can't remember the timeline, but didn't the whole "some trooper didn't carry out the order" came from secondary sources like games and books? because from what I remember in the movies most get killed off with the "important" ones like yoda of course managing to go away.
Only in the old canon timeline since in the Disney canon timeline clones have no free will during Order 66 except for Filoni's three OCs cuz muh brain chips. Regardless, the indoctrination was strong enough that only a minority disobeyed Order 66 and most of those that did ended up getting executed. But even those that followed the order showed some remorse over doing it though, like the clones who gunned down Secura, wanting to kill her as fast as possible so she wouldn't suffer. Order 66 was essentially:
In the event of Jedi officers acting against the interests of the Republic, and after receiving specific orders verified as coming directly from the Supreme Commander (Chancellor), GAR commanders will remove those officers by lethal force, and command of the GAR will revert to the Supreme Commander (Chancellor) until a new command structure is established.
This was seemingly the case in at least 2 or so stories and the Battlefront II storyline before Disney. When some clone squads (specifically those who had served and survived under one jedi general from start to finish) received word of Order 66, they were fully aware of what the 150 orders were, but members of each squad came to their own conclusion; one squad believed this must be an error or a CIS sabotage, while another squad believed the order but they were reluctant to believe that their jedi commander was a traitor and instead wanted to believe that their general was probably ignorant of "what the Jedi order had done". So both squads tried to save their commanders but ended up paying the ultimate price for their insubordination, as the more obedient and younger troopers among them killed their brothers. If I remember right, only 5 or 6 jedi were actually saved by their troopers (and 3 or 4 of them died later by Vader's hand), while the other few survivors only made it out by killing their troopers, hiding from them or by not taking part in the war at the time. The primary cause for their defiance was that they viewed their commanders as the closest things they had to parental figures, with their commanders treating them like padawans or family. The Battlefront II storyline had the usually cold and uncaring main trooper narrator show some regret over having to kill Aayla Secura, hoping that he could make her death as quick as possible to spare her from any suffering. View attachment 1240288
As such, I don't think a chip would even have been necessary since the Kamino education facility was their entire lives before they were shipped onto the battlefield. Its all they ever knew so of course they would gladly obey and believe everything that was given to them (not to mention they lack the age and experience to know better). Everything they learned there was hotwired into them by the strictest education and brainwashing methods, not just to betray the jedi but genetically engineered and indoctrinated for max loyalty and believing that all orders are for the best. Some orders not only included killing the jedi, but some involved killing all senators, the chancellor, and even suicide. It was a twisted yet believable scenario, and as we saw and read in much SW media the Kaminoans were cold and fucked up like that. With mentions and stories of Kaminoans "taking away" young clones who couldn't follow orders or score high enough points in tests for "re-education" only to never be seen again, either to be experimented on, turned into slave labor or sold for cheap. Kaminoans would even eliminate their own children over the slightest "defect" like unusual eye colors. Emotional Kaminoans were rare as fuck, and only a very small few ever actually held anything akin to fondness for their clone "children". Anyway, its quite clear that even in Filoni Wars this brain chip thing was a last minute decision since the Umbara Arc clearly showed otherwise near the end. And while the ROTS video game shows Kenobi using Mind Tricks to help the clones "fight their programming", even that could be taken as him believing they've been controlled since he himself is probably ignorant of why they've become hostile. Although chances are that Order 66 might've functioned as some sort of brainwashing trigger word.
Now I am imagining Palpatine saying Nixon quotes:
"You know what happened to the Mandalorians? The last six Mandalores were fags. Neither in a public way."
"So few of those who engage in espionage are Wookies. In fact, very few of them become Rebels. If they do, they like, they get into Han Solo— they're more the smuggler type. And they throw bombs and this and that. But the Wookies — have you ever noticed any Wookie spies?"
"Oh, when the Emperor does it, that means it is not illegal."
Only in the old canon timeline since in the Disney canon timeline clones have no free will during Order 66 except for Filoni's three OCs cuz muh brain chips. Regardless, the indoctrination was strong enough that only a minority disobeyed Order 66 and most of those that did ended up getting executed. But even those that followed the order showed some remorse over doing it though, like the clones who gunned down Secura, wanting to kill her as fast as possible so she wouldn't suffer. Order 66 was essentially:
In the event of Jedi officers acting against the interests of the Republic, and after receiving specific orders verified as coming directly from the Supreme Commander (Chancellor), GAR commanders will remove those officers by lethal force, and command of the GAR will revert to the Supreme Commander (Chancellor) until a new command structure is established.
I'd do it like this: the clones with a close personal attachment to "their" Jedi refused or were reluctant; those who barely knew them weren't. They're following what seems to be a legal order. Why shouldn't they obey?
It could of been George Lucas chickening out, and not wanting the kids to see Rex and the other clones in Filoni Wars as bad guys, like the whole Han/Greed Fiasco, but then again it could be Filoni. In some ways George and Dave are very alike and not wanting to show nuanced or complicated moral dilemmas with the good guys.
Lucas created the whole "Order 66 was free will" stuff back when ROTS came out. Interviews with magazines that came out at the time had his team explicitly state that the Clones' free will was not usurped by it, and that they did it because in their mind, good soldiers follow orders. Lucas was very explicit about it, and the whole control chip thing only came about in Season 6, long after Lucas lost any influence with the show. After all, Lucas wanted Ahsoka dead, and the show ended with her alive.
Now I am imagining Palpatine saying Nixon quotes:
"You know what happened to the Mandalorians? The last six Mandalores were fags. Neither in a public way."
"So few of those who engage in espionage are Wookies. In fact, very few of them become Rebels. If they do, they like, they get into Han Solo— they're more the smuggler type. And they throw bombs and this and that. But the Wookies — have you ever noticed any Wookie spies?"
"Oh, when the Emperor does it, that means it is not illegal."
I'd do it like this: the clones with a close personal attachment to "their" Jedi refused or were reluctant; those who barely knew them weren't. They're following what seems to be a legal order. Why shouldn't they obey?
I was always able to ignore the inhibitor ship BS, not just because it's a wholly retarded idea that doesn't gel with anything, including the films, but also because it was introduced far too late in the series to be incorporated in the Expanded Universe or its materials. The chip is only mentioned in those three episodes, and isn't mentioned once in any of the EU books or comics released around the same time, or in any material before it.
So all I have to do to ignore it when revisiting TCW is to skip those three episodes. Easy dismissal, no sleep lost. Beyond that, it's a problem the Nu-Canon to deal with...but who gives a fuck about Nu-Canon, anyway?
EDIT: Also, my next LOTF shitpost will be up later today, so keep an eye out for that.
So StarWars.com still hasn't done a single damn thing to honor Ron Cobb despite every other news and cringy "geek" site already having made some sort of ode to him... Classy. Instead all they can do is shill sequel shit and merch while celebrating this tragically hollow 40th anniversary of ESB which yields nothing except a woke novel about how every character in the movie was queer and genderfluid.
