#book is revenge of the sith by matthew Stover

[pumpkinrootbeer]

Maybe the most devastating element of the prequels

[whumpspacesw]

In time, even stars burn out.

All things die.

Revenge of the Sith, Matthew Stover

[paula-zotter]

And within your furnace heart, you burn in your own flame. This is how it feels to be Anakin Skywalker. Forever.

Anakin from the Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover.

[is-that-sand-in-my-waffles]

reblog if you've been personally victimized by Matthew Stover's Revenge of the Sith novelization

[legends-expo]

We asked our team: "If you could recommend one piece of Legends material to someone just starting out on their Legends journey, what would it be and why?"

“Stover's Revenge of the Sith. It's got the touchpoint of the movie while weaving in a lot of the Clone Wars multimedia project. A bit weird to start with what is effectively a season finale but I think it does a fantastic job weaving what a casual fan would know with enticing new details from the books and comics. Also it's some of the best mythological prose ever written."

[klazje]

rots novelization…you’re too good for this franchise

[brazen-kenobi]

“Anakin.” Obi-Wan’s voice had gone soft, and his hand was warm on Anakin’s arm. “There is no other Jedi I would rather have at my side right now. No other man.”

Anakin turned, and found within Obi-Wan’s eyes a depth of feeling he had only rarely glimpsed in all their years together; and the pure uncomplicated love that rose up within him then felt like a promise from the Force itself.

“I… wouldn’t have it any other way, Master.”

“I believe,” his onetime Master said with a gently humorous look of astonishment at the words coming out of his mouth, “that you should get used to calling me Obi-Wan.”

- Matthew Stover, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

[fantastic-nonsense]

one surefire way to kill me stone dead at any given moment is putting the opening lines of the Revenge of the Sith novelization in a photoset

[steepedfoxglovetea]

HOLY SHIT GUYS!!

I found a HARDCOVER FIRST EDITION of Matthew Stover’s Revenge of the Sith!!!

AND it’s still in good condition!

[rainintheevening]

Drying my tears and blowing my nose.

It is done.

Like seriously. I've read the end in bits over and over, but still. I tell myself not to care so much, and detach my emotions so I can race through the last few chapters.

And I'm still sobbing.

It hurts. It huts so much. I love Anakin so much, and I love Obi-Wan so much, and for everything he did, every horrible act he commits, I understand, I GET it, I know why he did it. And it hurts so much.

One of the worst scenes to read was when Palpatine reveals himself to Anakin, tells him that he's Sidious. The whole time I felt like I needed to spit something nasty and slimy out of my mouth. Palpatine’s slippery, evil manipulations are so horribly obvious from the outside, yet at the same time I'm inside the scene with Anakin and he makes this awful sense.

These bits:

The emphasis on Anakin not eating and sleeping just makes every protective instinct in me rear up ready to fight. I wish SO BAD I could just drop into that scene and take care of Anakin. Stand between him and Palpatine, and give the Emperor what-for. Hit Palpy over the head with my book, and drag Anakin to safety. Everything about Palpatine screams 'NOT SAFE, NOT SAFE'. But Anakin’s too discombobulated to see it.

Of course I love how Stover frames the whole story around Obi-Wan and Anakin. Of course warmth floods my chest when I read all those famous bits:

(The perfect continuation of where Labyrinth of Evil left off.)

^^This!!!!

He is the ultimate Jedi.

And he is proud to be Anakin Skywalker’s best friend.

I mean the whole opening chapter goes like this.

And the capper...

*dies again* *gets revived at the reminder that fix-it fics are a thing* Like, really, this is why I'm doing it. I'm doing it for them. Because even though I understand this story, the original, even though I see what tragedy can teach, and LOVE the redemption we do get from RotJ, I still want another version of the story. I kinda need another version.

Like this. This scene. Can we just stop here, freeze time here?

*sigh*

This isn't an expansive review, nor is it very insightful, and I will probably come back to yell/cry about something else. But for now... Imma go write a happier story.

