SPOILER "Bloodline" by Claudia Gray (Discussion)

How much money is in your checking account? That's how much money they will take...and its Disney NOT Lucasfilm, Ltd.

 

So does anyone have any theories about what aspects of this book may end up showing up in Episode VIII? It would be cool if we got to see Joph or Carise in the movie.

 

I am wondering if the FO is actually up and running (in the Outer Rim?) somewhere at the time of Bloodline, rather than just kind of getting its feet wet. How else could Finn have been taken from his family as a baby and raised to do one thing?

I guess he wouldn't have had to have been taken by the FO, per se, but from an affiliated organization involved in human trafficking. Maybe that's part of the huge underworld that Leia seems to have only seen the tip of.

 

Lol why ?

 

While Rey isn't mentioned at all in Bloodline, the book does eliminate and/or weaken many popular theories about Rey and her parentage. Let's look at some of the facts established before the book's publication:
1) Ben Solo is born 1 year after the Battle of Endor (ABE).
2) Rey is born 11 years ABE.
3) Rey is left on Jakku as a small child (approx. 4-5 years old, ~15-16 years ABE).
4) Ben falls to the dark side, becomes Kylo Ren, and massacres Luke's new generation of Jedi. Luke goes into exile and Kylo works with the First Order.
4) The Force Awakens takes place 30 years ABE.

Here are some facts about Bloodline:
1) Takes place six years before The Force Awakens (TFA)/24 years ABE.
2) No mention of a second child of Han and Leia. Leia consistently refers (in her own mind) to Han, Luke, and Ben being her family. Other individuals only mention Ben.
3) The First Order is unknown to the galaxy at large.
4) Ben is currently training with Luke. He doesn't know that his maternal grandfather is Darth Vader.

The common crux on theories of Rey's parentage is that is she was left on Jakku after Kylo killed the new Jedi. But with the facts we have here, it shows that she was on Jakku for approx. a decade before Ben followed in his grandfather's footsteps. This severely weakens theories that she's Luke's daughter and this, combined with the fact that the book seems to indicate that Ben is an only child eliminates the theory that she's Han and Leia's kid (though I felt that was weak anyway).

 

The remnants of the imperial fleet fled to Unknown Regions some time after the Battle of Jakku. They could have started their new breed of stormtroopers right away, which would put their first class over 25.

 

Just jumping in here to say hello and I can't wait to join this discussion as soon as I finish reading. This book is blowing me away. Claudia Gray should be made an official member of the Story Group. I'm so impressed with the cadence of this novel. Can't wait to discuss it with you folks, but for now I'm avoiding the spoilers.

 

I don't see Luke taking really little kids either. Aside from the moral implications of that, I kind of got the impression Luke's training organization is a one-man show, so that would make taking care of little ones all but impossible. Of course, that impression could be because Leia seems to consider Luke an otherworldly saint (ha! That's how you know they weren't raised as brother and sister) and probably never gives a thought to any assistants he might have.

On a side note: I think Leia in this book still feels that Luke has a power she doesn't understand and could never have, and this (FS) is another thing that she has never moved forward with because of not being able to deal with Vader as her father. [EDIT: Not that she doesn't use her FS in the ways that she always has (strength of will, sensing others), but that she hasn't gone on to train in Force use, etc.] She didn't/doesn't really understand Luke's need to save Vader (although I'm sure she's glad it happened since it ended the Empire). It could be that she associates Force-usage with Vader--maybe with her torture at his hands--and so Luke's abilities for good are a source of sort of awe. Probably some of that attitude bled over onto Ben.

As for the Force vision scene, I've quit trying to figure out what happened until Ep. VIII (or IX), mostly because any theories have to involve Pablo, and I'm done with his riddles.

 

Carise was pretty prominent and had definite ties to the FO. Of course, if she was still hanging around the Hosnian system six years later, we can kiss (or kick) her good-bye...but she might have come out into the open with her support of the FO by then and left...? Maybe.

In the video interview posted above, Claudia Gray mentions a visual aspect that she described that will show up in the movies, so I'm currently thinking maybe the casino...

EDIT: Pamarthe sounded like a neat place too, and could be fairly easily adapted from location filming with practical effects.

 

She did learn it from Lando and Han, so she must have learned all the "normal" tricks, but yes, I can see Leia coming up with a few "tricks" of her own a la the Force...

 

This is the sort of breakdown I think we are needing! Great help with the whole Rey puzzle!

Although to me things just got more scrambled and mysterious after these recent realisations...

 

Whatever TPTB have chosen for Rey's origins...I'm sure she'll be fine (eventually).