New Star Wars Story Makes Unexpected Connection Between Rogue One And The Prequels

One of the reasons that the Star Wars prequels are generally not adored is because they swapped out much of the magic and wonder for intergalactic politics. However, it appears that the politics may have had a larger impact on the good Star Wars movies than we thought. When Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opens next month we'll get our earliest look at the Rebellion against the Empire, and according to a new book that recounts the events prior to Rogue One, the entire Rebellion can trace itself back to the Separatists who started the Clone Wars.

A direct link can be made between the Rebellion and the former Separatists, who, in the wake of the Republic victory, never received reparations promised by the Empire, and remained ostracized --- and in many cases occupied --- while the Empire spread its tentacles far and wide.Instead of fairness, the galaxy fell victim to fear of the Empire's ever-expanding military. The absence of the Jedi Order --- their fire gone out of the universe --- left many worlds without any recourses to counter injustices.

Star Wars: Catalyst --- A Rogue One Story, a new novel by James Luceno, begins just after the beginning of The Clone Wars and follows a few different characters, including Galen Erso, the character played by Mads Mikkelsen in the new film. According to an interview with The Verge, Luceno says the early days of the Rebellion, which Galen's daughter would become part of, came from the same corners of the galaxy where the Separatists were fighting the Republic. When the war ended the Separatists were promised certain things, when they did not receive them, the seeds of Rebellion had been planted.

Of course, if you remember all the political details of the Star Wars prequels, though, you'd be forgiven for losing consciousness at the mere mention, you'll remember that pretty much all of it was just one big plot by Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine to take over and create the Galactic Empire. He, along with his apprentice Count Dooku, are the ones who stir up the tensions in the Outer Rim territories and he supplies them with a droid army to fight the Clone Army of the Republic, which Palpatine was also responsible for. So, it would appear that Palpatine was actually responsible for creating his own Rebellion, which is, of course, ultimately successful and destroys him. Well done.

Of course, the Separatists don't actually know any of this. They think the Republic is taking advantage of them and not representing them well in the Senate. When the Clone Wars are over they think they've earned some respect but they ultimately discover that the Empire has even less interest in what they think.

So now it appears we have some more details about the where and when the Rebellion was born. Ultimately, this will lead to the that Rebellion making a major strike against the Empire when they go after te Death Star plans. We'll learn how that goes when Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theaters December 16.