From A Certain Point of View, Part V
"There is Another" by Gary D. Schmidt focuses on Yoda as he is moving from his wet season home to his dry season home. He only has two possessions to his name that he moves with him--a pot made by Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon's cloak which he uses as a blanket. I loved these sentiments of attachment for Yoda--the man who preached about not having attachments as a Jedi. It shows his "humanity" beneath the hard Jedi exterior as they are attachments to not just things but the people they are connected to.
Apparently Palpatine hasn't given up on finding his "little, green friend" and still sends droid scouts out to find him.
Yoda jokes about his cane and says he started the use of it as a prank to fool and confuse the younglings at the temple. Sounds like something the Yoda that is revealed on Dagobah would do, but I have a hard time envisioning prequel Yoda playing such a trick on purpose.
The best part of this story was Yoda's comparing Luke and Leia--hence the name of the title. Despite the title, I still got thrown for a happy loop when this was read: "Once he had treasured his lightsaber, but that was lost in the ruins of the Senate chamber. He regretted that. It would have pleased him to have put the weapon in young Skywalker's hands. He imagined her feeling the weight, and then suddenly she would be surprised at the beam that leapt out." Her and she! He keeps referencing young Skywalker throughout and is referring to Leia not Luke! Turns out Yoda deeply believes Leia is the one the galaxy should depend on. He is impressed by her resolve, dignity, and drive--much like her mother--and sees Luke as whiny, impetuous, and headstrong--much like his father.
He also senses the fight between Obi-Wan and Vader on the Death Star and feels loneliness exuding from Vader, a feeling he had never noticed. And then Obi-Wan dies and he wonders, "What did this mean for that other Skywalker, whose impatience and anger were terrible weaknesses?"
Obi-Wan visits Yoda from the netherworld--guess he's gotten things figured out after "Time of Death"--and asks Yoda to train "young Skywalker." Yoda immediately agrees, thinking Obi-Wan means Leia, and is belligerently disappointed when he finds out the man speaks of Luke. But eventually he gives in, even having his words about trying turned against him.
This was one of my favorite stories because we get to see more about Leia's potential to be a Jedi even though we all know she never becomes one. It was neat to see Yoda so proud and sure of her and so desperate to teach her. No wonder he's so doddering with Luke when the boy comes to be trained!
"Palpatine" by Ian Doescher is a poem written by Palpatine speaking to Obi-Wan's disappearance at his death and the fear of what this might mean for Palpatine. He also mentions his fear of Yoda still being alive and what that could mean for his domination of the galaxy. We know from "There is Another" that Palpatine was still sending droids out to find the green guy. But he also speaks of resolve to crush the Rebellion and spread his dominion.
The poem itself was lackluster and had some interesting, if not awkward, rhymes. Word choice was very old English in style and felt put on. Besides the one-panel comic reviewed in my previous post this was probably my least favorite entry of them all.
"Sparks" by Paul S. Kemp is about a Rebel pilot named Dex who is a member of Gold Squadron and flies and dies in the battle against the first Death Star. He calls his droid Sparks after a saying his mom always recited, "Small sparks can start big fires." It was a credo he lived by, and he went into the battle of the mind that he could be the small spark to take the Death Star down.
Turns out the Rebels were going into an attack on the Death Star with no intel at all, just a blind attack against a behemoth until Leia showed up with the plans. Dex gets called back to the briefing room before the battle begins and is confused why until he learns of the exhaust port flaw. He's determined the shot can be made.
This is a nice recounting of what I believe was the first attack run. I felt for Dex and wanted him to succeed but we all know the outcome. I was surprised the attack on the Death Star was planned even before the schematics were received. I need to watch the movie again to get the feel for that. Although the movie is mostly from the point of view of Luke so that might be difficult to parse out.
"Duty Roster" by Jason Fry tells the story of a pilot who is not chosen for the battle against the Death Star. Apparently there were more pilots than "birds." Col keeps getting confused for Wedge and has garnered the nickname "Fake Wedge" partially as a joke because he is the exact opposite of the other coolly-composed man.
