Seven Forgotten Plotlines From ‘Star Wars’ Canon
Image Source: Wookieepedia
With ten years of stories in the new canon of Star Wars, there are a lot of characters, events, locations, and plots that weave between them. Many have their questions answered or have been referenced in more recent months and years after extreme inactivity, but some early plotlines still lack answers, fates, and closing chapters. No better example of this exists than the recent mainline Marvel comic from 2020 which, with their final few issues in 2024, are addressing some plot points from the Star Wars: Princess Leia miniseries released in 2015. The following is a list of seven notable forgotten plotlines in Star Wars media, though with a profound hope that these elements will soon be revisited!
7. SCAR Squadron
Image Source: Wookieepedia
SCAR Squadron, formally called Task Force 99, were notable recurring enemies for the big three of Han, Luke, and Leia during the 2015 Marvel Star Wars comic run. Made up of several members and modeled after the Bad Batch (then still part of unfinished arcs of The Clone Wars), the group was led by Sergeant Kreel, a Stormtrooper wielding a lightsaber with considerable skill. Readers last saw SCAR Squadron on a moon called Hubin, where they learned of Rebel plans to attack the world of Shu-Toran and successfully warned the Empire. However, they were stated to be trapped on the moon and have not appeared since. While their repeated failures to capture the heroes of the Alliance earned the ire of Vader before this final appearance, there is still a chance that the unit survived in part or as a whole. Exploring this group further is sorely needed, as we know nothing about the unit’s other members, with Kreel getting most of the focus in the prior comics. Their backstories, added to the impacts of their repeated brushes with the Alliance’s best, could make for an excellent exploration in the post-Empire world, or in a storyline set closer to the Battles of Endor or Jakku.
RELATED:
6. The Queen of Ktath’atn
Image Source: Wookieepedia
The Screaming Citadel crossover event in the Marvel comics was a point of connection between the original Doctor Aphra series that began in 2017 and the first mainline Marvel run. In it, the Screaming Citadel and its vampiric residents (created through infection of a host by a parasite) led by the Queen were first introduced into Star Wars canon, but that is where they have remained. At the end of the crossover, in the wake of the Citadel’s destruction and the death of the many vampiric overlords who ruled over the surrounding suffering city, two scavengers pick through the ruins. One of them is taken over by a surviving parasite, while their companion remains unaware. The comic issue ends on a cliffhanger, this lone figure still alive, with the suggestion that they would pursue Luke Skywalker and an implication of a departure from the planet. Yet in all of the years since that event, not a whisper of this character or their faction has reappeared. While Screaming Citadel is not the most popular with some fans, the 20+ year gap between the Battle of Endor and the fall of Luke’s Jedi Academy leaves us with a lot of possible adventures, and the Queen’s unique aesthetics and goals would certainly fit a classic horror story. One can hope this plot thread is somehow tied up, either in that gap of time or in another story set in Star Wars’ future.
5. The Mentor (Lux Bonteri)
Image Source: StarWars.com
Lux Bonteri is a character many fans will know from The Clone Wars, where he went from pampered Senatorial son to vengeance-filled Death Watch collaborator to mellowed revolutionary-turned-Senator for Onderon. However, his surprise appearance in the novel Star Wars: Battlefront II: Inferno Squadron jumped his character into the Galactic Civil War and revealed he was a key architect of a terror cell called The Dreamers, partly made up of remnants from Saw Gerrera’s Partisans. He grew close to Iden Versio during her deep cover operation with the Dreamers. But a dramatic confrontation at the end of the novel saw Iden train a blaster on him as he revealed both his identity and where he had acquired the information the Dreamers had been using in their attacks against the Empire. The final pages of the novel reveal Iden returned from this confrontation with her weapon set on stun, a note made by squadmate Del Meeko, and a secret the two shared and kept from their third teammate, Gideon Hask. Lux has not appeared since this novel, but that means little in this list. He may still be out there, ready to reappear again as one of the most grizzled men in galactic history post-Endor, a man who knew the Jedi, was a Senator, a freedom fighter, a terrorist, and much more.
4. The Finale of Lost Stars
Image Source: Wookieepedia
The finale to the novel Lost Stars is a dramatic one. On one side, you have Thane Kyrell confronting his love, Ciena Ree, in her prison cell about her future. The two have been through a lot, best friends and prospective romantic partners growing up and irrevocably split after the destruction of the first Death Star. Ciena remained with the Empire and Thane joined the Rebellion. After Jakku, however, the two have an uncertain future. On the other end, you have the remnants of the Empire regrouping. Nash Windrider, an Alderaanian who became a die-hard Imperial zealot, was a close friend to Ciena, even if his extreme loyalty disturbed her. He travels with Thane’s brother and a former classmate, Ved Foslo, with this brilliant man beginning work on upgrading TIE fighters aboard Nash’s ship. Nash believes Ciena died in Jakku, and is even more hardened in a desire to seek revenge against the New Republic. This novel was released in 2015 and we have never gotten a follow-up. While some of the book’s figures have been mentioned in other stories, they are side characters or cameos, with their own narratives not continuing. The open-ended finale demands resolution after all of these years, and the story told could be a perfect examination of post-Jakku events regarding the Amnesty Program and the formation of the First Order.
