- gratton went back to writing ro for the second time after first writing her in PoD
- gratton felt really posessive of ro due to being the one to originate details of ro's character by writing her pov in PoD
- gratton fixated on how ro's gonna go from the PoD character to the person who (for all intents and purposes) founded the nihil
- gratton had only read an early version of PoV before starting to write ACFHNC due to the sw publishing schedule being very fast
- gratton happy with ro's portrayal in PoV
- in PoV cavan gave ro triggers, reactions to the triggers, and a "feral quality," which gratton was excited to dig into
- gratton thinks ro's always needed a mythology (first was given to her by the mother, that was shattered by betrayal, she picked up the pieces and created a new one)
- gratton was excited to delve into evereni lore itself
- gratton wanted to use evereni lore as a way to shape marda and let her shape herself in a messed up unhealthy way that would be satisfying to gratton (and gratton hoped the readers too)
- there was a lot to do and gratton was excited to do it
- gratton mentions that there is an assumption for SW books to be in third person but YA (especially fantasy) is/has been predominantly first person
- gratton initially tried writing ACFHNC in third person out of habit because that's how SW is written
- gratton decided that the style they'd written the story in wasn't working because it was too distant and wasn't raw enough for evereni (this is around 21:00, maybe use this for a quote for development?)
- gratton really wanted "gut punchers" in the story because he thinks those are the best evereni moments
- gratton doesn't remember what the reason she started writing in second person was
- gratton thinks the decision came in the middle of a draft that marda needs to be telling the story (around 21:45, probably a better quote ngl)
- gratton considered having a scene where marda is recording the story, where she decides to record it and talk about her legacy and what it means to her
- gratton "galaxy-brained" while writing it and deleted the whole thing again
- gratton then started writing it the way it's written now
- gratton then proceeded to write the full thing in "like two days" (after several weeks of false starts)
- one of gratton's favorite things about phase II is being able to play with how slippery history can be and what actually happened vs what people think happened later
- gratton says marda is not a reliable narrator and not reliable regarding her own history (and also her future in a lot of ways)
- gratton liked being able to maybe forecast some things that maybe could influence marchion since his motive is hard to pin down for readers (and also writers) (but also maybe not since he's not a type of person who'd let others influence him)
- gratton wanted to plant some things that they could then reuse in phase III in case he got to write marchion
- acfhnc includes a throwaway line gratton didnt think she'd get to keep because it's foreshadowing some specific thing
- marda is a literal and spiritual ancestor of the eye of the nihil
- it was important to show the few big moments of her life in PoD, PoV and acfhnc and how she can so vividly recreate who she is again and again (which we also see nihil and marchion doing (even if marchion isn't doing it on purpose))
- gratton's second favorite part was getting to elaborate on the few details soule provided in eye of the storm
- bts masterdocs had some lore hints
- gratton got to pretty much do whatever and play around with evereni lore which she enjoyed as a worldbuilder
- the naming convention thing that I'd already added to espri and stuff
- gratton considers ro's story a tragedy because even if she achieves peace after ACFHNC we know where what she did will lead (cruelty and destruction)
- gratton also thinks ro takes the wrong lessons from her experiences
- ro hears words from isren and has experiences with other evereni and beings in general and because of her pain interprets them painfully instead of in a way that would make the galaxy more beautiful which is something she used to value
- compared ro's story to shakespearian tragedy where characters are in a tragic trajectory because of their fatal flaw
- gratton thinks ro is great and is glad she got to play a part in creating ro
- gratton is also sad because of ro's story and wishes he could tell a story where ro and kevmo zink make it to jedha together and everything turns out differently
- that would make their heart happier
- ultimately wouldn't serve the kind of storytelling they're doing
- gratton is also sad because of ro's story and wishes he could tell a story where ro and kevmo zink make it to jedha together and everything turns out differently
- gratton knew she needed an evereni who rejects ro and one who embraces her or at least "agrees to hang out for a while"
- also on a practical level gratton knew that marda needs to have some babies
- gratton initially planned one who rejects her and one who stays with her
- while building the story realized it'd be much more dynamic for there to be two of them who would have a dynamic similar to how ro and yana are both very evereni but in different ways
- gratton also wanted ro to shoot somebody "in the face or chest or whatever" because she usually uses claws
- coming up with vika in particular was a complicated process
- only because of figuring out how to move the pieces around so that it felt like a climatic moment in a very short story
- gratton wanted it to be violent
- gratton got a note on the first submitted draft if it'd be possible to make it worse and was glad that they asked them to do it because she'd love to do that
- gratton wanted it to be violent
- only because of figuring out how to move the pieces around so that it felt like a climatic moment in a very short story
"A Closed Fist Has No Claws" is a short story written by Tessa Gratton as part of the anthology The High Republic: Tales of Light and Life. The story was published on September 5, 2023. The story is written in first person, from the perspective of Marda Ro, after the events of Phase II of Star Wars: The High Republic. In the story, she speaks directly to an undefined entity she considers to be her legacy.[5]
Plot summary
Marda Ro tells a story to her legacy. She reflects on where the journey began, in a public house in an old settlement on the planet Dantooine. She sits at a table wearing a white flight suit, white scarf and white cowl hoping to attract the attention of passersby. She waits with a beer and tea, and is bothered by a few patrons before spotting a human on the other side of the establishment. She asks him and his Rodian friend about the whereabouts of any other Evereni, to which the human tells her he saw a pair of them about a year earlier on a station off Pantora.[5]
