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After the Jedi Returned
Nov. 5th, 2015 01:14 pmSo, I just want to get all of this out here. This is what I imagine happening following the conclusion of the original trilogy, my "headcanon" as it were. I've written quite of a bit of fan fiction exploring these sort of things. It's not the stuff of grand, sprawling epic adventures so much as healing, rebirth and hope.
And it will become swiftly obvious why the very concept of Episode VII is causing me exquisite pain.
-The first full-fledged Jedi after Luke is Leia. She ends up being pretty much as powerful as him, and trains a lot of her own padawans. Including her children.
-Yes, Han and Leia are married with a bunch of kids. One of their sons might be named after Bail.
-When Luke starts rebuilding the Jedi Order, he is determined to rectify the mistakes made by his father and by the original Jedi. For example - that no attachments, no marriage, no family rule? FORGET IT. Family saved Luke; it saved Anakin. The problem wasn't attachments, the problem was selfishness, and an inability to cope with loss. Many new Jedi will be specifically trained as counselors who help traumatized people, in or out of the Order. And none of this cloistering themselves in a tower on Coruscant. There will be Jedi temples throughout the galaxy. They'll train children on their home planets, letting them stay with their families. They'll be encouraged to befriend the local populations and treat them as equals, so when they help them, it won't be just out of duty to the Order's mandates, it will be out of true compassion and love.
-Luke is married too. Not to another Jedi. Since he's the only Master at the start, he would inevitably be in a unequal position of power and authority over her, and that's just not a good foundation for a marriage relationship. No, he might find a farmgirl, quiet and thoughtful with a passion for goodness and justice. Jedi would, in fact, be encouraged to marry outside their ranks, partly to avoid keeping themselves shut off from the people they're supposed to serve, and partly because it would forestall the creation of a dynasty of Force-sensitive families (which I kind of expect the no-marriage rule was initially trying to prevent, yikes.)
-As soon as Luke has access to previously locked records, he's going to research his family like crazy. And once he realizes Artoo used to belong to his father/mother, he's going to ask him what he knows. Followed by Artoo's eager recitation of every single detail in his memory banks, with an incredulous Threeipo translating. It'll be a full-on audio/visual presentation.
-Luke and Leia will visit Naboo, study all the archives about the young Queen who led her people to victory against the Trade Federation, and hopefully visit whoever is still alive of Padmé's family. They'll go back to Tatooine as well, return to what's left of the Lars homestead and pay respects to their grandmother's grave, finding any clues that remain of Shmi's life there. Then they'll go to Mos Espa and see what details show up about Anakin's early life.
-Han will do a lot of galactic traveling with Leia as they search for Force-sensitive people. He and Chewie will get in plenty of adventuring without having to worry about bounty hunters and sadistic crime-lords. Speaking of Jabba, on Tatooine Leia will be spoken of in awe-filled tones as "The Hutt-Slayer," a figure of legend.
-The Republic will be rebuilt slowly but surely. The Empire was founded upon the power of Palpatine's dark side manipulations, and with his death it will crumble. Come on, this isn't a political documentary; this is high fantasy. This is the One Ring being destroyed. Sure, it'll take a lot of work to get a working democracy up and running again, but the victory at the Battle of Endor was THE victory. If you think it meant nothing, you're disrespecting the memory of Luke's defiant goodness in the face of ultimate evil, of Anakin's sacrifice, of Ewoks and Rebels and many Bothans. Honesty, how dare you. :P
-I haven't fussed as much with the details of the new Republic as with the individual lives of the Skywalkers and such, but how about this? They set up a provisional new government headed by, say, three consuls. (The word Chancellor still has too many negative connotations with Palpatine). They want to avoid giving any single person too much power. Mon Mothma will definitely be one of them. Leia, not so much. She's invested in her Jedi training and her family. It's pretty clear in ROTJ that she's willing to step down from her leadership role for the time being. Once she's a Jedi Master, trust me, she'll be plenty powerful.
-They will be a lot more women and non-humans running things. The Emperor was a racist xenophobic sexist (just consider how he underestimated Queen Amidala, the Gungans and the Ewoks, and how his officers are all white male humans) and that will need to be rectified so every type of being can be properly represented again. The central government will be primarily focused on humanitarian (alientarian?) concerns, redressing wrongs like slavery that were neglected by the bloated old Republic. Other governmental concerns will mostly be handled by the local governance of each star system. And if that doesn't make much practical sense, blah. Political science isn't really my thing, and the movies were never meant to be a practice in realism.
-The stormtroopers, having lost the leader they were brainwashed to obey, will be amenable to serve whoever takes the opportunity. The new Republic will help those who wish to acclimate to a civilian life (and those Jedi counselors will sure come in handy here) while those who still want to serve can become part of the peacekeeping forces of the Republic. The new uniforms don't require them to wear their helmets all the time, and having their faces uncovered has a wonderful humanizing effect.
-Luke and Leia both get occasional visits from Force ghosts. Anakin's afterlife involves a long, long process of penitence and healing. Sometimes he appears as his young self, sometimes as the old man he would have been if not for Mustafar. And every once in a while, when his moral inventory is exploring his childhood, he appears as little boy Anakin, which always makes his children chuckle. When Obi-Wan shows up, he can offer advice about rebuilding the Order. Luke takes about a third of the advice and throws the rest out, but he appreciates it nonetheless. Yoda tells Leia stories about Bail and Chewbacca. Leia can hardly believe any of them.
-Sometimes Luke withdraws for long periods of meditation, but he never becomes reclusive. He always holds tight to his ties to his family and loved ones, past and present. He finds a new balance between loving and letting go, a path along the light side that no Jedi before has ever quite achieved. His efforts keep the Sith from reappearing for many, many generations. He and Leia are the greatest Jedi the galaxy has seen in at least a thousand years.
