The unique Star Wars: Shadow of the Sith clarified among the most interesting eras in the franchises timeline when it came out on Tuesday, bringing us on an impressive journey with Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian and Reys mysterious moms and dads in the period in between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. The book likewise dives in to some unexpected ancient Sith secrets and sets up new potential risks to the galaxy. This is a necessary read if you were fascinated by the secrets hinted at in The Rise of Skywalker. Itll respond to a number of your questions and open up a bunch of exciting storytelling possibilities for the future. Its written by New Zealand-born author Adam Christopher, whose previous work consists of superhero-noir adventure Empire State, the sci-fi scary Spider War series and Stranger Things tie-in novel Darkness on the Edge of Town. I got to take a deep dive into Shadow of the Sith with the UK-based Christopher during a prolonged Zoom interview, where we discussed naming Reys parents, defining Luke as a Jedi master, checking out a new side of Lando and developing brand-new Sith risks to the galaxy. Complete SPOILERS for the novel lie ahead, so I d suggest waiting until youve finished the book to continue. Heres a transcript of our discussion, gently modified for clearness. Q: Tell me your Star Wars origin story.Christopher: Im a timeless kid of the 80s; Im exactly the right age to have actually matured with the films, the action figures and the toys. Its mostly down to my father because he was a huge sci-fi fan; he took me to see Star Wars in 1978. He worked in marketing and he utilized to do business trips to Asia and Taiwan, and revive loads of toys that you couldnt get in New Zealand. It was a completely privileged Star Wars youth. And I would see the Original Trilogy on VHS; we utilized to lease it from the video store, like every weekend for five or 6 years and I would see absolutely nothing else. I can still recite those films off by heart– Im sure a lot of individuals my age can. Shadow of the Sith came out on Tuesday.
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How did you end up composing Shadow of the Sith?Christopher: I had actually done 2 brief stories for the From a Certain Point of View anthologies– these were for the 40th anniversaries of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back– and I d done a backup comic in IDWs Star Wars Adventures. Shadow of the Sith reveals that Reys parents are called Miramir and Dathan. Star Wars is that magical thing where theres a mix of kind of weird alien names and then youve got Luke and Ben.
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With Miramir, I wanted a kind of dream name, because in the book we see her house world– its not wonderful, however it has a twilight forest and is really mystical. Theres a location in Wellington in New Zealand called Miramar, which is where Weta Studios, who made Lord of the Rings, are based. I just typed it in, switched some of the letters and I resembled “Well hang on– that sounds actually cool.” It had a sort of magical quality, it sounds practically Elven. It was also a contrast to Dathan, which is reasonably simple. Whereas Miramir sounds a bit transcendent. Right. Even though Dathan is sort of a clone of an evil area wizard, hes a reasonably normal person. But I got the sense that perhaps Miramir has Force capacity. Christopher: Well, shes certainly got skills. And Dathan recognizes that; shes the one that gets them out of a few scrapes in the book. Her household, which we get tips of in the book, would be rather fascinating to explore.It was interesting to recall at the flashbacks of Miramir and Dathan in The Rise of Skywalker after checking out the book– Ive seen that movie numerous times and I dont believe I ever observed the goons in the background.Christopher: I watched The Rise of Skwalker frame by frame to really comprehend it– the flashbacks are actually essential since its the only time we ever see Miramir, Dathan and Ochi; its just for a few seconds.
During the outline, I resembled, “Theres individuals behind them in the ship! When theyre killed, theres like two aliens with guns behind Miramir and Dathan. I need to describe that.” I discovered a way for all of it to fit together. My preferred thing in The Empire Strikes Back as a kid was the bounty hunters, due to the fact that you see them for 20 seconds. We have no backstory, no dialogue, no names even, until the action figures. Those are the ones I had fun with, due to the fact that I might inform their story– we didnt see it in the movie, so I could develop it. The great aspect of the sequel trilogy is that it continued that custom of remarkable background characters and information you see for, like, five seconds. Those are the kinds of things that interest me. You got to specify Luke Skywalker in his prime. Did you feel pressure with that?Christopher: I definitely felt the kind of duty to do him appropriately. However likewise, this is a Luke Skywalker that we havent truly seen before. In the original trilogy, He goes on his whole psychological journey; becoming a Jedi, concerning terms with his past and his household and the redemption of Anakin.So, to have him almost 20 years later on was really interesting– what was he going to resemble at that point? We see in the end of The Mandalorian season 2, when he comes in to rescue Grogu, hes a Jedi warrior– doing awesome things with a lightsaber, which was incredible. And after that you get to The Book of Boba Fett, where we see him starting to train Grogu– hes the tranquil Jedi master, serene and calm. The Book of Boba Fett provided us with a “serene and calm” Luke.
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Hes got the ultimate first-hand understanding of what the Dark Side can do and what the Force can do if its misused. Lando in Shadow of the Sith felt like a variation of the character we had not seen before.Christopher: We know Lando as the playboy, the bettor, the business person whos maybe somewhat dubious often– a male with a plan. Lando Calrissian, seen in The Rise of Skywalker, gets a new chance for an experience in the novel.
