The Clone Wars: 2002-2005 – Looking Back at a Unique Experience

With Episode II: Attack of the Clones released and the much mentioned but little known about Clone Wars begun, the summer of 2002 saw the start of a unique piece of the EU. But in order to recognize just how revolutionary this was, we need to look at what had gone before. Previous bridge stories had been done but only in very limited fashion – The Approaching Storm gave little away of what Episode II would be about, while Splinter of the Mind’s Eye betrays a pre-Empire Strikes Back origin.

No, the best bridge stories up until this point were done retroactively, after the film had come out then there were stories filling in the gaps. Thus for Episode I there are the Darth Maul stories and Cloak of Deception. More significantly, the much praised Classic Star Wars run by the great team of Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson bridged Episodes IV and V, but ran 1982-1984! It could take full advantage of knowing what pieces needed to be set for Episode V to begin! The 1996 Shadows of the Empire project operated on similar grounds.

What Lucasfilm (LFL) seemed to realize is that they had a unique opportunity here, to tell the stories of the Clone Wars, to greatly expand and show the full scale of this vast galactic conflict. A twin track strategy was deployed – Del Rey (DR) would do a series of books, each focusing on particular aspects of the conflict, while Dark Horse Comics (DHC) would spin their own ongoing tale.

Of the two, I would judge DHC to have been the more successful. This is due to the two stories it told – one continued the story of Quinlan Vos, ultimately concluding it post-Episode III, while the other was on Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. The latter was of particular importance given the disastrous portrait that was established by Episode II. The tragedy of Anakin Skywalker only works if the audience has reason to care and want him to do well – in both respects Episode II failed completely for me. Where the film failed, however, the Expanded Universe would succeed.

At the same time what has since come to be known as the Vos epic took the character deep into dark territory as he attempts to do an inside job on Dooku’s operations. This evoked the likes of Dark Empire but it took advantage of the far greater space to spin a deeper tale. It looked far more closely at how a person like Dooku would work, what he would require of his minions and then showed why that was so perilous for a Jedi. In doing this it also drew fully on all manner of EU lore, with the planet Korriban making an appearance and dark-side creatures featuring.

DHC adopted a split focus; their Republic title would do a story of Anakin and Obi-Wan, then one on Vos, then something else, just to add variety – like the story of what happened to ex-Chancellor Valorum. There was one final, additional strand running through the entire set of stories and that was the corrupting effect of the conflict. That it was being used, in part, to kill Jedi but there was more to it. The greater part of the design was to subtly shift the galaxy towards a more martial, more militaristic, more imperial mindset. For instance, one early highpoint saw the Republic using AT-ATs!

DR’s books took more of a scattergun approach: Stover’s Shatterpoint was highly praised – for myself, it took the notion of being as brutally honest as possible about war while still being an entertaining read. In terms of showing the brutality of war, it still only likely scratched the surface but it went far enough to make the point that some pools are not to be dived into! The Cestus Deception was an interesting but not too successful attempt to breathe life into the clones. Jedi Trial was to be the story of how Anakin Skywalker becomes a Jedi Knight, but many saw it as more military manual than story. The Medstar books were a success, but then riffing on M*A*S*H in a SW setting was a great starting point. They were also a neat continuation by stealth of a couple of characters previously established by Michael Reaves.

Following this initial set, there were a few further works done, some bearing the A Novel of the Clone Wars tag, some not. One was Republic Commando: Hard Contact by Karen Traviss, a book that remains her best work by far. More significant still was Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, a tale of Dooku and Yoda with each trying to convert the other to their way of thinking. Alongside Shatterpoint, Dark Rendezvous consistently tops lists for best Clone Wars book. In a way it’s fitting as Shatterpoint was first and Yoda: Dark Rendezvous the last. The next book was a lead-in to Episode III, Labyrinth of Evil and it built further on the continuity the Clone Wars stories had built.

As DR brought their set of stories to a close with an eye on Episode III, so too did DHC. Vos’ infiltration, subsequent corruption and return formed the main spine of the overall tale, which culminated in a major battle on an outer rim planet. These Outer Rim Sieges continued into Episode III and were a major part of Darth Sidious’ plan to spread out and isolate the Jedi, so as to enable their killing to be much easier.

