We all know that George Luca concluded the Return of the Jedi in the 1983 trilogy. However, it has not stopped the Star Wars franchise from delving deeper into the mysteries of the trilogy even after decades of its initial conclusion. The current live-action series, picking up from the post-Return of the Jedi, proves the ongoing venture into the concept. The series has already made its way onto Disney+.
For elaboration, we can refer to The Mandalorian. It explores the Outer Rim power vacuum left behind by The fall of the Empire. Moreover, The Book of Boba Fett handles it on Tatooine, if nothing but more directly. Both these shows continue the tale of Luke Skywalker, the newly-christened Jedi Knight after he defeated the Sith. With a certain viewpoint, these shows and the upcoming Ahsoka fill the gap in the Original Trilogy puzzle. Therefore, if you seek in-depth answers that you couldn’t find in the comics and books, these series are your go-to place.
However, it doesn’t mean the current Marvel publishing won’t continue to reveal things regarding the popular characters in their pages. Just like the classic ones told the tales of the years between the Original and Prequel Trilogies. For instance, Star Wars readers remember how Timothy Zahn first narrated the stories of Luke and his friends. He explicitly showed what they were up to five years after the trilogy.
Now, The Princess and the Scoundrel, the upcoming Del Rey novel by Beth Revis, brings in two significant stories from the Original Trilogy era. The novels add to the Disney canon, narrating what Star War heroes were up to immediately after the concluding scene of Return of the Jedi. The book also sheds light on Han and Leia’s decision to eventually tie the knot. Finally, we can say that it addresses a massive cliffhanger from Episode VI that has been lingering in our minds since 83.
Let’s return to the last moments of Jedi, Darth Vader, or Anakin Skywalker. He asked Luke to remove his helmet to finally see his son with his own eyes. However, in the process, he revealed his heavily scarred face to his son Luke for the first and the last time. Vader also revealed the Sith lord’s reality to the Jedi Knight in his last breath. The final moment provokes us to acknowledge some good in Vader’s character when the villain saves Luke from the Emperor.
Darth Vader’s final words to his son also contained a message for his other child, Princess Leia. However, we didn’t see Luke conveying the message to his sister in Return of the Jedi. Instead, the final scene cuts forward to Vader’s funeral pyre and the village celebration before the credits roll. As a result, the fans were left curious that when Luke would honor his father’s dying wish. Also, we wanted to see Leia’s reaction to the message. For the answers to all our curiosities, we can refer to the new book excerpt on StarWars.com. The excerpt shows the moment Luke tries to convey his father’s last message to his sister. The Spoiler is that Leia does not take it positively, stopping Luke from explaining what Vader wanted to tell her.
The viewers understand Princess’ disdain for Vader. It is difficult for her to forget his misdeeds just by learning the truth about Vader. There are scenes in Legends showing Anakin emerging as a Force ghost to plead with Leia for forgiveness. However, Leia rejects him, which makes perfect sense. After all, it’s not easy for her to forgive the murder of her adoptive parents and the annihilation of her home planet.
As a matter of fact, the 2016 canon novel Bloodline by Claudia Gray reflected the truth of Leia’s parentage and how it continued to affect her years after Jedi. But Revis’ new publish is the first in-canon tale that depicts Leia fighting with her complicated feelings regarding Darth’s death right after the film.
Many revelations, including the chance to experience the canon version of Leia’s wedding with Han, makes us wait impatiently for the new release. However, we hope The Princess and the Scoundrel will be a worthwhile read in the bookstores on Aug. 16.
