Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire



Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire was a multimedia project created by Lucasfilm in 1996. The original idea was to create an interquel, a story set between the films The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi (a time where no Star Wars book had gone before), and to explore all commercial possibilities of a full motion picture release, without actually making the film. The venture paved the way for the theatrical release of the Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition in the following year, and the later releases of the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

Project and story overview


Several products were released, including a novel, a junior novelization, a six-issue comic series, a video game, trading cards, a soundtrack, a role-playing game, toy figurines, a series of MicroMachines toys, vinyl dolls and statuettes, model kits, and a line of new action figures and vehicles, and so on. The entire Shadows of the Empire project, though not technically a film, can be collectively considered the closest project to a film in the Star Wars official continuity. This story is significant in the fact that Lucas reportedly said he would have made a story like this into a movie if he had had the time and effort back in the early 1980s. The entire history and analysis of the project was recorded in The Secrets of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, by Mark Cotta Vaz.

While each part of the project can be enjoyed on its own, fans will need to collect several items in order to fully experience the adventure since certain elements from each part of the story do not overlap and are described only in another part. The novel tells the overall story, focusing on the main characters. The comic book series focuses on bounty hunter Boba Fett's battle to keep possession of the frozen Han Solo. The video game allows players to control new character Dash Rendar, whose adventures in the game weave in and out of the overall storyline. All the while, a battle for the life of Luke Skywalker takes place between Darth Vader and Prince Xizor, as each tries to please the dreaded Emperor Palpatine.

This served as the underlying marketing strategy for the project and was quite successful. The success of Shadows of the Empire also served more or less as a model for the Clone Wars multimedia venture. A similar multimedia project was attempted in late 2007 to tie in with the "The Force Unleashed" video game, however, the project largely fell flat due to the many delays of the game.

Plot summary
The following is a summary of all sources of the Shadows of the Empire saga, including some information from the tie-ins.

Prelude
The saga of Shadows begins around the Battle of Hoth, and follows the ventures of original characters Prince Xizor of Black Sun and Dash Rendar. We see Xizor calling a meeting of all the Vigos where he had his aide, Guri throttle the traitor in front of the others. Green's violent death would serve as a warning to the other Vigos not to cross the Dark Prince.

Later, Guri meets the representatives of Ororo Transportation who had been attempting to take over Black Sun's spice operations in the Bajic Sector. The group denied the accusations, however, Tuyay lost his composure and announced that they no longer intended to be used by Black Sun. Guri threw him at the bodyguards, and broke Dellis Yuls' wrist before he could fire and snapped his neck and pierved Z. Limmer's throat with her fingernails. Then she shot all of them with a blaster.

Hotshot smuggler Dash Rendar, captain of the Outrider and mercenary-for-hire, has arrived with a supply shipment for Echo Base. After landing he meets up with his long time friend Han Solo. The Empire is on its way and the Rebels could use another good pilot. Dash has never been one to say no to a good dogfight. Han talks to Luke and gets Dash a spot in Rogue Squadron.

In the Battle of Hoth, Dash flies a T-47 airspeeder against the walkers, AT-ST and Viper probe droids that approach the Echo Base, giving the Alliance the time they need to evacuate. The main generator has been destroyed and Imperial troops have entered. Han, Leia and Luke have escaped, but Dash is left behind. With the generator down, the shield to Bay 3 (where the Outrider is docked) is closed. Dash locates and activates the emergency generators, then makes it to the Outrider fighting alone an AT-ST.

Dash escapes Hoth in one piece, but he's not quite in the clear. An Imperial Star Destroyer has been spotted just off Hoth. As if things weren't bad enough, the Outrider is approaching an asteroid field. With his co-pilot droid Leebo at the helm, Dash mans the gun turrets to fend off incoming TIE Fighters and Bombers. With the Outrider's gunnery controls Dash destroys incoming TIEs and asteroids until he makes it into hyperspace.

After Bespin
Aboard the Redemption, Leia is informed that Imperial starfighters have spotted the Rebels, and Rogue Squadron led by Wedge Antilles begins defending the Rebel side in a fierce space battle so that their point remains secret. Leia meanwhile understands that Luke is different after his encounter with Vader and wonders what happened between them, not knowing he is his father.