The only part of Disney that's actually bothered to honor Cobb is the SW twitter account.
However they only credit him with the creation of the Ithorians, but not for the other aliens in Chalmun's cantina...
Also here's a page from the Monsters and Aliens guide with a quote from George showing how he appreciated the effort put into aliens, which is more than what can be said for Disney's treatment of extraterrestrials.
Also here's some more non-SW concept art from Cobb.
Actually their lack of agency could very much be the point. The clones are meat machines, programmed with loyalty to the Republic and advanced military training. The chip functions as a restraining bolt to ensure the clones follow orders and as somewhat of a mindwipe to make the clones instantly turn on their generals without hesitation.
After Order 66, the identities of the imperial clones faded away. There was no need to call something like Commander Cody by its nickname. That was just a moniker the Jedi used to connect with their soldiers.
The ones that removed the chip kept their identities because they did the one thing machines can’t do; perform an action outside of their programming.
Actually their lack of agency could very much be the point. The clones are meat machines, programmed with loyalty to the Republic and advanced military training. The chip functions as a restraining bolt to ensure the clones follow orders and as somewhat of a mindwipe to make the clones instantly turn on their generals without hesitation.
After Order 66, the identities of the imperial clones faded away. There was no need to call something like Commander Cody by its nickname. That was just a moniker the Jedi used to connect with their soldiers.
The ones that removed the chip kept their identities because they did the one thing machines can’t do; perform an action outside of their programming.
Still, as the predecessors to Imperial Stormtroopers, I don't like them being biological droids. In fact, Palpatine in the old canon even spoke of them as Imperial saints; men who lay their lives down for the new regime that they themselves put into place. The few Fett clones who kept on serving as Stormtroopers served loyally and faithfully, no matter who the enemy was, be they Jedi, Sep remnants, rogue clones, and Rebel Alliance soldiers. They even grew to hate the Alliance rather badly, since the New Order that they built was threatened by the Rebels, and they saw the Rebels as a pest that must be eradicated:
"By the time of the raid on Polis Massa, the men of the 501st were starting to get a little sick of this so called "Rebellion". In the past, we'd secretly enjoyed putting down a local insurrection or two. They kept the troops sharp and the Empire feared, but these Rebels were different. They were organized, they were growing, and they were everywhere. The raid on Polis Massa was a perfect example of how things were starting to fall apart. We were supposed to go in, wipe out a small band of Rebels, and recover some stolen Imperial plans on an encrypted holodisk. Before we knew it, we were nearly overrun by Rebel forces, with the holodisk nowhere to be found. Even though the Polis Massa raid was only a partial success, we finally had a lead on the whereabouts of the Death Star plans, which suited the 501st just fine."
-Anonymous 501st soldier concerning the Rebel Alliance and the Polis Massa raid
Their hate for the Rebels reached a new fever pitch after the Death Star was destroyed:
"When the Death Star was destroyed, about half of the 501st Legion was still in the hangar getting to their ships. Of those who made it out, another third were caught in the explosion. I'd fought with some of those men for over twenty years. Afterwards, those of us that survived hooked up with a nearby Imperial fleet making a retaliatory strike on the Rebel's base on Yavin IV. It wasn't the best thought out plan, but we were cut off from our leaders, tired, and operating on instinct. If not for our training, we probably would've never gotten past their orbital defenses. And so the battle over Yavin came to an end. I'm told we destroyed hundreds of Rebel ships that day. Even if it had been thousands, it wouldn't have made up for the Death Star.
By the time we landed on Yavin, whatever shock we'd felt at the destruction of the Death Star had been replaced by anger. For months we'd treated the Rebellion like a disobedient child, only to be repaid for our tolerance with treachery on an unimaginable scale. Frankly, I don't remember much of the fighting. I guess we won. After the battle, the surviving members of the 501st finally caught their breath. The Empire had taken the Rebel's best shot and come up standing. Now it was our turn to strike."
-Anonymous 501st soldier on the destruction of the Death Star and the fall of Yavin Base
These were men who knew what they were doing, and I rather favor this characterization over the whole "organic droids" routine that TCW went with. They knew they were guilty of killing innocents like Aayla Secura, they had Jedi blood on their hands, so they were desperate to make sure that the new peace they established, the new empire which was baptized with Jedi blood, should remain in power, so that all that fighting they've done, all the horrid shit they did, wouldn't be for nothing. That's the kind of great characterization that is lost on the new Star Wars. And frankly, no attempt at lionizing Imperials in the modern NuCanon can top that kind of writing.
In the old canon, Order 66 was a real tragedy because the clones actually cared about their Jedi friends and yet, they were conditioned to be obedient to the Republic thanks to the Kaminoans, Jango Fett, and the Cul'Vay'Dar. So it's basically nature vs. nurture; as a human being, you have problems turning on someone you knew and respected, hunting them down as if they were animals, but as a patriot, you have to do your duty to the state and eliminate anyone accused of treason by your supreme executive. It really put the definition of "good soldier" up for grabs: the minority of clones who stood up for their Jedi friends and refused to attack their Jedi commanders saw the "good soldier" concept in a moral aspect, the majority who turned on their Jedi commanders and ruthlessly killed them and any other Jedi saw the concept of a "good soldier" in a literal aspect, as if being a good soldier meant that you always followed orders, no matter what they were. The classic Battlefront 2 game from 2005 really showed this in a good light; some Jedi managed to make a good impression on the troops, and the men themselves had doubts about their orders. They even wished that some Jedi died quickly, because those Jedi saved their butts and "they deserved that much." And in other works where clones refused the order, it showed how no amount of conditioning can stop some men from following their moral compass and doing the right thing, even if it meant getting branded as traitors to the state they were raised to be loyal to.
Instead, the new canon makes Order 66 less of a choice. It cheapens the tragedy because it's no longer a moral quandary, but rather, something brought about by inhibitor chips. Not only that, but Rex already knew about it before it went down, so logically, he would have told all clone commanders about it, and then the commanders would tell their men about it, that they all had chips in their brains that rob them of free will. So that would logically have ended with all clones having a weird scar across their heads and them telling Sidious to bite their plastoid-encased butts when he issues the order.
Filoni still has TCW to fall back on every time he gets called out on being shit. Rebels was less than adequate, Resistance was a joke, and yet, despite failing two out of three Star Wars shows, Filoni is still seen as a savior for Star Wars due to TCW. Face it, TCW's fans will never betray the man, and he will always have a large following among SW fans because many SW fans who are grown-ups now were kids back when TCW was airing, and they fell in love with that stuff instead of the old EU and movies that most of us grew up with.
Exactly. By inventing those mind control chips, you remove the pain and tragedy of the event and replace it with a lesser version. Rather than it being a war between what you were trained to do (fight and serve the state) and your feelings for your commanding officer and having to fight your conscience over what is the least bad option, it's now safely out of your own hands. Sure, mind control is pretty bad in its own way, but it also dehumanizes the clones even more and it's clearly being done to ensure that Filoni's favorites dindu nuffin.
