Quite literally, the only thing the new canon is good for is visuals. Seeing Palpatine zap a fleet? Nice. Starkiller Base destroys 5 planets? Nice.
Everything else? Worthless
Quite frankly, fanfic authors did more with Star Wars. There's many good fanfilms out there I'd recommend, but the Darth Maul fanfilm stands atop the heap for now.
But nice visuals of what...crap situations. Palpatine zapping a fleet makes no sense, who cares if it looks good. They sure as hell better look good for the amount of money they say they are spending.
Also, I'm sure they could have made nice visuals of a gay sex scene in one of these films as well, but why in the hell would we want to see that. A piece of excrement covered in gold leaf is still a piece of excrement.
But nice visuals of what...crap situations. Palpatine zapping a fleet makes no sense, who cares if it looks good. They sure as hell better look good for the amount of money they say they are spending.
Also, I'm sure they could have made nice visuals of a gay sex scene in one of these films as well, but why in the hell would we want to see that. A piece of excrement covered in gold leaf is still a piece of excrement.
That's the point I was trying to get across. All they can do is look nice. And when compared to the Prequels, not even that nice, since the Prequels combined nice visuals with an OK storyline.
1: Leakfags got btfo. All the major leakfags claimed the new Mandalorian trailer was coming out yesterday and then today (instead of this week) but nothing happened. Now they all have egg on their face. Now they're claiming its tomorrow. If no trailer shows up in the next few days I think we can safely ignore the bullshit rumors about an "Aladdin&Thrawn's Wacky Jungle Adventures" series.
2: Someone leaked Lego's newest exclusive as some sort of tie-in with the nu-Holiday Special.
Its Vader in a Christmas Happy "All-Inclusive Diversity Awareness" Holidays sweater. Also some 40th anniversary of ESB set. Only reason I even bring this pointless crap up is because I'm hoping this leads to Lego sending us another bullshit cease&desist.
3: This is what happens when you don't let editors do their job Disney-Marvel.
>He still wants to buy it
Never change Twitter.
4: @Itchy Bacca compiled the most notable sperging from the #swhateswomen hashtag on Twitter.
5: Kennedy has some gloating important things to say:
[B]Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy on Baby Yoda said:
Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy on Baby Yoda, ‘The Mandalorian’ and the Future of ‘Star Wars’
by Steve Pond | August 21, 2020 @ 10:06 AM
TheWrap Emmy magazine: “There was an opportunity to create a workflow that’s different than what has essentially existed for the last hundred years,” “Mandalorian” executive producer says
A story about “The Mandalorian” drawn from this interview with Kathleen Kennedy first appeared in the Emmy ot List issue of TheWrap’s Emmy magazine.
Kathleen Kennedy, the president of Lucasfilm and a winner of the Oscars’ Irving Thalberg Award, is nominated for an Emmy this year as one of the executive producers of the Disney+ series “The Mandalorian.”
The “Star Wars” spinoff series landed a surprising 15 nominations, putting it in the top five of all programs and making it the only first-year show to be nominated in the Outstanding Drama Series category. (No debuting programs were nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series.) We sat down with the veteran film executive to talk about the future of beloved sci-fi franchise — both on the big and the small screen. Congratulations on all the Emmy nominations for “The Mandalorian.”
Thank you. That was a very nice surprise. I don’t think any of us anticipated that. I have to admit that I expected it to get quite a few nominations, but I didn’t expect the drama-series nomination.
No, that was really nice to see. Really nice. Also Read:Mark Hamill Had a Cameo in 'The Mandalorian' That Nobody Knew About For years, there’s been talk about possible live-action “Star Wars” TV series. Why was this the first one that actually happened?
Well, there’s been no live-action work done in television by us until “Mandalorian.” But when (former Disney CEO) Bob Iger announced that he was moving forward with Disney+, the minute that he did that we jumped on it. And it really came about because I’ve known (“Mandalorian” creator) Jon Favreau and I’ve known of his interest in “Star Wars” for a long time. The thing that I think bonded Jon and I right away is we both had an interest and fascination in technology, and we’d been talking for a while about the fact that there was an opportunity to change things and create a workflow that’s different than what has essentially existed for the last hundred years.
Jon had come off “The Jungle Book” and was segueing into “The Lion King,” and he showed me what he was doing with the tech. It just seemed like a natural progression that when we got this opportunity to move into television, we might approach the show that way. It was a very exciting evolution of conversations that have been going on for a while. Is the series using technology that hasn’t been used in the “Star Wars” world before?
Not entirely, because no technology comes out of nowhere. Obviously, there’s been a lot of work we were doing inside of ILM. All the visual-effects houses and the gaming world has been in ongoing discussions for the last decade, and there have been incremental steps going on in movies and in visual effects work for a while, most of all in gaming. Game engines is where always knew the convergence was going to happen that would allow for this. And Jon was using game-engine technology in the work that he was doing with “The Lion King.” So even though we ended up going with Epic (Games) and using their game engine, he was using a very similar technology. And prior to that, we had been doing some work with LED screens and with laser technology in “Rogue One” and “Solo.”
So it was really the combination of all of those efforts and discussions and talent. Frankly, people are always what drive this. I’ve always loved the approach to this kind of development — even going back to what Bob Zemeckis was doing (on 2009’s “A Christmas Carol”) and what James Cameron was doing (on 2009’s “Avatar”) when Steven (Spielberg) and I did “The Adventures of Tintin.” (2011) We were working near where Bob was working and where Jim was working, and everybody was visiting each other’s sets.
What’s been exciting about this evolution is that we were fortunate enough to walk into (former Disney streaming chief) Kevin Mayer’s office, John and I, and lay out what it was we wanted to do without necessarily knowing exactly how we were going to do it. And between Bob Iger and Kevin Mayer, they were willing to take a risk on us. Because we believed we could take this to the next step, they believed. So it was everybody joining hands and, frankly, jumping off the cliff together. And we were lucky enough to have it all work. Also Read:'The Mandalorian': Yes, Boba Fett Was Briefly in Season 1
You can talk about the advanced technology, but one of the things that appealed to me about “The Mandalorian” is that it has the feel of the original trilogy or even the original “Star Wars” movie. However different the process was, it definitely feels like it’s from that universe.
I agree with you. It’s interesting, isn’t it, that the advanced technology is actually allowing you to feel that way. I think that that’s really true. I think that in an interesting way, it has all the DNA of what George (Lucas) was always interested in. He was trying so hard in pushing technology, but at the heart of it, it was still focused on storytelling and characters, and also a kind of lived-in feeling to everything. Which I think is something certainly (“The Mandalorian” director/executive producer) Dave Filoni understands in all the work that he’s been doing for years inside the company, and something Jon always loved. The technology has never been an attempt to try to move this further into some kind of science-fiction world. It’s still in service to that original feeling. From a storytelling point of view, what were your priorities going into “The Mandalorian?”
