Star Wars: The Extra Halcyon Generation

[babranski]

The Extra Generation: The Monumental Screw-Up of Michael A. Stackpole

by Nicholas J. Branski

As an aspiring author, I spend a lot of time pouring over reserach material that relates to the topic I intend to write on. Recently I have wanted to write a re-interpritation of the three Star Wars Preqeul movies, Episode's I-III. On top of that I wanted to create an extensive background plot covering the events leading up to the new prequel trilogy. In short, I wanted to re-write most of what happened during the twenty years leading up to the emergence of the Galactic Empire.

From all of the Star Wars books I have read, by far my favorite character is Corran Horn. I was introduced to him in the X-Wing series as a brash young pilot about the same age as Luke Skywalker (according to Stackpole) who had a knack for the stick and an obvious affinity to the Force. I truely fell in love with him in Stackpole's novel "I, Jedi", the epic first-person novel that follows Corran Horn through his trials as a fighter pilot, a student at Luke Skywalkers Jedi Acadamy, and as a loving husband to the missing and presumed dead Mirax Terrick. I was thouroughly upset after the release of Episode II, and more recently Episode III, that the popularity of Corran was not exploited, or even touched. As apalling as George Lucas's new movies were, they were made even more so by his complete disregard of his fans and what they wanted to see. Beside the point, considering how bad the movies were, I would have likely decided to write a recreation of the movies even if they were to follow Neeja Halcyon throughout.

In my recreations, I had to create several new characters, and I had to rethink several old ones. I wanted to give the Halcyon Jedi, Keiran and Nejaa, a more prominent role in the events of the twenty years leading up to Revenge of the Sith. From the books I began to research the history of the Halcyon bloodline. I learned about Kieran Halcyon and his heroic efforts agains the Afarathu, as well as Nejaa Halcyon and his fatal duel with the Dark Jedi Nikkos Tyris. It was during my research on Nejaa Halcyon that I caught the first whiff of something wrong chronologically. Nejaa Halcyon, Corran Horns grandfather, died during the Clone Wars. Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalkers father, also died (replaced by Darth Vader) in the Clone Wars. Being the expert in math that I am not, I sensed (through the Force?) that there was something wrong, but could not figure it out quickly. When the light bulb did pop on, I searched the internet far and wide to see if my little discovery was old news, but found none.

The mistake by Stackpole is nothing more or less than a complete brain-fart on his part. I tried to put myself in his shoes by researching using only the material available in the early 1990's, but one only needs to watch the very first movie, Episode IV: A New Hope. In it, Obi-Wan Kenobi clearly says that he was a Jedi Knight and he faught in the Clone Wars, just like Luke's father. With this simple statement in mind, I can think of no reason why Stackpole created a character whose age was similar to Luke's, but at the same time created the characters FATHER to be an infant around the time of Luke's birth.

Such is the story of Valin Halcyon, or Hal Horn. When Nejaa Halcyon was killed, his wife and infant son Valin was left in the care of Nejaa's freind in CorSec, Rostek Horn. Immediatly following Nejaa's death, the Galactic Empire was born, and Valin Halcyon was still an infant leading up to the Jedi Purge (according to all the major sources: the X-Wing Series, "I, Jedi", and the Power of the Jedi Source Book for the Star Wars RPG). At this time Rostek Horn and Nejaa Halcyon's widow had fallen in love, and Rostek adopted baby Valin and renamed him Hal Horn to protect him from Imperial forces seeking to wipe out all potentional future Jedi. Only twenty seven years pass between this time and the events of "X-Wing: Rogue Squadron"; when we are introduced to Corran Horn. During an approximate thirty year time period Michael A. Stackpole had not one, but two generations of Halcyon/Horn born, raised, and married. At the start of the X-Wing series, Corran Horn, who is the same age as Luke Skywalker, was approximatly 27 years old. If one were to trace back the time of his birth, it would be around 1 year after the birth of his father. How Michael A. Stackpole missed this and created a pointless "extra generation", is beyond all comprehension.

[babranski]

Okay I have read a reveiw of Elusion Illusion, which is a short story that documents the last day's of Nejaa Halcyon and Valin. I have no idea if this story is official or otherwise, but if so, Valin Halcyon, or Hal Horn, was 10 years old at the time of Nejaa's Death, shortly before the Jedi Purge. This would still make Hal Horn far too young to be a father at this time, which is when Corran is born.