From the Ashes is the first installment in the Star Wars: Destinies Retold series by DarthVorath and is a rewrite of The New Republic.
Segments[]
- Prologue
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Epilogue
Appearances[]
| Characters | Creatures | Droid models | Events | Locations |
| Organizations and titles | Sentient species | Vehicles and vessels | Weapons and technology | Miscellanea |
Characters
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Creatures
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Droid models
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Events
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Locations
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Organizations and titles
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Sentient species
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Vehicles and vessels
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Miscellanea
Behind the scenes[]
From the Ashes was originally intended to end with the Battle of Jakku. However, while developing the story, the author realized that it would not fit narratively with Luke and Leia's plotlines, which drove most of the story. Thus, the Battle of Naboo, originally intended to be the "middle conflict" for the story, was changed to be the climax, with the story instead setting up a continuiation in an already-planned story focusing on Rogue Squadron, as the author decided that the Battle of Jakku would be better suited for the POV of Wedge Antilles, especially as the author wanted to include scenes with Ysanne Isard, continuing her role from the X-Wing comics.
Continuity[]
The author's main goal when it came to rewriting The New Republic was to make it fit better in the overall continuity of the post-ROTJ timeline as established in Legends, as the author's knowledge of the Expanded Universe had greatly expanded in the intervening decade since he had first written The New Republic.
From the outset, the author knew he wanted to have From the Ashes take place immediately after Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor, following Luke Skywalker's resignation from the New Republic military. However, what complicated matters was figuring out where exactly Shadows of Mindor takes place relative to other post-ROTJ EU media. While the opening crawl in the novel itself places it six months after Endor, most other sources suggest it takes place a full year after Return of the Jedi, putting it in 5 ABY. Furthermore, The New Essential Chronology suggests that Shadows of Mindor occurs after the Jedi Prince novel series and the Jedi Knight video game; meanwhile, The Essential Reader's Companion places it before either of them.
For the purposes of From the Ashes, the author decided to make a compromise (a decision supported by Nathan Butler's Expanded Universe timeline) and have it so that Shadows of Mindor takes place between Jedi Prince and Jedi Knight. The reasoning for this is that the events of Jedi Prince as they occurred in the books have been largely dramatized (accounting for their child-oriented writing), which fits in nicely with Cronal propagandizing Luke Skywalker's image for his purposes. Additionally, Jerec plays a large role in later Destiny Universe stories and having him die before the events of From the Ashes would have required the author to either explain away his resurrection or replace his character entirely. By having it so that the events of Jedi Knight have not yet happened, the author now had the freedom to address those events as part of the divergence between the Destiny Universe and the canonical Legends timeline.
Changes from The New Republic[]
- A prologue was added to the story, introducing Admiral Rae Sloane to the story as well as the Messenger droids, and showing reactions to the Emperor's demise from assorted Imperial characters.
- Chapter 1: Opening location changed from Korriban to Ord Radama. Name of Admiral Argen's Star Destroyer changed from Vengeance to Recrimination. Grand Admiral Thrawn's presence removed and replaced with a Messenger droid. Added scene of Luke Skywalker turning in his resignation, establishing the timeframe as being after Shadows of Mindor. Scene introducing Toah Jarsan moved to next chapter.
- Chapter 2: Made from the rest of the original chapter 1. Rewritten to introduce Toah Jarsan from his perspective and establish his character properly. Toah now accompanies Luke to the ruins of the Jedi Enclave rather than him and R2-D2 going alone. Scene with Darth Nemesis has him remain on Dantooine rather than depart on a separate mission. Other occupant is changed from Darth Vorath to Zeta Magnus.
- Chapter 3: Replaced meeting with Mon Mothma and Provisional Council with two new scenes showing the aftermath of Leia and Panaka's meeting from the Essential Guide to Warfare Author's Cut. The Battle of Mygeeto from The New Republic has also been replaced with a battle for Naboo. Also expanded on scene where Nihan and Argen meet with Jerec.
- Chapter 4: Luke's capture by the Snatchers is condensed from multiple chapters and slightly altered, removing him coming across an Imperial database with information that never comes back up. The Snatchers no longer fly the Halo but instead fly multiple ships, including Cad Bane's Justifier. Toah plays a more active role in his rescue.
- Chapter 7: The character of Zavar Rarnok—no longer named Darth Ravage due to the character from The Old Republic—is rewritten/reimagined to make him less of an expy of Savage Opress as he was originally.
- The latter half of The New Republic, occuring after a time jump to 6 ABY, is not included in the rewrite, instead being saved for a later installment of Destinies Retold.