The Ascension of the Queen (sequel to By the Grace of Lady Vader)

My assumption is that Vader saw what he was doing as a temporary necessity. It might not be temporary for him, but for the galaxy -- well, he's just breaking a few bones in order to reset them so they grow better. Obviously, once the galaxy comes to its senses and obeys, such things will no longer be necessary. >>

Right. He said as much that his ultimate objective was to "bring order" (not subjugate, it would seem, but pacify). I hope the prequel eps will portray his hatred and fear of chaos. Anakin is an idealist through and through, and he must, when he joined Palpatine, have come up with some sort of twisted rationalization for what he was doing, or bought whatever Palpatine told him wholeheartedly. Or maybe he just saw himself as a professional soldier does-"I'm just carrying out orders, doing my job"

I also think his more violent outbursts are breaks with reality to an extent. The dichotomy becomes too much and he spirals out of control. Then... he wakes up. The option becomes to accept what he's done or go crazy. He chooses sanity with self-aware evil... which I think helps redeem him, because he is aware of what he is doing as evil, and therefore recognizes the existence of evil and the superiority of good... basically "my soul is a sacrifice I'm making." Taking the other approach leads to craziness -- and unlikelihood of redemption -- because the end-justifies-the-means mindset (vs the "temporary evil" approach) insists that all things done for good are good (as opposed to "this is not a good thing, but I'm doing it anyway"), which is already a break from reality as the human mind comprehends it. A whole delusional system needs to be built, and once it's built, it's difficult to dismantle. >>

You really see Vader's conflict in RotJ...his being torn between the seductive power of the Dark Side (as it says in the novel, "But Vader hated no one, only lusted too blindly") and that (pardon the trite expression) "inner Anakin." I remember in the novelization after he threw Palpy down the shaft, he wanted to jump in after him.

Phew.

I've been reading philosophy lately. I need to stop doing that. >>

It could be worse-you could have been reading psychology!

(Please note that I'm not saying that it's better for someone morally to exercise self-aware evil; it isn't. I feel pity for Amidala in her delusions, and knowing good makes Vader more responsible for his actions, not less... but knowing and understanding good and evil is what makes redemption possible. It's a nasty little finger trap of sanity and sentience.) >>

True. And you can't write Vader (especially ESB-and-following Vader) without portraying that omnipresent inner struggle. If I may say so, you do it superbly.

-Tim

 

Yes, you do it superbly... especially when he says lines like: "You appear to have misdiagnosed Solo's condition."

LOL!

Really, Lord Vader, that line did show you are a bit confused...

 

Darth Tim- (as it says in the novel, "But Vader hated no one, only lusted too blindly")

I have a feeling that concept is going to be contradicted in the new film. Also remember Luke telling Vader to let go of his hate.

JG- Anakin is an idealist through and through, and he must, when he joined Palpatine, have come up with some sort of twisted rationalization for what he was doing, or bought whatever Palpatine told him wholeheartedly. Or maybe he just saw himself as a professional soldier does-"I'm just carrying out orders, doing my job"

I agree, Anakin was an idealist, who had his ideals crushed, and joined Palpatine as a means to an end. He wanted to change the things he felt were being ignored and Palpatine played on that. He may have deluded himself to view his actions as not truly evil, because he is merely eliminating what he sees as rotten fruit to save the tree.

 

Actually, the second quote was Tim's, too.

(Oh, yeah. That's why LV was so much fun to write here! The discussions were so much fun!)

Anyway, my point was kind of the opposite -- that, unlike Amidala here, Vader did not delude himself into believing his actions weren't evil, and the knowledge that they were evil was a big part of what made redemption possible (the other big part was his recognition that good is superior). Palpatine consciously used evil, but was not conflicted for it because he didn't recognize the superiority of good; Amidala here is the opposite.

And by the way, Tim and LadyZ, thanks for the compliment.

 

Anyway, my point was kind of the opposite>>

Well, you can trust me to probably be 180 degrees out of phase, LOL.

