ST TFA as Love Letter to EU / What Else Could You Do? / Han + Leia’s thirty years goes poorly regardles

Between 1983 and 1999 novels, comics, video games etc. filled the void in terms of story on the main characters and those involved in episodes 4-6.

This means there was a universe in which Luke is a Jedi Knight having adventures pretty quickly after Episode 6 and according to the mythos of the films, there’s not really many other Jedi for Luke to fight. To remedy this, the expanded universe material would bring us countless Kyle Katarn types as well as Jorus C’Baoth types that somehow escaped Vader/Emperor’s Purge/Order 66. In the 90s and 2000s first reading about these stories, I felt it cheapened the drama of the Jedi being a “lost religion” by the time Episode IV happens. In retrospect, it’s what they had to do for there to be lightsaber battles in the EU books.

Now the movies are back and they are bringing back the scarcity of the Jedi and it’s awesome. I hear a lot of complaining along the lines of “the future in TFA is so dreary…” but the EU future for the Big 3 is JUST as bleak as it is in TFA. Han and Leia lose TWO sons!

The only major difference I can see is Luke has successfully trained a lot more Jedi in the old EU. That he hasn’t in TFA may seem off from that perspective but it’s actually RESTORING the scarcity of the Jedi established in the OT and undermined by the 1983-1999 EU and beyond.

End of the day, the beats are there: Han and Leia’s offspring becomes a new Vader figure and the Republic and its allies fight off the Imperial Remnant.

What else can you even do? The 3 or 4 versions of the universe we know all end up as some permutation of: the Solo and Skywalker lines continue and struggle with the dark side as military struggles for power in the galaxy continue with our heroes as major players.

Does anyone have any sincere ideas for another direction the actual Episode Saga could have gone? Once I saw TFA (and thoroughly enjoyed it) I kind of realized how moot of a discussion it is- with the ingredients at play, there’s only a couple possibilities.
The question in my poll is based on the premise, which I believe, that in broad strokes TFA and EU tell the same story.

 

Come up with something as original as the Yuuzhan Vong.

 

Oh please no! I can't imagine a version of Star Wars I'd like to see less.

 

Aren't the Yuuzhan Vong only original if discounting the rest of Science Fiction?

 

They remind me a lot of the Borg. In the same way that dozens of Jedi appearing in the old EU "were able to remain undetected by Vader and Palpatine during the purge" cheapened the scarcity of Jedi established in the OT, the Yuuzhan Vong cheapen the idea that the Force is supreme, affects all life, the power of lightsabers....yeah they remind me of the Borg a lot.

"They're from a galaxy even FARTHER away and they're immune to everything."

That said, Force Smuggler is absolutely right that it is different from what was previously discussed and what we've seen explored in the movie universes so far.

 

I'd rather have something out of left field that didn't have another Skywalker/Solo falling to the Dark Side. Or toeing the line of between the Dark Side and Light Side.
Even then, the Vong weren't original in that they came from beyond the galaxy. The Ssi-Ruuk, The Nagai, the Tof, the species Vuffi Raa was a part of and the other droid species they battled where all from beyond the galaxy.
They were a breath of fresh air after the Imperial Warlord/Warlord/Dark sider plots of the 90's and after the deluge of Sith stories in the previous 12 years or so, the Vong are a breath of fresh air there as well.
Plagueis comes back with an army of Force zombies or a force plague.
Or Palpatine had something under control/in exile that was so dangerous that with his death was unleashed.
Or something else entirely.
Show the next generation of Skywalker's/Solo's handling the pressure of being the kids of the OT generation and trying to step up and save the galaxy.
Maybe one has visions of Darth Vader and see how they handle that.
Or one has a different philosophy on the Force.

 

I do like the angles where people explain that Emperor Palpatine was building death stars and similar weapons precisely so the galaxy wouldn't be defenseless when set upon by beings like the Yuuzhan Vong.

I think the Vision of Vader thing is exactly what we're seeing with Kylo Ren.

Other philosophies of the Force indeed.

One of my theories of the new EU is that similar to how the coming of Christ turned many Jews to Christians, the coming of Anakin turned Sith to a new religion (Knights of Ren are more than two Dark Jedi...) and the coming of Luke also brought about a "New Testament" of sorts (such as Lor San Tekka's Church).

 

People would lose their minds on the Death Stars if they found out that was what Palpatine was going to use them for.
Or something like what Anakin Solo experienced in the Junior Jedi Knight series on visions/dreams of Darth Vader.
Jacen in the NJO series was interesting but is an acquired taste.

 

Maaaan, who WOULDN'T play a video game where you are the Palpatine led Empire, with Death Stars, World Devastators, Starkiller Base etc. fighting off a Yuuzhan Vong invasion....man, that would be fun.

 

People that don't like the Vong probably.
Would be interesting to see a What-if series where the Vong invade during the OT or even the Clone Wars.