#the rise and fall of an empire

[oscarwetnwilde]

James Wilby + Historical Portrayals: .2nd Lt. Siegfried Lorraine Sassoon (Regeneration) .King George VI (Bertie & Elizabeth) .George Boscawen, 3rd Viscount Falmouth (Poldark) .Bruce Ismay (Titanic) .Ofonius Tigellinus (Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire: Nero) .Edward Russell Thomas (De-Lovely) .John Denby Wheater (The Great Train Robbery) .Brendan Bracken (Churchill's Secret) .Lord Howard Staunton (The Chess Game/La Partie d'echecs) .Herbert Spencer (George Eliot: A Scandalous Life) .Leofric, Earl of Mercia (Lady Godiva) .Judge Carl Aarvold (The Duke) .Charles Lightoller (Words Of The Titanic) .Helmuth James von Moltke (Witness Against Hitler) .Lord Louis Mountbatten (The Last Days of The Raj)

[raggedy-spaceman]

We Italians really won with this one

Michael Sheen and Alberto Angela together.

The Multiverse is real.

[gffa]

I'm about a fifth of the way through Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire and I am chewing so hard on this book. It's my favorite genre of "fictional history told through an in-universe lens" (sort of along the lines of the Propaganda book or the Scum & Villainy book) and so far it is working so hard to pull everything together and put it into one coherent narrative and doing a surprisingly good job of it so far. There's so much going on that all has to be woven together--not just the events of any given novel/comic/game/show, but the unreliable nature of Star Wars as a universe, that the Empire didn't just erase knowledge of the Jedi, they were erasing anything they didn't want people to know about, so how can you parse out the truth of things? You can't, not fully, but you can make your best guesses, based on the evidence you do manage to dig up. It starts off by looking at Palpatine as a man (and has a really great take on him that I feel fits with what it means to be a dark sider, where you can see the cackling villain that Ian McDiarmid clearly had a blast with, but also the dissatisfaction and desperate dark hunger for something more and how he seemed to have a surprisingly thin skin on certain things, like you see how this guy was a brilliant villain, but also how he was not living a satisfying, happy life), as well as an Emperor, it theorizes about how he wanted to rule the galaxy and yet seemed completely uninterested in actually ruling it, and tied it together really well with the sequels. I'm now getting into the minutiae of how the various Moffs and Admirals and Governors ran the Empire, how it was set up to make them compete against each other, and showing how it sucked even good people in (by forcing them into impossible to choose circumstances, so that they would be complicit in the actions of the Empire) and I continue to want to chew on every single page of it. It's written by a historian--and you can tell, there's so much affection for the process of trying to understand the shape of the history of the galaxy--and really shows Star Wars as one big continuous narrative, from the prequels to the originals and to the sequels, and does some deep fucking diving, like I recognized characters from the Titans Rebels comics even! Like, goddamn, Dr. Kempshall, did you actually read all of this stuff or did you lean hard on the story group? Because, either way, this book is trying to pull in absolutely everything of the story of how the Empire rose, how it operated, and how it fell, and why that's important as a story.

[sictransitgloriamvndi]

“Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too.” - Marcus Aurelius

[jeronandor]

there is some really great rogue one/andor stuff in chris kempshall's the rise and fall of the galactic empire

[david-talks-sw]

What's 'Star Wars' about?

A while ago I got an 'Ask' that concluded with "what is Star Wars about, if not the Jedi, right?" And weirdly enough... I have to disagree.

I mean... to me? Yes. Star Wars is about the Jedi. A Jedi-less, Sith-less, lightsaber-less Star Wars movie or series will struggle to get me on board (which is why I was surprised that I loved Andor so much).

But if you read everything George Lucas said, if you think about the Jedi's place in his two trilogies... they're not front and center, right?

Sure, there's Luke Skywalker... but he's a learner, in the Original Trilogy. Same goes for Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, in the Prequels. They're going through character arcs.

Otherwise, the Jedi are either used as mentors to the protagonist...

... or to deliver exposition...

... but they're mostly vectors Lucas uses to present his thesis.

Functionally-speaking, the Jedi are important in that they embody the Buddhist philosophies the movie's themes are based on.

But when it comes to the plot, they're secondary. That's because the the themes of these films are bigger than the Jedi themselves.

So the question becomes... what's are the themes?

The primary goal of the Star Wars films is to inspire kids to start thinking outside the box and teach them a set of values and psychological motifs that have been passed down through mythology and fairy tales.

These values can be summed up in the dichotomy between greed and compassion / selfishness and selflessness / pleasure and joy.

We all have both aspects and need to strike a balance between the two. After all, being greedy ultimately comes from fear and being afraid can happen to all of us. Problem is, unchecked fear can lead to anger, hate and a whole lot of suffering.