-- that, unlike Amidala here, Vader did not delude himself into believing his actions weren't evil, and the knowledge that they were evil was a big part of what made redemption possible (the other big part was his recognition that good is superior). >>

Ahh. I meant more in the sense of deluding himself that his evil actions were directed towards an admirable goal (I presume at some point Palpy told him his New Order would be everything the Republic was not). Make more sense? LOL.

-Tim

 

The bulk of our philosophizing on the BtGoLV thread took place here. (I especially like my post at the very bottom of the page. )

 

VEE!


I feel like I haven't seen you around in ages...

 

Eeeyee Looks like Leia's plotting has been revealed (muwahahaha ) Get Han


I hope nothing's wrong with Amidala eeep

Awesome post

 

A therapist could get really rich off this family. Though Vader would probably Force-choke him before the first session ended.

Another thing I liked about the post was the reference to Anakin trying to "repair" his body. Creates an interesting new dynamic to the story.

 

There were times in the Core Worlds that Han sometimes had a hard time remembering just why he was giving his life to the Rebellion against Lady Vader's Empire.

In the Outer Rim, the crackdown on crime tended to spill over onto law-abiding citizens as well. Her Ladyship's hired thugs -- she called them peacekeepers -- used the possibility of crime as an excuse to pillage businesses and quarter soldiers in private homes ("for your own protection," they always said). Some were known to swagger into homes and take their pick of belongings, though, to be fair, something that egregious was likely to be punished harshly. One such soldier had been reported to the Empire by a Rodian couple on Tatooine. He had been brought back to Naboo for trial, and the couple had received a note the day he arrived that said, "Your complaint has been answered." A holo had been included showing the soldier's execution.

In the Outer Rim, it was easy to remember why there was a Rebellion.

But in the Core, or here on Naboo, it wasn't easy. Hell, half the time, Her Ladyship had done exactly what Han would have liked to do. Women and non-humans worked in all levels of the Empire, and did those things to which their talents most inclined them. The arts, long suppressed under Palpatine's regime, had re-emerged. The sterile bastions of the Empire had been swept away, and were being replaced by classic architecture, and by large, airy buildings filled with greenery and tapestries. Strangely beautiful, haunting music came across the comm-channels. Statues and murals, publically funded, were appearing in the public areas of most cities. Granted, they were often near-religious icons of Lady Vader... but they didn't have the feel of commissioned propaganda. Instead, they felt like honest outpourings of affection. Scientists were working in fields other than the improvement of military technology, and breakthroughs had been made in many fields. One group of archaeologists was close to tracking down the original settlement on Coruscant.

Like Lady Vader herself, the New Empire looked all right, even beautiful, in each of its separate features... but looked at together, there was something that was just all wrong, something that Han couldn't quite articulate to himself, let alone to anyone else.

He sighed, scanning the horizon with electrobinoculars. Chewie barked and held out his hand, and Han handed him the binocs.

"Yeah, pal, I know. I better get moving if I'm going to do this."

Chewie kept his silence, but Han knew his answer perfectly well: So don't do this. Find some other way. Some way that I'm in there with you.

But there was no other way, not really, and there was definitely no way to get Chewie inside without drawing attention. The Vaders knew Chewie, and so did Luke. Any of them could recognize him trying to sneak in as Lando had, and the route Han was taking was only open to a human.

"Hand me the stuff," he said.

Chewie shook his head, and rummaged in the speeder for a device that looked like a metal vest. Wires connected to nothing laced across it. Under it, the only live wires were attached to a vid-screen that would, when activated, project a false sonar scan of his respiratory cavity, showing both of his lungs collapsed.

He pulled off his shirt and put the metal vest on. Chewie switched on the screen, then let out a series of remonstrative barks.

"I know, I know. It's crazy. Way my luck's been running, they'll decide to cut into me right away."

