JLCM: Clone Wars

[terribleparable]

Re: The Leia Thing

Actually, in making Leia Luke's sister Lucas basically copped out of the complex love-triangle he'd arranged between Han, Luke, and Leia. Most people believe it was more of a practical decision than a story-driven one. As such they probably didn't have much planned for Leia beyond dissolving the love triangle.

Re: The Hutt Power Vacuum

Organized crime's a huge deal in the Star Wars universe, especially on backwater worlds like Tatooine, so that vacuum wouldn't have lasted long at all. One of the many other space mobsters would've been happy to step in to Jabba's shoes, maybe even another Hutt. The Hutts are like a gigantic space mafia government, with their own little area of space in which they rule supreme.

Another Star Wars Wun Wact:

-To this day nobody knows what race Yoda is or where he was from. This has, surprisingly, never been fleshed out in the novels or other media.

[mlsterben]

There was a brown Yoda-guy in the game Knights of the Old Republic, but I believe they addressed that same fact. The only thing for certain is that 1) he's short and 2) he's a beast with the Force.

[Retro Spectre]

Wasn't there a female from Yoda's species on the Jedi Council in the new trilogy?

Seems weird that they'd introduce another and not clarify what race they are.

-Retro Spectre

[Silv3r]

I could have sworn when it first came out, the phantom menace had a guide released that talked about one of the other jedi's who were the same race as yoda (but about 250 years younger)

[Tom Brazelton]

I belive you are talking about Yaddle.



She was on the Jedi Council.

[terribleparable]

I belive you are talking about Yaddle.



She was on the Jedi Council.

Ugh, you wouldn't think the Jedi Council would be subject to nepotism.

[logosmonkey]

Yes Yaddle is the same race as Yoda, as is the master from KOTR. Best people can gather is they are some of the few remaining of their race. Their race seems to be innately talented in the force. One of the stories I heard was that the races abilities with the force eventually became their downfall as they became overly sure of themselves and their force abilities. That was just a little blurb in one of the RPG's though.

[batsofchaos]

Oh, I wouldn't be surprised that the vacuum got filled quickly, it just wasn't addressed, which is what the original beef regarding Leia was. It could just as easily be "she didn't care to learn about the force" as anything else. It's just left unresolved, that's all. The fact that they didn't discuss it isn't a negative in my opinion, though. Just an example of an unexplored thread in a similar vein to Leia's lack of training montage.

[terribleparable]

Yes Yaddle is the same race as Yoda, as is the master from KOTR. Best people can gather is they are some of the few remaining of their race. Their race seems to be innately talented in the force. One of the stories I heard was that the races abilities with the force eventually became their downfall as they became overly sure of themselves and their force abilities. That was just a little blurb in one of the RPG's though.

If I had to speculate (which I love to do), I'd say it's not that the race has been wiped out, it's just that there were never very many to begin with. Seeing as KoToR takes place about 4,000 years before the events of Star Wars it's hard to imagine a race could teeter on the verge of extinction for so long without tipping one way or the other. I bet they're like Ki-Adi-Mundi's race in that they aren't very prolific breeders, but in their case it doesn't really matter because they can (apparently) live to be 900.

You could also reason that the lack of Yoda-Jedi means that they aren't usually force sensitive, and that the rare exceptions we know of just happen to be very powerful (like Wookies). Also, they're so small as adults that it's probably hard to raise one from the near-toddler age the Jedi used to require.

Edit - Even more unnecessary fanboyism! Since Yoda's race can live to be 900 that could mean their physical development stages take a very, very long time to complete. This could greatly complicate Jedi training since they require their students to be so young. Maybe, by the time a Yoda is ready to leave its world, they're usually too mentally developed to train as a Jedi?

[LincM]

Welcome TP. I have to say that there are two conflicting views going on that I need to mention:

People are saying on one hand:

"Lucas is out of touch wih his audience"

but

"He didn't write the story"

but

"He should have stopped it being made like that"

but

"He's had little control as it's been 31 years since he created it and it's out of his control now"


Now these statements all put together come across rather contradictory, don't you think? How can Lucas be responsible for ALL of the work that gets commissioned and approved. I realise the magnitude of a film is huge but he's admitted having little to no control over it.

