A new Star Wars book will finally explain plot holes from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Lucasfilm brought the sequel trilogy to a close with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, but unfortunately it didn't land as the studio would have hoped. The lack of an overarching plan for the sequel era meant the narrative felt contradictory, with abrupt course-corrections. The most glaring issue was the unexpected return of Emperor Palpatine, with the film itself providing no answer for how he survived his apparent death in Return of the Jedi.
It fell to tie-in media to try to fix Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker's plot holes. Kylo Ren's true origin story was explored in Charles Soule's The Rise of Kylo Ren comic book miniseries, while novelizations confirmed Palpatine's spirit lived inside a clone body and provided a lot more detail on the Force Dyad. More recently, Marvel Comics has attempted to weave elements of the sequel trilogy into the classic era, revealing Darth Vader knew about the existence of Exegol and introducing Ochi of Bestoon, the Sith assassin destined to kill Rey's parents. Marvel's attempts to fix Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker haven't been entirely successful, ironically introducing yet more inconsistencies, but they've clearly laid the groundwork for further development.
Now, Lucasfilm has officially announced a new novel that will essentially serve as a prequel to the entire Star Wars sequel trilogy, focusing on Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian's quest for the hidden Sith redoubt of Exegol, and their pursuit of Ochi of Bestoon. Written by Adam Christopher, Shadow of the Sith will be released on June 28, 2022. Here's the synopsis:
"Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian return in this essential novel set between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.
The Empire is dead. Nearly two decades on from the Battle of Endor, the tattered remnants of Palpatine’s forces have fled to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. But for the heroes of the New Republic, danger and loss are ever-present companions, even in this newly forged era of peace.
Jedi Master Luke Skywalker is haunted by visions of the dark side, foretelling an ominous secret growing somewhere in the depths of space, on a dead world called Exegol. The disturbance in the Force is undeniable…and Luke’s worst fears are confirmed when his old friend, Lando Calrissian, comes to him with reports of a new Sith menace.
After his daughter was stolen from his arms, Lando searched the stars for any trace of his lost child. But every new rumor only led to dead ends and fading hopes–until he crossed paths with Ochi of Bestoon, a Sith assassin tasked with kidnapping a young girl.
Ochi’s true motives remain shrouded to Luke and Lando. For on a junkyard moon, a mysterious envoy of the Sith Eternal has bequeathed a sacred blade to the assassin, promising that it will give him answers to the questions that have haunted him since the Empire fell. In exchange, he must complete a final mission: return to Exegol with the key to the Sith’s glorious rebirth—the granddaughter of Darth Sidious himself, Rey.
As Ochi hunts Rey and her parents to the edge of the galaxy, Luke and Lando race into the mystery of the Sith’s lingering shadow and aid a young family running for their lives."
Shadow of the Sith breaks new ground for Star Wars, because it is the first novel of Luke Skywalker to be told in that entire time-period; until now the closest Lucasfilm had gone to this was Ken Liu's The Legends of Luke Skywalker, a collection of in-universe myths surrounding the fabled Jedi Master that - while containing fragments of truth - could not really be considered canon. Furthermore, this is Luke Skywalker before his fateful confrontation with Ben Solo and the destruction of the Jedi Temple, meaning it may well reveal secrets of his Jedi Order as well. It's quite possible the story will even culminate in a retelling of Charles Soule's The Rise of Kylo Ren miniseries, because Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker seemed to imply Palpatine only just managed to defeat Luke Skywalker before his plans were uncovered.
Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see how well Adam Christopher deals with the unenviable task of dealing with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker's plot holes. The groundwork has already been done by Marvel Comics, who have transformed Ochi of Bestoon into a fully-fledged character in his own right, but he will need to build upon that foundation. Few Star Wars tie-ins have felt quite so essential to the overarching narrative of the galaxy as this one, but Lucasfilm has had quite a while to consider the implications and hopefully the story will resolve some of the more troubling mysteries.
Source: Lucasfilm
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