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- Shadows of the Empire is a gripping novel set in the Star Wars universe. Written by Steve Perry, it takes place between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The story follows the daring mission of Dash Rendar as he races against time to rescue Princess Leia and thwart the evil plans of Prince Xizor.
Shadows of the Empire is a 1996 novel written by Steve Perry. It describes the events between the films The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. It was part of the Shadows of the Empire multimedia project.
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Shadows of the Empire was een leesboek uit 1996 dat werd...
- Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire was a multimedia project...
- Nederlands
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Brief Summary: The events between The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi. When I read this book, it gave me the vision that I was actually watching the fourth Star Wars movie that never was.
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"When Luke Skywalker was most vulnerable..When a renegade hero became a friend in desperate need and a dark villain faced his greatest challenge...
When the Empire turned more and more to the forces of the underworld...
the underworld moved in to crush the Empire and the Rebellion in a single stroke...
After The Empire Strikes Back and before Return of the Jedi, there was a time when heroes and villains alike lived in the Shadows of the Empire."
―Narration from the Shadows of the Empire promotional trailer
was a multimedia project release by Lucasfilm Ltd. in 1996. A multitude of products were released, including a novel, comic series, video game, trading cards, soundtrack, and toy line. The story is an interquel between the films Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.
Battle of Hoth
Hotshot smuggler and mercenary Dash Rendar with his droid co-pilot Leebo arrive at Hoth to deliver the usual food supplies to the secret Rebel base there; along with some assault blasters for Princess Leia Organa. When he docks in the hangar, he is surprised to run into Han Solo, who had become involved with the Rebellion since their last meeting. Their meeting is cut short because of an advancing Imperial force. Dash instructs Leebo to load their cargo into the evacuating transports and to retrieve their payment as he joins Rogue Squadron for the upcoming battle. On Solo's recommendation, Commander Luke Skywalker agrees to give Rendar an unused snowspeeder into combat. In the ensuing battle, Dash flies against the approaching walkers, AT-ST and Viper probe droids, succeeding in destroying some of the AT-AT walkers before the Imperials destroy the Base's deflector shield generator and the Rebels are forced to withdraw. Dash is left behind as the base is overrun by snowtroopers who have destroyed the main generators; Leebo warns Rendar that the hangar doors of Bay 3 could not be opened to allow the Outrider to leave until power was restored. Fighting his way through the Imperial forces, Rendar proceeds to the base's lower level and activates the emergency generators, restoring power to the hangar door. As he makes his way back to Bay 3, he ends up before an AT-ST, which he manages to destroy using seeker missiles from his modified blaster pistol. Leebo takes control of the Outrider, leading it through the Hoth asteroid belt while Rendar uses the ship's gun turret to fend off the TIE Fighter and TIE bomber attackers. After clearing the asteroids, the Outrider jumps to safety and Rendar rejoins the Rebels.
Search for Boba Fett
Aboard the Redemption, Leia is informed that an Imperial Strike Cruiser has spotted the fleet; Wedge Antilles leads the Rogues into a space battle so that their rendezvous point remains secret. Leia meanwhile understands that Luke is different after his encounter with Darth Vader and wonders what happened between them. On the Executor, Vader is contacted by Palpatine who chastises him for his failure to capture Luke on Bespin. He then orders Vader to conclude shipping arrangements of the Death Star II plans with the Black Sun crimelord Prince Xizor; a discussion which Xizor oversees being a guest to the Imperial Palace. Xizor realizes that this young Skywalker who is hunted by the two Lords of the Sith, might be related to Vader. On his way out, Xizor explains to his servant Guri, that he intends to kill Luke and discredit Vader, while improving his prestige before the Emperor. Guri has made her arrangements with bounty hunters and Xizor is ready to meet Jabba Desilijic Tiure. The Slave I carrying Han Solo in carbonite block, exits hyperspace above Tatooine and Boba Fett hopes to deliver it to Jabba; but discovers that a signal beacon -installed when he was on Cloud City- was activated. The IG-2000 arrives and he has a dangerous encounter with IG-88D, who intends to claim the bounty of Solo. Slave I sustains some damage but Fett outwits the droid. Thinking that it is destroyed, Fett retreats to planet Gall for repairs; but the droid also managed to survive and limps off to Ord Mantell to search for spare parts for the