My Rant On The 3 Story Arcs That Screwed Up The Force
I guess by themselves I always dismissed these things as annoying and tried not paying too much attention to them. Lately though when I've been thinking of the 3 of them combined and reading the threads on this board and thinking back to the games and books I've become pretty agitated. I remember growing up during the 80's and watching the OT and hearing them speak about the Republic Era Jedi as if they were the SW galaxy equivalent of Spartans, Samurai, and any other fabeled, noble warrior of their day. Seeing that I couldn't wait to see the Jedi in action in the Clone Wars they spoke about in the OT. So flash forward to the PT and I'm getting to see the Old Republic knights in action... everything is still fine.
Then the EU which I've been a fan of since '94 and the Zahn trilogy starts producing video games... Ok, well even then I'm playing some cool stuff but Teras Kasi comes out and I just find myself laughing as I return it to the store a week later. A chick beating a Jedi's ass unarmed? A Tusken Raider as her apprentice? Surely Lucas licensing will look closely at anything before such a lame product hits the shelves again. Still, this is nothing.
The first thing that really got me pissed was when they decided they were going to make Kyle Katarn a Jedi Knight after undergoing some half ass training. On top of that, they went on to give him powers Luke didn't even have at the time like lightining and lifting force choke. Here I was thinking 'what makes this douche so special he can have a better array than Luke?' I mean even from the beginning I couldn't get past dude's name. Kyle Katarn? That's like someone from your school being named Larry Lion or Trevor Tiger... It was corny overkill to me.
Then Lucas licensing shifted the crap storm into hyperspeed as I don't remember which of the next two arcs came next. For sake of staying with the new Jedi order let's just say it was the Vong/NJO series. Ok, WHAT THE F*CK were they on when they decided to invent some of these techniques? I mean the 'Battle Meld' where everyone's thoughts were one? Getthefuggouttaherewiththatbullshit. And where Lomi Plo killed a Vong by using a Force laser-grid-beam-thingy technique. That was enough for me to stop reading the NJO series... and I've read EVERY novelized series. What's next? Force kamehameha? Force beams coming out of the eyes a la Cyclops style?
Finally, the piece de resistance was the *gasp* KOTOR games. I'm sure some of the younger peeps want to tp my house seeing that but hear me out. Granted, I didn't have a problem with the gameplay itself. In fact, I was a fan of both the games. But when you introduce another unpredented technique like it's nothing its on the road of ridiculousness. Force draining a whole planet? Are you kidding me? Some zombie sith who's cheating death yet Palpatine doesn't mention it when he's giving the Plagueis pitch to Ani? Strange you'd think that'd be a Sith prerequisite technique right up there with Force lightning. Yet no one else replecates it. Some of the stuff they do in the KOTOR games just borders on Superman/Silver Surfer type powers, and frankly it warps the fabric of the SW tangibility IMO.
I'm not hating on the authors of these books or developers of these games because they're just trying to make a living like everyone else. I'm just angered that the geniuses down at LL allow all the liberties to be taken. Because now, when I think of the PT Jedi I don't see the Golden Age of the Jedi(and rightly so they DID all die). I just see weak Jedi's who's role ended up being minor in comparison to what seem like ultra powerful Jedi of other EU stories.
It almost makes you wonder, was the PT/OT held at the most exciting time of the SW timeline? There were plenty of other times when more Jedi and Sith were around and arguably more was at stake...
thats why there is a diffrence between EU and Movies, the Movies are the LAW, and Lucas' creation. everything else is EU and "use your imagination" type stuff. dont sweat it man
Of course Lucas is not going to be using things from EU. That is a complete no brainer. In addition, of course EU is going to **** with continuity and do whatever the hell they want...
Pinpointing Teras Kasi and Jedi Knight as the worst of it, however, I completely disagree with. In regards to Teras Kasi, that's all been retconned. Said 'chick' is actually an Emperor's Hand, trained in martial arts rather than lightsaber-use. The Force can make martial arts pretty damned deadly. And Jedi Knight...well, array of powers is a video game thing, but at least they're not ridiculous powers. It is also five years after ROTJ, I do believe? Luke was already a great deal more powerful, and still surpasses Kyle Katarn in the current timeline.
