50
The inspirational villain
Empire’s End: Aftermath
Author: Chuck Wendig
There is a lot to admire about Rae Sloane.
Born into the lower class, she never stopped dreaming of a better life and soon found herself working hard to make a name for herself while people overlooked her. She foiled assassination attempts, uncovered corruption, received well-deserved promotions that people still questioned, fought honorably and smartly until the bitter end, stopped a cataclysmic event that would have changed the fate of the galaxy, and took a bold step to start it all over again. Beyond this, she transcended the world of Star Wars to become a real-world inspiration to fans, particularly women of color, and has an entire legion of passionate fans behind her.
There is really a lot to admire about Rae Sloane.
Except that she just so happened to do all of this for the Empire, you know, the team we’re rooting against. Rae Sloane is a remarkable thought-provoking character that challenges our long-held notions about those on “that” side and redefines the concept of a villain. For in the final pages of Chuck Wendig’s novel Aftermath: Empire’s End, Grand Admiral Rae Sloane, having just saved the day, is faced with a choice to pursue a change of heart and direction, submit herself to the will of the recently-formed New Republic, or risk heading out to the Unknown Regions with the tattered remnants of the Empire to rebuild it in her image. At that moment, she doubled down on who she was, ensured that she would not submit herself to anyone, and decided to take what she deserved.
Rae Sloane believed in the idea of the Empire from an early age. Growing up poor on the core planet of Ganthel, she had to live her youth under the constant threat of local criminal gangs. The Empire, from her perspective, cleaned them out and removed the threat. She wanted to be part of that. We, though, have the benefit of knowing the whole story. That the Empire was oppressing the galaxy, helping to make the criminal underworld more robust, and was being run by a dark sorcerer bent on galactic domination. Yes, all that is true, but Rae Sloane’s perspective was also true and that informed her entire journey. The world around her was bad, but Rae Sloane was good.
Sloane wasn’t naive, though. She made a name for herself by thwarting an assassination attempt on the Emperor and Darth Vader, exposing the corruption of Imperial associate Count Vidian, and spent her entire career protecting the nature of her Empire, the version she grew up believing in. But she wasn’t lost in some hyper-realized state of bliss. She saw the ideals she held to falling around her piece by piece. She was, perhaps, too far into the organization by then. Achieving military ranks not normally given to a low born woman in an organization run mostly by old men. But, in the end, while working with the mysterious but crazed Gallius Rax, secretly tasked with destroying the Empire by Palpatine himself, Rae realized what the Empire had become, and perhaps always was, so she stopped it, saving an entire planet and her so-called enemies in the process.
A major subplot of the Aftermath books centers around Gallius Rax carrying out the Emperor’s contingency plan to tear down the pieces of the Empire, head to the Unknown Regions, and start it all again—for the memory of the Emperor. As Gallius Rax lies dying, he gives Rae that task, should she accept it. As Wendig writes, Rax says, “You serve the Contingency now.”
And that is where the choice before Rae Sloane puts the fandom in a delicious quandary. Can we root for a villain? We’re used to a certain kind of redemption in Star Wars: a character lives their entire life acting one way, fighting for one thing, then, in the end, sees the light and does what is perceived as right. That’s not to be taken lightly, mind you. That classic version of redemption is rich with value. However, when Rax puts that choice before her, telling her she can go on serving the Emperor, his Empire, and all that it was, Rae Sloane realizes that she hadn’t changed from that little girl who dreamed of heading off to save the galaxy. Her version of the Empire wasn’t wrong, it just didn’t exist. She had been part of something that wasn’t hers and now she could go build something new as she wanted, as she always believed in. So, she chooses.
“I serve no one,” proclaims Rae Sloane.
Her redemption is personal.
With that, she leaves to start what will become the First Order. What happens out in those Unknown Regions is still a mystery. By the time The Force Awakens begins, Rae Sloane is gone and the First Order has become someone else’s vision. But that’s just story. Plot waiting to be revealed. What is there for us is a character that transcended any affiliations and allegiances to become a vibrant testament to individuality. She represents rising above obstacles, naysayers, and the prejudices placed in front of you while never losing sight of who you are. Is Rae Sloane a villain? Maybe. Maybe not. But she is definitely one thing.
Rae Sloane is an inspiration.