The Hand of the Empire

For May the 4^th and 5^th, also known as Star Wars Day/May the Fourth be with You and Revenge of the Fifth, Nate Winchester published two list posts of Star Wars* fan films. As a rule, this author generally eschews such videos. There have been exceptions to this rule over the years – one of the most recent being the Star Wars fan film Hoshino – but they have been few and far between.

Still, despite some misgivings, I decided to give at least some of the videos in Mr. Winchester’s posts a quick viewing. You can take a look at them yourselves here and here, readers, if you wish. Several have special effects on par with or better than those used by SyFy series such as Stargate: Atlantis* and Sanctuary*, and the scripts are neat homages to the original film trilogy.

Of the bunch, though, my personal favorite has to be Hand of the Empire, which is linked below (warning, spoilers will follow!), along with its forty-six second epilogue:

STAR WARS: HAND OF THE EMPIRE

BONUS SCENE–HAND OF THE EMPIRE: THE EPILOGUE

This was the video that inspired me to give the others a try, based solely on its title. For those who do not know, in the original Star Wars Expanded Universe there was a group of Force-sensitive individuals trained by Emperor Palpatine to be his personal special operators around the galaxy. The most famous of these (and the only one to become a Jedi) was Mara Jade, the future wife of Luke Skywalker, whom we were introduced to in the Thrawn trilogy* written by Timothy Zahn.

Being a huge – and I do mean huge – fan of Mara Jade, the title Hand of the Empire immediately caught my eye. I recognized the reference but found the video too long to watch all at once. When this author previewed the first ten minutes saw that the actress had red hair, she knew the girl had to be playing a teenage Mara Jade. So when this writer had the time, she went back to Mr. Winchester’s post and hit play…

…And in doing so, she was surprised to find that not only was Mara Jade in the film, but so was another of her favorite characters. Kanan Jarrus, one of the few exceptional protagonists in the Disney Star Wars timeline, had an interesting role in the story, too. It was more or less a two-for-one deal that put a smile on this writer’s face the first time she watched the film and during her subsequent viewings.

Though the production is not perfect, Hand of the Empire is an impressive fan film. Relying on the same techniques that George Lucas used for the original trilogy, it is low budget but not unpleasantly so. There are some minor gaps in the narrative, which may seem quite glaring to those unfamiliar with either Star Wars Rebels* or the Expanded Universe. One of the sound effects from A New Hope is reused here as well, which is a bit annoying. I think a new one ought to have been chosen, but that is probably my biggest gripe with this fifty minute video.

While the stunt coordination is a bit obvious in places, the actors each nail their various parts. John Wells perfectly mimics Kanan Jarrus’ attitude and mannerisms, along with the speech patterns established by Freddie Prinze Jr. Those who watched the episode “Gathering Forces” in Rebels’ first season should recognize Wells’ expression when his young charge in this film begins using the Force in a decidedly Dark manner. To pull that off, he must have studied the material he was imitating in-depth for quite some time.

Krystabelle Dawn practically walked away with the role of Mara Jade. Even Timothy Zahn, who created the character and whom the creators invited to watch this film, believes she captured the essence of the assassin-turned-Jedi perfectly. From her combat skills to her “penchant for verbal abuse,” as Luke once put it, the young actress nailed almost every aspect of the heroine. There is a reason Mara was the only Expanded Universe character to make the top twenty favorite Star Wars’ protagonists list, and Dawn ably displays that throughout her part in this film.

Special kudos also goes to Darren Dickerson and Don West, the actors who play the two veteran Stormtroopers in this piece. The two are the heart of Hand of the Empire, and they carry that responsibility with aplomb.

Finally, I have to take a moment to compliment the costume designers. The Imperial uniforms and alien guises were quite good, as were the various Stormtrooper and Mandalorian armors. But I was most impressed with Wells’ and Dawns’ costumes, since they both matched their animated and book cover counterparts to a ‘T’. Those took a great deal of time and love to create, and it shows throughout the video.

If you can find the time, readers, I highly recommend watching Hand of the Empire. According to the comments, the film’s creators are working on a sequel, and all that passion for Star Wars deserves a commensurate reward. While we cannot pay them for producing this or any future project, we can send them our appreciation via views, likes, and a subscription.

May the Force be with you, readers!

*These are Amazon affiliate links. When you purchase something through them, this author receives a commission from Amazon at no extra charge to you, the buyer.

If you like Star Wars and want more space opera like it, then check out the novels created by Lori Janeski, Alexander Hellene, and Monalisa Foster. You won’t regret it!