Thread:Sebolto/@comment-104549-20190326194958/@comment-104549-20190405224107

Incidentally, I hope I didn't seem like I was blowing off your critiques, especially because I found them both thoughtful and helpful. I intended both the anachronistic order and the unresolved Ember of Vahl plot as part of the larger narrative focus of The Liberator, which is deconstructing the I Shall Return heroic trope. Mali is an honest-to-goodness hero, and he thinks that assembling his armada will be the big challenge, but in the end, he finds his heroism isn't enough by itself to make Milagro a happy, pro-Republic paradise. The Ember of Vahl and Free Milagro movements aren't resolved by the time he leaves Milagro because Mali couldn't resolve them, and that's hard for him; the Republic considers it a success because Milagro didn't get re-conquered by Gasald, but Mali's not content with that, and it's a hard pill for him to swallow. That's what I had in mind.

That said, some things did wind up on the cutting room floor. As an example of another impact of the Pastor's death that could've been, I had a notion about a Jedi identifying a Force-sensitive among the Milagroans and the parents coming around to the child's recruitment, but then changing their minds when there were reports that Jedi had murdered Jeh-Kro. I kinda liked the idea, but there wasn't an ideal place to put it, and when I passed 100,000 words I decided not to go on too many more tangents. But I see what you mean.

And yeah, I had Jeh-Kro's death offscreen to leave it to the reader exactly what happened. Nobody on Milagro is sure, even Mali.

Anyway, the next installment is up and mercifully much shorter.