Heir to the Empire I’ve been following along with the new Star Wars material by Disney as a life-long fan of the franchise. As a result, it has not gone unnoticed that they are dropping a lot of hints for fans of the Expanded Universe novels (now called Star Wars: …
BRIAN LAGUARDIA
Composer, Orchestrator, Arranger
Heir to the Empire
A companion album to the Star Wars: Legends book that first introduced Grand Admiral Thrawn, Heir to the Empire answers the question possibly nobody but me wanted the answer to: what would a soundtrack sound like if this had been adapted into a film? A wildly fun, ongoing side project that I am working on for free, this also has served to push my composition, orchestration and mockup skills significantly. Hopefully, fans of the book will appreciate the level of care I’ve put into it.
Starting with track 3, I began implementing commentary to the YouTube tracks, so that is the preferred method of consumption. However, I do have mp3s below that on this page, with a short description of what is happening in the story.
We begin this monolithic side project with the Star Wars main title crawl, painstakingly reconstructed. If we are truly reconstructing this more or less as it would have been presented, it’s a must. It was also a joy to bring to life with samples, and I really must say that they have come quite a long way.
This gives way to a pan down to reveal the Chimaera. Here, the horns carry a small taste of Grand Admiral Thrawn’s new theme in its most bellicose form, with not-so-subtle shades of the Imperial March. I do linger here for a bit, assuming that we’d be treated to several beauty shots of the vessel, complete with TIEs zooming about. The final quiet battery is meant to be the cut to the bridge interior, before any dialogue is spoken.
Rukh, Thrawn’s Noghri bodyguard and assassin, suddenly appears as Pellaeon approaches Thrawn’s quarters, having been so stealthily that he managed to get right up next to the officer without being detected. Pellaeon is upset, to which Rukh merely responds, “I’m just doing my job. You may enter.”
Then, with a small harp and celeste flourish, we cut to Thrawn’s Museum. Here I get meditative, with an ostinato carried by aux percussion and celeste (most notably Tibetan Prayer Bowls). Not only did I find this a perfect accompaniment to a series of artwork close-ups in this “softly-lit art museum,” but it also serves as a perfect introduction to his character. Thrawn calls for the Captain to come in, and when the solo violin enters with his theme, we get our first full-on glimpse of our villain, red eyes and all.
The violin here is the only live element in the soundtrack so far, played by Tracy LaGuardia! I have a link to her website here.
Then the strings take over with our first taste of the B section of Thrawn’s theme. I love a good theme, particularly one crafted in the style of John Williams. This one took me quite a while to nail down, but I’m very pleased with it. It manages to be elegant while carrying a certain air of menace and evil at the same time. We truly feel like we’re watching a villain, albeit a complex one. He insists on having Pellaeon share in his experience in spite of potential approaching danger. Art is truly a passion of his, as readers can attest to given his final scene.
The final cue for the first chapter. A New Republic Task Force threatens the Chimaera, where I get to show off the first glimpse of the Fanfare for the New Republic. While his officers panic, Thrawn calmly orders his three nearest sentry ships to attack. Based off the tactical response, he is able to glean who is commanding the incoming fleet and, rather than fleeing, charges ahead intending to attack. Pellaeon is confused by his order, which is a closure maneuver known as a Marg Sabl, because he doesn’t think they’ll fall for anything that simple. But Thrawn assures him that they will.
And they do. The battle is short and futile for the New Republic fleet, which ends up utterly decimated. The fanfare becomes a dirge as the good guys fight a hopeless battle to the bitter end.
Ben Kenobi reaches out to Luke in a dream to say goodbye as he passes totally beyond his ability to communicate. Luke wakes up in the Imperial Palace, with an immense sadness at having been orphaned for the third time. We’re introduced again to C3PO and Leia, the latter of which tries to comfort him from afar via the Force. She sensed his emotional state, even in the middle of the night.
Han sits down with Dravis to discuss getting sumgglers to help the New Republic with straight shipping. He does this in the Mos Eisely Cantina, a familiar backdrop from the OT. However, the book says the band is different, and doesn’t offer any other details. So I went wild with this one, especially with the worldbuilding and wrote a fun source cue that is similar but different to what we’re expecting.
Rather than Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes, we have the Junkyard Eight out of Anchorhead. They combine the “jizz” style (yes, that is a cannon term, at least it was at the time of the book’s writing) with the street band sounds of Tatooine (featured in Episode I) and of course the sounds of the junkyard, where they carry out their day jobs.
Thrawn travels to Wayland, home of one of the Emperor’s long-lost storehouses. There, he finds hostile locals who attack them. After he retaliates with a porportionate response, a strange old man who clames to rule there emerges. Thrawn asks to see the Guardian of the Mountain, to which the old man responds, “I will take you to him.”
They travel to a palace within the mountain, suffering untrusting gazes all along the way. They end up in a crypt, where Thrawn notes that the people must have honored the dead guardian greatly to have so many candles placed beside the grave. C’Baoth, the old man, replies that that’s hardly true, and that the candles scattered about mark the graves of offworlders who came to see him.
C’Baoth then tries to kill Thrawn, Rukh and Pellaeon with the force, only to have the lightning thoroughly repelled by the Ysalamiri. Confused, C’Baoth askes how this is possible without being Jedi. Thrawn offers to join forces, and C’Baoth, intrigued, invites them to speak further.
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