Star Wars

I assume he forgot about the part where Qui-Gon sent Anakin's mom some ship part before dieing, forgot what it was called, that her husband was able trade to Watto to free her?

But the Jedi are Lawful Stupid jerkasses. Well-meaning ones, of course, but that doesn't change the fact that the organization, if not individual Jedi Knights, are phenomenally stupid.

In fact, The Clone Wars is the only recent medium which portrays Prequel Jedi as being anywhere close to reasonable.

Well, I get the impression that Jason Fry might not have read Tatooine Ghost. Either that, or he was just focusing on the six movies, and nothing else. His article might have some flaws in it, but he does some interesting points either way.

I thought it was pretty cool how in the Star Wars book Apocalypse, you have Troy Denning essentially admit through the characters that things have gotten too Grimdark, the Force still does not seem to be balanced, and that this really needs to change! Whatever you might think of T.D., at least he was honest enough to admit that the Darker and Edgier approach to S.W. has gone too far and it needs to be fixed!

The funny thing about "balance to the Force" is how the fans have noticed that it doesn't seem to be balanced, even after the movies. George Lucas apparently takes the approach that the six films are the only works of the franchise that are canon, and that the story begins and ends with the films, and the Force got balanced in the last film. The End.

Of course, a number of us take the approach that "life goes on" and that even though the six films were Anakin Skywalker's story, the franchise did not end with the character's death! In fact, Ascended Fridge Horror ensued in the books, because a number of smart folks pointed out that the war and the Empire did not end in Palpatine and Vader's deaths, and the books happily explored what happened afterwards. Then it also goes into the whole Jedi vs. Sith conflict, and while Darth Bane's Sith Order certainly upset the balance of the Force, other Sith took its place once it got destroyed. So I guess the question is this: what would you consider balance of the Force?

edited 13th Apr '12 10:58:49 AM by TiggersAreGreat

My response would be: Who gives a crap about balance in the Force? The Jedi and Sith just end up killing billions over it. It's a retarded philosophy all around.

The way I took it was that things were in balance by the end of the movies, but actually keeping it in balance is an ongoing process. One that isn't going so well it seems like.

Apocalypse and the Mortis Arc in the Clone Wars seem to imply much the same thing.

Yeah, Luke Skywalker is beginning to think that his son Ben might become the Daughter (and by extension, the Jedi in general) and Vestara might become the Son (and by extension, the Sith in general). Holy Gender-Flipping, Batman!

The Mortis Arc had the Son and the Daughter, whose roles are Captain Obvious (I hope). The Father was also there to act as the mediator between them. I wonder who's going to act as mediator between the Jedi and Sith?

I wouldn't go that far with the roles the Family had. It was how they were connected to the force. Abeloth tried to force Ben and Vestara into these roles but that doesn't mean it has to be necessary this format to maintain balance.

Sith and Jedi must find their own way to hold the balance between them, which will be themselves. Sith trying to prevent giving in the baser (destructive) nature of the dark side and Jedi trying to prevent becoming Lawful Stupid again.

edited 14th Apr '12 9:07:14 AM by 3of4

Anyone else think that they really need to get a better year dating system in the galaxy? Sure, the B/ABY system is helpful from an out-of-universe perspective, but it seems to have little point from an in-universe one, unless the point was making the New Republic look like egomaniacs.

Well, the ABY/BBY system is built around a pretty epochal event. I doubt anyone wants to use the founding of the Republic (25,053 BBY) as Year One. The end year of the Legacy comics would be 25,191 After founding). There's also the "Great Resynchronization," which sets Year One as 35 BBY, but that kind of loses relevance since Republic dating systems are no longer used. Same goes for setting the Treaty of Coruscant's signing, 3,653 BBY, as Year One.

Plus, both the Empire and the Alliance are pretty ashamed of Palpatine, so I doubt anyone wants to commemorate his ascension, 19 BBY, as Year One.

It's simply the best and simplest option.

