“To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places–and there are so many–where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
I see all your posts about Cassian and/or Jyn appearing in the Han Solo movie and raise you Han taking classes at the Imperial Flight Academy with Bodhi Rook.
How to kill four stormtroopers using just a stick.
There are a lot of things in Star Wars that don’t make sense. We all know they don’t make sense. Chirrut’s seemingly superhuman ability to clobber stormtroopers with a stick is, I’m happy to say, not one of those things.
It’s a cool book. I haven’t read through it yet, but it’s got a lot of Stormtrooper behind the scenes history.
One part I did read is the section on a Star Wars comic from 1983 called “The Stormtrooper Alliance” that had stayed with me as a kid and is one of the reasons I was excited to have an ex Stormtrooper hero in the sequels. In it, Leia is rescued by a Stormtrooper from Alderaan who had once been a servant to The Organas. This was when Stormtroopers signed up or were conscripts. It brought up class issues and showed that for some troopers, the Imperial Army meant they could take care of their families. I was stunned by the realization that they weren’t just mindless minions, and that it took a certain level of privilege to be able to fight for The Rebellion, which was volunteer in every sense.
Point being, it explores a lot of interesting stories across all Star Wars media.
The character reminds me of Bodhi, who also probably started working for the Empire for economic reasons. Stormtroopers, like other rank-and-file people in the Empire and later FO, raise a whole bunch of interesting issues like class, agency, responsibility, and complicity.
I wonder if defections like these were why the FO opted for abduction and brainwashing over hiring/conscription. Joke was on them, though…
L.J.'s Obsessions 