Agreed. \'Nuff said.
Mara Jade had a major characterization problem in that, being often the only female character besides Leia, she tended to have her traits and skills vary wildly depending on whatever each author wanted the \"token woman\" on the team to do. So I don\'t really see her as having \"more character development and depth than Rey\" because it varied from book to book. Rey at least has been pretty consistent in her characterization and arc throughout the films.
@Tuckerscreator I don't really agree, at least as far as the Thrawn Trilogy is concerned and this is just a review of the Thrawn Trilogy, not other Legacy novels and to be honest while I love TTT in regards to the other Legacy series the only ones I'm familiar with, outside of TTT, is Luke and Mara's wedding, The Clone Wars, a few Boba Fett stories and Knights of the Old Republic. So, yeah, I can't really speak about Mara's characterization outside of TTT and her wedding with Luke and just within the former I felt that she has a much better character arc then Rey did in the resent films.
As for Rey being more consistent then Mara, that's easy to say when she's only appeared in two movies in which next to nothing has been revealed about her and I'm not just talking about her parents. Most of Rey's character is shown to us in her first scene in the movie but after two movies with over 5 hours of screen time between them we have learned nothing about her. Why does she want to find her parents, how does her becoming a Jedi tie into her finding her parents, why is everyone she meets so enamored with her, why is Ren so obsessed with her. Why does she so easily forgive Ren after he tried to kill her, killed Han right in front of her and put her only friend, Finn, in a coma?
It took Luke a year to process his feelings on Vader being his father and it also took Mara a year to grow to see Luke as a friend but Rey did it in either a weekend or a day, I think, the time line for Last is very unclear. Mara's journey to overcome her hatred for Luke was something she had to work out and was gradual and as such it felt natural and it was a few years, out of universe at least, for the two to fall in love with each other. Meanwhile Rey and Ren were pretty ready to elope after barely knowing each other.
Again, I am only comparing with the Legacy stories I have ready and in TTT alone Mara has more character development, more depth and is, for me at least, more relatable as she is more flawed and human then Rey has been throughout her entire run in the series so far. Maybe that will change but right now she is just someone who is an Instant Expert in everything she does, is loved by everyone she meets and has no real flaws. While Mara is a flawed, with her powers being rather inconsistent due to The Emperor controlling her powers for most of her life and had to earn the trust of most of the cast with the exception of Luke who saw the good in her and wanted to help her.
But that's just my opinion and you are free to disagree with me.
Here\'s how I read it in regards to Rey.
Why does she want to find her parents
Because of her harsh life on Jakku, she kept trying to convince herself that hope for a better life would be coming in the form of her parents returning, trying to ignore the actual truth that they were dead and sold her because they never cared about her.
how does her becoming a Jedi tie into her finding her parents
It doesn\'t; it\'s the opposite. Rey turns down offers to join Han\'s crew and then to take up Luke\'s saber because she doesn\'t want to abandon her dream of her family returning. Even after she initially defeats Kylo Ren in TFA, she still thinks it\'s Luke\'s responsibility to save the galaxy while she would return back to her home. Only by accepting the past is dead and to move on does she become a true Jedi.
why is everyone she meets so enamored with her
Debatable. Han doesn\'t really care much for her until he sees some of her technical skill, and Luke does his best to annoy her when they first meet. It\'s only Finn and Rey that really admire her, and neither have had a normal upbringing or any friends.
why is Ren so obsessed with her
He\'s not exactly a healthy guy and is fascinated by her Force potential. In a way, he\'s emulating how Snoke drew him in.
Why does she so easily forgive Ren after he tried to kill her, killed Han right in front of her and put her only friend, Finn, in a coma?
By the time that Rey starts to come around to Kylo, she\'s been connected to the Dark Side of the Force multiple times, both through the mental link with Kylo and her intrusion into the cave. Thus her discipline began to weaken, same as Snoke wore down Kylo\'s.
I see.... *sigh* sad thing is, you're right for most of the review, based on what I heard and could collect about the Thrawn Trilogy... and once again, you dropped the ball by having unrealistic expectations.
There is no way they'll reboot their current trilogy, and even less chance they adapt the Thrawn Trilogy. It's 20 years too late for that, and that's just not something you do. Plus, there would be more backlash than you think. While I agree personally with what you say, the Disney Trilogy does have its fans.