On the Executor, Sidious contacts Darth Vader and chastises him for his failure on Bespin. He then orders Vader to conclude shipping arrangements of the Death Star II plans with the Black Sun crimelord Prince Xizor, who continues to secretly observe such interactions within the presence of Sidious. On his way out, Xizor explains to his aide, Guri, that he intends to kill Luke Skywalker and improve his prestige to the Emperor, while also discrediting Vader.

Above Tatooine, Boba Fett who carries Han Solo in carbonite, exits hyperspace but has a dangerous encounter with IG-88D who intended to claim the bounty of Solo for him. After the rough skirmish, the IG-2000 was caught in a barrage of fire from the Slave I and Fett is forced into hiding. IG-88D managed to limp off to Ord Mantell to search for spare parts for his ship in the planet's scrapyard.

Dash is sent by the Rebel Alliance, to seek out IG-88D, and interrogate him about the whereabouts of Boba Fett. Rendar gathered information on the skirmish and tracked IG-88 to Ord Mantell, where IG-88 was in the main salvage plant, and he sealed the gate. Leebo programmed a hover train to kamikaze with the plant, allowing Rendar access.

His forces proved defenseless to Rendar, who broke through the resistance and boarded the train on course with the processing plant. After a quick discussion with IG-88, information was gathered that Fett was on Gall, and the assassin droid opened fire. IG-88 was blasted after a long, hard skirmish, and his inoperative droid shell fell to the ground.

Battle of Gall
When Lando Calrissian learns from Dash Rendar that Fett had been spotted on Gall, meet on Tatooine and informs his friends, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa. They departed for Gall, where they met up with Rogue Squadron and Rendar himself. Meanwhile, the bounty hunters Bossk and Zuckuss attempt to join Boba and work together in their jobs of bounty hunting in order to share the value of Han once he is delivered to Jabba, but he firmly refuses.

Dash Rendar, with Outrider, leads Leia on the Millennium Falcon with Lando, Chewbacca, R2-D2, and C-3PO to the Slave I on Gall, but this mission is confounded by the presence of an Imperial Enclave, with two Star Destroyers on patrol. While Rogue Squadron becomes entangled in another space battle against the dayside Star Destroyer, several other bounty hunters, including 4-LOM, attempt to steal the carbonite block of Han, but Boba intervenes and makes short work of them. The Rogues did an impressive job of keeping the fighters away from the Grand Trench – where Rendar was leading the Falcon towards the spaceport city.

The Rogues' luck could not last, however. Another wave of TIEs approached and the second Star Destroyer joined the battle. Fortunately, the Falcon reached the spaceport after a harrowing run through the Grand Trench, though Dash decided to leave the Rebels to face Fett alone—as he later remarked, he was paid only to guide, not shoot. And with a dozen TIE fighters on their tail, the crew of the Falcon was in dire need of help.

Dash landed his ship into a remote valley on the planet's surface. With Leebo guarding the ship, he moves on through the canyon into the Enclave and slices into the control computer to find out Fett's location; stealing a jetpack, he flies across the Smuggler's Canyon and makes his way up to the hangars. On his way he steals an Imperial patrol skiff and faces an AT-ST assigned to sentry duty. The explosion opens the vent shafts, and through them, Dash makes his way to the top of the tower Slave I is docked. There he engaged Fett in an air duel. With his jetpack blasted by Rendar, Fett crashes right into the Slave I. He then attacks Rendar with the ship's weapon but Dash disables once more the Slave. However, an Imperial transport quickly picks up Fett and heads towards Tatooine to deliver them to Jabba. The mission had failed.

Over the planet, the Rebels decide to cut and run, preparing for a mock hyperspace jump to fool their pursuers into believing they had left the system. Plotting a course towards their base on the moon of Kile, Wes Janson's X-wing fires on Luke; his astromech droid had taken control of his ship, and Luke was forced to disable his fellow pilot's fighter, before towing him back to base. There, in a disturbing development, Luke found that the astro-droid had been programmed to kill him.

Eventually Leia asks Luke to go to Tatooine after Fett; she also secretly hires Rendar to follow and protect him. For herself, she decides to make contact to an underground organization in the hopes of finding out who was resposnible. Unfortunately she decided to make concact with the Black Sun, unaware that Xizor was the one who wanted Luke dead.

