Books Leia Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray

Not to get too off-topic, but that link is interesting in how Rose was originally supposed to be a grumpy Eeyore type, because none of the actresses we know who auditioned for the role (Tatiana Maslany, Gina Rodriguez, Olivia Cooke, Lauren Lapkus, obviously Kelly Mary Tran) really fit that personality.

 

Coming back to "Leia, Princess of Alderaan," are there any updates on the webcomic? It was supposed to start in June.

 

Ah, I see.

Sadly as much as I loved Holdo's character in the book, I can see how it might not translate well to the screen, or for people who hadn't read the book. People already criticize Holdo, think how strong the backlash would've been if she came across as "Admiral hippy".

The thing about Book Holdo (as well as the Harry Potter character everyone compares her too, Luna Lovegood), is that it takes time for the reader to understand that someone who initially appeared to be totally off their rocker actually has a unique, valid way of looking at the world and solving problems. I doubt the film would have given us enough time to really show that.

 

is this going to get a Manga (physical and English translation) release? Cuz I know Lost Stars got that. So kinda being lazy and waiting for that.

 

I'm kind of on a roll of reading (sometimes re-reading) the new-canon novels featuring the female leads, and I've just reserved this one at my library.

 

I've finally gotten around to reading this classic book. "Classic" because you guys won't shut up about it in all the other threads.

I've reached a point of confliction with Alderaan, no more so than in this novel so far. Alderaan has previously been used in novels and comics, especially in the old EU, as a planet where happy endings go to die (i.e. the Kenobi novel, and at least one Jedi Apprentice book), or it's marred 24/7 by this looming shadow of inevitable doom (i.e. every flashback Leia ever had of Alderaan in both continuities). This may be the first book where you actually forget that once in a while, particularly the snow trip which is sort of like a bizarre Harry Potter class.

This then got me thinking along a very morbid line of thought last night (I just read the snow trip ending where's they're drinking mocha or whatever it is), and I'm like, "oh wait, this is Alderaan and all this will be gone in a few years." But then, isn't that the story of life in general for everything? You're going about your life having your happy Harry Potter class in the snow and dealing with drama from your colleagues, enjoying the mocha, but some day it will all end. For everyone. Just like Alderaan. Do we spend our lives thinking of the life Alderaan lived, or its tragic end? What does that say about our lives?

This kept me up for a while.

 

Nevermind whether or not Holdo's character (albeit as an older woman) is represented by the character in TLJ; I'm more curious as to where the story goes to fill the void from where she was and what she was doing during those early years of the Rebellion in the OT era up to when she's an Admiral with the Resistance. A young Leia was featured in a Rebels episode; but of course no mention of Holdo because her character wasn't even created yet.

 

There’s that great Horace Slughorn line, I forget the exact quote, something like ‘that’s the way life goes on, you have something now, and then it suddenly goes......poof!’

 

Finished the book today. I enjoyed it. Just as TCW gave a human face to the clone troops, this novel really gives Alderaan a personal connection; it certainly gives the planet's destruction by the Death Star a new perspective. I had forgotten how old Leia was during ANH; and for awhile thought that the novel would lead straight to the mission where she receives the Death Star plans, but that would involve a time jump obviously.

 

I... I did not know about the major death in this book. One of my favorites.

Spoiler

Poor Panaka. But he was too smart; he figured out too much. It's still so sad.

Leia mentions that other members of his family died in the attack, in the chapter after his death. I hope Typho wasn't one of them. One of the reasons I got excited about the Disney overhaul was that characters that got bum deaths like Typho were now resurrected.

And it's too bad the moon wasn't Rori. Then we'd have another reason to hate it.

I dunno guys I just lost two TPM characters this week. I don't know if I can take another hit.

 

Spoiler

I think his death served a good purpose though. Upping the tension as we see Leia's secret almost revealed, and Leia learns the important lesson that not all Imperials completely bad and not all Rebels are completely good.

 

Something about those circumstances I was a little confused with; at least with what is stated on Wookipedia:

Spoiler

By the end of the meeting, Panaka came to suspect that Organa was in fact the long-lost daughter of the late Amidala—which she was indeed. Although the Moff intended to warn the Emperor of his findings as soon as his visitors were gone, he did not have the time, as a bomb exploded in his chalet, destroying the building and killing him in the process.
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Quarsh_Panaka

If that's the case, I don't see what's so good about him in the end.

 

Spoiler

I didn't say Panaka was good, I said he wasn't completely bad. There is a difference. Don't get me wrong, Panaka believes the ideals of the Empire, is incredibly loyal to Palpatine, and was going to turn Leia in. But he's also willing to help the miners (admittedly part of that is to placate Leia), is bothered by the corruption in the Imperial ranks, and some rebel leaning characters express the idea that he could have been an ally. I think it's not a coincidence that Panaka, a man noted as one of the few honest Imperials, dies at the hands of Saw Gerrara, the New Canon's go to example of a Rebel extremist.

 

I think when turning over a child to the Empire, you forfeit all sympathy.

But Panaka might NOT have turned her over.

 

Yeah, I don't think it was a done deal. Like Batman says, that's why Saw saw (argh, er, "considered") him so dangerous -- Panaka's morals were mostly in the right place, but he espoused the enemy. I mean look how completely psyched he is in that TPM scene when he announces Palpatine has been nominated as Chancillor. He even removes his Helm of Pessimism for a moment to smile. He's also the one standing next to Palpatine at the end of the movie, right after Palps is elected.

