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Random Thoughts from a Star Wars Nerd: What's Old is New
2 years ago
I haven't made a journal in years and I'm not sure why I decided to do it now. Out of the blue I thought it would be fun to type up my thoughts, opinions, and ideas on stuff I'm a fan of. Plus, it's a good exercise for me to practice getting ideas that are on my mind out into a a more concise and organized format. That's got to be good for something, right? I don't how many of these I'll make and I don't expect anyone to actually read them. I'm doing this more for me than anything else.
That said, don't expect angry rants here. It's easy to talk about things to dislike and be angry about and there's more than enough people across the internet who make it their job to do just that. I'd much rather focus on talking about things I enjoy or just general thoughts. There's definitely a need for more positive content out there. I'm not looking to change people's minds on anything, just to ramble about whatever has popped into my head.
Anyways, on to the topic of this journal. Expect a rambling deluge of nerd talk from here on.
One of the things I've really liked seeing over the years since the Disney takeover of Star Wars is the reintroduction and reinterpretation of many of the most popular Legends characters and stories into the current canon of Star Wars. For those that don't know, every book, comic, and storyline that wasn't the movies or Clone Wars TV show was relegated to a secondary "Legends" canon when Disney took over the franchise in 2012, and all future content released would be part of the new canon of Star Wars. As big of a Star Wars nerd and fan that I am I haven't seen or read every book and comic out there and probably never will. But I'd always hear about the most popular ones. Now with the Disney-canon, I've found it really cool and fun seeing how they bring those older stories and characters back in and how they fit into the new canon.
I'll talk about a few of the most interesting ones to me, but be aware of potential spoilers ahead.
The Sequel Trilogy/The Dark Empire
I don't know if reinterpreting The Dark Empire storyline from the comics was the original intent of the Sequel Trilogy when they started out. There's been so many rumors, reports, and stories of what the plan was for those movies or if there had been a true plan from the beginning that it's all pretty chaotic. Ultimately it doesn't really matter to me. I just think it's cool to see a modern take on that story since it had a lot of cool elements in Legends.
In the Dark Empire comics, Palpatine returns from the dead in a clone body many years after the battle of Endor. He secretly builds up a massive military force at a planet hidden from the rest of the galaxy while letting remnants of the Empire keep the New Republic busy. He then unleashes his military might upon a weakened galaxy, including the Eclipse-class dreadnought equipped with a superlaser and a space station (called the Galaxy Gun) that could fire across the galaxy to destroy a planet. He also managed to turn Luke to the dark side for a time. In the end he's defeated by the classic group of heroes and peace returns to the galaxy.
Does some of that sound familiar?
It wasn't until Rise of Skywalker that it became clear where inspiration for the overarching story line may have come from. Instead of Imperial Remnants/Dark Empire we had First Order/Final Order. Instead of the Galaxy Gun there was Starkiller Base. Xyston-class Star Destoryers instead of World Devastators, Resistance instead of New Republic, and Ben Solo/Kylo Ren turning to the dark side instead of Luke Skywalker. I'm sure there are a couple more examples but that's enough comparisons that I personally consider The Sequel Trilogy the new version of the Dark Empire, even if it's overall storytelling ended up being rather choppy between movies.
The Mandalorian/The Dark Trooper Project
While The Mandalorian's main plotline is definitely its own thing, season 2 took one of the coolest elements of the old Dark Forces video game and added it back into canon. Dark Troopers made their first, and main, appearance back in 1995. Since then, they've appeared in only a few other games since but never made any kind of on-screen appearance, yet the concept and look of those cool Imperial war droids made a lasting impression. Fast forward to 2020 and we finally get to see new canon's version of the Dark Troopers on screen and they were awesome. However, instead of them being a major project that the Rebellion had to put a stop to (while also introducing Kyle Kataran, a character that has yet to be reintroduced in some way), these Dark Troopers were just the pet project of an Imperial Remnant force. They don't ultimately play a huge role other than being a threat at the end of season 2 of the show, and are never seen again, but that's really all they needed.
Ahsoka TV Series/Heir to the Empire
This is probably the most obvious comparison and reinterpretation. Heir to the Empire was the first of what's considered the "Thrawn Trilogy" of books, which were also (from what I remember) the first storylines made for Star Wars that took place after Return of the Jedi. In it, the last Grand Admiral of the Empire returns to the galaxy and attempts to bring the Empire back into power, nearly succeeding before being defeated in the end. The character of Thrawn was brought back into Disney canon during the Rebels TV show back in 2016. While slight changes were made to his origin he's essentially the exact same character from the old books. Now in 2023, the Ahsoka TV show goes through the motions of bringing Thrawn back to the galaxy. Season 1 of the show is pretty much setup for the larger story I assume is coming, but I'm excited to see the Thrawn Trilogy done in the new era, with new characters standing in for ones from the books, like our new cast of heroes (Ahsoka, Sabine, Ezra, Din Djarin, and others) up against the bad guys instead of our classic heroes (Luke, Leia, Han, Lando), or the Nightsisters standing in for the dark Jedi that helped Thrawn in the books. I really enjoyed the show and I can't wait to see the story unfold.
