Shadows of the Empire – Part 1
Prince Xizor (according to EU canon) was standing in the shadows during this scene. Yeah, okay… Apparently the Emperor had that much faith in Xizor to make an apparently casual call to Vader to discuss #1 priorities like capturing the one guy who could destroy them. “Oops… Xizor is still in the room. Forget what you just heard.” I am sure Steve Perry (no, not the singer from Journey) intended to show just how powerful Xizor was by the fact he already knew Vader was Anakin Skywalker. But, I find it a little forced.
I don’t feel that anyone other than Yoda, Obi-Wan, Vader and the Emperor were supposed to be aware of the relationship and background of Luke and Vader. That Xizor knows all about this, thanks to his extensive spy network and largely to his apparent awesomeness, just doesn’t feel like it fits with what was intended. Regardless of how Xizor found out, why would the Emperor let this slip in what had been written in Empire Strikes Back as a private conversation. Maybe Vader should have waved the Imperial bridge crew into the conference room to listen in, so that any who spend too much time on the internet would be able to make the Skywalker / Vader / Luke connection as well? I’m being silly now, I’m just saying that the scene feels like it undermines certain things that the Original Trilogy established… but that’s just me… fighting a losing battle.
Also, much of the book is written from Xizor’s point of view, and since he is written to be arrogant, I tire quickly of his high opinion of himself and his “cunning” schemes. As well as apparently being perfect, Xizor has the power to arouse “females” to have the uncontrollable desire to mate with him. This was obviously written back when bottled pheromone extract was a big business marketed to lonely men. I guess Xizor has the real deal, but here I’m arguing that the affects of chemicals won’t be exclusive to the opposite sex, for comedy’s sake at least.
Fortunately, the BMS version of Xizor is likely to be a LOT of fun and a lot more likable than the real thing.
I’ve been waiting for the SotE parody to start…good strip! Thanks for making me laugh today.
When I read the book, I also had disbelief as to Xizor listening in on this conversation between Vader & the Emperor. It didn’t ring true. Maybe I need to get the book back from my son and re-read it.
Ever since I watched Anchorman, I think of the description of Xizor’s pheromones to be like the ‘Sex Panther’ scene from Anchorman. 🙂
it’s been a long time since i read the novel, but the impression i got from it was that Xizor was watching a pair of holographic projectors in his own building, eaves dropping on the emperor’s transmission. but maybe that was just my brain trying to make the scene seem less silly? never read the comic so they might have been different.
what is more interesting is that xizor already knows the vader-is-a-skywalker identity.. while certainly the film tried to hide the big reveal and that contributed some, it seems that who Vader was is a secret, or at least a fact known to very few. likely the reveal that Xizor knew about it was supposed to indicate the guy had connections and a great spy network.
How embarrassing! Is the Emperor blushing?
Since the films feature an entirely male roster of villains, those pheromones would have to apply to them as well as the ladies for it to be of any use. Xizor’s an alien anyway, so it probably wouldn’t make much difference to him either way.
Oh, that doesn’t stop Xizor… trust me…
Shadows of the Empire? always felt like good 90´ties action fun. space battles and speedbike chase scenes.
i never put any thought in it, especially not in prince xizor his character.
oh, and great webcomic!
I see much potential for ‘full-on robot chubbies’ ahead.
Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru knew about Luke’s ancestry, so (possibly) did the Organa and Antiles families. That’s a lot of potential loose lips.
I would think it possible Xizor could have figured something out, or had someone in a place where they could have reported back to him.
I’m thinking Beru probably confided in her sweetie, the Smoking Jawa, who told his droid, who told the Bantha, who let it slip to a few sand people…
As for his being in the same room during the “video conference”, the Emperor had a habit of letting someone in close, so that they could kill his previous 2nd (just ask Count Doku), so maybe he was grooming Xizor to off Vader, or at least challenge him to keep Vader on his toes?
I have more of a problem with Jaba not offing Xizor and his cronies, at some point, for interfering.
Oh and Biggs Rules!
Xizor is not a force user. As far as I know. So scratch the Rule of Two theory.
Oh, a technicality. 🙁
besides, in the EU the emeperor was building up a roster of sith/jedi trained force users called ‘the emperor’s hands’. not to mention setting up a system by which to clone himself when he dies, so his soul could keep going.
so i suspect old palpatine never really followed the ‘rule of two’
You are correct. Palpatine formed what he called “The Rule of One”, which was many darkside users answering to a single Sith Master- him. It’s discussed in The Book of Sith, as well as how the various darksiders ranked. Emperors Hands were at the top… Inquisitors, Shadow Guard, and Adapts ranked below them.
Also present with Palpatine and Xizor: Snake Eyes.
That is a given! SNAKE EYES is everywhere! LOL
I agree that the scene seemed forced – but if memory serves (can’t be bothered hunting down my copy of the book) Xizor didn’t know about the connection until he heard this conversation. The Emperor invited him to the conversation to play machiavallien mind games and Xizor’s internal monologue read like an exposition for those-who-came-in-late. Vader spent most of the book wanting to kill Xizor but knowing the Emperor would be mighty pissed if he did.
The emperor was trying to get Xisor to kill Luke.
Just like he sent Mara Jade to Cloud City and Tatooinee, but she was to late to kill Luke in either place. The emperor would know that Xisor hated Vader and would use the information to get at him.