And then, in 2007, it was decided to re-set the Clone Wars, to tell the story again! In doing so, much of what was done here effectively got steam-rollered! But, far more importantly, is what this shows about the corporate mindset. The corporate mind is blind to things being unique, to things being one-off, to things being unrepeatable!

And Clone Wars 2002-2005 was all of this! We got a continuing story from one film to the next across 3 years! The whole time it was new territory, it had this mythic sense of momentum to it, that this would take us all the way into Episode III. While that film did what it could to show Anakin Skywalker’s better aspects, it was still a botch job. The real reason Episode III had an edge to it for me? Because I’d been reading the Clone Wars work, because I had a greatly expanded portrait of the friendship between Anakin and Obi-Wan – watching that fall apart was sad. Equally sad was the sheer blatant artifice of it too.

Reading it was quite, quite superb and it’s not going to happen again, not like that. Part of the fun was the surprise factor, that a project of such ambition was sprung on the fans out of the blue. I’m sure there’ll be attempts to re-engineer this, but like the attempts to re-create a character like Boba Fett, it’ll fail. Why? Because you only get to catch lightning in a bottle rarely. The years since have only emphasized this sense, only increased the sense of having seen something special. At the time it felt like this would be a real one-off and so it has proven.

Episode VII and the Death of Luke Skywalker

259px-LukeSkywalkerNEGTCLet’s face it and bring it out into the open now. History is going to repeat itself and Episode VII is going to bring us the death of Luke Skywalker. Shall we review? In Episode IV we see the death of the Force-using mentor to the protagonist (Ben’s death to Luke as the hero). In Episode I we also have the death of the Force-using mentor to the supposed hero or heroes (Qui-Gon Jinn to Obi-Wan and Anakin as the heroes). This is a classic move that enables the up and coming hero to actually become the hero. In each instance the Force-using mentor died at the hands of a Sith opponent and if you read the roundtable discussion on who we think the antagonists for the ST will be we pretty much agreed that a Star Wars movie is not a Star Wars movie without the clash of the red lightsaber with a variety of different colored lightsabers.

I see no reason why Episode VII won’t follow along the same lines to begin the hard journey for the next set of Jedi. If we toss out the Expanded Universe and for those that do read it we realize that the majority of fans out there are movie fans then Luke Skywalker is the only Force user (technically we’ve never seen Leia use the Force) and it makes the most sense for the mentor death to be him. From a shock value standpoint it would also be the biggest shock to the viewers. I remember how I felt when Obi-Wan Kenobi “died”. Hearing his voice tell Luke to run did little to console me while watching the movie for the first time.

337px-SoloTwins_EGttFIn order for the death of Luke Skywalker to be a viable option for Episode VII the creators need to be ready with a likeable, believable second mentor to fill the hole caused by the death of Luke Skywalker. This would actually be a good fit for several Expanded Universe characters to be included or even a child of Han and Leia (provided that the movies go along with them being together still). Luke was able to keep training because he was told to go to Dagobah where he found Yoda. Anakin was able to train because Obi-Wan Kenobi was there to step into the mentor role. The next generation of Jedi is going to be no different.

They’ll need the freedom to get into their own sorts of trouble and I firmly believe one of the failings of the Expanded Universe in developing new Jedi is that Luke Skywalker is always there looming over the characters and it is difficult to believe, in universe, that the most powerful man in the galaxy wouldn’t go deal with the problem himself. I don’t want to see the OT all over again, I want to see new characters and I believe in order to get that Skywalker has got to go. With the rumored time jump for Episode VII and the previous history of using older adult Jedi in the Clone Wars and the Prequels there needs to be a good reason for Luke to not be the one out saving the galaxy. Mark Hamill himself said he would like to play an “Obi-Wan type of role”. In the EU we make jokes that started with 60 is the new 40 and continued on with 80 is the new 40. I don’t want to see the ST make the same mistakes as the EU and attempt to think this will be believable for the fans. Or even that this is what the fans want. This isn’t what the fans want, right?