And it's telling how much they ignore the other people (including George himself) when they try to bring up TCW as a defense. Rebels was Filoni's baby and is a far more indicative example of his quality. But alas, Hollywood is the only shithole business that only requires ONE success, and god knows you don't even have to be the one to succeed, just be attached to a success.
All I heard during the lead up to Season 1 of Mando was that he was going to die and get replaced by a woman at some point. Funny that is the exact same shit I'm hearing to the buildup of Season 2.
I feel like that would be an absolute disaster at this point, but I wouldn't be surprised if Disney thinks of it more as the Baby Yoda show after how social media reacted to it and feel Mando is replaceable.
I can take this either way to be honest, but I would legit not be shocked if they replace Pascal and have the Mando lady I always forget because fuck Filoni's OCs take his place. With Asoka as a secondary who will become a primary character because Disney can't afford to make another show for her and Dave the Cowboy is a whiny manchild when it comes to his own created pets.
They're not supposed to remove their helmets at all, unless to do a function that needs to be done- like eating iirc. I never got this concept either because the armor is ICONIC. If you're supposedly being hunted down for being Mandalorian then this whole no removing the helmet is counter productive because the helmet and armor is a giant sign of 'HEY, I'M MANDALORIAN' running around without the helmet would actually be better at protecting your identity as no one can tell by facial features alone that you're a mando. What designates them is, quite literally, the suit of armor. Heck, it's weird for them to be implying the Mandalorians were massively killed off to begin with because, to quote from canon;
"Here's why you can't exterminate us, aruetii. We're not huddled in one place—we span the galaxy. We need no lords or leaders—so you can't destroy our command. We can live without technology—so we can fight with our bare hands. We have no species or bloodline—so we can rebuild our ranks with others who want to join us. We're more than just a people or an army, aruetii. We're a culture. We're an idea. And you can't kill ideas—but we certainly can kill you."
but who the fuck knows now since Filoni started messing with Mandalorian canon. Seems like he hates them and how popular they were, so he tried to paint them into villians. A lot of people seem to think Filoni is the 'best choice' for Star Wars and I've personally never really got that because it seems like he's a jealous asshole who wants his own characters to supersede others, he's not quite as blatant as Disney but it's there in how his original characters get limelight and totally take over wherever they show up. Whenever his shows start waning in popularity his answer was to take a popular character from the EU, changing them when he does, and inserting them into his work because he knew he'd get people to tune back in to at least see their favorite EU character. He did it with Barriss Offee, who was a healer in the EU, he did it with Quinlan Vos, who he turned into a Rastafarian ya mon, when Vos was basically an Anakin type character who struggled with the darkside but eventually overcame it. Thrawn. I'm sure when that homeage to Delta Squad in TCW got a standing ovation, Filoni died a little inside. His response being to make the 'Bad Batch' to try and be a better version of Delta.
The guy has failed multiple times, I don't get why they keep giving him shows/chances.
The Mandalorian(s) (and Boba Fett/The Clones) via the Mandalorian Mercs were an aspect of Star Wars that only grew more popular, even when there wasn't much activity within that aspect of canon on the EU fronts. They're noticeable. The aesthetic they have is easily identifiable. Boba Fett managed to be iconic while being so short lived and he still sells. They had a very set way and look that people liked and anyone could make a suit to become one. The clones, who continue to be popular, were raised by Mandalorians. The Republic Commando series was incredibly popular. Then Filoni strolled in with his 'Jango and Boba aren't Mandalorians'. Then turned a group who had established canon of being able to be any specie as long as you adopted their culture into Aryan nation of humans all for seemingly making a blonde Padme knock off for Obi-wan. He took the Death Watch concept from the EU and literally labelled the armor wearers as the 'Bad Guys' when there were distinct fractions of these groups in the EU and the Death Watch was hated by the standard Mandalorian. There's no reason Satine couldn't have been a proper Mandalorian, in armor, and keep a similar story even allowing for the Obi-Wan romantic notion but their love couldn't be because of the long standing animosity between Jedi and Mandalorians. She could have been the Mand'alor fighting for peace for her people against the Death Watch. The only reason I can see for Filoni making the choices he did was because he hates how people liked the Mandalorians but his twisting of their canon was .
Then he made his own special OP female teenager Mandalorian character and it was totally ok again!
If Pascal is planning to depart it's probably because he can see the writing on the wall. The second Tano was cast it is almost guaranteed she's going to be pushed. He's already got a shared spotlight with a puppet, why would he stick around and be regulated to the background by two very bland OP female characters in the form of Ahsoka and Sabine? Especially given the track record of both Disney and Filoni to dumb down the male characters in order to prop up and over-power the female ones.
Oh Dave kinda likes the Mandos. But he seems to be a Death Watch fan since those are the ones that he tends to have in the most favorable light.
Bit of a kick to the dick to those who prefer the True Mandos eh? Also a big fuck you to George given he clearly preferred the Pacifists.
Either way, if you phrase why Pascal left with that in mind, I actually can understand why. I still think he's a prima donna who is delusional that one big role in GoT and a sequel movie makes him able to make demands like that. He also put it on himself by refusing to wear the armor, thus meaning they only need to mimic his voice.
Very stupid on his part, but to ditch if you knew you'd likely be replaced like that for Dave's OCs, I don't blame him.
So StarWars.com still hasn't done a single damn thing to honor Ron Cobb despite every other news and cringy "geek" site already having made some sort of ode to him... Classy. Instead all they can do is shill sequel shit and merch while celebrating this tragically hollow 40th anniversary of ESB which yields nothing except a woke novel about how every character in the movie was queer and genderfluid.
Fuck me you have to be some level of spiteful and sociopathic to not even be bothered to respect one of your own, especially one of the guys who did a lot of the design work. Awful.
Still, as the predecessors to Imperial Stormtroopers, I don't like them being biological droids. In fact, Palpatine in the old canon even spoke of them as Imperial saints; men who lay their lives down for the new regime that they themselves put into place. The few Fett clones who kept on serving as Stormtroopers served loyally and faithfully, no matter who the enemy was, be they Jedi, Sep remnants, rogue clones, and Rebel Alliance soldiers. They even grew to hate the Alliance rather badly, since the New Order that they built was threatened by the Rebels, and they saw the Rebels as a pest that must be eradicated:
"By the time of the raid on Polis Massa, the men of the 501st were starting to get a little sick of this so called "Rebellion". In the past, we'd secretly enjoyed putting down a local insurrection or two. They kept the troops sharp and the Empire feared, but these Rebels were different. They were organized, they were growing, and they were everywhere. The raid on Polis Massa was a perfect example of how things were starting to fall apart. We were supposed to go in, wipe out a small band of Rebels, and recover some stolen Imperial plans on an encrypted holodisk. Before we knew it, we were nearly overrun by Rebel forces, with the holodisk nowhere to be found. Even though the Polis Massa raid was only a partial success, we finally had a lead on the whereabouts of the Death Star plans, which suited the 501st just fine."
