instrumental in her meeting her husband though.

In the real world, "Ben" is going to resonate more with the audience than "Bail" or "Anakin". And definitely more than "Jacen".
 
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I the real world, "Ben" is going to resonate more with the audience than "Bail" or "Anakin". And definitely more than "Jacen".

I think Ben would have made more sense if Luke had a son. Han barely knew the guy.

I mean, if Han and Leia wanted to pick a name to honor someone they knew, they should have named him Wicket.
 
I the real world, "Ben" is going to resonate more with the audience than "Bail" or "Anakin". And definitely more than "Jacen".

I think Ben would have made more sense if Luke had a son. Han barely knew the guy.

I mean, if Han and Leia wanted to pick a name to honor someone they knew, they should have named him Wicket.
Luke barely knew the guy too. They met maybe a day before they both met Han. Prior to that "Old Ben Kenobi" was the crazy hermit people talked about from time to time. It's not like Ben popped by the Lars homestead for Sunday dinner once a month.

Still he had a major impact on Luke, Leia and Han's lives.
 
I am still sad that there's no KOTOR, but I suspect that, or at least parts of it, will end up back in canon.

The galaxy map they released that showed the TFA planets also had Rakata Prime/Lehon on it...

Jedi_Master said:
But the greatest benefit from the EU dump was that the new films DIDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT TRIPPING OVER SOME ARCANE DETAIL that only a few supernerds knew about.

It was worth it. It was worth dumping all of it. Just to get rid of Vergere and all her bullshit.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out, honey.
 
This problem with Ben is so crazy I don't even get what the complaint is. I literally have no idea what the problem is about. Not even a suspicion as to what it might be about.

Seriously, what? :wtf:
 
^ Some people think Ben should have been named Jacen... even though this cinematic story has absolutely nothing to do with the written stories that featured the character Jacen Solo.

I gave up on the EU novels a long time ago... probably after "The Crystal Star."

I kept seeing all these myriad books about the new Jedi order, Han and Leia's family and whatnot, and it was all just getting so bloated and hard to keep track of. And besides, I just knew that if they ever did any sequel movies, none of that would count for anything, even thought it was "sort of" canon. And that turned out to be true!

I am still sad that there's no KOTOR, but I suspect that, or at least parts of it, will end up back in canon. Then again, canon or not, I can always play the game so it's not some huge loss.

:shrug: Yeah, I can play the game whenever I feel like it. And the setting thousands and thousands of years in the past doesn't really have any direct bearing on the era of the movies, so in my head I have no problem considering that it sort of "still counts" on some level.

Kor
 
I the real world, "Ben" is going to resonate more with the audience than "Bail" or "Anakin". And definitely more than "Jacen".

I think Ben would have made more sense if Luke had a son. Han barely knew the guy.

I mean, if Han and Leia wanted to pick a name to honor someone they knew, they should have named him Wicket.

Ben sacrificed his life for Luke, Han and Leia. That tends to stick with a person.
 
In the real world, "Ben" actually sounds more like the name of a person than "Bail" or "Anakin."

To me it really did resonate when Han called out Ben's name in that scene at the catwalk, like a real dad calling out to his real son.

Kor
 
^ Some people think Ben should have been named Jacen... even though this cinematic story has absolutely nothing to do with the written stories that featured the character Jacen Solo.
It really isn't so much that he should have been named Jacen - that just would have been nice. It's that he shouldn't have been named Ben.

I understand the points about how cluttered and trashed up the EU became - truly, I do, and I think after how they've gone on about some writer named Karen something-or-other that screwed up the clonetroopers series somehow, I really think my Star Wars fanatic friends do, too. It's just that having this other character show up named Ben is about as weird and jarring as if they had called Finn "Thrawn" or Poe "Mara Jade" - there is almost literally an infinite number of other ways to go with naming the characters, but they had to run over the name of a primary EU character. If that was accidental, well, okay I guess, but it almost seems like it would have had to be intentional, and that's what has them (and me on their behalf) a little steamed - almost like someone wanted to thumb their nose at us nerds.
 
Isn't Jacen basically pronounced like Jason? I am so deaf I probably wouldn't tell the difference – if there's one.

I assume it's pronounced like Jason, but I had a pronunciation for Jorus C'Boath in my head for the last twenty-four years that went out the window when I heard Timothy Zahn pronounce it. I thought it was "SUH-bow-ath," and Zahn says, "say-BO-ath."
 
^ Some people think Ben should have been named Jacen... even though this cinematic story has absolutely nothing to do with the written stories that featured the character Jacen Solo.
It really isn't so much that he should have been named Jacen - that just would have been nice. It's that he shouldn't have been named Ben.

I understand the points about how cluttered and trashed up the EU became - truly, I do, and I think after how they've gone on about some writer named Karen something-or-other that screwed up the clonetroopers series somehow, I really think my Star Wars fanatic friends do, too. It's just that having this other character show up named Ben is about as weird and jarring as if they had called Finn "Thrawn" or Poe "Mara Jade" - there is almost literally an infinite number of other ways to go with naming the characters, but they had to run over the name of a primary EU character. If that was accidental, well, okay I guess, but it almost seems like it would have had to be intentional, and that's what has them (and me on their behalf) a little steamed - almost like someone wanted to thumb their nose at us nerds.
You might want to ease up a bit. You're trying way too hard to be "outraged" on behalf of your friends. :lol:

Ben's a name with history in the SW universe, especially for these characters. Its connection is through the OT, not the EU. Its no more jarring in the context its being used than it would be in the real world. So its not like using Thrawn or Mara Jade, because they have no precedents or connections to Solo-Skywalker-Organa clan. (Or the OT for that matter)
 
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