3. Eneb Ray, Corrupted Ex-Rebel Agent
Image Source: Wookieepedia
Eneb Ray is not a character many Star Wars fans, even comic-reading ones, are likely to remember. An elite Rebel spy in deep cover on Coruscant, Eneb appeared in Star Wars Annual #1 where he attempted to assassinate Emperor Palpatine in a spur-of-the-moment decision. However, Eneb was hit by Sith lightning and watched as dozens died, including his allies, in the self-destruction of an Imperial prison planned by Palpatine from the start. Fleeing from his failure, Eneb was gradually warped both mentally and physically by his experience, his face a mess of burned flesh and scarring and his heart hardening. When he appeared in the mainline Marvel Star Wars comics, he sought to purge a Rebel prison of its criminal occupants and was opposed by Leia, Sana Starros, and Doctor Aphra. The comic reveals that after his brush with Palpatine, he became determined to enact lethal justice on the Empire, and during this attack, tries to force Leia to become more ruthless. He failed, but in his final moments as he was led away, the comic panels revealed he had a false tooth, with a small lockpick he was already accessing. That was years ago, and Eneb has never appeared since. His brush with the Sith, who he was able to correctly identify in his mainline comic appearance, makes him a knowledgeable and fierce (yet tragic) foe. Much could be written to explore his views and actions post-Endor or post-Jakku, should he have survived that long.
2. Clan Markona
Image Source: Wookieepedia
Clan Markona’s first and only appearance was in one of the stranger arcs of the Marvel mainline comic series. Forced to hide among the Clan after being ejected from Sana Starros’ ship to escape an Imperial patrol, Han, Luke, and Leia find a population who were once mercenaries, likely for the Empire. After one last big job, they were permitted to settle on the moon of Hubin and raise their families there. While things were quiet for a time, the peace was shattered with the arrival of SCAR Squadron. Having captured and tortured Sana Starros, the Squadron set about hunting the Rebel heroes, but the Markona Clan helped them escape. Their leader, a Thane, gave his life in the process. The Clan also fled, siding with the Rebel Alliance, and many returned to their mercenary ways, joining a Rebel force under Hera Syndulla. They have never been seen again, and fans are still left with many questions and few answers. What was that last big job the Clan performed? Did they end up serving the Rebellion well, and did they eventually return to their retirement after the Galactic Civil War? And the biggest of all: who was the Thane’s ex-Jedi mother? This story, told to Luke by the Thane’s daughter, is brief but presents some fascinating possibilities. Was she a member of the Lost Twenty? Or was she a Padawan or Knight who left the Order? The story of her connection to the “roguish stranger” who became Thane’s father is certainly an interesting story to tell, given it would take place during the waning days of Republic power, likely a decade or two before The Phantom Menace.
1. The Client
Image Source: StarWars.com
Throughout this list, we have been avoiding any elements from ongoing series or which might appear in upcoming media based on their subject matter. However, we could not entirely let television escape, because there is one key figure in The Mandalorian we know nothing concrete about: The Client. Played by Warner Herzog, and prominently bearing a large Imperial medallion around his neck, The Client appeared to be an operative for Moff Gideon, or at least a temporary ally. It is thanks to him that Din Djarin met Grogu, delivering the bounty The Client requested, only for Djarin to change his mind and break into The Client’s Imperial compound to save the young alien. Dr. Pershing also had an alliance with The Client, be it as a man on loan from Gideon, or serving The Client first and being roped into Gideon’s operations later. The Client and the remains of his men were later eliminated by Gideon upon his arrival on Nevarro. We have so many questions about this character, yet The Mandalorian universe has only continued to move away from this figure and his mysteries. No figure similar to The Client has appeared in any extended media, which is not a surprise, given how no new stories have been told in print media regarding this era of the timeline. However, the large Imperial medal on his chest has not appeared either, leaving us to ask if it is a real award, an object of office, or something created by The Client himself after the fall of the Empire. Sadly, our profusion of questions have no answers, and we can only hope The Client appears one day as a younger man, or in whatever media may tie in to The Mandalorian & Grogu.
READ NEXT:
Latest News
Featured
