Later this year From A Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back is heading our way. The time to speculate about the 40 points of view from this anthology is now.
Here are 34 somewhat serious guesses mixed in with the six POVs we already know from this article on the official Star Wars site. (*OFFICIAL* precedes those POVs)
Hoth
#1 *OFFICIAL* Hank Green chronicles the life of a naturalist caring for tauntauns on the frozen world of Hoth.
#2 *OFFICIAL* Mark Oshiro recounts the wampa’s tragic tale of loss and survival.
#3 Hera Syndulla was on Hoth with Leia, Luke, and Han but left before the Imperial invasion. (If you don’t believe me, check out the comic Star Wars: Forces of Destiny–Hera.) I’d like to hear more of her story from this time period.
#4 Ever wonder what was going on with the guy who walks in between Han and Leia while they are bickering? Was he in such a hurry he couldn’t go around them?
#5 The woman who says “Stand by ion control. Fire.”, Toryn Farr, needs to have a great story in this book. Please!!
#6 I always felt a bit bad for this deck officer Han yelled at so it would be nice if he got a fun story.
# 7 Rogue Two!!!!
#8 We need to hear from some droids so it could be the medical droid (2-1B) who takes care of Luke after his wampa attack.
#9 Another droid we could hear from is the one trying to help Han fix the Falcon. Perhaps they are having a testy chat with L3.
#10 Admiral Ozzel. What a pompous ass. I hope we get a story from the guy who came out of hyperspace too early.
#11 Can you imagine being this guy minding his own business while Ozzel is murdered right behind him?
#12 If this book doesn’t have Veers in it I know at least one Twitter account that is going to be PISSED!
#13 – Hobbie AKA the guy who whines to Leia “Two fighters against a star destroyer?” (I mean, it’s a reasonable concern, but that line always irks me.)
#14 I say this is Evaan Verlaine. Because that’s the kind of article this is.
#15 Dak. Poor Dak.
#16 While I’m inserting characters into The Empire Strikes Back let’s talk about how this could be Cara Dune. I know she said she saw most of her action during the Battle of Endor but Palpatine was dead and then he wasn’t so let’s not get into the details too much shall we.
#17 Who is in this adorable Imperial AT-ST?
Space with the Imperials & in the asteroid field
#18 *OFFICIAL* Austin Walker explores the unlikely partnership of bounty hunters Dengar and IG-88 as they pursue Han Solo.
#19 Zuckuss & 4LOM story! Bounty hunters are cool even if you are sick of them so I am embracing the idea of hearing from many of them in this book. Also, these costumes look incredibly uncomfortable so I want the people who put them on to have something fun to add to their Star Wars story.
#20 I wonder if Boba Fett is too big of a character to hear from in this book (even though he’s actually kind of a small character) so I bet we’ll hear from someone close to him or maybe somebody else who wears Mandalorian armor? Or another bounty hunter we met in The Mandalorian? Someone stuck on the Slave I? Jabba the Hutt? OK, I’ll stop now.
#21 *OFFICIAL* Seth Dickinson interrogates the cost of serving a ruthless empire aboard the bridge of a doomed Imperial starship.
I say this story is about this guy below who always seemed too nice to be an Imperial.
#22 On repeat viewings of The Empire Strikes Beck do you ever wonder if there’s a Gollum-type creature who got stuck inside the space slug years ago and now talks to the mynocks while slowly going insane. ME TOO!
#23 – SPACE SLUG! Couldn’t resist this one. I want to feel for this slug as strongly as I do for the trash monster in A New Hope!
Dagobah
#24 The dragonsnake, who is a girl and wants to be featured on 365 Star Wars Women, was just really hungry. Which is why she tried to eat R2-D2. She didn’t mean to hurt anyone.
#25 I don’t think Yoda made all the things in his house or brought them with him. Who is selling this stuff on Dagobah? I’d like to know if they were also around while Luke was there snooping in the rain.
#26 *OFFICIAL* Tracy Deonn delves into the dark heart of the Dagobah cave where Luke confronts a terrifying vision.
Bespin
#27 I’m always happy for more Lobot content so we’ll start there.
#28 Any of these guys in the blue uniforms are good choices for a story.
#29 *OFFICIAL* Martha Wells reveals the world of the Ugnaught clans who dwell in the depths of Cloud City.
#30 The rude protocol droid who said, “Echuta” to C-3PO. I can actually see myself picking this one because this moment always cracks me up.
#31 It’s hard to spot either of the Wiorkettles in the film. But they were there! And this could be their shining moment.
#32 Who set this table? Was it Moteé, one of Padmé’s handmaidens from Revenge of the Sith who now lives a quiet life on Cloud City? Probably not. But, why not?
#33 We need to hear from someone who was in the carbon-freezing chamber. It could be the stormtrooper on the left that I think Chewie flings over the edge shortly after this moment or the jerk stormtrooper on the right who breaks apart Leia and Han’s kiss.
#34 Willrow Hood (you knew I was going to say that, I know)
#35 I like to think that someone was working in this area when all of a sudden Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker start fighting. I would have also stayed hidden if I was them. Maybe they heard that Vader was Luke’s father and told everyone but no one believed them!!
#36 I’d take a story about either of these two women in Cloud City. THERE AREN’T A LOT OF WOMEN IN THIS FILM!
Space with a disappointed Vader and the reunited Rebels
#37 Admiral Piett you are in trouble!!
Who is with the Rebels in this amazing shot that we didn’t know about before …
#38 Mon Mothma?
#39 Jarek Yeager?
#40 What is Gideon up to? Does he have the Darksaber with him? Is he secretly laughing about all the Admirals messing everything up?
My mind is starting to spiral with all the amazing POVs that could appear in this book (The Child! Ahsoka! Thrawn! Ezra! Purrgils! Palpatine! Bo-Katan!). For now, I will exercise patience and trust in the Force that this book lives up to the A New Hope anthology.
Fun column!
As you point out, lots a idea sources for fanlit, esp the vignette format that was so popular in print fanfic fanzines for very short explorations with a single-spotlight on character, anomalies that needed explaining, humor, irony.
#5, gent walking between Han and Leia: I always took that as a measure of how familiar the bickering was among the rebels sort of a “they’re so caught up with each other that they’ll never notice” moment.”
#10, Ozzel: There was a quasi-trope in print fanfic — those usually started with a really good fanfic, a vignette in this case — that had Ozzel as a double-agent for the Rebellion who brought the fleet in early on purpose.
#12, Veers: I always liked a fanfic that had Veers being the guy in charge of securing Bespin after all the TESB action. One had Han remembering him from his service days as a hard s.o.b, but a good soldier, and when Solo and Lando went back to liberate Bespin, Han made it possible for Veers to avoid an Alliance trial by leaving a weapon with Veers in his cell.
#25, Yoda and his Food52-equipped hut: Another source of a widely accepted print fanlit trope in which the presence of all the kitchenware was taken as an indication that Yoda was from Dagobah and that equipment was available.