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In the bigger picture, his life runs out control. When he overhears Ochi talking about the Sith and this whole plot of kidnapping, that galvanizes him and reignites the fire. Hes been trying to find some way of picking himself up and getting back on his quest. Hes the Lando we know, but theres something fundamentally various about him. Its unusual for a book to be able to develop among the primary characters to Star Wars in a really meaningful way. With Luke also, it was a truly great chance– its type of like developing a brand-new character, however hes the character that we already know and like. It became clear also these two have actually gone on divergent paths. They werent friends, but theyve been good friends for 20 years, and part of the story is them discovering the relationship they had. They learn from each other in the book. They also each blew up a Death Star.Christopher: Naturally they were going to come together– theyre the Death Star destroyers.Kiza features in a small poster that includes the special Barnes & & Noble edition of Shadow of the Sith.
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How did you develop that?Christopher: You can utilize the Sith to bring out the scary element in Star Wars. We also see Dathan, as a younger clone or strand cast, following the cultists as they chant the names of all the Sith Lords– thats weird. The Sith permit us to take a look at that side of Star Wars.
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The best kind of tie-in books, whether its Star Wars or Doctor Who or whatever, if theres things that the superfan can get a buzz and acknowledge out of– fantastic. With those Sith Lords. Christopher took motivation from the stories in Star Wars: Dark Legends.
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Darth Noctyss (which is an actually cool name) played a major indirect role in Shadow of the Sith. because Kiza utilizes the dead Sith Lords lightsaber and its curved blade.Christopher: Noctyss is from Dark Legends by George Mann. Its part of a series with Myths and Fables and a Christmas one he co-wrote with Cavan Scott. Theyre not canon, theyre fairy tales within the Star Wars universe. So I thought like any sort of legend or myth in our own world, theres often an aspect of reality. It was a really cool chance to fit all of it together. We also had Exim Panshard, an ancient Sith Lord who kinda lives on and manages Kiza through his mask. The flashback to his reign is incredibly metal and gothic.Christopher: It was an opportunity to explore a location we have not seen or become aware of. Who knows what period hes from? The flashback is almost medieval. And we knew Sith relics, and most likely Jedi artifacts, can hold power. And silly people believe that they can manage that power, which is undoubtedly a big mistake.In the Aftermath trilogy [by author Chuck Wendig], its developed that the mask echoes with the scream of all the souls of those hes killed. What did he need to do to create that sort of power? He thought he might live permanently, and in order to do that, he needed the power produced by the deaths of as many individuals as he could kill. Its damage on a commercial scale. In the flashback, he has makers built to eliminate the population of the world he rules. Its villainy on a scale you dont frequently see. Kiza initially appeared in the Aftermath books, where we got a bit of her background and she was given the mask by one of the Emperors advisors because he desired to use her as a puppet. He understood he couldnt use it himself, so he offered it to among the foolish Acolytes of the Beyond that he might manage and gain power from. It appeared like the risk of Panshard escalated to a level weve rarely seen considering that the novels of the Legends age (stories eliminated from the continuity prior to The Force Awakens release)– he became this very heightened villain. Was that something that remained in your mind as you wrote?Christopher: It was just sort of how it came out. And as a fan, my bookshelf is complete of Star Wars books, which I love and have checked out for years and years. I really was just focused on informing the finest story that I could.Panshard is a different kind of Star Wars bad guy. Its scary since the readers do not really understand what he can do. And it worsens for Kiza leading into the ending, which sees Luke and his allies facing off versus this beast from another age. I discovered it fascinating that Kiza wasnt redeemed in the end, despite getting every opportunity.Christopher: Redemption is a significant theme of Star Wars, however she was lost to the mask. She understood it was going to destroy her, however she could not do anything about it, no matter just how much she might have desired it. It was too strong.Ochi of Bestoon, seen in flashback in The Rise of Skywalker, becomes progressively unhinged in Shadow of the Sith.
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Between Kiza with the mask and Ochi with the dagger, I felt like there was a strong theme of addiction with those Sith artifacts. Dependency was certainly an intentional theme of the book, since Kiza and Ochi have these fascinations. Ochi is so obsessed with getting to Exegol that hell do anything, so the blade is feeding off his feelings– hatred and fascination– developing a feedback loop.
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Christopher: The Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stober, which is the greatest Star Wars book ever written. And one of my preferred Star Wars authors is Michael A. Stackpole, who composed X-Wing: Rogue Squadron, I, Jedi and rather a number of other books. Theres an Easter egg about him in Shadow of the Sith, but Ill leave that as a surprise for people who can spot it.
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I got to take a deep dive into Shadow of the Sith with the UK-based Christopher during a prolonged Zoom interview, where we discussed calling Reys moms and dads, defining Luke as a Jedi master, checking out a new side of Lando and developing new Sith risks to the galaxy. Lando in Shadow of the Sith felt like a variation of the character we had not seen before.Christopher: We understand Lando as the playboy, the bettor, the entrepreneur whos perhaps a little shady in some cases– a male with a plan. How did you develop that?Christopher: You can use the Sith to bring out the horror element in Star Wars. The Sith allow us to analyze that side of Star Wars. It was too strong.Ochi of Bestoon, seen in flashback in The Rise of Skywalker, ends up being increasingly unhinged in Shadow of the Sith.