Starting with Rogue One and ending with the conclusion of a New Hope, From a Certain Point of View fills in plot-holes and inconsistencies from former Star Wars stories…
Take a journey to a galaxy far, far away, from the perspective of 40 different Star Wars characters — some big and small within the main story-line of the saga — with the new canon novel Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View. If we went through every single story from the creative book filled with a large assortment of short-stories, we would be here a long, long time — so we will just hit the highlights — focusing on aspects that connect and bind the galaxy together, filling in major plot holes we’ve noticed over the past 40 plus years.
*Spoilers for: From a Certain Point of View ahead*
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
My overall thoughts on From a Certain Point of View are very positive, with originally not knowing what to expect from this different style of Star Wars writing. This book is a must-read for any fan of a galaxy far, far away, which I recommend consuming, then watching Rogue One and A New Hope immediately afterward to get the full experience.
The novel begins with an Alderaanian launching the Tantive IV from the Raddus — which you see at the end of Rogue One — where you get his perspective on Darth Vader mowing down his comrades. From his “certain point of view,” he really didn’t understand what just happened, perplexed and terrified by the mysterious mechanical man. We also learn that Leia’s vessel was tracked by the Empire with ease, due to a hyper-drive leak, which was picked up by Vader’s flagship the Devastator, locating it over Tatooine.
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Captain Antilles had a wife and two young daughters, which is revealed when he leaves a final goodbye hologram to his family before being murdered by Darth Vader, which you can see his death in the film A New Hope, when he is choked while being interrogated on Leia’s flagship. He wasn’t aware that the message he handed to Princess Leia at the end of Rogue One contained the Death Star plans, until right before his brutal death.
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When C-3P0 and R2-D2 are descending onto Tatooine while escaping from the Empire, the Imperials do not blow them to smithereens since there are “no life forms aboard.” We get more details on why it wasn’t shot-down from the sky, discovering that there was a policy enforced by the Empire rewarding promotion due to kill-ratios, so this would have lowered the accuracy rate for that certain Imperial officer, who was due for a promotion of his own.
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Why didn’t Wuher — the bartender in the Cantina on Mos Eisley — allow droids in his establishment? Come to find out, the grumpy humanoid had a tragic encounter with assassin droids during the Clone Wars, in which they brutally murdered his family. I would say that “No droids” sign was definitely warranted.
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I want to go with you to Alderaan and become a Jedi like my father.
A character who flies under the radar is Luke’s aunt (Beru) whose kindness is sweeter than honey. It was rumored that Boba Fett is the one to have disintegrated Owen and Beru, but we learn that it went down a different way. Boba Fett — from his point of view story in the novel — discovers the bodies of the two shortly after their demise, putting the puzzle together that it was in fact Imperials who did the dirty deed. The disintegration referenced by Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back happened sometime before A New Hope, on a hired-job on Coruscant.
Coming back to Beru’s story, we get her final moments where she reflects on her time with Luke and her husband, which you need to read From a Certain Point of View yourself to get the full impact.
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Qui-Gon manifests to Obi-Wan, even discussing the current feelings and path of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in the process. By manifesting I mean actually visibly appearing to Obi-Wan. This opens up the chance of the “woke” Jedi Master returning in The Last Jedi or future Star Wars films. This is the first time — we believe — that Qui-Gon has fully manifested into the physical realm, with his reveal to Obi-Wan on Mortis during the Clone Wars most likely a Force vision.
Greedo’s beef with Han Solo is a dispute over a woman — surprise, surprise — which we could get origins of in the upcoming Han Solo film. We also learn from this story that Solo shoots first, with Greedo not even getting a shot off. Yes, Han shot first — or Han shot, which was the end of the story for poor Greedo!
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“I find your lack of faith disturbing.”
In the Death Star conference-room scene portion of the book, we discover whose seat was vacant during that meeting — the same moment where Darth Vader chokes Admiral Motti and says the famous “I find your lack of faith disturbing — where we also learn in the Admiral’s short story, that he files an HR complaint about that incident, which I find to be rather amusing.
Anyways, the chair is empty because it belongs to none other than Director Orson Krennic, who had just died days before on Scarif, during the events of Rogue One. We also get his final moments played out in the book, where he muses that Tarkin will soon experience a similar fate, right before he is blasted away by a single laser emission by the Super Weapon.
Yoda wanted to train “another Skywalker.”
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The Skywalker twin Yoda wants to train is Luke’s sister, Leia, who he believes is ready to become a Jedi, unlike the boy. He, no doubt, believes that Leia is more grounded, has a more serious mind, and has much more experience against the Empire, which you can learn more about in the novel Leia: Princess of Alderaan.
The wise Jedi believes that Luke displays too many of his father, Anakin’s, characteristics. He believes the boy is too rash, reckless, impatient, adventurous, and that he does not have a serious enough mind, like his sister, which is why he is apprehensive to train the boy.
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Why wasn’t the leader of the Alliance, Mon Mothma, on Yavin IV in A New Hope?
Before Leia made it to Yavin base in A New Hope, Mon Mothma left the fourth moon of the gas planet, in order to protect the Rebellion, since the planet’s fate was destined to be an explosive one, with the impending doom of the Death Star shortly arriving. However, thanks to the heroics of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Wedge Antilles, and many more unsung heroes, the survivors were able to regroup with Mothma, ultimately defeating the Empire during the Battle of Jakku.
We also learn that Obi-Wan Kenobi gave Maul a proper death after he (reluctantly) kills him during Star Wars Rebels. This shows that Obi-Wan had transcended beyond Maul — who was focused solely on the past — which is evident when he tells Maul “look what I have risen above.”, referencing that he had overcome pain Maul personally inflicted on him — killing Qui-Gon, his lover Duchess Satine, and slaying many Jedi, to name a just few reasons — as well rising above the revenge of the Sith executed by Emperor Palpatine and his former student Darth Vader.
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The Jedi Master wasn’t lying when he tells Vader — during their duel on the Death Star — that he will (and has) “become more powerful than he could possibly imagine.” Obi-Wan had become so in-tune with the Force and not the physical realm, while Vader and his Master had become obsessed with power within the physical world.
Some other stories that we get in From a Certain Point of View — that you’ll have to read to get more info — are one’s that richly add to the Star Wars canon. I also recommend reading the audio-book, where famous actors read these epic short-stories, which include Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka), Neil Patrick Harris, John Hamm, and much more.
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You can order the novel and audio-book here for: From a Certain Point of View.
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