Re: Discussion: Bloodline Novel by Claudia Gray

by Mana Thu 21 Apr 2016, 4:03 am

He'll be redeemed, and will go on to make lots of grandbabies....

by FrolickingFizzgig Thu 21 Apr 2016, 4:06 am

Darth Dingbat wrote:

But, wait... it was a lie, then - somebody "official" said that there's going to be "cute" Han and Leia scenes in Bloodline, but they're not flashbacks.

@Darth Dingbat
There probably are, he just doesn't physically appear in the book because (from what I heard) he's off helping with some shipping company on another planet. This is why I said yesterday that I don't think it would be unusual if he hadn't seen his son since he was a teenager, thus the "seeing him as a man for a first time" in the script. Now, if the scenes are "cute", I can't imagine them not being together still (even if he's away on business).

That excerpt is definitely a flashback though. Leia's even thinking about it in past-tense.

by Sylvia Snow Thu 21 Apr 2016, 4:08 am

Mana wrote:Attention, this just in: from 'Bloodline'

"Never imagined this, Han had murmured, sitting up in their bed late at night, Ben's tiny head resting in the crook of his father's arm. "Having a kid. Even wanting a kid. But now he's here and -""And you're a dad." Leia had leaned closer, unable to resist the chance to tease her husband. "Just think hotshot. Someday you might even be a grandad."

Han's chuckle had warmed her. "Speak for yourself, sweetheart. Me, I ain't ever getting old."

"Princess Leia?"

Leia snapped out of her reverie, back into the here and now.

:

@Mana
Baby Ben?! In his father arms?! While Han and Leia talking about their future of being grandparents?!

Discussion: Bloodline Novel by Claudia Gray - Page 3 QQZvCCm

Discussion: Bloodline Novel by Claudia Gray - Page 3 QQZvCCm

by panki Thu 21 Apr 2016, 4:25 am

Discussion: Bloodline Novel by Claudia Gray - Page 3 499?cb=20160206211144

Here is an an excerpt from Chapter 13 of the novel:

An entire generation has prospered during an era of peace. The New Republic, governed by the Galactic Senate on Hosnian Prime, has held power for more than two decades. Yet conflict has begun to take shape within the Senate. As political gridlock threatens to cripple the fledgling democracy, the quarrels of the New Republic will soon radiate throughout the galaxy. . .

The conference building of the New Republic senatorial complex contained multiple rooms appropriate for every kind of auxiliary function imaginable, from memorial concerts to awards ceremonies. Leia Organa and Tai-Lin Garr headed toward one of the smallest banquet rooms. The breakfast meeting had been organized by Varish Vicly, who couldn’t imagine a bad time for a party.

Varish came loping toward them now on all fours. “There you are! I was worried you’d be late.”

“We’re still early,” Leia protested as both she and Tai-Lin were wrapped in quick, long-limbed hugs.

“Yes, but I worry. You know how these guys get.”

“Now come along and be introduced to everyone,” Varish insisted. Soon Leia found herself shaking hands and paws, murmuring greetings; thanks to some review holos Korr Sella had prepared for her, she recognized each senator in attendance and could even ask a few pertinent questions about their families and worlds.

They entered the banquet hall together, the entire group walking two by two. Leia knew the seat at the far end of the table would be hers, guest of honor as counterpart to the host. So she walked the length of the room, attentive to the senator at her side, before glancing down at the arrangements — sumptuous even by Varish’s standards, with a velvet runner stretching along the table and delicate paper streamers lying across the tables, beneath elaborately folded napkins. Leia had to laugh. “Honestly, Varish. For breakfast?” In other words, Leia thought as she listened to someone cheerfully talk about his grandchildren, this is going wonderfully for everyone but me.

This won good-natured chuckles from the room; Varish Vicly’s lavish tastes were well known, a foible she herself joked about. Today, however, she shrugged. “I didn’t request this. Maybe the serving staff heard my name and assumed that meant to go all out.” Varish smiled as she took her seat. “If that’s my reputation . . . you know, I can live with it.”