On Tatooine
Big Gizz, while on the town with his buds, was challenged by a mysterious swoop biker, Jix, in Mos Eisley. When Jix cheated in the bike match, Gizz was impressed with his willingness to cheat. When Xizor contacted Jabba about killing Skywalker, Jabba gave the task to Big Gizz and his partner, Spiker. Jix and Gizz's gang headed for Jabba's headquarters. Jabba just got a transmission that interfered with Jix's instructions to ensure Luke's survival. After a raucous discussion in Chalmun's cantina that Dash overhears, Jix and the gang race over to defeat Luke.

At Ben Kenobi's hut, Luke begins testing the new lightsaber he has constructed according to the instructions from a book he found inside. Once the swoop bikers arrive, Luke deflects several blaster bolts before he slashes aside one of the riders off a bike and uses it to his advantage with Dash coming to the rescue within the twists and turns of Beggar's Canyon. When Spiker got a clear shot at Luke, Jix rammed his swoop into Spiker's to keep Luke alive. Although Jix broke both legs in the crash, Spiker was nearly dead and Luke alive and well.

Gizz, furious at losing more than half his gang to Luke and Dash, leveled his rifle at Luke but was struck in the skull with a rock by Jix. Jix fulfilled his mission, allowing Luke to live so that Vader himself could deal with him. Big Gizz collapses then and there, bloody and left for dead. Dash reveals to Luke that the gang works for Jabba.

Meanwhile, Leia had already arranged a contact with Black Sun, on Rodia and meets their representative, Guri at the Next Chance casino. Suspicious, Organa had arranged for some security in the form of Lando and Chewbacca who would be nearby. The initial meeting achieved little, with Guri claiming that she had business to attend to on a local moon and had to cut the meeting short, however it did leave the Rebels with the distinct impression that there was something unusual about her.

Death Star plans
Returning to Coruscant, Guri is debriefed by Xizor. Guri felt that Organa looking into Black Sun was dangerous and advocated killing anybody who knew they had been to Rodia to leave no traces. However, Xizor had other plans for Organa and told Guri to meet with her again and bring her to Coruscant so that he might personally find out what she knew.

At the suggestion of Prince Xizor, Sidious allows the plans to the Death Star II to fall into the hands of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, at a deceptive price. The Bothan spies discover that the plans are to be sent in a small computer onboard a fertilizer freighter, the Suprosa, en route to their home planet Bothawui.

The Bothans send an alert in the form of a message droid to Tatooine, believing Leia, one of the Rebel leaders, to be there, and asking her to come to Bothawui. However, Leia is on Rodia, so Luke Skywalker and Dash Rendar take up the challenge instead. Along with Ace Azzameen and a fleet of volunteer Bothans including Koth Melan, they intercept the freighter as it exits hyperspace. Suprosa responds by firing a single Diamond Boron Missile which Rendar hits, but fails to destroy. The missile hits four Bothan Y-wings, destroying them. Six Y-wings were lost in total during the battle. The freighter's pilot surrenders, and Rendar ripped through inner defenses and into the hangar. A Loader droid used its spring-loaded arms against Rendar who blasted the droid down, and opened the hangar, allowing Luke Skywalker and Koth Melan to land in the ship and secure the plans. The plans were, in truth, outdated, and the second Death Star was fully operational, unlike what the schematics read. With the success of the battle, the Alliance had gained trust in the crime lord Xizor.

The computer is encrypted and protected by a self destruct device, and a special Bothan encryption team on Kothlis would be able to access its contents. En route to Kothlis, the party was attacked by Claw and Hunter, driven off by Blue Squadron, and the Rebels managed to arrive at Kothlis.

Meanwhile, Bossk and his group capture Boba and imprison him in a cell, but Boba gets rid of his cell guard by way of a trap door, then gains the upper hand by capturing Zuckuss and 4-LOM. Once he uses thermal detonators to dangerously harm Bossk's vessel, Boba escapes and enters hyperspace.

