Fey's Cantina

So obviously, as a Star Wars fan, I constantly contemplate the cosmology of the Star Wars universe. So here’s a little peek at what I’m thinking. (Please note that Star Wars is not even attempting to be scientifically accurate and thus everything I am saying here just me trying to reconcile fact and fiction into something that is at the very least logical and adhering to rules rather than creative whims. Having rules is important for my writing because it allows for logical progression rather than the chaos of uncertainty that leaves all possibilities open to the writer. Any Star Wars fic I write from here on will adhere to this interpretation unless stated otherwise.)

First and foremost, the Star Wars universe has no concept of General Relativity. Faster than light travel is possible and time dilation doesn’t exist. Which is confusing because in legends black holes exist, but they never appear in canon, so I’m making the executive decision that in this particular instance legends must be disregarded. The Star Wars universe operates completely on Newtonian physics.

Second, the Force is everything. It is matter and information and movement. It is the combination of all the elementary forces, which in this strange universe are comprised of electromagnetic force, the Strong Force, the Weak Force, and gravity. (In our universe gravity is not necessarily an elementary force, but rather a function of the curvature of space time around mass and energy, but as we’ve established, relativity doesn’t exist in Star Wars since time remains uniform across the galaxy no matter what speed you’re moving at or how close you are to a center of mass.)

Third, the quantum exists in a different form and is either the Force or the Force itself is made up of the quantum field as much as the fundamental forces. You could also argue that the quantum is replaced by the Force, which does similar things but through completely different mechanisms. For example, the Force “binds the Galaxy together,” which could simply be interpreted as meaning that the Force is Dark Matter/Dark Gravity, but I also interpret it to mean that the Force functions in the same capacity as gluons, which meditate the Strong Force and hold together the nucleus of atoms. If the quantum field is the force, then it’s possible that “disturbances in the Force” are fluctuations in the quantum field caused by sudden dispersals of huge amounts of energy or by someone Force sensitive using their connection to it to impact events in exactly the right way to alter the flow of energy in the universe. I didn’t mean to get into force sensitivity yet, damn it. Anyway, back to the quantum. It doesn’t operate the same as here, because GL didn’t include it, so things like quantum computers or quantum entangled communications don’t exist, which leads me to believe that the Force replaces the quantum but doesn’t do everything that the quantum does.

Although I think hyperspace is generally taking the 'hop into an alternate dimension' route to ftl rather than literal ftl. There also is what I think is supposed to be a black hole in solo.

There is a lot to say about the repeating motif of identity in Andor, most obviously around the recurring question “Who are you?” and its variants. But I think there are a couple of occasions when a question about identity is framed as one about location instead.

The most obvious example is Wilmon, being challenged by Saw at the end of 2.05. “Where are you, boy? You’re here!You’re not with Luthen… you’re here, you’re right here and you’re ready to fight!”

We don’t see Wilmon in Ep 6, but a year later at the start of Ep 7 we see him returning to Yavin. A lot of viewers took this to mean that he had spent the whole year with Saw, but that wasn’t the case - early dialogue reveals that he’s been continuing to work for Luthen, and furthermore that he’s effectively replaced Cassian as Luthen’s most dedicated operative - with Cassian increasingly drawn to the more military structure and much more home-like environment of Yavin. But Wilmon needed to be with Saw briefly for that part of his growth and education. His journey is so far copying Cassian’s in many ways, with his getting a taste of different leaders and their different methods (Maarva vs Kino vs Luthen vs Nemik) all the while forming his own beliefs. ..

Maarva’s death in season 1 ep 11 was one of the most unexpected - not because we didn’t think that she wasn’t going to die at all but because it seemed so anti-climactic: we were expecting at least one big final moment from her. Of course we get it, but posthumously: the incredible speech she delivers in the season finale (pic 1), leading her own funeral with words of community, inspiration and a call to revolution. Just as poignant and more personal: her final words for her adopted son, delivered so movingly by Brasso just before Cassian embarks on his first solo rescue mission and really needs to hear how proud his mother was of him, especially after literally just missing a last chance to be with her…. He tries to call home from Niamos after breaking out of Narkina 5, and tells Xanwan: “Tell \[Maarva\] she’ll be proud of me, and I’ll get back as soon as I can” before Xan has a chance to tell him that she literally died less than a day ago.

In season 2, Maarva is only mentioned by name in the script twice: both times in conversation between Cassian and Bix, and I think that’s particularly telling - Bix is Cassian’s oldest surviving Ferrixian friend in addition to being his partner/wife, and it’s clear in s1 too that Bix (who has lost her parents) would have also been very close to Maarva. Ferrix is as much family as community. Still, both s2 mentions are interesting in context.