A better one would be the end of the New Sith Wars, 1000 BBY. Then, Endor would be 1004 and the end of Legacy would be 1138, and Luke Skywalker's birth would be 981.

edited 15th Apr '12 12:45:00 PM by CrimsonZephyr

1000 BBY was the Ruusan Reformation, and I was thinking that would be a better Year One, too. I dunno, the Battle of Yavin system just sort of says to me "Hi, we're the new government, and we're going to have this glorious battle we won be the centerpoint of all galactic history!" Sort of creepy and North Korea/Robespierre's France-ish, no? I think I read that Palpatine used his appointment as Emperor as Year One when he was in power (the dates given as Before and After New Order), so, yeah, they definitely had to get rid of that. The Battle of Endor would also be better than the Battle of Yavin, I think.

EDIT: Also, I don't think I've ever seen this viewpoint before. Legacy Of The Force better than Darth Plagueis? Takes all sorts, I guess...

edited 15th Apr '12 1:20:14 PM by HamburgerTime

Well, seeing as our own calendar sets as Year One the alleged birth year of a guy only some people believe to be the Son of God, it's not so bad. When calendars are reset by revolutionary governments, it's creepy. When it's done by a religious authority, it's a-okay, but the truth is, there's nothing inherently wrong with choosing the Battle of Yavin over any other date.

Oh, and while I'm not much of a fan of PT era works (whenever Palpatine enters a room, the ten nearest people drop 100 points in IQ), it's very hard to be worse than LOTF. Each author had their really bad points and few good points.

edited 15th Apr '12 3:09:56 PM by CrimsonZephyr

Fun fact (okay, everybody probably knows this): said birth year is actually erroneous. The calendar was compiled by some monk or other trying to determine the date of Jesus's birth by counting the Roman Emperors backward. Thing is, he forgot one of the really obscure ones, so the date he came up[ with was at least four years too late. He was also more likely born in the autumn than the winter.

If they weren't huge Karen Traviss fans I might consider agreeing with them.

edited 15th Apr '12 3:25:21 PM by doineedaname

That's why I added "alleged." It makes any statement with dubious historicity legit.

And that monk probably got confused by the 3rd century — a few times, they had multiple emperors ruling during overlapping, but not synchronous periods.

edited 15th Apr '12 3:41:24 PM by CrimsonZephyr

The destruction of the Second Death Star might be better as a new Year 0, not only does it involve the destruction of an imperial hyper-weapon, it involves both the death of Darth Vader, and the (temporary) death of the emperor. Oh, and it's the first time the Rebels won a straight-up, face-to-face battle against an Imperial fleet.

edited 16th Apr '12 1:36:08 AM by MattII

Yeah, but Yavin was implied to be their first ever major victory, when the Galaxy started taking them seriously, so it's not like the event isn't without significance.

Once Luke dies, they might as well set Year One as 19 BBY anyway. I mean, he's as good as Space!Jesus by this point.

Yeah, but it's generally the really public victories that get talked about, Tobruk and Coral Sea were firsts as well, but they often get forgotten in regard to El Alamein (actually the Second Battle of El Alamein) and Midway. Why? because the latter two weren't just victories, they were punishments, they were big, important, and broke the enemy.

This picture◊ is badass.

But...strangely lacking in context. Who are they?

It's from Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side, I believe.

EDIT: Wookieepedia image description: "The masterminds of the underworld are merely puppets of the Sith in their Grand Plan.◊".

edited 18th Apr '12 7:41:26 AM by MangaManiac

It's just a metaphorical picture showing everything the Sith control.

You know, now that the Legacy comics are over, I hope that the One Sith end up being absolutely terrible infiltrators. I mean, they all wear evil red full body tattoos. It's be a nice change from "evil Sith infiltrate government, corrupt it from within." It's a tired story that relies on protagonists being idiotic.

^ Most of the SWEU relies on Lawful Stupid (or some times just plain stupid) protagonists.

edited 18th Apr '12 9:34:36 AM by Nohbody

Because they try to tell the same exact story with the serial numbers filed off.