The more selfish you are, the more you want things and the more you're afraid that you'll lose everything you have, you'll get angry when someone tries to take it and that will hurt everyone around you.

In other words, fear is the path to the tempting/addictive Dark Side.

Thus, seeing as we'll be inevitably tempted by the Dark Side and give in at some point (because nobody's perfect), we should aim to be as selfless and compassionate as possible for our own good... but also for the greater good, because we're all connected to a life energy. You can call it Qi or God; in Star Wars it's known as the Force.

As such, we all form a symbiotic circle and working with that in mind is better than putting ourselves first and draining from everything and everyone around us.

But we also need to be careful because there will be people who give in to that selfish side and will try to control everything. When the time comes, we must stand up for what's right.

So that's Lucas' thesis.

If I had to sum them up, the six movies illustrate it as follows:

The Prequel Trilogy is about the consequences of greed, explored through Anakin on a smaller scale and the Senate on a larger one.

The Original Trilogy shows the triumph of compassion, through Luke, Leia & Han and the Rebellion's fight against the Empire.

Lucas talked about it multiple times, the Prequels are about how Anakin becomes Darth Vader and how the Republic becomes the Empire, and in both those cases, it happens because they're greedy.

The Senate is greedy in the more classical sense. They could give a shit about "symbiosis", no they're taking bribes, letting corporations dictate policy, using loopholes to keep themselves in power and halting any meaningful progress out of fear that the new status quo will conflict with their own self-serving goals.

Anakin's greed manifests in a different way. He turns to the Dark Side because of his attachment. He wants to stop Padmé from dying... but not because he wants to save her, rather he wants to save himself from feeling the pain of loss again and will do anything to not have to live without her, her own wishes and the natural cycle of life and death be damned.

In both cases, they cave under pressure orchestrated by Palpatine, but nobody puts a gun to their head. They make a deliberate choice that comes from a selfish place, and neither one takes personal responsibility for it, they blame others, the Separatists in the case of the Senate and the Jedi in Anakin's case.

The Republic becomes an Empire with thunderous applause, betraying the people it was meant to protect.

And when faced between doing something he knows is right and giving in to his selfish desires...

... Anakin elects to do the latter, thus betraying his family and leaving the Force in darkness.

These selfish choices impact the galaxy as a whole, including the only characters in the trilogy who were doing their best to be compassionate and live in symbiosis: the Jedi, Padmé and Bail.

These champions of the Light Side are stuck playing catch-up or helplessly witnessing the events unfold, throughout the trilogy. They're playing by the rules and Palpatine uses this to his advantage.

Thus, as the galaxy tears itself apart because of Palpatine's manipulations, the Jedi and Bail are ignored and gradually weakened until they're either rendered irrelevant or killed.

A new order is born, one built on blood, lies and greed: the Empire.

But a new hope remains.

While before, the Jedi and people like Bail stood alone as everything around them became willfully corrupt... now, a Rebellion inspired by their legacy has banded together to overthrow the current order. But they don't fight for power or personal glory, they fight for altruistic, compassionate reasons. There's a sense of general responsibility that moves them, they're all doing their part.

On a larger scale, we focus on the Rebels, who are tired of seeing people suffer and decided this needs to stop. They have gone from being passive, to proactive.

On a more personal scale, we see the evolution of Luke, from naive farmer to a hero, and guess what? More and more selfish people - like Han or Lando - are inspired to join the Rebellion, after seeing the exploits of Luke, Leia, or even Ben.

It all culminates in the final film, wherein:

The Rebels band together with the Ewoks - literal teddy bears whom the Empire, in their arrogance, never even considered to be a threat - to destroy the Second Death Star and free the galaxy from imperial tyranny.

At the same time, Emperor Palpatine pressures Luke, who is tempted by the Dark Side like his father was.

But instead of giving in to his selfish desire to kill Darth Vader for all the horrors he's done...

... he finds the strength to rise above it, instead showing compassion for his father, which, in turn, inspires Anakin to do the same.

He faces a choice, like he did in Palpatine's office, two decades prior...

... and this time he chooses right.

Children teach you compassion. Anakin lets go of his fear and anger, and saves his son at the cost of his own life, finally bringing balance back to the Force.

Good triumphed over evil. Its champions achieved victory by being selfless, hopeful and fighting together / helping each other.

And that's it, that's how the movies thematically tie together.

As you can see, the Jedi aren't that directly impactful on the overall plot, because it revolves around Anakin, Luke and the respective factions/institutions around them.

But what the Jedi do bring to the table is their ability to teach and inspire others, both in-universe and out. They're spiritually impactful.

The Jedi are the epitome of compassion, and it's partially through them that George Lucas teaches his values to the audience.

[sheriff-lasso]

It’s so funny when people on TT are like “Oh Velvet and Veneer should’ve won”

Because when you really think about it, they kinda did.

