Preferred Order of Star Wars Saga

[otters~1]

Just finished watching the saga from I to VI. I can't imagine myself with a better understanding of it by going originals then trilogy, so I'd prefer path 1.

Also, in the end of VI, is Luke the only Jedi left?

Technically, no, if you've read the various novels that come afterward. Which I have. Extensively.

I've read the bulk of the extended universe and can say safely that most of the other "Jedi" either belong to the new Jedi Order (who do not follow many of the traditions) or merely serve to unbalance the Force and are not true Jedis themselves.

Okay; there are several /potential/ Jedi lying around, and one or two Jedi that are iffy on morals. But I'm sure that if I thought about it for a while, I could come up with someone. I might edit this post later.

[SlappyMcGee]

There is an extensive list of the Jedi who survived the purge on Wookiepedia, and you'll note how many of them died, fell to the dark side, or did not come out of hiding ever again.

[otters~1]

There is an extensive list of the Jedi who survived the purge on Wookiepedia, and you'll note how many of them died, fell to the dark side, or did not come out of hiding ever again.

Right. And that answers Techno's question: no. Luke is not /the only/ Jedi.

[SlappyMcGee]

There is an extensive list of the Jedi who survived the purge on Wookiepedia, and you'll note how many of them died, fell to the dark side, or did not come out of hiding ever again.

Right. And that answers Techno's question: no. Luke is not /the only/ Jedi.

My argument would be that Luke is not even /a/ Jedi. The New Order never really followed to tenets of the Jedi Order proper, and the Return of the Jedi always felt like Anakin's return from the dark side, to me.

[otters~1]

My argument would be that Luke is not even /a/ Jedi. The New Order never really followed to tenets of the Jedi Order proper, and the Return of the Jedi always felt like Anakin's return from the dark side, to me.

Depends if you're saying that he's not a Jedi at that point (0 ABY), or if you're saying that he's /never/ a Jedi. I might agree with the former (lack of training, many crucial catharses still to come), I don't agree with the latter. The NJO is similar enough.

Second point. RotJ is, on the large scale, the triumph of peace and restraint over the absolute destruction of the dark side. Luke brings his dad back, fights off his own temptation, and doesn't even have to kill the Emperor himself to be victorious. Anakin's private rebound is like a microcosm of all that. All imo.

Incidentally, I've always been amazed at the integration and familiarity the Star Wars novels managed.

[SlappyMcGee]

I think saying the NJO is similar enough to the Jedi Order would be akin to saying that modern Judaism is practically the same as it was a thousand years ago.

Jedi would be appalled to be associated with the NJO.

[T3chno]

Hm, what's the suggested reading after watching all six? I see there's an extensive list of books, but I really don't know where to start.

[otters~1]

Jedi would be appalled to be associated with the NJO.

Because of the violation of one or two basic tenets, yes. But the function is still largely the same.

By the way, what you said technically isn't true. If you scan the list I posted closely (which I'm sure you already did), you'll see that many several Jedi of the Old Republic came out of hiding ABY and rejoined the Order. As far as I know, there aren't any books out there that deal with the reactions of old-school Jedi to the NJO's looseness, so I assume it was a reasonably peaceful transition.

Techno: almost anything other than following the timeline, daunting as that seems, is too much trouble. Go in order if you want to commit to reading; the series gets confusing fast.

EDIT: Actually, it's more complicated than that because there are multiple series being written from the various time periods. Ask me for some recs on IRC sometime, or just dive in, I guess.

FURTHER EDIT: Since I can't stop thinking about this, have a link to a trilogy of stand-alone novels about Han Solo that many consider the classic Star Wars novels. They take place before the Rebellion, as this list will tell you. (It'll also tell you a lot more.)

Another series, which ties in with the timeline a little bit more because it was written later but follows the same general concept, is here. This doesn't even begin to scratch the surface, I might point out.

[SlappyMcGee]

I question your knowledge of the expanded universe if you believe that the NJO and the traditional Jedi were just slight variations on the same tune. If anything, they are united only by the fact that they are both in tune with the light side of the force, and have sacrificed most of the more vital practices.

[otters~1]

I question your knowledge of the expanded universe if you believe that the NJO and the traditional Jedi were just slight variations on the same tune. If anything, they are united only by the fact that they are both in tune with the light side of the force, and have sacrificed most of the more vital practices.

Really, the NJO is like a progressive version of the former Order. It's partially the same thing, just adapted to a different time period. At some point early in the series--maybe during the Kevin J. Anderson books, can't remember--Luke realizes that following the old ways isn't gonna cut it, so he adapts. And then he fixes everything that was wrong with the old Order and caused its destruction. The overall purpose is the same; the means are slightly different.

[bobaganuesh_2]

Phantom Menace was effing cool, Darth Maul is pretty good, and Liam Neeson is just a general badass. It's such a shame they didn't bring him back, like, ever.

George Lucas had scheduled Liam Neeson to return in Episode II as force ghost, but Neeson got into a motocycling accident or something.

I - II - III - IV - V - VI. Why would want to watch them in another order?

keen interest is one thing. but any film fanboy will go yatzos when they comprehend that they can meticulously fiddle around with the order of viewing the films repeatedly to uncover a new level of analysis -- hermaneutics. Basically, that's how all the different parts of the movies connect to one another. It's meant to be a literary device, but can be applied to film since cinema is closely tied in with literature.

I - IV - II - V - III - VI sounds particularly interesting.

[Kablizzy]

Let's face it: Y2K was total bullshit, and we were fucking morons for fretting over it as long as we did. Instead of focusing on how a little-known group called Al-Qaeda was planning to ring in the new year at LAX, all the major news networks told us was that the world was going to end on January 1, 2000 (which it didn't), and that the only way to survive was with duct tape.

However, what's done is done. Every terrorist attack was thwarted, the damage report was so low it was embarrassing, and Y2K dethroned Star Wars, Episode I as the biggest let-down of the century.