Well, the most important decision made by Jon was the decision to focus on the Mandalorians inside the “Star Wars” mythology. The fact that they are in this metal armor meant we didn’t have to deal with everyone being in human form. That was extremely important, because it gave us some flexibility and forgiveness, frankly, in what we were trying to do with the technology. So that was a really important decision, and an idea that Jon had right from the outset. The big question: Was Baby Yoda part of this from the beginning?
Baby Yoda was part of this from the beginning. We didn’t know exactly what Baby Yoda was going to look like, and we didn’t necessarily call him Baby Yoda. But yes, he was a part of this.
I was just talking to Jon yesterday, because we’re in a visual effects review, which we do every week going through shots. And I actually hadn’t realized that the movie “Paper Moon” was a big influence on Jon when he was thinking about this story. That is not necessarily a movie you would immediately go to, but the minute he said it, I was like, “Yeah, of course.” With Baby Yoda as the Tatum O’Neal character? I wouldn’t have picked up on that, either. You must’ve had an inkling that Baby Yoda, or “The Child,” or whatever you were going to call him, was going to be a real attraction.
Well, we did because all of us were attracted to the character as he evolved. And we knew when he was on the set from how everybody was reacting that he would certainly be a popular character. But I don’t think anybody quite anticipated the degree to which he would catch on. That, I have to say, was a bit of a surprise.
We knew enough to keep him secret. (Laughs) But we keep a lot of things secret on “Star Wars.” Also Read:Deborah Chow Tells Cutest Baby Yoda-Werner Herzog Story in Trailer for 'Mandalorian' Docuseries (Video)
At the end of last year, when “The Rise of Skywalker” came out, you said you wanted to take time out to think about where the franchise is going from there. Are you still doing that?
Oh yeah. It’s an ever-evolving process. You know, when I personally came into this, George had already been having conversations with his previous actors, Carrie (Fisher) and Harrison (Ford) and Mark (Hamill) — there was a saga that the fans loved and he never finished. He always talked about doing nine movies and he was ready to complete that. And so our focus had been from the beginning on finishing that saga.
And now we’re stepping back. Stories have been told within this universe over the last 40-odd years, and there’s now the realization that this is a mythology that actually spans about 25,000 years, when you really start to look at all the different stories that have been told, whether it’s in books and games.
We just need the time to step back and really absorb what George has created, and then start to think about where things might go. That’s what we’ve been doing, and we’ve been having a great deal of fun doing it, and meeting with lots of different filmmakers and talent. There’s so many fans out there and so many filmmakers that have been influenced by “Star Wars” for so long that it’s a fantastic opportunity to get a sense of who wants to be a part of this. So that’s what we’ve been doing. Also Read:Why Did George Lucas Do the 'Star Wars' Prequels? Kathleen Kennedy Thinks She Knows the Answer The lines between film and television are obviously blurring now, but do you think that television is very important to the future of the franchise?
I do. And I’ve already seen evidence of it. The ability to be very character-driven, with extended storytelling and connected storytelling, I think this space offers us a great opportunity to do that. There are a record number of women directors nominated for Emmys this year, and three of your eight episodes were directed by women. Is that a priority for you?
It’s absolutely a priority. It’s been very exciting to see the talent that’s come in. And we’re now developing the limited Obi-Wan Kenobi series with Deborah Chow, and she’s just been doing a phenomenal job.
I was actually sad because I love Nia DaCosta, who was just announced to do “Captain Marvel” (the sequel). She’s another director I’ve been watching, and I think she’s enormously talented. Certainly, the kind of television that’s being made now is going to give many people an opportunity to direct more and be more involved with shows that have special effects and extended production values. It really gives people an opportunity to move into big technical movies. That’s exciting. I think we can develop a lot of new talent and it’s about time. You finished the second season of “The Mandalorian” right under the wire before the shutdown, right?
Under the wire? It was literally five days and the country went down. We were enormously lucky, and then we didn’t wait (to finish postproduction). Even though we wondered to what extent people could work remotely, our IT department and ILM had everybody up and running within a week, working from home and continuing to work in the cutting room and on visual effects shots. It was pretty staggering how quickly they got everybody up and running. So we haven’t really lost any time.
Lol this is the first thing that pops up at the bottom of the article. One OT image and two EU images and no sequel shit for the thumbnail of "best stories" in SW, lmao
15 Best Stories Ever Told in the 'Star Wars' Universe (Photos)
There are more “Star Wars” stories than even you can imagine, even if you think you can imagine quite a bit. These are the best ones
With 40 years of movies, TV shows, comics, video games, novels and reference books, you'd be hard-pressed to ever run out of stories to read about the "Star Wars" universe, past and present. It's a big universe out there, and every story told in it is connected to all the others. Big stories are told as many different smaller ones, and small stories are told as chunks of a bigger picture.
These are the best chunks, big or small, in the history of the "Star Wars" universe.
6: After some fuckwit named his daughter "Captain Phasma", a new challenger approaches, this time requesting a million Instagram likes to name his daughter Ahsoka...
What a compassionate father... Picking his child's name based on some e-whoring stunt.
7: Polygon claimed back in May that Temura may really be coming back as Boba. I'm skeptical.
8: Unlike the bullshit not-Katarn Rogue One spinoff show that Disney+ is supposedly making, the Kenobi show or Mandalorian season 3 actually has evidence of making some progress unlike that production limbo garbage.
The train yard set in Southern California that was used for the Mandalorian is being repurposed again and has props and Tatooine-esque set pieces in it again. They removed most of the non-Tatooine pieces from the set.
9: The VR team that's been making shitty games for Disney and designed the Falcon ride at GE unveiled a video detailing more info about GE like a month ago but no one gave a shit and I only heard about it now.
They brag about the planet being filled with aliens despite the park having no alien meet & greets except Chewbacca but the majority of the video is just them showing off their godawful six-eyed OC bartender who I mentioned a few pages back.
10: Meanwhile Ralph McQuarrie's bones are rolling in their grave and his soul twists and turns into horrid shapes.
Part 1 Of My Unfiltered Thoughts on Tempest, Third Book In LOTF
Recline in your armchairs and soak in the mega-sperging, because this is going to be a long one:
Now, this book sees the return of controversial EU contributor, Troy “Twi’leks In Tight Leather” Denning, someone whose work I was somewhat nervous of returning to…not because I share the Internet’s obsessive hate-boner for him, but honestly because I found his previous work on Dark Nest to be somewhat lacking…not horrible, mind you, just something that came off as filler and suffering from things like tonally-deaf humor and unbalanced character utility, all of which I detailed in my post on Dark Nest as a whole. I can happily say that he’s back on form with his work on LOTF, and his writing is back up to the standard in stellar works such as Tatooine Ghost and Star By Star.