What better way for the new antagonists to be taken as a serious threat than to off the Jedi who took down Darth Vader and the Emperor? I am having a hard time believing they are going to be able to create a villain that I will hate as much or more than the Emperor. However, if they had said villain take out Luke that would probably do it for me. I need that. I need to hate the villains in the movies. I love that part about books and movies. I’m pretty sure the reason I still don’t like the Empire is because of the burned bodies of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. 640px-X-wing_SWGTCGStar Wars is violent. Wars bring death and destruction. I expect nothing less from Episode VII.

Disney is excited about the Star Wars franchise and they are already hinting that these movies are going to spawn side movies. They need to have young, intriguing and compelling characters to further the franchise with. We need to move past the Big 3 and I believe this will start with the death of Luke.

Go Figure: Gender Demographics: Common Species

Introduction

The issue of gender representation in science-fiction generally, and in Star Wars specifically, can be a greatly contentious one, with continued debate ongoing. Such debates tend to focus on specific works, characters, or situations, which is all valuable, but it may prove useful to also look at the picture in a very broad sense. Equally useful is to look at the gender breakdowns of certain species within the Star Wars universe, to see if there are different patterns, or how gender representation may vary across that demographic boundary.

The Big Picture

Wookieepedia identifies individuals by gender, which makes this sort of comparison possible. The Category: Individuals_by_Gender page is therefore the start point for this analysis. A current sample [1]Aug 3, 2013 yields 22486 individuals with gender status. They can be broken down by gender as follows:

Table 1: Individuals by Gender (All-species)

Gender

of Individuals

Male

16311

Female

4585

Hermaphrodite

202

Unidentified

1388

Total

22486

These results are extremely clear: the Star Wars universe is unequivocally male-dominated, with a male-to-female ratio of roughly 3.5:1 rather than the 1:1 we would expect in nature. The number of hermaphroditic individuals is extremely small compared to the whole and composed almost entirely of Hutts. The number of individuals of unidentified gender is actually rather small. It is considerably less than the proportion of individuals of unidentified species. I hypothesize that the revelatory power of gendered pronouns in non-visual media is likely responsible for that discrepancy.
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References
1 Aug 3, 2013

Escape Pod: The Bothan Species

Welcome to Escape Pod, a new series here on Eleven-ThirtyEight, wherein a staff member picks one character or element from the Expanded Universe—independent of existing stories featuring said element—that they feel is vital to the Galaxy Far, Far Away and should survive a hypothetical continuity reboot. Rather than focus on the Sequel Trilogy specifically, the goal of Escape Pod is to detail the subject’s inherent value to the Star Wars setting itself.

Bothans occupy an interesting position in Star Wars continuity. Despite dating back to the Original Trilogy, they’re one of the last things the OT added to the galaxy before its completion—and as far as George Lucas is concerned, they never came up again.

As it happens, it’s not even clear from the dialogue in Return of the Jedi that they are in fact an alien species. Speaking for myself, I remain unconvinced to this day that in Lucas’ mind, “Bothan” isn’t just some special GFFA spy title—he certainly had plenty of opportunities to demonstrate otherwise, but between six hours of prequel films and over 100 episodes of The Clone Wars, he never felt the need.

Luckily, the EU has taken the most meager of balls and run very, very far with it.
By sheer coincidence, just this morning I happened to read the first instance of the word “Bothan” outside of RotJ in issue #80 of the Marvel Star Wars comics; alas, once that brief tie-in to RotJ was out of the way it looks like Marvel didn’t have anything to add on the subject either.
Enter Timothy Zahn. In 1991 Heir to the Empire unveiled Borsk Fey’lya, one of the earliest members of the Rebel Alliance, pillar of the New Republic government, and perhaps most interestingly, gigantic douche. Fey’lya added new depth to the “ambiguous bad guy” role invented by Boba Fett by undermining the heroes at every turn—including getting Admiral Ackbar arrested—while simultaneously being a figure of great significance to the Rebel cause and, frankly, not a totally-unreasonable dude.

I think the true genius of Zahn’s interpretation of the Bothan species is that he circumvented one of Star Wars’ hoariest tropes—OT character x has this job, therefore their entire species has that job—while still rationally extrapolating from what little info the films had given us. The Bothans were famous for their Spynet, sure, but that was basically an outgrowth of their true love: politics.

The Bothans rejected the Empire because when your business is politics, tyranny is bad for business. For his part, Borsk Fey’lya wasn’t really a dishonorable being; his actions came from a cultural understanding of chicanery that seems dickish to humans, but at his core he only wanted what was best for Bothan Space, and therefore, the New Republic.