-Anonymous 501st soldier concerning the Rebel Alliance and the Polis Massa raid
Their hate for the Rebels reached a new fever pitch after the Death Star was destroyed:
"When the Death Star was destroyed, about half of the 501st Legion was still in the hangar getting to their ships. Of those who made it out, another third were caught in the explosion. I'd fought with some of those men for over twenty years. Afterwards, those of us that survived hooked up with a nearby Imperial fleet making a retaliatory strike on the Rebel's base on Yavin IV. It wasn't the best thought out plan, but we were cut off from our leaders, tired, and operating on instinct. If not for our training, we probably would've never gotten past their orbital defenses. And so the battle over Yavin came to an end. I'm told we destroyed hundreds of Rebel ships that day. Even if it had been thousands, it wouldn't have made up for the Death Star.
By the time we landed on Yavin, whatever shock we'd felt at the destruction of the Death Star had been replaced by anger. For months we'd treated the Rebellion like a disobedient child, only to be repaid for our tolerance with treachery on an unimaginable scale. Frankly, I don't remember much of the fighting. I guess we won. After the battle, the surviving members of the 501st finally caught their breath. The Empire had taken the Rebel's best shot and come up standing. Now it was our turn to strike."
-Anonymous 501st soldier on the destruction of the Death Star and the fall of Yavin Base
These were men who knew what they were doing, and I rather favor this characterization over the whole "organic droids" routine that TCW went with. They knew they were guilty of killing innocents like Aayla Secura, they had Jedi blood on their hands, so they were desperate to make sure that the new peace they established, the new empire which was baptized with Jedi blood, should remain in power, so that all that fighting they've done, all the horrid shit they did, wouldn't be for nothing. That's the kind of great characterization that is lost on the new Star Wars. And frankly, no attempt at lionizing Imperials in the modern NuCanon can top that kind of writing.
And to add this. Palpatine went to great lengths to manipulate the Jedi into technically committing sedition. All that manipulation and distrust were pointless if he could push a button and the clones would become EvIlS.
What's more, he needs them after. The brainwashing wears down. What stops them from rebelling after Order 66? It take the grand gambit playing the Jedi, the clones, and the Senate and brushes it down to 'welp, time to push the kill the Jedi button."
I think it's very sad Kiwifarms did a better tribute to him than the main Star Wars website. A big reason why I am more drawn to Star Wars than Star Trek, were the alien designs, almost all the alien in Star Trek look ridiculously too human and boring, I know Star Trek had a budget to keep track of, but even the cheaper thrown Star Wars aliens like the Devaronians look better. This guy deserves just as much recognition and respect as Ralph Mcquarrie, they are the main foundation for the look of Star Wars, and their legacy has been torned and neutuerd in the span of five years.
So the following is my impressions and observations of the sixth LOTF novel, Inferno. I was supposed to have this finished a while ago, but it ended up getting severely delayed—partially because of real-world obligations, but also because I decided to re-read the book to properly describe what I find to be interesting parallels to the Disney Sequel Travesty. LOTF on a whole has already demonstrated many of the same concepts as the ST, except done right…but Inferno takes it to a whole new level.
This book literally does everything that the sequels attempt to do, but with actual nuance, logical progression, and an infinitely superior understanding of the characters…one massively important one in particular. And it’s from Troy Denning of all people.
So be ready to brave the autistic depths of what is easily my biggest shitpost yet, as I go into obsessive detail about the qualities of this book, in relation to its predecessors and more importantly, Disney’s farcical films.
Troy Denning returns to helm his second entry, this time dedicating the narrative and character trajectories to one simple goal: to finally cast off all curtains of deception woven across the previous books, and get every one of the main heroes on the same page in considering Jacen a threat that needs to be stopped. By the end of the book, everyone from Luke to Ben to Tenel Ka herself bear witness to different sides of his character, each dealt with an emotional blow too strong to ignore anymore, and now determined—whatever their familial reservations—to bring him to justice. Denning accomplishes this well, putting each character on their own set narrative path to make that decision: Ben realizes for himself that Jacen is Mara’s killer, Luke witnesses his harsh methods in ending the Civil War, Jaina is forced to defend the Jedi Temple against the GFFA’s occupation, and Tenel Ka realizes too late that Jacen has been exploiting their relationship and her position as Hapan Queen to further his goals. They all happen organically and are often intertwined with each other in a way that’s in-character and believable for everyone involved. The resulting family drama and miserable emotional pain involved is agonizing on one hand, while simultaneously satisfying…if for no other reason than to see Jacen’s deception finally disintegrate, and for his actions to finally catch up with him.
There isn’t too much in the way of one-on-one fights in this book like there were in Tempest, so we don’t see Denning flex his prowess in writing those kinds of scenes, but he more than makes up for it with his other big strength…character interactions. Examples include:
Luke confronting Jacen on the bridge of his starship…the two engaged in a scalding verbal battle that hearkens to their debates from NJO, only far more hostile.
Han and Leia’s sharing a moment of sorrow on Kashyyyk, where the latter finally stops making excuses for Jacen’s actions, breaking Han’s heart to see her finally caving in and no longer protesting his harsh outbursts about their son being irredeemable and practically dead in the way they knew him.
Tahiri confronting Leia only moments after the latter has been led to believe Luke has been killed, causing Leia to focus all of her grief and rage on Tahiri in a Vector Prime showcase of blaming the survivor, forcing Han to step in between them.
Tenel Ka sobbing into Han’s jacket, her tough persona falling into shambles as she realizes how much Jacen has taken advantage of her.
All of these treated with a reverent and melancholy tone, and they’re all in-character. For instance, going back to the Tahiri confrontation, she has an outburst when she accuses Han and Leia of being traitors, stating that “siding with Jacen is what Anakin would have wanted” (the kind of desperate, illogical conclusion that only someone with her state of mind, broken heart and traumatic experiences would come to…especially after being swayed by Jacen’s emotional blackmail). She more or less insinuates that by betraying the Alliance, Leia has betrayed Anakin’s legacy as well, wounding her as a mother and causing her to characteristically lash out. And that’s why these interactions work: they’re depicting characters in a state of grief or anger where they lapse into some of their worst traits, no longer hidden by the veil of self-control. In even the least relaxed Rebel battle against the Empire, Leia could always maintain a sense of authoritarian composure and never fall into emotional eruptions. It’s only in this hair-tearing period of anguish that we see her snap, and engage in violent tendencies that she often keeps in check. And Tahiri, someone who under typical circumstances quietly and mournfully avoids talking about Anakin, being too heartbroken to even be reminded of him, is now using him to make vile and knifing accusations against Leia…something she wouldn’t do, unless emotionally manipulated and frenzied. A lot of these moments have the very difficult burden of presenting characters we know in uncharacteristic circumstances, to buckle under the grief or anger of their current situation. They’re not all done perfectly (as I will illustrate later, using that same Tahiri example), but the majority of them work really well, thanks to Denning working bring out good interactions between them.