The first is in the testy but realistic argument in the safe house in 2.04. Torn between feeling crippled by her PTSD and desperately wanting not to be over-protected, Bix tells Cassian: “I’m not Maarva, I’m not your sister!” - meaning seemingly being, ‘Don’t treat me as something to feel guilty about because you’re afraid you can’t protect me’. Bix acknowledges that every goodbye might be the last in a way that Cassian is still deeply averse to. It also recalls his own complicated feelings about Maarva: yes, she saved his life but she also took him away from his sister.

The second mention is at the start of the Force healer scene in 2.07. Cassian scornfully notes “You’re lucky Maarva’s not here - she hated Force healers!” and we find out that Maarva apparently saw one ten years ago and came away with a very low opinion of them.

(Cont. below)

Because it’s another Freedom vs. Accountability debate, and it is so much more complicated than “the Jedi made a mistake.”

The Stark vs. Rogers Dilemma

In the MCU, Tony Stark argues that heroes need oversight and legal accountability to stay “safe.” Steve Rogers argues that “the safest hands are still our own,” because political agendas eventually corrupt the mission.

The irony in Star Wars is wild: Being tied to the government is exactly what allowed the Jedi to be massacred from the inside. But would the alternative have been a perfect fix-it?

The "Independent Jedi" Myth

Fans act like the Jedi being independent is a clean-cut solution. But let's play that out: If the Jedi aren't tied to the Senate, what are they?

They’re an unregulated, private group of super-powered individuals with zero legal accountability to the trillions of people they’re “protecting.”

They’re a localized religious order that has decided they get to define what "Justice" looks like, enforced via laser swords and mind control.

Tony Stark actually had points. To the average galactic citizen, a group that can move objects with their minds and influence thoughts—but refuses to answer to a representative body? That is terrifying.

The "Slavery Fix-It" Thought Experiment

One of the most common proposed fix-its is: "The Jedi should have just ignored the Republic and ended slavery." Okay, let’s roll with that.

Our hypothetical vigilante Jedi order, with no government backing, goes on a crusade and dismantles the Hutt Cartel and frees all the slaves. They win because they're awesome. Great, right?

Well, except that while the Jedi are able to destroy the Hutts' criminal empire, a sudden power vacuum where they used to be is something they can't fight against, not without government support to handle it. Tatooine turns into a warzone where competing warlords fight for power, and civilians caught up in the crossfire hate the Jedi.

Or, the Hutts' destruction impacts another planet that was relying on trade with the Hutts for medical imports. The Jedi can't organize planet-scale relief efforts without government backing, and children in need of medicine die, and the parents blame the space monks that disrupted trade.

Most Star Wars problems are planetary scale. There are only 10,000 Jedi in a galaxy of trillions. Without the Republic’s funding, ships, and administrative reach, 10,000 space monks are just a drop of water in a galaxy.

The Jedi realistically had two options:

Option A (The Stark Path): Join the system, gain legitimacy, and risk being liquidated when the system turns (Order 66).

Option B (The Rogers Path): Stay independent, remain “pure,” and become an unaccountable vigilante order that the public fears — and that lacks the capacity to meaningfully solve galaxy-scale problems.

Looking back, the Jedi- and the galaxy as a whole- would have been better off choosing the Rogers path. We know the Sith were coming. But from an in-universe perspective—where you don't know your kindly Chancellor is a Dark Lord—the choice wasn't clear at all.

*Followed on the heels of an authoritarian empire, check

*did a manifestly insufficient job at dismantling the power structures that existed in the empire's time, leading to largely unchecked violent reactionary forces, check. I'm sure this will not bite us in the ass in any way.

*was marred by infighting between the centre-left and the far left, check??? I don't actually know enough about the new republic to comment on the various factions. Did Mon Mothma enlist former storm troopers to massacre the space spartacists? discuss.

*was overthrown by a violent, fascist regime intent in part on restoring the "glory days" of the old empire

So we know they must, as a consequence of having the tech they use on screen, have access to rhydonium, coaxium, and tibanna - three fuel materials that aren't universally available and require specialized processing and transport methods. So who is Dathomir trading with? How do they maintain contact with the people they're trading with? There's got to be some way to contact them that isn't "A Cave Hag Sends You Burning Green Visions" right?

As for the energy bows, if you couldn't justify trade you could argue something like this; tibanna is (in some sources) used as coolant in blasters rather than fuel, so potentially the energy bows don't need it due to using the entire length of the bow as a heat sink.

