User:Thefourdotelipsis

"At the risk of sounding negative: No."

- Leela

"There'll be no one to stop us this time!"

- My earliest Star Wars memory

"...it's more encyclopedic"

- Inadvertantly my new catch-cry

"Having a quote that I coined myself here would be arrogance to the nth degree."

- ....

Yo. No fanfic to be found here - I find that stuff to be both tedious and a waste of time. Here's what you need to know -

So there.
 * Films in order of preference (from favourite to least favourite): V, IV, III, I, VI, II
 * Favourite all-time character: Darth Vader
 * Favourite EU character: Borsk Fey'lya, followed closely by Mitth'raw'nuruodo and Gilad Pellaeon
 * Favourite Jedi: Plo Koon
 * Favourite Sith: Darth Vader
 * Favourite Rebel: Lando Calrissian (just because of the way James Earl Jones says Calrissian)
 * Favourite Imperial: Firmus Piett
 * Characters that I find interesting but underdeveloped: Wade Vox, Echuu Shen-Jon, Emon Azzameen
 * Favourite all-time ship: Slave I
 * Favourite starfighter: TIE/D Defender
 * Favourite capital ship: Super-class Star Destroyer Executor. None of this Executor-class Star Dreadnought bull - it's the Super-class, and it always will be.
 * Favourite location: Cloud City
 * Favourite planet: Vjun
 * Favourite game: X-Wing Alliance
 * Favourite novel: Shadows of the Empire

Ethics: "After a really series of complicated events..."
 * The Special Editions are canon. Don't spend your time whining about an OOT long gone...
 * The EU is a part of the story, but I don't consider it when watching the films.
 * Don't spend 90% of your time on Wookiepedia editing your user page, be it tweaking or writing inconsequential and hammy fanon.
 * Be flexible. Be open to others ideas, and don't just arrogantly claim that you are right and that this image of Rune Haako is not going to be changed.
 * Portraits in infoboxes. It's encyclopedic.
 * Wookiepedia is an encyclopedia, not an information stash. I'm looking at you, Palpatine.
 * If you don't like GL, say it, and then let it be.
 * Star Wars: Legacy has the potential of being the biggest mistake the EU has ever made. I'm talking bigger than The Crystal Star or even Dark Empire
 * Matthew Stover, Timothy Zahn, and James Luceno have saved the EU from certain death.
 * Palpatine beat Yoda. Deal with it.
 * Mace out-duelled Palpatine. Deal with it.
 * Aayla is dead. Deal with it.
 * Leland Chee is on something.
 * So is Rick McCallum

- Rick McCallum

Rants and Musings
Some people have Fanon - I have Rants and Musings. Every so often, I'll be posting my thoughts on a certain subject, and you can leave comments, if any of you actually bother to read it. In reality, I'm doing this for my own piece...peace of mind. Maybe I'll dump it all on my starwars.com blog...which I have...right here. If you've got a topic you would like me to talk about, leave it on my talk page. Oh, and these Rants and Musings do not in any way represent Wookiepedia; they just represent me.

Here are the archives - feel free to comment on them, though.
 * Rant I: Star Wars: Legacy: Stradley's childish retort (31 October, 2006)

Muse I: Dark Empire: "I'm Back, baby!"


1991. Bantam Spectra publish Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire. The book becomes a bestseller, and it both reinforces and expands the fanbase. Later that same year, Lucasfilm or whoever the hell was in charge decided to make this new leap into the unknown double-pronged. And so, Tom Veitch and Dark Horse Comics create Dark Empire. And whilst Heir to the Empire furthered and aided the fanbase...Dark Empire split it.

This was before George Lucas' Special Editions were on the scene, mind you. The fanbase was basically at peace – apart from the exsistence of Ewoks, there was nothing really to get riled up about. But the resurection of Palpatine was highly controversial – probably because it made the last half hour of Return of the Jedi useless. It was also done in a very strange graphic style – almost a Star Wars film noir. For this reason perhaps, Dark Empire didn't take off nearly as well as Heir to the Empire. But to look at Dark Empire now, 15 years later, we can see something different.

That, to me, softened the blow of Palpatine coming back, and allowed me to truly embrace Dark Empire. Personally, I prefer novels, but I found Dark Empire to be highly interesting. I loved Cam Kennedy's graphic style, but I found Veitch's writing style to be...inconsistent. With the retrospect of the prequels, Dark Empire’s Palpatine clones act out of character. So this brings up the question...did Palpatine's spirit really enter new clone bodies...or were they just stock, carbon copies that were not directly influenced by the original Palpatine?

