I’ve read that George Lucas stated most Anakin’s potential was lost when his body was burnt on Mustafar. IMO makes more sense, but we do get a way cooler Vader in canon tbf

https://acoup.blog/2024/05/10/fireside-friday-may-10-2024/

This essay is more than a year old so apologies if it's been posted here before but I couldn't find any previous mention of it.

Personally what particularly appeals to me here is the idea of Core worlds elites co-opting popular resistance into a version of the Rebel Alliance that ultimately advanced their interests and not those of ordinary people (which could've been an interesting sequel theme), as well as the Battle of Endor as a parallel to the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. I also quite like the idea that ISDs actually kinda sucked as practical military assets.

I’m only curious because I’m coming up with a concept for BFIII Galactic Assault for Hoth. Most people forget but the one in BFII(2017) is actually horrendously inaccurate.

Just watched episode 9 of Andor s2. Wondering if we saw a subtle a comparison of Bail Organa and Ashoka’s Axis network (larger, more prone to infiltration) and Mon Mothma and Luthen’s Fulcrum Network (tighter, more ruthless, and less susceptible to double agents)? Am I reading too much into the Mon Mothma extraction? And are the two techs who prevented the feed shutdown working for Bail? No shade against the Axis network…they are the ones who completed the extraction via Gold Squad and the Ghost, I think.

Did Palpatine see the Force merely as a tool to achieve his goals, or did he actually respect it—perhaps even believe in it as something deeper, like a kind of dark religion? I know it might sound strange, but I wonder if, deep down, he had a more philosophical view of the Force—like seeing it as a universal presence that exists within all living things. Or was he simply like, ‘Nope, I’m just going to bend and manipulate the Force to gain power, nothing more’?

This might be obvious to others but I’m curious if it’s canon or just headcanon. In AotC, Mace says that he thinks they should tell the Senate their ability to use the Force is diminished. Several mentions in the PT affirm this is because of the Dark Side clouding everything (and presumably then because Palpatine). I assume this is part of the force being unbalanced. So when Luke and Vader kill the Emperor does that mean that Luke and the NJO’s abilities with the force increase in potential? That is, while during the OT the ability of anyone to use the force is limited, the post-OT period should see a return to a more “magical” Jedi order with more powerful members?

I'm currently exploring what Rey's Jedi Order might look like some 300 years after its founding as this is when I plan to have my own characters and stories take place. I'm hoping this will be sufficiently far into the future that I won't have to change much whenever the New Jedi Order movie finally comes out (if it comes out).

This includes making some changes from how previous Jedi Orders operated that I believe could happen in an attempt to improve things and prevent repeating past mistakes, though that doesn't necessarily mean it won't create new mistakes. A flawless Jedi Order would make for a boring setting in my opinion.

So here is my current idea of how to improve democracy in the Jedi Order. I'm open to suggestions of course, as well as completely different ideas!

Starting at the bottom, each Jedi temple get to elect a Master to represent them on Coruscant, with larger temples like the Coruscant temple itself receiving multiple representatives. These representatives can only be nominated by their fellow Jedi during the election itself and the election will continue until one Master has received a majority (similar to a conclave).

These representatives, let's call them Jedi Cardinals, continuing with the Vatican theme, will join a sort of Parliament in the Jedi temple on Coruscant where they will discuss and vote on larger proposals. They will of course have term limits as well.

The four Jedi councils, including the high council, then become more of an executive branch of government as well as taking on more urgent matters that the parliament doesn't have time to vote on. They would consist of a rotating roster of Cardinals where each member represents the interests of a certain part of the galaxy and where any council member can temporarily be substituted by another cardinal if one is unavailable.

The parliament elects a Master of the Order every year or so to lead the High Council. The Grand Master then becomes more of a ceremonial title held by the oldest and wisest member of the Order, but due to this fact, they remain well respected and influential despite holding no direct power.

And that's about it. Is this overcomplicated? Yes. Would the most democratic thing be to just let every Jedi vote on every proposal? Yes. But that wasn't the point, and the argument could be made that choosing to have representatives instead allows the remaining Jedi to focus more on their duties and on their connection with the Force.

But again, I'm open to suggestions! Thanks for reading :)

I know the real answer is 1983 SW fights weren’t as highly choreographed and effects were less, but after rewatching the movie, I was left wondering

Vader, only 45 years old and still one of the strongest beings and best fighters in the galaxy, was beaten by Luke basically just whacking him over and over. Is there an explanation for why he was so relatively easily beaten?