First things first, it’s really nice to see Tenal Ka get some usage as a major character—something that both Dark Nest and NJO kind of struggled to do. The only downside is that the cover illustration for this book is kind of fake news, because she’s not really the focus of this story…being more the “McGuffin” than the protagonist. Without regurgitating the entire plot, Denning has the story step back from the mounting tensions between Coruscant and Corellia to focus on a smaller scale, namely the Hapes Consortium and Corellia’s leader Grejjen attempting to remotely stage an onslaught of turmoil within the Hapan Royal Court, eliminating Tenel Ka and her daughter, and successfully yanking Hapes into the Civil War as a Corellian Ally. Now, I’m going to be honest—the particulars of the whole “Hapan Political Conspiracy” Storyline really didn’t do anything for me (which is nothing new, as I’ve never been that into the Hapan storylines of the EU)…in fact, far more interesting are all the narrative threads that spring out of this scheme: the Solo Family is fractured even more when Han and Leia are framed as terrorists making an attempt on Tenel Ka’s life, unleashing Jacen’s increasingly-ruthless methods and disassociation from his family, and making everyone from the Skywalkers to Jaina and Zekk choose sides and constantly re-evaluating their beliefs about Han and Leia’s innocence…increasing hostilities and pointing fingers at each other the entire time.
This feeds into my belief about Troy Denning and his strength as a writer:
for all of his perceived “edgy” impulses regarding violence, sexualization or gag characters, there’s one thing he undeniably excels at: character interactions. Even the weakest parts of Dark Nest showcased that Denning does a fantastic job at writing heated, anger-fueled arguments and bitter family drama, and it’s on full display here with the subject matter lending itself to this strength. Some of the best parts in this book are characters verbally clashing or debating oncoming dilemmas—Luke and Mara’s repeated arguments about what influence Jacen is having on their son, Jacen and Luke’s many tense confrontations aboard the Anakin Solo, the hostile wedge between Ben Skywalker and the Solos where Jaina gets in the way of him arresting her parents…it’s all excellently-written, and done with special attention for the characters involved. Denning is also arguably the best writer of the LOTF Three when it comes to action scenes: the duel between Jacen and Allana’s “assassin” and the two-v-two of Luke vs Lumiya and Mara vs Alema are phenomenally written, and staged with prose that makes the fight scenes easy to follow. There’s also plenty of creative elements in these fights—like the characters using cantina tables and bystanders to affect the duel, or Luke having his cybernetic hand cut off and forced to fight one-handed. It’s the kind of excellent action set-pieces that would feel right at home in Gennedy’s Clone Wars, or some of the cooler fights in the later seasons of TCW. And it’s these combined talents that contribute to how fucking satisfying the ending of this book is. Now, at the time of this writing, I still feel that the grim and eerie cliffhanger from Betrayal is still the best ending of the LOTF books thus far, but Denning’s is still elating: Almost relentlessly, you get the duel with Lumiya, the space battle over Hapes, Jaina and Ben almost fighting each other over the arrest of the Solos, Han and Leia’s departure as fugitives, the publicly-celebrated return of Jacen with Allana rife with cold underlying hostility from his family and friends, everyone from Jaina to Tenel Ka taking sides over Jacen’s actions in a final heated confrontation, and then Jacen’s melancholy departure from his wife. It’s one of only times while reading the EU where I finished a book and found the ending to be so fucking good that I was compelled by the burning need to start on the next book. It was that fantastically-addicting of a read…and continues to make me struggle why people hate Denning’s work so much.
One thing that confused the everliving fuck out of me when I was browsing initial reactions to this book online is the hordes of people complaining about its alleged breaking of continuity. The complaint goes like this: at the end of the preceding book Bloodlines, Jacen is dealt with the revelation that in order to fully undergo the trials of the Sith, he must be willing to sacrifice someone close to him in order to purge himself of any emotional hang-ups that may hinder his greater goal…prompting Jacen to internally panic at the possibility of it being either his wife or daughter. And apparently, people accused Denning of completely dropping the ball on this and not addressing it whatsoever. To those people, all I can ask is this: Did we read the same fucking book? It literally opens with Lumiya and Jacen arguing about whether or not he’s pragmatic enough to do what she’s asking of him, and how it’s still undetermined who that person will be. And Han and Leia are framed for almost assassinating Tenel Ka and Allana, Jacen is furious, believing that they’ve stooped to a new low to enable the Corellian cause…thus prompting him to start hunting them, and being perfectly willing to sacrifice them as traitors. He literally grapples with this throughout the entire book, his Sith test of choosing between loved ones and duty materialized in front of him. Fuck, half of the drama in this book is everyone from Jaina to the Skywalker Parents being shocked and revolted that Jacen would even think his parents are capable of what they’re being accused of, all of them in disbelief that his obsession with duty is overriding what his own instincts should tell him about Han and Leia. People online insist that it’s Tenel Ka, not Jacen’s parents, that should be the object of this conflict, and that’s fucking bullshit. At no point at the end of Bloodlines did Lumiya specify who Jacen would eventually have to sacrifice—in fact, part of his cooperation with her is predicated on her having no knowledge of his personal life, or Tenel Ka’s relationship to him. Now, you wouldn’t think something this obvious would go over the heads of practically everyone reviewing the book at the time of its release, but you, good Kiwis, give the shrieking hordes of the EU Readerbase back in 2006 far too much credit.
In fact, going back to read the vast array of complaints regarding LOTF on places like Jedi Council Forums has really confirmed a suspicion I’ve been harboring during my time with this series; even as far back as NJO, I’ve noticed a massive contingent of the EU Readerbase from back in the day possesses this rabid, obsessive and irrational infatuation with the Bantam Era of Star Wars publishing, and act like everything from NJO onwards was “an unreadable disgrace”….not in terms of quality, mind you, but because of shit like: “REEE, THE SOLO KIDS ARE GETTING TOO MUCH FOCUS”, “REEE, I WANT MORE OF THE OT HEROES!”, or “REEE, THIS IS TOO DARK AND VIOLENT”, or “REEE, STAR WARS IS SUPPOSED TO BE AN OPTIMISTIC FAIRY TALE”…and the strangest one, which came about almost immediately with LOTF, being: “WHY IS LUKE’S FAMILY LIFE NOT AS ROSY AS THE SOLO FAMILY’S, DOES DEL REY HATE LUKE SKYWALKER, REEEEEEEE”. Basically, people who were already extremely bitter about the direction their favorite characters/pairings had undergone since NJO, now combing through the books to find the most microscopic of minutia to bitch and moan about, short of labeling Del Rey as the “unwashed sodomites who ruined the Expanded Universe”. This kind of shit is everywhere on old Star Wars message boards, and the same people shrieking them will go into story arcs like Dark Nest or LOTF, and intentionally make up shit to be mad about that wasn’t anywhere in the book…fabrications like the “Bug Orgy” from Dark Nest and the “random heelturn of Jacen Solo”, none of which are found in their respective books and you can still find being paraded about today. I understand that the transition from the Bantam Era of publishing to the Del Rey one probably wasn’t easy, but if you’re going to fault a story arc you don’t like, you need to cite grievances and problems that actually exist in the writing. I hate the Sequel Travesty movies, but I’m never going to cite problems that don’t exist in their script or woefully incompetent production decisions. This kind of deluded autism of conjuring up non-existent problems to nurse personal butt-hurt reeks eerily of the shit Reylos do today, claiming that the ST promotes abuse and misogyny because their weird gay ship between a Desert Harlot and a Galactic School Shooter didn’t amount to anything.