That kind of moral complexity can be hard to find in Star Wars; it’s all over the place if you know where to look, but more often than not it’s well below a surface littered with guys in white hats and black helmets. By their very existence, and complicated status as protagonists, the Bothans are the perfect species to represent the Rebel Alliance in the popular imagination—as an organization that pulls together all sorts of divergent beings and ideologies, and is too often portrayed as only marginally less homogeneous than the Empire. And did I mention they’re crazy-looking horse-dogs?

Which brings me to my next point: the aesthetic value of Bothans. Another all-too-common trope in Star Wars is alien species that look like rejected Ninja Turtles characters—cat people, spider people, killer whale people (okay, that one is kind of awesome), and so on. Bothans are that rare breed (heh) of alien species that feel familiar, or at least plausible, without being a real animal hastily stapled onto an anthropomorphic frame. It’s actually become a bit of a running joke in EU fandom that two different prose descriptions of a Bothan can give rise to two totally different interpretations.

The plus side of this relative inconsistency is that if some seven-figure screenwriter felt like putting Bothans in a movie down the line, they’d have a fair bit of leeway to tweak the design to their tastes; after all, even a slavishly EU-faithful movie Bothan wouldn’t match all the existing imagery.

And speaking of which, my final point is one that even I don’t fully understand: in a galaxy dominated by humans, the Bothans, for whatever reason, have been consistently portrayed as one of the alien species most likely, and most willing (on both sides) to couple with humans. Well, part of that I do understand—one of those aforementioned lazy alien designs that comes up every so often is basically Puck, the half-goat faun character from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Despite Bothans not having horns, well, ever, the EU has retconned a whole half-human, half-Bothan species into existence purely to explain the presence of things like this:

Furthermore, even in the far-less-flighty “modern” era of the films, regular Bothans have been depicted on more than one occasion to be romantically involved with humans. First in Requiem for a Rogue, as a brief fling for Rogue Squadron pilots Hobbie and Janson (movie characters, no less!) that notably comes and goes without anyone in the story so much as raising an eyebrow, then later in the Rogue Squadron novels as the really-quite-poignant relationship between Biggs Darklighter’s cousin Gavin and Bothan agent Asyr Sei’lar. Even better, the star-crossed lovers—literally!—end their relationship due to Bothan prejudice against humans, not the other way around, once again nicely subverting the expected treatment of a human/alien love story.

Only Rogue author Michael Stackpole, I suppose, could say exactly why Bothans have filled this particular role so often (second only, if I don’t miss my guess, to female Twi’leks), but given their distinctively nonhuman appearance, it speaks to a species that’s been integrated with humans longer than anyone can remember; one with a progressive mentality—political considerations notwithstanding—that both makes sense for the GFFA and would be absolutely vital for any 21st-century reimagining of such. For these reasons and more, it is utterly criminal that “higher” canon has avoided the Bothan species for so long, and were they to appear in a rebooted continuity, I’d be hard-pressed to think of anything about them that bears improvement.

Background Details: The Problem with Jedi from Birth

When you get right down to it, these guys are all pretty samey, aren’t they?

In the process of writing about the supporting-character situation of the Expanded Universe, a few thoughts occurred to me about the pernicious effect of prequel-style Jedi characters — specifically, the way that Jedi-from-birth recruitment, and its corresponding tendency to identify Jedi purely as Jedi, limited opportunities to define Jedi as unique characters. Nanci’s excellent article on Tosche Station soon afterward hit that same point as part of a larger critique of the prequelization of the Jedi, so I decided I could let the topic sit briefly before I returned to it. Now, I think, is the time to revisit the topic in depth.

A diverse Jedi Order

Before the prequels established that the Jedi of their time were taken from their families in infancy and trained in seclusion from the galaxy, the Expanded Universe ran with the idea that most Jedi were trained as adults or youths. Furthermore, given Luke’s example as a farmer-turned-freedom-fighter-and-fighter-pilot, the EU did not take the calling to be a Jedi as an exclusive vocation, a full-time occupation for monks dwelling in a Temple away from society.

