Was Chewie's death done well In Vector Prime?

Yes, I felt it was done very well.

 

He died in style. Thats all you can ask for.

 

He died. Thats all you can ask for.

Nah, really. Its just so funny people still are up tight about his death.

 

The whole set up was contrived.
The moon falling business had no place in a Star Wars novel, it was pure "B" movie shlock.
It was a senseless death, poorly done. IMO

 

Hi DS.....

And it looks worse as the series continues doesn't it!!

 

If he had to go, that was the way... in a blaze of glory!

 

The way his death was depicted in the comic book somehow hit me much harder than the actual VP death. Maybe seeing it made it more 'real', y'know?

 

Darth_Wahl, how do you see being in the wrong place at the wrong time as "in a blaze of glory!"? There is nothing glorious about having a moon drop on your head.

I think, if Chewy had to die (and I really don't think he, or any other main, "needed" to die) a much more meaningful death for EU fans would have been Chewy stepping in front of a blaster meant for Han or one of the kids. A nice literary echo from Paradise Snare. But since, for unfathomable reasons, LFL/DR decided that RAS should be ignorant the vast majority of EU events, there was no way he could have written that scene.

 

DS, you say "It was a senseless death".
Did you read the end of the book ? If then, you will have read the passags which show us what Han's state of mind is becoming, ie he is no longer feeling invulnerable as he always felt. And by the same time, like him, it's thousands of people who will have to face the same feelings, those you feel when you face a casualty among the members of your own close circle of friends and family.

How did many Empire / Alliance / NR citizens react to the death of some of their friends / relatives in the military ? They thought nothing could happen to them, that they were invincible just because they believed in their cause and fought with spirit (pretty much the way Han felt). Then they realise what has happened, and they lose all delusions as they realise the void that has taken the place of their former friend / family member (pretty much what happened to Han). There is sense in this - ask anyone who lost a friend or a relative "thanks" to war.

The NJO series are about war. War is grim. There was no better way to put that the coming war was going to be long, hard and cost sweat, blood and tears the way actual wars cost. To be able to put up an interesting fight with the NR, the enemy had to be huge and dangerous. The Vong are, and this deed is proof. Chewie's death tell the reader of what will be coming in the series, ie depiction of an actual war for survival rather than the dispatching of yet ten other minor threats (which is, at last from my POV, a much more interesting story to read as this time, I don't know who still stands at the end of the fight - except for a very few - and this has given me some interest in reading again SW books, the way Bantam books always ended the same happy, sirupous way was beginning to get on my nerves and to hold my hand away from my wallet).

I summarize the consequences of Chewie's death :

-> War turns up to be realistic (people die, Chewie dies among hundred thousands others).
-> It sets the mood of the books series.
-> It brings some major change in the main characters' behaviors (Han not the least) and demonstrates them that they are not invincible as their former deeds have made them think.

I see meaning in these three.

And if you still disagree, let me ask you a question : to those who survived the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs, was there a meaning to these slaughters ? Is there a meaning from the American POV ? Is there a meaning from your POV ?

 

There were a lot of things I didn't like about Vector Prime, but Chewie's death and how it was handeled wasn't one of them.

 

I have to agree with Lordban Chewie died to show, us Han, and the rest of the world that yes even heroes can die in the GFFA. Also it was done to advance everyone's character development through Han's grieving period. How the Solo family reacted to Han the moper was was very well done, and necessary to deepen the characters so they won't appear 2 dimensional like they were beginning to in the Bantam series.

 

In my opinion, it was not a senseless because of how the death was dealt with. His death is senseless in the method they used. I rate death by falling moons to be somewhere just above being run through with a butter knife and just below asphyxiation by Tribbles. Not a very appropriately heroic send-off for the galaxies bravest Wookie son.

 

No one is saying that killing a character wasn't an element that added the forementioned mood changes in the series.

What many people are saying is that the way the death was written was very poor and a character such as chewbacca dereved a lot more. Add this to the fact that RAS was quite ignorant of character histories when he wrote the book, makes the way Chewie died feel cheap to CoK.

Finally, lets be realistic, a dropping moon was a silly way to go. CoK expects more and the authors who write Star wars novels should know that certain Star wars fans expect a better effort.

 

Gandolf the Grey and CoK have expressed my feelings better than I did.
It is really more the manner of his death than anything else that makes the whole "bursting the bubble" business seem downright silly.
If the storyline needed a major death to kickstart it ( IMO this is a sign of a weak storyline, that deaths are so necessary to keep reader interest, but that is another topic) then it should have been done with more dignity and realism.

 

No, I don't believe that Chewie's death was done well. I agree that it was time for one of the major characters to die...to remove the whole idea of immortality from the major characters, but the fashion in which it was done, was horrible. It would have worked better in honorable combat, a fight against overwhelming odds, one that he only fought to save Han Solo and/or his family. Something gruesome. Instead, "oh no, the sky is falling...splat." What the EDITED FOR PROFANITY - CONSIDER THIS A WARNING was that? But I do think that Han's character took on an interesting if tiresome dimension, right up to the point he picked up that little ewok with a tail. I hope that the series continues to get better. It's been improving, but it still leaves me wanting for more. I've come to expect more from SW authors.

 

Dewlanna--

"If the storyline needed a major death to kickstart it ( IMO this is a sign of a weak storyline, that deaths are so necessary to keep reader interest, but that is another topic)..."

You got that right, Dewlanna. I can't think of a weaker story line than Star Wars.

EDIT: I don't think major deaths are, by themselves, a sign of weakness or strength--they are simply a plot device that can be weak or strong depending on how storytellers employ them.

Even granting the premise--if the people at Del Rey and LFL thought that a major character's death was needed to create dramatic tension ("burst the bubble," so to speak) in the story of the post-RotJ, then the weakness in the storyline--the relative lack of dramatic tension--was inherited from the Bantam line.

With regard to Chewie's death: He died saving the lives of others. To me, that's all that matters.

 

Yes - I approved of it

 

LOL. Funniest thread in months!

I'll say it again:

"Its just so funny people still are up tight about his death."

 

I said he died in style. He did in fact die in style too, not only did he save an infants life but also the life of Anakin Solo, soon to be the hero for the galaxy. That to me means he went down in style.

 

I agree with all of you that think Chewie's death was a terrible turn of events in the GFFA. SW had been turned into a dark, dreary story in the first place; adding the ill-written death of a primary character only made it worse.
Chewie was killed in order to boost falling sales of NJO books, IMHO, not to add reality to the GFFA.

Regards
Ranting Jedi

 

RJ why would LFL want to boost falling sales of the NJO by killing Chewie in Vector Prime since VP was the first book of the series?

 

Boo-freaking-hoo

Chewbacca died on his feet. He was defeated by a heavenly body for godsakes. That's a lot better than being beaten in a fight or taking a random blaster bolt to the stomach in my opinion. His last act of defiance was great.

 

I'd rather he took a blaster bolt for Han or Jacen or even some unknown child than a Moon falling on him. Come on, that's less heroic than dying from extreme exposure to Barney.

 

From my point of veiw the answer is simple...

CHEWIE SHOULD NOT HAVE DIED...