时间:2025-04-06 04:30:50 来源:网络整理编辑:熱點
Star Wars is meant to be escapism. But with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, out Dec. 16, we're in for
Star Wars is meant to be escapism. But with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, out Dec. 16, we're in for a tale of rebels struggling against a galaxy-wide authoritarian regime -- one that may reflect more of the present political environment than its creators expected.
The same is true of Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel (yep, Star Wars spin-off titles are getting pretty specific) by veteran Star Wars author James Luceno. The book, out this week, acts as a direct prequel to the movie. It isn't giving much away to say that the scene on the last page basically leads us into the earliest flashback sequence in the movie.
SEE ALSO:Americans are suddenly finding 'Rogue One' a lot more relevantJyn Erso, the hero of Rogue One, is featured infrequently in Catalyst, seen only as a babe-in-arms and then a toddler. Her father Galen calls her "stardust" because of the flecks in her eyes.
But this isn't her story; it is the story of her parents, and how they came to loggerheads with ambitious Imperial climber -- and Rogue Onevillain -- Orson Krennic.
The setup is a little complex, so it pays to know the background to Rogue One before you enter the theater. If you don't have time to devour Catalyst, but you still want to inhale all that scene-setting goodness before you see the film, here's what the book teaches us.
As the story opens, Galen Erso and his archeologist wife Lyra are in captivity on a Separatist world. (You may remember the Separatist or "Clone" war from the Star Wars prequels -- it was a giant ruse by soon-to-be Emperor Palpatine and his Sith apprentice Count Dooku designed to tear the galaxy apart and destroy the Jedi.)
Over the course of the book, Galen becomes fascinated -- to an unhealthy degree -- with the power of crystals to store and release energy. He thinks it will save the people of the galaxy from having to fight each other and grudgingly admits that a show of force against the Separatists will end the war quickly.
This is how Krennic, whose title is director of advanced weapons research, is able to manipulate Galen. Well, along with the fact that ...
When Krennic arrives to "rescue" Galen from captivity, his ulterior motive is to put his talents to work on Palpatine's still-shadowy superweapon. But he gets away with it because he knows Galen and Lyra from the old days -- from the Galactic Republic's "Futures Program" that got Galen out of poverty and turned him into a brilliant scientist. (Even in a galaxy far, far away, they understand the importance of STEM education.)
Lyra, another student, met Krennic first, but was always more suspicious of the ambitious fellow than her soon-to-be husband.
We've seen the "living" kyber crystals before, in the Clone Warsanimated series. They are the mysterious power behind a Jedi's lightsaber. But Catalystups the ante in a drastic way.
Galen is presented with vast quantities of crystals -- first small ones, likely taken from the lightsabers of dead Jedi, then kybers the size of small buildings, which the Jedi had been hiding away.
He wonders why the Jedi didn't use them to store energy and help the galaxy on a massive scale: "They refused to share the secrets of the crystals out of fear of surrendering some of the power they enjoyed," Galen concludes.
SEE ALSO:Forget Darth Vader. This is the 'Rogue One' character that has Star Wars fans buzzingLike the One Ring in Lord of the Rings, these crystals seem to exert a troubling influence on the minds of anyone who spends a lot of time with them. "Extended contact with kybers was detrimental to sleep," Luceno writes. Galen starts to become a bit Gollum-ish about the precious crystals, carrying one with him at all times.
He is almost entirely unaware that his project, called "Celestial Power," is being used by the Empire to figure out how the crystals could power and focus the Death Star's fearsome planet-destroying beam.
What finally snaps Galen out of it? His family.
Though Lyra understands that "her skills were a far cry from those attributed to the Jedi," she does "embrace the Order's philosophy of generosity, compassion and peaceful resolution" because of her "enduring love of nature."
She's also the first Erso to start actively working against Krennic and the Empire, and is constantly trying to get through to the befuddled Galen. Krennic knows this, and does his meddling best to keep the couple apart.
In one of the international Rogue Onetrailers, we see Lyra handing her daughter what appears to be a kyber crystal on a necklace, and telling her to "trust in the Force." We're guessing this will come in handy in Jyn's fight against the defenders of the Death Star.
Star Destroyers, those giant triangular ships, may not quite live up to their name. But they are apparently excellent at blasting a planet's continents and boiling its oceans, at Krennic's behest -- all in the name of mining more resources like kyber crystals.
Once Lyra sees this in action, she can't unsee it: the Empire is a menace to the environment on all the planets it owns, she realizes. "It's our obligation to the Force to protect worlds from exploitation," she says.
Remember Tarkin, played by Peter Cushing in the original Star Wars? Luceno has written about him before in the novel simply titled Tarkin. Here the wily rising star shows up to put a crimp in Krennic's plans.
The two are constantly competing for the Emperor's favor, and for which one of them will get to use Darth Vader as their henchman. No prizes for guessing who wins in the long run.
The rebel leader played by Forrest Whitaker in Rogue Oneshows up towards the end of the book to aid the Ersos via some mutual friends. The young Jyn exchanges words with him -- which means they already know each other when they meet in the movie.
We don't know how Jyn met the rest of the Rogue Onecrew, however. Well, there has to be somethingleft for the movie.
TopicsBooksStar Wars
Nancy Pelosi warns colleagues after info hacked2025-04-06 04:29
曼聯前瞻:索帥是否輪休C羅 首個3分紅魔務必拿下2025-04-06 04:21
巴薩再受辱!全場0射正 歐冠主場三連敗淨負9球2025-04-06 03:31
C羅更新Ins:感謝球迷的熱情歡迎 心思已放在歐冠2025-04-06 03:29
Plane makes emergency landing after engine rips apart during flight2025-04-06 03:22
本田圭佑宣布加盟立陶宛球隊 已輾轉9個國家聯賽效力2025-04-06 03:02
本田圭佑宣布加盟立陶宛球隊 已輾轉9個國家聯賽效力2025-04-06 02:59
曼聯前瞻:索帥是否輪休C羅 首個3分紅魔務必拿下2025-04-06 02:21
Watch MTV's Video Music Awards 2016 livestream2025-04-06 02:07
拜仁歐冠名單:萊萬格納布裏科曼皆入選 強陣出擊2025-04-06 02:02
Dramatic photo captures nun texting friends after Italy earthquake2025-04-06 04:25
克星上線 !穆勒6戰巴薩轟7球 歐冠進球數超越伊布2025-04-06 03:46
貝利曬照報平安:我已經離開ICU 要和疾病踢個加時2025-04-06 03:37
巴黎總監:不喜皇馬挖姆巴佩的方式 他明夏也不走2025-04-06 03:17
Donald Trump's tangled web of Russian influence2025-04-06 03:03
登巴巴宣布退役!傑拉德滑倒送大禮 曾在中超斷腿2025-04-06 03:00
C羅更新Ins:感謝球迷的熱情歡迎 心思已放在歐冠2025-04-06 02:50
進球機器 !萊萬連續18場破門 上次啞火已是7個月前2025-04-06 02:50
More than half of women in advertising have faced sexual harassment, report says2025-04-06 02:03
國足熱身事宜正在落實中 李鐵盼一場比賽有倆不同對手2025-04-06 01:57