The result of this was an incredibly diverse Jedi Order. The first Jedi candidates were adults who had escaped identification as Force-sensitive; by necessity this meant that they had already developed identities independent of the Jedi. Corran Horn was a police detective who became a fighter pilot and married a smuggler. Kyle Katarn was a farmboy who signed up to be a stormtrooper, but defected after the Empire killed his father and became a Rebel mercenary and commando. Tionne was an avid historian and musician with an interest in the Jedi. Kam Solusar was an Imperial Dark Jedi redeemed by Luke. Kyp Durron was a child political prisoner put to work as a spice miner. Mara Jade was an Imperial spy and assassin who served the Emperor personally before becoming second-in-command of a smuggling and information-brokering cartel, then a merchant captain. Streen was a hermit who loved birds. Gantoris was a leader of his remote, hardscrabble people. Cray Mingla and Nichos Marr were accomplished scientists and engineers. Dorsk 81 worked a nine-to-five job in a cloning center. Cilghal was an ambassador. Leia was a princess and senator who became a freedom fighter and diplomat, then political leader of the galaxy while raising a family.

An ambassador, a cop, a commando, a fighter pilot, an assassin, and a hunter walk into a Jedi Academy . . .

These Jedi were a collection of people with different skill sets and life experiences. They had families, friends, and lives outside the Jedi Order. This Jedi Order of spies, commandos, scientists, fighter jocks, cops, businesswomen, diplomats, smugglers, and farmers was bursting not only with background detail, but different competencies that informed the characters’ story roles and the personalities they brought to the table. Rather than being defined by their status as Jedi, they had independent existence that ensured they were fully-formed characters.

This continued even with those generations of Jedi who trained as youths. Because they were not separated from their families before they could walk, individuals were still able to develop outside the Jedi Order and gained unique backgrounds. Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin had famous parents and a set of adventures under their belts before they were even old enough to start attending the Academy. Anakin and Jaina shared an aptitude for mechanics, while Jacen preferred animals and jokes. Jaina was a talented pilot who was friends with Zekk — an orphan scavenger who became a Jedi trainee himself. At the Academy, they met Tenel Ka Djo, an outdoorsy princess; Raynar Thul, slightly pompous heir to a merchant house; Lowbacca, Chewbacca’s nephew with his own immediate family who played into the story; Tahiri, raised by a tribe of Sand People; and Lusa, a former Imperial captive who became ensnared by an extremist group before joining the Jedi.

Furthermore, these rounded characters were not required to act identically. Full-time Jedi weren’t required; Jedi could live on their own and hold down different jobs while being Jedi, just as Luke had been a fighter pilot commanding a squadron in the Rebel military at the same time he had become a Jedi Knight. Leia was a Jedi and the president of the New Republic simultaneously. Kyle Katarn learned to be a Jedi, then returned to fighting the Empire in a commando unit. Jaina Solo joined Rogue Squadron during the Yuuzhan Vong War while still serving as Mara’s apprentice. Cilghal became a senator after graduating from the Jedi Praxeum. Keyan Farlander continued serving in the military, rising to become a general. Corran Horn kept flying with Rogue Squadron until he retired, and rejoined the military during the Yuuzhan Vong War. Kyp Durron put together an independent pirate-hunting squadron. Danni Quee continued her scientific endeavors while training with the Jedi. Some Jedi remained single, while others married and started families. Students and teachers lived at the Jedi Academy, but graduate Jedi Knights roamed the galaxy.

The influence of the prequel Jedi

These Jedi, so diverse in lifestyle, background, and characterization, stand in sharp contrast to the Jedi of the prequel model. By having its Jedi trained from birth inside a rigid Jedi Order, the prequel model eliminates so much of this potential diversity. There are no cop Jedi, no fighter jock Jedi, no scientist Jedi, no politician Jedi, no business Jedi. There are no Jedi with families. No Jedi serving in the Senate, in a fighter squadron, in the laboratory. Jedi may train in a few specialties, but this doesn’t replace the experience of being in one of those roles in a Jedi-independent context, surrounded by Forceless colleagues, defining oneself through a career. Instead, all Jedi have the same monotonous background: Jedi raised inside the Jedi Temple by other Jedi raised inside the Jedi Temple, going on Jedi missions with other Jedi who go on Jedi missions. The option for a character like Saba Sebatyne, whose upbringing within Barabel culture has left her with an incredibly distinctive and unique personality, simply isn’t there.