KOTOR1 is fun and all, but the KOTOR series...Force Destroy Droid? Neat! Where the **** did THAT come from? Most of their outrageous stuff is solely to make the game more unique, but when viewed in fandom...no.
But NJO does indeed take the cake. More than KOTOR. Can't wait to see where Legacy of the Force takes us!
KoToR wasn't that bad, it showed more of the Force, that was good, how much more powerful it is than the Death Star as explained by Vader.
NJO, yuck, they turned Star Wars from a basic storyline to some Religious thing, plus the Vong were pretty stupid in my opinion, here the Force can't affect them or something
Kyle Katarn was pretty cool, and the reason he had those powers was because he used the Dark Side, Luke didn't, he's basically Luke's Mace Windu.
Wow, I was expecting harsh protest to this. I guess I'm not THAT crazy.
But whilst I'm back here again let me add one more thing. I first read Courtship of Princess Leia years ago while in my early teens. Reading it now, I realize that fat uni-bomber redneck of an author Dave Wolverton is right up there with these guys. Does anyone else remember his half baked abilities he gave Luke? Using the Force to navigate hyperspace better than a navcomp? Flying through the air after ejecting from his X-Wing above Dathomir? This is Neverending Story series type stuff. These mentions seem nitpicky I know, but I feel like I'm forgetting another laughable power he's only used in this book. Someone chime in if you can remember.
NJO series is shit... I've read Vector prime and I think the books should be banned from Star Wars (along with Yuzzhang Vong) just because of its sheer queerness...
Why does everyone hate NJO? i have been in the SW forum for over a year and everyone says it is stupid, gay, etc But why? I read all 18 books in 3 months and loved every second of it. It was an increadabe series with a lot of action and it was awsome.
I totally agree. all u lot who think NJO is a load of rubbish are mental! why can't you graps that the beauty of it is in the way it relates directly to the core of a person's being - all the ethics and morality stuff is what makes people people! many fans see SW as somewhere to escape to in times of need, something to turn to for answers and NJO provides. in this sense, SW can be as real as the real world - and in the real world, this stuff needs to be dealt with.
Del Rey and LL did a fantastis job with NJO and they continue to do so with LotF - suck on that!
And NJO is a load of rubbish because, in comparison to the rest of SW, it went overboard. They'd given the Jedi alot of enemies and they overcame all of them. For a new series they needed a new enemy that would pose a big challenge to them and the Galaxy. Ala the Vong.
But the Vong were too much, the whole not existing within the known boundaries of the Force because a thinking planet took the ability from them was a justified "WTF?" The whole aspect of the Force the NJO took to in the later novels was also a bunch of BS. We go from the classic "Light is Good and Dark is Evil," to "It's all the same thing. There is no Dark or Light. And for that matter, there is no spoon either."
And of course the Heros HAD to overcome the Vong somehow. So they gave the Jedi powers worthy of the Gods. Luke especially. It got carried away. I feel this is one of the reasons that they're now writing books in which Luke is dead and gone so that his Superpowers don't interfere with the new villains.
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Last edited by Lord Lucien on Oct 27th, 2006 at 07:37 PM
And did that totally keep you from enjoying the books? if it did, you think way too much and that is not a compliment.
I didn't see Luke become to powerful at all. he turned a dovin basal inside out... and then fainted. wow. that was not too hard, considering a dovin basal cant take, like what, 10 laser cannon blasts from a ship.
Kyp did the same and didn't faint, but than got pwned by two slayers. way too overpowered.
and the whole philosophy of the force thing, so what. i hardly gave that a second glance. some people choose to change their religion because new evidence comes to light. whatever. again, and i repeat, did that totally keep you from enjoying the books? if it did, you think way too much and that is not a compliment.
I appreciate the fact that authors decided to write about the legacy of Luke and the boths are quite enjoyable, but the certain material (like the Vong) is kinda screwed up.
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