Lit From Endor to Exegol - The State of the Galaxy Discussion Thread (Tagged Victory's Price Spoilers)

Yeah, that's what I think too.

 

Sloane isn't gonna survive Jakku, IMO. However, I'd love it if she's part of the defeat of Rax's forces. She may not love the New Republic, but it's apparent that if she had to choose between helping the nascent First Order or helping the New Republic, I'm pretty sure she would choose the NR. More out of spite for the FO and her views that it perverts the best of the Empire than any genuine affection for the NR.

I'm waiting to see if Rax = Snoke, but I doubt we'll get a answer on that, unless Rax is truly killed at Jakku. By truly killed, I mean we see the body, it's pulse is taken, and then it is incinerated. Otherwise all bets are off.

--Adm. Nick

 

I'd like to see Sloane help fight Rax. It would explain why she wasn't mentioned in Lost Stars and just fit her character really well. Also, in Life Debt, while she opposed the heroes, the book hinted that she wold change sides even before she was betrayed. It has been a month so I can't explain exactly what I'm talking about. But by the end, it's clear she will have an important role in the conflict. I'd almost rather her become a third faction instead of supporting the NR. I can't see her supporting the NR and I think her trying to stop Rax, on her own, in the midst of the battle could be exciting

 

I just finished my re-read of Bloodlines.

I'm still curious to see if the Centrist ever secede or not. My guess is that some do, but not to the degree the FO hoped. Afterall, both Bloodlines and BTA both describe the Galaxy as largely under the New Republic (Bloodlines mentions that very few sectors are independent and that they are scattered).

Part of me wonders if the hoped for secession is supposed to take place post-TFA, once Hosnian Prime is destroyed and the New Republic is in disarray.

Actually, it would be the best time (from the FO's POV) to sow additional discord in a government struggling to regain it's footing...

Maybe Episode VIII will be more political... which I hope!

--Adm. Nick

 

My understanding, based on the available excerpts from the upcoming Propaganda book, is that the Centrists DID eventually secede.

 

Yeah, it can't be as widespread as the FO hoped. Unless we've got an error the Story Group needs to sort out, Before the Awakening, which is just months before TFA, describes a galaxy that is solidly New Republic, with the FO having some small holdings in the Rim. This would seem to show that an secession was either small or hasn't happened yet.

--Adm. Nick

 

Yeah, the Centrists are most likely a varied group. I'm still leaning to any secessions pre-TFA to be rather minimal, unless the Story Group overrides what we read in Bloodlines or Before the Awakening. I do hope that Rian Johnson does play off the political story in VIII, especially as it would allow us to see how the New Republic is dealing with the aftermath of the loss of the Senate and a good chunk of their Starfleet.

It will be interesting to see if the Propaganda book's final text is somewhat different from the preview we saw, in light of additional sources and source material for VIII.

--Adm. Nick

 

It would seem, based on Bloodline, that what these former Imperials and New Order sympathizers inhabited was a wing of Centrist politics, which in turn is itself a wing of New Republic politics. It seems that your suspicions have already been proven correct. The book makes clear that not every Centrist buys into wanting the Empire back in particular or wanting another dictatorship in general; Casterfo was maneuvered out of the faction and into a likely death sentence precisely because they were beginning the process of weeding out the moderates like him.

And if Rian Johnson truly did contribute this much to a novel, it had damn well BETTER come up in Episode VIII in some meaningful way.

 

Not gonna lie, while it may be a LONG SHOT, I'd love to see Casterfo in VIII. He'd be the perfect candidate to rally the reeling New Republic, especially if he has Leia's support.

I know it's far fetched... but if it ends up happening I will personally commission a shrine in Rian's, Claudia's, and the Story Group's honor.

--Adm. Nick

 

I'd say that, yes, it's far-fetched - but it's not absolutely impossible.

Really, the advantages of actually bringing up the Centrist-Populist divide in Episode VIII are that we have, in the person of Rey, a character who has been completely isolated from the political origins of the war she has been unexpectedly pulled into, which makes her a perfect fish-out-of-water main character; if the political mechanics are explained to her, that's the best way to explain it to the audience as well, and if it's explained in terms that simple Rey is supposed to be able to understand, it can best be explained (at least by the right writers) in ways the audience members, many of whom really AREN'T politically savvy to begin with, can also understand. And in the second film in a trilogy, you kind of WANT your understanding of the conflict to become larger.

 

Agreed 100%, plus it could also be used to give Leia something meaningful to do in VIII or at least provide her with a scene where she can provide some background. Fans love Leia, learning a bit about her successes and failures as a senator in the New Republic would help flesh out her character in the Sequel Trilogy.

--Adm. Nick

 

Finn is better positioned to be that character, I think.

Hopefully Poe explains things more interestingly than Ric Olie

 

We really don't see enough of the Centrist senators in Bloodline to make too many conclusions. There are pro-strong central government types like Casterfo and the junior senator from Coruscant (who is pro-NRDF). There are folks that wistfully pine for the glamor or power of the old Empire, like the Kuati senator or senator from Orinda. And to be fair to the Centrists, we only see ONE who is a true FO puppet, Carise Sindian.

As GrandAdmiralJello points out, most Centrist senators actually admire Leia for her war record, or it isn't likely that all Centrists are FO supporters. Let's also not forget the NR members who aren't aligned to either party, which are enough in number to sway the vote to one side or another.

It's funny, re-reading Bloodline, I noticed the weaknesses of the Populists more than I did on first reading. Tai-Lin Garr is part of the problem ailing the New Republic, especially when you consider his goal if elected as First Senator was to be as INEFFECTIVE as possible.

I'm still curious to know if there was a chancellor at this point, or when Villecham was elected.

--Adm. Nick

 

Hasn't it been confirmed that there was a chancellor at the time of Bloodline, who was an effective nonentity?

 

He/She/It is unnamed, though Leia comments on the effective uselessness of the chancellors since Mon Mothma so it wouldn't be a surprise if it was.

Villecham was in his second year of his first term if I remember when the First Order decided to destroy Hosnian Prime.

 

The VD said Villecham was in the second year of his first term in TFA.

 

I have to say that while reading that book, I was pretty much not-on-board with the Populist position throughout. A weak-ass decentralized government is exactly what made the Old Republic dysfunctional and ineffective, allowing private armies to run amok under its rule, and ultimately driving people to embrace the Empire. You most definitely should not be running back as far as you can in that direction, if you want your New Republic to last.