It is not impossible to develop individual characterization in this situation. A sharp writer like John Ostrander can do a great deal to set Jedi characters apart with strong personalities and genuinely unique story roles. But most prequel Jedi, even the better-characterized ones, are not quite as distinctive as Ostrander’s. Qui-Gon is distinct from Obi-Wan in outlook and attitude — but he is not nearly as different as he could be. Given twelve Jedi at once in the form of the Jedi Council, creators did an admirable job of trying to develop some sense of distinction in personality and specialization — but they couldn’t escape the fact that they are stuck doing variations on the same basic template. You could switch out Eeth Koth, Saesee Tiin, Kit Fisto, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Adi Gallia in most stories and not notice any difference at all. The restrictions on storytelling potential are real and significantly limiting.

One of these Jedi Councils is visually diverse. The other is diverse in character.

The prequel Jedi Council of twelve prequel Jedi — one of whom is a little more aggressive than the others, one of whom hasn’t taken an apprentice and is a great pilot, one of whom knows Chancellor Valorum, etc. — is a significant change from the Jedi Council of the New Jedi Order — a married couple consisting of a sweet-natured farmboy fighter pilot and a harsh-but-loving reformed assassin/spy/smuggler, a hard-bitten veteran commando with a history of struggling with the dark side, an intensely practical detective/Starfighter Command colonel married to a smuggler, a reformed Dark Jedi and his musician wife, a bachelor ex-slave miner who committed genocide in a vendetta over his family, a gentle healer with a political background, etc. Mike Cooper will point out that the prequel Council is much more visually diverse, but it is the New Jedi Order Council that is vastly more diverse in character.

This distinction is especially clear in the creation of brand-new Jedi protagonists. Jedi created outside the prequel context during the New Jedi Order still had distinctive characteristics. Kenth Hamner was an ex-fighter pilot and current military liaison, which informed his by-the-book, law-and-order personality and his administrative, diplomatic, and leadership expertise. Saba Sebatyne was raised in Barabel culture, giving her a distinctly alien personality and the mindset of a hunter. Wurth Skidder had no particularly unique background, but was infused with a headstrong, cocky personality and a particular agenda to take the fight to the enemy. Ganner Rhysode was an arrogant, narcissistic Jedi who saw himself as a naturally superior hero before he got his ego under control.

Ben Skywalker’s time in the Galactic Alliance Guard gave him military and police training and time with non-Force-sensitives, helping set him apart from his generic fellow Jedi in characterization and skills.

Post-NJO, when the prequelization of the Jedi took hold? Quick, tell me the difference between Valin Horn, Jysella Horn, Natua Wan, Kolir Hu’lya, Seff Hellin, Doran Tainer, and Thann Mithric? If you answered, “I don’t know,” you’re correct! All are born Jedi who have never done anything other than hang around the Temple and go on Jedi missions, which Troy Denning increasingly further genericized as purely commando strikes and StealthX fighter operations, in which all Jedi are blandly and uniformly competent.

Other prequel-influenced stories like Scourge, Fatal Alliance, Dark Times, Red Harvest, and Crosscurrent have struggled to make their Jedi protagonists stand out as characters. Their creativity seems crippled by adherence to the generic career-Jedi norm. Even the efforts to subvert that norm have been so hemmed in by uniformity as to spawn a new trope — the plucky-but-underpowered young female Jedi trainee who lacks confidence and worries about washing out. See Darsha Assant, Etain Tur-Mukan, and Scout.

In conclusion

The painful truth is that the Jedi-from-birth template, especially as exacerbated by Troy Denning’s tendency to run roughshod over any distinctions in Jedi roles in favor of making them interchangeable commando-pilots, produces cookie-cutter Jedi characters. They have the same life experiences and the same basic outlook. Their options for character definition are restricted by the removal of so many tools for diversification from the author’s toolbox, and the uniformity of the pattern discourages further innovation in all but the most creative authors. The unchecked spread of the Jedi-from-birth prequel model across the timeline and into authors’ heads must stop. It’s time for authors to return to diversity in background and role for Jedi characters. Their characters and stories will be so much richer when they do.