Any Rebel Alliance/NR Fans in the house?

[DrMckay]

Watching the Star Wars movies growing up, (Mid 90's) I was firmly on the side of the Rebel Alliance. They had a noble goal, and were fighting for it with incredibly limited resources against a galaxy-spanning facist power. Plus, their insignia and ships were pretty awesome (X-wing for life!)

When I read some of the earlier EU stuff like the Thrawn Trilogy, X-Wing books, and other things from the Early Rebellion era, I appreciated the increased complexity of the Rebel cause and the rationalization of some less savory methods (deposing Admiral Krennel in Isard's Revenge, allying with pirates, etc)

However, this seems to be a side, and an era people are eager to dispense with, few books are set in that era anymore, and the New Republic was splintering under diverse threats and peril for its entire existence in the EU, shown as a polity that is completely divided and incompetent despite the overall competence and determination of the Rebellion.

The Rebellion fell further into obscurity with the release of the prequels, where it was suddenly clones vs robots and Jedi vs Sith, with the loss of perspective from the average individual trooper (as we saw on the Tantive IV and Hoth) removing a human element (and cost) from the story. I was annoyed when I heard that the Jedi/Sith protagonist of Force Unleashed apparently unwittingly created the rebellion. I appreciated the story of regular sentients getting together to fight oppression a bit more.



I suppose my question is threefold:

1) How many of you out there are Rebel fans as well, and if so, what are your reasons for liking the Alliance? If not, what are your reasons for disliking it?

2) What were some of the reasons the New Republic may have failed so badly where the Alliance was so successful, aside from lazy writing by some EU authors or the tired cliche of "rebel group topples government, can't govern themselves" Alternatively, what sort of stories would you have written in a post-Empire era?

3) What is your favorite Galactic Civil War Era fightercraft (can be Imp or Rebel)

Thank you, hope I've gotten some good nostalgia going.

[Batman]

You are seriously asking why anybodybody would like the Alliance when the very opening crawl of the very first movie of the franchise (even before there ever was a franchise[/i]) makes it abundantly clear the Empire are the Bad Guys.

[DrMckay]

Gah. internet hiccup double post.

[DrMckay]

I'm commenting on the fact that at cons, and with internet culture, you see many stormtrooper, Clone trooper and Mandalorian costumes, and people mostly refer to those sides, or the Empire in discussions while the Rebels appear to have largely fallen by the wayside. Like, is there a Rebel equivalent to the 501st fan group?

I'm just wondering if the decline in popularity is due to "cool factor" of the costumes, or just not really being mentioned in a while. More of a current cultural thing then when the movies were released.

[Napoleon the Clown]

The Empire had more badass uniforms and more intimidating warships. That's why it sees such huge popularity in fan groups and cosplay.


I would like to point out that new governments don't tend to immediately have everything in perfect running order, even when they have a fairly homogenous culture to start governing. The galaxy in Star Wars is far from homogenous. There are more people making power plays for themselves. More groups that just want to do their own thing. It's not bad writing to have these issues arise. It would be bad writing to have the New Republic immediately have everything under control and running seamlessly.

[Solauren]

It's pretty much a 'cool' looking factor.

I mean, Imperial ARMOR looks better then Rebel Uniforms. Case in point, do you want to walk around in an Orange Jumpsuit? (Rebel Pilot), or a Bad Ass looking armor (Imperial Pilot).

Do you want to be some guy in robes (Jedi KNight/Master), or walk around dressed up as the Ultimate Sci-Fi Bad Ass, Darth Vader?

[Crazedwraith]

You are seriously asking why anybodybody would like the Alliance when the very opening crawl of the very first movie of the franchise (even before there ever was a franchise[/i]) makes it abundantly clear the Empire are the Bad Guys.

You say this one the same board where people seriously argue for the Empire and even for things like the destruction of Alderaan being necessary and just because it had some rebels on it and thus was a valid military target.

[Ahriman238]

Honestly, much as I loved the innocent heart and plucky spirit of the Rebellion, the NR kind of sucked. They showed cracks as early as the taking of Coruscant, and twice turned on Admiral Ackbar who was framed by imperial agents. Doesn't being framed once by the enemy entitle someone to the benefit of the doubt the second time?

But I think the time I really gave up on them was the Hand of Thrawn duology, when it became clear that the NR exists solely because of the tireless efforts of Luke and Leia. It really showed why it just might not be possible to weld together so many distinct cultures into a functional society. For 12 years at this point the New Republic has ruled the Galaxy, and they haven't even definitively settled whether it's acceptable to hold an entire species accountable for the actions of a few dozen members or not. What, were there no crimes, trials or case law in the entire Galaxy for over a decade? How do you not have a position on that implicit in your law? And it's never resolved, the threat of Civil War is averted by finding and punishing the specific guilty parties, but absolutely nothing is done to deal with the fact that the NR has deep ideological divides. Serious ones.

Their moral cowardice during the Black Fleet Crisis was just icing on the cake. But the real gem is NJO, where after several planets were outright destroyed and millions dead, the Senate decided the Yuuzhan Vong were an invention of Leia and the Jedi. Then Fey'lya announced that all humans are power-hungry maniacs and no one, not even Leia's lone defender, called him on it. The continuing moral cowardice and treachery of the Republic government, assigning blame and sacrificing their own citizens and defenders, lead to their undoing. And even after Coruscant fell the pattern held with whatsisname, the Quarian. The NR died and was reborn as something hopefully better (til the Evil Jason books) and good riddance.

So yeah, McKay, love the Rebel Alliance, screw the New Republic. Like so many of it's predecessors the Rebellion was betrayed by it's leadership who became bloated, corrupt, and generally unworthy of all the sacrifices they vainly imagined were for them.

[fordlltwm]

I loved the early NR stuff, the first 7 X-wing books were fantastic, some of the Luke Skywalker books were awesome (emo-Luke though was a lothesome creature), the Heir to the Empire trilogy was great as well.

[Batman]

The X-Wing books were pretty blergh until they became the Wraith Squadron books but yeah, the New Republic wasn't so bad during the 'Rebel Alliance in all but name' era or even for the Thrawn Trilogy. The 'let's be infighting shitheads so the bad guys actually have a chance of winning' phase didn't start until the Black Fleet Crisis I think.

[fordlltwm]

Urrg, the black fleet crisis. Though the lando bit was quite interesting

[Arawn Fenn]

I call it the "Star Trek IV whale probe" Lando plot...