And apparently WB removed the idea of the crawl because they wanted to distinguish it as its own film and not part of the other films series beause they didn't own the rights. Sounds like something the companies would do. Fox and WB seem to really have some hatred going on at the moment.

[LincM]

Maybe, by the time a Yoda is ready to leave its world, they're usually too mentally developed to train as a Jedi?

The midichlorian count is measured within the first 6 months of every lifeform born in the republic, irrespective of their developmental progression or capacity, so no matter whether they develop swiftly or not, they'd be brought out of the mix before the normal world could raise them.

[terribleparable]

People are saying on one hand:

"Lucas is out of touch wih his audience"

but

"He didn't write the story"

but

"He should have stopped it being made like that"

but

"He's had little control as it's been 31 years since he created it and it's out of his control now"


Now these statements all put together come across rather contradictory, don't you think?

Err, no they don't, actually. All of those points can co-exist peacefully.

Lucas is out of touch with his audience, as evidenced by his complete inability to deliver what the primary Star Wars fanbase would enjoy in a movie.

While it's a fact that Lucas didn't write Clone Wars that doesn't mean that he didn't maintain strict editorial control over it, in fact, that's kind of his MO. He may not have written Clone Wars word for word (in fact, he hasn't done that alone since New Hope) but he very definitely shaped it.

He could have stopped the Clone Wars project easily before he'd inked a deal with WB, and even after he very probably could've crushed the project in production. There are a lot of avenues available to an executive who wants to bury a project.

And finally, that last point just isn't true. LucasFilm is a privately-owned corporation, meaning Lucas is basically emperor of everything he's built. He doesn't answer to shareholders, a board of directors, anybody. He had the amazing foresight to retain almost all property rights as well, which is why he's a hojillionaire in spite of his name quickly becoming box office poison.


I hate to keep hitting this on the head, especially since we're well past the expiration date for this topic, but Star Wars has outgrown Lucas and only Lucas doesn't realize it. He's just not a good enough writer, not to mention a good enough world-builder (come on, death-sticks?) to add to it anymore. He's so out-classed that now everything he adds looks like a crayon-drawing on top of a Leonardo.

[Superguest]

-Fun Fact: Darth Plagueis was Sidious' Sith master (that's Palpatine, everybody!)

I don't believe that qualifies as hardcore Star Wars nerd stuff. Everyone who saw just one of the prequels ought to know that Palpatine is Sidious, and he all but says that Plagueis was his master until he killed him.

Other than that, you've got some impressive nerdcore going there. And don't give us this "Oh, I am so embarrassed" nonsense while you're bragging.

I believe Yoda makes reference to Luke being too old to begin training in Empire.

I believe you're missing the point here. It's the same device used twice, which is kinda lazy and unoriginal, and also a bit contrived the second time.
Okay, so a young adult formally too old to be come a Jedi. But Anakin is what, seven? And he is too old as well? Does the Jedi Order normally only accept toddlers or what?

[opie301]

I think it's meant to be some sort of indication about how regimented the Jedi Order had become. The Jedi Order has become more about the rules than the reasoning behind the rules. A Jedi Master should be able to look beyond the unchanging rules, using the force as his or her guide to divine the correct course of action. Hiding behind the rules is a political game for everyone else to play, not Jedi.

Theoretically, the Jedi like to train 'em up young so that each individual only knows the Jedi, and, in this way, the Order avoids tainting their knights with emotional attachments that could lead them to the dark side. The fall of Anakin to the dark side would seem to lend credence to this theory. But, then again, Dooku fell as well, and he was presumably brought up in the Jedi way (I've never researched to deeply into Dooku's background so I may be wrong on that point).

Alternate interpretation: Yoda's kind of a dick.

[Tom Brazelton]

Does the Jedi Order normally only accept toddlers or what?

Actually, yes.

If you watch Episode II and III, there are references to Jedi "Younglings." We meet them, actually. Young children being trained in the ways of the force. The reason? Children were easier to expose to the ways of The Force because their minds are more open to receive it.

In the extended universe, Luke's Jedi order accepts older children. Really more out of necessity than anything else.

Sidebar: This post reminded me that the Clone Wars show premieres on Cartoon Network tonight and I need to TiVo it.