Welcome back to the Thrawn Trilogy retrospective, in which I reread the trilogy and overload you with my feels, as the kids say. In the previous post, we met two of our antagonists. In today’s installment, the crap hits the fan–for the first time of many.

The Millennium Falcon arrives on Bimmisaari

The New Republic envoy–Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, and the droids–arrive on Bimmisaari. (How Timothy Zahn was able to keep track of how to spell all these crazy planet names is beyond me. Don’t fault me if I misspell them.) We learn that Leia never fully realized how to understand Shyriwook. I guess she’s not as adept at Wookiee as Ahsoka. They’re greeted by the Bimms, who ask Han to leave his blaster on the Falcon. They overlook Luke’s lightsaber, however, which turns out very good for him later on. After a half-hearted attempt to split up the group, Han and Leia go to explore the marketplace while Luke heads off to explore a nearby exhibit. Chewie stays on the Falcon, because he’s the only smart one of the group.

While in the marketplace, their tour guide disappears and we get our first “I have a bad feeling about this” of the book. Then the Noghri appear, brandishing an odd weapon–stokhli sticks. Our fearsome couple (and Threepio) is unarmed, and as Leia reaches out into the Force, she feels that the strange aliens have Luke, too.

The Noghri confront Luke

Chapter 7 switches to Luke’s perspective. He hears Leia’s call for help, and I like that their Force bond is more images and feelings rather than precise words. It makes sense because Leia hasn’t completed her Jedi training yet, and it keeps Luke and Mara’s bond special. Luke is surrounded by the aliens but he manages to get out his lightsaber. Yay, our first lightsaber brandishment of the book! Luke isn’t overpowered in this fight, which is a nice change of pace from the late post-RotJ Legends EU. He tries to escape the aliens, but is left with no choice but to kill them. It’s a choice he makes reluctantly, and only because he needs to go help Han and Leia. I really like this part; Zahn remembers that Luke is a farmboy.

We head back to Han and Leia, and Leia uses the Force to create a diversion with a jewelry vendor. Go Leia! During the confusion, Han manages to grab his comlink and call for Chewie.

Another POV shift, and Luke is trying to figure out how to get out of the building. He thinks that five stories is too high for even a Jedi to leap. Apparently he’s never seen Attack of the Clones or The Empire Strikes Back. He uses the stokhli stick as a sort of rope and slides down to the marketplace. Just in time for the Falcon to appear overhead.

Once on the ship, Leia insists they need to go back. The Bimms are expecting them. But Han has already made the jump to hyperspace. Leia is pissed and says he should have consulted her since it’s her mission. He retorts that it’s his ship, and there wasn’t enough time to discuss this in committee. Oh yay, another OT reference. There’s a lot of them in this series. I guess it gets a pass since it was the first EU novel written in many years. (Also, Han, you guys are married. It’s her ship, too!) Luke thinks that he needs to ask them about that joke sometime. But they have better things to worry about, like who was behind the attack. They think it’s the work of the Empire, of course, and Han suggests that Leia should have a lightsaber of her own. I agree with Han here, and raise him one: she should’ve had a lightsaber a long time ago! Like, immediately after Endor! Luke, however, is not so keen on training his sister. He thinks back to Obi-Wan Kenobi’s words:  “I took it upon myself to train him as a Jedi. I thought I could instruct him just as well as Yoda. I was wrong.” The words haunt him all the way back to Coruscant.

In Chapter 8, Thrawn is, unsurprisingly, upset about the mission failure. But he moves on quickly, much to C’baoth’s annoyance. He demands to know when he’s getting his Jedi. Thrawn says it’ll all happen soon enough, but now they need to concentrate on the attack on Sluis Van. They need cloaking shields and mole miners, whatever those are. C’baoth tells Thrawn to concentrate on finding Leia, while he’ll turn his attention to Luke. He believes that Luke will come if he calls for him. Pellaeon formulates a plan to start a rumor about an old Jedi Master recently come out of hiding. C’baoth seems pleased with this idea, for once.

Next we head to the New Republic, where the Council is displeased about the mission being aborted. Fey’lya is pissed and they discuss how to beef up security to plug up the leak in the Imperial Palace. (This is all important foreshadowing for later.) Mon Mothma tells Leia she needs to go back to Bimmisaari tomorrow, and Han is pissed. Leia was just about to ask for a leave of absence to concentrate on her Jedi training. While Mon understands the need to have more Jedi, she says politics are more important right now. The chapter ends with a nice line from Han: “You know, it was a lot easier back when we were just taking on the Empire. At least then we knew who our enemies were.”

So there you have it. The attack on Bimmisaari is a failure, bit it’s still early on and we shouldn’t count out the Empire yet. And Zahn sets the stage for one of Luke’s huge inner conflicts–his fear of failing as a teacher.

Stay tuned for our next installment of the Thrawn Trilogy retrospective, in which the Imperials attack another unspellable planet, Rogue Squadron makes its first appearance, and Luke returns to Dagobah and has a vision of his wife-to-be.