A/V STAR WARS REBELS (show's over, spoilers allowed)

Luke was an existential threat to the Empire, but because of who and what he was -- not merely because he was a Jedi.

The Empire took down the Jedi in her infancy. After consolidation, the Emperor has Inquisitors and many more resources at his disposal. He surely takes Jedi seriously -- but run of the mill Jedi aren't nearly as alarming.

More importantly though, this show is about the spark of Rebellion. It's a theme we saw in the pilot and in the first Tarkin episode. The threat isn't some unwashed padawans, but that this group of different people working together can inspire and unite with others doing the same. That presents the threat that creates a unified Alliance that -- to make an analogy to the UK -- "punches above its weight." Together, they're more of a threat than apart.

Without the Rebellion to put Luke in a position to matter, the Empire doesn't fall. Without a Rebellion to take over after Luke does what he does, the Empire doesn't fall. The Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice in the Republic -- there's gotta be somebody restoring that Republic for Luke's task to matter.

The secular Rebellion is absolutely essential to give Luke's destiny meaning and context.


Missa ab iPhona mea est.

 

I happen to *like* the Rebellion! Part of what makes the OT so fun is its great villains.


Missa ab iPhona mea est.

 

Somebody at Maw Installation accidentally hit "reply all" when forwarding the plans.


Missa ab iPhona mea est.

 

I feel like that's a good way to lose all your followers. And get Instagram shut down by the COMPNOR Coalition for Progress

 

Don't you mean, uh, Starla Novadrive or something?

Also, I originally read that as "modern earth countertops" and I was like "man, Ender's really judgmental about his space kitchens."

Anyway, I generally agree that it tends to be "too cute" and it pulls the audience out of the narrative. It might work for YA lit, like with the Galaxy of Fear books treating the Holonet like the early internet but it can easily be taken too far.

That said, Jason Fry's latest book had what is clearly a SW social media analog that was subtle, not in your face e.g. "Spacebook" or something, and seamlessly part of the narrative. That's the way you build your setting. WEG was good at that very same thing too.

 

I missed that detail and thought Ender was referring to Kanan living over the bar.

I was too busy paying attention to Kanan's humorous cynical "**** all of you" attitude to pay much attention to, well, anything else.

Except Vidian, because he's a freak, but makes a better villain than Kanye West.

 

The mixing of corporations and politics has always been a heavy part of SW, from the corruption described in ANH's background material to WEG's depictions of the Imperial economic engines. And let's not forget things like the Corporate Sector, either.

A corporate efficiency expert is a modern thing, but it fits right in too. It's a little zany and cartoony that the Emperor would send this huckster over to actually... do stuff, but I think that's exactly why it works. It's silly and I think it's meant to be silly.

It's just that this guy's silly role masks the fact that he is a sinister individual, and he is part of a dehumanizing mechanical approach to the Empire's acquisition of rawmats to drive its immense military engine. Straight out of WEG, I tell you.

 

Yeah, I agree that WEG's approach to nationalized corporations was definitely mercantilist in nature. But there were echoes of Stalinism as well, and JJM has stated that he intended the vibe for the Empire in his novel to feel very Soviet. In that vein, while Vidian does remind one of some Silicon Valley guru or something, he can be mentally adjusted to be a roving Soviet commissar (or heck, French Revolutionary commissar -- Citizen Chauvelin would make a great ISB agent).

I agree that SW should feel more historical in its antecedents than contemporary. I didn't get that modern-ish vibe from Vidian's actual conduct, though I do agree that the word "efficiency expert" in itself is definitely evoking the modern real world instead of the historical real world.