Col is perturbed by an unknown new pilot claiming that hitting the exhaust port would be like shooting womp rats back home in his T-16 and when Biggs hears this he runs off to find his best friend, Luke.
Despondent over not being chosen for the flight against the Death Star, Col hangs around in the command center to listen to the battle overhead. And he is wowed by the heroics and steadfastness of Wedge despite his frustration toward the man. When Wedge returns, Col runs up to him, bypassing Luke the hero, and lauds him with accolades over how well he fought, despite his X-wing being crippled. Wedge is taken aback as he feels ashamed for not being able to do more.
The character development in this piece was beautiful as we see Col go from a raging boy to a grateful man. I got bogged down in the names and call signs as the battle wore on and found myself a bit confused as to what was actually taking place, but it was a powerful story nonetheless.
"Desert Son" by Pierce Brown is told from the point of view of Biggs Darklighter, Luke's friend from back home. At first he didn't believe his own eyes that it was Luke he saw, but then in the hangar bay when he hears Col mention the womp rat kid, he races to find his childhood friend. They have the exchange we are all familiar with and then they shoot off into space for the battle.
This is another recounting of the Death Star battle but from the point of view of a different pilot in the mix. I enjoyed getting Bigg's thoughts and feelings, and his musings on the two sons of Tatooine being with the Rebels together was poignant. But I once again got a little bogged down in what was happening and couldn't quite make out the course of events. I feel like a space battle is much more conducive to the cinematic format than the short story format. At least this particular battle is since so much is going on.
"Grounded" by Greg Rucka tells the story of Nera Kase, the woman responsible for coordinating all the flight crews on the Rebel base. We don't ever get her actual title so I was left a little confused as to what her job actually was since she claims to be one of the most important people on the base.
There were exactly 30 fighters that went after the Death Star. She mentions three X-wings that had no pilots to crew them which threw me off because "Duty Roster" made it clear that not every pilot available was chosen for the battle. Someone could have looked closer to fix that continuity error. She knows each of the pilots' call-signs, flight hours, kill counts, and whether or not they are an ace by heart--which was awesome information to see.
The Battle at Scarif is mentioned several times in the short stories that end this book, but this one took it a step further: "Nera Kase had lost fifteen ships and nineteen pilots and crew in the past week alone. It had begun with the mad scramble to put Blue Squadron onto target at Eadu, a flight of seven X-wings and two Y-wings quickly scrambled at General Draven's order for a hit-and-run.
Two never came back.
Less than thirty-six hours later had been the Battle of Scarif.
Two of Blue Squadron never made it past the shield gate protecting the planet. Another two were shot down over the beaches, including Blue Leader. [...] Eleven more fighters, mostly out of Blue and Red squadrons, had alternatively been shot down by Imperial emplacements, destroyed by TIEs, or taken by the pilot's worst enemy of all, bad luck." Yay for canon connections!
I love the perspective this gives to the battles--how many pilots and ships were lost--and the time frame it gives for all that happened. I didn't realize it had all taken place in less than a week!
So this story once again recounted the battle but the perspective was more unique and more detailed as Kase knew every pilot's information and relayed it in the narrative. She also marked how each pilot died: flak, mechanical, or TIE. I enjoyed this story the most out of all the ones from the Rebel's perspective because I was able to parse out a little better what was going on with all the extra information.
"Contingency Plan" by Alexander Freed centers around Mon Mothma as she evacuates Yavin IV to "do what needs to be done." We get several futures she has envisioned for the Rebel Alliance--all dark and assuming the Death Star destroys the Rebel base. It was quite intriguing reading all the different dystopian futures for the galaxy.
She thinks of a few new planets and how they might be affected by the fallout: "Will the thorn-communes of Menthusa burn? Will the ancient cityscape of Denon turn to ruins?"
Mon, her aide Cianne, and a pilot fly together in a passenger shuttle to Coruscant with Mon watching over a collection of data the Alliance has procured over the years. We never get her contingency plan straight out but it appears she has resigned to turning herself in and leaving Cianne and the pilot--the brave youth--to carry on without her--the old woman--with the data in hand.
