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dragonlady7via http://ift.tt/1ZEXEDO:
Aaaah that they are, nonnie, that they are.
Okay, first [is the New Republic surrounded], or my thoughts on TFA’s space geopolitics. With maps.
Bloodline indeed shows the Resistance is just starting, six years before TFA, but if the First Order is on the fringes, the fringes are also much, much bigger than Leia, or even Casterfo, make it seem in the book (the New Republic is very Core-centered). Plus it tells us very little of the First Order and the state it’s in at this point. Between the Battle of Jakku and Bloodline, they’ve probably been busy.
Now, Jakku should be in the influence zone of the New Republic - it’s not in the so-called bright center, sure, but it’s still the goddamn Inner Rim. But it’s not. That’s how fracking huge the fringe is in the eyes of the New Republic. Though Jakku isn’t exactly the fringes, but it’s very near. Not very far from the Unknown Regions - where the First Order is based. Rey’s Before the Awakening chapter tells us travelers do come to Jakku, and the one thing they’re sure to bring with them is gossip. News.
And some of those news would have to do with the conflict between the Resistance and the First Order - six years are quite enough for it to escalate. So Rey being aware of the First Order’s and the Resistance’s existence isn’t that surprising.
Before Bloodline, the First Order was doing its thing - rebuilding, probably some expansion going on in those unchecked fringes of the GFFA. I think they’ve been trying to surround the New Republic, with what looks like a pincer move.
Finn’s BtA chapter features some interesting First Order internal propaganda:
There were mandatory morale sessions twice a day, when everyone was required to stop what they were doing and direct their attention to the nearest holoprojector to watch a recorded speech from High Command, most often from General Hux himself. Those would be interspersed with news feeds showing the deplorable conditions throughout the Republic: the famines on Ibaar and Adarlon, the brutal suppression of the population of Balamak, the unchecked alien advances throughout the Outer Rim. There would always be at least one story to follow about a First Order victory, the liberation of a labor camp on Iktotch or a fleet battle in the Bormea sector.
So i dunno about awful, but the First Order is definitely doing… stuff. Stuff people would talk about.
[Poe’s chapter in BtA] shows the New Republic is actually aware of the First Order’s existence, but the official line is this:
“The Senate Intelligence Committee has reviewed the reports and has found them inconclusive, at best grossly overstated, Poe. This is a non-issue. It’s a big galaxy. The First Order is a remnant born of a war thirty years gone. Yes, they persist, yes, they continue, but by all accounts they do so barely. They are, at best, an ill-organized, poorly equipped, and badly funded group of loyalists who use propaganda and fear to inflate their strength and their importance.”
…now, tbh, i think Rey being aware the Resistance are the Good Guys TM and the First Order the Bad Guys TM has more to do with biased narrative than anything. Rey knows the First Order is Bad because they’re the official villain of the story, and that’s pretty much all the justification needed.
Aaaah that they are, nonnie, that they are.
Okay, first [is the New Republic surrounded], or my thoughts on TFA’s space geopolitics. With maps.
Bloodline indeed shows the Resistance is just starting, six years before TFA, but if the First Order is on the fringes, the fringes are also much, much bigger than Leia, or even Casterfo, make it seem in the book (the New Republic is very Core-centered). Plus it tells us very little of the First Order and the state it’s in at this point. Between the Battle of Jakku and Bloodline, they’ve probably been busy.
Now, Jakku should be in the influence zone of the New Republic - it’s not in the so-called bright center, sure, but it’s still the goddamn Inner Rim. But it’s not. That’s how fracking huge the fringe is in the eyes of the New Republic. Though Jakku isn’t exactly the fringes, but it’s very near. Not very far from the Unknown Regions - where the First Order is based. Rey’s Before the Awakening chapter tells us travelers do come to Jakku, and the one thing they’re sure to bring with them is gossip. News.
And some of those news would have to do with the conflict between the Resistance and the First Order - six years are quite enough for it to escalate. So Rey being aware of the First Order’s and the Resistance’s existence isn’t that surprising.
Before Bloodline, the First Order was doing its thing - rebuilding, probably some expansion going on in those unchecked fringes of the GFFA. I think they’ve been trying to surround the New Republic, with what looks like a pincer move.
Finn’s BtA chapter features some interesting First Order internal propaganda:
There were mandatory morale sessions twice a day, when everyone was required to stop what they were doing and direct their attention to the nearest holoprojector to watch a recorded speech from High Command, most often from General Hux himself. Those would be interspersed with news feeds showing the deplorable conditions throughout the Republic: the famines on Ibaar and Adarlon, the brutal suppression of the population of Balamak, the unchecked alien advances throughout the Outer Rim. There would always be at least one story to follow about a First Order victory, the liberation of a labor camp on Iktotch or a fleet battle in the Bormea sector.
So i dunno about awful, but the First Order is definitely doing… stuff. Stuff people would talk about.
[Poe’s chapter in BtA] shows the New Republic is actually aware of the First Order’s existence, but the official line is this:
“The Senate Intelligence Committee has reviewed the reports and has found them inconclusive, at best grossly overstated, Poe. This is a non-issue. It’s a big galaxy. The First Order is a remnant born of a war thirty years gone. Yes, they persist, yes, they continue, but by all accounts they do so barely. They are, at best, an ill-organized, poorly equipped, and badly funded group of loyalists who use propaganda and fear to inflate their strength and their importance.”
…now, tbh, i think Rey being aware the Resistance are the Good Guys TM and the First Order the Bad Guys TM has more to do with biased narrative than anything. Rey knows the First Order is Bad because they’re the official villain of the story, and that’s pretty much all the justification needed.