Leia settled into her chair, picked up her napkin — and stopped.

Something was written on the paper streamer on her plate. Actual writing. Virtually nobody wrote any longer; it had been years since Leia had seen actual words handwritten in ink on anything but historical documents.

But today, someone had left this message on her plate, only one word long:

RUN.

Leia shoved her chair back, instantly leaping to her feet. “We have to get out of here,” she said to the startled senators at the table. “Now. Go!”

But they didn’t move, even as she dashed toward the door. Varish said, “Leia? What in the world's —”

“Didn’t you hear me?” Damn fools who had never been in the war, who didn’t know an urgent warning when they got one. Leia held up the paper so they could see it. “Run! Everyone get up and run!”
With that, she took off, running as fast as she could, finally hearing the others stir behind her. Maybe they thought the note was only a prank, but Leia knew better. The inchoate dread that had swirled inside her all morning had solidified; this was what her feelings had been warning her about.

As they dashed through the hallways of the conference building, Leia glimpsed an alert box and swerved sideways to hit it. A robotic voice said, “No detected hazards at this — ”

“Override! Evacuation alert now!” Leia resumed running just as the warning lights began to blink and the siren’s wail sounded. Immediately people began filing out of various other rooms, mostly grumbling but at least moving toward the exits — and when they saw her, they, too, started to run. The sense of urgency built behind her like a wave cresting, preparing to crash.

Leia’s breath caught in her throat as she pushed herself harder, running full out toward the doors, so fast they almost didn’t have time to open for her. In the square beyond, security droids had begun herding people away from the building, but too many continued to mill around, staring in consternation at the scene. The others evacuating flooded through the doors behind and around her, but once they were clear of the structure, half of them stopped, remaining stupidly within range.

Within range of what? She still didn’t know. But every instinct within her told her disaster was near.

Leia didn’t stop. She kept running as hard as she could, never looking back, until . . .

Brilliant light. A roar so loud it resonated in her skull. And hot air and debris slamming into her, knocking her down, rolling her over, erasing the world.

by SoloSideCousin Thu 21 Apr 2016, 5:09 am

FrolickingFizzgig wrote:
Darth Dingbat wrote:

But, wait... it was a lie, then - somebody "official" said that there's going to be "cute" Han and Leia scenes in Bloodline, but they're not flashbacks.
@Darth Dingbat
There probably are, he just doesn't physically appear in the book because (from what I heard) he's off helping with some shipping company on another planet. This is why I said yesterday that I don't think it would be unusual if he hadn't seen his son since he was a teenager, thus the "seeing him as a man for a first time" in the script. Now, if the scenes are "cute", I can't imagine them not being together still (even if he's away on business).

That excerpt is definitely a flashback though. Leia's even thinking about it in past-tense.

@FrolickingFizzgig

It's definitely a flashback. Ben's not a baby in Bloodlines. I was just responding to a post above that seemed to indicate that this might be evidence of no nice Han and Leia moments in the actual time of the book, and I was just trying to say that you couldn't be sure of that .... because whoever breaks her reverie in the present time calls her "Princess Leia", which indicates to me that not everything has fallen off the cliff yet. At least she is not Resistance general yet, and maybe Han and she are still together, thus maybe allowing for a nice Han/Leia moment in the present time of the book.

But now it sounds like you've heard that Han is not actually physically near Leia in the book? That he's away on business? Hmmm ... I hadn't heard that. I actually haven't heard anything about Bloodlines, except what I see on this forum.

@Arcana: Maybe she is reminiscing about the two of them because they, Han and Ben, are both far away? But of course, Ben having already fallen would make that memory more poignant. Hmmm.... I just don't see them letting Claudia Gray tell too much about Ben's fall though. That's Rian Johnson's territory. I really do wonder how this book will play out.

by panki Thu 21 Apr 2016, 5:47 am

Sylvia Snow wrote:
Mana wrote:Attention, this just in: from 'Bloodline'

"Never imagined this, Han had murmured, sitting up in their bed late at night, Ben's tiny head resting in the crook of his father's arm. "Having a kid. Even wanting a kid. But now he's here and -""And you're a dad." Leia had leaned closer, unable to resist the chance to tease her husband. "Just think hotshot. Someday you might even be a grandad."