Moving onto a few passing observations:
Right away, the book opens with an emotional bombshell, as the prologue shows Jacen teaching Tahiri Veila to flow-walk through time and witness past events again—not for any overt intentions of training, but to tempt Tahiri by giving her the chance to relive that traumatic night on Myrkr, and fixing one mistake that has haunted her all the way into her late 20’s: refusing to kiss Anakin Solo one last time, before she lost him forever. This scene was fantastic for a wealth of reasons: it brought one of my longtime favorite characters back into the fold of the plot, it created yet another connection to NJO (something that LOTF as a whole has excelled at), and stirs the exact emotional response that the author was going for. We feel Tahiri’s heartbreak alongside her throughout the whole scene, as she watches her foolish younger self, wracked with survivor’s guilt and thinking of all the ways she could’ve prevented what happens. At the risk of affecting the flow of time too greatly, all Jacen permits her to do is invisibly nudge her younger self into staying…so that she shares that one last kiss with Anakin, attempting something resembling closure so she can move on with her life. Showing more of the impact that the Myrkr Incident had on its survivors in the years following the war is something that Dark Nest completely missed out on, and I’m happy that it’s not only being addressed in LOTF…but it plays a role in something very important for the plot. This whole scene is Jacen’s attempt to emotionally manipulate Tahiri, to take advantage of her trauma by waving this traversal back to the night she regrets most in front of her face, allowing her to change a minor aspect of how it plays out…but not the outcome. Even as they’re returning to the present, Tahiri begs Jacen to let her try and change what happens to Anakin, but he refuses and leaves her in a state of despair and heartbreak, one that will make her more susceptible to his wiles. It’s cruelty of the most gut-wrenching kind, and even Jacen is shown to feel some guilt at what he’s doing to the poor girl, but in typical Darth Caedus fashion justifies it with as yet another necessary measure to accomplish his goal. A phenomenal scene all around, and one of my favorites in the series thus far.
This does, however, lead into the subject of this series’ use of time travel. Jacen has exhibited the flow-walk ability plenty of times in the past—once to conduct a forensic style investigation of a ship crash in Dark Nest and witnessing Order 66 firsthand in the present story arc. And it was acceptable both times, because he wasn’t interacting with the events playing out, and not directly affecting what was going on. Here, however, we see Tahiri use the same method to physically interact with the past in order to have her younger self kiss Anakin Solo one final time. Now, at first, I was extremely irritated at this, because it basically opens up the canyon-sized plot hole of why Jacen or anyone else who has learned flow-walking haven’t tried altering the past through this method. For a moment, I thought I had actually encountered something as damaging as the Time-Traveling Space Anus from Star Wars Rebels, and felt myself become furious. But then, I re-read the sequence again, and picked up on a few implications that actually makes it so this scene isn’t a problem. For one thing, it’s implied that anyone who flow-walks into the past isn’t visible, and the more they interact with the past, the more visible they become—essentially alluding to the notion that you become more visible in flashbacks the more you try to meddle with time. Moreover, while Tahiri physically interacts with the past, she can’t do anything to undo the outcome of the events she’s witnessing…merely changing a few elements in how that outcome is reached. The events of Anakin’s Death play out almost identically to the way they did in Star By Star, regardless of Tahiri altering one element in the sequence of events. Her nudging her younger self to kiss Anakin one final time, seemingly implying that the events are locked into place regardless of changing one element—the whole “splashing a drop into a river doesn’t alter his course” logic. It’s certainly a change from the typical fiction norms of altering the space-time continuum, but at least it’s a rule that prevents any future time-travel exploitation. This is only amplified by Tahiri’s actual attempt to stay in the past long enough to physically prevent Anakin’s death, and Jacen stops her, implying that something cataclysmic will happen if they try to affect anything, and become “visible” to the people of the past. Preventing character deaths, changing major events, altering the course of history…is impossible. And this is why I don’t have a problem with this kind of time travel—it effectively preserves the stakes of the Star Wars Universe and makes it so that all events that occur are permanent, with any attempts to change it essentially impossible without some kind of catastrophe occurring. This is precisely why THIS kind of time-travel works, and Filoni’s horrendous and absolutely stakes-destroying resurrection of Ahsoka doesn’t: it blows the stakes of the Star Wars universe wide open, and essentially terminates the finality of any major event that occurs in any story, because it means entire character deaths and major events can be reversed without any consequences. So all in all…I’m of the opinion that Denning exercised more restraint when handling this plot point, far more than Filoni did.
Amusing, how people talk shit about the EU being “unreadable trash that jumped the shark too many times”, and yet it managed to handle a potentially-damaging plot element like time-travel with more nuance and care than Star Wars Savior and Waifu Extraordinaire Dave Filoni did in the actual canon that everyone consooms without question.
One thing I appreciate is how the Jedi Council, already highly suspicious and wary of Jacen for several books now, acted very characteristically towards Jacen. Their resentment for his actions as a GFFA Enforcer (not to mention his coup) have made him an outsider to them, and when he tries to reach out to them for aide in this book, they shut him out—believing he’s using Luke’s state of grief as an opportunity to gain influence in the Jedi Order as an upstart. I can 100% see long-standing veterans like Corran Horn and Kyp Durron being protective and loyal to Luke in his worst hour…especially against Jacen, who’s become a borderline outsider and dangerous element to stability of the Temple.
A key component to Jacen’s duplicitous maneuvering throughout LOTF is how it feeds into his hubris, something that’s only fueled by the fact that he keeps getting away with it. His under the table dealings, his elimination of troublesome elements, his manipulation of Ben Skywalker…it all stays hidden, and he never suffers the consequences for them. It’s in Inferno, however, where one of his manipulations actually comes back to bite him in the ass. For context, he’s spent the last several books emotionally distancing himself from and regularly challenging Luke Skywalker, to the point where their relationship has bordered on hostility. With Ben Skywalker seemingly no longer a target of his Dark Side Sway, and the death of Mara Jade sending Luke into miserable seclusion, Jacen’s need to involve himself with them has vanished—he no longer has to face any consequences for what he’s done, or worry about lying his way around Luke anymore…he’s effectively cut the Skywalker family out of his life, with his façade completely uncracked. And then Tenel Ka, oblivious to what’s going on, sees the family disarray from afar and very nobly tries to make Jacen repair things by making peace with Luke, in exchange for the Hapan Fleet he’s in desperate need of for the upcoming Battle Of Kuat. I like how this traps Jacen into appealing Tenel Ka: he can’t tell her the truth, and he has to face the immediate consequences of what he’s done in the previous book. After dismissively and callously cutting ties with family members left and right across the series, the consequences are starting to obstruct him. Having a smart villain who’s still able to run headfirst into their own flaws, like hubris, is what prevents them from feeling a do-no-wrong super genius…something that Timothy Zahn seems to have long forgotten in his newest Thrawn books.