ship in the planet's scrapyard. Luke and Leia end up on Tatooine. Luke had performed a Jedi mind trick to the guard of a circus tent, and practices his abilities on the acrobat string, while contemplating his training with Yoda, the Force, and meeting with Vader. Leia sleeps inside Ben Kenobi's hut and has a nightmare, remembering the capture of Han and their last kiss. Xizor in his palace ponders on his plans to overthrow Vader and his other underground business, such as hiring the Pike Sisters and meeting his lieutenant Mayth Duvel who gives him a precious rare ruby from Nezriti Organization; it does not impress Xizor the least. In his castle, Vader tests his injured shoulder by battling an ASP droid with a lightsaber, while briefing his agent, Wrenga "Jix" Jixton about his foresight that Luke will approach Jabba to rescue Han. Jix is sent to Tatooine to join Jabba's gang both to capture Luke, and ensure his survival. Meanwhile, Lando wanted to redeem himself of his treachery and had sent Rendar to discover traces of Han Solo. Having tracked IG-88 on Ord Mantell, he is sent there to learn Fett's whereabouts. IG-88D hid in a salvage plant which, as Leebo scans show, is connected with a hover train. Rendar travels from train car to train car, fighting trainyard vagrants and automated defenses along the way until he reaches one whose tracks run parallel to those of the train that lead to his destination. As the two trains move alongside each other, Rendar leaps across the gap and makes his way to the front. Leebo then manages remotely to jam the hovertrain's auto-brakes, causing it to crash and break the door of the salvage plant. Inside, Rendar finds IG-88D who reveals that he had indeed tracked Fett to the Zhar system. Unwilling to let Rendar stop him from taking Solo from Fett, the droid opens fire. Rendar fights back and defeats the droid. Back on Tatooine, Leia and Chewie are waiting in Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina for Lando, as Chewie defends Leia who is being harassed by suspicious figures. Finally Lando shows up with Threepio and Artoo and narrates Rendar's information that Han has been found. On Coruscant, Vader finishes his diplomatic debate with Xizor, during which he attempted to look superior and more polite than Vader. Finally, the two arrange 300 ships from Xizor Transport Systems (XTS) for the construction of the Death Star II on Endor. Xizor walks in a luxury hall while a man, Hoff, makes an assassination attempt against him; Xizor kills him single-handedly. The event is watched by Palpatine and Vader, who suspects that Palpatine orchestrated the attempt, only to test Xizor. Luke, in Kenobi's hut, attempts to construct a new lightsaber following a book left for him by Ben. He ponders his memories of him and the adventures in Cloud City when he sees his Rebel friends coming. They tell him about Fett's whereabouts; while thinking on how to get there and approach the bounty hunter, Chewie proposed to ask help from the Rebellion. On Coruscant, Xizor is in a meeting of Black Sun "Vigos." Several agents are present: Durga, Kreet'ah, Clezo, Wumdi, Perit, and Green. Knowing Green's ambitions and network of double agents, Guri strangles him in order to intimidate other ambitious Vigos and make a point that Xizor does not tolerate such cooperatives. When the meeting is concluded, Xizor summons Jabba to meet him. Vader is naked in his medical chamber and ponder his meeting with Luke. He attempts to Force heal a part of his body and succeeds, but the satisfaction cuts his tie with the dark side and the healing collapses. Rendar has headed to the Imperial moon base on Gall in the Zhar system to confirm Fett's presence. Having landed in Smuggler's Gorge he makes his way through Imperial patrols along the cliffside before reaching the entrance to the base through which he fights his way to the observation tower. Once there, he accesses the computer and learns that Fett was docked in the second tower, on the other side of the nearby canyon. Stealing a jetpack, Rendar crosses the canyon and arrives to a large hangar containing an AT-ST. After disabling it, he opens and follows the facility's ventilation system near a waiting hoversled with which he reaches the Slave I. But Fett is also there; the two mercenaries duel in the air with their jetpacks until Fett flees into his ship. Slave I takes off and Fett tries to aim its weapons against Rendar, who is able to damage the ship with his various ammunitions from his modified blaster pistol. As Luke continues tampering the lightsaber jewel in the company of his friends, Lando arrives bringing confirmation by Rendar that Slave I is on Gall. Meanwhile, Xizor welcomes Jabba who came from Tatooine. During their conversation Jabba gives out that the smuggler Solo was an affiliate to Skywalker, and that his delivery was delayed. When Jabba leaves, Guri puts out the information that the bounty hunters after Skywalker would be advised to locate Boba Fett. Meanwhile, the rebels are on board the Millennium Falcon on their way to Gall's moon, Kile. Chewie plays a game with Threepio (probably dejarik), and Lando makes a failed attempt to prepare "Giju stew" for dinner.
