Author: Lisa Schap

When Gone Am I – Kanan and Ezra in the OT

Posted on January 30, 2015by , , , , and Not A Committee

kanan-ezra

“When gone am I, the last of the Jedi will you be” – Yoda, 4 ABY

For all the deftness with which Star Wars Rebels has told its story thus far, one criticism that it can’t quite escape is something that many would say plagued the Expanded Universe more and more as it went on: it’s allowing Jedi to survive in the Dark Times. Pretty much by definition, every single Force-user roaming the galaxy doing good deeds in this time period makes Luke and his training in the original trilogy less unique. To some, it goes even further, stunting Luke’s actual importance at best and making Yoda and Obi-Wan look bad at worst.

But Rebels is still four-plus years out from the OT, and over eight years from the quote at the start of this piece. There’s lots of time left for any number of fates to befall Kanan and Ezra—and Ahsoka’s fate at the conclusion of The Clone Wars demonstrates the folly of assuming we know where any young Jedi’s story is going. That said, Yoda’s declaration, and his and Obi-Wan’s clear hopes for Luke as their one real chance of defeating the Emperor, offer almost as wide a range of interpretations as there are real possibilities. Some fans aren’t even that keen on them being alive in the period we’ve already seen them. Some don’t mind them being around as long as they don’t actually join the Rebellion—Luke should be the only Jedi with that distinction, they’ll say. And some are concerned only with Yoda speaking the truth in the most literal sense possible; Kanan and Ezra can be and do whatever they want as long as they’re dead by the time Luke shows up on Dagobah. Read More

The 2015 Star Wars Holiday Special

Posted on January 2, 2015by , , , and Not A Committee

chewiehouse

Approximately eleven months from now, the holiday season will be back in full swing again. Halls will be decked, mangers will be awayed, bells will be caroled, all that good stuff. But one thing will be different: there will be a new Star Wars movie about to come out. Exactly one week before Christmas, in fact. A holiday release is unprecedented for Star Wars “episodes”, but not for the franchise as a whole: until this year, the terms “Star Wars” and “holiday” have only ever been uttered in the same breath in reference to, well, you know what.

But this is a new era—and if ever there were a time to go there, to revisit the idea of a Holiday Special, now would be it. So let’s join Chewbacca’s family once again as they prepare for their Life Day festivities… Read More

New Depth for Star Wars Villains

Posted on December 12, 2014by Halcyon Days

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Ask any child who has seen Star Wars who their favorite character is and I’d give even odds that they say Darth Vader. I’ve never understood it but this was definitely the case with my niece and nephew. I have also trooped with someone dressed as Darth Vader and it is incredible to see how much the faces of these children light up when the see him standing there. No one else exists when Vader is around. Now ask those same children who their favorite Disney animated character is and I’d bet they pick a good guy. Why is that? What is it about the villain that is Darth Vader that has captivated audiences for over thirty years? What is it about Star Wars in general that has people clamoring over the villains? They don’t have better toys as both sides have lightsabers and awesome spaceships, not to mention the use of the force.

Realistically, I’m not here to answer that question and this opinion piece isn’t here to specifically address it or even focus on Darth Vader. This concept is something that has being bouncing around my head ever since my niece responded “Darth Vader” when I asked who her favorite character was in Star Wars over a year ago. I hadn’t quite figured out how to properly write up a piece concerning this topic until now. That is, until I read Tarkin. I didn’t quite realize what I was missing from the Expanded Universe until about halfway through Tarkin when a throw-a-way line caught my attention more than the entire book had so far. It was a lightbulb moment for sure. The EU had been missing depth in its villains. Even little lines about “flamboyant hats” and “frequenting the opera” give us a tiny insight into a character that otherwise we’d know nothing about. There is the depth to the Star Wars books that has been missing since the NJO. Read More

The Excitement is Back

Posted on October 1, 2014by

The excitement is back. I admit, the down time of not having any new Star Wars books almost made me walk away. As each day passed without having a new book and not knowing what the future was going to hold my brain distanced itself from the Star Wars Universe. Those nagging thoughts that I shouldn’t invest anymore of my money into something that might not matter on the whims of people who don’t get what being a book fan has meant to some people over the last twenty-some years. These last few months have been especially hard. I don’t remember a time when I went on a summer trip and didn’t have a new Star Wars book to accompany me on a plane flight. Anyone paying a lot of attention to this site has also noticed my lack of articles lately. That’s because I almost walked away. Completely. Sure I would’ve gone to see the Star Wars movies when they came out but I was seriously thinking about not reading anymore.

RogueSquadron_cover_artAt the start of all this, when we found out about the reboot I was excited. I get that these things don’t happen overnight but there is some millennial generation in me that wants things instantly and the wait for a new book began to weigh on me. Would I care about the characters anymore? I admit that part of me stayed with the EU because I just couldn’t handle not knowing what was happening to “my people”. Was Corran Horn being treated all right by the authors? Did Wedge Antilles ever get married? Would Gavin Darklighter ever lead Rogue Squadron? I had to know. How could the new universe ever replace the 17 year relationship I had with some of the EU characters. Those characters helped me through high school, college and some dark times in my life. How can I betray them by starting a relationship with new characters while not knowing if they’re going to be grandfathered in to the new universe? Read More