A&A The Official Chuck Wendig Q&A Thread - Chuck's Reponses Posted for 1st Round! (Aftermath Spoilers)

I am sad that we (the SW fan community) have done it again. Some folks are outright angry, but I'm just disappointed. But instead of dwelling on the negative, I'll say this: I really hope that the true warmth and spirit of the SW fandom can shine through in the time it'll take for the Aftermath trilogy to conclude and I hope that it'll be brighter in the end than this spot of darkness.

And that's all I'm going to say about that. Let's not debate the merits of the book and/or the author in this thread please!

Glad we'll be getting a follow-up on this! Wendig was correct that I wasn't entirely being fair to Tashu or Shale by calling them sad. Tashu is a freak and a weirdo, but that's the exact reasons he was an Imperial advisor after all. And I actually rather liked Shale, even if she's past her prime. But I'm glad to know we're supposed to be getting the sense that these are the dregs.

I'm not sure I like the idea that the Death Star II had all of the Empire's best, but I can see it having a lot of them (the EU had a similar idea!) and with the rest of them busy blowing themselves up fighting over the Empire's scraps.

I have a suspicion that Sloane is operating her own notionally Loyalist splinter (or the fleet admiral's splinter) but that she doesn't actually answer to Coruscant in anything but theory.

I am eternally grateful that Wendig used Sloane, and I think her portrayal is entirely consistent with and fits well within the arc as seen in JJM and Fry (who portray her in different crucial stages of her development). I think it's great that we've had three authors handle this character in multiple stories and they all got it right.

It's not easy to do. The old EU had a lot of character sharing, which sometimes worked really well and sometimes didn't. Props to these authors for doing it right.

This portrayal is 100% consistent with the EU's portrayal of Mothma as an idealist, though I should note that her big examples of idealism are actually calculated political measures and half-truths... (she grandly ordered the scrapping of the NR's sole captured SSD, but actually didn't. She made a show of refusing to assassinate the Emperor at Endor... but then went for it. She claimed to champion democracy, but took dictatorial powers etc.)

Luckily, Wendig's portrayal of Mothma is similarly subject to reading her as a political opportunist and operator so he's still 100% on the ball here!

Very glad for this too - I've long advocated seeing stories about different characters, and the NEU is embracing this. I want precisely to show the galaxy is big and home to all sorts of stories.

I am only commenting on the original question, which I find hilarious given Tashu's fondness for knives...

I have to say I'm not the biggest fan of this analogy -- Coruscant didn't blow up, after all. And it's a big, big galaxy. Yet I take his point in that he's trying to play the DSII thing as immensely catastrophic, a decapitation nobody's quite ready for.

Personally, that's not entirely the way I'd have preferred it. I actually prefer the EU approach here in that there was actually *plenty* of the Imperial governing apparatus left around, but the Empire was designed not to function without the Emperor so it broke around. Not because there was any desire to get rid of the Empire per se or because nobody believed in the Empire anymore, but because the Empire was designed to blow itself to pieces. I prefer this over the kind of "Arab Spring" model we're getting (which should happen in many places, just perhaps not in the Core and certainly not Coruscant, IMO) and/or this Berlin model.

To an extent, that old EU reading is still possible under Wendig's outline here. And certainly we see Lost Stars headed in that direction. But I'm not a big fan of this quick splintering. It's sort of my one big problem with the post-Endor NEU, which I really thought would go the opposite direction from Legends and actually make the war with the legitimate Empire last a while.

I understand if TFA means this has to shake out this way, and I certainly understand the thematic and mythological reasons why the Empire has to fall apart quickly (if that is indeed what it was -- his analogy was historical). The dark wizard and his dark knight have fallen, the top minions are destroyed, and the rest are running around with their heads chopped off while the good guys march to victory and try to learn just what that means. It works, it's a nice lovely narrative arc and even if it isn't the reason that Wendig or the SG is going this way, I can justify it in my head under that framework. It's not the one I particularly wanted because of the way I view the Empire v. Rebels shaking out, but I get that we're in space opera here and not hard sci fi so I can roll with it. Under protest.

Positive protest, mind you! I'll happily theorize how/why this Berlin model works. There's already a way to tie Aftermath and Lost Stars together that explains the quick splintering even if central Imperial government is still operating on Coruscant, and Wendig just said we'll learn more about the state of the Empire in the next book. So I'll have to revisit my assessment then. We'll leave it at "not really my favorite" for now.

...well, I can't say I'm disappointed with that answer. I love Sabine's work.

I don't blame him -- not everyone can read damn near every EU book ever as we do. He certainly picked good ones to read, and ones that it's comforting to know an NEU author has read!

I often feel bad about not diversifying my reading as much as I like. This is why my kindle is full of books I need to finish because I'm spending all this time on SW, lol.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Ominous?

 

That's my read too. LotS made it appear as the Empire didn't really care either way, but his response here suggests that it may be an actual thing. It's still possible that it isn't a thing and he just meant he'd address the point directly, but I guess we'll see!

 

Yes, let's keep this thread clear of that discussion please. I realize we're also not talking about it in the Aftermath thread either, but the subject is just a little toxic right now.

Thank you for the kind words, but this was all @AdmiralNick22's doing! I was just quote-replying to the interview answers Nick posted.


Missa ab iPhona mea est.

 

FWIW I tweeted about how even the Empire isn't homophobic, so homophobes are worse than the Empire and Wendig "favorited" that so if we want to over analyze we might say that it's a sign that he's not changing that.


Missa ab iPhona mea est.

 

You know me, I like polite and indirect language.


Missa ab iPhona mea est.