Guri returns on Rodia, to meet the Rebels, who had installed a scanner device which quickly confirmed their suspicions—Guri was not Human. C-3PO puts a sleeping potion in Guri's tea, so that they could conduct a closer examination of her person and effects. After that failed to have any effect the two continued to trade diplomatic small-talk until Guri tired of proceedings and attempted to abduct Organa only to be restrained by Calrissian, Chewbacca and Dash Rendar, who had arrived.

After much discussion, Organa agreed to go to Coruscant with Guri in the Stinger, taking Chewbacca with her. To allow Organa to make it onto Coruscant without being identified, Guri helps them into disguises. Leia takes the guise of the Ubesian bounty hunter Boushh, and Chewbacca is disguised as Snoova. Xizor greets Leia and Chewbacca at Black Sun, then provides them each with appropriate commodities.

On the way to Coruscant
Koth Melan and Bothan technicians decode the Death Star plans on Kothlis when a Barabel bounty hunter raid, led by Skahtul, captures Skywalker and kills Melan. The plans managed to reach the Razor over the planet, which was attacked by Darth Vader aboard the Executor, who had come to Kothlis to collect Skywalker (as well as to make it appear as if the Empire was genuinely concerned with the loss of the plans). It is revealed to Luke that there are two rewards on his head, as he is wanted alive and dead. Unkown to him, it is Vader who wants him alive and Xizor who wants him dead.

For a time, Luke meditates and concentrates on increasing his onness with the Force. After he gains much confidence with the Force, he influences the mind of his cell guard. Luke gets the guard to lock himself in the cell and take a nap, while Luke exits and then proceeds to increase his skills in the Force as he makes his way out of the stronghold. Lando makes his entrance and rescues Luke, and they then depart from the planet Kothlis on the Millennium Falcon, and in a hurry, as the Executor has just arrived.

After an intense seductive experience with Xizor, Leia is reinforced by Chewbacca, eventually retakes control of herself, and knees Xizor between the legs. He is outraged, and sends her back to her room.

On Tatooine, Jix cleverly gets past security and makes contact with Vader on the Executor in order to inform him of the swoop bike incident with Luke.

Luke, Dash, Lando, and Chewbacca stealthily make their way through the sewers of Black Sun in order to enter Xizor's palace. Using the Force, Luke and his thoughts inform Leia that he and the group are close by and will soon rescue her from Xizor. After much blasterfire with security guards with Luke integrating his increasingly advanced lightsaber skills, the group finds Leia and begins to lead her out of the palace.

They enter a hallway with Xizor, Guri, and several more of his aides, and a battle soon commences wherein Xizor and Guri are impressed with Luke's skills as a Jedi. Luke and Lando soon threaten Xizor with thermal detonators that they send down the garbage chute, causing everyone to frantically panic and scatter out of Xizor's palace.

The Millennium Falcon, being driven by R2-D2 and C-3PO, wildly careens toward Luke and company, allowing them to escape onto the vessel above Coruscant.

Battle of Falleen's Fist
Xizor boards his skyhook, then sends four of his own starfighters at the Rebels, with Dash defending them with flak from the laser turrets of the Outrider. The X-wing starfighters of Rogue Squadron soon join in, along with many TIE/ln starfighters, and a big space battle commences.

Vader, via hologram on the Executor over Coruscant, confronts Xizor. Vader warned Xizor to stay away from Luke, but he willfully disobeyed those orders, and he thus orders the Imperial fleet to destroy Xizor's skyhook.

There is a great explosion wherein the Outrider is thought to be destroyed while Dash actually makes a jump to hyperspace at the last moment, as he is convinced that his experiences with the Rebels have been too dangerous while there is too much money to be made elsewhere.

On Tatooine, Boba fools the stalking bounty hunters with a disguised Zuckuss and a covered up 4-LOM that would seem to be himself and a carbonite block speeding away from the Slave I. The real Boba gives the actual carbonite block of Han to Jabba, and he receives his payment. Meanwhile, Luke, Leia, Lando, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C-3PO prepare to rescue Han from Jabba the Hutt.

Luke prepares his holographic message to Jabba and puts his lightsaber into R2.

