Lit GENERAL QUESTION THREAD (What to read? Where to start? What's canon? What's not? Duros, etc.)

Do we know whether or not the real Jaster Mereel was ever a Journeyman Protector?

 

This was probably answered in some technical manual or cross section book, but what the heck is the purpose of the hollow engines on the OT-era Y-wing? In TCW the engines are solid tubes that run all the way to the end of the nacelle, but in the original design there's a gap from the back of the engine to a second nacelle. If the answer is just 'it looks cool', that's fine, but I'm wondering if anyone ever put any thought into justifying it

 

Why the heck did Palpatine allow Armand Isard to be killed? Surely he (Palpatine) did not fall for Ysanne's lie about his treason, right? By all counts, Armand was a loyal and capable servant.

 

The fact that Ysanne was able to convincingly set him up, even if Palpatine didn't buy it, would suggest he wasn't that capable. Having a break in Intel leadership might have made it easier for Blackhole to slip into place, too.

 

Maybe Palpatine knew Ysanne was lying, but was impressed by her cunning and rewarded her for it.

 

She betrayed her father for him. I'm sure Palps loved that. That is someone you can do evil with.

 

It fits his character, he's always promoting people on the basis of them being awful.

 

I’m sure that if Cosinga had Armand’s job, Sheev would have done exactly what Ysanne did. Sheev might have seen his young self in Ysanne.

 

I mean, Palpatine's entire modus operandi in film after film is getting people to fight each other and then trying to convince the winner to serve him. By all evidence he truly believes in the whole survival-of-the-fittest aspect of Sith philosophy.

 

Could the Blackwing Virus work against Vong and Vong starcraft?

 

What exactly does Shield of Lies say about the Ice Crypts of the Zhell?

 

Do the Young Jedi Knights or Junior Jedi Knights books reference anything that happens in between Champions of the Force and themselves in the timeline?

 

I was going to say Brakiss, but The New Rebellion seems to have actually come out a couple of months after the last book in the Second Imperium arc, so it looks like he was actually invented for the latter and not the former (which I'd never knew).

 

What was Palpatine's eventual plan for dealing with the Hapes Consortium?

 

In the books and comics released so far... did we ever get a full explanation for why Ben Solo turned to the dark side?

I know there's a "rise of Kylo Ren" comic, but it seems that's more immediate aftermath to the academy's destruction, not his motivation for turning to Snoke or going dark.

 

I reread the novel relatively recently, and I don't remember any mention of the Zhell. Maybe I have forgotten, but it seems like something I would remember had it been in the book.

 

Hey does anyone have an updated list of chronological order of the young adult novels?

 

I actually have it as an e-book and ctrl-f'd "Zhell" - no results.

 

Also, a bit awkward posting twice in a row, but having rewatched the Battle of Geonosis recently reminded me that I don't think I actually know this: is there an official explanation (canon or Legends) for why Geonosian fighters have purple blaster bolts? Has literally anything else ever used that particular color?

 

Complete Vehicles says regarding the blasters attached to Geonosian fighters: "Long barrel of laser cannon imparts greater spin to the emergent beam and reduces collateral bolt glow relative to destructive power." After reading that three times I still have no idea if that answers the question or not, but that's all canon has to say on the topic that I'm aware of.

 

Clearly this implies that the spin imparts a simultaneous redshift and blueshift, resulting in a purpleshift. Obviously.