Han's chuckle had warmed her. "Speak for yourself, sweetheart. Me, I ain't ever getting old."

"Princess Leia?"

Leia snapped out of her reverie, back into the here and now.

:

@Mana
Baby Ben?! In his father arms?! While Han and Leia talking about their future of being grandparents?!

@Sylvia Snow

Discussion: Bloodline Novel by Claudia Gray - Page 3 Tumblr_m3s8quWvws1r0adt2

Looks like Han has left and Leia has given up all hope of being a grandmother...so sad.... Sad

by Guest Thu 21 Apr 2016, 5:55 am

I think he left too...too sad

by Darth Dingbat Thu 21 Apr 2016, 5:56 am

FrolickingFizzgig wrote:Definitely looks like a flashback to me (the way it says "snapped out of her reverie"). She was reflecting on a memory. But I can't say it's foreshadowing. Claudia Grey admitted on Twitter that she doesn't really know anything substantial about the direction of the story. She said she wanted Ben to be redeemed "for Han and Leia's sake", but other than that, I would say she wrote "foreshadowing" of that variety simply out of instinct/the assumption that he would be redeemed because of what series we're dealing with. I'm sure it was a right-on-the-money prediction, but I doubt she knows. And if she does, all she knows is "yes, he'll be redeemed in some way", no big details on how or when or why.

@FrolickingFizzgig

Claudia probably doesn't know anything much about the future direction of the story, but I was once considered for a writing gig of this kind (not Star Wars, alas Very Happy

nor any other well-known franchise) and they gave me a really detailed outline to follow. Sure, there was enough room to get a bit creative, but it was clearly spelled out that the characters are supposed to be talking about this and that, and this or that must be mentioned in this scene.

I don't know how much leeway the SW writers get, though. Probably more than me - I lost that job because I didn't adhere to the outline closely enough Very Happy

by vaderito Thu 21 Apr 2016, 7:51 am

Guys, is that baby Ben thing real or made it up? official excerpt from the book or people trolling? Speak up!

by Mana Thu 21 Apr 2016, 7:53 am

vaderito wrote:Guys, is that baby Ben thing real or made it up? official excerpt from the book or people trolling? Speak up!

@vaderito

its from the book

by vaderito Thu 21 Apr 2016, 8:03 am

OMG, I'm crying.

The grandchild:

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Discussion: Bloodline Novel by Claudia Gray - Page 3 Tumblr_o5w2wiVmkw1rszoo3o3_r1_250

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Discussion: Bloodline Novel by Claudia Gray - Page 3 Boohoo

by AnneNeville Thu 21 Apr 2016, 8:05 am

FrolickingFizzgig wrote:
Darth Dingbat wrote:Hmm... I just saw some Reywalkers on Twitter panicking about some Bloodline spoiler that apparently makes it likely that Rey is a random? Have you heard anything about it? The book obviously isn't released yet, but it's out with reviewers so somebody may have revealed something.

These people were not really saying anything, they were just panicking amongst themselves and saying "I'll DM you the details" to others who said "omg what has happened".
@Darth Dingbat
I'm positive that the Bloodline "spoiler" they're talking about is that the massacre and Rey's abandonment happened years apart. Rey had already been on Jakku for 7-8 years when Bloodlines takes place, making her about 13. Of course this is something that was revealed by Pablo months back, but I guess this is the "official" confirmation. If the Reywalker's really have been ignoring all of Pablo's Tweets up until this point they might not have known at all. They're in for quite the shock when they see that all their Luke/Ben/Skymom abandoned Rey after the massacre theories are invalidated by the canon timeline.