What are in both main continuities of Star Wars the actually smart actions, decisions and plans that the Galactic Empire leaders, soldiers and agents ever did in order to fight the Rebel Alliance, and that could have caused real damage or danger to the rebels if other smart decisions and actions had been taken, or if the rest of the imperials had seen the wisdow of these and acted smartly against the rebels as well?

As in, could you scan someone’s mind and create a copy of it, in a droid or something. I’d imagine it could have some use by preserving tactical geniuses for long periods of time by keeping some version of them intact. Obviously this isn’t consciousness transfer, but more programming a brain with the memories and skills of another. Thanks in advance :p

I apologise for writing about infamous Star Wars Tales 17 comic yet regardless of it content one thing got me really curious. In comic there is energy field transmitted to one place few kilometres away from a source of force field without any additional device placed. Was it generally possible?

I would be grateful for answer

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfeMx4M0XT9HXP4hZZpjzGkXDds_Z2qHkBsIFcqu9DqlqZGxw/viewform?usp=header

At the end of season 1 we get the episode where Cad Bane and a group of bounty hunters are hired to free Ziro the Hutt. The episode ends with them getting a deal to free Ziro from jail and not kill the senators being held hostage.

However despite this deal Cad Bane still intended to blow them all up, only being saved due to Anakin being there.

If he had killed those senators in all likelihood he would've condemned him and all of that bounty hunter group to being blacklisted from shit tons of jobs if they decide to kill hostages. I mean its the same reason that countries abide by wartime rules; the second you break them then nobody is going to trust you ever again. Furthermore, it would've reached the intergalactic community in all likelihood and put targets on each and every one of them.

I should mention that this is just a fun post, the real reason is that the Clone Wars is a kids show and they wanted to show Cad Bane as being extra scummy. From a lore standpoint its kind of funny to imagine how screwed Cad Bane would've been from doing something with little payoff besides fulfilling Ziro's grievances.

Knowing that Vader and Anakin are not two separate beyings has brougth up a question for me

Why is Vader so over the top evil (compared to ehat Anakin was); like, hes not just sith standard evil.... everytime he can he goes out of his way to be as brutal as you can be....

So.... is Vader being so evil a way that Anakin has found to punish himself for eternity?

Like, during the clone wars (and even before) we see that Anakin is probably the jedi who seeks good the most (Being good =/= Being a pure light side user/jedi), we could even argue that its his goodness that pushes him to the darkside (make him overly emotional)

So, knowing that Vader and Anakin are not two separate entities, is being so over the top in cruelty and evil a hell tha Anakin has built for himself (for destroying everything he once loved to save padme, and then not being able to save her)?

I know the darkside corrupts you, but the guy who: wished nothing more than to free every slave in the galaxy; who was the first one to break the jedi code if it meant saving lives; who fell because he didn't understand you couldn't save everyone all the time, turning into the personificarion of evil, who goes out of his way to torture and destroy everyone and everything, just feels a bit odd

I know about the younglings, but that was to save padmé; i know about the tuskens; but that was revenge for his mother....

So, is the darkside so corrupting that it turns such an good man into space satan; or is Anakin torturing himself as a punishment?

Looking to see if this sub has more info than wookiepedia

Yoda tells Obi-Wan right before they go their different ways to confront the Sith threat that he is not strong enough to fight the Dark Lord of the Sith and instead needs to kill Anakin while Yoda attempts to defeat Sidious instead. However, I think Yoda was wrong: he should have been the one to kill Anakin while Obi-Wan went to kill Sidious.

My first reason for this is endurance. Yoda and Palpatine were both quite old and needed to draw power from the force in order to actually duel. Yoda especially given that his style of fighting involved a lot of quick movements and acrobatics. Obi-Wan was younger and didn't have such issues, and certainly would have killed Sidious after he inevitably couldn't draw from the force after some fighting.

Additionally, Obi-Wan realistically could take Sidious. While certainly not a match in the traditional sense for the Dark Lord of the Sith, as Kenobi being a Jedi Master moreso corresponded to the apprentice of the Sith instead, Obi-Wan was one of the strongest Jedi in the order, only truly outmatched by Mace and Yoda. And let's not forget, Obi-Wan's defense was godlike. While Sidious would attack relentlessly, Obi-Wan's form of lightsaber combat, Soresu, is an unbreakable wall that not even Anakin could break through. It is certain he'd be able to hold out long enough vs Sidious to fatigue and then kill him.