In an alley outside the public house, Ro is approached by a Twi'lek woman aware of the stories of the Evereni. She tells Marda that she would like to touch her, something which the Evereni girl had not felt in a long time. Marda recruits the woman, whose name is Fori Nagor, to her mission to track down other Evereni. Ro finalizes the deal by kissing Nagor, officially making her the first person brought to Ro's ship, the Gaze Electric, that was unaffiliated with the Path of the Open Hand.[5]
Ro reflects on the Gaze and the remnants left behind by Elecia Zeveron, leader of the Path of the Open Hand, after her defeat at the hands of the Republic. She considers the riches, but Ro realizes there is no true bond among her crew and that there is no gift that is truly given freely. Ro makes her home the throne hall of the ship, laying claim to its hidden weapons caches and taking the throne as her bed. Among her new crew are the human girl Alirya, the Kessurian couple Esstrop and Kortanio, the Ozrelanso cook Rox, and the human pilot Milan Stor. Also living on the ship is the Great Leveler, who Ro becomes somewhat obsessed with.[5]
In another flashback, Marda Ro describes a time she attacked a human Jedi in a marketplace before bringing his heavily injured body to the Gaze. She brings the concerned Alirya, Stor, and Rox along to watch the Leveler prey upon the Jedi, calcifying his body. Later, as she gazes at a holo-mirror of herself, Ro is interrupted by Alirya, who desperately wants to help Marda. Ro acquiesces, allowing Alirya to sit by her throne, but later she tears down the blue banners in the throne room and paints the wall with a massive red sun.[5]
At some point, Marda Ro finds herself in a bar on Ryloth after following a rumor of Evereni hunting lyleks in equatorial caves. Eventually, she encounters an Evereni man who only introduces himself as Isren, the Evereni word for "old uncle." He explains some Evereni culture, and introduces to her the Evereni word riferi, meaning legacy. The man refuses her offer to join him on her hunt for more Evereni.[5]
Mardo subsequently explains the lifestyle aboard the Gaze. They hunt and steal anything they like, hoarding a selling the excess they acquire. Ro, Alirya, and Rox stay behind while the others pillage, what Ro sees as the natural progression of gifts freely given. Once, however, the raiders returned with a group of refugees. Despite her fury at her raiders for bringing the people aboard, Ro manipulates the refugees into admitting that one among them is Force-sensitive. She offers the other refugees to either join the crew or leave, but takes the young Force-sensitive man to the Great Leveler.[5]
At a point in the future, Ro and Alirya have tea together in the throne room. The crew has grown to 37, and Alirya wonders what their overall goal is. Ro explains that the goal is to hunt down more Evereni and take as many resources as possible to allow them to do anything they want. Alirya tries to explain her own goals, but Ro shuts her down so that she never can purposefully take that away from the human. Ro tells her, since the ideology of the group is so different from that of the Path of the Open Hand, that she is making them into a beginning.[5]
Over the planet Siquay, Ro finds the Evereni siblings Vika and Velya Faer, who tell Ro more stories of Evereni culture over a meal. Vika and Marda later spar with knives before they join Velya for a drink. Days later, following a feast, Vika tells Marda that Velya finds her beautiful. As they share the moment, Alirya sneaks up behind Vika and stabs her. The Evereni woman quickly slaughters Alirya with her claws. Ro responds by grabbing a hidden blaster from a panel in her throne and shooting Vika down. With the vacancy at her side, Ro offers the spot to Velya, telling him to be with her for the rest of his life. He accepts, and the two grasp each other's wrists, digging their claws into the flesh.[5]
After the celebrations, Marda Ro and Velya Faer discuss Evereni customs surrounding death and the importance of remembering names. They embrace once more before he notices her art on the walls, the red planet at the heart of a storm, created from smeared blood and paint, what she considers to be representative of her legacy.[5]
Continuity
At New York Comic Con, it was established that the story takes place after Phase II of Star Wars: The High Republic.[6]
Appearances
| Characters | Organisms | Droid models | Events | Locations |
| Organizations and titles | Sentient species | Vehicles and vessels | Weapons and technology | Miscellanea |
Characters
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Organisms
Events
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Locations
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Organizations and titles
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Sentient species
Vehicles and vessels
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Weapons and technology
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Miscellanea
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Sources
NYCC 2022: 10 Things We Learned From the Star Wars: The High Republic Panel on StarWars.com (backup link)
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2
NYCC 2022: 10 Things We Learned From the Star Wars: The High Republic Panel on StarWars.com (backup link)
- ↑ Shop the Galaxy's Finest Star Wars Exclusives at SDCC 2023 on StarWars.com (backup link)
- ↑
The High Republic YA Anthology on Amazon.com (backup link)
- ↑ A segment of "A Closed Fist Has No Claws" where a Jedi is killed by the Great Leveler takes place when Marda Ro is roughly eighteen years old. The High Republic: Path of Deceit establishes both that members of the Path of the Open Hand receive full membership at the age of fifteen and that Ro had recently become a full member, meaning that she is around fifteen years old. The events of Path of Deceit take place in 382 BBY per Star Wars: The High Republic Character Encyclopedia; therefore, this section must take place around 379 BBY. As the Jedi's death occurs midway through the story, it must have begun earlier and ended later, therefore it must have begun by 379 BBY and ended during 379 BBY or later.
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 A Closed Fist Has No Claws
- ↑ FriendsOfForce (@FriendsOfForce) on Twitter (post): "Zoraida: Phase 2
Tessa: post Phase 2
Claudia: 1 day after the end of Phase 1
Justina: post Phase 1 but not Phase 3
Lydia: post Phase 2
George: post Phase 2
Daniel: late-to-mid Phase 1
Cavan: "so very nearly Phase 3"
Charles: close to Phase 3
#NYCC #TheHighRepublic" (backup link)