During Jaina and Jag’s overthrowing of the GAG forces on the Ossus Academy, they reference an apprentice named “Loli”. Not a huge deal, but it’s certainly…unfortunate. It does make me wonder if its existence would peak Dave Filoni’s interest in any way.
This scene was practically perfect. Perfect. The kind of ballistic hostility from the other Jedi when Jacen arrives, the way he manipulates the situation to make himself look good to the public, the way that Luke calls all the hostility off and tries to heal the rift with his nephew for Mara’s sake…it all reminded me of the funeral at the end of the Godfather Part II, how a somber event is the site of familial turmoil and manipulation. But the ultimate moment of wince-inducing, melancholy irony is when Jacen leaves, and Luke silently commits himself to pulling his nephew away from whatever dark influence that’s consumed him…determined to make things right for his family after everything that’s happened. It’s a stomach-sinking moment, where we witness a broken and miserable Luke clinging to the hope of patching things up with Jacen…completely oblivious of the fact that he’s the source of all his pain. And it just makes us as readers wait with both dread and bated breath for the moment Luke finds out the truth…and the seismic eruption of family drama that will follow.
A moment that stuck out to me was when a saber-less Jaina was forced to sneak around the Ossus Temple, dispatching GAG soldiers with ruthless stealth tactics like shanking and snapping necks, force to have their dying gurgles embed themselves in her ears. She expresses some mild relief that she can’t see their faces through their dark helmet visors, because it would make the guilty feelings of killing them linger more. This is the kind of characterization I appreciate, because in the wrong hands, someone as snarky and plucky as Jaina could have the potential to be insufferable—hell, in the hands of Disney/LFL’s writing staff, she’d probably be spouting remorseless one-liners or practically river-dancing on their corpses to demonstrate how much of an “INDEPENDENT WOMYN” she is. Instead, even someone purported as the Sword of the Jedi is shown feeling uncomfortable with brutal, grisly methods of killing. It’s even more appropriate when considering her preferred style of combat has been shown to be the impersonal method of blasting faceless ships from an X-Wing cockpit.
The immediate effects of Lumiya’s death in Sacrifice are rapidly made apparent to the reader. The story implies that by acting as a constant source of consultation and routine clashing with Jacen, Lumiya was able to keep his impulses in check. He’s not a loose cannon, per se, but his calculating nature is shown to lead him astray, advance to conclusions prematurely. And in addition, with the mounting pressure of keeping his secrets from tumbling out and Lumiya dead, he has no one to confide to…forced to constantly keep his façade on at all times, even around his own wife. The result of this, combined with an already rising hubris, is Jacen relying on his own intuition to the point of delusion and paranoia: He sees Saba’s snide remarks at Mara’s funeral as her potentially knowing her secrets, and Luke’s seclusion as him knowing the truth as well…thus prompting Jacen to rash measures like occupying the Jedi Academy on Ossus in anticipation of a rebellion that was never in the cards. It gets so bad that Alema realizes that his impulses are going to wreck her and Lumiya’s plans, and she needs to seek out the Sith on Korriban to keep Jacen in check. I like this, because instead of turning Jacen into an infallible super-schemer like Thrawn, we’re shown that even someone as masterfully duplicitous and conniving as Jacen can be subject to his own delusions of being right all the time.
We’re treated to a dip into Jacen’s mind as he approaches Kashyyyk, on his way to bring his parents and old Master, Luke, to justice. Jacen’s mentality is almost characterized as a mirror to Luke’s “redemption” mindset in ROTJ: he’s shown having actual remorse at the prospect of bringing family members to justice—in spite of all his attempts to distance them from his thoughts, to cut them off emotionally from himself, as he so frigidly declared in Exile—he’s still finding himself wishing that there was some way he could redeem them:
Even after it all happened, he still loved his family—still cherished them. It was their courage that had instilled in him the strength to do what he must soon do, their example that had taught him to serve above all else. He only wished there were some way to bring them back, so all the Solos and Skywalkers could be on the same side again, fighting not each other, but the injustice that always seemed about to tear the galaxy apart.
But there was no way. Even were Jacen to convince them of their mistake, he could not absolve them of what they had done, could not pardon their treason against the Alliance. That was the burden and the fate of Darth Caedus.
On top of adding numbingly-sad layers to Jacen’s downfall, as LOTF often does, this monologue also makes it seem like Denning is implying that Jacen is on a twisted variant of Luke’s path, faced with the same kind of choice, but adhering to the pragmatic, calculating sensibilities of the Dark Side that Luke was able to avoid before he could give into it. It’s what separates Jacen from Luke before him, and makes him come to a very different conclusion in the process. I obviously have no way of proving this and this could easily be over-extrapolation on my part, but if that was Denning’s intentions, it’s certainly a great utilization of the themes from the OT, to twist them into something dark and chilling.
Speaking of Kashyyyk, we’re also treated to a miserable moment where Jacen—swarmed by his usual “by whatever means necessary” mentality that’s shaped his whole downfall thus far—convinces himself that firebombing Kashyyyl’s worshyr forests is the only way to frame the Corellians into looking weak in front of their allies after the Alliance’s humiliating loss over Kuat. During this attack, a squadron of Wookiee ships start attacking his cruiser, including his childhood friend from Young Jedi Knights, Lowbacca:
He could almost hear the [the explosion of rage and bewilderment] in the Force from Lowbacca, demanding to know how his old classmate could betray their friendship so terribly.
And, for a moment, Caedus became Jacen again, filled with sorrow for what he had become, yet still knowing how necessary it all was. It was the only way to bring order to a galaxy that fed on strife and war, the only way to create a home where his daughter and the daughters of his allies and enemies would one day be able to grow up in peace and prosperity.
Jacen reached out to Lowie, inviting his old friend to join a battle-meld—one filled with regret and apology. Lowie responded, again wanting to know why, again trying to impress on Jacen that he did not have to do this, that perhaps they could still find a way to be friends…
Denning is one cruel and heartless motherfucker to start using characters and elements from Young Jedi Knights, the books detailing Jacen’s early years, to drive in the thorn of his Dark Side plunge. It’s like he’s trying to compete with Traviss in the contest of which author can succeed in pushing the reader into long-term suicidal depression…and Traviss has remained leading champion in that regard.
I was actually flabbergasted when I encountered this, because this is the precise part of this book that glows even brighter in the wake of the recent ST movies. Believe it or not, Luke is actually depicted as being reduced to essentially the same reclusive, hopeless grief-ridden state that we see him enter in TLJ, for marginally similar reasons. He’s suffering from both a devastating loss and an awful mistake that he’s wracked with guilt for doing back in Sacrifice…terrified of what kind of damage he’ll do if he keeps on going.
The primary difference is that, unlike TLJ, every ingredient in that formula not only works, but is resoundingly fucking better in how it’s executed. For the sake of comparison, let’s observe how LOTF handles things:
Instead of Luke being broken over the loss of a bunch of faceless students that were killed off-screen and we’re just expected to care about, he’s broken over the loss of his wife, a character the audience has known for years and whose death justifies his anguish in a way we can connect with
Instead of having Luke’s “moment of weakness” reduced to almost killing his nephew for something he hasn’t even done yet and can easily prevent through redeeming him, Luke is shown in Sacrifice as being possessed by a moment of blind rage, where he hunts down the person he’s tried repeatedly to redeem several times and butchers her in cold blooded revenge.
