A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

On Quora, member Al Hartley asks: Does the fact that the Empire is still basically around in the new Star Wars trilogy diminish the events of the original trilogy? As Luke Skywalker says in  Star Wars - Episode VIII: The Last Jedi,  “Every single word you just said is wrong.” First off, the Galactic Empire is  not  “basically around” 30-some odd years after the destruction of the Death Star II and the downfall of Emperor Palpatine and his evil regime. The main antagonist of the heroes in the Sequel Trilogy is not the old Empire. As the title crawl of  Star Wars - Episode VIII: The Force Awakens  states: Luke Skywalker has vanished. In his absence, the sinister FIRST ORDER has risen from the ashes of the Empire and will not rest until Skywalker, the last Jedi, has been destroyed. The villains - Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader Snoke, Armitage Hux, Captain Phasma,  et. al.  are not Imperials. They are, in essence, neo-Imperials, fanat...

© 2015 Lucasfilm Ltd. and Buena Vista Home Entertainment What happened to the Galactic Empire in the Sequel trilogy? In   Lucasfilm’s Sequel Trilogy ( The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi,  and  The Rise of Skywalker,  the Galactic Empire created by Supreme Chancellor/Emperor Sheev Palpatine 19 years before the events of  Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope  is no more. With the destruction of the second Death Star, the death (presumed, anyway) of Emperor Palpatine, the death (confirmed) of his fearsome agent Darth Vader, and thousands of Imperial senior commanders and field-grade officers at the Battle of Endor and elsewhere, the old Empire shattered and was defeated after several years by the New Republic. The Galactic Civil War ended when the remnants of Palpatine’s government led by Grand Vizier Mas Ameddas signed the Galactic Concordance five years after the Battle of Endor. However, a core of Imperial fanatics, including Brendol Hux, his young...

Photo Credit and © 2017 Hasbro, Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)  On September 1, 2017 , Hasbro released a "wave" of nine six-inch Black Series Star Wars action figures that included several characters as seen in the then-upcoming Star Wars - Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, as well as a few re-issues ( AT-AT Driver, Snowtrooper, and Kylo Ren ) from The Empire Strikes Back and The Force Awakens. This collection consists of: #49: Maz Kanata #50: Elite Praetorian Guard #51:  Finn (First Order Disguise) #52: General Leia Organa #53: Captain Poe Dameron #31: AT-AT Driver #35: Snowtrooper #45: Kylo Ren These figures were released in various regions of the U.S. as part of Lucasfilm's International Force Friday II event; however, I acquired two figures from this consignment (#49 Maz Kanata and #51 Finn (First Order Disguise) only recently as part of my birthday present from my sweetheart.  Both of these figures portray characters that were introduced in 2015...