Star Wars EU Retrospect

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BBadolato said:
So you don't need to make Carnor Jax particularly 'complex' although not being an idiotic Imperial leader in the Legends/EU continuity is a bar so low it might as be in Hell, although how you want to square that circle of competent Imperial who either doesn't defect but isn't the off-brand Thrawn according to Thrawn-stans is up to you.
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The main thing is they have very different areas of competence. Thrawn is good at tactics, strategy, and showmanship. Carnor Jax is good at skullduggery and hands-on work; which is actually one of the areas Thrawn is weakest, unconventional assets were the ones he had the least understanding of. Carnor has a fairly good job of politics in figuring out what groups are threats and how to square the circle (who to eliminate if he needs them gone, or how to pressure them in line), while Thrawn's politics are more about figuring out how to grow his position within the system and handling rivals either through deals or out-clouting them, getting them to recognize it benefits them to follow his lead. Thrawn makes himself a very public figure, while Carnor is a very shadowy figure. Thrawn doesn't really get the force, viewing it as a bag of powers, while Carnor does.

Thrawn's a space guy, Jax is a ground guy. We never see Thrawn do much army stuff, but Imperial Guard have shown to be very effective in those fights.


Thinking about it, they're kinda opposites in the ways they're competent. Which has some interesting potential.
 
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Well, here's something interesting to discuss, maybe?

www.tumblr.com

Rogue_Telemetry

#LISTEN I HAVE HEARD AND AGREE WITH ALL THE POINTS MADE #ABOUT HOW THE ORIGINAL FIGHT WAS PERFECT #OBI-WAN SPENT 20 YEARS IN THE DESERT #ANAKIN WAS PROBABLY QUIETLY TERRIFIED #ON A LEVEL HE COULDN’T…
www.tumblr.com www.tumblr.com
 
I'm not sure what this has to do with the EU at all, but whatever I'll bite.

And I disagree completely. Flashy saber twirls were ok for Obi-Wan when he was younger, but he's a Wise Old Master now. There's no need for such theatrics. And he probably wasn't even trying to "win" anyway, just buying time and/or only fighting because his hand was forced. Hence his eventual sacrifice.

Since we've already skipped out on the EU for this tangent I'm just going to bring up Obi-Wan vs. Maul in Rebels and how utterly perfect that was - a scene that might have been cool with a flashy saber battle but was infinitely better the way they did it.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeG215-yu-k
 
oh no, it's SC38 Reimagined, the blueprint for basically every terrible lightsabre fight in disneycanon. like, every time i see that thing or its many hideous progeny i just want to grab the choreographer(s) and yell "watch some kendo bouts, you fools! watch HEMA!" while slapping them over the head with a Dark Empire tpb.
fuckin' hate that hack-and-slash shit; haven't they heard that brevity is the soul of good action scenes?
 
Not to be too predictable, but I found the Obi-Wan/Maul rematch to be kinda dull and trying too hard to be Profound™. It probably didn't help that the episode leading up to it was a whole load of nothing surrounding a non-character IMO.
 
I've seen that redone Episode IV fight scene between Obi-Wan and Vader twice... and I admire the work put into it, but it just does NOT fit the movie, nor do I find it to be superior to the original.
 
Most of the way through Dark Rendezvous and I'm also well into the second Kotor omni. Enjoying the former a lot (I feel like there are some missed opportunities, particularly as there's a Whie/Dooku parallel on offer which Stewart doesn't reach for, but the core of it is solid) and hey, finally actually found a mention of the Agri-Corps in a Star Wars book or comic! Also enjoying Zayne's adventures and especially the Gryph, as well as the clear antecedents for the Mantis crew (much as these guys are their own people, just as Cal and co aren't just knock-offs). Particularly tickled to be realise that Jarael is practically a namesake for one of my CalMerrin fankids.
 
Overall I like Dark Rendezvous, though I think the Padawan stuff might've hit a little harder and some things could've been tied together a little tighter. The core stuff with Yoda was good and strong, however, and that's the key bit.
 
Finished up the Kotor omnis, had lots of fun. Are there any subsequent comics I ought to read, or am I best getting straight onto Knight Errant and then the novel?
 
If going through the comics chronologically, you could probs head straight into the weirdness of Knight Errant. Alternatively, you can go right ahead into Star Wars (1998), or Republic as it was later titled after 2002, arguably the next stage in Dark Horse's main series of SW runs.
 
Yeah, just in total, the Dark Horse series mostly goes:
  • Knights of the Old Republic
  • Star Wars (1998) + Jedi Council: Acts of War -> Republic + Jedi one-shots (Yoda, Mace Windu, Shaak Tii, etc.)
  • Purge
  • Dark Times
  • Empire -> Rebellion: Cut short to make way for new '08 Clone Wars monthly and the Invasion series (See below)
  • Legacy
  • Optional to the Run
    • Tales of the Jedi: To supply background for some events in KotOR
    • Darth Vader stories (Lost Command, Ghost Prison, Ninth Assassin, etc.): Nods to some stories from Republic and Purge, set up for others in the Empire series
    • Agent of the Empire: A few follow-ups and cameos from earlier comics
    • Star Wars (2013): Short-lived run, written just before D-Canon, disconnected from every other comic
    • Rogue Squadron: Sets up the Stackpole/Allston novels, was published alongside them
    • Dark Empire: For all its fame and infamy, largely unconnected to anything but...
    • Crimson Empire: Follow up on Dark Empire threads, but mostly solo storyline
    • Invasion: Sidestory to New Jedi Order during the early Vong war; ends on cliffhanger, possibly due to D-Canon
 
The Englanderish said:
I would strongly recommend Tales of the Jedi - very high myth and if you like the pre-films type of stuff then it's a must. Set prior to the KOTOR comic (and published about 10 years earlier).
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I am also seriously contemplating those.

Happily, Kotor has given me a few titbits to play with for the fic where my OCs get sucked onto a crisis on Mandalore.
 
RK_Striker_JK_5 said:
I love Tales of the Jedi. One of my favorite bits of the EU.
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Arguably, the most important SW comic ever written.

Sure, Dark Empire was iconic, and Dark Horse's 2002-2006 comics expanded heavily on various eras, but TotJ created a whole entire new setting for Star Wars, an antiquity era in space. No matter how different Bioware's Old Republic stories would get, Tales would always linger heavily in the background. Not to mention, this came out in 1993. We didn't even know what the Clone Wars looked like, and we had this wild new era thousands of years before the first film.
 

@bluntblade

Behold Sith that aren't dressed in black, red, silver, or just red and black.

But in all seriousness. Tales of the Jedi, (The real one, aka the comic series and not the Dooku and Ahsoka show) covers a whole range of events, and the aesthetic might be wild, but damn does it go places
 
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