Lit Whatever Became of the 'Napkin Bombing' plot??

@Noash_Retrac

Please don’t mini-Mod. Folks not liking aspects of the canon is perfectly acceptable here. We do draw the line in some cases if a user trolls the same shtick over and over in multiple threads, but I’ve seen zero here that concerns me. Ben’s voicing his opinion, nothing more.

—Adm. Nick

 

I debated posting this, but, what the hell...

It is indeed part of marketing to promote contributions to a media product. It isn't playing games or bad form, it is exactly the role of marketing in promotion of a media product. Same as releasing a trailer for the TLJ novelization saying "hey RJ had input on this, and look he and Jason Fry sat down and chatted."

As for just waiting for TLJ to be out then mentioning the connection in retrospect, that's not how marketing/promoting a book works, at all. If that's your stance on how these books should be promoted, quite frankly, you'd be better off just never having books again. I know that sounds harsh, but publishing books (of any kind) is difficult enough as it is without attaching arbitrary anchors to the process.

While everything in Star Wars is connected and it's one giant tale moving in all directions at once, each story is still its own story. So, that RJ consulted on Bloodline, but then explicit connections to BL didn't appear in TLJ is irrelevant. And, none of the "bad form" marketing promised or indicated that any of BL was going to be explicitly explored in Ep VIII.

(And, this goes without saying but I'll say it all the same. There's nothing wrong with wanting more explicit or direct connection between this book/movie. Nothing wrong with that at all.)

[edited for clarification]

 

Should you have posted it? Absolutely! I truly appreciate the expert, inside view - I quite accept I'm outside looking in and no, it ain't my area of expertise!

For me, this was something that, at the time the book came out sounded so damn cool. Now, post-TLJ, that factor's been reduced a bit.

Does that matter? Well, my view it could have given the books a real big boost, which is why I'm critical of how is played out - but I appreciate that you took the time to post all the info you did.

 

Also to further expand on the overall question of the thread - we rarely disclose the exact details of individual contributions to books. We don't say "this editor suggested this tweak" or "inclusion of this element came from these specific members of Story Group" etc. So, getting specific detailed rundowns of that stuff isn't going to happen a lot. (of course, this isn't an absolute, so there are exceptions. But if you have frustrations about the finer details of what was contributed to BL and by whom, that's just how it goes)

 

I can see the logic in not doing that DI.

This is a pretty unique case, so yeah, I'll plead guilty to the charges of:

• Frustration
• Giving a damn

Thanks Nick, much appreciated - I'd like to think I stay on the right side of the line, even if my enthusiasm gets the better of me.

 

IMO, Bloodline DID connect to TLJ, just not in the way we all expected. Snoke specially mentions Kylo's "bloodline" and talks about hoping he was a new Vader. I suspect that the references that Claudia Grey were mentioning were tied to that scene, not anything about the state of the New Republic like we all thought.

The specter of Vader, the Skywalker bloodline, and all of that hangs over Bloodline and TLJ equally.

--Adm. Nick

 

I hadn't considered this way Nick, but this helps me greatly - thanks for posting.

@Noash_Retrac - take a look at what the last few posts have wrought.

DI could have been far harsher if he wanted to, as could Nick. Instead, there's been a brief three-way engagement, in place of dismissal and it has resulted in what I consider to be a very positive and productive outcome.

 

I think the napkin bombing sequence plays out in a similar fashion to the attack on the Raddus; I could see them being shot the same way if there were a film adaptation of Bloodline. That mounting dread that suddenly coalesces into a moment when the Force urges Leia to act. It's not a direct "setting up" but still feels like an echo.

I also think the political situation in Bloodline helps me make sense of why Leia has such a hard time gathering allies in The Last Jedi.

 

Two excellent observations, Jedi Princess!

--Adm. Nick

 

You mean those two aspects of Kylo Ren that were heavily featured in TFA? I don't really get how those qualify as some stealth connection to TLJ.

Yes, this seems like the clearest way to connect Bloodline to TLJ, but even then, it's just fans drawing connections, not anything that's in either of the source materials themselves. Not even the novelization or any of the various reference books alluded to the Resistance's problem being that no one wants to support Vader's daughter.

Plus, I feel like if we're supposed to take away from Bloodline that the Vader revelation means that Leia has utterly lost her support and her standing as an inspirational figure across the galaxy, it kind of takes away from the message of TLJ on the importance of hope and the role of heroes.

 

If that's your reading on it, then the fact that no-one shows up at the end "takes away" from that message whether or not we take Bloodline into account. But I don't think that's actually the message of The Last Jedi (or most certainly not the only one), considering that the plotlines of two-thirds of our new leads are centered around the fact that leaders are needed more than heroes.

 

Umm... where did I say I was looking for "stealth" connections? I'm just pointing out a continuing theme that is even more poignant in TLJ.

--Adm. Nick

 

Thanks for both of these, they help quite a bit.

 

My pleasure.

 

Interesting speculation in that SWE video. Not sure if there's really enough evidence there to back it up, but... does the book reveal who actually left Leia the "Run" note? I don't recall.

If this speculation turns out to be accurate, that would be rather cool, and would represent some very subtle planning and coordination by RJ, CG, Del Rey, and the Story Group.

 

I guess it was never revealed who wrote that note. I had assumed it was mentioned somewhere but I missed it, until SWE's vid.

 

Some interesting discussion, for sure. @AdmiralNick22 and @Jedi Princess, you're theories seem to be the best way so far of tying Bloodlines with The Last Jedi.

-- danielc56