Now, I’m 100% open to pointing out major problems in the works that I’m reading, just like I did when Alliston let his comedic impulses get in the way in Betrayal, or when I talked extensively about Denning sidelining the new generation in favor of the OT Heroes in Dark Nest. So don’t think that I will be any more lenient when it comes to the current story arc. If major problems in LOTF do materialize, believe me…I will be the first to tell you. And speaking of which…
It took three books, but I found something I actually consider to be a fuck-up in terms of character or plot. It’s a bit of a minor thing, and certainly nothing to warrant LOTF’s cartoonishly-bad reputation in online circles…but I thought it was worth bringing up:
Basically, my issue is this: as I mentioned before, Jacen is struggling with the prospect of his parents being wanted terrorists in the eyes of the GFFA, and he seems bent on their capture when he believes they’re threatening his wife and daughter (something else I heard people clamor was “out-of-character” for Jacen, but considering how divided the Solo/Skywalker families are at this point and how easy it is to see Han and Leia as traitors with the fabricated proof Gejjen has laid out, it makes the most sense why Jacen would prioritize Tenel Ka & Allana over his parents). In addition, Jacen is pulled away from condemning his parents very briefly when he hears Han’s message proving that they’re innocent, and actually listens to his own instincts for the first time in the book, which is also fine. My issue arises when Alema Rar, everyone’s favorite Space Thot, returns and manipulates Jacen into believing his parents are guilty, prompting him to revert to hunting them…until the book ends with Luke & Co. proving Han and Leia’s innocence again, and causing Jacen to regret his actions. My issue with this equation of events has to do with the Alema part. Why, may I ask, is Jacen retarded enough to fall for Alema’s wiles? Why the fuck does he even trust she’s telling the truth? There are readers who routinely question why Lumiya has such an effective sway over Jacen, but I would argue that Lumiya at the very least has done a damn good job presenting her as reasonable and effective as an ally—however untrustworthy she may be in Jacen’s eyes, she’s still a useful source of reliable information. But Alema? You’re telling me that the deranged, half-deformed, insect-obsessed bitch who’s betrayed and tried to kill his parents countless times, that her prodding and manipulating would be in any way successful in getting Jacen to trust her, abandon his newly-regained trust for his parents and relapse back into trying to capture them again? Look, I get what Denning is trying to do: he wants to show Jacen overcompensating to prove to himself that he can protect his loved ones without any hang-ups, as the Sith way demands…leading the conclusion we get at the end of the book. I’m fine with that, but what I wasn’t sold on how he used Alema to get there, at all. It reeked of plot contrivance and purposeful character stupidity to allow this drama to happen. Am I alone in feeling this way? Is there something I might’ve missed? I invite anyone who has read this series to let me know, as this is probably one of the few instances of me encountering something that took me out of the book I was reading (the other being Lord Nyax from Enemy Lines). Again, it’s not a colossal problem…just a minor frustration in an otherwise enjoyable book.
Other things of note:
-A Rare Glimmer Of Relief : Considering how hard this story works to pelt the reader with enough hopeless, gut-wrenching misery to consider premature suicide, one moment in particular provided some much needed hope and levity, as we receive confirmation that Han and Leia, for all of the harshness of their last exchange with Jacen, haven’t completely disowned him as their son, and are holding out a sliver of hope that if they end this war prematurely, they might be able to shake him out of this calculating and merciless phase he’s in by eliminating his need to be either. Even though I know that doesn’t have a shot in hell of happening, it was still reassuring to hear that’s how they still feel about him. It’s strange—I’ve grown so invested in the turbulent bonds and emotional status of these characters that I look forward to updates about them, like they’re actual family of mine. That right there is attachment that could only be earned by this many story arcs, let me tell you.
-Salty Shipper Tears, Even Before Relyo: There’s a reference to everyone’s favorite Swarm War in a chapter opening where Jaina’s in Force Hibernation, and she accidentally dreams that she’s back in the Killik Nest reinforcing her weird-ass bug bond with Zekk, only to realize she’s just in her X-Wing cockpit. It’s supposed to be a comedic moment that doesn’t quite land, but the continuity to the previous story arc is appreciated. What actually made me laugh, however, was another showcase of Jaina essentially telling Zekk to fuck off with his hopeful romantic aspirations detectable through their mind-meld, and then feeling bad afterwards. I’ve noticed this has been a constant recurring aspect of their interactions throughout Dark Nest and LOTF, and the reason I find it so funny is that when checking old EU forums like Force.Net, you have countless threads of shipping wars for JainaXZekk and JainaXJag, with the former having clung to that ship since the fucking 90’s with Young Jedi Knights. Reading every one of these ensuing books must’ve felt like Troy Denning constantly kicking them in the balls, reminding fangirls at every opportunity that Zekk will never end up with Jaina by having her cuck him constantly…only to have Zekk himself spell it out for the audience that they will remain friends, and never amount to lovers. Just thinking about the tidal waves of salt that must’ve caused makes me cackle like a madman.