Indeed, many sources point to Palpatine's spirit leaving Endor and travelling to Byss to inhabit a new clone body, but now I'm not so sure. I personally think that the clones were more of a Joruus C'boath situation. And that the real Palpatine truly did die at Endor, in both body and spirit. The Onderon situation in Empire's End would detract from that, but the "clone madness" introduced by Zahn could lend towards the out of character, Saturday morning cartoon villain Palpatine that Dark Empire features. I smell a retcon heading Dark Empire's way.



But, as we all know, Dark Empire heralded not one, but two controversial comebacks. When Boba Fett strode onto the scene, boasting indigestable armour, there was an uproar. That was the moment where the EU, sadly, became a take-it-or-leave-it affair. But what has Boba Fett even really done post-Return of the Jedi? The resurrection of Fett really smacks of gimmick to me, and it's only saved by an agenda ridden Bloodlines actually doing something with him.

Dark Empire II really showed us that Palpatine dying is no real biggie for the great man. Now flanked with a bunch of generic "Dark Side Adepts", Palpatine has reverted to his superweapon ways with the Galaxy Gun. Meanwhile, we've got Luke building his New Jedi Order. That seemed to me to be a step in the right direction. And then, finally, Palpatine dies his ultimate death in Empire's End when Han just shoots him. (Insert joke about Palpatine shooting first in special edition of Empire's End).

I personally think that a work of EU's success can be judged by it's influence on other works of EU, or even, influence on the films themselves. Heir to the Empire truly laid the groundwork for the rest of the EU, and Mara Jade has wound up becoming used more often than Lando Calrissian. Hell, Thrawn is now one of the most popular characters in fandom. The same, however, cannot be said for Dark Empire. Whilst Kam Solusar was able to make it through into the Bantam continuity, Anakin Solo was killed at the drop of a hat (though not before he had his own Junior novel series), and the cloned Emperor hardly gets a mention these days. Still, Nar Shaddaa and Ossus play a fairly major part in the broader EU. Dark Empires presence can be most strongly in the Tales of the Jedi series (though that may be just Tom Veitch with an agenda), where it doesn't tread on the toes of the fragile post-OT era continuity. In retrospect, Dark Empire really is a puzzle...it's an enjoyable read, but one can't help but remember what it did to the fanbase.

In the words of Sam Kekovich: You know it makes sense.

Comments

 * Woo-hoo! I've been looking forward to this. Your writing skills have doubled since last we met, Fourdot. Sir Adas Xendor, Noble Knight of the Sith Round Table 00:29, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Glad you like it. Thanks for the typo fix, but please try to refrain from altering the contents. .  .  .  .  00:45, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Sorry, Fourdot. My faux pas. But, really, you are superb! You really should write more often. Sir Adas Xendor, Noble Knight of the Sith Round Table 00:58, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Oh, you. .  .  .  .  01:04, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
 * No, really! You should submit some of your work to LFL; I'm sure they'd like it. Sir Adas Xendor, Noble Knight of the Sith Round Table 06:21, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Oh, and do you eat lamb straight off the barbie, too? *laughs* You know it makes sense! Or are you... UnAustralian? Sir Adas Xendor, Noble Knight of the Sith Round Table 06:27, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
 * I'm exceptionally UnAustralian. And I rarely eat lamb. .  .  .  .  21:03, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Ooh, sorry. I was assuming by your "Sam Kekovich" link that you supported the commercials he starred in. (don't worry; I'm not Australian.) Anyway, get started on another rant! No-one should waste their genius! You're that good! Sir Adas Xendor, Noble Knight of the Sith Round Table 22:39, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Well shucks. But I'm not going to start just yet...not only do I have my final exam in four hours, but I tend to like to keep one of these up for a few weeks, and allow people to comment, before starting another one. .  .  .  .  22:48, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
 * As for Sam Kekovich, I haven't actually seen those Lamb ads (though they sound funny), I used to watch (in passing) as show called The Fat, where he would do this long winded rant, without blinking, always staring at the camera, and he would end it with "You know it makes sense. I'm Sam Kekovich". So, I just adopted and modified the "You know it makes sense". .  .  .  .  23:00, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Oh, okay. Well, good luck on your exams, then, you sly genius, you! Sir Adas Xendor, Noble Knight of the Sith Round Table 03:56, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Done it, and far easier than I expected. Anyway, back to Dark Empire... .  .  .  .  06:48, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Yes, Dark Empire. It does seem a little out-of-character, what the Palpatine clones do, I agree with you there. Sir Adas Xendor, Noble Knight of the Sith Round Table 21:14, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Still...ROTS did feature a crazy, Dark Empire-esque Palpatine. .  .  .  .  02:07, 14 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Yes, but it just didn't seem to... fit with our depiction of him. Surely the Emperor learns from his mistakes, of course? Unless he's a complete dunderhead and it was all Plagueius' plan... hmmmm... you know, that makes for good speculation... meditate on this, I will. Sir Adas Xendor, Noble Knight of the Sith Round Table 03:18, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Pet Articles