The emperor was frightend of Luke’s potatial as a Jedi. He says as much to Vader in the same conversation (both in ESB and SoTE) and Vader has to practically beg (for a Sith) to try to turn him.
Old Palpatine likes to hedge his bets. Either Jade or Xisor kill Luke: proving he’s not powerful enough, or Vader and Luke fight it out in the eventual battle royal for 2nd place at the Sith table.
The eventual winner is the stronger so it’s all win-win for the emperor.
And as Luke points out in RotJ the emperor’s weakness is his arrogance.
Truth to be told, I’ve never heard of Xizor, since my Star Wars knowledge is limited to the movies, about half the video games and only a handful of novels.
But after what I’ve read I don’t want to know him anyway, since that pheromon stuff sounds so bad, i’m not sure if it’s more sexist or more unrealistic.
Anyway to think that he has pheromones that atract “females” of different species evolved on different planets is just BS, realistically speakink it shouldn’t work on most species and have no or different effects, like making them vomit blood or something, on others.
My thoughts on the whole people not knowing that Luke is Vader’s son is the fact that Vader says it in cloud city where I am sure that there is security tapes and if Xizor really has a string of spy’s he would know.
Hey, I just saw this sketch of Slave Leia that Frank Cho did at MegaCon:
http://apesandbabes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/slave-leia-frank-cho-2013.jpg
– If you only knew the power of the Dark Roast.
*Snerk* Well, that is a different take on the scene.
Xizor is clearly being set up as a villian to keep Vader on his toes, but yeah I never liked him all that much either. And really, those feromones should work on males, too. XD Much more realistic.
Well, I think your Xizor is already more likeable than the origial – well played ^_^
I think it’s important to remember that probably no one knew that Darth Vader was Anakin Skywalker, save for Obi-Wan and Palpatine. Even with someone in the room, you could say “the son of Skywalker” to Vader and any nearby audience may make the connection to Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker if they happened to know that much (which wasn’t really common knowledge, I’d imagine), but not that Anakin was Vader.
I don’t think Vader did a change of name declaration in the Coruscant Times when he started working for Palpatine. ;o)
That being said, Xizor is perfect-spy-cliché enough to probably know Vader is Anakin and Luke is Vader’s son and know everything about everyone that makes it convenient for the plot.
Wait, you mean the author Steve Perry wasn’t the lead singer of Journey!
Next you will tell me the Steve Perry, who wrote for the Thunder cats, is not the same guy (OK … I WIKI’ed the name).
If anyone out there does see the Thundercats Steve Perry, please tell him to drop by Police Headquarters and pick his arm up. Apparently someone out there was not a fan.
This is something that probably won’t get covered in BMS (and I’m not too incredibly up to date on what transpired between Episodes 3 & 4 of the Skywalker saga) but all this back and forth about who knew Vader had been Skywalker before he became a Sith is kinda compelling.
Especially considering it from the perspective of the rest of the galaxy, slowly realizing the Chancellor they adored had suddenly started slumming with a giant gothic murder machine. That is some scary Bantha fodder right there.
When Falleen came up in my old RPG group, our GM ruled that the pheromones were only sex-specific in reptilian and therapsid races. He then proceeded to have a rancor wildly hump on the transparisteel of some wealthy Falleen lady’s box seats at a rancor fight.
The most likely source for Xizor’s info would probably be the video surveillance records at the processing plant on Mustafar – he was clearly identified as Sidious’ apprentice, “Darth Vader” by both Darth Sidious and Nute Gunray, and then revealed his face upon entry to the room, which could be easily cross-referenced to the Jedi Temple records on Coruscant…
True, but you’re referencing evidence that was thrown into the mix several years AFTER Shadows was written. I like to treat things in the context of what existed at the time. If, in the work in question at its time of writing, supporting evidence does not exist, then one can at least see why a reader might feel like they’re reading fan fiction rather than a true piece of the Star Wars universe canon. It’s just one of those little things in the story that I found a little jarring at the time of re-reading it. I’ve never liked “perfect” characters, whether they are heroes or villains. Xizor is not a very endearing character for various reasons, and comes across (through the narrative that is written from his point of view) like he can do little wrong. I’ve always liked seeing characters like that get their ass kicked. I agree, it is not impossible at all, for Xizor to have access to such knowledge and to work things out, but from the standpoint of a long time fan, these early choices in the story remind me a whole lot of decent, but not excellent, fan fiction. To feel like Shadows deserves a place in canon between ESB and ROTJ, I think the quality of the story lets it down. Characters like Xizor and Dash Rendar (especially their comic and trading card renditions) don’t fit well in the Star Wars OT universe IMO.
I came here via a link from Theater Hopper last night. After starting at the beginning and reading the first few comics, I ended up reading through the enitre archives up to now between last night and tonight, laughing my ass off at nearly every single comic. I love the inclusion of the in-between stories, and am about ready to break out my N64 to play some SotE.
Excellent art and writing! Haven’t laughed this hard this consistently since discovering Questionable Content early last year. Keep up the great work!
I’m looking forward to this. I’m re-reading the EU at the moment, so I’ve just taken SotE off the shelf to read along side. Anything to delay the Corellian Trilogy…
hell. I’m addicted to BMS strips, that’s why I started reading SotE. to understand what it’s about
altough I don’t like books based on