“Star Wars: Episode 7 The Force Awakens”comes out in 314 days (Dec. 18) and will finally reveal the fallout from the destruction of the second Death Star and the fates of beloved “Star Wars” Original Trilogy characters like Luke, Leia, and Han. But while “Star Wars: Episode 7 The Force Awakens” will be our first on-screen look at these characters since the 1983 release of “Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi,” the “Star Wars” Expanded Universe (now relegated to “Star Wars Legends” by Disney) has already plotted a rich future for the Rebel Alliance after the Battle of Endor. Most famous is the seminal “Star Wars” book series known as The Thrawn Trilogy.
The Thrawn Trilogy of novels (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command), by Timothy Zahn, will not be the basis of “Star Wars: Episode 7 The Force Awakens,” but it remains one of the most consequential stories in the “Star Wars” Expanded Universe. Sure, it may not be official “Star Wars” continuity anymore, but there’s no way Disney and J.J. Abrams didn’t take a close look at The Thrawn Trilogy while developing “Star Wars 7.”
With that in mind, let’s read The Thrawn Trilogy together and imagine the “Star Wars” sequels that could have been.
“Star Wars: Episode 7 The Force Awakens” That Could Have Been
The Thrawn Trilogy
Heir to the Empire
Chapter 4
In this week’s chapter of Heir to the Empire:
Captain Petilleon and Grand Admiral Thrawn meet a Dark Jedi
We learn that the Dark Side of The Force is more powerful than we could have imagined
Emperor Palpatine’s safe deposit box is opened
Other "Star Wars 7" Book Club Chapters:
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens That Could Have Been, Thrawn Trilogy Chapter 1
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens That Could Have Been, Thrawn Trilogy Chapter 2
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens That Could Have Been, Thrawn Trilogy Chapter 3
Last time we visited the “Star Wars” galaxy of The Thrawn Trilogy Talon Kardde was chatting it up with Captain Pellaeon while Mara Jade sat around doing nothing. Pellaeon and Thrawn have moved on from Myrkyr with the Force-repelling ysalamiri creatures in tow. Chapter 4 finds the Imperial Officers taking a shuttle down to Wayland to uncover Emperor Palpatine’s secret stash. There they meet Jorus C’baoth, a Dark Jedi master who tries to kill Thrawn and Pellaeon by imitating a normal guy, like the evil inverse of Yoda’s initial deception on Dagobah. Soon enough Jorus C’baoth has joined up with our bad guys, plus they picked up a secret spaceship cloaking device and a mysterious plot widget from the secret storeroom of the dead Emperor Palpatine.
A New "Star Wars" Dark Jedi
Jorus C’baoth and his introduction radically expands our understanding of Dark Jedi in the “Star Wars” universe. C’baoth busts out lightning powers, knocks laser blasts out of the sky with Force-pushed rocks, and earns his position as the Imperial strong-arm to match Grand Admiral Thrawn’s tactical mind and Captain Pellaeon’s, uh, really Force-chokable neck? I’m not really sure what he’s good for other than to have the kind of stuffy bureaucrat dickhead we expect to find on “Star Wars” Star Destroyers.
Other new “Star Wars” revelations brought about by the appearance of our first “Star Wars” Expanded Universe Dark Jedi include a new understanding of Emperor Palpatine’s incredible power. It seems that Palpatine was not just seducing Luke Skywalker to the Dark Side during the Battle of Endor in “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.” Turns out the evils in the “Star Wars” universe aren’t enabled just by the cult of fear and power around Palpatine and Vader, but from widespread Force manipulation. Thrawn breaks the truth to Pellaeon (who apparently imagined himself as a tactical genius up until this point), explaining that it was the “Emperor’s mind that provided you with strength and resolve and efficiency. You were as dependent on that presence as if you were all borg-implanted into a combat computer.”
The revelation of the Emperor’s incredible power is one of the few genuine pleasures of The Thrawn Trilogy so far. It takes the “Star Wars” Expanded Universe in the direct opposite direction of the “Star Wars” Prequel Trilogy, building a more spiritual understanding of The Force instead of blowing it apart with midi-chlorians and blood tests. With this power in Thrawn’s corner the Imperial fleet is beginning to feel like a genuine threat, especially against The Thrawn Trilogy’s lame Han “bureaucrat” Solo and Luke Crywalker.
"Star Wars" Prequel Canon vs. "The Thrawn Trilogy"
Chapter 4 of the “Star Wars” Thrawn Trilogy also features our very first direct conflict between Expanded Universe “Star Wars” canon and “Star Wars” movie canon (at least, the first that I’ve noticed). It seems that Dark Jedi Jorus C’baoth is not the original, but a crazed clone from an alternate “Star Wars” Clone Wars that involves rampant Jedi clone-madness instead of worthless CGI Jango Fetts.
While I’ve mostly had criticism for The Thrawn Trilogy so far, and remain perfectly happy to relegate the “Star Wars” Expanded Universe to non-canonicity, the mythology building in Timothy Zahn’s Expanded Universe “Star Wars” Thrawn Trilogy is a better extension of the “Star Wars” Original Trilogy mythology than the “Star Wars” Prequel Trilogy. Now all Zahn has to do is tell a good story with it. We’ll find out if he succeeds in the coming weeks, as we get closer to the release of “Star Wars: Episode 7 The Force Awakens” and experience more of the “Star Wars: Episode 7” that could have been.
Are you reading along with me? Read The Thrawn Trilogy before? Believe this isn’t a golden age of science fiction that? Would prefer to talk about “Star Trek”? Let me know in the comments or at @AndWhalen.
Other "Star Wars 7" Book Club Chapters:
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens That Could Have Been, Thrawn Trilogy Chapter 1
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens That Could Have Been, Thrawn Trilogy Chapter 2
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens That Could Have Been, Thrawn Trilogy Chapter 3
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens That Could Have Been, Thrawn Trilogy Chapter 4
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens That Could Have Been, Thrawn Trilogy Chapter 5
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens That Could Have Been, Thrawn Trilogy Chapter 6 and 7
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens That Could Have Been, Thrawn Trilogy Chapter 8 and 9
