Jaster Mereel not in Episode II? Doesn't make sense!

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According to like every book before Episodes I and II about Boba Fett, his name was clearly Jaster Mereel before it was altered to Boba Fett. In the movies, his name is already Boba Fett - even as a kid. It also seems like Fett is his family name, but according to the books, Mereel should be.

Unfortunately, Lucasfilm (like always) has seemingly ignored a plotline they endorsed and created a new inconsistent one just to confuse Star Wars affectionados like us. My question is...am I the only one that doesn't understand what is going on?

 

No, you're not the only one. I've wondered that myself often... There are alot of things that don't make sense when compared to the first movies. But Lucas doesn't seem to care...

 

You've piqued my curiosity. What else is inconsistant? I've never read the books, but have always been a big Star Wars nut. The plot in Episode II, after watching it now about 5 times, seems rather shotty to me. Funny...the first time I saw it in the theatre I thought it was the best SW movie yet. But then again, I was pretty hard-up for some sight-saberin'.

Anyway...what else is inconsistant?

 

If one were to spend the time to go through the books I am sure you could find dozens of examples but the one that really stuck out to me is the death star plans that Count Dooku is given to bring back to the emperor. This completely contradicts with how the death star was designed in the books.

Of course one could start into the old "Why doesn't either Obi-wan or Darth Vader recognize the droids in A New Hope?" rant but I think that one has been done to death by now.

 

How does the Death Star come about in the books?

 

I think you do not realize how great a role Jaster Mereel has played throughout the Star Wars saga, even if it wasn't in the movie. Mereel played an important role in at least a dozen or so books without any mention of his name being Boba then Jaster and then apparently Boba again. The inconsistencies you've mentioned are, in comparison to this one, excusable. However, Jaster Mereel is just too big of a character to simply ignore.

Well it's okay if you don't agree with me, but I am just kind of angry at Lucasfilm for completely ignoring a story they supported and creating one of their own. After all, doesn't the Star Wars company have to approve all books before they are published? And if this is true, they've approved about 20 books with Boba Fett being Jaster Mereel. Can anyone else think of an inconsistency with magnitude at this level?

Didn't think so.

 

Well, I thought about the Darth Vader part, because it's obvious that after Episode 1 there is no way not recognising (sp ?) his former robots. But does DV actually see any of them in the original movies ?

 

Episode IV: I don't believe he sees them. That is quite ironic because he is looking for R2-D2 but doesn't know it.

Episode V: He might have caught a glimpse of the droids on Bespin, but he was too busy to do anything about it.

Episode VI: He makes absolutely no contact with the droids.

Correct me if I'm wrong on any of these...My memory's a little fuzzy. They just don't show the original three on TV anymore, especially ESB and RoJ. My question is: why don't the droids tell Luke Vader was their former master. O wait, maybe the Alliance brainwashed them!

Brainwash...yea that would describe EVERYTHING!!! Boba Fett thinks thinks he used to be Jaster Mereel, but he got brainwashed. That's the only explanation. Ain't I brilliant?

 

@Death Rabbit

In the books one of the Imperial officers who attempts to return the Empire to its former glory is the head of the Empire's top secret weapons R&D facility where they designed the Death Star. Naturally, in the books they have come up with an even deadlier weapon than the Death Star, talk about overkill


@ Farthy

I thought he saw them in A New Hope after he killed Obi-Wan but before the blast doors close on him but I checked the tape and the droids have already entered the Falcon before Vader turns around.

However, in The Empire Strikes Back C3P0 and Vader are both present for the entire scene where Han gets carbon frozen. Given that C3P0 is talking quite a bit in this scene you would think that Vader would clue into the fact that it was the droid that he spent years building.

Really though, it is the fact that Obi-Wan does not recognize the droids and they don't recognize at least his name that I really take offence to.

As for the Jaster Mereel business, I can't say that I have read any of the books referring to that being Boba Fett's real name but it wouldn't really come as a surprise to me. It is very evident that Lucas is ignoring what happened in the books.

Oh, and yes I have read from several sources that Lucas' company approved all of the books' plots and in fact was keeping very strict control over the authors to ensure continuity between them.

[ July 26, 2003, 02:09: Message edited by: JSBB ]

 

Oh, where to begin...

Just so we have one thing straight: Anything George Lucas sets forth in the movies, is canon. It supercedes any and all information in the Expanded Universe (everything but the movies). Lucasfilm tries to maintain continuity, but if the plot requires them to contradict the Ex.U., they do so without compunction. Hence the Jaster Mereel situation. GL has stated several times that he always intended the Stormtroopers to be clones, and Boba Fett to be a rogue Stormtrooper, but when he fleshed out the whole clone plot, he came up with the Jango/Boba scenario, and preferred it to the Jasterr Mereel plot that had been created by outside authors. It's GL's universe, and he gets to do with it as he pleases.

The same goes for the Death Star plans. A third-party author (Kevin J. Anderson) came up with the plot of the think-tank in Maw installation, where the Death Star was initially designed. When writing the script for Ep.II, GL obviously had a better idea. Personally, I loved seeing the Death Star plans in Dooku's hands.

As for Vader not recognising the droids, as it has already been pointed out he only sees C-3PO in the Cloud City carbonite chamber. There are, however, millions of protocol droids in the galaxy, and Goldenrod isn't exactly looking his best at the time. Vader also has his mind on more important things, not to mention there's absolutely no reason whatsoever for him to connect the shattered droid on the Wookiee's back with his own childhood chum.

The reason the droids don't recognise Vader/Obi-Wan/Luke/(fill in name here) is that they've been memory wiped several times. This question has been asked many times on Starwars.com, and been officially answered by Lucasfilm (producer Rick McCallum, I think). Memory wipes are routinely performed on all droids in the Star Wars universe to prevent them from becoming too "human-like". Obviously C-3PO and R2-D2 haven't had as many wipes as they should have, but their memories have been completely wiped at least twice in the time between Ep.III and Ep.IV.

And finally, the reaon Obi-Wan doesn't recognise the droids is that there's no reason why he should. If you pay attention in Ep.I and II, you'll see that he has very little interaction with them. They both belong too someone else, and to him they're just (litterally) part of the furniture. At least C-3PO's appearance has changed considerably from Ep.II to Ep.IV, and R2-D2 looks like any one of half a billion astromech units. Remember, he hasn't seen any of them for 20 years.

Well, I hope that cleared some things up. If there are any more questions, don't hesitate to ask.

 

To understand my answer to this, you have to understand where I am coming from. I like the books, but they are secondary to the movies, plain and simple. From the movies' perspective, no explaining is neccessary. Only if you read Expanded Universe books that mentioned Jaster Mereel, is clarification needed. If you never read the books, the point is moot.

From what I understand, this Jaster Mereel contradiction is explained as legendary. For example, any EU book (I've read some, not all) that has Jaster Mereel in it, can be explained as a half-truth or full-blown fiction about the character of Boba Fett.

It's kind of like a Robin Hood sort of thing. A myth grows, embellishments are added. It's even possible that Boba Fett uses Jaster Mereel as a false name to protect himself and gain an advantage as a bounty hunter. After all his identity and profession demand secrecy and along with his fame comes legends.

Of course, all of this matters only when trying to reason the books with the movies. If you just watch the movies you never have to be concerned with this. That's why it's called the Expanded Universe, it expands upon the movies.