Oh I\'m not saying that it doesn\'t and I don\'t begrudge anyone who enjoys them. But as for having unrealistic expectations, I know a reboot of 7 through 9 will likely never happen, but given that Star Wars just introduced time travel into it\'s canon in Rebels there could very well be a canon reboot like DC\'s Crisis on Infinite Earths. Will it happen, probably not but then Disney said they would never bring ANY of the Legacy characters into their canon and then Legacy characters have been popping up in the last few years.
So this really isn\'t as unrealistic as you might think, but I know this might never happen, at least not for a couple more years. But given that Solo might actually bomb at the Box Office, the poor fan reception of The Last Jedi and Kathleen Kennedy\'s decline with the fans and Hollywood\'s need to reboot anything and everything that even slightly under preforms it\'s at the very least probable.
but given that Star Wars just introduced time travel into it's canon in Rebels
.... They did? I really need to check that series out at some point.
And yeah, I see your point, but even if they somehow did make a reboot using time travel (which I doubt they will, as this would just make a simple franchise confusing for the audience), why would they adapt a story that already exists in book form and is already popular to the point so many fans know about it? People who read the Extended Universe would know in advance everything that happens into it, while people who didn't will just be left wondering why the heck the franchise completely changed like this.
And yes, I know some franchises did do a reboot in the middle, such as X-Men. But that doesn't mean every franchise can afford that sort of thing.
Agree with pretty much everything this review says. If George had chosen to adapt these books in the 90s instead of making the prequel trilogy, the Star Wars brand and the world as a whole would be in a better place.
@Kevjro 7 I actually like the Prequel Trilogy and without it we would never have gotten both The Clone Wars series and it\'s also possible that we may never have gotten Knights of the Old Republic and with it Mass Effect and Dragon Age. Also, the Prequels, in my honest opinion, makes the Thrawn Trilogy even better because while TTT is a direct sequel to the Original Trilogy it is also, however unintentionally, a Spiritual Successor to the Prequels.
Both are Political Thrillers, Coruscant is a major location in both Trilogies, both have a Chest Master as a Major villain but most importantly Mara\'s Journey is a Perfect contrast to Anakin\'s in the Prequels. Anakin starts off as someone who Hero Worships the Jedi but because of his desire to protect his loved ones ends working with the Emperor and up falling to the dark side while Mara is someone who hates the only known living Jedi only to join him to protect the people she has come to see has her true family. With the Prequels and TTT the series actually comes full circle and ties into Lucas\' idea of the series Rhyming with certain themes and ideas without repeating itself.
By contrast, The Disney Sequel Trilogy, now that Rise of Skywalker is out, is a weak retread of the Original Trilogy that does everything in its power to render the first two Trilogies pointless. Rey\'s arc is just Luke\'s only without any sort of development, Kylo is just Darth Vader with a bit of Edward Cullen thrown in and so on.
In short, I like the Prequels, flawed as they are, and feel that they make the series better and manage to thematically tie up the Trilogy of Trilogies with TTT, while TDST is a weak retread that will likely be forgotten when the next big thing comes around. And hopefully that will be an Adaptation of TTT.
@The Msaquerade Liking the Prequels is fine, and I had no intention of making you or anyone else feel bad for liking them. As a matter of fact, Revenge is my favorite Star Wars movie. However, the backlash towards them started the chain of events that led to George Lucas selling his company, and the Disney Trilogy making all previous films completely pointless, not to mention the fandom civil wars and general hatred they spawned that are still a problem to this day. If the Thrawn Trilogy had film adaptations made in the 90s, we would have gotten sequels that did not make all the previous films pointless, and there would be more positivity and unity as a whole in the fanbase. That is what I meant about both Star Wars and the world being in a better place if TTT adaptations were made instead of the prequels: no pointless films in hindsight, and more positive fandom interactions in general.
As a side note, there is a chance that the Knights of the Old Republic games might have still existed in some if the prequels weren\'t made, but we\'ll never know without hindsight.
Also, there is a You Tuber currently in the process of making an \"Heir to the Empire\" fan-film, and at the time of this typing, the first three chapters have been animated. You can find it with a quick google search if you\'re interested.