🫡

[darth-jess]

Well fuck

@prequelsnet prequels appreciation week: day 2 — antagonists

↳ Anakin Skywalker

But you remember...You remember all of it. You remember the dragon that you brought Vader forth from your heart to slay. You remember the cold venom in Vader's blood. You remember the furnace of Vader's fury, and the black hatred of seizing her throat to silence her lying mouth—

[david-talks-sw]

Finished Star Wars on Trial and Matthew Stover manages to perfectly encapsulate how I think everyone should approach watching Star Wars material they don't like.

"The plot holes are essential. Because inside every single hole in the entire Star Wars saga - in every flaw in the franchise - you can find a Cheshire grin floating above a flannel shirt, and a fading echo of... "Ha-ha - made you look!" When I was at Skywalker Ranch to meet with George Lucas, I brought up the sliding-around-the-turboshaft business in Revenge of the Sith. I said, "They're in orbit -- gravity just doesn't work like that-" The answer I got, verbatim, was: "That's the point." Each of you on this jury - each of you reading this book - is here because you have one of two fundamental reactions to this. One is to frown. "Quit it! Quit or I'm telling! And I won't be your friend anymore!" The other is to grin right back. "Okay, you got me. What's next? Let's go!" Because your reaction is a choice: You can take that made you look as an insult. Or you can take it in the spirit it is intended. As an invitation to play. George says: "Let's pretend!" What do you say? Me? I grin. I always have, ever since a hot summer afternoon in 1977, when I was fifteen years old and a kid knocked on my door and told me about this goofy movie he wanted to see."

The whole point of Star Wars is to help you be creative and think outside the box. It's a fun make-believe story.

If there's something you don't like about a Star Wars movie, or any movie, you can either rage about it or get creative and come up with a headcanon that makes it work better for you.

Instead of saying "TLJ Luke wouldn't do that!" I try to ask myself "what would make Luke do that?"

Instead of disliking the Dooku episodes in Tales of the Jedi, I just tell myself that they're all seen through Dooku's own unreliable lens and immediately it all makes sense.

It's a lot more fun when you choose to grin instead just going "Quit it!" and I'm making an effort to do the former more than the latter, especially when The Acolyte will come out.

[sparrowsabre7]

"This story happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. It is already over. Nothing can be done to change it. It is a story of love and loss, brotherhood and betrayal, courage and sacrifice and the death of dreams. It is a story of the blurred line between our best and our worst. It is the story of the end of an age. A strange thing about stories—though this all happened so long ago and so far away that words cannot describe the time or the distance, it is also happening right now. Right here. It is happening as you read these words. This is how twenty-five millennia come to a close."

"This story is a tragedy because it didn't have to end this way."

vs

"This story is a tragedy because it was always going to end this way."

[sith-obikin]

A happy Valentine’s Day to our favourite tragic boys!

To Obi-Wan especially who has never stopped loving his dear Anakin, despite everything💔

Book excerpts from Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover and The Last One Standing by Jude Watson

[darth-jess]

My Unpopular Opinion: Was Mace Windu About to Defeat Sidious?

Alright, somebody asked me this question a while back, and personally, I thought the answer was pretty obvious: no, Mace Windu was not about to defeat Sidious in the battle in the Chancellor's Office.

And then I conducted this poll:

Since then, I have come to realize, the answer is (apparently) NOT obvious.

So in this post, I will attempt to prove that Mace Windu, as incredibly powerful as he was, was NOT winning against Palpatine in the battle in the Chancellor's office in Revenge of the Sith even when it looked like he was.

Furthermore, I will argue that Palpatine's deception does not change the importance and power of Anakin's choice.

Let me preface this with: I love Mace Windu! He is literally one of my favorite Jedi, I love his character and I also love Samuel L. Jackson, so you have to understand this is not coming from a place of "Mace Windu hate."

Anyway, this is about to be a long post, so bear with me or tap out now. I'm an English major, so I go about this argument in a very "literary analysis" kind of way.

THE EVIDENCE:

Okay so as you can see, even in the movie, Palpatine quickly kills the other Jedi Council Masters. And these are not weak Jedi. They are Kit Fisto, Saesee Tiin, and Agen Kolar, all highly respected for their wisdom, their use of the Force, and their skill as warriors.

No one else in the entire galaxy could take out these three Masters as quickly as Sidious did, which goes to show how incredibly powerful Darth Sidious is as a warrior.