Battle of Gall
Luke, Leia, Lando, and Chewie meet Wedge and the Rogues on Kile and are reintroduced to Dash Rendar. Wedge briefs the new arrivals on the layout of the Imperial base and two Star Destroyers, each with a wing of starfighters. Skywalker proposes to attack, drawing off the defending TIE fighters, while Rendar leads the Falcon and its crew to Fett's coordinates. After his defeat by Rendar, Fett meets Bossk and Zuckuss in a cantina, who negotiate with him to share the bounty of Han. He firmly refuses and takes out a sniper placed to ambush him. Then his system warns him that Slave I has been breached. Vader is in his castle, doing lightsaber training with an ASP droid. The slight ache in his shoulder where Luke had cut through his armor during their fight feels better to him. Meanwhile the Rogue Squadron attacks the Star Destroyers above Gall, and Luke hones his Force skills. Dix Rivan is killed, and the second Star Destroyer starts to approach. As the Falcon follows the Outrider on the planet, Rendar dares Lando's piloting skill, as Lando tells Leia about Rendar's past. To avoid Imperial sensors, they fly few meters above the trees and then into the Grand Trench. After they pass the sensor station and lift out of the canyon, they come to the shipyard where Slave I is. Less than a minute away from the target, however, Rendar leaves, being hired to lead, not fight. Cursing, Leia and Lando man the turrets to fend of the TIEs as they approach Fett. Above the planet, as the Rogues retreat in a mock hyperspace jump, Wes Janson's malprogrammed R2 seizes control of his X-wing and attempts to shoot Luke down. After avoiding it, Luke manages to shoot Wes' R2. The Rogues land on Kile and examine Wes' Artoo. It was malprogrammed by an agent. Rendar arrives on the base explaining to Luke and Wedge why he was forced to withdraw. Meanwhile, Fett arrives at Slave I to find 4-LOM with other bounty hunters attempting to steal Solo's slab and shoots them down, before seeing the Falcon approaching and takes off. The Falcon has sustained too much damage and Fett's departure marks the failure of the mission. Luke and Wedge find that Janson's droid had been programmed by their technician Viera Cheran, who attempts to shoot Luke, before being shot by Wedge. As Luke welcomes Leia, Lando, and Wedge investigate her account and discover 10,000 credits paid by dummy corporations, tracing to Saber Enterprises. Being a front organization for the Empire's anti-espionage operations, they believe that she was paid by Vader. On Coruscant, having just ended the relationship with his mistress, and dined at Menarai, he sends Guri to Ororo Transportation, a rival to Black Sun, and arranges a second meeting with Vader. Leia decides to contact an underground organization and find out who who wants Luke dead. Unfortunately she decides to ask Black Sun, unaware that this is the very organization they are looking for. Luke is sent to follow Fett on Tatooine, again not knowing that Xizor already expects him to do so so. However, she also secretly hires Rendar to follow and protect him. Xizor visits the Emperor's skyhook and meets Vader. Presented as a faithful servant to the Empire, he gives the largest Vergesso asteroid in the Lybeya system, as a secret Rebel shipyard. In reality the Vergesso Base belongs to Ororo Transportation. Palpatine sends Vader and Admiral Okins to destroy the "Rebel" base, an order which is a setback to Vader's plans to watch over Xizor.
had its origins in a dinner conversation between Bantam Spectra's Lou Aronica and LucasBooks' Lucy Autrey Wilson. Aronica suggested that Lucasfilm's multiple licensing deals would make it easy for them to create a multimedia project that could tell an over-arching story throughout multiple mediums. The company then conceived of the project as being "a movie project without the movie." In summer 1994 there was an initial planning meeting; it was decided that the project would be completed in the next two years, set for 1996, a year for which no major Star Wars products were expected. The Shadows was to be the first work that would tie in to the events of the original trilogy of films. Lucasfilm first intended to set the project between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, but Jon Knoles convinced them that the period between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi would be a more fertile period for storytelling. After George Lucas approved the concept, Wilson and Howard Roffman wrote a brief outline of the premise. Then in November 1994, licensing representatives and Lucasfilm executives met at Skywalker Ranch to begin serious work on the project. Author Steve Perry, who had been hired to write the novel, took detailed notes of the discussion, and used this to create an outline for his book. This outline would serve as the basis for all other aspects of the overall project.
According to Roffman, Lucas originally planned to release the Special Editions in 1996, and the first film of his prequel trilogy in 1997 (for the 20th anniversary of Star Wars). When plans changed, and those projects moved to 1997 and 1999 respectively, the company decided that 1996 would be an opportune time to release their multimedia project. (The success of the project later served as a model for 2007's Star Wars: The Force Unleashed multimedia endeavor.)