Characters

 * 4-LOM
 * Wedge Antilles
 * Bossk
 * Lando Calrissian
 * Chewbacca
 * Boba Fett
 * Furlag
 * Big Gizz
 * Guri
 * IG-88
 * Wes Janson
 * Wrenga Jixton
 * LE-BO2D9
 * Koth Melan
 * Emperor Palpatine
 * Dash Rendar
 * Luke Skywalker
 * Leia Organa Solo
 * Spiker
 * Durga Besadii Tai
 * Jabba Desilijic Tiure
 * Darth Vader
 * Prince Xizor
 * Zuckuss

Creatures

 * Wolfcat

Droid models

 * ASP-series droid
 * Human replica droid

Events

 * Second Mission to Ord Mantell
 * Battle of Gall
 * Second Battle of Bajic
 * First Battle of Bothawui
 * Battle of Kothlis
 * Battle of Falleen's Fist

Locations

 * Bothawui
 * Coruscant
 * Kothlis
 * Gall
 * Rodia
 * Tatooine
 * Rebel rendezvous point

Organizations and titles

 * Black Sun
 * Coruscant Guard

Sentient species

 * Bothan
 * Devaronian
 * Falleen
 * Human
 * Hutt
 * Rodian
 * Wookiee

Vehicles and vessels

 * BTL Y-wing starfighter
 * T-65 X-wing starfighter
 * Millennium Falcon
 * Outrider


 * Virago
 * Skyhook
 * Palpatine's skyhook
 * Falleen's Fist

Weapons and technology

 * Lightsaber
 * Thermal detonator

Novel


The main plotline is told in Steve Perry's novel, Shadows of the Empire, published by Bantam Books. It introduces Prince Xizor, the overlord of the largest criminal organization in the galaxy, known as Black Sun. His goal is to take Darth Vader's place at Emperor Palpatine's side. Xizor is also seeking vengeance against Vader for the extermination of his people, the Falleen. Xizor makes his move against Vader upon learning of the identity of Luke Skywalker and his relationship to Vader. To exact his revenge, Xizor plots to kill Luke, thinking that will win favor with Palpatine and serve as retribution against Vader. Meanwhile, Vader is still seeking out Luke to convert him to the dark side after their encounter on Bespin. Luke finds himself the target of the two most powerful beings in the galaxy, other than Palpatine himself.

Meanwhile, Han Solo is still frozen in carbonite and is being taken to Jabba the Hutt by the bounty hunter Boba Fett. Leia Organa, along with Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca, enlists the aid of Dash Rendar, a smuggler and acquaintance of Han's. Events transpire that cross the paths of Leia and the Rebels with Xizor and Black Sun that culminate in a battle over Coruscant between Xizor, Vader, and Rogue Squadron. Also revealed are how Leia and Lando developed Han's rescue and the construction of Luke's new lightsaber. Thus, the stage is soon set for Return of the Jedi.

A prequel novel was planned to the original Shadows of the Empire story. The book was to be written by author Charles Grant. The novel was canceled apparently due to a Lucasfilm Licensing move from Bantam to Del Rey.

Junior novelization
The junior novelization of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire was written by Christopher Golden and published by Bantam Doubleday Dell in October 1996. It is based on the story and novel by Steve Perry. The target audience of the junior novelization is kids 8-12.

Comics


While many elements of the novel are also depicted in the comics, there is much greater emphasis on the intrigue between Boba Fett and his fellow bounty hunters, primarily Bossk, Zuckuss, and 4-LOM. It also tells the story of Jix, Darth Vader's special agent assigned to ensuring Luke's protection from Xizor. Upon learning that Luke was on Tatooine, Xizor hired Jabba to kill him. The job was given to his swoop gang, which had been infiltrated by Jix as part of Vader's assignment. The series was written by John Wagner and illustrated by Kilian Plunkett.