Mace Windu is clearly the greatest warrior of all the Masters who came with him. He is one of the most powerful Jedi of the Order, second only to Master Yoda (and possibly Anakin, depending on how you interpret Anakin's potential in the Force vs actual ability, but we won't get into that here).

Even if we're just looking at what strictly happens in the movie, Sidious is holding his own just fine against Mace Windu– sure, it's an intense battle, but neither of them seem to be winning or losing.

Suddenly, and only after Anakin is on his way to the Chancellor's office, Sidious begins to falter. Does that NOT seem a bit like a coincidence? Mace Windu kicks Sidious in the face, Sidious loses his lightsaber, and immediately turns into a sniveling little grub begging for his life.

Here's the thing.

Are we really meant to believe all of this was just a coincidence that occurred right as Anakin was walking in?

PERSONALLY, I don't buy it.

You have to remember:

Sidious is the master of manipulation. That is his greatest strength.

Alright, let's look at the book.

In the Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover, it starts when Sidious reveals to Anakin that he is the Sith Lord, but that he is also Anakin's friend. Anakin says he will turn Sidious over to the Jedi Council, because Anakin has no idea what to do… he can't kill this man who was his friend, who says he can help him save Padmé.

Sidious makes it very clear to Anakin that the Jedi are going to come to execute him, and Anakin insists that they wouldn't, because (as Anakin says in the movie) "It's not the Jedi way." It shows that Anakin still has faith in the Jedi, in the ways of the Jedi, and it is Sidious's job to tear that away.

All of this is a way for Sidious to prove his point to Anakin– that the Jedi are not as noble as Anakin has been lead to believe. And what's the best way for him to show that to Anakin? What's the best way for him to PROVE that point? If Sidious can show Anakin that the Jedi (the BEST of the Jedi) will kill an unarmed man… will murder someone who has SURRENDERED… Anakin will see the truth: that the Jedi only follow their own rules until it is inconvenient. That the Jedi are not noble, they are hypocrites.

Leading up to the battle in the Chancellor's office, Sidious waits for the Jedi Masters to arrive.

The shadow, Darth Sidious, is not worried by their approach and honestly this is not overconfidence. This is all part of the plan.

As the Jedi storm into his office, he begins a recording which he will later show to the Senate as PROOF that the Jedi tried to assassinate him– a powerless man who has only tried to do his best for the Republic. This is the recording, transcribed in the ROTS novelization:

Yet during the entire recording, Palpatine is killing the Jedi even when it sounds like he's begging for help. This is a small portion of what really happened, between Palpatine's cries for help:

Palpatine has put on this nice little show for the sake of the recording which he can later show the Senate, as proof that the Jedi were trying to overthrow the Republic. Palpatine even LOCKS THE DOOR WITH THE FORCE, locking himself in there with the other Jedi Masters.

Then, we switch to Mace Windu's perspective who is quoted to be "fighting for his life."

So here, Mace Windu feels Palpatine's fear… or at least, he thinks the fear is from Palpatine. And then, Mace Windu cuts Palpatine's lightsaber in half, the blade falling away so that Palpatine had no weapon.

Palpatine falls to the ground and backs away from Mace, just like in the movie, until he's trapped against the window sill.

And Mace Windu doesn't have time to actually consider Palpatine's words, but we (the readers/audience) know the implication: that the fear Mace Windu is feeling belongs to Anakin not Palpatine.

Then, Palpatine begins his Force-lightning attack, and Mace Windu– facing an UNARMED Palpatine– calls out for Anakin's help. Let's remember, Palpatine has no lightsaber, he is lying on his back, on the window sill.

Let me say that again: Mace Windu, NEEDS ANAKIN'S HELP, FACING AN UNARMED MAN, WHO IS LAYING ON HIS BACK.

Palpatine is still in COMPLETE CONTROL of the entire situation.

Even as Mace Windu catches the Force lighting and redirects it back at Palpatine, Palpatine does not stop until he's super deformed and looking totally awful– this isn't out of self defense, this is (once again) for the sole purpose of putting on a show.