Velvet desperately wanted to be famous (and Veneer wanted to make her happy) and in the song Mount Rageous she says “baby remember my name” several times, and the background vocals start chanting “remember” over and over, as if to cement this.

But like, Mount Rageons *are* gonna remember that scandal forever.

Because imagine if someone like Taylor Swift was outed as a fake during the Eras tour. People would NEVER stop talking about it. There’d be so many documentaries, video essays, articles, etc.

And ppl would STILL listen to her music, because that’s how stan culture works.

I’m not trying to pick on Swifties, I’m just using it as an example to show that Velvet and Veneer will be talked about by Mt. Rageons for decades to come.

[hegodamask]

New canon reference book about the Empire? Written by an actual historian? Dropping this year?

[csillin-in-the-chaos]

The biography I didn’t know I needed.

[lyssq]

After reading Michael J Sullivan's progress reports and seeing that the next series is likely set after Riyria Revelations I would like to conclude that Elan has the funniest reading order. So you start with the fourth series chronologically. Then you read the third one (but actually you can read this series whenever). Then you go to the chronologically earliest series, then the second one, then only do you go to the fifth. Hold on I gotta draw a diagram

[howifeltabouthim]

'Sooner of later, everything falls: waves, empires, races, even gods.'

Jenn Lyons, from The Ruin of Kings

[jjoelswatch]

this fictional history novel is a comedy, actually, because the idea that palpatine is so viciously insecure about his public persona that he has someone executed for it + vader being like "but that's my unlovable father figure-- nevermind I'm proving the pet cyborg allegations right by killing you" is insanely funny to me.

[absolxguardian]

The new book Rise And Fall of the Galactic Empire, which is an in-universe history book, provides some lore that I think provides very interesting background context to that Tay'lor Spiff post. (I know there's a Republic era pop-star that was a Taylor Swift easter egg in the last issue of the Jango Fett comic series, but the fact she's a Twi'lek makes me feel like she can't be a full Taylor Swift expy- because she wouldn't be a part of the dominant racial group.)

Set alongside the SAGroup was the Coalition for Progress, which in many ways fulfilled similar roles and responsibilities relating to the adult population of the galaxy. Initially one of the smallest groups within COMPNOR, Progress—as the name was often shortened to—was sometimes greeted with a degree of trepidation by Imperial citizens and planetary governors. Much of this stemmed from the actions of the group within Progress designated to deal with art and culture. Progress created a very narrow definition regarding acceptable art, music, or performances that could be held or showcased in public. The result was a funding collapse in artistic pursuits and the blacklisting of some extremely high-profile artists, performers, and musicians who fell afoul of the new regulations. This included some of the leading gonk-rock groups of Bormea sector, who regularly had their venues closed or raided, and the overtly anti-Imperial band Red Shift Limit. Furthermore a musician from Naboo named Palo Jemabie was imprisoned at a labor camp by the Empire for a musical performance described—without detail—by his criminal record as “deviant.” This situation was particularly complicated as various planetary governors had previously been patrons and supporters of those who were now banned and could no longer enjoy their work.

[...]

The SAGRecreation group in particular was highly adept at identifying potential role models within various spheres of sport and culture who might appeal to younger citizens. Grav-ball already had an existing widespread appeal in the galaxy, but the Empire took the extra step of incorporating it into various military academies and recruiting some of its most famous stars as examples of what both physical prowess and loyalty to the Empire could mean. Broadcasts of grav-ball tournaments on the holonet were often accompanied by recruitment messages that featured popular players, and Grand Moff Tarkin was sometimes seen in the crowd for games that took place on Coruscant, though it remains unclear whether he actually had any interest in the sport.

This is clearly inspired by how sports and the arts were treated within real life fascist regimes- grav ball is space American football, there's an entire middle grade book about that. Given the position the kind of country pop Taylor Swift makes in our current cultural hegemony- the Empire isn't considering it "degenerate music". So Spiffies (specifically young people from wealthy Core families who'd be the only ones able to get away with posting stuff like that on the Holonet) insistence that Tay'lor is actual a force sensitive rebel sympathizer is even more ridiculous, when her boyfriend is actually part of Imperial propaganda. However at the same time I feel like there does have to be some poor ISB agent who has to check all of Spiff's lyrics to make sure there aren't actually secret messages like some of her fans claim.

[bikananjarrus]

anyway when are they going to release an in-universe style history of lothal book

[severalowls]

I love when somebody writes about something as "the rise and fall of [thing]" but the thing is still like, fine. If anything it's still rising, maybe more than ever, but the author doesn't like that very much.

[dana-duchovny]

I just think that, as fans of Michael Sheen, many of us have been sleeping on his performance of the beautiful, insane, and unsettling Nero in the 2006 BBC miniseries, Ancient Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire.

He is a delight and a terror all in one. 11/10 fully recommend.