-Glory Hymn To The Galactic Republic/More Civil War References: As is tradition with LOTF, I’ve spotted yet again more Civil War references littered in the conflict. It’s stated early on that Admiral Ackbar would have never wanted to see his allies divided and warring with another, and there’s even a point where the upstart Corellians are referred to as “the rebels.” So now, all three authors have demonstrated these Civil War parallels—and I’m no longer convinced that it’s any kind of coincidence. And that’s by no means a complaint. There’s also an element that’s very reminiscent of contemporary Civil War fiction and literature. Often, you’ll find books and dramas where the Generals on both North and Southern sides, in spite of their loyalty for their respective causes, will express frustration and disapproval with the major figures leading their causes. You’ll have Southern Generals become increasingly jaded with how Jefferson Davis is inhibiting on individual state rights (viewed as hypocritical considering all the Confederate trumpeting about the evils of unchallengeable governments and pseudo-monarchies), and Northern Generals fed up with the unfeasible tactics of military administrators like McClellan or the unethical behavior of Sherman’s March. We see flashes of that same displeasure in Han Solo, who while adamantly against the Galactic Republic throwing its weight around, is also dead-against Corellia’s attempts to force Hapes into the war by staging an internal coup. He even says the following:
“What choice do we have? Let Grejjen arrange the assassination of Tenel Ka and her four-year-old kid? I don’t want Corellia to win her freedom that way. If she can’t do it without dragging Hapes and the rest of the galaxy into a big civil war, she shouldn’t do it at all.”
-Jacen Remains In Character, Despite Fans Accusing Otherwise: One thing I appreciate in one of Jacen’s routine spats with Lumiya is his unwillingness to turn his cousin Ben into a bent servant, and how in spite of Lumiya’s misgivings, he refuses to make any choices that endanger the wellbeing of his family. Even though it’s blatantly obvious that there’s no hope for Jacen at this point, with his terrible choices, we see that it is all within the realm of his character…and this a good example of that. Him drawing the line of his Dark Side turn at harming his loved ones is 100% in-character, especially given the emotional breakdown he had in NJO, where he thought he was fulfilling his visions and endangering his loved ones by taking part in the war against the Vong. That paranoia for his family was the driving force for his actions then, just as it is now.
-More Homages To NJO: A great scene that stood out to me was when Lumiya was describing hers and Vergere’s process of selecting their ultimate Sith Candidate, how they had considered Kyp Durron, Mara, Jaina, Leia and Luke…before settling on Jacen. I also need to give Denning massive credit for recontextualizing various events from NJO as “trials” for Jacen that Vergere and Lumiya were observing from the shadows; his restraint at Centerpoint Station, his determination against Tsavong Lah, and his captivity under Vergere, just to name a few. The moment where Jacen realizes that his capture on Myrkr wasn’t a coincidence or accident is extremely chilling, especially when he utters:
“Vergere had to destroy what I was before she could turn me into what you [both] needed.”
It heightens the importance of some of my favorite moments from NJO as a story arc, and really cements LOTF as a continuation of those events…an aspect that I felt was really lacking from Dark Nest, which made that story arc feel like filler.
-The Absolute Last Person I Ever Expected To See: Fucking Aurra Sing is in this book – More of Troy Denning’s consistent and welcome efforts to bridge the PT and post-Endor Eras, but it is fucking weird to see people like the OT Heroes, and characters introduced in Bantam Era of Publishing like Jacen Solo interacting with a 2000’s Dark Horse comic character. It’s just something I never thought I’d ever see, considering the disparity between the two.
-Inserting References To LOTF’s Events Before The Thrawn Trilogy (No, I Can’t Believe It Either):
Something else I never fucking saw coming was a reference to Leia’s Force Vision in Tatooine Ghost, one that implies that she unknowingly and inadvertently foresaw Jacen’s Downfall before he was even born. Meaning that if you were to read the EU in chronological order, with Tatooine Ghost sandwiched between Truce of Bakura and Heir To The Empire, you actually have Leia foreseeing the events of LOTF from over thirty years in the future.
That is some mind-blowing, batshit levels of narrative through-lining right there, let me tell you…and certainly a great way to eliminate some of the narrative disparity between the Del Rey era of publishing to the Bantam era, and tie them closer together.
-Something Pablo & The Story Group Would Never Allow Now: I just about pissed myself laughing when Lumiya referred to Alema Rar as a “crazy bugslut.” For writing that insult, I officially forgive Troy Denning for any poor attempts at humor he has or ever will commit to print. But it also is something I’m 100% certain Pablo and the Porg Cult would never allow in a current Star Wars book published today. Having Snap Wexley let out a fart the size of small East Asian Monsoon during his wedding is perfectly fine, though.
-Don’t Fucking Tease Me, Denning: So, anyone with the caffeine and the spare time to read my other ramblings on Dark Nest and LOTF are no doubt familiar with my ever-growing disdain at the story arcs’ consistent neglect of the younger Jedi characters. Thankfully, Tempest was a welcome step in the right direction, with Zekk and especially Tenel Ka given something important to contribute to the narrative for the first time in what feels like ages. Sadly, my girl Tahiri is yet again sidelined and nowhere to be found…until Denning dropped a hint teasing that if Jacen’s attempts with apprenticing Ben as a Sith should fail, he would consider tempting Tahiri to join him. Now, I have no idea how that would play out…but I’m going to say this now: this has a lot of narrative potential. Tahiri has harbored trauma, pain and heartbreak. She has suffered torture at the hands of the Vong, imprinted with and subsequently coming to terms with potentially dangerous Yuuzhan Vong tendencies, and is still ravaged with grief over the loss of the one person she loved. There are so many things that can be done with this as a prospective plot thread I’m already terrified at how the writers may not economize them. In fact, I’m furious thinking about how they’ll probably walk past the narrative goldmine presented to them. So I’ll say this now: You BETTER not be teasing me with this, and you BETTER follow through on it. If this turns out to be a hoax, and nothing of substance is done with one of my favorite EU characters after six books of narrative neglect, or all of her potential is wasted in favor of satisfying Traviss’ Mando Fetish, I will take back every nice thing I said about this story arc. You have ONE job…do this reader a favor and don’t fuck it up.
-Unlike the Sequel Trilogy, It Wasn’t All For Nothing: There’s also a really rewarding moment, something that’s immensely satisfying for fans of the Solo Children like myself. With NJO and LOTF being as dark as they are, with one killing off a Solo Child and the other having one turn dark, one would be forgiven for thinking that Han and Leia having children has only ever led to tragedy and despair…that their reward as aging heroes of the OT was simply to be subjected to tragedy. This might even ring dangerously close to what the ST inadvertently presents with the awful fates it deals to Han and Leia itself. But then, Leia says this:
“If Han and I had never raised children, there would have been no Anakin Solo to save the Jedi from the voxyn, no Jacen Solo to show us the way to victory against the Yuuzhan Vong, no Jaina Solo to lead the fight.”
In other words, whatever tragedy befell the Solo Children later in life, their lives were not for nothing: they accomplished great things, some so drastic in their magnitude that the galaxy itself wouldn’t be what it is without their noble actions. Unlike how the ST uses Han and Leia’s offspring to constantly discredit them or have tragedy befall them, and is seemingly devoid of any qualities that brought them happiness as parents…Jacen and Anakin Solo did great things and had admirable qualities to be proud of, as Leia herself recounts. Such a small scene in an otherwise bleak and hopeless story arc, but as someone whose read the exploits of these characters over numerous books, that was an immensely moving and satisfying thing to read.