Steve Perry, author of the Shadows' novel, was a consultant of the comics. While the stories in the book and comics seldom intersected, it was necessary that characters, scenes, and dialogue match when they did come together. There were also a few tie-in comics and a sequel comic, Shadows of the Empire: Evolution. The first tie-in was Battle of the Bounty Hunters, the first-ever Star Wars pop-up comic. It was simply a reprint of the battle between Boba Fett and IG-88 shown in the first issue of the primary series. The tie-in comic Shadow Stalker tells the story of how Jix earned the respect of Vader enough to receive his mission of protecting Luke, and incorporated characters from the Archie Goodwin Star Wars newspaper strip "Iceworld", reprinted by Dark Horse comics in Classic Star Wars. Additionally, The Jabba Tape continues the adventures of Big Gizz and Spiker&mdash;members of Jabba's swoop gang&mdash;after Jabba's death. Both Shadow Stalker and The Jabba Tape were originally serialized in Star Wars Galaxy. This led to a further adventure in Sand Blasted.Some comics were also released by toy companies.Kenner released a two-part special which was a reprint of some scenes from the original comic like Battle of Gall.Some of the Lewis Galoob Toys'included Galoob Micro-Machines Mini-Comic and a Shadows of the Empire AMT/ERTL Model Kit Mini-Comic was distributed in certain of ERTL's model kits.These mini-comics like Kenner version were mainly a reprint but they also included some original scenes.

Video game


LucasArts's Shadows of the Empire video game was one of the first available for Nintendo's 64-bit system, Nintendo 64. The most commercial product in the Shadows of the Empire line, was the Nintendo 64 game that was released on December 3, 1996, which was shortly after the release of the console itself (September 29, 1996). The computer version came almost a year later (September 17, 1997), featuring improved graphics and fully 3D CGI rendered cutscenes with dialogue (as opposed to the picture/text cutscenes of the N64 version). In the game, the player controls Dash Rendar in his efforts to help Luke Skywalker and rescue Princess Leia from Prince Xizor's hands.

The game is divided in four parts (or chapters). The first one takes place during the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back, with Dash assisting in the Battle of Hoth in a snowspeeder, and eventually fleeing Echo Base. In the second part, Dash confronts some of the bounty hunters found in the movies, like IG-88 on Ord Mantell and Boba Fett. In the third chapter, Boba Fett has escaped and the player's mission changes: you must now save Luke Skywalker's life by fighting a deadly gang of bikers in Mos Eisley&mdash;this is vividly depicted in the comics as well&mdash;and then recover Imperial secret plans of the second Death Star, with Skywalker's help. Finally, in the last chapter takes Dash, Luke, and Lando to Coruscant to rescue Princess Leia from Xizor's stronghold. Certain parts of the game contradict elements from the book and comic book, but the overall story remains the same.

Star Wars: X-wing Alliance, although not officially part of the project, has a campaign of seven missions that takes place during the period covered by Shadows, with the player having to recreate events mentioned in the novel and the game. This includes flying to the Vergesso Asteroids during the Second Battle of Bajic, flying a Y-wing as part of the force led by Luke and Dash to disable Suprosa, and then ensuring that the computer captured therein gets safely into Rebel hands.

Voice cast (PC Version Only)

 * Bob Bergen .... Luke Skywalker
 * John Cygan .... Dash Rendar
 * Lisa Fuson .... Leia Organa / Guri
 * Tom Kane .... Leebo
 * Nick Tate .... Prince Xizor / IG-88

Soundtrack


Film and TV composer Joel McNeely wrote and recorded a soundtrack for the project which was performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Chorus. It was published by Varèse Sarabande. Familiar themes from the movies can only be heard in tracks one (Main Theme from Star Wars and part of Carbon Freeze), eight (Imperial March and The Force theme), and ten (The Imperial March). The disc also includes an interactive track for personal computers, containing concept art and additional information about the project.

Track listing

 * 1) Main Theme from Star Wars and Leia's Nightmare (3:41)
 * 2) The Battle of Gall (7:59)
 * 3) Imperial City (8:02)
 * 4) Beggar's Canyon Chase (2:56)
 * 5) The Southern Underground (1:48)
 * 6) Xizor's Theme (4:35)
 * 7) The Seduction of Princess Leia (3:38)
 * 8) Night Skies (4:17)
 * 9) Into the Sewers (2:55)
 * 10) The Destruction of Xizor's Palace (10:44)

Features

 * Music Total time: 51:27
 * Introduction - an overview of the Shadows of the Empire project.
 * Creative Team - the people behind the project.
 * Art Gallery - outstanding art created by people like the concept artist of Star Wars, Ralph McQuarrie.
 * Music - information about Joel McNeely, the orchestra and the efforts to put together a soundtrack for a novel.
 * Shadows of the Empire Universe - information about the book, the game, the comic series and the toys based on the characters.
 * The liner notes of the booklet give brief plot summaries for each track of the corresponding sections from the novel. McNeely wrote, "Unlike with film music, I have been allowed to let my imagination run free with the images, characters and events from this story. I have also had the luxury to loiter as long as I like with a character or scene. Every passage represents some person, place or event in this story."