Right now, it seems like this is the timeline:

> Rey is abandoned at age 5 (15 years before The Force Awakens)
> Massacre happens when Kylo is 23 (6 years before The Force Awakens)

I'm more curious to find out if Han and Leia are still together in Bloodlines, because that changes everything. If they aren't, it means Ben became a murderer before the massacre. I know Han doesn't actually appear with Leia in the book, but apparently Leia calls him and tells him that her attempts to contact Luke and Ben have been failing. This tells me the massacre has just occurred or is about to occur, and Luke attempted to fix it on his own without telling Han or his sister. I wouldn't be surprised if the book ends with Leia and Han finding out what happened.

I don't think it's unlikely that he fell (that the massacre happened) when he was 23. I know the script makes it clear that Han is looking upon his son as a man for the first time... but how much can we assume Han really visited him? They had some kind of rough falling out when he was younger. It's entirely possible that Ben was just with Luke after a certain point and didn't see his father again until the catwalk at age 29.

Han and Leia being together/not together in Bloodlines will give us the answer we need. Did Ben become a murderer before the massacre or was the massacre the even that made him a murderer?

@FrolickingFizzgig

If Han saw his son so rarely that he hadn't seen him at 23, and at 29 it's the first time he's seen his son as a man, then I think mightily less of Han Solo.

by AnneNeville Thu 21 Apr 2016, 8:08 am

Arcana wrote:
SoloSideCousin wrote:
Mana wrote:@SoloSideCousin someone on twitter leaked it...

@Mana

Ooohhhh ... that means there will be more to come. :-)
@SoloSideCousin

hehehe...a foreshadowing of Han´s grand kid.....Ben is not gonna die...well...at least not before making someone pregnant....and who might that be....how many young women are there in the movie? Does Phasma qualifies...think not...there is only one girl....there is allways this one girl...and she is Kylo´s girl....Rey of course...

@Arcana

If that quote had been in the movie, it would have made Kylo's fathering of children 100% certain.

by Darth Dingbat Thu 21 Apr 2016, 8:14 am

AnneNeville wrote:
FrolickingFizzgig wrote:
Darth Dingbat wrote:Hmm... I just saw some Reywalkers on Twitter panicking about some Bloodline spoiler that apparently makes it likely that Rey is a random? Have you heard anything about it? The book obviously isn't released yet, but it's out with reviewers so somebody may have revealed something.

These people were not really saying anything, they were just panicking amongst themselves and saying "I'll DM you the details" to others who said "omg what has happened".
@Darth Dingbat
I'm positive that the Bloodline "spoiler" they're talking about is that the massacre and Rey's abandonment happened years apart. Rey had already been on Jakku for 7-8 years when Bloodlines takes place, making her about 13. Of course this is something that was revealed by Pablo months back, but I guess this is the "official" confirmation. If the Reywalker's really have been ignoring all of Pablo's Tweets up until this point they might not have known at all. They're in for quite the shock when they see that all their Luke/Ben/Skymom abandoned Rey after the massacre theories are invalidated by the canon timeline.

Right now, it seems like this is the timeline:

> Rey is abandoned at age 5 (15 years before The Force Awakens)
> Massacre happens when Kylo is 23 (6 years before The Force Awakens)

I'm more curious to find out if Han and Leia are still together in Bloodlines, because that changes everything. If they aren't, it means Ben became a murderer before the massacre. I know Han doesn't actually appear with Leia in the book, but apparently Leia calls him and tells him that her attempts to contact Luke and Ben have been failing. This tells me the massacre has just occurred or is about to occur, and Luke attempted to fix it on his own without telling Han or his sister. I wouldn't be surprised if the book ends with Leia and Han finding out what happened.

I don't think it's unlikely that he fell (that the massacre happened) when he was 23. I know the script makes it clear that Han is looking upon his son as a man for the first time... but how much can we assume Han really visited him? They had some kind of rough falling out when he was younger. It's entirely possible that Ben was just with Luke after a certain point and didn't see his father again until the catwalk at age 29.