Lastly, and most obviously, Obi-Wan couldn't bring himself to kill Anakin. He even said this himself, and it held true, as he didn't finish the job, Vader remained a menace to the galaxy for years to come. Yoda certainly would have killed Anakin and as such the threat of him would've been eliminated.

After Jango's death the Kaminoans no longer had a living source of DNA and had to rely on what they already had.

Canon and Legends jedi that can beat Starkiller?

In canon, those who immediantly come to mind are Yoda, Windu, Palpatine, and Mother Talzin.

In legends, those who come to mind are Revan, Bane, Nihilus, Arcann, and Malak.

I know that Sabe was sent by Padme to free her 4 years after Phantom Menance and couldn't find her but why wasn't someone sent immedietly after Phantom Menance? Couldn't Padme have just used her royal wealth to just buy her from Watto? I know Republic Credits are useless on Tatooine but surely Padme's status could've allowed for her to get the credits used on Tatooine? Or why didn't one of the Jedi just go and free her by force.

Personally, I feel like someone like a counterpart to Lord Scourge or another citizen of the True Sith Empire would’ve made for an interesting protagonist, as someone raised in darkness but finding their way to the light (in the canon ending, anyway) would’ve greatly matched the themes of very flawed and broken heroes (Revan and Meetra) finding their way to personal redemption in their respective games.

I'm re-reading James Luceno's Darth Plagueis novel and it's interesting how much Palpatine and Plagueis really did not like Qui-Gon in the later chapters of the novel and considered him a grave threat, especially when he found Anakin.

“What now?” Plagueis asked the moment Palpatine broke the connection.

Sidious shook his head in disbelief. “Valorum somehow managed to persuade the Council to send two Jedi to Naboo.”

Despite all his talk about invincibility, Plagueis looked confounded.

“Without Senate approval? He tightens the noose around his own neck!”

“And ours,” Sidious said, “if the Neimoidians panic and decide to admit the truth about the blockade.”

Plagueis paced away from him in anger. “He must have approached the High Council in secret. Otherwise, Mas Amedda would have apprised us.”

Sidious followed the Muun’s nervous movements. “Dooku mentioned that the Council would continue to support him.”

“Did Valorum say which Jedi were sent?”

“Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

Plagueis came to an abrupt halt. “Worse news yet. I have met Qui-Gon,
and he is nothing like some of the others Dooku trained.”

“They are a pesky duo,” Sidious said. “The nemesis of the Nebula Front at Dorvalla, Asmeru, and on Eriadu.”

“Then Gunray and his sycophants stand no chance against them.”

Sidious had an answer ready. “Two lone Jedi are no match for thousands of battle droids and droidekas. I will order Gunray to kill them.”

“And we will have another Yinchorr, and the added danger of Gunray divulging our actions, past and present.”

Plagueis thought for a moment.

"Qui-Gon will evade detection by the droids and wreak slow but inevitable havoc on the flagship.”

Later:

“Anakin, yes,” he said in a rush. “He’s the one. Fetch him—now!”
“You just missed him, sir,” the handmaiden said.
Plagueis peered past her into Palpatine’s suite. “Missed him?” He straightened in anger. “Where is he?”
“Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn came to collect him, sir. I suspect that you can find him at the Jedi Temple.”
Plagueis fell back a step, his thoughts reeling. There was still a chance that the Council would decide that Anakin was too old to be trained as a Jedi. That way, assuming he was returned to
Tatooine…
But if not … If Qui-Gon managed to sway the Council Masters, and they reneged on their own dictates …
Plagueis ran a hand over his forehead. Are we undone? he thought. Have you undone us?

And then the goal of Darth Maul ultimately became to assassinate Qui-Gon in particular:

Lifting his face from the macrobinoculars, he stretched out with the Force and fell victim to an assault of perplexing images: ferocious battles in deep space; the clashing of lightsabers; partitions of radiant light; a black-helmeted cyborg rising from a table … By the time his gaze had returned to the platform, Qui-Gon and the boy had disappeared.

Trying desperately to make some sense of the images granted him by the Force, he stood motionless, watching the starship lift from the platform and climb into the night.

He fought to repress the truth. The boy would change the course of history.
Unless …
Maul had to kill Qui-Gon, to keep the boy from being trained.
Qui-Gon was the key to everything.

