The Star Wars franchise has no shortage of media about the dark times of the Galactic Empire. We've seen evidence that more Jedi survived than we originally thought, whether in Tales of the Empire or Star Wars Rebels. Skeleton Crew introduced us to Jod Na Nawood, who was trained after the fall of the Republic before his Jedi Master was murdered. Halfway between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, we saw the real threat posed to Anakin Skywalker's children in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Now, Alexander Freed's The Mask of Fear is poised to shed some light on perceptions of Palpatine during the early days of his reign.
What can we expect from Star Wars Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear?
Speaking in an interview with Jeff Spry on Space.com, Freed describes why Palpatine was a popular figure from the start of the Galactic Empire, saying, "As far as the public is concerned, this guy just won the worst war in living memory." Because of this monumental feat, Palpatine is "not the embodiment of all evil." The average person had their perception shaped by the way that "war scrapes away at the shining morality of any organization" and it's difficult to see good and evil when people throughout the galaxy are "all just trying to figure out what comes next in this very strange time in the galaxy."
This calls to mind the plot in Michael Stackpole's X-Wing: Wedge's Gamble where Rogue Squadron pilots go to a museum honoring the history of the Empire and see the propaganda painting the Emperor as a pacifist who pleaded with the Rebels for peace before being forced to act against them The 1976 novel Star Wars said that "aided and abetted by restless, power-hungry individuals within the government and the massive organs of commerce, the ambitious Senator Palpatine... was controlled by the very assistants and boot-likers he had appointed to high office, and the cries of the people for justice did not reach his ears." So, we see the propaganda present that Palpatine didn't mean to be a tyrant. He was a hero of the Republic who brought order to chaos when the people needed it most and kept bad company with monsters.
Freed comments that the second book in the series, to be penned by Rebecca Roanhorse "will chronicle the full generation and the rise of the Rebellion." This first book is limited in its timeline to the first year and depicts "normal people trying to figure out how bad is it going to get."
Says Spry, "Freed has joked in the past about wanting me to pen a Mon Mothma novel." Andor, Season 2 will cover a lot of the leader's story in the five years before the Battle of Yavin, and The Mask of Fear will show a solid understanding of her personal struggles.
Freed describes the Senator from Chandrila as "the pacifist who's leading the revolutionary movement against the government," with an important dynamic being her schism with extremist Saw Gerrera. "Mon, Bail Organa, and Saw are their own sides of that particular triangle and we tackle those in different ways." Saw has a limited perspective because "the only thing he's thinking about is Palpatine as a Sith, instead of the larger politics of this circumstance."
Freed certainly has a passion for the project, saying that "there's something enormously rewarding about writing for an audience that's actually out there... It's an absolute privilege to have someone offer you the chance." He reflects that he has the tendency to "think of every 'Star Wars' project as his last," but appreciates that "It's a big enough universe with enough different stuff going on that you can tell a lot of stories there."
I look forward to seeing how this all plays out in the new series. Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear will be released on February 25, 2025 through Del Rey.