Books Video game
Main article: Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (video game) LucasArts' Shadows of the Empire video game was one of the first available for Nintendo's 64-bit system, Nintendo 64. The most commercial product in the Shadows of the Empire line was the Nintendo 64 game that was released on December 3, 1996, which was shortly after the release of the console itself (September 29, 1996). The computer version came almost a year later (September 17, 1997), featuring improved graphics and fully 3D CGI rendered cutscenes with dialogue (as opposed to the picture/text cutscenes of the N64 version). In the game, the player controls Dash Rendar in his efforts to help Luke Skywalker and rescue Princess Leia from Prince Xizor's hands. The game is divided in four parts (or chapters). The first one takes place during the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back, with Dash assisting in the Battle of Hoth in a snowspeeder, and eventually fleeing Echo Base. In the second part, Dash confronts some of the bounty hunters found in the movies, like IG-88 on Ord Mantell and Boba Fett. In the third chapter, Boba Fett has escaped and the player's mission changes: you must now save Luke Skywalker's life by fighting a deadly gang of bikers in Mos Eisley—this is vividly depicted in the comics as well—and then recover Imperial secret plans of the second Death Star, with Skywalker's help. Finally, in the last chapter takes Dash, Luke, and Lando to Coruscant to rescue Princess Leia from Xizor's stronghold. Certain parts of the game contradict elements from the book and comic book, but the overall story remains the same.
Soundtrack
Main article: Shadows of the Empire (soundtrack) Film and TV composer Joel McNeely wrote and recorded a soundtrack for the project which was performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Chorus. It was published by Varèse Sarabande. Familiar themes from the movies can only be heard in tracks one ("Star Wars Main Title" and part of "Carbon Freeze"), eight ("The Imperial March" and "The Force theme"), and ten ("The Imperial March"). The disc also includes an interactive track for personal computers, containing concept art and additional information about the project.
Toys
Main articles: Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (toy line) and Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire Micro Machines Kenner was one of the companies that made the toy line for the Shadows of the Empire project. Kenner's Shadows of the Empire line contains action figures, vehicles, and "two-pack" pairings of new and classic characters. Lewis Galoob Toys, famous for their line of "Micro Machine" miniature toys and playsets, also developed a full Shadows of the Empire toy line. It included three sets of miniatures and a boxed Action Fleet set with two swoop bikes and riders and four miniature articulated figures. Also included in the sets are the classic Star Wars characters (Luke, Vader, the Emperor) as well as the new characters (Xizor, Dash Rendar, Guri, and Leebo).
Video games
, although not officially part of the project, has a campaign of seven missions that takes place during the period covered by Shadows, with the player having to recreate events mentioned in the novel and the game. This includes the missions to acquire the design schematics of the Death Star II. The game depicts Ace Azzameen assisting Dash Rendar in the capture of the Imperial freighter Suprosa, which was carrying the Death Star II plans and later flying to the Vergesso Asteroids during the Battle of the Bajic Shipyards (mentioned in the novel) for a concurrent rescue mission. The player will also witness the Imperial assault to Kothlis from space. The events around the Battle of Kothlis and the schematics of the Death Star also appear in Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader. The Outrider can also be seen very briefly in Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, in the sequence after the opening crawl and after The Dooku/Palpatine conversation. Once the space arena comes into view, the Outrider flies from the bottom middle of the screen towards the lower right side. It may be a bit hard to spot, but it is there.[source?]
Radio drama
The 1996 Return of the Jedi radio drama, Brian Daley makes several references to events from Shadows. For instance, in the radio drama, after Han is rescued, he criticises Lando for allowing C-3PO to fly the Millennium Falcon—an event that is portrayed in Shadows of the Empire.
Film
The 1997 Special Edition re-release of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope includes swoop bikes, ASP labor droids and the Outrider. Though originally developed for the Special Edition of A New Hope, the Sentinel-class landing craft (also known as the "Imperial landing craft") also made its first appearance in Shadows of the Empire. This is the craft seen lifting off in A New Hope when the stormtroopers are roaming Tatooine on the dewbacks. Xizor makes a cameo appearance at the podrace in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. A Micro Machines model was used to portray him.
1.Shadows of the Empire: A Decade Later - 1996 Just Became Available -- Shall I Hold It? on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
4.Shadows of the Empire: A Decade Later - Beyond a Shadow on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
5."Into the Shadows: A Profile of Author Steven Perry" — Star Wars Insider 229
6.Xizor's Cameo? on Hyperspace (content removed from StarWars.com and unavailable)
Books
Novel · Junior novelization · Audiobook
- Steve F. Perry
- 3 min
- 1996
The following summary narrates the full story of the Shadows of the Empire timeframe, composed by the novel, the comic and the video game. The subtitles are named after the video game chapters; these are further subdivided by chapter numbers which correspond to the novel.
Shadows of the Empire by Steve Perry is a thrilling fictional tale set in the Star Wars universe. It follows the daring mission of Prince Xizor to overthrow Darth Vader and take his place at the Emperor's side.
Jan 13, 2024 · Steve Perry's 1996 novel Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (SotE) showcases Luke and Leia's misadventures with criminal organization Black Sun in the brief gap between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi (it's now a part of the legends timeline).
Shadows of the Empire illuminates the shadowy outlines of a criminal conspiracy that exists in the background of the events in the movies, ruled by a character new to us. Prince Xizor is a mastermind of evil who dares to oppose one of the best-known fictional villains of all time: Darth Vader.
