How did Star Wars‘ Rebellion get started? According to the author of a new prequel to next month’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the answer goes all the way back to the birth of the Empire … and the controversial prequel trilogy.
The issue of the Rebellion’s origins have been touched on before — the recent Star Wars: Ahsoka novel by E.K. Johnston features the first meeting between Ahsoka Tano and Bail Organa, the original leaders of the movement — but James Luceno, writer of Star Wars: Catalyst — A Rogue One Story, places the roots of the movement even further back in the mythology’s timeline.
“Catalyst begins a few months after the start of the Clone Wars, and the Separatists referred to in the [publisher’s official] description are in fact aligned with the Confederacy of Independent Systems,” Luceno told The Verge, referring to the conflict (and antagonists) seen in Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith.
“A direct link can be made between the Rebellion and the former Separatists, who, in the wake of the Republic victory, never received reparations promised by the Empire, and remained ostracized — and in many cases occupied — while the Empire spread its tentacles far and wide,” he explained. “Instead of fairness, the galaxy fell victim to fear of the Empire’s ever-expanding military. The absence of the Jedi Order — their fire gone out of the universe — left many worlds without any recourses to counter injustices.”
The role played by the Separatists in Catalyst ends up an important one in deciding the direction of Galen Erso’s (Mads Mikkelsen) life — and, in turn, Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), his daughter and protagonist of Rogue One. Without the events of the Clone Wars, then, there wouldn’t be a Death Star, nor anything that came afterwards — just in case fans thought that Darth Vader was the most fearsome thing to come out of the prequel trilogy.
Star Wars: Catalyst — A Rogue One Story is available now. Follow Heat Vision on Facebook and Twitter for the latest Star Wars news.