In Panaka's world, Palpatine is a stable force that got stuff done for Naboo. And Palpatine probably valued Panaka as well -- in the old EU, it was Panaka who told Palpatine about Padme and Anakin's wedding, and that might still be the case in the new EU eventually. I have long suspected, and I see no reason to believe otherwise from this novel, that Panaka's vision of the GFFA has always been fairly short-sited, and he sees safety and security on Naboo and his brief trips to Coruscant as safety and security throughout the Galaxy. He doesn't see beyond Naboo and Coruscant.

It's hard to say what Panaka would have done about Leia, or how he viewed Alderaan. An interesting point is what Leia described about her parents exactly matched Padme and Anakin, which seemed to cement in Panaka's mind she was possibly their daughter. Which seems to indicate he knew about the marriage in this version of continuity as well (or at least, knew Padme and Anakin had something going on).

Now here's the interesting point: If he knew the latter, and he knew why it was such a secret (to save Padme's reputation as much as Anakin), he might not have believed Alderaan hiding Padme's daughter was a heinous crime.

Basically, the most plausible explanation for Panaka would be to believe Bail and Breha were helping to preserve Padme's reputation and keep her daughter -- and Naboo -- covered from a huge scandal. Bail and Breha clearly didn't know how much Panaka knew about Padme's life, and Panaka didn't know how much they knew. He probably assumed going to Palpatine and informing him about his suspicion was a good thing, not because Palpatine's Emperor, but because Palpatine's Naboo and was a (weird) mentor of sorts to Padme. I think he was informing on Leia not because it was an Imperial thing, but because it was a Naboo thing, because Panaka is really bad at seeing past anything and everything Naboo.

 

I'm not really sure about that. One of the fans said exactly the opposite: "I can understand why Luna Lovegood wouldn't tell me a plan and would behave in ways that I couldn't understand. Her mind is operating in a different dimension than mine is, and I can respect that if it comes with a track record of success".

 

Where does that quote come from, and what's the context?

Also I think the key part of that line is "I can respect that if it comes with a track record of success". With Final Draft Holdo, I think there would be less fan backlash if the film had gone more into her reasoning for keeping her plan secret. Likewise, with Early Draft Holdo, the film would have had to showcase that track record of success, and take the time to show that she's not just a space hippy. I'm not saying it couldn't have been done right. I'm just saying that if they'd gone with the proposed "hippy drippy" Holdo and did a poor job of fleshing her out, she'd probably be even more divisive.

I agree 100% with the first part talking about Panaka's morals and how he sees the Empire. I'm not sure I agree with the idea that he was going to tell Palpatine about Leia out of a misguided attempt to preserve Padme's reputation. If that was his biggest concern, and if he thought Bail and Breha had just accidentally adopted her child by coincidence, he probably would have just kept his mouth shut to preserve her secret. Also the way Bail and Breha talk to Leia before and after her visit to Naboo, I think they knew there was a risk Panaka would see something familiar in her.

That being said I don't think Panaka was going to turn Leia in with the aim of killing her either. Like you said, I think he was going to tell Palpatine because he'd mentored Padme, and it's weird to have her child suddenly turn up alive and well. Worst case, Panaka might have expected her parents of doing some conspiracy, but since he has blinders on where Palps is concerned he probably didn't think anything would happen to Leia.

 

You see, that's the part I don't get. Wookipedia was pretty adamant that Panaka would've turned her into Palpatin; but how did they come to that conclusion? Just because he was so incredibly loyal to Palpatine and the Empire now that he lost all fondness for Padme?

 

Also he might not be thinking with malice. He could go expecting Palpatine to be joyous that the child of his friend Anakin is indeed alive, unless he expects foul play or involvement with the Jedi.


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It's possible. Here's the thing; when I read that comment on Wookiepedia, I didn't really feel bad that Panaka died. But that was because I thought it did suggest malicious intent. Another thing that just came to mind though; did Panaka even know that Anakin was the father?

 

@Ahsoka's Tano We know Panaka's gonna tell Palpatine about Leia because he basically flat out says it.

"Meeting you has been a . . . unique experience." Panaka cocked his head, still studying her with that laser gaze. "I shall speak to Palpatine himself about this." "About the miners?" That was much more than Leia had dared hope for. Panaka shook his head. "About you, Your Highness. I think he should know that the Organas adopted a daughter of such distinction."

Anything else, what Panaka was thinking, how he felt about it, is up to reader interpretation. Personally I think he suspects the Organas are up to something, but holds no ill will towards Leia/

As for what Panaka knew about Anakin and Padme, we know from Legends reference books (I think it was The Essential Atlas) that he told Palpatine about their marriage. Wether that's still canon is up in the air.

 

Well the question was still whether or not he had malicious intent. As you said, it's still open to interpretation. Maybe he would've spoken to Palpatine on a sort of informal level; suggesting that he wanted to tell him about their friend and fellow Naboo native Padme having a living daughter.

 

This is from a Reddit thread. In my opinion, they could probably do a compromise by showing Holdo's weirder side in her more private scenes with Leia; for instance, when she makes her decision to sacrifice herself, they could make a reference to teenage Holdo wanting to "get more comfortable with the inevitability of death", with her saying "don't worry about me, I've always wanted to see what's it like on the other side" or something like that.

 

This is probably a stupid question, but is Bloodline, which is also by Claudia Gray, the sequel to Leia? I just realized that notion only now; after I've read through the first 50 pages of Catalyst (finished Leia last weekend).

Edit: Catch that; nevermind. It takes place just several years before TFA.

 

There is a plot point in Leia that originates in Bloodline (but you don't need to know that), but sequel is a bit much