With the eminent release of Bloodline by Claudia Gray we have been fascinated by what we already know will change several hypothesis we’ve had as well as many others. The first three chapters of Bloodline have been released and based on the information in them and on earlier reviews I am going to speculate on what this means for our hypothesis, how we understood The Force Awakens, and how this information will inform our understanding of Episode VIII. Potential Spoilers ahead.
First and foremost this changes our timeline of events. We know for a fact that the visions Rey has are not in chronological order. However, now in light of new information, we know that there is no way she was ever trained by Luke unless she was pulled away well before the attack on Luke’s Jedi Order, or her memory is completely unreliable. We also now know Luke was still around 6 years before the events of TFA. This also means Kylo has been with the First Order for no more than six years which puts his fall to the darkside in his early 20s. I do wonder how long its been since Han dropped by to see his son though,since in the TFA novelization Han has not seen his son’s face as an adult so perhaps this is why he is disappointed in his father. We also know Han and Leia’s estrangement was no more than 6 years as of TFA and that Han went from legitimate businessman to smuggler in that time. Finally we know the Resistance is no more than six years old also.
Now here is the real shocker for me. The First Order is not a threat or even really a known entity as of the opening timeline of Bloodline. Why do I think that? Well in the first three chapters Leia is worried about internal threats to the Republic only. Her reaction upon seeing the office of the “Centrist” Ransolm Casterfo, which is decorated with tributes to the Empire, and hearing his opinion on the Empire, tells us the remnants of the Empire from which the First Order rose are not considered as a viable or present entity. Throughout the book I suspect we will see the emergence of the First Order as a threat and Leia focusing on them by the end. The Senate’s refusal to act and the Centrists call to her being either a warmonger or conspiracy theorist (which is briefly set up in the first three chapters) will be why she starts the Resistance after she leaves the Senate. Leia sees the problem with the Republic as being the situation they started with, no real executive branch, and too much reliance on a representative senate. With no one to steer the ship it tends list and this has led to a Senate that does nothing but argue about the details and never resolves to solve the problem. At the start of Bloodline there is no outside threat: No known First order as far back as 6 years prior to TFA.
So what else will we learn? At the beginning of the novel, Leia’s true heritage is not known and I suspect that Luke’s isn’t either. I also suspect that the fact that Luke and Leia are siblings is not known. However we know that one of the reveals to the galaxy during the novel is this knowledge of Luke and Leia’s heritage. It appears that Castefo(or another centrist) will obtain this information and share it with the Galaxy. Vader is Leia’s true father. This will undermine any of her current efforts to do a little bit of good, and make her planned exit from the Senate seem like a retreat rather than a graceful exit. This will also be the first Kylo hears of his heritage, it appears he takes this knowledge as a betrayal, he may not even have know that Luke, his master, was also his Uncle.
But how does Castefo(or another Senator) learn this? They are obviously one of the Senators in contact with the First Order. I don’t believe that the Centrists are all in the First Order’s pocket or even started out under their influence. I suspect that Snoke has carefully seduced the younger members of the Centrist’s party looking for those with potential to lead. He feeds those like Castefo the idea that the Empire in itself wasn’t flawed but the man running it was. They run with it, hoping they will be the one or at least second in charge to Snoke. The ineffectual Senate actually helps Snoke by not actually achieving anything of subsistence while the Empire did so much more in the same time. This allows Snoke the opening he needs into the young idealists minds and strengthens their desire for a more central government.
Finally will we see the destruction of Luke’s Jedi? I don’t think so. I think this is the beginning of the Ben Solo’s fall into Kylo Ren not the end. However this will give Ben his first contact with Snoke and it will be where he begins to truly question all he is and isn’t yet. This information may also set up Luke heading off to find additional information about the new threat which will explain why he wasn’t there when Kylo Destroys the other Jedi. We may, however, read about this event in a follow-up novel.
Are we right? I think so and thats why we wanted to post this article before the book came out. Next week I’m going to read the book when its available and see just how well we’ve and I’m going to reveal any other information that could influence either TFA or the next two episodes.
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