Han and Leia being together/not together in Bloodlines will give us the answer we need. Did Ben become a murderer before the massacre or was the massacre the even that made him a murderer?
@FrolickingFizzgig

If Han saw his son so rarely that he hadn't seen him at 23, and at 29 it's the first time he's seen his son as a man, then I think mightily less of Han Solo.

@AnneNeville

Me too. That would make it sound like he gave up on his son - who had "too much Vader in him" - before anything concrete even happened.

Of course, that would more than explain Kylo's disappointment in him, but...

by AnneNeville Thu 21 Apr 2016, 8:15 am

I am now wondering if we will get a "big reveal" in Bloodlines. Is it possible that up until the massacre, Leia did not know Snoke's RL identity, just that a malevolent force was working on her son? He could have still been her close colleague until the FO emerged as a serious threat.

by Guest Thu 21 Apr 2016, 8:27 am

One thing I'd like to know is if we'll find out Kylo Ren's given name. We know Ben is his first name, and we've all assumed that his last name is Solo, but that hasn't been confirmed. He could use his mother's name and go by Ben Organa. Or, dare I say, use his mother's real name and go by Ben Skywalker. Imagine the pressure and expectations that name would have put on poor little Ben.

by vaderito Thu 21 Apr 2016, 8:28 am

Qui-Ghost wrote:One thing I'd like to know is if we'll find out Kylo Ren's given name. We know Ben is his first name, and we've all assumed that his last name is Solo, but that hasn't been confirmed. He could use his mother's name and go by Ben Organa. Or, dare I say, use his mother's real name and go by Ben Skywalker. Imagine the pressure and expectations that name would have put on poor little Ben.

@Qui-Ghost

sKYwalker soLO could be a hint but it also could be just his thing.

by Darth Dingbat Thu 21 Apr 2016, 8:34 am

AnneNeville wrote:I am now wondering if we will get a "big reveal" in Bloodlines. Is it possible that up until the massacre, Leia did not know Snoke's RL identity, just that a malevolent force was working on her son? He could have still been her close colleague until the FO emerged as a serious threat.

@AnneNeville

That's very possible, but I wonder if they'd actually reveal anything as important as Snoke's identity in a book?

Then again, Bloodline is going to seem mighty dull and coy if it doesn't "reveal" anything at all about the backstory.

I'm actually somewhat prepared to there being something a bit "er, what?" about the timeline. I do feel like TFA (and the associated materials, novels especially; but also the recent emphasis in interviews on Ben's childhood experiences) led us to believe he turned when he was young. If he had a relatively normal-ish life - as normal as it could be with Snoke targeting him - until 23, that makes the backstory quite different.

Not to mention the strangeness of Han basically abandoning his son before the latter had even turned. That would be odd.

I don't know. Perhaps it will all make sense in the end, but like I said, I'm semi-prepared for there being things about the timeline that don't entirely make sense.

by IoJovi Thu 21 Apr 2016, 8:38 am

Mana wrote:oh guys its a flashback!!! at the end someone calls "Princess Leia?"

@Mana

It's most likely Threepio. I believe he still called her Princess in TFA. And we all know how great he is at interrupting others when they're preoccupied with something else...

by CienaRee Thu 21 Apr 2016, 8:48 am

OMG this is so sad.Poor Han.Poor Leia.Poor Ben.F**** you Snoke.Things could have been so different if that creeper hadn't prayed on young Ben's mind.
Han and Leia joking about being grandparents reminds me of EU where they did the same with Jason's daughter Allana.
I'm surethe grandad/grandchildren things is forshadwoing.It's mentioned twice and while Clauida may have no idea where the storyline is going LucasFilm could have easily asked her to change it or chnaged it themselves like they did with the names of the planets in Lost Stars.
This makes me even more frustarted spme people want Kylo to die unredeemed.Like do you seriously want Snoke to win and Han's dead to have been for nothing?Save Ben Solo.