However, if you were discussing trade there are a few interesting possibilities. In terms of neighbours there's the drackmarians, who apparently survived as an independent power all through the imperial period, so I could easily imagine being the sort to build an outpost or two on dathomir. Also more generally, dathomir really isn't that far off the Hydian Way, and people have to be getting rancors from somewhere when they're stocking their crime lord's menageries, so potentially the nightsisters (who regularly tame rancors) sell those. Also, in similar markets i'm sure there's plenty of people willing to fork out for witchy force healing.

Since we see them using their own landspeeders and ships with at least one landing pad, that's where I'm getting them having some sort of access to different fuel types and engine repair needs. (And eventually came to the conclusion that since there is at least one landing pad capable of receiving starships on the continent, there's a minimum amount of "air traffic control" types, there's got to be the machinery needed to refuel ships, fire suppression chemicals/tech, etc)

Now the internal logic we're given to understand is that this was part of their human-centric cultural push and meant to increase loyalty while capitalizing on post-Clone Wars anti-droid sentiment (the enslavement of droids is it's own conversation), but frankly I think these are kind of weak reasons. Again returning to our Palpatine problem, he was a politician first and foremost so I see the desire in the immediate aftermath of the Clone Wars, when the Empire has just established itself, to capitalize on anti-droid sentiments and shore up loyalty using his pro-human cause. I also see how he might internally as just a man feel some misgivings about the efficacy of droids and the potential for them to be turned against him (given what he had literally just done with the clone chips). However, by the time of A New Hope, he has to have considered that utilizing a droid army as your underlings to prevent the loss of human life could be used to further his cause and shore up loyalty from a younger generation who never saw the Clone Wars but are currently dying in defense of the Empire as Stormtroopers. He was also done and testing his massive planet destroying death ray, Palpatine of the Empire 20 years on does not strike me as a man overly concerned with soft power, when he can imprison, torture, and literally destroy the entire planet of political dissidents. Additionally, he has had 20 year to invest in the development of more effective droids and it's not as if human are infallible (just look at their aim lmao) or unlikely to turn on you for a multitude of reasons (just build in a kill switch; he did it with the clones).

However, I do think there is a very practical reason for human* troops.

First off, after the clone wars there'd be an abundance of troops. The clones made up a section of the GAR, but it seems unlikely that it was all of it. All the planetary defence forces will also have been included here, and likely outnumbered clones by (at a conservative estimate) a factor of ten. Similarly, the CIS would've had a lot of organic grunts elsewhere. We mostly don't see this outside of mandalore and onderon because unique models are Expensive. Therefore, the empire's first priority post clone wars would be ensuring that this massive armed population is getting its paycheck from it rather than someone else - look at real life interwar periods - half the local armies went mercenary or brigand the moment the fighting was done. You do not want Hondo Onhaka commanding half the Shitholetooine sector fleet and army.

Secondly, droids and clones both rely on outside parties. You comment on anti-droid sentiment which would have been a minor factor, but a larger one is dealing with ingroups. Its far easier for someone to rebel if the face of evil is droid #123434556 instead of Terri from across the street (and remember- stormtroopers are fairly elite shock troops, most of the time it'll be army troopers). Similarly, people hearing about casualties from rebels and the like is a deterrent for the opposite reason. No citizen will care about droid #897457573425674356 but they probably will care about cousin Throck'morto getting obliterated by Saw Gerrera.

As well as this, you can recruit and arm people from basically anywhere. Blaster tech doesn't seem to complex considering how widespread it is, and at worst you can give your troopers slugthrowers. Guns don't seem to be a massive logistical concern.

But droids? Droids require a massive amount of infrastructure to build. Chip factories, fine motors, restraining bolts, the works. Plus, you have to train a whole corp of engineers to maintain them. But if your boots on the ground are semi-local people (you don't want too local either, though. To avoid just arming your populace more) wielding guns produced nearby, and driving upgunned speeders? The manufacturing and maintenance capacity already exists. Otherwise, if you want to enforce imperial law on Shitholetooine (population three modest cities, none of which have large industrial centres) you're relying on offworld support for parts, engineers and system updates - a great way to get besieged.

As for the Death Star, that's mostly for dealing with rebellious planets throwing around comparable power to Kuat or Mon Cala. Kah'ren on Ord Forgetta has far more immediate problems. Such as eating and not getting arrested. The reason the Death Star failed quite so catastrophically is because of the Erso domino chain rather than the machine itself being heavily flawed.

Finally regarding kill switches- that seems an awfully good way for a plucky farmboy, princess or smuggler to turn your entire galaxy off, given the empire's general level of information security.