Toys


Kenner was one of the companies that made the toy line for the Shadows of the Empire project. Kenner's Shadows of the Empire line contains action figures, vehicles, and "two-pack" pairings of new and classic characters.

Lewis Galoob Toys, famous for their line of "Micro Machine" miniature toys and playsets, also developed a full Shadows of the Empire toy line. It included three sets of miniatures and a boxed Action Fleet set with two swoop bikes and riders and four miniature articulated figures. Also included in the sets are the classic Star Wars characters (Luke, Vader, the Emperor) as well as the new characters (Xizor, Dash Rendar, Guri and Leebo).

Action figures

 * Boba Fett vs. IG-88
 * Chewbacca in Bounty Hunter (Snoova) Disguise
 * Dash Rendar
 * Leia in Boushh Disguise
 * Luke Skywalker in Coruscant Guard Disguise
 * Prince Xizor
 * Prince Xizor vs. Darth Vader
 * Swoop Trooper

Action figure vehicles

 * Outrider
 * Slave I
 * Swoop

Comic Pack
In 2008, Hasbro will release figures of Prince Xizor and Princess Leia as part of the Comic Pack line.

Trading cards


The trading card company Topps developed the Shadows of the Empire trading card line. The 100-piece Shadows of the Empire card set from Topps represents all three platforms that tells the story&mdash;the book, the comic series and the game, making it a unique storytelling medium and a highly anticipated collectible. The cards are the work of Greg and Tim Hildebrandt, the twin artists who painted the most recognizable Star Wars art of all time&mdash;the world-famous poster that is still an icon of the trilogy. The 100 card set featured double UV-coating and an extra-thick 20 pt. card stock for everlasting collectibility, all with full-bleed painted images on a 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" card. The Shadows of the Empire card series is highlighted by 72 cards that virtually storyboard the events in Steve Perry's novel. Besides that, there are six cards dedicated to vehicles, other six to the comics and another six keyed to the video game. Each pack came with nine cards.

Trailer
In 1996, to promote the release of the project, Lucasfilm released a trailer showing clips from The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. A voiceover was provided that explained the events of the new story and how they connected with the two films. The trailer was meant to give the project the feel of an actual film and film release. The trailer, which was originally broadcast on QVC, was shown as well several times at fan conventions, including the 1996 Wondercon convention, each time by the head of Lucasfilm fan relations, Steve Sansweet. However, Lucasfilm quickly pulled the trailer, fearing that people might think the project was actually a film. Since the pull of the trailer, many fans searching for it have found the trailer extremely difficult to locate, even on the Internet. From the book "The Secrets of Shadows of the Empire," this is the complete text from the trailer, as originally read by an unknown narrator:

"When Luke Skywalker was most vulnerable... When a renegade hero became a friend in desperate need... and a dark villain faced his greatest challenge... When the Empire turned more and more to the forces of the underworld... the underworld moved in to crush the Empire and the Rebellion in a single stroke. After The Empire Strikes Back and before Return of the Jedi, there was a time when heroes and villains alike lived in the Shadows of the Empire."

- Narration from the Shadows of the Empire trailer

Despite the trailer's low availability, some fans recorded the video when it made its debut on QVC. A high quality version of this trailer may be viewed at the Official Site here.

Film
In the 1997 Special Edition re-release of A New Hope, Shadows swoop bikes and ASP labor droids make an appearance, as does Dash Rendar's ship, the Outrider. Though originally developed for the Special Edition of A New Hope, the Sentinel-class landing craft (also known as the "Imperial landing craft") also made its first appearance in Shadows of the Empire. This is the craft seen lifting off in A New Hope when the stormtroopers are roaming Tatooine on the dewbacks. Prince Xizor makes a cameo appearance at the podrace in The Phantom Menace. A Micro Machines model was used to portray him. The Imperial City theme is incorporated into some of the early music in Revenge Of The Sith.

