Lit Whatever Became of the 'Napkin Bombing' plot??

The 'Napkin Bombing' story element in Bloodline was included at the request of Rian Johnson, presumably because it had some relevance in The Last Jedi. From an April 2016 StarWars.com article, 8 Reasons Star Wars: Bloodline Will Be Essential Reading:

6. Rian Johnson’s input. Some of the story ideas and elements in this novel came straight from Rian Johnson, director of the forthcoming Episode VIII. We are indebted to him for his creativity and generosity!​

So...whatever came of that? Any tidbits from interviews, blu-ray extras or behind-the-scenes info that would shed light on this?

I'm curious what this story element would've informed the overall plot, and especially plans for Leia's character.

danielc56

 

Nothing came of it as far as I can tell. Bloodline was originally supposed to be a live-action movie thing according to Pablo Hidalgo but it was never filmed or cast.

 

I am pretty sure that it was there to establish Leia is force sensitive and has no problem taping into those abilities and using them to her benefit. This set up the way she used the Force to pull herself back to the Raddus after the attack by the First Order. If that had been the first display of Leia’s Force Sensitivity there would have been a bigger burden to explain it in the context of the film. But with the background many fans gained by reading Bloodline, Leia’s Force abilities should not have come as a shock. I think the bombing was the catalyst to show her abilities - not so much the bombing itself narratively.


Sent from my Ornithopter using The Force

 

Few fans. I am confident less than 5% of the people who enjoyed TLJ read the novels, much less Bloodline.

 

Maybe there really was no intended connection between Bloodline and TLJ. We all thought there was, of course, because why else would RJ suggest story elements to incorporate into the novel? And that's a perfectly valid question. But if you read Pablo's tweets and the starwars.com article carefully, all they say is that RJ had input on the novel - not that the intent was for that input to plant seeds for eventual payoff in TLJ. We assumed that...and while it wasn't an illogical assumption, maybe it simply wasn't a correct one.

 

We also know a bit was cut from TLJ. I don't own the Art Of book, but are there clues there?

 

I own that one but haven't had a chance to read it cover to cover yet. I'm currently working through the novelization, I'll tackle the Art Of book next and see if I pick up on anything interesting along the way.

 

Nope, nothing. The only thing from the Art of TLJ that connects to the 'TLJ expanded universe' in any way is that Holdo's first name apparently comes from Johnson (he uses her first name in the book, at any rate).

In retrospect I kind of wish that Holdo had been introduced in Bloodline. That would have been a fun connection to discover a year and change after having read Bloodline.

 

Interviewer: What was the extent of his [Rian Johnson’s] involvement in the story [of Bloodline]?

CG: There was no direct interaction with me and Rian Johnson (he’s a little busy!), but that’s sort of why you have story group, that binds these things together, and I know there are elements in the core concept that play into Rian Johnson’s vision for VIII, and I think maybe even a little beyond that. I can’t really identify them because then they become spoilery so much, but I knew that was an element… also there was one visual (emphasis hers) element – I can’t spoil that either, but I had set up this scene this way and I thought, “oh, I am free to imagine this,” and they’re like, “oh, actually this looks a very specific way,” and I had no idea that that was something…so, but again, I can’t tell you what that is! Hopefully when you see episode VIII that will be pretty clear.

Any ideas?

 

Gatalentan headdress?

 

We don't know what the nature of his input here was, either. It could have been extremely specific or it could have just been "The politics are messed up" or "Make sure Leia uses the Force."

 

I don't have anything to contribute to this thread, but I just wanted to mention how much I love that Wookieepedia has a page for napkins.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Napkin_wipe

And the scavenger Fonterrat was known to use one!

 

Didn't Pablo say that the Senate bombing and the whole Centrist/Populist setup were what came from him?

 

I thought Wookieepedia was getting rid of those types of articles. They are always in the trash compactor

 

It would have been bizarrely detailed on his part given what ended up in the film.

 

IIRC, you're right. It may have been a combo Rian/Pablo thing, but they definitely came up with the Centrist/Populist divide to explain how the New Republic was not focused on the First Order and subsequently weakened when Hosnian Prime was destroyed.

--Adm. Nick

 

Regardless of what it was or wasn't, the lack of a clear link renders the whole exercise as dubious marketing which just shouldn't be done.

It would not have been hard to have a line in TLJ that invokes this, either about the Republic being paralysed by schism or the lingering fear of Vader.

Which is another great loss: Bloodline gives a great source for why Ren has the mask and costume get-up, to exploit the still present fear of Vader - particularly as he can back it up. Sadly, TLJ appears to have dispensed with that too - which is a shame.

 

As someone suggested earlier, just because Rian had a suggestion of some sort doesn't mean it was "marketing"--an idea can just be an idea without meaning to promote some other thing.

 

I couldn't give a damn Coop - it's low, it's playing games, it's bad form.

What else is this, on the official SW site no less, which would boost the sense of credibility:

6. Rian Johnson’s input. Some of the story ideas and elements in this novel came straight from Rian Johnson, director of the forthcoming Episode VIII. We are indebted to him for his creativity and generosity!

If not marketing? What other way is there to read that, being optimistic, as opposed to cynical - because it's easy to adopt a 'don't care, it'll be bollocks' attitude - where you don't end up thinking there's stuff that'll crop up in the film?

When they did the Great Reboot, I was hoping they'd also leave the dubious crap Legends and LFL pulled on a regular basis behind, sadly not the case.

 

Bloodline definitely hints at Leia's In Case of Emergency Force Sensitivity, I'm thinking specifically when she makes a million to one single blaster shot that brings down the entire bad guy's hidden underwater fortress. I think it's the biggest precursor to her space walk in Last Jedi, in ESB, ROTJ and TFA her Force sensitivity are more feelings but we see her doing the impossible in Bloodline and culminates in Last Jedi.

 

That bit from TOS is marketing, sure--I was thinking of the reputed collaboration itself. But that said, if his input didn't result in a direct tie-in to TLJ does that mean they shouldn't even mention it? Not rhetorical, really asking--do you think they have a responsibility to studiously never mention something like that just because it's going to give people the wrong idea?

 

The problem I have is the info is included in a pre-release article that pretty much exists to encourage people to buy the book - unless people get away with treating their local shop as a library. It amplifies expectations. If they did an article after release, that might be better, if it was more transparent - 'it's carefully hidden, go hunt for it', that'd give them a bit more cover, but I stil think people wouldn't be unreasonable to look at it and think there'd be something in TLJ, with him being the director and all.

But, what's done the damage is TLJ. One line would have sufficed to pay the marketing off, just a handful of words. It could have been a tiny, tiny thing, a little attention to detail the bulk of the audience would miss, but one a niche audience would have greatly liked.

Instead, to use a line Ackbar might approve of, it muddies the waters to no good end.

That said, for me, if the Q was asked to them: What happened here? And the reply was: 'It was decided to not go ahead with it in the film, plans changed etc'. That's not great, but it's honest. It's still the case that, in the wake of TLJ, though I want to stay interested in SW' wider picture, it's harder for me to do so.

 

@AdmiralNick22 ^Disney bashing above.

 

The Admiral follows this post, so I don't think delation is necessary. (And it's not ethical either.)