But now we have to talk about my favorite part of this book, the single moment that gave me so much joy as a reader:
As a preface, one thing that I’ve constantly monitored in this story arc about Jacen’s Downfall is the reaction and measures taken by one person, and one person alone: Luke Skywalker. With the ST absolutely butchering his character and stripping him of the growth and emotional determination to see the best in other people, to try to redeem them no matter what—especially when they’re family—I was extremely nervous about how LOTF would handle Luke’s reaction in a similar situation with Jacen. I’ve heard so much bitter and vile resentment flung at this story arc for being “the ruination of the post-ROTJ EU” that I was terrified that some of that had to do with the characters, namely Luke himself…and by proxy, I was anticipating something out of character once he had to confront the possibility that his nephew had gone dark, same as the ST. And while Luke has been cautious and increasingly distrustful around Jacen—justifiably so, considering Jacen’s methods and his growing influence on Luke’s son Ben—he hasn’t been openly hostile to him like Han has, and has retained a measured and wary approach as he watches Jacen from a distance. This is all fine, but the moment I had been waiting for happened when Mara finally put aside her affection for Jacen, facing the possibility that he might be going dark…and what she and Luke might have to do to protect their son:
Luke was beginning to sense some of the old ruthlessness in Mara, some of her old assassin instinct—and it scared him. “What about Jacen?”
“If I’m wrong, Jacen won’t have a path,” Mara said. “We’ll have to end it.”
“Now I think you’re the one who’s assuming the worst,” he said. “I’m worried about Jacen, but I’m not ready to kill him.”
“Then you’re not being realistic,” Mara said. “If he is working with Lumiya, we won’t have a choice. I won’t let him take Ben down that path with him.”
“Of course not—but whatever Jacen has become, it’s due to what happened after he was captured by the Yuuzhan Vong—and I’m the one who sent him on that mission.” Luke paused, still struggling with the decision that had cost the life of his nephew Anakin and so many other young Jedi Knights—still wondering what he else he could have done to save them. “I won’t give up on Jacen just because he’s lost his way. If he has fallen under Lumiya’s sway, I’m going to bring him back under mine.”
That. That right there. That’s Luke Skywalker. You would not believe the relief and happiness such a small, but important passage like this gave me as a reader. Even in the face of unforgvable betrayal and irredeemable actions, in a story that has no happy ending for Jacen, Luke still at least tries, even when he has everything to lose…including his own wife and son. So I don’t want to fucking hear about how shit Troy Denning is as a writer—bad humor, gorehound tendancies and T&A enthusiasm aside, he understands Luke Skywalker as a character miles better than any of the addlebrained fuckwits running LucasFilm or making the current films.
Overall, Tempest proved to be surprisingly good, and of a consistent quality to its preceding books. Moreover, with me being 1/3rd of the way into this story arc, and having sampled work from each of the three writers involved, I can say that the books compliment each other well, and feel extremely consistent in terms of preserving the hopelessly bleak tone and depictions of characters and the strained relationships between them. Each author has their best strengths—Alliston with the best plotting/pacing, Traviss with the best internal monologues, and Denning with the best character interactions and fight scenes. At times, their prioritization of personal interests or stylings can be distracting, but even then, their respective books work together far better than I expected…and remain living proof that even the most starkly different of creators can come together and provide a consistently good product, as opposed to the tonally and narratively botched cock-measuring contest we got in the Sequel Trilogy. Now, as reiterated in previous posts, this is all uttered on the pretense that LOTF will maintain this level of quality, which has yet to be seen.
But so far, I make no apologies in stating that LOTF is not even remotely deserving of its tattered reputation online. Which leads me to two things that I’m sure will prove extremely controversial: firstly, this story arc may very well be in my upper echelon of Truly Great EU Works, for its consistency if nothing else. One problem I’ve had with the EU as a first-timer is that many of the classic story arcs, however good they may be, suffer from somewhat inconsistent quality. Examples: For as good as the Thrawn Trilogy was, I found Dark Force Rising to be something of a weak link, thought that Jedi Academy Trilogy started well and then nosedived immediately, and felt Spectre Of The Past was a bit dull and not matching the quality of Vision Of The Future. Even my absolute favorite story arc, NJO, is something of a slow burn. You have an explosive start with the Death Of Chewbacca, but then you have to wade through some decent-but-undeniably-dry early entries like Dark Tide and Agents Of Chaos before the series really hits its stride. Don’t get me wrong, those early books are invaluable for establishing the culture and essence of the Yuuzhan Vong, but they do little to push the conflict or story forward. In fact, I’d say the story doesn’t really move again until the advent of Balance Point and the start of Jacen’s struggle…which becomes the bedrock for to the narrative highs like Edge of Victory and Star By Star, after which the quality of NJO is nothing but smooth sailing (minus Dark Journey, which is fucking terrible, and easily the hemorrhoid on the otherwise-voluptuous ass that is NJO). By contrast, LOTF delivers the good stuff almost immediately, which is likely because of the smaller scope, shorter series length, and collaboration of three authors as opposed to NJO’s dozen allowing a tighter focus and immediate onslaught of great character drama and rampant unfolding conflict. The writers don’t have to go around the galaxy, running down a checklist of 20+ characters and their contributions to a five-year war engulfing the entire galaxy…and unburdened by all that, LOTF retains its quality. Now, for disclosure: I still don’t think, even at its best, LOTF hits the same narrative highs that NJO did, but it’s unlikely that any EU story arc will ever reach those dizzying heights again. Moreover, the real test now is if LOTF can maintain its quality like NJO did all the way to its final entry and deliver suitable closure. LOTF has my attention…the task is now the writers’ to ensure that they’ve earned it.
The second thing, and the thing that will undoubtedly upset people, is that I believe that—so far, at least—Karen Traviss’ Bloodlines is my favorite entry. Yes, the other two books are excellent and she only beats them by a small margin, but I feel that out of all the writers, she captured the inner conflict of Jacen’s the best. Everything that LOTF is banking on emotionally—the Solo family splitting, Jacen’s deteriorating ties to his family, the sense of regret and isolation he feels—she nailed that perfectly and without compromise, intense throbbing Mando fetish or not.
So regardless of this ongoing debate about her glorifying the Mandos or harboring the kind of hatred for Jedi that you or I reserve for serial killers, she excelled at the one thing I was nervous about her getting right. Having said that, I still feel apprehension knowing what next book she’s tasked with writing…who is on the cover, and what tragedy it will entail. Traviss’ real test now, in my eyes, is whether or not she will let her Mando-related impulses compromise the tragic send-off of one of my favorite Star Wars characters…or if she’ll Rian Johnson it.
