There is a lot of character analysis done here (Palpatine, Dooku, and Pellaeon come to mind) but the setting itself has largely been ignored. I can think of interesting things to say about three main areas:
Government/War
love/friendship
Duty/freedom
The galaxy is constantly at war. It's interesting that nobody is unsettled or upset by that at all.
Of major protagonists, only Luke/Mara, Leia/Han, and Wedge/? have successful relationships. And more to the point, most of the remaining characters fall under an injunction never to love at all. Does Star Wars have interesting things to say about Love at the cost of ideals?
Finally, the Jaina subplot about being the Sword of the Jedi seems like it has untapped potential. How can she pursue Jag (or the other guy) while also serving as the embodiment of Jedi military power? At what point does Leia step aside for future generations' chance at rule?
The metaphysical aspects of the Force are uniquely situated for their own section, but I'm afraid that anything I have to say would be more of an archival function than a constructive one. There are various sources within canon that identify the dual nature of the Force, and others which deny it. There is another dichotomy between living/universal Force. Is this the complexity of a well-developed mythology or the convulsions of a poorly curated franchise?
Legacy/Sins of the Past is a big one. The Sith are almost always out for revenge- either long term (Sidious carrying out Bane's vengeance), or far more personal (what drove them individually).
Luke's all about dealing with Anakin's sins, and Cade is all about the weight of Luke's legacy. KotoR 1 is all about Revan dealing with his own sins.
Well, there are gaps. Sometimes decades (someone could be born in the New Republic after all the major last-gasps of the empire, and have been an adult by the time the Vong hit), sometimes centuries, sometimes millennia. Also, even when there's a war, it doesn't always involve everyone.
Theres also the conflict between Emotion/Non-Emotion, Attachment/Un-Attachment and how different aspects of the EU portray Attachment as negative or positive and how emotions play into the dicotomy of Light/Dark. That might just be the same as Love/Friendship though. As it is, Lucas seems to be very anti-attachment, anti-emotion and seems to be very influenced by Buddist teachings on letting go of attachment etc (did I mention that he is divorced?). Other parts of the EU, such as Jolee Bindo's arguments on the matter and the Kotor games in general, promote emotion and attachment to people.
Jun 3rd, 2012 11:40 PM
