Clues from Labyrinth of Evil
As you may know, the upcoming book Labyrinth of Evil by James Luceno is a direct lead into Episode III. Jedi Council reader Rhonderoo got a copy early and has been sharing excerpts online in the forums (visit here and here). Here are a few items that may be of interest:
Regarding Sidious, Dooku, Sifo-Dyas and the ordering of the clones....
Dooku was an eager student, and yet Sidious had continued to hold him at arm's length. Perhaps he had been working with other potential replacements for his earier apprentice, the savage Darth Maul, who, in fact, had been nothing more than a minion, like Asajj Ventress and General Grievous. Sidious had recognized in Dooku the makings of a true accomplice - an equal from the other camp, already trained in the Jedi arts, a master duelist, a political visionary. But he needed to gauge the depth of Dooku's commitment.
"One of your former confidants in the Jedi Temple has percieved the coming change", Sidious had told him. "This one has contacted a group of cloners, regarding the creation of an army for the Republic. The order for the army can stand, for we will be able to make use of that army someday. But Master Sifo-Dyas cannot stand, for the Jedi cannot learn about the army until we are prepared to have them learn of it."
And so with the murder of Sifo-Dyas, Dooku had embraced the dark side fully, and Sidious conferred on him the title of Darth Tyrannus. His final act before leaving the Jedi Order was to erase all mention of Kamino from the Jedi archives. Then, he had found Fett on Bogg 4; had instructed him to deliver himself to Kamino; and had arranged for payment to be made to the cloners through circuitous routes...
Obi-Wan and Anakin discussing Padme....
Obi-Wan frowned sympathetically. "You can't afford to miss her in that way."
"And exactly what way is that, Master?"
"Because you cannot be married to both."
"Who said anything about marriage? She's a friend. I miss her as a friend!"
"You would forgo your destiny for Padme?"
Anakin's brows beetled in anger. "I never claimed to be the Chosen One. That was Qui-Gon. Even the Council doesn't believe it anymore, so why should you?"
"Because I think you believe it," Obi-Wan said calmly. "I think you know in your heart that you're meant for something extraordinary."
"And you, Master. What does your heart tell you you're meant for?"
"Infinite sadness," Obi-Wan said, even while smiling.
Upon finding out about the Coruscant invasion.....
Anakin shot Obi-Wan an embittered look and began to storm away.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan said, following his footsteps.
Anakin whirled on him. "We were wrong to come here, Master. I was wrong to come here. It was all a feint, and we fell for it. We are being kept away from Coruscant, I can feel it."
Obi folded his arms across his chest. "You wouldn't be saying that if we had captured Dooku."
"But we didn't, Master. That's what counts And now no communication with Coruscant? You don't even see it, do you?"
Obi-Wan regarded him carefully. "See what, Anakin?"
Anakin started to speak, then cut himself off, a new fire in his eyes. "You're my best friend. Tell me what I should do. Forget for a moment that you're wearing the robes of a Jedi and tell me what I should do!"
Stung by the gravity in Anakin's voice, Obi-Wan fell silent for a moment, then said: "The force is our ally, Anakin. When we're mindful of the force, our actions are in accord with the will of the force. Tythe wasn't a wrong choice, its just that we're ignorant of its import in the greater scheme."
Anakin lowered his head in sadness. "You're right, Master. My mind isn't as fast as my lightsaber." He stared at his artificial limb. "My heart isn't as imperveous to pain as my right hand."
Obi-Wan felt as if someone had knotted his insides. He had failed his apprentice and closest friend. Anakin was suffering and the only balm he offered were Jedi platitudes. His body heaved a shuddering breath.
Dooku and Palpatine about drawing Anakin into their trap/test....
Palpatine was hardly the prize he appeared to be. The greater prize, Sidious had told Dooku during the most recent communication, was Anakin Skywalker.
"Long have you watched him," Dooku had said, repeating words Sidious himself had spoken.
"Longer than you know, Lord Tyranus. Longer than you know. And the time has come to test him again."
"His skills, my lord?"
"The depth of his anger. His willingness to go beyond the Force, as the Jedi know it and to call on the power of the dark side. General Grievous will activate a special beacon that will call Skywalker and Kenobi back to Coruscant, and onto the stage we will set for them."
But not to capture them.
"You will duel them," Sidious had said. Kill Kenobi. His only purpose is to die and, in so doing, ignite young Skywalker to tap the depths of his fear and rage. Should you defeat Skywalker easily, then we will know that he is not prepared to serve us. Perhaps he never will be prepared. Should he by some fluke best you, however, I will control the outcome to spare you any unnecessary embarrassment, and we will have gained a powerful ally. But above all you must make the contest appear real, Lord Tyranus."