I’ll have to wait and see, because Alliston’s Exile book is the one thing standing in the way of me finding out. Fingers crossed that my worst fears won’t come to pass.
+1, Glad to hear you're enjoying it, it's cool hearing a first time readers experience with it.
While I'm not aware of any online hate for LotF somehow not surprised at all. This board can attest that people who post on online forums can be autistic AF. Despite the unjustified hate it receives it was a successful series imo. Have a feeling it was successful financially as well. It is news to me though that people thought it was disrespectful to OT trilogy characters. All of those books were incredibly consistent in their development of All of the characters involved and everyone's story took some unexpected, interesting turns.
LOTF is a perfect example of a darker Star Wars that stays true to the core tenets of Star Wars imo.(NJO is good but a)I haven't read it completely, b)I maintain some of the redefinition of the force are sacrilege imo). It succeeds where the ST fails in challenging its characters with really intense drama and incredibly tragic events while still staying true and not invalidating the OT we see in the movies. It's shame we couldn't get this story eventually on film. Disney literally had at least 2 decades worth of storylines in the EU they could have used complete with all the wokeness they desired Sword of the Jedi anyone? yet still managed to fuck it up. It's impressive in it's ineptitude.
Looking forward to your next posting on the next book!
I've never really heard of online hate for LOTF but then again I dropped out of fandom centric things a loooooong time ago.
I do remember all the hate for NJO in '99 - early '00s because everyone though extra-galactic invisible to the force aliens with superior "tech" was lame. (also people were upset about Chewie dying but honestly I think he had the most epic death of any SW character, though the war with the Vong was to have a whole fucking slew of epic deaths)
I will say though, the fact that they got Mark Hamil to do a vocal trailer for Vector Prime was fucking awesome though. Showed just how interconnected the EU was with mainline Star Wars.
2: Someone leaked Lego's newest exclusive as some sort of tie-in with the nu-Holiday Special. View attachment 1536930View attachment 1537015
Its Vader in a Christmas Happy "All-Inclusive Diversity Awareness" Holidays sweater. Also some 40th anniversary of ESB set. Only reason I even bring this pointless crap up is because I'm hoping this leads to Lego sending us another bullshit cease&desist.
Christmas Sweater Vader is in the 2020 Star Wars lego advent calendar which was officially announced.
8: Unlike the bullshit not-Katarn Rogue One spinoff show that Disney+ is supposedly making, the Kenobi show or Mandalorian season 3 actually has evidence of making some progress unlike that production limbo garbage. View attachment 1536992View attachment 1536994
The train yard set in Southern California that was used for the Mandalorian is being repurposed again and has props and Tatooine-esque set pieces in it again. They removed most of the non-Tatooine pieces from the set.
I do remember all the hate for NJO in '99 - early '00s because everyone though extra-galactic invisible to the force aliens with superior "tech" was lame.
I'm in that camp. I've always thought the Vong were very "not Star Wars". Though I suppose that's sort of the point with them, being the in-universe equivalent of Mongols or Huns.
I do remember reading one of the EU books where the Vong are introduced and I think Luke's son or maybe Jacen end up sabotaging an entire Vong ship because they have no defense against the force or lightsabers and I always thought that was pretty damn funny.
I'm in that camp. I've always thought the Vong were very "not Star Wars". Though I suppose that's sort of the point with them, being the in-universe equivalent of Mongols or Huns.
I do remember reading one of the EU books where the Vong are introduced and I think Luke's son or maybe Jacen end up sabotaging an entire Vong ship because they have no defense against the force or lightsabers and I always thought that was pretty damn funny.
I was initially in that camp as well but as the war wore on, the books got really good and I kind of got into it. The stakes felt super high every book and there was a lot of palpable drama. It made for good reading, especially as a young man. I feel some people just never got over their initial dislike of the Vong, whereas I did.
I'm in that camp. I've always thought the Vong were very "not Star Wars". Though I suppose that's sort of the point with them, being the in-universe equivalent of Mongols or Huns.
Personally I didn't think they were "not Star Wars" per se, but their actions and portrayal felt more too dark. They essentially felt like a crossover faction from 40k and while I appreciated the fact that they weren't just another Empire clone faction, their methods and successes felt very unfitting to the setting which can be open to dark, but it shouldn't be so open to grimdark since SW at its core is more optimistic and hopeful than other franchises while still allowing for tragedies, but with the Vong they just nuked many iconic places and scarred them for centuries while also nuking fan favorite locations and potential next generations for shock value and increase sells if nothing else, like Nar Shaddar and M-TD and Lusa (with deaths such as these really offering nothing and barely even registering for other characters, only the reader). The only deaths/destruction that were actually brilliantly done were Chewbacca's, Borsk Feylya's (a bothan and New Republic head of state for those who don't know) and Coruscant's destruction. These three left a powerful and prominent impact and felt like they meant something in how they were executed in contrast to everything else which could feel hollow and clickbaity. But that's just my view on the subject and I've always said I'm mixed on the Vong in this thread (and this is coming from a guy who is pretty forgiving of faults in past SW media) but if I had to pick between the two timelines, I would gladly choose the Vong future over the Disney one, since at least in the first the Skywalkers still come out on top and the message of hope and forgiveness (an optimistic tone) still rings true despite the grimdark and the exploration of Vong culture and their biotech is really engaging. Only thing they were missing was their own language system.
Borsk Fey'lya's death being so good was completely unexpected. You did NOT expect that character to have those stones if you grew up reading Stackpole's X-Wing books, since he was always portrayed as a sinister, conniving politician who only cares about his own power and Bothawui.
I'm in that camp. I've always thought the Vong were very "not Star Wars". Though I suppose that's sort of the point with them, being the in-universe equivalent of Mongols or Huns.
I do remember reading one of the EU books where the Vong are introduced and I think Luke's son or maybe Jacen end up sabotaging an entire Vong ship because they have no defense against the force or lightsabers and I always thought that was pretty damn funny.
They weren't as bad as time travel, but NJOs problem was it was interconnected. That meant the good got tied to the bad in ways it didn't before.
I was curious about timelines and with Thrawn maybe coming to the big scene decided to try something.
Zahn starts in '91 writing Star Wars
Legends (real SW).
OR era
Outbound Flight-basically Zahn's only major pre Disney foray into the pre IV era. Solid story that can stand on its own. Audiobook for those who prefer that to reading.
CW
Hero of Cartao. Short story from insider. I liked it. Very lore heavy.
Duel, a nothing burger 8 page story.
Changing seasons Anakin Obi Wan story
DT
Mist encounter. Short Story recounting Thrawn's exile and discovery by Parck. Later adapted post Disney into a full novel.