And most fucking importantly, instead of shutting himself away out of the retarded belief that the Jedi way is to blame for his mistake, Luke in Inferno is shown shutting himself away because he feels like he’s defiled the Jedi Order and himself, taking bloodthirsty revenge as the Grandmaster of all people, thus anguished and disgusted with his own mistake.
This suits Luke’s character perfectly. It lends credence to the idea that only something as drastic as the murder of his wife would ever drive him back into the short-lived violent impulses he’d experienced onboard the Second Death Star as a young man…and repeating that mistake ignites the expected shame and revulsion for himself that you’d expect. Even if you look at it from the theme-huffing, cyclical pattern that the TLJ-Fellating portion of the Fandom is so obsessed with, it even mirrors the kind of shock-horror of Anakin killing the Tusken Raiders before him…only at a much later age, and in the face of all the wisdom and responsibility accepted from him. It’s not just “I’m a Jedi, I know I’m better than this”….it’s “I’m the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, the father to my son Ben, I should be better than this.”And instead of Luke vanishing to some Fuck Off Island, he remains with both the Order and his remaining family—which many Disney Drones would argue is less impactful than what happens in TLJ since it creates less consequence for Luke, but that’s not even close to what happens. The other Jedi take notice of Luke’s wounded and grief-ridden mindset and regard it with immense worry, often shielding him from his affairs and treat him with fragility, to his own anger and shame. It’s basically how the Knights Of The Round Table would gingerly treat King Arthur after his tragedy with Guinevere, with everyone nervous about approaching him in the anguished and detached state he’s slipped into…and having doubts about his stability and leadership, both out of fear for him and of him. Luke’s fellow Jedi regard him with the same kind of hesitance, coming to the pained belief that he’s starting to become delirious with grief and might not be suited for his Grandmaster duties. It’s the exact kind of miserable state that the ST was aiming for, but infinitely more realistic and in-character for everyone involved…Luke most importantly.
Much like in Tempest, Denning demonstrates that for all of the shit people fling at him online, he still understands the character of Luke Skywalker than any of the incompetent boobs over at LucasFilm.
But by far, my favorite scene in this entire book was the one that came out of absolutely nowhere and took me by complete surprise. After listening to his instincts and having concretely determined that Jacen was his mother’s killer, he tries and fails to backstab him through subterfuge…which Jacen not only sees through but attempts to economize. He begins fueling Ben’s hatred and treacherous intentions, once again obsessed with the idea of making him his Sith Apprentice…and after stopping his failed assassination attempt, he tries to alter Ben’s views trying to make him see clarity in the ways of the Force in the same way he did, years ago as a Yuuzhan Vong captive. Thus, in the dark bowels of his own capital ship, Jacen subjects him to the Embrace of Pain, just like Vergere before him. This was a chilling scene, one which I enjoyed every minute of: it was the ultimate tribute to NJO, the moment where Jacen breaks all of his reservations of brainwashing his cousin that he expressed in Tempest, now bent on breaking his cousin the same way he was…to redo the cycle of what happened to him. He even speaks with the same emotional reluctance that Vergere did, talking about how “he feels the same pain through the Force” and chiding him just like Vergere with utterances of: “How can you believe that this is what I want for you? I’m only doing what’s necessary…” . Jacen even sadly relates his experiences from Traitor as he agonizes Ben, admiring him for clinging to his sense of humor when he himself lost it after the first round of torture. I’m honestly shocked how anyone could say that LOTF ignores and feigns narrative amnesia to the events of NJO, when this scene literally exists. The scenario of NJO’s most beloved book, Traitor, is recreated in a more sinister context by the victim of those events, inflicting the same trauma and attempting to impart the same lessons. One could look at this and argue it as a scene that completely misunderstands the point of the torture scenes in Traitor, but I disagree: Vergere herself confessed that she was willing to do anything to groom Jacen into the destiny he was meant for, and that torture was the most optimal tool to get there. Morally speaking, there is absolutely no difference in the motivations and methods in both scenarios…it’s just that the writer here actually drops all pretenses of it not being morally reprehensible. This kind of scenario is being portrayed in the dark light it deserves, the ultimate personification of when someone’s mind is poisoned by the belief that all ends justify the means, no matter how appalling the latter are. Moreover, the point of scenes like this aren’t to show why Vergere’s teachings were wrong and that all of NJO was a waste of time; as I’ve written before, aspects of her philosophy do work if implemented properly, which is why they worked against the Yuuzhan Vong. But they can’t be followed through to their logical conclusion…something that Vergere herself, and now Jacen, demonstrate through using methods like torture. This scene also shows how terrifyingly cold and logically effective her teachings are, and how tempting they are to apply to a conflict like the Civil War. Ben swears constantly that he would never make the same choices Jacen has, that everlasting galactic peace isn’t worth crossing certain moral lines. But in typical pragmatic fashion, Jacen reminds Ben that he’s already broken several personal values just to make his revenge possible…that avenging Mara was so important that he was willing to do things that would shock and horrify her. Ben continues to scream that he’s nothing like Jacen, that he would never sacrifice family for the good of the galaxy…to which Jacen says:
“That’s the difference between you and me. I’m willing to carry the burden of those kind of sacrifices…and that’s why this is all necessary. To give you the strength to make the same choice…”
This is the twisted reality, the dark logical conclusion of Vergere’s teachings. It’s not enough for one person to be doing everything necessary…others must share that world view, that resolve, in order to maintain what has been accomplished. This is precisely why a compromise must be maintained between the pragmatism of someone like Vergere, and the moral boundaries of the Jedi. Jacen never learned that lesson, and empowered by his constant victories, he never will. All of this, and much more, is why I refuse to believe that this story arc, and Jacen’s actions within it, are in any way a retcon or rejection of NJO’s story.
