## Chapter 2

1 Having Ben show up in a dream was to be an echo of Luke’s vision of Ben (possibly his first visual contact) in his near-unconscious state in the swirling snow of the Hoth night.

On Hoth, I’ve assumed the timing and circumstances of the vision were mostly factors of Luke’s inexperience and lack of strength in the Force, requiring that borderline state of mind and body for Ben to make his appearance. Here, conversely, it’s Ben’s weakness or distance that dictates the means of contact.

—TZ

2 I used a fair number of movie quotes in these books, not just to remind readers of those scenes (like any of us Star Wars fans really needed reminders), but also because important or traumatic events in a person’s life tend to remain vivid for years to come. Luke’s last conversation with Yoda would be one of those events, and something he would never forget.

—TZ

3 One of the parameters I wanted to set for the trilogy was that Luke would be entirely on his own as a Jedi, with no one he could call on for help or advice.

And though I didn’t know it at the time, the line about “the first of the new Jedi” nicely sets up Kevin J. Anderson’s Jedi Academy Trilogy, as well as many other future books.

—TZ

4 In the frenetic, life-and-death challenges of the movies, it’s easy to forget that Luke’s really had a pretty hard life. It’s the kind of thing that comes back most depressingly in the darkness and silence at three in the morning.

—TZ

5 One of the things I wanted to set up early in the book was that Force guidance didn’t always come as flashes of knowledge or the ability to block blaster shots. It can also come in more subtle ways, under circumstances where Luke himself might not understand the reason or even recognize that the nudge was coming from the Force. By the end of the Thrawn trilogy, it will become clear that Luke’s uneasiness about setting up shop here had good, solid reason behind it.

—TZ

6 At the time I knew that Coruscant was a planet-wide city, but I assumed that there would still be a few areas of wilderness (maybe called parks by the inhabitants) that would have no buildings on them. Mountains, for one thing, would probably not be cost-effective to knock down.

Besides, the rich and powerful always want some nature-type areas left open where they can build their private country retreats.

—TZ

7 Work-related problems are another of those cheery thought categories that usually hit about 3 A.M.

—TZ

8 This was one of those odd thoughts that came out of the blue and struck me as both clever and logical. Hot chocolate wouldn’t be something desert people would naturally gravitate toward. (There are cold desserts, of course, but with two suns I always assumed Tatooine is mostly pretty warm. Now, of course, the Star Wars Essential Atlas and other official material backs up that assumption.)

I also caught way more grief for this than I ever expected. Quite a few people took me to task for putting an Earth-based drink into the Star Wars universe.

Of course, those same people apparently weren’t bothered by the Millennium Falcon, or lightsabers. It was, though, a reminder that you never know what word or image might jolt someone out of their suspension of disbelief.

Anyway, why would anyone want to live in that Galaxy Far, Far Away if they don’t have chocolate? Inconceivable…

—TZ

9 C-3PO always seems about three steps behind everyone else, on pretty much everything. One of his many charms, and a lot of fun to write.

—TZ

10 When this book was being written, no one involved had a glimmer that one day one of Leia’s unborn children would someday turn to the dark side. Perhaps her time in the Imperial Palace was a contributor to that event…

—BM

11 As we’ll see in Dark Force Rising, the place where the Emperor died is heavy with residual effects of his presence there.

—TZ

12 Did Obi-Wan and Ana-kin have any of this same sense of Luke and Leia when Padmé was carrying them? An intriguing question, and one I’m not sure we ever had an answer for.

—TZ

13 One of the best parts about writing Heir was the opportunity to create new characters and fit them into the Star Wars universe. Winter was the first person I introduced into the “good guy” side of the equation.

Aside from her general usefulness as a character, she also gave me the opportunity to express my opinion that Leia always seemed too tomboyish to fit comfortably into the role of a soft, pampered member of the aristocracy.

Which, given that we now know her mother was the feisty, down-in-the-dirt Padmé, isn’t all that surprising.

—TZ

14 Siblings, even twins, usually have vastly different personalities. But given the way Luke and Leia had approached their Rebellion duties, I figured that they would both have similar tendencies to occasionally feel overwhelmed by the tasks still facing them. Especially since both would likely feel that they were the only ones who could handle their particular jobs.

—TZ

15 As no official map of the Star Wars galaxy existed at this time (and wouldn’t for many years to come), any positional relationship between Coruscant and Tatooine was pure guesswork.

—TZ

16 The lesson of Greedo’s carelessness is apparently still remembered in these parts.

—TZ

17 This was one of those little things that probably never even occurred to some of the Alliance leaders in the heat of the Rebellion: that all the ships they were converting to fighters or using—and often losing-as transports would translate to severely lowered carrying capacity once they tried to get the New Republic up and running.

There would be myriad such details, and I certainly couldn’t go into all of them in the book. But I wanted to give a flavor of why Leia is feeling such weight on her shoulders.

—TZ

18 A universal rule of human behavior: if you want someone to do something for you, make it profitable for them.

—TZ

19 Though this clearly is a job that only Han can do, and though he may grouse about it, there’s none of Luke’s or Leia’s angst over the burden. That’s just not the kind of guy Han is.

—TZ