Darknell one of a number of collabs with Stackpole. centers around Garm Bel Iblis, heavily underrated character and Hal Horn.
Hammertong sisters. Short story that was read and packaged with the Thrawn trilogy box set. he retcons the Tonnika sister's as being his character Shada from visions.
ABY
Most significant work is Allegiance. Allegiance features his the OT three and Mara. Its been recorded as an audiobook.
Scoundrels. Basically what Solo should have been. Audiobook.
Side trip another collaboration with Stackpole. Pure gold short story.
Command Decision. Short Story featuring Thrawn in the Unknown Region.
Sleight of Hand. Basically telling how Mara failed to kill Luke at Jabba's palace. Only interesting if your a Mara fan or like Zahn.
Choices of One. Great novel rounding out the Hand of Judgment Duology started in Allegiance. Sadly no audiobook adaptation.
After Endor
Mara Jade, emperors hand, a comic series and a night on the town, a one shot comic in an anthology, Handoff, a short text story where Mara saves a kid and meets Ghent, and First Contact, where she meets Karrde. Basically telling Mara's story from Endor to Heir to the Empire.
Crisis of Faith wraps up choices of one loose ends. set before Heir.
Heir to the Empire. The crown jewel of the legends universe. Audiobooks. I'll be surprised if it doesn't get strip mind should Filoni succeed.
Post Heir
Jade's Solitaire. Mara short story.
Hand of Thrawn Duology. puts a bow on Thrawn nicely. Audiobooks available.
Judges Call and Fools bargain. Nice little short stories. Mara Jade and Luke for those still missing that relationship in Judges and Fools Bargain for 501st fanatics.
Survivor's Quest. Nice reappearance of the Hand of Judgment and tying up loose threads from Outbound Flight.
Looking at this, what I think is coming is an adaptation of the Thrawn and Space Aladdin in the Unknown Region. Outbound Flight would be a possibility and the Chiss another. Lots of stuff Filoni put his stink on.
Personally I didn't think they were "not Star Wars" per se, but their actions and portrayal felt more "not Star Wars". They essentially felt like a crossover faction from 40k and while I appreciated the fact that they weren't just another Empire clone faction, their methods and successes felt very unfitting to the setting which can be open to dark, it shouldn't be so open to grimdark since SW at its core is more optimistic and hopeful than other franchises while still allowing for tragedies, but with the Vong they just nuked many iconic places and scarred them for centuries while also nuking fan favorite locations and potential next generations for shock value and increase sells if nothing else, like Nar Shaddar and M-TD (with deaths such as these really offering nothing and barely even registering for other characters, only the reader). The only deaths/destruction that were actually brilliantly done were Chewbacca's, Borsk Feylya's (a bothan and New Republic head of state for those who don't know) and Coruscant's destruction. These three left quite the prominent impact and felt like they meant something in how they were executed in contrast to everything else which could feel hollow and clickbaity. But that's just my view on the subject and I've always said I'm mixed on the Vong in this thread (and this is coming from a guy who is pretty forgiving of faults in past SW media) but if I had to pick between the two timelines, I would gladly choose the Vong future over the Disney one, since at least in the first the Skywalkers still come out on top and the message of hope and forgiveness (an optimistic tone) still rings true despite the grimdark and the exploration of Vong culture and their biotech is really engaging. Only thing they were missing was their own language system.
Solid agree here on just about everything. It was nice a faction wasn't just Empire 2.0. I didn't mind the fact the Vong were dark, the fact they were GrimDark was. As you said, it was like someone wrote 40K crossover fanfiction.
I really didn't mind Grimdark Wars, it added a gravitas that wasn't there previously. I felt as if maybe the Empire should have been this hard on dissidents all along to really drive home the brutality of their policies. How is the destruction of Alderaan less grim than an exterminatus happening?
I really didn't mind Grimdark Wars, it added a gravitas that wasn't there previously. I felt as if maybe the Empire should have been this hard on dissidents all along to really drive home the brutality of their policies. How is the destruction of Alderaan less grim than an exterminatus happening?
Its how its presented. Its the difference between "Horrible thing happened" and "This is exactly how this horrible thing happened". There's a difference between firing super lasers into a planet's crust and "Which one the 32 flavors of over detailed planetary destruction should we pick today, Inquistor Kantekonig?".
Personally I didn't think they were "not Star Wars" per se, but their actions and portrayal felt more "not Star Wars". They essentially felt like a crossover faction from 40k and while I appreciated the fact that they weren't just another Empire clone faction, their methods and successes felt very unfitting to the setting which can be open to dark, but it shouldn't be so open to grimdark since SW at its core is more optimistic and hopeful than other franchises while still allowing for tragedies, but with the Vong they just nuked many iconic places and scarred them for centuries while also nuking fan favorite locations and potential next generations for shock value and increase sells if nothing else, like Nar Shaddar and M-TD (with deaths such as these really offering nothing and barely even registering for other characters, only the reader). The only deaths/destruction that were actually brilliantly done were Chewbacca's, Borsk Feylya's (a bothan and New Republic head of state for those who don't know) and Coruscant's destruction. These three left quite the prominent impact and felt like they meant something in how they were executed in contrast to everything else which could feel hollow and clickbaity. But that's just my view on the subject and I've always said I'm mixed on the Vong in this thread (and this is coming from a guy who is pretty forgiving of faults in past SW media) but if I had to pick between the two timelines, I would gladly choose the Vong future over the Disney one, since at least in the first the Skywalkers still come out on top and the message of hope and forgiveness (an optimistic tone) still rings true despite the grimdark and the exploration of Vong culture and their biotech is really engaging. Only thing they were missing was their own language system.
I really wasn't that alienated over how the Yuuzhan Vong had so many victories and were such a threat. Mostly because of the context: the Vong came in at a time when both the New Republic and what's left of the Empire have been slapping each other silly over the course of a few decades, so it wasn't a surprise when an outside faction came in and caused so much damage. If these twats came in when either side had decisive leadership, like say when Papa Palpatine was still around, they'd get their cans kicked faster than you can say "FOR THE EMPEROR!"
I mean, the Vong still had their asses handed to them by a crippled Empire/Republic. Imagine what the full-powered Empire before Battle of Endor would have done. Or even the Empire from the Dark Empire comics-the Vong would have been totally annihilated or even enslaved by the Empire. It would also have the added effect of making Palpatine, Thrawn, Vader, and Tarkin look like heroes in the eyes of the people, so they'll get more popular support while the Rebels have to sulk back in the shadows since trying to overthrow the guys who saved the galaxy would elicit the reaction of "not cool, bro" among the populace.
They do that all the time. I got the Han Solo Astro van several years back when I saw it on clearance because how could I not get something that perfect.