by Guest Thu 21 Apr 2016, 8:52 am

I think it's Ben Skywalker Solo
@vaderito
I like your reasoning
Since Luke was a part of Ben's and Leia's life I can see her taking her father's name in the aftermath of RotJ to honor his redemption....and reconnect with her brother....although family is more than blood and name, somehow I feel names are more important in Star Wars...specialy if you are a Skywalker

by SoloSideCousin Thu 21 Apr 2016, 9:39 am

FrolickingFizzgig wrote:
Little_Boots wrote:Someone over there said Han and Leia were together when Ben went coo coo. The link they gave was ridiculous though

Edit: sorry i meant they were still together in the book
@Little_Boots
If they were still together that means Ben "became a murderer" during the massacre, which seems to have happened when he was 23 and training with Luke full-time. I think it's entirely possible Han hadn't seen his son in years, especially if he and Leia were really as busy as JJ seemed to insinuate. Ben and Luke were doing their own thing when everything went sour. Something happened that caused Ben to finally give in to Snoke after all those years... 20+ years. Nobody can tell me this boy was "bad all along", not when he fought that long.

@FrolickingFizzgig

THIS! Particularly the bolded.

by SoloSideCousin Thu 21 Apr 2016, 9:55 am

CienaRee wrote:OMG this is so sad.Poor Han.Poor Leia.Poor Ben.F**** you Snoke.Things could have been so different if that creeper hadn't prayed on young Ben's mind.
Han and Leia joking about being grandparents reminds me of EU where they did the same with Jason's daughter Allana.
I'm surethe grandad/grandchildren things is forshadwoing.It's mentioned twice and while Clauida may have no idea where the storyline is going LucasFilm could have easily asked her to change it or chnaged it themselves like they did with the names of the planets in Lost Stars.
This makes me even more frustarted spme people want Kylo to die unredeemed.Like do you seriously want Snoke to win and Han's dead to have been for nothing?Save Ben Solo.

@CienaRee

They changed planet names in Lost Stars[i][i]? Hmmmm .... And two mentions of grandchildren and one scene of Ben as a baby in [i]Bloodlines? I mean maybe they want to make it all as tragic as anything, but if not, I would think if Kylo/Ben were heading for the chopping block they (LF) might ease up on the grandchildren talk.

by CienaRee Thu 21 Apr 2016, 10:03 am

SoloSideCousin wrote:
CienaRee wrote:OMG this is so sad.Poor Han.Poor Leia.Poor Ben.F**** you Snoke.Things could have been so different if that creeper hadn't prayed on young Ben's mind.
Han and Leia joking about being grandparents reminds me of EU where they did the same with Jason's daughter Allana.
I'm surethe grandad/grandchildren things is forshadwoing.It's mentioned twice and while Clauida may have no idea where the storyline is going LucasFilm could have easily asked her to change it or chnaged it themselves like they did with the names of the planets in Lost Stars.
This makes me even more frustarted spme people want Kylo to die unredeemed.Like do you seriously want Snoke to win and Han's dead to have been for nothing?Save Ben Solo.
@CienaRee

They changed planet names in Lost Stars[i][i]? Hmmmm .... And two mentions of grandchildren and one scene of Ben as a baby in [i]Bloodlines? I mean maybe they want to make it all as tragic as anything, but if not, I would think if Kylo/Ben were heading for the chopping block they (LF) might ease up on the grandchildren talk.

@SoloSideCousin

Yes,she said in an interview that Jakku and D'Qar were not the worlds she had originally written but LucasFilm changed that without her knowing about their significance.
I think if they wanted people to think Kylo is the next big villian they should have got rid of all the grandchildren talk since that would evoke sympathy and posisbly wish for redemption towards Kylo.

by vaderito Thu 21 Apr 2016, 10:18 am

I think that she knows more than she lets on and there's a reason why LF didn't ask her to remove grandchildren talk. Those things are super pre-approved and controlled so if htye let grandkids talk in than that's a hint there will be some in the future. Which makes sense cause this is trillion,kazillion $$$$ franchise. They want those little Skywalker-Solos badly.

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