 * Tydirium
 * Rune Haako - Will be featured February 11, 2007. "Easier than the Kessel Run"
 * Maarek Stele
 * Battle of Grassy Plains
 * Battle of Otoh Sancture
 * Panaka
 * Sio Bibble
 * Jar Jar Binks
 * Rugor Nass
 * OOM-9
 * Ric Olié - Good Article. "It's got a humungous tick in the corner!"
 * Humungous project that actually came to be | Anakin Skywalker - Revert to Policy. Smartest thing ever.
 * Daultay Dofine
 * Sabé

Member of

 * WookieeProject The New Essential Guide to Characters

Quote of the Day - Successful Noms
"I have a bad feeling about this."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Han Solo, Leia Organa, and a whole bunch of others.

Media

 * The Rebel Thief
 * Star Wars Kids (magazine)
 * X-Wing Marks The Spot
 * Imperial Spy

Characters

 * Q-7N
 * Sprool
 * Vors Voorhorian
 * Rogor
 * Tolok
 * Darlen

Battles

 * Battle of To-phalion Base
 * Battle of Science Station Youst
 * Mugaari Campaign
 * First Battle of Javin
 * Battle of the Tungra Sector
 * Second Battle of Javin
 * Battle of the Bruanii Sector
 * Battle of Spearhead
 * Battle of Spinnaker
 * Battle of Harte Secur

Droids

 * Sith battle droid

Planets/Locations

 * Dennogra
 * Zio Snaffkin
 * Zio Snaffkin Cantina
 * Incom Factory
 * Science Station Youst

Vehicles

 * Bail Organa (ship)
 * Sabre
 * Pike
 * Musket
 * Halberd
 * Redkihl Rokk's ship

Organisations

 * Dimok (government)
 * Ripoblus (government)

Created Templates

 * User:Thefourdotelipsis/featuredarticletemp
 * User:Thefourdotelipsis/factemplate
 * User:Thefourdotelipsis/talkheader
 * User:Thefourdotelipsis/needsaquote
 * User:Thefourdotelipsis/twoconflicting

Books

 * Jedi Apprentice: The Rising Force
 * Jedi Apprentice: The Dark Rival
 * Jedi Apprentice: The Fight for Truth
 * Star Wars Episode I Journal: Anakin Skywalker
 * The Phantom Menace
 * Rogue Planet
 * Attack of the Clones
 * Jedi Trial
 * Revenge of the Sith
 * A New Hope
 * Assault on Yavin Four
 * Escape from Thyferra
 * Attack on Delrakkin
 * Destroy the Liquidator
 * The Hunt for Han Solo
 * The Search for Grubba the Hutt
 * Ithorian Invasion
 * Togorian Trap
 * Revolt of the Battle Droids
 * Showdown in Mos Eisley
 * Bounty Hunters vs. Battle Droids
 * The Vactooine Disaster
 * Prisoner of the Nikto Pirates
 * The Monsters of Dweem
 * Voyage to the Underworld
 * Imperial Jailbreak
 * Darth Vader's Return
 * Rogue Squadron to the Rescue
 * Bounty on Bonadan
 * Total Destruction
 * Ghost of the Jedi
 * Splinter of the Mind's Eye
 * The Empire Strikes Back
 * Shadows of the Empire
 * Return of the Jedi
 * The Mandalorian Armor
 * Queen of the Empire (!)
 * Heir to the Empire
 * Dark Force Rising
 * The Last Command
 * Specter of the Past
 * Vision of the Future
 * Heirs of the Force
 * Shadow Academy
 * Vector Prime
 * The Unifying Force
 * Betrayal
 * Tales From the New Republic

(TBC)