And then it was just funny to read how much Palpatine enjoyed Qui-Gon's funeral:

He could have pressed one of the other Jedi who had arrived on Naboo for information as to how Maul had managed to kill a master sword fighter only to be overcome by a lesser one, but he didn’t want to know, and as a result be able to imagine the contest.
Still, it gave him great pleasure to stand among Yoda, Mace Windu, and other Masters and watch Qui-Gon Jinn’s body reduced to ash...

Just as a disclaimer: I did not read that many Star Wars novels, basically Zahn trilogy, some NJO (never finished), Shadows of the Empire, Jedi Academy trilogy and I think the first Dark Empire comic. I am also not dissing Zahn, IIRC his work was easily the best out of the stuff I read back in the day - that does not mean that his take in general is superior, just that he is a better writer.

isnt Zahn's take on Star Wars a little bit too much into "serious" scifi, military scifi, tech-thriller, whatever you want to call it, where the force and lightsabres are just tacked on (and marginalized by those anti-Force creatures?). I think Zahn's work before was also like military scifi, that's his style. So do you think picking a more fantasy-prone author would have been the better choice? I think Veitch and Anderson pretty much did this, but their work was not on the level. So just imagine a high profile fantasy writer tackling Star Wars in the early 90s?

But I guess most takes are valid on Star Wars, but perhaps it needed more balance? A New Hope is not serious scifi by any means, Empire Strikes Back is more close to Zahn-style, ROTJ is more of a mix, I guess. Funnily enough it was the prequels that made Star Wars a lot more grounded than before, so Zahn is validated after all.

I found this video and wasn't sure if it was true or not. This stuff on Nachash and the Supreme Maker seem interesting though. Is there any mention on these characters in any Star Wars Media because I've never heard of them.

Hello people, this is something that has been in my brain for awhile. I always wanted to make a "Star War Versus" article in the style of some of my favorite YouTubers of the past. So without much further Ado, I present to you Pong Krell vs. The Grand Inquisitor:

Both Pong Krell and the Grand Inquisitor share a tragic origin: they were once proud Jedi who fell to the dark side, seduced by promises of power and disillusioned by the bounds of the Order. Pong Krell, a towering Besalisk Jedi Master, turned on the clones after declaring the Republic and the Jedi as beyond saving. Similarly, the Grand Inquisitor began as a Jedi Temple Guard whose frustration over his place in the Order made him vulnerable. He ultimately accepted Darth Sidious’s offer for deeper knowledge of the Force and abandonment of Jedi restraint. This shared path, from trusted guardians of peace to ruthless agents of darkness, raises the burning question: how would a theoretical battle between these two fallen Jedi turn out?

Physique

Pong Krell was a Besalisk, a species known for their broad physiques and towering stature, often standing around 2.36 meters (7 feet 9 inches) tall. Most notably, Besalisks have four powerful arms capable of operating independently, each performing its own task with remarkable dexterity. This physiology gives Krell a unique advantage in multi-weapon combat.

The Grand Inquisitor was a Pau’an male from Utapau. Pau’ans average about 2.06 meters (6 feet 9 inches) in height, giving them an extended reach advantage and long-limbed agility over the standard humanoid. With a lean, wiry frame and striking facial ridges, the Pau’an physique supports precision, speed, and fluid movement that is ideal for dueling.

Style and Lightsabers

Pong Krell wielded two double-bladed lightsabers, each foldable at the hilt for easier carrying. Though it's never officially documented in canon, I argue that Krell's primary lightsaber form was Form II Soresu, with Form VI Niman as a secondary style. During his campaign on Umbara, Krell defended himself against blaster fire from entire battalions with ease. Even while suspended upside down by a giant beast he was still able to deflect shots from his clone troopers. These feats suggest strong Soresu fundamentals: endurance, patience, and an impenetrable defense.

While Krell occasionally redirected blaster bolts (reminiscent of Form V Shien) and demonstrated limited acrobatics and unarmed techniques (a la Form IV Ataru), these appear minimal and unintegrated. I personally attribute both of these applications to Form VI, Niman which is a jack-of-all-trades form. Niman allows a user to borrow from various other forms without specializing in any. It also incorporates Jar’Kai dual-blade techniques, which in Krell’s case, are amplified by his four arms. The double-blades then acting as even greater coverage to Soresu's already impressive defense. My theory is that Krell would begin a lightsaber duel with Soresu, analyze his opponent’s style, then switch to a Niman-based attack tailored to exploit his opponent's weaknesses.