I will treat it as my crowning achievment.
This novel will be released January 25th, but be sure to check some shelves early.
Blast from the Past
In the CHUD forums, reader Mecha Superior posted an interesting quote from an old Time Magazine article that was discussing the prequels:
Show Business
I've Got to Get My life Back Again
By GERALD CLARKE
May. 23, 1983
The sequels, the three movies that would follow Jedi, are considerably vaguer. Their main theme will be the necessity for moral choices and the wisdom needed to distinguish right from wrong. There was never any doubt in the films already made; in those the lines were sharply drawn, comic-book-style. Luke, who will then be the age Obi-Wan Kenobi is now, some place in his 60s, will reappear, and so will his friends, assuming that the creator decides to carry the epic further. Hamill and the others will get first crack at the roles—if they look old enough.
The abundant fantasy on the screen is a mere sliver of Lucas' imaginary universe. Behind any creature may be a little volume of fable or cultural anthropology. Chewbacca is a favorite of Lucas', and he can go on and on about the Wookie tribe. They come from a damp jungle planet where they reside in tree houses and live to be 350 years old. The six-breasted females deliver their offspring in litters. After an invasion by Imperial forces, which may be alluded to in the "prequel," the Wookies were rounded up by slave traders and sold throughout the Empire. Chewy was rescued by Han Solo and installed as his copilot. Got that?
Looks like Lucas is hanging on to a few of those ideas, eh?
Spy Reports and Pics
MillenniumFalcon.Com returned from a brief hiatus to post a few more details on ROTS. Here's a sample (highlight to read spoilers):
"To protect you both from the Emperor, you were hidden from you father when you were born." Obi-Wan Kenobi, Return of the Jedi
When Padme dies after giving birth to Anakin's offspring, Obi-Wan immediately begins the separation process of Luke and Leia Skywalker to protect them from the Emperor.
Obi-Wan hopes that should the Emperor discover one of them, the other will remain safely hidden from the Sith. However, when asked about training the infants, Yoda firmly states:
"Jedi training, the sole source of self-discipline is not. When right is the time for skills to be taught, to us the living Force will bring them. Until then, wait we will, and watch, and learn."
Luke is taken to the planet of Tatooine. The last image of Obi-Wan is of him riding off into twin suns settling across the Jundtland Wastes on the back of an Eeopie.
On the planet of Dagobah, Yoda inspects his new dewllings as the baby girl Leia is handed into the loving hands of the Queen of Aldeeran by the Prince Consort, Bail Organa.
They also posted this item featuring details on Yoda's last stand:
Yoda removes his lightsaber and the Great Battle begins. With speed and veracity it moves closer to the huge Chancellor's Pod that occupies the middle of the room until the Jedi and the Sith are upon its great foundations. Suddenly, the pod begins to rise as the two combatants battle it out...
The Chancellor's podium continues to rise into the vast empty space of the Senate arena. In the middle of the Senate, bolts of lightning flash from the pod. Suddenly, delegation pods free themselves of the curving walls and slam throughout the chamber - some by the use of the Force, others by the control panels.
Sidious jumps onto one of the flying pods. Yoda goes to follow but is hit by a bolt of lightening and falls. Sidious, exhausted, looks down into the debris below, but Yoda is not to be seen.
Visit the link above for more. You can also see a few new bootleg photos that have popped up: Palpatine's Antechamber, View 2
Finally, readers at the TFN Jedi Council stumbled upon an audio interview with Samuel L. Jackson that was not yet made public (and subsequently deleted). Here's an interesting quote from the interview (highlight to read spoilers):
"So I think my (Mace's) choice is clouded by the fact that we aren't seeing clearly. That our (Jedi's) ability to make decisions and use the Force has been disrupted in such a way that in a better time, I would have made the right choice and I would have just killed him (Palpatine) when I had the opportunity to kill him...and not take him to justice. And that would have changed the outcome of everything, but I didn't. And things go the way they go, but that's just how it happens."
"But I'm pleased with the drama of it all and the fact that it's clear that I'm standing there, and I'm winning this battle actually...even without Anakin's help up until he steps in, and does what he does to turn the tide...and that I go out the way I do. I've been begging not to die in my sleep or get stabbed in the back by some clone. And it didn't happen, so I'm happy."
Enjoy.