The plot narrows down to an extremely satisfying conclusion: after five books of relentless teasing, of Luke trying exercising patience and understanding, we’re finally treated to the long-awaited confrontation between him and Jacen. Now, it’s not a result of him learning the truth of Jacen’s involvement in Mara’s murder, the authors are saving that juicy morsel for the final three books—but we do get Luke attacking him upon discovering his efforts to torture and brainwash his son, a perfectly-suitable motivation for someone of Luke’s character to finally break down and get involved. He’d already been wary of Jacen’s influence over Ben as the two of them grew closer over the previous books, stating several times that he wouldn’t show mercy if Jacen attempted anything on his son…so this was already staged, and not some Dark Side outburst on Luke’s part. Denning showcases his knack for fight scenes yet again, and I appreciate how like Traviss, he makes the fight grimy and unpleasant: bones snap, limbs are gashed open, hair is singed and eyes are nearly clawed out. It’s an inelegant, animalistic affair that has none of the grace or precision of the Prequel duels, which, just like in Sacrifice, is perfectly sensible: We’re seeing Luke’s furious defense of his son and Jacen’s boiling resentment for his old teacher culminate in their explosive collision, and this is precisely what it should look like. I also really appreciate how much of a physical trial of endurance Denning makes it seem, so that the combatants are on similar footing; unlike Kylo Ren, who gets beaten and outmatched like a little bitch…most appallingly, in the very first film he’s introduced…Denning works to establish how evenly-matched Jacen is with Luke, instead of completely rupturing the stakes he poses as the series’ threat by giving him the Kylo treatment and making him laughably unformidable. He also doesn’t make Jacen BTFO Luke, either—he has both of them struggling to dominate the other physically, leaving both in a broken, bleeding stalemate that’s only broken when Ben Skywalker interferes and incapacitates Jacen. And in typical Luke Skywalker fashion, he refuses to kill an enemy on their knees, and refuses to allow his son to kill Jacen out of revenge…which some could characterize as sappy, but I still consider logical for his character. It’s also logical from a pragmatic perspective, considering the in-universe shitstorm the Jedi Order would have to face for gutting the newly-elected Chief of State without any legal justification.
And this whole ordeal is finally punctuated when Tenel Ka, tearfully riddled with disbelief at what her spouse has done, appears to relinquish her fleet from Jacen’s command. We watch Jacen’s shock and anguish as finally, the one person who he was certain would never betray him, stands in allegiance with every friend and family member who’s turned their spite onto him. At long last, the consequences of his actions have caught up with him and have emotionally ravaged him. Jacen quietly retreats, knowing now that he has nothing left to return to when all of this has blown over, and that he has truly lost everything—even a happy relationship with Tenel Ka—to make a safe galaxy for her and his daughter. This small, harrowing moment is a testament to, I think, LOTF’s greatest narrative asset: to create a character who does despicable, treacherous, duplicitous and callous things, but you can never find yourself completely resenting…because of how well the authors have captured his perspective. To be honest, moments like this remind me of the way effective writers characterize complex but completely unjustifiable villains like X-Men’s Magneto, and how his cruel actions alienate and push away his own children, despite his best efforts to reconcile with them (and yes, I’m well aware that my avatar betrays that as a biased point of reference). Most importantly, unlike poor, misunderstood Kylo “Nothing-Is-Ever-My-Fault, Please-Pity-Me” Ren, the story actually has the balls to condemn Jacen as 100% wrong and incapable of being redeemed…but not without fighting tooth and nail to make the reader understand his perspective, and be emotionally invested in his downward spiral. A labor, I feel, the authors profoundly succeeded at.
However, as with all Troy Denning books, it isn’t perfect, and I have some complaints on some returning flaws of his. More specifically, the comedic elements. In preparation of reading this book, I gave a look to the Star Wars Insider interview Denning gave when promoting this book back in 2007, and a point he stressed is how he tried to apply “moments of humorous relief” in order to keep the tone from becoming unbearably bleak. Well, it turns out “moments of humorous relief” ended up translating to Denning reviving his stupid fucking Sollustian-Ewok Comedy Duo from his Dark Nest novels. For the love of God, why??? What possessed Denning to think we needed more scenes with them? They were unbearably-unfunny in every scene they wrecked in Dark Nest, and are even stupider here—the fucking Kashyyyk comedy sketch was unbearable, and while it thankfully only lasted one chapter (as opposed to bleeding over into the entire story arc like their comedy did in Dark Nest), it was still something I had to just grit my teeth and endure. Worse yet, is that it never comes back for the rest of the book—you could easily cut that scene out, and the rest of the plot would function like normal…better, even. So why didn’t someone at Del Rey tell Denning to leave his autistic alien comedy gang out of the novel, or at least edit this scene out? Granted, this minor lapse in unwanted humor is brief, and it’s nowhere near as big of a problem as it is in Aaron Alliston’s contributions (most notably Exile), where the comedy is a fucking death sentence to the tonal consistency of the entire book. But it’s still a problem, one I hope Denning dials down in his later books. Jesus Christ.
A far more potent problem is that for all of his strengths—good plotting, and excellent character interactions—his prose style is still the weakest of the three authors. When it comes to describing scenes and having internal character motivations play out, he’s mostly decent…but other times, it tends to whizz by, often portraying events without changing the tone of the writing. What he’ll often do is stage a scene or encounter for the characters, but won’t augment the tension or tone of the prose around what they’re doing…often relegating the description to something incredibly brief, or unfulfilling. The scene where Tahiri and Leia duel is a prime example of this—the dialogue and character exchanges are good, but the way that the fight is described is terrible. It’s just descriptions of Han watching the two of them flail limbs and rip at each other’s hair, almost characterizing it as a comedic catfight. I don’t think that’s what Denning was going for tonally at all, but he describes the fight in such brevity and without detail or nuance, that the scene feels rushed. It honestly reminded me of how Tsavong Lah’s death was written in Destiny’s Way. Plotwise fine, but characterized and written so non-chalantly and with such brevity, it’s almost a “blink-and-you-miss-it” moment…which is certainly not the gravitas or impact such a moment needs, especially the death of a long-running mountainous threat to the protagonists. This duel with Tahiri and Leia felt the same, and was just as unsatisfying. It’s honestly surprising, because Denning also wrote Tempest, which was almost completely devoid of this problem, and overall consistent in its quality…but here, it actually became a problem. Now, this kind of thing doesn’t happen often in Inferno…and the scenes I’ve highlighted like the scenes with Jacen and Luke are completely free from this problem…but it’s something that does create issues, and I’d be remiss not to mention them.
On the whole, however, Inferno is a great read, and delivered many of the things I had been looking forward to in a wholly-satisfying way. In the hands of a lesser writer, Ben finally turning against Jacen, and Luke’s agonizingly-teased confrontation with him could’ve felt anticlimactic, but Denning nonetheless delivered both of them in a way that was actually specactular…while making use of characters that have been criminally underused in the previous books, like Jaina Solo and Tahiri Veila. Everything that the series has been teasing since the beginning is starting to unfurl, and Denning does an excellent job at creating the ensuing confrontations and dramatic plot threads, in a way that feels in-character for everyone. Just for everything that transpires in this book, I would easily place this as my third favorite book in the series (after the two Traviss books I’ve read thus far). I think the plot and character interactions overall are even better than Denning’s previous efforts on Tempest, even though I’d argue it’s not quite as well-written as that one.
Which now puts me onto the last three novels of the series, starting with the return of Aaron Alliston, who I pray to God actually dials back his humor this time around. This final stretch will prove to be the most critical for determining my final impressions of LOTF; for while the series as a whole has impressed far and above my expectations, it would be a massive, shameful blunder by the writers to spoil a story arc of this quality with an anticlimactic or disastrous ending.
I’ve passed most of the controversial thresholds of this series with no problems…but even I won’t forgive a lousy end note.