@Kevjro 7, In regards to the backlash of the Prequels leading to Lucas selling Star Wars then the hype from TTT should also be held accountable. It was TTT that made Star Wars popular again, which led to a renewed interest in fans wanting more Star Wars film, which led Lucas wanting to make more films, which led to the creation of the Prequels. The chain of events started back in 1991 when Heir of the Empire got everyone interested in the Galaxy Far, Far Away again.
And as much as I love TTT and still feel that a film adaptation is coming there\'s no guarantee that an adaptation of TTT instead of the Prequels would have prevented the Disney buyout. The issues with the Disney Era of Star Wars is the same issues that occurred with DC\'s New 52 and Star Trek: Enterprise, the higher ups were scarred that the franchise was in danger so made a bunch of changes to save it that only resulted in the series being in a worse state then when they tried to \"Save\" it.
The problem with the Disney Era is this, Disney wanted to \"Fix\" the franchise so they kept \"Fixing\" it until it was thoroughly broken just like DC did with The New 52 and Star Trek did with Enterprise and for the same reason. Higher ups who have no understanding of storytelling try to tell a story who try to substitute character and plot with nostalgia and product placement.
As for the Heir to the Empire YT web series, I\'ve seen it and I do like it but I feel that the pacing is rather slow and the animation is rather off putting. Not bad but TBH I prefer the Comic Adaptation of TTT. At this point the only thing we can do is to vote with our wallets, I didn\'t see Rise of Skywalker and I have no interest to for as long as I can. I do think that a proper film adaptation of TTT is coming especially with the supposed hiatus with the films that Disney is going for, (which I think is going to be a 10 year long hiatus) which is more then enough time for someone to come in a go, \"Hey, maybe we should try to adapt the Thrawn Trilogy.\"
Regardless I thank for your comment and am glad we can both agree that TTT is an amazing story that deserves all the love and attention it gets. :)
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Better Than Canon
There really isn't any nice way to say this, The Thrawn Trilogy is Better than The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi (Episode 9 TBJ). Heir to the Empire is easily better than TFA and Dark Force Rising, while slow in places, is a Hell of a lot better than TLJ. TTT manages to avoid pretty much all the issues the The Disney Sequel Trilogy have run into by having each chapter of the trilogy tell a engaging story that feels like Star Wars that, while doing the whole Rhyme thing that Lucas included in the series, still told stories that were unique and different from the original trilogy.
To cover all the major points quickly as I only have 3000 characters here's the Short SHORT version!!!
Mara Jade. She has more character development and depth in Heir alone then Rey does in the entirety of Awakens and TLJ. Her relationship with Luke is more fleshed out and she actually earns the role of Hero while all Rey does is download all her skills from Kylo Ren's brain.
Thrawn and C'Baoth are much more intimidating and complex villains than every member of The First Order who are all just less interesting versions of more popular Star Wars villains. There's a reason that Thrawn is still remembered and love even 20 years later despite only appearing in only a handful of stories in the SW Original EU to the point that fans cheered when he was revealed to be in Star Wars Rebels.
NO BODY IS STUPID!!! You remember that line from Spaceballs when Dark Helmet nearly killed Lonstar? "Evil will always triumph. Because Good is Dumb." Well it looks like he was right as everything that goes wrong in the series was the result all our heroes doing incresingly stupid things that they wouldn't normally do because we had to have the bad guys win somehow.
The plot of TTT is pretty much the heroes now have to fight for the Happy Ending they won from the Original Trilogy and everyone, from Luke to Thrawn, don't do stupid things just to advance the plot, don't rely on Deus Ex Machina's to save the day and are instead actually cleaver. The reason Thrawn avoids the title of Mary Sue is because all of his conclusions are the result of analyzing the situations and coming the most logical conclusion and the heroes respond in kind. In fact Luke and Mara find themselves working without their powers and have to rely on their wits and each other to get out of situations which makes for much more compelling stories.
In short this is the real Sequel Trilogy and I hold out hope that Disney will just reboot their side of the Stories, (minus Rebels) and just adapt The Thrawn Trilogy. I am 100% certain that if they did that the ONLY negative feedback would be the new actors playing Luke, Han, Leia and Lando.