To me, Star Wars has always been about optimism. Hope of a happy ending. That's what I'll always believe in.
And it will become swiftly obvious why the very concept of Episode VII is causing me exquisite pain.
-The first full-fledged Jedi after Luke is Leia. She ends up being pretty much as powerful as him, and trains a lot of her own padawans. Including her children.
-Yes, Han and Leia are married with a bunch of kids. One of their sons might be named after Bail.
-When Luke starts rebuilding the Jedi Order, he is determined to rectify the mistakes made by his father and by the original Jedi. For example - that no attachments, no marriage, no family rule? FORGET IT. Family saved Luke; it saved Anakin. The problem wasn't attachments, the problem was selfishness, and an inability to cope with loss. Many new Jedi will be specifically trained as counselors who help traumatized people, in or out of the Order. And none of this cloistering themselves in a tower on Coruscant. There will be Jedi temples throughout the galaxy. They'll train children on their home planets, letting them stay with their families. They'll be encouraged to befriend the local populations and treat them as equals, so when they help them, it won't be just out of duty to the Order's mandates, it will be out of true compassion and love.
-Luke is married too. Not to another Jedi. Since he's the only Master at the start, he would inevitably be in a unequal position of power and authority over her, and that's just not a good foundation for a marriage relationship. No, he might find a farmgirl, quiet and thoughtful with a passion for goodness and justice. Jedi would, in fact, be encouraged to marry outside their ranks, partly to avoid keeping themselves shut off from the people they're supposed to serve, and partly because it would forestall the creation of a dynasty of Force-sensitive families (which I kind of expect the no-marriage rule was initially trying to prevent, yikes.)
-As soon as Luke has access to previously locked records, he's going to research his family like crazy. And once he realizes Artoo used to belong to his father/mother, he's going to ask him what he knows. Followed by Artoo's eager recitation of every single detail in his memory banks, with an incredulous Threeipo translating. It'll be a full-on audio/visual presentation.
-Luke and Leia will visit Naboo, study all the archives about the young Queen who led her people to victory against the Trade Federation, and hopefully visit whoever is still alive of Padmé's family. They'll go back to Tatooine as well, return to what's left of the Lars homestead and pay respects to their grandmother's grave, finding any clues that remain of Shmi's life there. Then they'll go to Mos Espa and see what details show up about Anakin's early life.
-Han will do a lot of galactic traveling with Leia as they search for Force-sensitive people. He and Chewie will get in plenty of adventuring without having to worry about bounty hunters and sadistic crime-lords. Speaking of Jabba, on Tatooine Leia will be spoken of in awe-filled tones as "The Hutt-Slayer," a figure of legend.
-The Republic will be rebuilt slowly but surely. The Empire was founded upon the power of Palpatine's dark side manipulations, and with his death it will crumble. Come on, this isn't a political documentary; this is high fantasy. This is the One Ring being destroyed. Sure, it'll take a lot of work to get a working democracy up and running again, but the victory at the Battle of Endor was THE victory. If you think it meant nothing, you're disrespecting the memory of Luke's defiant goodness in the face of ultimate evil, of Anakin's sacrifice, of Ewoks and Rebels and many Bothans. Honesty, how dare you. :P
-I haven't fussed as much with the details of the new Republic as with the individual lives of the Skywalkers and such, but how about this? They set up a provisional new government headed by, say, three consuls. (The word Chancellor still has too many negative connotations with Palpatine). They want to avoid giving any single person too much power. Mon Mothma will definitely be one of them. Leia, not so much. She's invested in her Jedi training and her family. It's pretty clear in ROTJ that she's willing to step down from her leadership role for the time being. Once she's a Jedi Master, trust me, she'll be plenty powerful.
-They will be a lot more women and non-humans running things. The Emperor was a racist xenophobic sexist (just consider how he underestimated Queen Amidala, the Gungans and the Ewoks, and how his officers are all white male humans) and that will need to be rectified so every type of being can be properly represented again. The central government will be primarily focused on humanitarian (alientarian?) concerns, redressing wrongs like slavery that were neglected by the bloated old Republic. Other governmental concerns will mostly be handled by the local governance of each star system. And if that doesn't make much practical sense, blah. Political science isn't really my thing, and the movies were never meant to be a practice in realism.
-The stormtroopers, having lost the leader they were brainwashed to obey, will be amenable to serve whoever takes the opportunity. The new Republic will help those who wish to acclimate to a civilian life (and those Jedi counselors will sure come in handy here) while those who still want to serve can become part of the peacekeeping forces of the Republic. The new uniforms don't require them to wear their helmets all the time, and having their faces uncovered has a wonderful humanizing effect.
-Luke and Leia both get occasional visits from Force ghosts. Anakin's afterlife involves a long, long process of penitence and healing. Sometimes he appears as his young self, sometimes as the old man he would have been if not for Mustafar. And every once in a while, when his moral inventory is exploring his childhood, he appears as little boy Anakin, which always makes his children chuckle. When Obi-Wan shows up, he can offer advice about rebuilding the Order. Luke takes about a third of the advice and throws the rest out, but he appreciates it nonetheless. Yoda tells Leia stories about Bail and Chewbacca. Leia can hardly believe any of them.
-Sometimes Luke withdraws for long periods of meditation, but he never becomes reclusive. He always holds tight to his ties to his family and loved ones, past and present. He finds a new balance between loving and letting go, a path along the light side that no Jedi before has ever quite achieved. His efforts keep the Sith from reappearing for many, many generations. He and Leia are the greatest Jedi the galaxy has seen in at least a thousand years.
To me, Star Wars has always been about optimism. Hope of a happy ending. That's what I'll always believe in.
