Episode X Dark Hunter

Appendix 1: PostScript Discussion and Apologia

Narration style.

This narration style was a blast to write; one of the most fun I have had. With every story, after I write the outline, I then decipher what narration style would best suit the story. At its heart, this was a ghost story. Thinking about that, I looked closely at Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables, as that was almost exactly the feel I wanted for this story; especially the sense that there was something happening just outside of our senses, without exactly stating the details as factual. Hawthorne only alludes to the possibility of the supernatural and gives every incident of the supernatural a natural explanation at the same time, a trait that is hopefully evident in this story. This element does make the story more apt for reading than for viewing, and so I understand that this would make it unsuitable for film, but alas, it will never be a film anyway, so I might as well write what I like.

Narrative Voice

The narrator of this story is as much a character as anyone else, and I hope that is evident as well. He (because I assume it is a male, though on that point I am still undecided) is heavily present and was meant to be a bridge between the world of the reader and the galaxy far far away as if the reader was actually present within the story, and the narrator was a tangible guide. As for, who he is, I can say this: He is dead, first and foremost, this was evident to me from the second or third chapter that he was narrating from beyond the grave.  This is important since our main protagonist is hearing voices from beyond the grave, so also is our narrator one of these voices that the audience can hear.  And in the same way that Videsse cannot interact with the voices, she can only hear them; very like that, the audience can only hear the story but not interact with the ghost.  This made the storytelling reflect the narrative.  Later he also "revealed" himself to be Arkanian or at least a lover of the Arkanian culture, as he was very defensive of the Arkanian culture. That was a surprise to me, yet felt very natural as I was writing it. He loved Videsse as an outside viewer, but he also had an affection for Arkanian culture, and he embodies the Arkanian narrative style he lauded in the latter half of the story. I do not know much more about him except for these elements. I have some suspicions as to who he might be, but neither the characters we have seen, nor any that I have in mind for the future storyline fit his mold as of yet, and since he will not be a narrator of future stories, if we do see him, he will be a traditional character.    I will say this, I have thought of two characters that have potential.

Narrative Focus

I don't want to spend a ton of time on this, but the story specifically deals with only what is pertinent to Videsse and not to what is pertinent to the galaxy. I felt this was a better way to tell a story, rather than get bogged down with the political and military machinations of the developing sides. So, much like Forrest Gump, the story focuses on Videsse's story, and only by accident does it have information about the galactic political climate. This is also how I want to address the developing stories as we go forward. This one story was significant in the birth of what will be called the "Confederate Systems," which marks the beginning of another civil war. I hope to make another singular story (possibly about Kanan Jarrus) that functions as the breakpoint for the conflict, and then a third singular story (possibly Ben Solo centered) that is quintessential for the resolution.

Force Voids or Force Pristines

Other than what I have said in this story, I am reluctant to add any information about this element (or rather lack) of the Force. Only that, if it is not well explained in the narrative, this is a new category, and not on the spectrum of "weak or strong in the Force" individuals. They are individuals that actually lack Midichlorians. How it happens, we have seen with Maz and Ben in my earlier works. How it happened in Videsse, I will not say. Why Maz is concerned, I will not say. Only this, I know what they are, and it is not a contradiction to what has been stated in Star Wars previously: that the Force surrounds us and binds us. These characters appear to be an exception "from a certain point of view" and that will be explained later.

Boba Fett's Off-screen Death

So this was not an easy decision to make. But it seemed a logical end to where Boba had come to in these stories. In Rise of the Dark Jedi, Boba (age 66) wanted the reward for saving Leia so that he could retire. In Dark Bounty, at age 67 he realized he did care for Videsse (at least as much as he did himself), and in The Final Bounty, he (age 70) confessed to Terrah that all his life he was hunting for something, and now that he had found it, he didn't need to hunt anymore. He wasn't going to go out in a blaze of glory. He had found peace.

Boba died at 75, and though he found peace, I still couldn't imagine him wanting anyone nursing him and waiting on him at the end. So in a way, dying off-screen followed the setup for the character that I had crafted, and though it was not an exciting end, I did feel that this was the way he would have wanted it. I had to give it to him (my version of Boba anyway).

Added to that, his presence was not absent in this story, and he had a part to play even in the afterlife. He was still as implemental in the salvation of Videsse as he was in Dark Bounty.

What would we have wanted in Boba Fett's death otherwise... a sacrificial death scene where he gives his life for Videsse? Maybe. Does every beloved character need this type of ending? Can we not also give a character a quiet ending, especially a weary warrior, that has found peace in the one thing he had been searching for all his life? Even if he took so long to admit to himself?