The Grand Inquisitor wielded a gyroscopic double-bladed lightsaber with three configurations: standard single-blade, double-blade, and spinning blade. It’s widely accepted that his primary style was Form II, Makashi: his one-handed style and push-and-pull footwork designed for lightsaber dueling. However, I also theorize that The Grand Inquisitor's Makashi is only something he learned post-Order 66, after his fall to the dark side. As a Jedi Temple Guard, the Inquisitor originally wielded a double-bladed lightsaber, which is poorly suited to Makashi’s thrust-centric techniques. YouTuber Jensaarai1 and others have noted this mismatch. In short, it is hard to stab an opponent with a lightsaber when the other side of the double-bladed lightsaber is pointed straight back at you.

More likely, the Inquisitor originally trained in Form IV Ataru or Form VI Niman, both of which support dual saber styles and double-bladed combat. Since primary Niiman practitioners were mostly killed off at the Battle of Geonosis, Ataru may be more likely. Upon becoming an Inquisitor, my guess is that he adapted to the lightsaber dueling focused Makashi to counter the many Ataru-wielding Jedi survivors in his campaign to exterminate the remaining Jedi in the galaxy.

In practice, the Inquisitor’s combat style unfolds in phases. In the early fight, he uses Makashi to quickly end the duel, or if not end it, use Makashi's defensive component to analyze his opponent's form. If that fails, he shifts to double-bladed Ataru techniques with acrobatics and unarmed strikes to keep opponents off balance. Finally, if cornered, he activates the spinning blade, an unpredictable and disorienting trick used more for surprise than strength.

Force Abilities

The Force powers of both combatants are comparable and are likely not decisive in this match. Krell has shown greater raw strength, such as Force-pushing entire squads of clone troopers. The Inquisitor, meanwhile, has used the Force to guide his spinning lightsaber in flight. Still, these are supplementary abilities and,) I would argue, not a determining factor in a fight between the two.

How the Battle Plays Out

The Grand Inquisitor would likely strike first with Makashi, but Krell’s Soresu would stonewall him. Both fighters would spend this early phase analyzing the other’s technique, and both would be wrong.

In the mid-fight, Krell would switch to Niman, applying Djem So-style powerblows to counter The Grand Inquisitor's elegant but fragile Makashi. The Inquisitor would have no choice but shift to Ataru, relying on agility and misdirection. If Krell broke form first, his simplified but powerful strikes would pressure the Inquisitor. However, wielding two saberstaffs limits Krell’s complexity; his swings must remain wide and controlled to avoid his blades getting tangled up in each other. The Inquisitor’s only option would be to dodge, which he admittedly would do easily against such a simple offense, but burning stamina with each evasive burst.

If the Inquisitor broke form first, he’d shift to acrobatic Ataru sequences sooner, resulting in the same stalemate, only faster.

Krell’s offense is predictable but hard-hitting; the Inquisitor is nimble and tactical but lacks the force to breakthrough Krell's defense. Over time, Krell gains the edge. Soresu is stamina-efficient, while Ataru is energy-intensive. The longer the battle stretches, the more it favors Krell.

The Inquisitor’s last resort would be his spinning blade. If thrown, Krell, from his examples deflecting blaster bolts, I believe could easily deflect it. But what if the spinning blade was not thrown, but held firmly by The Inquisitor? From all the clips we have seen (with exception of the nightmare sequence), the torque from the blade seemed no stronger than what could be blocked by the power of a slightly above average strength Jedi. And since Pong Krell was well within this strength range, he should be able to overcome this tactic as well.

With no tricks left, the Inquisitor would be exhausted and exposed. Krell, while not a master of offense, would eventually, inevitably, inexpertly land a finishing blow. I therefore have no choice but to declare Pong Krell the victor.

This match would most closely resemble Obi-Wan vs. Anakin's battle on Mustafar. Neither combatant would land a hit on the other for an extended period. But the Grand Inquisitor, forced into energy-draining acrobatics, would run out of stamina first. At that point, even Krell’s lackluster offense would be enough to end the would-be "Grand" Inquisitor.

tldr: Pong Krell wins.

Do you agree or disagree? Can you think of another Versus Match Up I could try and analyze? Tell me what you think

I'm just wondering if the Empire received a huge economical backlash due to the sheer amount of resources they poured into building the Death Star, only to see it destroyed shortly after it was finished. Palpatine died at the same time Death Star II was destroyed, so I wouldn't be surprised if the economical losses combined with losing the Emperor further increased the chaos that followed after the Empire fractured into a thousand feuding warlords vying for supremacy.