Chewie reluctantly disagreed. They'd carefully planned the timing so that he would arrive at Lady Vader's laboratory after most of the support staff had gone home, too late for anyone to really examine him. Artoo would come along to report that his condition was stable, if anyone happened to be around to admit him. Of course, if they?d increased security on this end, he?d be in trouble, but hopefully, the message had come. Wedge would have sent it through half a dozen Outer Rim outposts, and, with any luck, t

 

I said it on FFN but it bears repeating:

Ladies, this story is so insanely good that oftentimes when reading it I am tempted, just for a moment, to dig a hole, bury my computer in it, burn all my draft scripts, and swear I'm never writing again...LOL.

When I again recover my powers of speech and cognitive thought, I will attempt to post some semi-intelligent feedback.

-Tim

 

Each of you always play attention to great detail with every word you write. That makes a story very easy and enjoyable to follow. I hope I can learn something from you all, from just reading along.

Again, yet another stellar post!


*Get her Han! Get Her!*

 

wow, another great post!

i love the attention to detail. it's good to get an idea about what's going on in the galaxy as a result of amidala's rule. and the description of theed....wow. was that supposed to sort of mirror amidala's mind? if not, i'm way off, but to me it very much seemed to. the way theed is being rebuilt, and the way the galaxy is being run, seems very reflective of her mental state.

very interesting as well to see this project going on....i'm guessing from the previous post that this is mainly amidala's doing? it's amazing how she doesn't realize that despite her claims of wanting to help everyone and all the people, she is still willing to throw so much and so many lives away for the sake of her family.

bleh, i'm babbling. sorry i really loved the post!

 

was that supposed to sort of mirror amidala's mind? if not, i'm way off, but to me it very much seemed to. the way theed is being rebuilt, and the way the galaxy is being run, seems very reflective of her mental state.

Creepiness factor is courtesy of Shirley Jackson and The Haunting of Hill House, via Stephen King for pointing out how much of the weirdness there came from wrong geometry.

But, yes... Theed/the Empire reflects her mental state, I think, like Palpatine's reflected his.

 

great story

 

Creepiness factor is courtesy of Shirley Jackson and The Haunting of Hill House, via Stephen King for pointing out how much of the weirdness there came from wrong geometry. >>

Ohh!! Danse Macabre reference....heheh.

-Tim

 

Go Han!

Another great post, JG! Glad to see Artoo back in the action as well.

 

Creepy...

Go Han Go!

 

"...he wasn't some superstitious kid... " But of course, Solo listens more to instincs than to logic or to anything or anyone else.

Hmmm, will it be something like the "Big escape scene" from ROTJ, replacing Leia with Han? I mean Lando has got in, Arto is there, Han's just arrived in disguise, a message has been sent to inform everyone: we are coming!

Of course Amidala is not like Jabba, at all.

 

And I sincerely hope nobody gets to wear that stupid slavegirl costume. Wait a minute. Who gets to play Rancor? (me, me!)

 

YAY!!!!!

 

Wow! Once again I am in awe...

The scene with the lungs growing... *shudder* Her Ladyship really is obsessed...

I can't wait to see Han get out of this one!

 

First of all, I love the book "Salem's Lot". The Master's name was Barlow, btw.

I think Amidala's mind has definitely jumped the tracks. I feel that both Luke and Anakin are in denial over this. That is what Obi-Wan is trying to tell them.

With Luke, I think the resistance is due to the fact that Obi-Wan did lie to him, while the Vaders didn't. As well, I think Luke is trying to see some way to help both his parents.

As for Vader, it is strange to see him as the rational one. I don't think he knows about the experiments that are going on with the lungs. He genuinely hopes that others will be cured as well.

IMO, Luke is still on the Light Side of the Force, and Vader could easily cross back over. Amidala...on the other hand...well, she's gone insane. I don't think she's been eaten away by the Dark Side. She's not Force sensitive that much, so I don't think it's that. I think that she's simply gone mad and is believing her own press.

The only hope is for Vader and Luke to do something....together. For that, they need to open themselves up to what Obi-Wan is saying.

 

Bump.


New post tomorrow!

 

Hmmm, NA, what's wrong with Han in a slaveboy costume??!?!?!