Radio
The 1996 Return of the Jedi radio drama, Brian Daley makes several references to events from Shadows. For instance, in the radio drama, after Han is rescued, he criticises Lando for allowing C-3PO to fly the Millennium Falcon&mdash;an event that is portrayed in Shadows of the Empire.

Comics


A tie-in comic book series was released from writer Ryder Windham in January 2000. The comic book series was known as Star Wars: Shadow Stalker, and was a prelude to the original Shadows of the Empire story. The new comic expanded on the adventures of the character, Jix, from the original story. The series also incorporated characters from the Archie Goodwin Star Wars newspaper strip story "Iceworld", reprinted by Dark Horse comics in Classic Star Wars.

Another tie-in comic was Battle of the Bounty Hunters.

Video game
Several missions in the X-Wing Alliance computer game refer to the Shadows timeline, including the missions to acquire the design schematics of the Death Star II. The game depicts assisting Dash Rendar in the capture of the Imperial freighter Suprosa, which was carrying the secret plans to the second Death Star. Also, Dash Rendar's YT-2400 Outrider can be seen in the game. The Outrider can also be seen very briefly in Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, in the sequence after the opening crawl and after The Dooku/Palpatine conversation. Once the space arena comes into view, the Outrider flies from the bottom middle of the screen towards the lower right side. It may be a bit hard to spot, but it is there.

Fan film
A group of Brazilian fans created Shadows of the Empire in Action Figures, a fan film based on the project utilizing stop motion techniques to make the characters move and interact, using the action figures from the 1996 release. The film also uses the official soundtrack and concept art created for the original project. The complete film is available for download here.

Trivia

 * The scene in the novel in which Xizor has Guri kill one of his Vigos is possibly an homage to the 1987 film The Untouchables.
 * George Lucas once said that not only does he approve of this story, but that he enjoyed it so much that had he had the story in the 1980s, he would have made a film version of it.
 * At one point, the Shadows of the Empire video game was actually going to be centered around Boba Fett, but this decision was changed when LucasArts thought to instead make a Boba Fett game. This freed Dark Horse to claim exclusive rights to center their version around Boba Fett.
 * The novel slips in two THX 1138 references. The first is in Chapter 21, when the Bothans are slicing the Death Star II plans.  One of the Bothan techs says "Look at this, boys!  Scan sector Tarp-Hard-Xenon." The second is in Chapter 37. After some of Xizor's guards are dispatched in the sewers, a voice is heard coming over the comlink saying, "Thix? What is going on down there? Thix, come in, sector one-one-three-eight, come in -"
 * In the 1999 film Free Enterprise, Mark is examining Star Wars merchandise and mutters, "At least they finally got rid of all that Prince Zeezor stuff from Shadows of the Empire." A child in the aisle corrects him, "It's Xizor!". Dan snaps back, "Shut up, kid. You weren't even born when Star Wars came out." Mark then tries to educate the kid on the history of science fiction pre-1977, but finally gives up when the kid says "I like Men in Black."
 * The novel has a reference, also, to A New Hope in Chapter 37. When Luke and Han arrive in the detention center on the Death Star They are asked where they're taking the "prisoner" (Chewbacca). Luke states," Prisoner transfer from cell block one-one-three-eight."
 * As in all six films, a main character utters the quote "I have a bad feeling about this," When Luke attempted to say it again, Lando promptly cut him off.

Fan sites/links

 * Fansite dedicated to the project
 * Official Game Site
 * Fan site with fan film based on the project available for download.
 * Site with complete list of products produced for the project.
 * Another site listing products produced for the project
 * Site to download trailers to the game
 * Link to a fan's script to a film version of the story.
 * Another fan's script to the story.
 * A site reviewing the project from its initial release.
 * Site that is creating a "graphic adventure" based on the original story.
 * Another fan's site. Has info on Prince Xizor.
 * A fan's guide to the game.
 * A review of the soundtrack
 * A game modification for Jedi Academy based on Shadows of the Empire
 * SOTE thread at StarWars.com
 * SOTE thread at TheForce.Net
 * SOTE ten year anniversary thread at TFN
 * SOTE photo archives at Rebelscum.com

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