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So I was looking at some of my files, and I realized I haven’t had a TCO content release since the end of February, about four and a half months now. I’m not lazy, I’m just...

Alright I can’t live that down. I’ve been lazy. I was out of what I always call “the zone,” the place I need to be in to be able to sit down and write this book. I’m working my way back in, and I’ve written a bit more lately, so when I tell you that I plan to release the definitive version of Part 1 of the book no later than August 31st, I plan to mean it.

As I’ve said in previous blog posts, the tweaked version of Part 1 will be a bit—but not substantially—different than what I’ve already released. This isn’t a rewrite, though some things will be new and changed a bit, such as a few scenes here and there and some dialogue. This will finally get the first part of the book exactly where I want and need it to be so I can move into the second part, which is focused mainly on events that take place on Coruscant.

Here’s a list of things that are different off the top of my head:

PalpNew

Kneel before Palpatine.

  • The beginning of the prologue with Ussej Padric Bac is expanded a bit.
  • How Obi-Wan and Dooku get onto the Trade Federation command ship in Chapter 1 has been changed, as have a few events after that as they make their way through the ship. Once they get onto the ship, though, it’s more or less the same. This is done to make it a bit more TPM-like.
  • The conversation between Queen Arcadia and Darth Maul is now a conversation between Governor Bibble and Darth Maul, pushing the queen’s introduction back into Chapter 2—and it won't be in the throne room either.
  • Senator Palpatine no longer appears via hologram. He will now be introduced in Part 2 and is no longer portrayed by Ian McDiarmid. Instead, I’ve made the character 25-30 years younger, so now he’s 38 years old. He’s portrayed by actor Callum Blue (Smallville's General Zod). Pretty much everything in his backstroy prior to TCO is the same, unless I change it as I write.
  • Chapter 2 begins with a royal delegation flying to a settlement on Utapau called Lazarus. Some stuff happens.
  • Logan Amator is introduced earlier—he wasn’t introduced until Chapter 8 (I think it was 8) in the current version because I didn’t come up with him until then. This makes it feel like he came less out of nowhere.
  • Jar Binks is given a new and important character trait so he has more of a character arc and more character development throughout the book.
  • The events in Otoh Gunga happen a bit differently, but it all goes toward the same end.
  • The queen’s escape from Utapau is beefed up a bit more, as the current escape sequence really isn’t all that thrilling.
  • Jar Binks stays on Utapau rather than go to Tatooine and Coruscant. I wrestled back and forth with this one, but in the end I decided that all he really did on those planets is stand around and wait to get back to Utapau. Staying on Utapau makes him a much more integral part of the story and, dare I say it, much more interesting, taking him even further away from Jar Jar Binks territory than I already have.
File:MarkPReally.jpg

Really? You picked me?

  • Sarus is now about ten years younger, around 47 years old, and will be portrayed by actor Mark Pellegrino (LOST’s Jacob and Supernatural’s Lucifer). Since I feel that I know how to write for Mark Pellegrino after seeing him on Supernatural, Sarus’ dialogue will be tweaked a bit, but nothing substantial. You may not even notice is.
  • Other than the last bullet point and the exclusion of Jar Binks, Tatooine won’t really have many changes to it. I may add a new element into the Temple of Desire, but I haven’t decided yet. Most of the tweaks are in the Utapau scenes.
  • Mace Windy is getting yet another character change besides a dropped “u” from his last name. It’ll impact the portrayal of other characters, but I won’t say how yet.

Also, I won’t be releasing Chapter 17 (the final chapter of Part 1) before this. It’s easier for me to just release it in the completed Part 1 package. Like I said, I hope to have this done by August 31st.

In order to do that, I’m going to try to finish writing it no later than August 10th, giving Solus and Jedi Master 76—who agreed to be another pair of eyes in looking over this version—three weeks to look over it.

I hope I’m able to stick to this schedule. If you have any comments, feel free to sound off in the comments section below.

Update 1

Unfortunately, this will be delayed a bit. Not on account of lazy writing or anything, since I'm nearly done, but because I've come up with even MORE additions and minor tweaks to work with. This book just keeps evolving! Among some of these new changes are:

  • An earlier (Chapter 1) introduction for Palpatine.
  • A clearer reasoning for why the Jedi lead the queen to Utapau.
  • The beginning of the current Chapter 6 will be the beginning of the new Chapter 5.
  • A pre-Padmé girlfriend for Annikin will be introduced. Don't worry, there's an important reason for this.
  • Annikin is a bit more abrupt and forceful with Greedo.
  • There MIGHT be a scene with Annikin and Obi-Wan in Mos Eisley. Something about a wretched hive of scum and villainy and what not.
  • Connections between the Trade Federation and the Hutt Cartel will be made clear, though perhaps not as clear as I lead you to believe.
  • A completely sensible reason for why Queen Arcadia chooses to go with Annikin, Sarus, and the Jedi into the Dune Sea (you're welcome, Ataru).
  • In Chapter 10, Kamino will be unchanged, but it will be broken up with a scene in the Dune Sea on the walk towards the Ophuchi sanctuary. This is an important Jedi philosophy scene.
  • Chapter 15 sees the pieces of the galaxy-spanning puzzle starting to come together in a coherent picture when Sarus realizes that Darth Maul is also the leader of the Utapau blockade.

A new release date hasn't been set, but hopefully early to mid September. I hope you're looking forward to it!

Update 2

To give you guys a bit of an update, I may be doing a different kind of tweak to the narrative in the book too. I've been reading a lot about the conventions of epic literature and looking into a lot of epics like Dune and The Lord of the Rings, and I'm trying to give the book an epic feel to it. Not epic in the sense of "oh wow this is awesome," because that's for you to judge, but epic in the literary sense, aka. this stuff.

Right now, this is pending the outcome of the tweaked prologue I'm working on. I'm going to send it to someone who knows a lot about this—maybe a few other people too—and, if it's successful, I'll translate it into the rest of the book. Hopefully I do this justice because I'm really excited about it!

Until next time,

Brandon Rhea Alliance Starbird (talk)

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