Spoiler: Thrawn: Alliances

The new titbit from Thrawn: Alliances that "Skywalker" is a term used by the Chiss to describe their force-sensitive navigators made me wonder if there could be any kind of connection to the Skywalker family name, perhaps a former Chiss owner?

Was there anything in Legends about Shmi that went beyond what was said in Ep.I (slave formerly owned by Gardulla the Hutt until lost in a bet)?

 

I actually thought, back in the days, that there would be a similar moment in the PT, like the one that we got in Solo, regarding the name Skywalker. (A scene which itself was very reminiscent of the Godfather, Vito arriving to immigration in New York.)

Are there any info at all on GL:s thoughts on actual "rules" for names in-universe? Different cultures have different conventions, the most traditional ones being, I believe, either paternal surnames and surnames based on occupation or homestead.

(In Scandinavia there's an old tradition from Medieval times when soldiers could be given a certain name during their time in the military that was later passed on).

 

That would have been just as dumb as it was in Solo. What do we need next, a prequel explaining how the fat X-wing pilot got the last name Porkins?

 

No, simply a prequel explaining the origin of the Skywalker family.

 

I tell you what, the prequels missed a golden opportunity to include a scene of Padme perusing a baby name book and picking out Luke and Leia. But that's typical George Lucas, going to all that trouble to explain the formation of the Empire and Anakin's conversion to the dark side while leaving all the important questions (like the etymology of the Organa surname) completely unanswered.

 

I wrote FAMILY - not name.

 

We do find out about the Skywalker family. The ones that matter.

 

Uh....

e: "Who are your people?"
"Ehhhh, a buncha sleazebags mostly."
"Elan....Sleazebaggano. Okay, next? You! Greedy-looking Martian guy there. Step on up."

 

Well, I'm certainly glad that film making in it's essence is a collaborative effort where a team works together. The end product is so much better than when single persons make decisions based on their individual opinions.

 

What does this post have to do with the topic of the thread, exactly?

 

Well, let the question be answered before sticking it to me - what kind of moderator actually infuses a disagreement.

Relax.

On topic - before some other poster wanted to bash on the collective work of Lawrence and Jon Kasdan et al - the point was if there was any background on the naming convention of the SW-universe (including the old EU) and how that might have changed from GL being master of all his works (circa 1983) and it being something broadened to include other authors and eventually to-date the Story Group.

That's in my individual opinion is a far more interesting discussion than being told what a terrible idea something is. But apparently there seem to be an unfortunate lack of knowledge about this topic except the two first posts.

 

Bringing up the "Lucas and his yes men" canard is a non-sequitur. It has nothing but the most tenuous of connections to the topic of the thread. I'm not going to answer you, not because I don't have a response, but because I don't feel like completely derailing a thread that's supposed to about something else. However, I'm not a moderator and I can't tell you to do anything.

My jokes may not have been to your liking, but at least they were jokes about the topic.

The background on the naming convention of the Star Wars universe is that it's a pulp sci fi pastiche where flashy, descriptive character names abound and don't require any silly on-the-nose explanations. Unless you're seriously suggesting that you want that Porkins prequel.

e: I can see it now: a sweeping, six-part epic depicting a skinny young fellow named Jek starting from humble beginnings and embarking on a quest to eat his way clear across the galaxy, culminating in him finally, truly earning the name "Porkins."

 

To me there is two scenarios:
- A creator of a fictional world has lots of research material and other resources for choosing names. Does not need to be shown on screen or explained within a story, but might be an interesting detail to those who'd like some insight into said creative process.
- Certain names of certain characters carry some story-telling weight and/or dwells into the background of said character and will therefore receive an explanation in the movie.
(And while there might ALSO be an interesting detail regarding how the filmmaker came up with the name in the second scenario!)

The Skywalker-name so-far is left without an in-universe explanation even though it brings with it some questions cause of the relationship between Luke and Anakin. The explanation of the Solo-name (that might as well have originated with GL) on the other hand probably came as a surprise to the audience. So I'm back to thinking, in line with the opening post, that there IS a story regarding the Skywalker-name.

 

I don't know if there is an official story behind it but...

Luke = Light.
Skywalker was Starkiller originally but this perhaps seemed more aggressive. Like how Revenge of the Jedi became Return of the Jedi.
But I think it has fairly obvious spiritual connotations, Sky-walker; walks the sky
A character/family that transcends the physical and mundane.

 

Maybe the name Skywalker is as common as Smith or Jones. I think it would be funny if a new character showed up and introduced himself, "Hi, I'm Joe Skywalker, no relation the Jedi guy."

 

The only relevance in Luke's name was that it was basically short for Lucas, which basically admits was him writing about his relationship with his father.

"Obviously my first mentor was my father, but then you progress with either people who are more skilled in a particular area than you are… In film, Francis Ford Coppola became my mentor and taught me how to write screenplays, taught me how to work with actors. I was much more of a cameraman and film editor—much more on the technical side of things. My last mentor was Joe [Campbell] who asked a lot of the interesting questions and exposed me to a lot of things that made me very interested in a lot more of the cosmic questions and the mystery. I had been interested in those all my life but I hadn’t focused it the way I had once I got to be good fiends with Joe."

--George Lucas, “The Mythology of Star Wars,” Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth DVD, 2001.


BILL MOYERS: I'm not a psychologist, I'm just a journalist, but it does seem to me there's something autobiographical with Luke Skywalker and his father--something of George Lucas in there.

GEORGE LUCAS: Oh, yes. There is, definitely. You write from your own emotions.

--Time Magazine interview, 1999.

But in terms of Skywalker and Starkiller, they were just names that he came up with. One would sound almost holy and the other one being aggressive. But there was no larger rhyme or reason with the names. It was the visuals that he put more effort into creating. By that I mean, the use of color in the films.

 

Besides that haven't his Yes-Men like Kurtz, Kasdan and Kershner been talked about enough?

There is an in-universe explanation though. Shmi's family is named Skywalker.

 

From TPM script:

"ANAKIN sits on the balcony rail of his
hovelas QUI-GON tends to a cut. The BOY leans back to look at the vast blanket of stars in the sky. QUI-GON : Sit still, Annie. Let me clean this cut. ANAKIN : There are so many! Do they all have a system of planets? QUI-GON : Most of them. ANAKIN : Has anyone been to them all? QU-IG0N : (laughs) Not likely. ANAKIN : I want to be the first one to see them all... Ouch!"

Personally I always thought that Lucas inserted this exchange between Anakin and Qui-Gon also as a sort of explanation for the audience for the reason because the surname of the main characters is "Skywalker": a sort of calling to their fate, from the universe or the Force, to two boys with an ordinary life until then.

 

Nope. The only person named Skywalker is Anakin. And Luke.

 

In the old EU, that was the case. I don't know if that's remained the same since the new EU began.

 

Yes, please provide evidence of a person introducing themselves or being introduced as having the surname Skywalker in the Star Wars movies. Not in the script as a note by the writer or some other source material, but actually provided within the movie itself, ie the characters within the fictional universe are made aware of the fact.

If you read my earlier post I'm making a distinction between names being introduced or explained in-universe and how GL and/or other authors/writers came up with the different names. At the same time this kind of background on the creative process can be intertwined and provide some fascinating insight.

As per my earlier example - maybe the background of the Solo-name actually has been the same ever since GL's early drafts of Star Wars and he sort of gave his blessing to Kasdan et al to make the "revelation"... And perhaps GL had an idea for the Skywalker-name that he simply chose not to execute.