Palpatine says, "He's killing me, Anakin" and yet Palpatine CONTINUES to use Force lightning. It's not Mace Windu who is killing Palpatine, Mace Windu is DEFENDING HIMSELF against the powerful Force lightning attack, that PALPATINE continues, even as it deforms him.

Mace Windu is not lying when he says, "Anakin, he's too strong for me–" because Palpatine, even unarmed, is so much more powerful than Mace Windu.

Palpatine is lying when he says, "I…can't. I give up. I…I am too weak, in the end. […] I surrender."

And he says it because he knows what those words– "I surrender"– will do. He knows that it is against the belief of the Jedi to kill an unarmed man, to kill someone who HAS ACTUALLY SURRENDERED. Even Count Dooku had not surrendered to Anakin. He was unarmed, but he did not surrender.

Anakin knows this. This is why Anakin was so upset about the way he killed Count Dooku, because it was not the Jedi way, because it was wrong. And now, here's Mace Windu, one of the best of the Jedi, about to kill a man who has actually surrendered.

When Mace Windu says, "He controls the Senate" he is accidentally playing into Palpatine's hand. Palpatine has told Anakin that the Jedi will try to take over the Republic (which until now, Anakin thought was ridiculous) and if the Jedi take over the Senate, will they kill all the Senators, too? Padmé?

Obviously the Jedi would not have done this, but Anakin's lack of sleep, mixed with his fear and Palpatine's manipulations suddenly make it all too real for him.

There is only one split second where Mace Windu actually could have killed Palpatine, and that's right before Anakin steps in as Mace raises his lightsaber for the killing blow. But the only reason Mace has this opportunity at all is because Sidious allows it. And Sidious allows it because he needs Anakin to see how far the Jedi have fallen. Mace steps into the trap, raising his lightsaber, and seals his fate.

CONCLUSION

Mace Windu was an incredible warrior. He was one of the most powerful Jedi who ever lived, and he is one of my personal favorite Jedi. However, the outcome of this battle was decided before it began.

I have seen some people say: if Mace was not winning, it takes away the power and meaningfulness of Anakin’s choice.

And I understand the argument– because how is Anakin's choice important at all if Mace had already lost? If Mace Windu was never going to win, then Anakin's choice truly had no effect on whether or not the Republic fell, whether or not the Jedi were destroyed.

But the Jedi had destroyed themselves already by fighting in the Clone Wars. The Republic was rotten from the inside out, and it was not just because of Palpatine. So by the time Anakin is forced to make his choice, the fall of the Republic and the Jedi is already inevitable– it's just a matter of when.

Even Padmé recognizes this much earlier in the movie:

"What if the democracy we thought we were serving no longer exists, and the Republic has become the very evil we have been fighting to destroy?"

By this point, the Republic has already been gutted. The Sith have already won.

Had Anakin chosen to help Mace Windu kill Palpatine– and Palpatine already knew Anakin never would have, otherwise Palpatine never would have let Anakin leave his office and tell the Jedi Council he was a Sith– the Sith may have been destroyed. But it would not have stopped the slow degradation of the Republic, and it would not have ended the hypocrisy of the Jedi as peacekeeper-warriors.

And yet, in so many ways, Star Wars is about inevitability and the choices people make in the face of destiny.

Anakin's choice still matters, but his choice was never between light or dark, it was never between Jedi or Sith, it wasn’t even between killing Mace Windu or killing Palpatine.

His choice, in that split second before he makes it, is: stop Mace Windu and save Padmé or watch her die.

Anakin's choice matters because of what it means for Padmé's future, and his own. It matters, because he chooses to be an active participant in the destruction of everything he has ever fought for in an attempt to save her, and it fails, and it ruins him.

All of this is Palpatine forcing Anakin into a corner, and forcing him to make an impossible choice.

But he’s immediately filled with horror after he’s made his choice, because he didn't want Mace Windu to die. He doesn’t regret it, because he has already decided he will do whatever it takes to save Padmé, but he hates that his choice has come down to this.

Alright, did my argument convince you? If not, why? Do you think Mace Windu was truly more powerful than Sidious and was about to defeat him on his own, and if so, why?

I will not respond to rude, or mean remarks. I'm genuinely interested in a discussion if I've not convinced you, and I am open to changing my mind if you have evidence to the contrary!