Splinter of the Mind's Eye: Difference between revisions

 

 

On their way to a conference, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia R2-D2 and C-3PO crash-land on a swamp planet named Mimban, which is crawling with Imperial stormtroopers, unpleasant natives and wildlife out to have them for dinner. In their bid to get off the planet they enlist the aid of an old, marginally Force-sensitive woman named Halla. Her aid has a price, though: She wants them to assist her in acquiring the fabled [[Amplifier Artifact|Kaiburr Crystal]]. They soon discover that they are in a race against Darth Vader who is out to claim the crystal for his own purposes. After putting Luke, Leia and the droids through a series of misadventures, the book climaxes with Luke and Leia dueling with Darth Vader for possession for the crystal.

 

Note that Lucas eventually revisited the idea of [[Indiana Jones|a daring adventurer]] and the woman he's falling in love with battling a totalitarian regime for a powerful mystic artifact. That one did have [[Harrison Ford]] in it.

 

* [[Action Girl]]: Leia

* [[Amplifier Artifact]]: The Kaiburr Crystal.

* [[Alien Arts Are Appreciated]]: Luke dislikes the Coway's "wailing rhythmic music", but enjoys their dancing, which shows off their leaping abilities. Leia, being more cosmopolitan, enjoys the performance without reservations.

** Pretty much any time they come in contact with a new set of social norms, Leia is the one who can interpret them and subtly guide Luke in not embarrassing himself. [[Justified]], since a diplomat like Leia would have extensive training in exactly this sort of thing, and a [[Everything's Better with Princesses|princess]] would have to know basic relativism.

* [[As You Know]]: Used word for word when Luke in the guise of a miner asks a stormtrooper about the architecture on that world. Subverted, though - the stormtrooper believes Luke knows, but like the readers, he doesn't. That's why he asked.

* [[Authority Equals Asskicking]]: Leia. From her harsh character to her {{spoiler|attempt to kill Vader}}, she spends ninety percent of the time very subtly getting Luke to be a hero... by playing the [[Anti-Hero]]. The ''psychotic'' [[Anti-Hero]]. This is at least partly because she's a [[Shell-Shocked Veteran]] from what happened on the Death Star...when, after Luke says or does something to reassure her, she starts explaining herself, only to stop because she's ''too afraid of her own memories to talk about them''.

* [[Badass]]: Leia, again. She can't even verbalize her multiple traumas, yet faces the [[Complete Monster]] who she associates with every single one...and just plain refuses to stop fighting.

** Halla, since by Force-sensitive standards, she's horrifyingly pathetic, yet still acts as if she were a Jedi Master and refuses to be fazed by any danger right up until the last scene.

* [[Energy Ball]]: Apparently Vader can make these. And Luke can [[Playing Tennis With the Boss|send them back]]. It's a Force power called "Kinetite" and apparently hits harder the more you try to resist it. Luke sent it back by drawing on the Force, thus ''not'' resisting. The book leaves it vague whether it's a Force power or something built into Vader's armor, but other parts of the Expanded Universe clarify it.

* [[Eye Scream]]: Grammel shoves a recording device none too gently into a miner's eye socket. Subject to a [[Gory Discretion Shot]] in the comic.

* [[Fan Service]]: The "miner's outfits" that Luke and Leia wear for much of the comics. They are [http://images.plurk.com/bcc9afd0b93629d7204ba1c42837eba9.jpg very tight on Luke].

* [[Fat Bastard]]: Grammel.

** This is probably due to Leia's [[Shell-Shocked Veteran|many psychological issues]]. Victims of PTSD often find themselves caught between the natural urge to cry themselves out on someone's shoulder, since humans are very physical and social animals, and their own psychological reactions. Luke, being too young to realize what she's doing, just sees a hot chick; Leia is struggling to find comfort while being unable to even verbalize her memories. Add in the Force, which according to at least Fanon is trying to let Luke and Leia know they're twins, and it's not surprising she's 'confused'.

* [[Intimate Healing]]: Sort of. Using hands, not mouth. Armed with the Kaiburr Crystal, Luke touches his fingers to all of Leia's wounds to make them close, then her forehead and heart to bring her back to consciousness.

* [[Jade-Colored Glasses]]: Luke is upset at the callous treatment miners give to natives who debase themselves for alcohol. Leia shrugs.

* [[Kick the Dog]]: Luke. Leia may have a good excuse, but she's an unrepentant [[Jerkass]] in this novel, and doesn't get much better {{spoiler|even when she dies}}.

* [[Purple Prose]]: From time to time.

* [[Scary Black Man]]: Jake, in the comic.

* [[Self-Made Orphan]]: Leia nearly does this by trying to {{spoiler|shoot Vader in the face, and later by fighting him with Luke's lightsaber.}}

* [[Take My Hand]]: Leia once falls into a pit, and in dragging her out Luke slips, forcing her to instantly return the favor.

* [[Understatement]]: In a bad situation, Luke once tells Leia that he doesn't like this. Leia responds,

Luke looked hurt. }}

* [[Technology Marches On]]: The above-mentioned tapes.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Star Wars Expanded Universe]]