That said, don't expect angry rants here. It's easy to talk about things to dislike and be angry about and there's more than enough people across the internet who make it their job to do just that. I'd much rather focus on talking about things I enjoy or just general thoughts. There's definitely a need for more positive content out there. I'm not looking to change people's minds on anything, just to ramble about whatever has popped into my head.
Anyways, on to the topic of this journal. Expect a rambling deluge of nerd talk from here on.
One of the things I've really liked seeing over the years since the Disney takeover of Star Wars is the reintroduction and reinterpretation of many of the most popular Legends characters and stories into the current canon of Star Wars. For those that don't know, every book, comic, and storyline that wasn't the movies or Clone Wars TV show was relegated to a secondary "Legends" canon when Disney took over the franchise in 2012, and all future content released would be part of the new canon of Star Wars. As big of a Star Wars nerd and fan that I am I haven't seen or read every book and comic out there and probably never will. But I'd always hear about the most popular ones. Now with the Disney-canon, I've found it really cool and fun seeing how they bring those older stories and characters back in and how they fit into the new canon.
I'll talk about a few of the most interesting ones to me, but be aware of potential spoilers ahead.
The Sequel Trilogy/The Dark Empire
I don't know if reinterpreting The Dark Empire storyline from the comics was the original intent of the Sequel Trilogy when they started out. There's been so many rumors, reports, and stories of what the plan was for those movies or if there had been a true plan from the beginning that it's all pretty chaotic. Ultimately it doesn't really matter to me. I just think it's cool to see a modern take on that story since it had a lot of cool elements in Legends.
In the Dark Empire comics, Palpatine returns from the dead in a clone body many years after the battle of Endor. He secretly builds up a massive military force at a planet hidden from the rest of the galaxy while letting remnants of the Empire keep the New Republic busy. He then unleashes his military might upon a weakened galaxy, including the Eclipse-class dreadnought equipped with a superlaser and a space station (called the Galaxy Gun) that could fire across the galaxy to destroy a planet. He also managed to turn Luke to the dark side for a time. In the end he's defeated by the classic group of heroes and peace returns to the galaxy.
Does some of that sound familiar?
It wasn't until Rise of Skywalker that it became clear where inspiration for the overarching story line may have come from. Instead of Imperial Remnants/Dark Empire we had First Order/Final Order. Instead of the Galaxy Gun there was Starkiller Base. Xyston-class Star Destoryers instead of World Devastators, Resistance instead of New Republic, and Ben Solo/Kylo Ren turning to the dark side instead of Luke Skywalker. I'm sure there are a couple more examples but that's enough comparisons that I personally consider The Sequel Trilogy the new version of the Dark Empire, even if it's overall storytelling ended up being rather choppy between movies.
The Mandalorian/The Dark Trooper Project
While The Mandalorian's main plotline is definitely its own thing, season 2 took one of the coolest elements of the old Dark Forces video game and added it back into canon. Dark Troopers made their first, and main, appearance back in 1995. Since then, they've appeared in only a few other games since but never made any kind of on-screen appearance, yet the concept and look of those cool Imperial war droids made a lasting impression. Fast forward to 2020 and we finally get to see new canon's version of the Dark Troopers on screen and they were awesome. However, instead of them being a major project that the Rebellion had to put a stop to (while also introducing Kyle Kataran, a character that has yet to be reintroduced in some way), these Dark Troopers were just the pet project of an Imperial Remnant force. They don't ultimately play a huge role other than being a threat at the end of season 2 of the show, and are never seen again, but that's really all they needed.
Ahsoka TV Series/Heir to the Empire
This is probably the most obvious comparison and reinterpretation. Heir to the Empire was the first of what's considered the "Thrawn Trilogy" of books, which were also (from what I remember) the first storylines made for Star Wars that took place after Return of the Jedi. In it, the last Grand Admiral of the Empire returns to the galaxy and attempts to bring the Empire back into power, nearly succeeding before being defeated in the end. The character of Thrawn was brought back into Disney canon during the Rebels TV show back in 2016. While slight changes were made to his origin he's essentially the exact same character from the old books. Now in 2023, the Ahsoka TV show goes through the motions of bringing Thrawn back to the galaxy. Season 1 of the show is pretty much setup for the larger story I assume is coming, but I'm excited to see the Thrawn Trilogy done in the new era, with new characters standing in for ones from the books, like our new cast of heroes (Ahsoka, Sabine, Ezra, Din Djarin, and others) up against the bad guys instead of our classic heroes (Luke, Leia, Han, Lando), or the Nightsisters standing in for the dark Jedi that helped Thrawn in the books. I really enjoyed the show and I can't wait to see the story unfold.
