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It’s been ten years since Disney made their first cinematic entry in the Star Wars galaxy with The Force Awakens. Whether or not you’re a fan of the movie,it’s certainly one that divides opinion, and there was certainly a better way to deal with the original golden trio of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Leia Organa. In fact, there was a way to do it, that could have worked perfectly.

The thing is, Disney tried to do too much with that first sequel movies. They wanted to start with an all-new cast, led by Rey and Finn, but at the same time, they wanted to keep the legacy characters as a strong selling point, to bring in older fans. What you got as a result was a mess, where none of the characters had enough room to breath, and the classic trio often felt pushed to the sidelines in favour of the newcomers, and a trilogy that was so badly handled in planning and execution, that by the time of The Rise of Skywalker, it was beyond saving.

There was a way these issues could have been resolved, and the characters served. A way that would have provided a solid base for a trilogy, ready made, and would have pleased fans of the Original Trilogy too. That would have been to adapt the Heir to the Empire novels by Timothy Zahn.

Zahn wrote his trilogy of novels back in the early 1990s, during the middle ground between the original and prequel trilogies, when not much was happening in a galaxy far, far away. They were massive bestsellers, and are some of the best-known SW books, laying the ground for what would follow in the old Expanded Universe, bringing in new characters and a new era of stories.

In many ways, they were the perfect place for Disney to start after their takeover.

To begin with, they were well-loved by fans. It’s true they were nowhere near as popular as the OT, but for die hard fans, they were something special, and had enough of a presence in the fandom for people to know what they were about. They also featured Han, Luke and Leia in prominent roles, which would have been enough to get more casual fans interested, without being a letdown.

In every way, they had the edge on the sequels that we got. There was a cohesive story already there, with a beginning, middle and end spelt out. There was no need to wonder where a character would end up, or which evil tyrant they might be related to. Not only that, but the story was a much better one, that featured great characters who felt like they belonged in the Star Wars galaxy, especially the villains.

It was here where Zahn really managed to make his mark, with the character of Grand Admiral Thrawn, the Chiss master tactician who came so close to destroying the New Republic. He’s one of the strongest antagonists in the saga, a real threat to the heroes, who plans his strategies down to the smallest details. There are no outbursts of rage or hubris, and he’s not out to make a reputation for himself, all he cared about is victory, and he uses his brilliant intellect and smooth personality to great effect. Unlike the character we’ve seen in Ahsoka, he’s a powerful force, dangerous and ruthless when he has to be, and a real physically intimidating bad guy.

If that wasn’t enough, there’s the character of Juruus C’Boath, the mentally unstable clone of a Jedi master from the Clone Wars, who lures Luke in, hoping to make him his apprentice. he aids Thrawn by providing a Force-network, manipulating the crews of multiple ships so they can all work in perfect sync. In return, he wants Thrawn’s help in getting Leia’s unborn Force-sensitive twins.

He’s a contrast to the Force-wielding bad guys in the sequels, who are all very underwhelming. Snoke could have been good, but turned out to be a pointless puppet. And Kylo Ren has never been scary or intimidating, with all the gravity of a sulking teenager. Bringing in C’Boath would have presented a perfect opportunity to change things up, and provide a worthy adversary for Luke Skywalker to face.

The other thing Disney wanted from the sequels was to provide a jumping off point for the future of the franchise, though in reality, they have barely used this era or the characters in it since. But considering how they made five movies in as many years, it would have been easy for them to create two trilogies: one to focus on the original characters; one focusing on new ones, and so give the golden trio a chance to shine one last time, before they moved on to new stories.

But even so, Heir to the Empire had better future prospects than the sequels. There’s the character of Mara Jade, a Force-sensitive agent of the late Emperor, sent to kill Luke on Jabba’s sail barge, where she fails, and is haunted by it ever since, feeling responsible for the death of her master.

There’s some controversy over her relationship with Luke in later books, especially given the way Jedi are not supposed to have attachments, as is revealed in the prequels, but that didn’t need to be a problem. Instead, she could have been a random Force-sensitive, perhaps trained, even raised, by C’Boath as his apprentice. She could have been the same age as Rey, sent to kill Luke in the first movie, but he manages to slowly change her over to the light, so together they could face him, as they did in the books.

This would have allowed her character to continue, as Luke’s heir, after this trilogy, and allowed for more stories following her.

It’s almost funny how these books, and so much of the EU was ignored, but now the majority of shows are set in the same period, immediately after the OT, in what’s known as the “Mandoverse”. It’s a more interesting time than what we see in the sequels, and one which Zahn builds up much more. You get the feeling of how weak the galactic government is, what was once a band of rebels, outside the law, now having to set up a working government, and operate within the rules.

By contrast there’s very little shown of what life’s like for people in the sequels. It’s hard to say whether the First Order is simply a small paramilitary force, analogous to the Rebellion, or whether they are a powerful political organisation that controls the resources of several planets.

In Zahn’s works, we get an idea of how big Thrawn’s forces are, and what they have to do to win, changing tactics now they no longer have the advantage of numbers, yet still able to control and oppress many worlds that are outside the NR’s reach. Over the top weapons like Starkiller base are no substitute for this kind of world building.

Naturally, despite the groundwork done in the trilogy, things would have to have changed for the adaptation, as it’s set twenty-odd years ahead. There would need to be an explanation for why Thrawn took so long to come back (though we didn’t get one for the First Order), though he’s the kind of leader who bides his time, and could simply have been building up resources and forming alliances in that time. There would also need to be an explanation for what happened to Luke’s Jedi order, though Mara could be a failed student of his, or else it’s small enough for C’Boath to destroy. Anything would be better than the mad old uncle explanation we got.

One thing that would need working out would be the twins, or any of the Organa-Solo kids. I think you could simply leave them all out entirely, as the sequels didn’t feature them. But if they were included, they wouldn’t need to be Force-sensitive necessarily. It might simply be best to make them members of the Resistance (or New Republic as it would be). They could be the young characters who could appeal to a new generation, drawing in younger viewers, and providing potential for new stories.

At least it would give the opportunity for Han and Leia to have better roles, if they tried to protect them, and might give some weight to their death scenes if they died to protect them.

But this is all just a “what might have been”, as Disney never took the time to properly explore these stories, and take them into account when making their films. Instead they rushed in without preparing, and are now trying to rectify thing by, ironically, stealing bits and pieces from the EU.

Maybe we could have had a fitting send-off for the galaxy’s greatest heroes, but now it’s too late and we’ll never know.

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