Legendary Adventures: The Force Unleashed

Emperor Sheev Palpatine is ready to root out rebellious forces from the Galaxy – but little does he know, Darth Vader is hiding his own secret. Minor rebellions around the galaxy coalesce and the Alliance to Restore the Republic is born… join the Legendary Adventures as we arrive at The Force Unleashed!

Since the rise of the Empire, minor rebellions have formed across the galaxy. In Imperial Center itself, a small militia group known as Whiplash worked to unseat the Emperor from his base of operations. They employed at least two Jedi, yet remained unsuccessful in defeating the Imperial machine. Other groups, such as the Ataran Rangers, also stood against the Empire despite not making as many obvious moves against them. Even individuals have tried to subvert Imperial Moffs, working their way into their offices and homes to unseat them. Even Imperial Senators worked against the Empire through legislation, including Senators Garm bel Iblis, Mon Mothma, and Bail Organa. None of these individual rebel cells had the power to do much on their own. But together, maybe the would stand a chance…all they needed was a catalyst. Nothing could prepare them for the greatest shock of all: that Darth Vader himself would offer them this catalyst, and that the Rebellion would form out of the plan of the Emperor himself.

The catalyst, Galen Marek, and his soon-to-be Rebel comrades were gathered, ironically, by Darth Vader himself. Around the time of Order 66, Vader was on a personal vendetta to kill every remaining Jedi. Vader was on a mission to find two escaped Jedi, Kento and Mallie Marek, when he found Galen Marek. Having disposed of his father, Vader took Galen under his wing as a secret apprentice. Years later, Starkiller had grown up after years in seclusion, only speaking with a handful of individuals. Darth Vader oversaw his training personally, but could not risk the Emperor finding out about his plans. In light of this, Vader creates a droid named PROXY to help Galen train. PROXY can take the form of anyone in the galaxy and can copy their fighting styles. With PROXY’s help, Galen is able to fight Darth Maul, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and many more as he grows more powerful. As he trains to become the next Sith Apprentice, Galen is sent on clandestine missions to assassinate enemies of the Empire. He takes his personal ship, the Rogue Shadow, to these missions accompanied by a personal pilot. Finally, he finds a suitable pilot: Juno Eclipse. Little does Vader know that he’s training and assembling some of the earliest members of the soon-to-be-formed Rebel Alliance.

On his first mission to kill Jedi, Galen was about to meet one more ally of the Alliance: Rahm Kota. Despite their best efforts (so far), the Jedi had survived Order 66, so it was time for Darth Vader to use his greatest weapon: The Starkiller. At first, Starkiller’s missions were focused on catching minor enemies of the Empire. These could range from corrupt Imperial officials to people with gambling debts. Finally, Galen was deemed strong enough to find his real enemy: more remaining Jedi. On his own, Starkiller took down militia leader Rahm Kota; Kazdan Paratus and his mechanical Jedi Order; and, finally, he (actually) kills Shaak Ti on Felucia (not the deleted scene from Revenge of the Sith, not General Grievous, but Starkiller is the actual cause of her death!) Who would have thought?

Galen’s luck seems like it is about to turn as he returns to Darth Vader’s current flagship. Unfortunately, even though Galen was as careful as could be, the Emperor learned of his existence and has been spying on him for a while. He orders Darth Vader to kill him, and Vader obliges…sort of. Vader fakes Galen’s execution, throwing him out of an airlock but arranges for some droids to catch him in space. Galen is rebuilt and given a new mission…build a Rebellion? Darth Vader believes that the rebellious members of the Senate and occasional rogue militia group can’t be destroyed at their current size. To destroy small outposts and single Senators would cause more uprisings. Vader believes that the best way to crush rebellion is to bring all of the rebellious people together and kill them at once.

Now, Galen has a new task: travel across the galaxy and collect, rather than kill, the enemies of the Empire. He finds a drunk Kota on Cloud City, but Kota becomes an invaluable ally as he points out new targets to save. Travelling across the galaxy, Galen rescues Leia Organa on Kashyyyk (while also damaging vital Imperial projects); he frees Shaak Ti’s apprentice Maris Brood from the grip of the dark side on Felucia; and he gathers with Mon Mothma, Garm bel Iblis, Leia Organa, and his crew on Corellia. Unfortunately for all of them, his treachery is exposed as Vader leads an assault on the first meeting of the newly formed Alliance to Restore the Republic. Everybody except Galen and Juno are taken captive and taken to the Emperor’s worst weapon ever: the Death Star.

Aboard the Death Star, Galen Marek heads to the Emperor’s Throne Room to save his new friends. Somewhere in his missions, with the guidance of Kota and the guilt that he feels over murdering the Jedi, Galen has renounced the Dark Side and given into the light. Part of this comes from love: he can finally accept that he has fallen in Juno Eclipse, and that love is reciprocated between them. He heads to face the Emperor to find the Rebel leaders captive. Finally choosing to renounce the Dark Side, he faces Darth Vader in combat, brutally injuring him before being faced with a choice: does he kill Vader and join Sheev Palpatine, or does he save the Rebellion and let the Sith Lords live? In the video game, the player can make the choice: in the novel, Galen dies, sacrificing himself for the Rebellion so Juno can bring the others from the Death Star and live to fight another day.

Galen’s memory lives on. On Kashyyyk, the Rebellion chooses the Marek clan’s symbol (the starhawk) as their own. But Galen lives on, too, as clone upon clone of Galen rest on Kamino, waiting to be unleashed by their Dark Master…

Legendary Travel Tips:
-We will not immediately return to The Force Unleashed right away. Instead, a young gambler/swindler/entrepreneur will stake a claim on the galaxy as he travels on board one of the most famous starships ever: next up is the Lando Calrissian trilogy!
-Senator Garm bel Iblis plays a major role in the forthcoming Thrawn Trilogy, but this book was the first to establish his role in the formation of the Rebellion.
-Unfortunately, we do not see young Leia Organa again until the Battle of Yavin.
-Rahm Kota has one of the most interesting stories of surviving Order 66: he didn’t trust clone troopers to go to battle against him, so he raised his own militia. When the orders went out to destroy the Jedi, Kota had no troopers around him to turn on him. I would’ve been interested to hear how this could’ve escaped Palpatine’s notice, or if old Sheev tried alternative means to destroying him.

You can follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisWerms, and of course, you can follow the Manor on Twitter @MynockManor!

Movie Reviews:
The Last Jedi