It was strange seeing Mon so defeated and ready to give up. She's always so calm and strong that I never imagined her losing her resolve. But she appears to definitely think the Empire will win the battle and has no hope for herself in what future that would bring for the Rebellion.
"The Angle" by Charles Soule tells of Lando viewing Rebel footage released on the DarkNet showing the battle against the Death Star. He sees the Millennium Falcon and its particular maneuvering, knowing without a doubt it is Han Solo that flies his old ship. He can't figure out what angle Han has for working with the Rebellion and is dumbfounded. "Lando would have bet every credit he had--used to have--that Han Solo was neither a hero or susceptible to the sort of nonsense ideologies heroes subscribed to. But there he was, heroing it up. Troubling."
We are introduced to a new species called Verosians who have a face full of piles of fleshy folds, necks with gill-like fronds, and flush green when emotional. They come from Veros, a once wealthy world whose wealth was stolen by the Empire.
And we are introduced to an interesting card game called Klikklak where two people each have one Sabacc card and after ten minutes of talking they have to determine whether their card is higher or lower than that of the other. Lando loves the thought and skill that goes into the game of mostly talking his way into the answer. Perfect for charming ole Lando.
I enjoyed getting some new detail that added depth to the universe, and it's always a blast seeing Lando in action. With him seeing Han was with the Rebellion, it makes you wonder what was going through his head when Han showed up at Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back...
"By Whatever Sun" by E.K. Johnston and Ashley Eckstein centers around Miara Larte, an immigrant from Alderaan, during the medal ceremony after the destruction of the Death Star. She is emotional and upset but holds it all in because she knows the ceremony is necessary to give them hope and also feels bad about considering Alderaan as her homeworld when she actually grew up on Raada.
She dissects Leia's reactions during the medal ceremony: calm, showing no grief, and then a genuine smile. And she understands why Leia must act this way, not considering her an ice princess as do so many others. Reflecting back on young Leia, she says, "At ten, Leia was tiny and filled with dignified fury"--sounds to me like an exact combination of Padme and Anakin. *smile*
This was a neat look into the medal ceremony from the point of view of one of the many soldiers filling the cavernous room. I never thought before about what they might think of such a ceremony after so many had been lost, but it was enlightening to gain that perspective.
"The Whills" by Tom Angleberger was a brilliant finish to this wonderful collection. It was funny and poignant and took me right down memory lane. The format is unique as the author is writing the opening crawl to the movie and keeps getting interrupted by another voice who demands more be included and is confused why they are skipping over so much. I laughed out loud several times during the reading of this piece.
"You're just going to skip over the Republic? Don't tell me you're skipping the Clone Wars and all of that stuff?
What about Anakin and Padme and the sand and--" Haha!
"What about Darth Maul? He's just going to be a mysterious reference?
Actually I'm not sure. I wasn't really planning on mentioning him.
Not mention Darth Maul?!?! Darth? Maul?"
"Next you're going to tell me that you weren't planning to mention Captain Rex, Ahsoka, Ventress, Cad Bane, Savage Opress, Jar Jar, and the Mandalorians?
Well...I guess I could always go back and tell their stories later.
Out of order? That's just going to confuse everybody!"
And it continues hysterically on like that, getting into the use of "IV" in the movie's title and all that entails.
What a great note to end on after getting bogged down in the Death Star battle from the Rebels point of view.
And that is the end of this fabulous collection of short stories telling A New Hope from A Certain Point of View. I felt like the last set of short stories got a little repetitive what with different points of Rebel view of the attack on the battle station. I feel like they could have interspersed the Imperial point of view stories with the Rebel ones a bit more and the balance would not have been so off. I also wish we'd gotten a story from Chewbacca's point of view while on the Millennium Falcon but now I'm just throwing wishes out there.
This book was an immense treat and I highly recommend it to any and every Star Wars fan.
Comments
Post a Comment